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KANSAS CITY, Mo. Charles Woodson White Jersey . —Kansas City
is doing to the Tampa Bay Rays precisely what the St. Louis Cardinals did to the
Royals over the weekend. Bruce Chen gave the Royals strong pitching for the
second straight night, Jeff Francoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt homered to extend
a string of hot hitting, and Kansas City routed the Rays 8-2 on Tuesday night to
set up a chance for a series sweep. Alex Gordon and Billy Butler also drove in
runs to pace a Royals offence that was outscored by St. Louis 30-14 over the
weekend, but has trumped Tampa Bay 16-2 through two games. “What the Cardinals
did to us those three days is what were doing to the Rays, just adding on and
adding on,” Francoeur said. “Its a good time for us to get going.” Chen (7-6)
gave up a run in the first inning and Brooks Conrads solo shot in the second,
but was otherwise stingy on another warm night in Kansas City. The 35-year-old
left-hander managed to avoid any serious trouble to win for the seventh time in
his last nine decisions. He built on a shutout tossed by Luke Hochevar in the
series opener, and suddenly, a pitching staff that was hammered by the Cardinals
has hamstrung the light-hitting Rays. “I felt really good. I was mixing my
pitches,” Chen said. “Were not taking anything for granted, but were feeling
good, were playing good, and now we weve won back-to-back games.” The Rays
looked as though they were about to emerge from their own offensive funk the
first two innings. They coaxed a run across in the first on consecutive hits and
a fly ball by Hideki Matsui, and Conrad made it 2-0 when he went deep in the
second inning. Thats where the highlights ended for Tampa Bay. The Royals
started to hit Tampa Bay starter Alex Archer (0-2) in the third inning, though
they got plenty of help from Rays shortstop Sean Rodriguez, who committed errors
on consecutive plays. Jarrod Dyson led off with a single, and Alcides Escobar
sent a rocket off the wall in left-centre, just missing his second homer of the
year. He was credited with a double, but went to third as Dyson scampered home
when Rodriguezs relay throw to the plate resulted in an error. Gordon stepped
the plate and sent a grounder at Rodriguez, which brought home Escobar with the
tying run. Rodriguez couldnt field the ball cleanly, which allowed Gordon to
reach first. It proved to be a costly when Betancourt homered over the bullpen
in left. The 23-year-old Archer, who was recalled last week to start in place of
the injured Jeremy Hellickson, still managed to keep things close into the
sixth. It was his second straight strong start, one that could keep him hanging
around the big leagues in the future. “I did my best to keep us in the game. The
ball just didnt bounce our way on offence,” he said. “Overall, I think I did
play well. I made some mistake pitches, hung a slider. It happens.” It happened
more once he turned things over to the bullpen. Gordon doubled leading off the
eighth inning, and after Mike Moustakas worked a one-out walk, Butler came
through with an RBI single. Francoeur was next to the plate and crushed a pitch
from reliever Brandon Gomes over the wall for an exclamation-point home run.
“The beat us. They just beat us,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We need to
score more runs.” They need to stop allowing so many, too. The Royals
once-scuttling offence has scored at least eight runs only seven times this
season—including both games against Tampa Bay. “Our approach has been great.
Were swinging at good pitches, were hitting balls hard,” Butler said. “We were
struggling before these last three games. It feels good to put up runs.” Notes:
LHP Everett Teaford will be recalled from Triple-A Omaha to start for Kansas
City in the series finale Wednesday. LHP Matt Moore will start for Tampa Bay.
... Maddon said DH Luke Scott (back stiffness) could return by Thursday. ...
Tampa Bay skipped batting practice in part because of the heat. The game-time
temperature was 93 degrees, and the forecast calls for 100 on Wednesday. Jordy Nelson White Jersey . And that wasnt
even his hardest-hit ball Thursday night. Heyward ranked his seventh-inning
homer to centre No. 1, but both counted the same, and the two solo shots helped
the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 to complete a three-game series
sweep. Aaron Rodgers Pink Jersey . The 32-year-old
Blake succumbed to fellow former top-five star Nikolay Davydenko, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4,
in two hours on the hardcourts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. The 2008
Miami champion Davydenko will meet world No. http://www.proshopgreenbaypackers.com/nick-perry-jersey
. After criticizing Clevelands fans for failing to support the first-place
Indians, Perez wasnt sure what to expect when he came in for the ninth inning
with another game on the line. Casey Hayward Womens Jersey . The team said
Shea had the surgery Thursday, and estimated the recovery time at 12 to 14
weeks. That would be about a month before the start of the 2013 regular season.
James Jones Jersey . —Liselotte Neumann
took her name out of the mix as Solheim Cup captain because she thought it would
consume too much of her time.GREEN BAY, Wis. —At this point, a full-time move
to safety doesnt appear to be in the works for Charles Woodson. As the Green Bay
Packers sort through their options to replace former Pro Bowl safety
Nick Collins, though, coaches are acknowledging the possibility that the
versatile veteran will spend more time at the position than he has in previous
seasons. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday that Woodsons role in the
defence is likely to change, although McCarthy didnt provide specifics and
estimated that any change would be a small one. “Charles role on our football
team may change somewhere between 6 and 8 per cent compared to where hes played
in the past,” McCarthy said. “I dont want to really get too detailed
schematically. Really, its something we should watch and see—and let our
opponents see. Were not recreating the wheel with him, thats for sure. I would
define him as a playmaker in our defence. And its our responsibility to make
sure hes lined up in those positions to make plays.” McCarthy was emphatic in
saying that the 35-year-old Woodson “absolutely” is still an every-down player.
“He looks great,” McCarthy said. “He really does, just seeing him move out
there. Charles keeps himself in great shape. Thats never a concern of ours as an
organization so its good to have him out there. He brings experience to our
football team.” Woodson was present for the first day of a three-day minicamp
Tuesday, and spent much of Tuesdays practice lining up across from slot
receivers—a familiar position for the Packers defensive playmaker. But
Woodson has played multiple positions in Dom Capers defence, including some
safety. “Ive played a great deal of safety already since Ive been here,” Woodson
said. “And whether or not I play some this year, I dont think it will be any
different from what Ive done in the past. The main objective is to win games and
win the Super Bowl, and thats really all Im focused on.” Capers said any tweaks
the team makes to Woodsons role wont be particularly obvious. “Charles has been
one of those guys since Ive been here that weekk to week, his role changes,”
Capers said. Randall Cobb Youth Jersey. “I dont think itll
change a whole lot. Theres a lot of talk about safety and that type of thing.
Well, we played an awful lot of Corner Okie—and all Corner Okie is is him
going in and playing safety.” One thing Woodson didnt do Tuesday was line up as
a cornerback across from outside receivers in the Packers base defence. Woodson
said that wasnt particularly significant, simply a sign that hes gradually
working his way back onto the field after sitting out recent organized team
activity sessions. “I havent been out there with the team doing football things,
so the easiest thing for me to do today was to get in at nickel and play some
dime and take those reps,” Woodson said. “As we move along, of course Ill do
more. But right now were just piecing it together. You dont want to go out there
and pull something or strain something, so Im kind of easing into it.” If
Woodson isnt the full-time answer to replacing Collins at safety, its still not
clear who is. Morgan Burnett and Charlie Peprah were spectators in Tuesdays
practice—Peprah is recovering from a knee injury and Burnett tweaked his
quadriceps—so Packers coaches spent the sessions taking a look at a few other
options at safety. That group includes rookie Jerron McMillian and
M.D. Jennings, who played in seven games for the Packers last season. Woodson
acknowledged that replacing Collins—who was released amid concerns that he
wont be able to safely return from his significant neck injury last season—
will be tough. “Nick was one of that guys thats really irreplaceable in what he
was able to do for this defence,” Woodson said. “From a friend standpoint, it
hurts even more because we were friends first. As far as a football aspect, he
was a guy that could change the game. If you look across the league at safeties,
hes easily in the top three in the entire NFL. To lose a playmaker, a guy with
great speed, a guy thats physical and knew the game of football, it hurts a
great deal not having him out there on the field and helping us on Sundays.” ’ ’
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