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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alcides Escobar was going to take the first pitch that Neftali Feliz threw him, no matter what. After that, the Royals shortstop decided to keep taking pitches until he saw a strike. Turns out he never got to see one. Escobar walked on four pitches with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning Friday night, giving Kansas City a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in the opener of an important three-game series between teams in the playoff race. "We had the utmost confidence he was going to get it done right there and he had a great at-bat," said Royals manager Ned Yost, who chose to stick with Escobar despite his .238 batting average and the fact that he had walked just 18 times in more than 600 plate appearances. Make that 19 times. "Im frustrated that I wasnt able to locate where I wanted to, but I understand thats part of the game," Feliz said. "I need to keep my head up and try it again tomorrow." The Rangers dropped a half-game behind the Indians, which beat Houston 2-1 in a rain-shortened game, for the second AL wild-card spot. The Royals were three games behind the leading Rays, who were locked in an extra-inning game with the Orioles. "These games are all going to be like this," said Yost, whose Royals (81-72) are already assured of their first non-losing season since 2003. "Theyre all going to be nail-biters. Theyre all going to be close." This one was so close the Rangers and Royals scored matching runs in the second inning, and then started tossing up zeros the rest of the way. The Royals finally broke through when Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive two-out singles off the Rangers Jason Frasor (4-3) in the eighth. Pinch-hitter David Lough drew a walk on a full-count pitch, and Rangers manager Ron Washington brought in Feliz. He promptly walked Escobar as a crowd of 30,000 roared. Luke Hochevar (5-2) earned the win in relief of Ervin Santana, who allowed one run on five hits in 7 1-3 innings. Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 44th save. "It stinks when you get taken out and youve got to rely on someone else. Its hard to sit there and watch," Frasor said. "Its a tough spot for Neftali." The Rangers actually jumped out to an early lead when Adrian Beltre, whose .374 average coming into the game was the best of any current player at Kauffman Stadium, roped a single to lead off the second. It was followed by a double by A.J. Pierzynski for a 1-0 advantage. The Royals answered in the bottom half when Salvador Perez led off with a double and Justin Maxwell, getting the start in right field, hit a two-out double to tie the game. Kansas City kept wasting chances in the early innings, though. Billy Butler grounded into a double play to end the first, and Moustakas grounded into another in the second. The Royals worked back-to-back walks in the fourth before Escobar flied out to centre field to end yet another scoring threat. The most egregious mistake came in the sixth, when Maxwell walked and Escobar was hit by a pitch from Rangers starter Martin Perez. Maxwell took off for third base with Alex Gordon at the plate, and he was easily thrown out by catcher Geovany Soto to end the inning. Asked whether he was running on his own, Yost replied: "Yeah." Good idea? "Nope." None of those jams was as tight as the one Santana worked out of in the fifth. After retiring the first two batters, David Murphy doubled, Leonys Martin singled and Ian Kinsler drew a walk to load the bases. Santana recovered to strike out Elvis Andrus. The Rangers had another opportunity in the eighth, but Hochever got Andrus to fly out to left and Alex Rios to ground out to first to leave Kinsler standing on first base. "Every game is so big, and thats what makes it fun," Hochevar said. "The intensity, the electricity in the ballpark that weve had during this push, its been awesome." NOTES: RHP Matt Garza goes to the mound for the Rangers on Saturday night. The Royals counter with RHP Jeremy Guthrie. ... Soto gave Pierzynski a night off behind the plate. ... Perez allowed one run on seven hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. ... The Royals left 11 runners on base. Texas stranded five. Ted Hendricks Jersey . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Derek Carr Raiders Jersey . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. http://www.theraidersteamproshop.com/Youth-Dan-Wil...te-Jers ey/ .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Tim Brown Raiders Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Raiders Jersey .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena.KOLOMNA, Russia -- Charles Hamelin ended the short-track speedskating World Cup season on a high note Sunday, winning gold in the 1,000-metre event in the final Olympic qualifying event of the year. Canadas strong showing throughout the World Cup season has qualified it for the maximum number of spots in every short-track speedskating event at the Sochi Games in February. "With the beginning to the season that Ive had, beginning with the Canadian trials in August, I have nothing to doubt in myself. How strong I am, how fast I am," said Hamelin. "I think that the program that our coaches have put in front of us is the perfect one for us." Hamelin won gold on Sunday despite having to withdraw from Saturdays competition with a bruised left thigh. He won the race in one minute 24.923 seconds. Frances Thibaut Fauconney (1:25.054) was second followed by American J.R. Celski (1:25.148) and Chinas Tianyu Han (1:25.195). Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., and Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., both stumbled in the preliminaries and finished at the bottom of the rankings. Sochi wont be Hamelins first Olympics. He won gold in the 500 metres and 5,000-metre relay at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and silver in the 5,000-metre relay in 2006 in Turin. Despite that wealth of experience, this World Cup season has been formative for Hamelin. "Ive learned a lot on what to do at the Olympics in two months," said Hamelin. "I feel very confident that I can be on the podium in every distance and Im going there with that confidence." The mens relay team did not reach the main final on Sunday. Charles Hamelins fall in the 30th lap created too large a gap for his teammates to close, excluding them from the A final. The team of Charles and Francois Hamelin, from Ste-Julie, Que., Cournoyer, Yellowknifes Michael Gilday and Jean took advantage of a fall by the two leading teams in the B final as the final bell was ringing to win the heat and take fifth place. First place went to the Americans (6:44.941), second to the Russians (6:45.552) and third to South Koreans (6:45.470). Yves Hamelin, Canadas short-track speedskating program director and father to Charles and FFrancois, believes that Canada is poised for a very strong showing in Sochi, possibly better than its performance in Vancouver.dddddddddddd "Theyre healthier, theyre stronger," said Yves Hamelin. "Four years to keep building up their performance. Getting more experience, having the chance to do more semis and finals. Our guys in these critical races, we see them reacting very well, even better than they were in Vancouver. "Thats very encouraging to see such a large racing background develop over the last four years, in addition to what they had prior to Vancouver." With several months to prepare for the Olympics, Charles Hamelin isnt getting ahead of himself. "Ill be focusing on my training," said Hamelin. "I will not be trying to focus on things too far away. I think thats the way to relieve the pressure." On the womens side, Valerie Maltais of La Baie, Que., was in fine form in the 1,000-metre event, leading until the last turn when she lost her footing and found herself in the mats, ultimately finishing fourth in 1:29.169. "On the last corner, Elise Christie from Great Britain passed me inside," said Maltais, who said she was uninjured in the fall. "The pass was clean but it was tight. She hit the block and I stepped on that block when I fell." Marianne St-Gelais of St-Felicien, Que., recovering from a virus, finished 14th, followed by her teammate Jessica Hewitt of Kamloops, B.C., in 15th. Neither skater advanced past the quarter-finals. In the 3,000-metre relay, China won in 4:06.785 after taking the lead with seven laps to go. The South Koreans (4:06.215) were second and Italy (4:09.217) third. The Canadian team of Edmontons Jessica Gregg, Maltais, St-Gelais, Hewitt and Marie-Eve Drolet of Laterriere, Que., were shut out of the podium, finishing fourth in 4:11.880. "Im very excited (for the Games), Im very for the whole team because everyone got their spots for the individual distance and also for the relay," said Maltais. The relay was Drolets return to competition, after battling injury since last Augusts Olympic trials. Gregg fell during the race, slowing down her teams rhythm. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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