KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With two runners aboard in the sixth inning, the Royals Alcides Escobar was just trying to put the pitch from Yankees reliever Blake Parker in play Monday night.He wound up slapping it right over the wall.The three-run homer broke open a nip-and-tuck game, and backed by a strong pitching performance by Dillon Gee, Kansas City went on to beat New York 8-5 to open their three-game series.I knew I hit it good, Escobar said, but I wasnt 100 percent sure it was gone.Everybody else was sure, the way things have been going for Kansas City lately.The reigning World Series champions won for the 18th time in 22 games, closing within two games of the second AL wild card. The Royals (69-62) were seven games below .500 as recently as Aug. 6, nearly left for dead 11 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.Gee (6-7) allowed four hits and a run over six sharp innings.The results just werent coming but Ive been throwing the ball well, said the Royals fifth starter, but tonight I got an early lead and just tried to stick to it.Lorenzo Cain, Kendrys Morales and Alex Gordon drove in runs off Michael Pineda (6-11) during a five-hit salvo in the first inning. Pineda then retired 15 straight before getting into a two-on, no-outs jam in the seventh that led to Escobars homer.It really broke the game open for us, Royals manager Ned Yost said.Starlin Castro drove in two runs for the Yankees, the second in a four-run eighth inning that forced Yost to summon fill-in closer Kelvin Herrera to make a four-out save.He retired Mark Teixeira to get out of his initial jam, then put runners on the corners in the ninth. Herrera calmly struck out Castro for his 11th save.It was a frustrating night for the Yankees, who had elbowed their own way back in the playoff chase. They were a half-game behind Kansas City at the start of the night, but their second straight loss on the heels of a four-game winning streak was costly against a fellow contender.Yankees manager Joe Girardis frustration was evident when he was tossed by plate umpire Brian ONora for arguing balls and strikes with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning.Didi Gregorius proceeded to deliver a two-run double, and the Yankees tacked on two more runs against the Kansas City bullpen before Herrera put a stop to their rally.Two different strike zones. Its unfortunate, Girardi said of his ejection. Even the broadcasters were talking about it in the eighth and ninth inning. I dont know why. Im frustrated by it. I dont know if you give the catchers credit. I know the last inning and the inning before that Im watching on TV and I see it. Oh-1 is a lot different than 1-and-oh a lot of times.STATS AND STREAKSThe Royals have cut 7 1/2 games from their wild-card deficit in 22 games. ... All nine players in the Royals starting lineup had a hit. ... Pineda lost for the first time since July 31 at Tampa Bay, snapping a four-start winning streak. ... Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury reached base on catchers interference for the 11th time this season, extending his major league record.AWARD WINNERSYankees C Gary Sanchez won his second straight AL player of the week award. He hit .522 with three doubles, five homers and nine RBI while walking five times in six games. ... Royals 1B Eric Hosmer and Yankees SS Gregorius were chosen from their teams for the Heart and Hustle Award from the Major League Baseball Players Association.ROYALS TRADEThe Royals acquired INF/OF Daniel Nava from the Angels for a player to be named or cash considerations. He is not on the Angels 40-man roster and will be assigned to Triple-A Omaha.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals RHP Luke Hochevar said he experienced instant relief after surgery for symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. The reliever will begin rehab with hopes of being ready for spring. The swelling, the coldness is gone, he said. I havent had any of that happen since surgery.UP NEXTYankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka has tossed 14 2/3 scoreless innings over his last two starts. He takes on Royals RHP Edinson Volquez, who has won his last two decisions. cheap jerseys usa . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. cheap jerseys . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. http://www.cheapauthenticjerseysnflchina.net/ . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. wholesale nfl jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. cheap nfl jerseys . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. LOS ANGELES -- Alec Martinez has scored slightly bigger overtime goals than this one for the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.The defenseman still realizes the journey to Stanley Cup glory starts with doing the right things in October.Martinez scored 1:14 into extra time, and the Kings rallied to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 Tuesday night for their third straight victory.After Drew Doughty scored the tying goal with 5:57 left in regulation, Martinez ended it by putting a rebound of Tanner Pearsons shot into an open net.Pearson had a good shot, Martinez said. I dont know if it hit armpit or some far pad, but it was just lying there. I was able to put it in, but again, those guys did the work. I just picked up scraps.The goal was the second overtime score in three games by Martinez, who also beat Dallas last Thursday with his only other goal this season. He entered Kings history when he ended the 2014 Stanley Cup Final with an overtime goal past Henrik Lundqvist to clinch Los Angeles second championship.Captain Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who won their third straight overtime game after an 0-3-0 start to the season.I think were finally playing in a rhythm, Martinez said. The first few games, with every game, we got better in certain areas. We were just out of sync, and I think that were finally playing more of a north-south game.Third-string goalie Peter Budaj stopped 19 shots in his third consecutive win for Los Angeles, remaining unbeaten since taking over for injured Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff.Cam Atkinson scored a tiebreaking power-play goal late in the second period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves for the Jackets, who had won two straight after an 0-2-0 start. Brandon Saad also scored for Columbus, which got a taste of hard-hitting hockey in the opener of its California road swing.We didnt generate enough (scoring chances), Columbus coach John Tortorella said. Give them credit. Thats the way they play. They dont give up much, and its about who blinks first. We were playing OK, but I just dont think we sustained enough of a forecheck to keep them from gaining some momentum.ddddddddddddAfter a scoreless first period largely controlled by Los Angeles, Saad put the Blue Jackets ahead with a close-range wrist shot off an odd-man rush. Saad, a well-known streaky scorer, managed just one assist in Columbus first four games.We knew they were a patient team, and they take advantage of their opportunities, Saad said. We try to play a tight checking game for a full 60. For the most part, we did a good job.Kopitar tied it with his second goal of his first season as the Kings captain, cycling the puck behind the net and executing a slick give-and-go with new defenseman Tom Gilbert.Atkinson put the Jackets ahead again 71 seconds later, connecting for Columbus fifth power-play goal in five games on tic-tac-toe passing from Sam Gagner and Alexander Wennberg.Doughty finally evened it with a sharp-angled shot that trickled through Bobrovsky for his second goal of the season. Bobrovsky, who earned his franchise-record 100th victory with a shutout of Dallas last Saturday, probably should have stopped it.No matter what situation were in as a team, were always going to be a confident group, said Kings forward Nick Shore, who set up Doughtys goal. Whether were up or down, were going to stick to the plan. Battling back was big for us tonight.Game notes Jack Campbell was the Kings backup goalie again with their top two netminders sidelined by groin injuries. Zatkoff is expected to be out for at least a week, while Quick probably wont be back until January. ... Kings F Teddy Purcell was a healthy scratch for the third straight game by coach Darryl Sutter. Purcell was the closest thing to an impact free-agent acquisition this season by the capped-out franchise. ... Kopitars goal was his 245th, moving him within one of tying Wayne Gretzky for sixth place in Kings history.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: The road trip continues Thursday in San Jose and Friday in Anaheim.Kings: Theyll host Nashville on Thursday. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '