01-20-2020, 05:24 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Gordon knew that the Atlanta Braves were going to be careful with him with first base open and the go-ahead run standing on second in the 10th inning Wednesday night. He didnt waste the first good pitch he saw. Gordon lofted it into shallow left field, just deep enough to allow David Lough to score, and gave the Royals a 4-3 victory and a split of the first two games the Braves have played in Kansas City. "I just go out there and try to play hard and let my game speak for itself," said Gordon, who hit a leadoff homer in the first inning and made several stellar players in left field throughout the night. "I dont think about it individually," he added. "I think of it as a W." It was a much-needed W, too, after the Royals dropped five of their previous six games. "Thats a great team over there thats leading its division," manager Ned Yost said. "Theyve got 45 wins and we matched them pitch for pitch. Every game we played them we competed. These kids are getting better. I think throughout the second half they will continue to that." Lough had entered the game the previous inning as a pinch hitter, but was still at-bat because Elliot Johnson was picked off first base to end the ninth. Lough singled off Braves reliever Alex Wood (0-2) to start the 10th and then reached second when Miguel Tejada laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Gordon, who came through with his third game-winning hit of the season. "He started the game with a homer and ended it with a base hit," Yost said. "Hes come up clutch for us in those situations. He did it again tonight." Aaron Crow (4-3) worked the 10th inning for the Royals, who had lost five of their last six. It was the sixth time in the last eight games that Kansas City played a one-run contest. "Its huge," Lough said. "I mean, we know what the braves are capable of doing, theyre in first place in their division, theyre a great team and we stuck with them." The Royals were actually in control through six innings. Gordon ended a 159 at-bat homerless drought with his first-inning shot, the first leadoff homer of the season for the Royals. It was Gordons first home run since May 9 at Baltimore. Billy Butler added a two-out double to right, and then the big DH chugged home when Salvador Perez got just enough of the bat on a pitch from Mike Minor to hit a single to left field. The Royals tacked on another run in the third when Gordon singled to lead off the inning. Alcides Escobar put runners on the corners with nobody out before Eric Hosmer lined into a double play, but Butler managed to bring Gordon home with a timely single to make it 3-0. That was all the offence until Luis Mendoza started to unravel in the seventh inning. The Royals starter kept the Braves off balance with a mixture of fastballs and sliders, and had given up just three hits to that point. But hed put runners on the corners with two outs when he was lifted for left-hander Bruce Chen, who promptly served up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Reed Johnson. Chen walked Jason Heyward to load the bases and was replaced by right-hander Luke Hochevar, who gave up a tying two-run single to Justin Upton. Heyward was thrown out at third on the play to end the inning. Minor allowed three runs on nine hits over six innings, while Mendoza gave up two runs on five hits over 6 2-3 innings. Neither of them factored into the decision. "Mike did a nice job," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "The solo home run by Gordon and he had a couple of innings that were stressful innings, but he did a nice job." Just not good enough to keep the outcome out of the hands of the bullpens. Alex Avilan and Jordan Walden breezed through the Royals lineup, the only blip coming when Mike Moustakas singled off Walden with two outs in the ninth inning. Johnson came in to pinch run and strayed too far from first base, allowing Walden to pick him off and end the inning. Hochevar wound up going 1 1-3 innings for the Royals, who brought in star closer Greg Holland to pitch the ninth inning. He struck out the side on just 11 pitches. "They have a very strong bullpen," Lough said, "but we were able to get to them in that last inning." NOTES: Royals RHP Yordano Ventura (Double-A Northwest Arkansas) and RHP Miguel Almonte (Class A Lexington) will pitch for the world team in the Futures Game. Braves INF Joey Terdoslavich (Triple-A Gwinnett) will play for the U.S. and C Christian Bethancourt (Double-A Mississippi) for the world. ... The Royals begin a four-game series Thursday at Minnesota. The Braves have a day off before starting a three-game set against Arizona on Friday night. Luke Voit Jersey . - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin is now a free agent. Joe Girardi Jersey .com) - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mat Latos had an arthroscopic procedure performed on his right elbow last week, the teams official site reported Wednesday. http://www.customyankeesjersey.com/custo...-484i.html . -- San Francisco 49ers offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman is a finalist to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State, his agent said Monday. Greg Bird Jersey .com) - The surging Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers for Saturdays clash at BB&T Center. Casey Stengel Jersey . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night.Matchups for the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots at University of Phoenix Stadium:When the Seahawks (14-4) have the ball:If the Patriots can tame the Beast, they will have a big head start toward a fourth NFL championship since 2001. RB Marshawn Lynch (24) will try to impose his will on a solid but not overwhelming defence led by DT Vince Wilfork (75), DE Rob Ninkovich (50), LBs Jamie Collins (91) and Donta Hightower (54). If Lynch is slowed, that leaves the onus for running on QB Russell Wilson (3). While highly capable — he rushed for 849 yards and six TDs in 2014 — Wilson would prefer balance on offence.When he throws, he must avoid the interceptions that plagued him vs. Green Bay for the NFC title. Not that Wilson was always off-target, with two of his picks being off tips by WR Jermaine Kearse (15). But he was not nearly as precise as usual.Kearse, who caught the winning TD pass in the past two NFC title matches, was targeted on all four interceptions against the Packers. Hell see plenty of CBs Darrelle Revis (24) and Brandon Browner (39), a Seahawk last season, and could struggle getting open deep. S Devin McCourty (32) also will help in coverage on WR Doug Baldwin (89) and TE Luke Willson (82).One thing Seattle wont do is lose faith even when things arent working on offence. And behind an unsung offensive line led by LT Russell Okung (76) and C Max Unger (60), they wont back off, either.When the Patriots (14-4) have the ball:Unquestionably the key matchup, as it often is these days when the Patriots are on the field, will be All-Pro TE Rob Gronkowski (87) against the legions trying to cover him. However, for Seattles Legion of Boom, much of the assignment will fall to S Kam Chancellor (31). Chancellor has the size (6-3, 232), speed and tackling skills to somewhat neutralize Gronkowski.If he can do that, it frees All-Pro S Earl Thomas (29) to help with versatile WR Julian Edelman (11), who mostly will draw All-Pro CB Richard Sherman (25) in coverage. QB Tom Brady (12) is particularly comfortable throwing to Gronk and Edelman, and the Seahawks want to force him to look at others instead.But even if the coverage is strong, Seattle must get pressure from pass rushers DEs Michael Bennett (72) and Cliff Avril (56) and LBs Bobby Wagner (54), an All-Pro, and Bruce Irvin (51). Brady is most vulnerable — which isnt very vulnerable — when he has to throw before he wants to and cant set his feet.That means an unheralded offensive line featuring tackles Sebastian VVollmer (76) and Nate Solder (77) needs to be steady.ddddddddddddGreen Bay showed the Seahawks can be run on, so RB LeGarrette Blount (29) could wind up being a featured player.Special Teams:Although the Seahawks were not great on special teams this season, they were spectacular in beating Green Bay. A fake field goal pass for a TD by holder Jon Ryan (9) — one of the NFLs most accurate punters — and an onside kick that kept them alive for the NFC title wont be forgotten in the Pacific Northwest.Generally, though, New England has the edge here. Coverage is very good on punt and kickoff returns, led by Pro Bowler Matthew Slater (18). Edelman (11) was second in the NFL with 12 yards per punt return and had one for an 84-yard TD. Stephen Gostkowski (3) missed only two field goals and led the NFL with 156 points.Coaching
ete Carrolls revenge? Its not a major story line, but it should be recognized that Carroll preceded Bill Belichick in New England. He wasnt a bad coach there, either, going 28-23, but that pales compared to Belichicks numbers.No team brings more energy to the field than the Seahawks, and it stems from Carroll. He always has the pulse of his team: Carroll saw how Seattle was suffering from a Super Bowl hangover early in the schedule. He not only got the Seahawks to snap out of it, but reach peak form down the stretch — at least until last week, when they got lucky, too.Belichick just surpassed Tom Landrys mark for postseason victories (21). Regardless of the findings of the NFLs probe into under-inflated footballs in the AFC championship contest, he is known as an innovator — just as much as he is known for stretching the parameters of the rulebook. Belichick keeps things fresh by finding new ways to exploit the opposition.He will have something unusual lined up for Carroll and the Seahawks.Intangibles:Seattle seeks to become the first repeat winner since the Patriots managed it a decade ago. A victory would stamp these Seahawks as an all-time great team, particularly having beaten Peyton Manning and Brady in successive Super Bowls. The Seahawks also come off a mediocre performance in the NFC title game, which should spur them on.New England, of course, doesnt want to add a stigma of Super Bowl loser by dropping three in a row after winning in its first three trips with Brady and Belichick. Brady can equal Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana with four Super Bowl rings, while Belichick can tie Chuck Noll with four.___AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '
ete Carrolls revenge? Its not a major story line, but it should be recognized that Carroll preceded Bill Belichick in New England. He wasnt a bad coach there, either, going 28-23, but that pales compared to Belichicks numbers.No team brings more energy to the field than the Seahawks, and it stems from Carroll. He always has the pulse of his team: Carroll saw how Seattle was suffering from a Super Bowl hangover early in the schedule. He not only got the Seahawks to snap out of it, but reach peak form down the stretch — at least until last week, when they got lucky, too.Belichick just surpassed Tom Landrys mark for postseason victories (21). Regardless of the findings of the NFLs probe into under-inflated footballs in the AFC championship contest, he is known as an innovator — just as much as he is known for stretching the parameters of the rulebook. Belichick keeps things fresh by finding new ways to exploit the opposition.He will have something unusual lined up for Carroll and the Seahawks.Intangibles:Seattle seeks to become the first repeat winner since the Patriots managed it a decade ago. A victory would stamp these Seahawks as an all-time great team, particularly having beaten Peyton Manning and Brady in successive Super Bowls. The Seahawks also come off a mediocre performance in the NFC title game, which should spur them on.New England, of course, doesnt want to add a stigma of Super Bowl loser by dropping three in a row after winning in its first three trips with Brady and Belichick. Brady can equal Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana with four Super Bowl rings, while Belichick can tie Chuck Noll with four.___AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '