KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – James Shields kept the Indians off balance for six innings, Salvador Perez led a scrappy Kansas City offense and the Royals pounded Cleveland 7-1 on Monday night to open a three-game set with significant playoff implications.

Shields struck out a season-high 10 for the Royals, who moved within 2 1/2 games of the AL’s second wild-card berth. The Indians remained a half-game back of Texas, which lost to Tampa Bay earlier in the night in a matchup of teams leading the wild-card race.

Shields allowed only Lonnie Chisenhall’s solo homer before turning the game over to his stingy bullpen. Wade Davis, Luke Hochevar and Tim Collins did the rest in a steady drizzle.

Scott Kazmir gave up four runs in 5-plus innings for the Indians. He didn’t get a whole lot of help from his offense, which racked up a season-high 17 strikeouts.

The Junction City Blue Jay boys cross country team finished seventh out of 10 teams in the Emporia Invitational.

Junction City finished with a team score of 189. St. Manhattan had the winning low team score of 21 points.  Evan Hallum led the Blue Jays with a 24th place finish in a time of 5:43.21 while teammate Stephen Deveau finished 32nd in 5:46.97.

The Lady Jays finished sixth out of 11 teams in the Invitational. Rosie Hollis of Junction City turned in a 16th place finish in 6:30.06.  Deisjambra Bisio was 28th in 6:52.43.

 

The Saint Xavier Middle School Lady Rams defeated Cair Paravel of Topeka in a pair of matches on Monday

Saint X won the first match 25-15, 25-21 and the second match 25-7, 25-20.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – Kansas State linebacker Tre Walker was still wiping away the sweat dripping from his brow in the minutes after a thorough dismantling of Massachusetts when his focus shifted to Texas.

The Wildcats knocked off the Longhorns in their regular-season finale last year to wrap up the Big 12 title, and now open defense of it with a return trip to Austin on Saturday night.

The Wildcats have won five straight in the series, several of them in lopsided fashion.

They’re also catching the Longhorns at a good time. Texas was run over by BYU two weeks ago, had a shakeup in its coaching staff and then was routed by Ole Miss on Saturday night.

According to Walker, Texas “kicks off our season no matter where we are in our schedule.”

 

DETROIT (AP) – Alex Avila homered twice, including a tiebreaking solo shot in the eighth inning that lifted the Detroit Tigers over the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Sunday.

Detroit’s Max Scherzer struck out 12 in seven innings, but he was denied his 20th victory when Kansas City tied it off Drew Smyly (6-0) in the eighth. Avila answered in the bottom half with a homer to right-center.

Joaquin Benoit pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 20 chances for the AL Central-leading Tigers.

Jeremy Guthrie (14-11) pitched all eight innings for the Royals, who began the day 3 1-2 games back in the AL wild-card race.

Avila’s first homer was a two-run shot in the second. Alex Gordon hit a solo homer for Kansas City in the fourth.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alex Smith threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and the Kansas City Chiefs defense held when it needed to in the fourth quarter for a 17-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Jamaal Charles ran for 55 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the Chiefs, who made new coach Andy Reid a winner in his home debut. The Chiefs also matched their victory total from all of last season by starting 2-0 for just the second time since 2005.

Dwayne Bowe’s touchdown catch in the third quarter and Ryan Succop’s 40-yard field goal early in the fourth gave the Chiefs a 17-13 lead. The Cowboys (1-1) answered with a deep march into Kansas City territory but had to settle for Dan Bailey’s 53-yard field goal with 3:55 left.

The Chiefs offense never gave the Cowboys a chance to mount a winning drive.

 

The Kansas State Wildcats finished non-conference play Saturday with 37-7 win over UMass.

The Wildcats rushing game has steadily improved over the past three games. After only having 49 net yards rushing against North Dakota State in week one, the Wildcats improved to 149 net yards rushing against Louisiana and more than doubled that against UMass totaling 329 net yards rushing.

Bill Snyder, KSU Head Coach, said earlier in the week that they needed to find a way to get Senior Running Back John Hubert going. After only totaling 79 yards total rushing for the first two games Hubert more than matched that Saturday with 118 net yards rushing.

“I think there were some times when John just put his pads down and ran. Was it as consistent as I would like? No, but I thought he just ran more physical this evening,” Snyder said Saturday after the game.

Jake Waters, starting Quarterback, gave credit to the offensive line for the improved running game,” They did a heck of a job driving them off of the ball so you have to give a lot of credit to them and we just kept rolling with it.”

Waters, who is more known for his passing than running, was able to stretch his legs as well with nine carries for 76 yards,” I tried to get somthing going because I wasn’t passing the ball as well as I could have so I just tried to get somthing going making a play with my feet.”

Waters finished the game completing 5 out of 10 of his passes for 115 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

The defense saw improvement this week as well only allowing one touchdown. Kip Daily, senior defensive back, picked off A.J. Doyle, UMass quarterback, twice and returned one for a touchdown. ” They went to empty so the coachs called a good play and I saw the quarteback pull up so I just broke on the ball,” Daily said about his pick six.

Ty Zimmerman, senior, safety, felt that the defense has made a lot of improvement through the past three games,” Especially finishing. The last couple of weeks we came out in the second half and got a couple of drives where we couldn’t get off the field but I think we did a lot better job today.”

Zimmerman matched what Snyder said following the game that they have a lot they are going to have to work on this week especially going into Big 12 play.

The Wildcats will travel to Austin, Texas next Saturday to take on the Texas Longhorns (1-2). After being ranked #15 to start the season the Longhorns have fallen out of the rankings and have lost two in a row with losses to BYU in week two and #25 Ole Miss Saturday night. The Longhorns have had issues with their defense and replaced their defensive coordinator after the loss to BYU.

All of those issues meen very little however to Coach Snyder, “I understand that they are going through some difficult times but dont dare underestimate the University of Texas.”

The Junction City Blue Jays and Seaman Vikings battled into overtime Friday night at Al Simpler Stadium.

The final score was Seaman 21 Junction City 20 in overtime.

Seaman scored on their possession in the extra period with Reid Fehr scoring on a short burst up the middle for six points. The Vikings kicked the extra point.

When Junction City got the football the Blue Jays scored on a third down pass play from Tanner Lueker to Dequan Davis. Head coach Randall Zimmerman decided to go for two points, but a running play with Davis failed to get into the end zone, and the Blue Jays fell to the Vikings.

After the game Zimmerman said, “Our kids played hard I think. We struggled a little bit with the PAT…missed one and had to go for two to tie it up. The thought process was, had as good a chance…you know,  go for two and win it right there. ”  The Blue Jays had missed an earlier point-after-kick in the first half due to a high snap from center,  but had a successful two point conversion in the fourth quarter to tie the game 14-14.

Midway through the fourth quarter Seaman fumbled the ball and Junction City recovered inside the Vikings’ 30. But a short time later the Blue Jays fumbled the ball after a problem with the center snap, and the Vikings recovered at their six yard line. Neither team scored during the remainder of regulation, sending the contest into overtime.

Seaman improved to 1-1 with the win, while the Blue Jays fell to 0-2.

PREP FOOTBALL

Seaman 21 Junction City 20 OT
Andale 32, Rose Hill 16
Andover 19, Arkansas City 0
Attica/Argonia 44, Cedar Vale/Dexter 14
Axtell 44, Clifton-Clyde 26
Baileyville-B&B 54, Quinter 6
Baldwin 28, Paola 9
Beloit 36, Smith Center 14
Bonner Springs 48, Lansing 34
Buhler 35, Wichita Collegiate 28
Burlingame 44, Veritas Christian 20
BV Randolph 16, Linn 6
BV West 24, St. Thomas Aquinas 17
Cair Paravel 68, Bishop Seabury Academy 22
Canton-Galva 66, Goessel 0
Central Burden 34, Flinthills 12
Central Heights 21, Burlington 0
Central Plains 40, Otis-Bison 0
Centralia 38, Riley County 0
Chanute 51, Labette County 14
Chase 28, Lakeside 12
Cheney 34, Wichita Independent 7
Chetopa 66, St. Paul 8
Cimarron 60, Syracuse 0
Clearwater 47, El Dorado 24
Coffeyville 68, Parsons 6
Columbus 15, Fort Scott 14
Commerce, Okla. 42, Cherryvale 16
Conway Springs 21, Caney Valley 6
Council Grove 21, Northern Heights 20
Crest 14, Marmaton Valley 6
Derby 55, Andover Central 7
Dodge City 33, Wichita Northwest 7
Ell-Saline 44, Remington 16
Ellsworth 27, Russell 14
Eudora 16, Louisburg 15
Fairfield 57, Pretty Prairie 18
Fowler 50, Minneola 24
Frontenac 40, Southeast 6
Galena 49, Erie 18
Garden City 35, Woodward, Okla. 34
Garden Plain 28, Chaparral 14
Gardner-Edgerton 49, BV Northwest 27
Girard 62, Riverton 42
Goddard 14, Valley Center 10
Goddard-Eisenhower 3, Maize South 0
Golden Plains 44, Western Plains/Healy 42
Goodland 30, Norton 7
Halstead 39, Lyons 21
Hanover 50, Rock Hills 22
Hays 37, McPherson 23
Hesston 62, Nickerson 6
Hillsboro 41, Sterling 30
Hodgeman County 52, Ashland 6
Holton 56, Santa Fe Trail 7
Hope 60, Frankfort 36
Hugoton 20, Holcomb 7
Humboldt 55, Jayhawk Linn 2
Hutchinson 48, Wichita Campus 0
Hutchinson Trinity 21, Moundridge 0
Inman 22, Bennington 20
Iola 47, Osawatomie 14
Jackson Heights 52, Oskaloosa 6
Jefferson West 21, Hiawatha 16
Kapaun Mount Carmel 27, Wichita Southeast 3
KC Piper 12, Basehor-Linwood 6
KC Wyandotte 48, KC Harmon 6
Kinsley 74, Wilson 26
Kiowa County 48, South Gray 0
LaCrosse 34, Hoisington 18
Larned 60, Ellinwood 0
Lawrence Free State 20, SM Northwest 3
Leavenworth 33, SM North 0
Liberal 56, Guymon, Okla. 0
Lincoln 38, Sylvan-Lucas 28
Lyndon 50, Osage City 0
Madison 36, Marais des Cygnes Valley 22
Maize 40, Salina South 28
Manhattan 6, Emporia 3
McLouth 28, Doniphan West 6
Medicine Lodge 34, Bluestem 14
Mill Valley 48, KC Turner 7
Minneapolis 37, Washington County 13
Mission Valley 69, Herington 20
Mulvane 39, Augusta 7
Nemaha Valley 39, Royal Valley 8
Ness City 50, Macksville 48
Newton 49, Salina Central 35
North Andrew, Mo. 50, Pleasanton 0
Northeast-Arma 44, Fredonia 14
Northern Valley 56, Triplains-Brewster 22
Oakley 70, Sublette 0
Olathe East 38, Olathe Northwest 21
Onaga 69, Immaculata 28
Osborne 64, Hill City 18
Ottawa 16, DeSoto 13, 2OT
Oxford 60, Norwich 50
Peabody-Burns 46, Little River 22
Perry-Lecompton 25, Sabetha 6
Phillipsburg 40, Oberlin-Decatur 0
Pittsburg 43, Independence 0
Pleasant Ridge 42, Jefferson North 10
Prairie View 32, Anderson County 14
Pratt 13, Haven 10
Pratt Skyline 62, Cunningham 36
Rawlins County 49, Cheylin 0
Riverside 35, Valley Falls 8
Rolla 24, Deerfield 12
Rossville 33, Abilene 21
Salina Sacred Heart 46, Republic County 0
Satanta 42, Moscow 0
Scott City 28, Colby 12
Sedgwick 34, Marion 14
Shawnee Heights 27, KC Schlagle 0
Silver Lake 62, Neodesha 0
SM East 26, Lawrence 3
SM South 10, Olathe North 7
SM West 23, Olathe South 8
Smoky Valley 27, Kingman 20
Solomon 54, White City 32
South Central 63, Bucklin 14
South Haven 72, South Barber 48
Southeast Saline 27, Chapman 6
Spring Hill 41, KC Sumner 14
St. James Academy 50, KC Bishop Ward 13
St. John’s Beloit-Tipton 60, Glasco/Miltonvale-Southern Cloud 14
St. John’s Military 58, Flint Hills Christian 14
St. Mary’s 42, Valley Heights 13
St. Mary’s Academy 40, Sunrise Christian 34
Thunder Ridge 52, Pike Valley 0
Tonganoxie 41, Atchison 14
Topeka 25, Topeka Hayden 20
Topeka Seaman 21, Junction City 20, OT
Topeka West 27, KC Washington 15
Trego 44, Stockton 18
Troy 44, Maur Hill – Mount Academy 7
Udall 14, Caldwell 6
Ulysses 21, Great Bend 14
Uniontown 48, Sedan 0
Victoria 54, St. John 8
Wabaunsee 16, Rock Creek 7
Wakefield 26, Centre 20
Wallace County 36, Hoxie 28
Wamego 48, Marysville 0
Washburn Rural 45, Highland Park 7
Waverly 58, Hartford 12
Wellington 27, Concordia 6
Wellsville 12, Olpe 0
West Elk 52, Yates Center 6
West Franklin 33, Chase County 14
Wichita Heights 45, Wichita South 0
Wichita Trinity 59, Belle Plaine 0
Wichita West 20, Wichita East 16
Winfield 29, Circle 7

 

DETROIT (AP) – Prince Fielder homered and drove in three runs, and Justin Verlander pitched effectively into the seventh inning to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Detroit remained six games ahead of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central and dealt the third-place Royals a setback in the postseason race. Kansas City is one of several teams hoping at least to catch Tampa Bay for a wild card.

Verlander (13-11) allowed three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. Three relievers finished. Joaquin Benoit worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and got the final four outs for his 19th save in 19 chances.

Bruce Chen (7-3) allowed five earned runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings.