KANSAS CITY, Mo.
Laken Tomlinson Super Bowl Jersey . -- This one could be a costly victory for the Kansas City Royals and an expensive loss for the Tampa Bay Rays. Jason Vargas took a shutout into the ninth inning, Alcides Escobar hit a three-run double and the Royals beat the Rays 4-2 Monday night in a game that included two significant injuries. Rays starter Matt Moore (0-2) came out in the fifth inning with a sore left elbow. The All-Star lefty grimaced after throwing a pitch to Norichika Aoki and was immediately removed by manager Joe Maddon. Two innings later, Royals second baseman Omar Infante was hit in the left jaw by a pitch from Heath Bell. A bleeding Infante walked off the field under his own power. Moore won 17 games last year, but missed 31 games with an elbow injury. He threw 78 pitches Monday and was replaced by Cesar Ramos. "It has to be checked," Maddon said. "There will be tests tomorrow. We dont know whats going on yet. Well get an update later. He tried to talk me out of taking him out but I said I didnt think its a good idea. I went out there and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I like to communicate with our guys. He just felt something on a pitch. We knew we cant take any chances on anything." Moore said his final pitch was a changeup. "There was no particular pain," he said. "It really came out of nowhere. I felt it when I was pitching to Escobar, on a changeup, and then I threw two more changeups to Aoki and I felt it. I actually threw a curveball to Aoki to see if I would feel it then, too, but I didnt. It may have something to do with changeups in that situation." Moore, who will have an MRI exam Tuesday, went on the disabled list last July 31 with a sore elbow and did not return until Sept. 3. "Its the same pitch and the area is pretty much the exact same spot," Moore said. Infante was spitting blood as trainers held a towel to his face. "They put a number of stitches in there to close the cut," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "They are going to go scan it and see if his jaw is fractured. Well know more later. Im not going to make any decisions (on roster moves) until we find out whats going on with Omar and well move forward from there. "He was bleeding tremendously from the cut. I didnt know until they had taken him upstairs that he got hit on the jaw. When we got there they had the towel (over his head) and there was blood all down his shirt. There was no cut on his forehead that I could see." Danny Valencia ran for Infante, who signed a $30.25 million, four-year contract with the Royals in December after hitting .318 last season for Detroit. "He was smoked. Were worried about a concussion, too. It shakes you for sure because its a very ugly sound for somebody to be hit in the face," Yost said. "It was a cool night, but I noticed I broke out in a sweat real quick, so it definitely affected me. Of course, you have a lot of worry about it." Vargas (1-0) allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two in eight-plus innings, lowering his ERA to 1.20 in two starts. He lost his shutout bid when Ben Zobrist homered on his second pitch in the ninth. Greg Holland replaced Vargas and earned his third save, but not before giving up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Matt Joyce. Escobar was 1 for 19 before his bases-loaded double off the left field wall on a 2-2 pitch from Bell with two outs in the seventh. Escobars three RBIs matched his career high. Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain singled to load the bases before Escobars first extra-base hit of the season. Eric Hosmer singled home Aoki, who tripled, in the first inning. The Rays, who have lost seven straight at Kauffman Stadium, have scored three runs in their four losses this year while going 2 for 33 with runners in scoring position during those defeats. Evan Longoria had three of the Rays six hits. NOTES: The Royals placed LHPs Tim Collins (strained left elbow) and Francisley Bueno (sprained left little finger) on the disabled list. They recalled RHP Michael Mariot and LHP Donnie Joseph from Triple-A Omaha. ... The Rays are 3-14 in road openers. They have not won a road opener since 2010 at Baltimore. ... Royals RHP Louis Coleman (bruised right middle finger) threw a bullpen session and could be activated Tuesday, the first day he is eligible to come off the disabled list.
Richie James Super Bowl Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday.
Robbie Gould Super Bowl Jersey . A receiver doesnt make the catch on a passing play and instantly motions to the ref – and everybody else – for a pass interference flag. TAMPA, Fla. -- The Boston Bruins are making a charge to claim the Eastern Conferences top spot. Reilly Smith scored the lone shootout goal in the seventh round to lead the Bruins past the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Saturday night. Smith put an in-close shot between the pads of Ben Bishop. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask caught a break on Tampa Bays seventh shootout attempt when Richard Panik hit the post. "Many times you get that gut feeling, and I said, You know what, this is probably a good chance for Smitty to get himself going," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "I even told one of my assistant coaches, Its going to end here." Smith has not scored a regulation goal in his last 11 games. "It was good to be able to help the team get an extra point on that," Smith said. "Personally, it may take a little bit off my shoulders, but hopefully I can get back to it next game." The Bruins, winners of four straight, got regulation goals from Daniel Paille, Carl Soderberg and Johnny Boychuk. Boston trails East-leading Pittsburgh by a point. Ondrej Palat, Mark Barberio and Valtteri Filppula scored for the Lightning, who are 1-4-1 since the end of the Olympic break. "We, at least, got a point out of this one, so its definitely a step," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "This is the best weve played since the break." The Bruins outshot Tampa Bay, which had the games first seven shots, 32-20. Boston pulled even at 3 when Boychuk snapped a 20-game goal drought 8:11 into the third. The Bruins have outscored their opponents 78-43 during the third period this season. Filppula put the Lightning ahead 3-2 from the slot at 9:31 of the second after the teams had each scored twice earlier in the period. Palat ended Tampa Bays long scoring drought against the Bruiins on a short-handed goal to make it 1-0 just 27 seconds into the second.
Kendrick Bourne Super Bowl Jersey. The Lightning went 169:55 without scoring after Filppula, in the first of four games between the teams this season on Oct. 3, had a goal midway through the second in that game. Boston had outscored Tampa Bay 11-1 in winning the previous three meetings. After Barberio scored at 4:13 of the second, the Bruins had two goals in 1:31 by Paille (6:58) and Soderberg (8:29) to tie it at 2. Paille beat Bishop with a backhander between his legs before Soderberg had a breakaway goal. "Even though we fell behind 2-0, it was just small mistakes that ended up in the back of our net, but we seemed to find our rhythm after that," Julien said. Lightning star Steven Stamkos played in his second game since returning from a broken right shin, which occurred in a game at Boston on Nov. 11. The centre, who has no points through the two games, lost out on a breakaway chance in overtime when time ran out as he approached the Boston zone. "I saw it coming, and Im looking at the clock," Cooper said. "Its just one of those things." Stamkos played 21:46, had one shot and finished minus-2. NOTES: The Bruins are 6-0-3 in their last nine road games, which is the longest point stretch since a nine-game run in 2010-11. ... Boston RW Jarome Iginla played in his 1,295th NHL game, moving him past Pierre Turgeon into sole possession of 56th place on the career list. ... Chicago senior adviser Scotty Bowman has resumed scouting games after having right knee replacement surgery on Jan. 24. The 13-time Stanley Cup winner is a regular at Lightning home games. ... Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan, acquired from the New York Rangers on Wednesday for Martin St. Louis, assisted on Barberios goal for his first point with the Lightning. ' ' '