Narrenpost-Kasten » the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Fra

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Michael Pineda kept throwing strikes. The Royals kept taking them, trying in vain to drive his pitch count up. When Yankees catcher Brian McCann looked up in the third inning, his right-hander had still thrown just 35 pitches. He knew then that Pineda was in a groove. Pineda wound up pitching into the seventh inning Monday night to win for the first time since April 16, helping New York beat the Kansas City Royals 8-1 for its fifth straight win. "Hes got so much cut on his fastball," McCann said. "I feel like he could literally throw it every pitch and be successful. When hes like that, hes as good as anybody." In the makeup of a game rained out in early June, Pineda (3-2) gave up a solo shot to Mike Moustakas leading off the third inning. But that was about it in Pinedas third game back from the disabled list. He struck out five without a walk. Jacoby Ellsbury drove in a run in the seventh inning with the 1,000th hit of his career, then added a two-run homer in the ninth. Derek Jeter added a pair of RBIs in his final scheduled trip to Kauffman Stadium, and Stephen Drew and Martin Prado had solo home runs. "Its nice when you have a lot of people contribute," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. James Shields (12-7) allowed six runs over 6 2-3 innings for Kansas City. "Weve been playing really, really good baseball the last month or so. Were definitely not going to let just one little game take care of us," Shields said. "Were going to move onto this next series and hopefully well win it." If youre willing to count the makeup against New York as a true series, it was the first time in their last 11 that the Royals have dropped one. "Its going to happen," outfielder Alex Gordon said. "Well bounce back. Well be OK." Jeter, who is retiring after the season, answered a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate in the third inning with a groundout to shortstop that gave New York a 1-0 lead. Moustakas tied the game with his 15th homer in the bottom half. Drew gave the Yankees the lead back in the fourth with his home run, and they piled on four more runs off Shields in the seventh to put things out of reach. The last of the runs was scored by Ellsbury, who came home on a sacrifice fly by McCann. Ellsbury initially was ruled out at the plate, but the call was overturned after a 2-minute video review showed his left leg sliding just under catcher Salvador Perezs tag. That was plenty of support for Pineda, who had gone through the ringer since his previous win. He served a 10-game suspension for getting caught with pine tar on his neck in a game against Boston, then landed on the DL with shoulder trouble that kept him out until mid-August. Pineda was stuck with a pair of no-decisions in his first two starts back. "I feel pretty good," he said. "I feel like I have good power in my arm." BRONX BOMBERS The Yankees homered at least three times in a game for the seventh time this season, but it was the first time they had done it since July 9 at Cleveland. CRACKED SHIELDS Speaking of homers, Shields gave up at least two in a game for the seventh time this season, tied for second-most in the majors behind the Brewers Marco Estrada with nine. GORDOS GRAND Gordon played in his 1,000th game for the Royals, making the 30-year-old outfielder the 10th player in franchise history to reach the milestone. TRAINERS ROOM Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer was cleared to begin taking dry swings after sustaining a stress fracture in his right hand on July 20. "It feels good. Its healed up very nicely," Hosmer said. "Were ready to start the hitting progression." Yankees: 1B Mark Teixeira (left hamstring) and OF Brett Gardner (right ankle) were held out of the starting lineup. Girardi hopes both will be available Tuesday in Detroit. UP NEXT Royals: After taking three of four in Minnesota last week, the Royals open a three-game set against the Twins at home. LHP Danny Duffy is on the mound for Kansas City. Yankees: RHP Brandon McCarthy makes his ninth start with the Yankees to open a three-game series in Detroit, one of the clubs theyre chasing in the AL wild-card race. Neal Sterling Jersey . They have homered once every 27.3 at bats, which just happens to be the third best mark in the American League, albeit just 10 games into the season. Doug Middleton Jersey . A lovely summer day in England with abundant sunshine and minimal wind allowed him to attack Royal Liverpool. http://www.officialnewyorkjetsfootball.com/ . The Raptors two leading scorers were never able to co-exist the way they hoped or the team had envisioned, but individually DeRozan was thriving, in the midst of a career season. Custom New York Jets Jerseys . DeGrom outpitched Jake Peavy in a tantalizing hitless duel that carried into the seventh inning Saturday night before the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2. Jordan Jenkins Jersey . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear.EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings had just finished a mediocre season with a modest victory over a last-place team, hardly a setting where raw emotion was expected.Yet there was coach Mike Zimmer, when asked specifically at his postgame news conference about the improvement made by second-year cornerback Xavier Rhodes, pausing briefly for composure.The gruff, demanding Zimmers voice cracked as he carefully revealed how Rhodes approached him in the locker room with gratitude for his tutelage and guidance.Hes got a chance to be a really good football player, Zimmer said, after Rhodes stifled Chicago wide receiver Alshon Jeffery throughout the win Sunday over the Bears.For all the dissatisfaction Zimmer expressed in his teams performance during his first season as a head coach, that competitive drive keeping him restless as the Vikings wobbled their way to a 7-9 finish, he was clearly moved by the sign of a young player finding his groove at a difficult position.One of the early themes associated with Zimmer and his coaching style, which will ultimately have a significant influence on his success, was his self-described pride in being a fixer.There was a lot to fix when he took over nearly a year ago, particularly with a defence that gave up an NFL-worst average of 30 points per game, and upgrades are needed still in several areas.This group, though, was unquestionably better in 2014. Player after player, in interviews Monday during the annual cubicle clean-out at the team facility, pointed to Zimmer for the progress.Hes brought a completely different tone around here of just being professional, playing aggressive, tough, disciplined football, safety Harrison Smith said.Zimmer had been an assistant coach in the league for 20 years, including 14 as a defensive co-ordinator, before accepting this job. The word was out. There were no secrets. The Vikings knew they were getting an intense, hard-nosed new boss.Thats the type of cooach he is, but at the same time hes one of those guys that you immediately fall in love with and you immediately want to run through a brick wall for because he seems to know when he needs to take care of guys and when he needs to push guys, defensive end Brian Robison said.ddddddddddddThe Vikings finished 11th in the NFL with an average of 21.4 points per game allowed, better than seven of the 12 teams that made the playoffs. They were 14th with an average of 344.7 yards per game given up, better than five playoff teams. They tied for ninth with 41 sacks.Not that were where we want to be, but its trending that way, Smith said.The Vikings struggled in several games to stop the run, so better tackling will be high on the to-do list for 2015. Takeaways will be as well, since the Vikings forced only 19 turnovers to rank tied for 25th in the league.There were late lapses that led to losses, such as the winning touchdown drive by the Bills in Buffalo that featured a fourth-and-20 conversion and the 30-point second-half by the Dolphins at Miami.Adjusting to the assignments of the new scheme took time, too. Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn acknowledged not listening as much as he should have to Zimmer.Its all about trust. When they tell me to do this, do that, even though Ive been in the league for a while, I still start to question, Man, why do you want me to do this? Munnerlyn said. Just go out there and do it.For all the mistakes and disappointments, though, there were just as many success stories. Rookie linebacker Anthony Barr had several strong games before hurting his knee. Defensive end Everson Griffen was a force at times in his first season as a starter. Rhodes tied for fourth in the NFL with 18 passes defenced.He was just a big piece of clay, really, that had a ton of ability, Zimmer said.Theres more left to mould in his second year.___Online:AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Blackhawks Jerseys Store Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Penguins Jerseys Store Capitals Jerseys For Sale Blues Jerseys Store Cheap Kings Jerseys Adidas Lightning Jerseys Stars Jerseys For Sale Cheap Predators Jerseys Ducks Store Sharks Jerseys For Sale Cheap Sabres Jerseys Rangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '