Just about everything is going right for the Kansas City Royals these days. Theyve won 24 of their last 31 games to take over first place in the AL Central. Even the schedule seems to be breaking their way. The Royals played their last nine games against teams currently in last place — and theyll play 10 of their final 33 against last-place Minnesota, Texas and Boston. Manager Ned Yost, however, is taking nothing for granted. "These are the games that according to the standings and this and that, these are games youre supposed to come in and win — and thats not always the case," Yost said. "You dont understand the difficulty of coming in and playing a major league game. Its hard to win a major league game." The team chasing the Royals in the division can certainly vouch for that. Second-place Detroit had to fight back over the weekend just to salvage a four-game split against the Twins. Minnesota scored 32 runs in the first two games of that series. According to STATS, the Royals have the easiest schedule in the American League the rest of the way, playing opponents with an aggregate winning percentage of .479. But how significant is that? The Tigers will face teams with a winning percentage of .496, so theyll have a chance to go on a run themselves if they play well enough. In baseball, there are no gimmes on the schedule — and thats even more true this year, when theres a decent chance nobody will lose 100 games. Texas, which has baseballs worst record, is on pace for 99 defeats. The Twins may be in last place, but theyre on pace for 72 wins and just gave Detroits pitching fits. And on the flip side, baseball hasnt had a 100-win team since 2011, and nobody is on pace for it this year either. The parity in the game right now is one reason nobodys schedule will be that easy or that hard down the stretch. For what its worth, the toughest remaining schedule belongs to Texas — the Rangers cant play against themselves, after all. Their opponents have a .537 winning percentage. The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (.467) have the easiest road ahead, but the second-easiest schedule belongs to San Francisco, which trails the Dodgers by 4 1/2 games in the division. Here are five things to watch around the majors this week: HOLDING ON?: The Milwaukee Brewers are clinging to a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL Central, but they catch a bit of a break this week because second-place St. Louis will play a three-game series at third-place Pittsburgh. The Brewers will have a chance to gain ground on one or both of those teams. TATTERED TIGERS: Detroits starting rotation looked imperious when the Tigers traded for David Price, but injuries to Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander left the team in a surprisingly precarious position. Youngsters Robbie Ray and Buck Farmer failed to make it out of the second inning in their starts against the Twins. Verlander is back now, and theres an off day on the schedule Monday, but a doubleheader next weekend against the Chicago White Sox means the Tigers will still have to piece things together. LAST STAND?: Can the New York Yankees reach the post-season in Derek Jeters final season? It looked like a longshot, but New York has won four straight to pull within six games of first-place Baltimore in the AL East, and the Yankees are only 3 1/2 games behind Seattle for the second wild card. This week — with a game at Kansas City followed by three at Detroit and three at Toronto — should be telling. WILD WEST: The Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics have the top two records in baseball, and theres plenty of incentive to win the AL West and avoid the one-game playoff between the leagues wild cards. Los Angeles leads by a game after a victory over the As on Sunday night, and the Angels will host a four-game series between the teams that starts Thursday. CITY OR STATE?: The Washington Nationals have won 12 of 13 to open an eight-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. The Nationals will play an interesting interleague series at Seattle starting Friday, but it looks as though Washington will avoid facing Felix Hernandez. STAT OF THE WEEK Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel now has a 1.46 ERA for his career, easily the lowest in baseball history for a pitcher with at least 275 innings. . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. .Ryan Anderson had 14 points for the Pelicans, who trailed 78-63 after three periods before trimming the deficit to 86-83. Jrue Holiday had 13 points and Eric Gordon added 12 for New Orleans.Mike Scott and Jeff Teague each had 11 points for Atlanta.
http://www.cheapeaglesjerseysonline.com ... sey-online. The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. . "Hopefully well get all this out of the way," he said, "and everyone will be healthy the rest of the year." Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and is expected to miss between four to six weeks. .J. Mayo made seven three-pointers and scored 25 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20, and the Milwaukee Bucks placed seven players in double figures in a 130-110 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost their 11th straight game on Monday night.Milos Raonic battled to win the fourth five-set match of his career Friday as he advanced to the fourth round of the French Open. Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. Raonic fired 19 aces but rode a roller coaster as he was broken while serving for victory. But the 23-year-old then broke Simon to go up 6-5, and earned the victory in the ensuing game when Simon hit a long return on match point. Raonic advanced with 60 winners and six of 12 break points converted, but also committed 74 unforced errors.dddddddddddd "It was just incredible to play a tough opponent like Gilles, Im very content with this win," said Raonic. "We were on court a long time and Im a bit tired. When I was broken serving for it, I just told myself I had to break back and go from there. I stayed calm. "This is my first fourth round here and its a very important win for me. Its also my first in a big showcourt like this at a Grand Slam. Its all super for me, I want to continue." ' ' '
