Dave Riggert – Page 588 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Kansas State’s Barnett on Thorpe Award watch list

Posted on July 13, 2015July 13, 2015

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the third time in the last week, Kansas State senior safety Dante Barnett has earned preseason honors by being named to the watch list for the 2015 Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s most outstanding defensive back, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame announced Monday.

A product of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Barnett was named to the watch lists for the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy last week, both of which honor the nation’s top defensive player. He is one of 42 players on this year’s Thorpe Award watch list and one of four from the Big 12 Conference, joining Karl Joesph (West Virginia), Kevin Peterson (Oklahoma State) and Zack Sanchez (Oklahoma).

Barnett joins other K-State greats that have been candidates for the award, including 2002 winner Terence Newman. Cornerback Nigel Malone was a semifinalist for the award in 2011 and 2012, while safety Ty Zimmerman was also a semifinalist in 2013.

After recording 77 tackles, four tackles for loss, three interceptions and 11 total passes defended as a junior in 2014, Barnett earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches in addition to picking up all-conference accolades from ESPN and Phil Steele.

Barnett totaled a season-high 12 tackles and career-best three TFLs against UTEP last season, while he had four passes defended against Texas en route to Big 12 Defensive Players of the Week.

The winner of the 2015 Jim Thorpe Award will be announced as part of The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 10, on ESPN.

— KSU Sports Information —

Mustangs stymied by Sedalia again on Sunday

Posted on July 13, 2015

The St. Joseph Mustangs still can’t find a way to beat Sedalia this season as St. Joe’s summer college baseball traveled to Sedalia Sunday and lost to the Bombers 6-1.

The Mustangs are 28-13 this season and 23-12 in the MINK League, but they fall to 0-4 against Sedalia this season. With the loss, St. Joseph’s lead in the North Division is down to two games with just under two weeks left in the regular season.

Sedalia scored two unearned runs in the opening frame to take the lead and then Jonathon Ramon hit his MINK League-leading eighth home run of the season in the third inning to give the Bombers a 4-0 lead and that was more than enough for starting pitcher Justin Murphy.

Murphy is now 5-0 this season and 2-0 against St. Joe as he allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings of work.

Logan Jacik suffered the loss for the Mustangs as he falls to 1-3 this summer. He gave up four runs and five hits in just four inning. He struck out three and walked four batters.

Jackson Schnurbusch and Jacob Richardson had two hits each, while Richardson drove in the only run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to score Schnurbusch.

The Mustangs are off on Monday and they return to Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph Tuesday for a non-league game against the Kansas City Monarchs at 7:00 p.m.

Royals rally past Blue Jays after blowing 7-0 lead

Posted on July 13, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Paulo Orlando came through again for the Kansas City Royals.

Orlando, who had a walk-off grand slam Tuesday against Tampa Bay, hit a tie-breaking eighth inning home run as the Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 11-10 Sunday after blowing a seven-run advantage.

Orlando led off the eighth with a home run off Bo Schultz (0-1).

“It was a fastball in,” Orlando said. “I fouled off the first pitch, which was a fastball, too. He threw me two cutters and I waited for the fastball and I put a good swing there.”

With temperatures in the 90s, Orlando did not try to escape from catcher Salvador Perez’s Gatorade shower in a postgame television interview on the field.

“I needed it because it was too hot,” Orlando said. “It was a special moment. Salvy always makes fun of everybody. I waited for that.”

The Royals enter the All-Star break with an American League-leading 52 victories.

“I saw this coming three years ago,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Kansas City led 7-0 after five innings, but the Blue Jays sent 12 men to the plate in an eight-run sixth. Danny Valencia and Jose Bautista contributed two-run doubles in the inning.

Seven of the runs were unearned after Mike Moustakas and Omar Infante committed errors.

“It was an odd game, but those are going to happen every now and then when you play a lot of games,” said Bautista, who was ejected in the middle of an eighth inning at-bat by plate umpire Jerry Meals for arguing balls and strikes. “It was quirky. A lot of errors, the sun, the heat. It was a weird game.”

The Royals regained the lead with three in the bottom of the inning with Lorenzo Cain, who had three hits, singling in one run. Alcides Escobar had a RBI on a ground out, while the other run scored on Jose Reyes’ second error of the game.

The Jays got a run back in the seventh on a Russell Martin RBI-doubles. Reyes, who had his second straight three-hit game, singled home Kevin Pillar, who had tripled, in the eighth to tie it 10-10. It was only the second run Royals reliever Wade Davis (5-1) had allowed this season.

Greg Holland worked the ninth, logging his 19th save in 21 opportunities.

Kendrys Morales homered in a six-run first. Morales crushed a Felix Doubront fastball over the center field fence with Eric Hosmer and Moustakas aboard. That gives him 61 RBIs, second in the American League.

Doubront made it through five innings after the rocky start, although he gave up 10 hits and seven runs, two unearned.

BREAK FOR BAUTISTA

Bautista opted out of the All-Star Game to rest and rehab his sore right shoulder. “After being in Chicago and getting sore again, and listening to doctors’ recommendations, there’s some therapy and some rehab that needs to be done,” Bautista said. “Normally you would need a few days off during the regular season. I’m taking advantage of this due to the break. It’s the smart thing for me to do for my health and to the end of the season, so that’s what I’m doing. With the treatments hopefully it’ll be much better. I haven’t heard anything from the doctors that it’ll be any lingering effects and I’ll be able to come back after a few days.” The shoulder has bothered Bautista since a mid-April throw against Baltimore. He missed five games after that and was the DH for the next 29.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: 3B Josh Donaldson was not in the lineup because of flu-like symptoms, which caused him to come out in the sixth inning Saturday. … RHP Aaron Sanchez (right lat strain) threw 2 2/3 innings in a rehab appearance Saturday for Single-A Dunedin, Florida, giving up one run on three hits and two walks, while striking out five.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (left flexor strain) will make his first rehab start Monday for Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: The Blue Jays will host the Rays for the first three games after the break. The Jays have dropped seven of 10 to the Rays this season.

Royals: RHPs Chris Young and Edinson Volquez will start a split-doubleheader Friday at the White Sox.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals let another extra inning lead slip away at Pittsburgh

Posted on July 13, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals head into the All-Star break with the NL Central lead and the best record in the majors.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, however, have all the momentum.

Gregory Polanco capped another late rally, driving in Jung Ho Kang with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday night.

St. Louis took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th on a two-run double by Randal Grichuk off Arquimedes Caminero (1-1). Pittsburgh, which won in 14 innings on a homer by Andrew McCutchen on Saturday, did it again 24 hours later against St. Louis All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal (1-2).

Starling Marte brought Pittsburgh within a run with an RBI single. Francisco Cervelli tied it with a single and Polanco followed two batters later with a looper to right that sent Kang streaking across the plate and the rest of the Pirates streaming out of the dugout after their second walk-off win in two nights.

“The way we came together at the end, kept our nose down, kept grinding at-bats, just looking for that big hit,” shortstop Jordy Mercer said. “We kept it going and the last two nights were amazing, a lot of fun.”

Pittsburgh took three of four from St. Louis to pull within 2½ games of the Cardinals heading to the All-Star break. Rosenthal blew a save for only the second time this season.

“That was Trevor coming at him with the best stuff he had tonight,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s been worked hard. It’s not the same when you’ve been worked that hard.”

Rosenthal threw 27 pitches while working 1⅓ innings during Saturday’s marathon and was on his 29th pitch Sunday when Polanco delivered the first walk-off of his career.

“They’re hard ones to swallow,” Matheny said. “You have very few chances where you can put a game away. Had a few chances yesterday and again today.”

McCutchen’s career-best, 18-game hitting streak ended, but his teammates picked him up and brought the streaking Pirates — who trailed St. Louis by nine games on May 8 — within striking distance with 74 games to go.

“It was a big series for us to be able to scratch out some wins against a great club,” Mercer said. “They’re the top and we know that.”

A night after the Pirates rallied three times to stun St. Louis, they did it again with a bunch of role players chipping in while McCutchen went 0-for-5. Mercer and Cervelli each had two hits and eight of Pittsburgh’s nine starters had at least one.

Grichuk had three and Jhonny Peralta had three hits apiece for St. Louis, but the Cardinals went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Still, St. Louis came within an out of a series split.

Pittsburgh’s normally reliable setup man Tony Watson came on in the eighth trying to preserve a 3-2 lead but struggled. Watson hit Kolten Wong with a pitch to start the inning, gave up a single to Peralta and loaded the bases when Mercer couldn’t handle a chopper by Jason Heyward. Wong tied it on a fielder’s choice by Yadier Molina, though Watson avoided further trouble by striking out Peter Bourjos with the bases loaded.

It stayed tied until the 10th when St. Louis went to work against Caminero. Grichuk delivered the big blow, a double to the gap in right-center. Mercer threw out Mark Reynolds as he tried to score from first on the play, a decision that would prove costly minutes later for the Cardinals.

“You don’t realize it at the time but it’s a big play,” Mercer said. “It helped us out.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LF Matt Holliday hit some shag balls before Sunday night’s game. He will sit out Tuesday’s All-Star Game to give his injured quadriceps a little more rest but should be ready to play for the first time since June 8 when St. Louis opens the second half on Friday against the New York Mets.

Pirates: 1B Corey Hart had a setback in one of his knees while rehabbing a hip impingement and has been shut down. General manager Neal Huntington said Hart will rejoin the team in Pittsburgh and have the knee re-evaluated. Hart has been out since June 21.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: St. Louis will send five players to Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati: pitchers Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha and Rosenthal, as well as Molina and Peralta before beginning the second half of the season at home on Friday against the Mets. Lance Lynn (6-5, 2.90) will get the start. Lynn is 1-3 with a 3.42 ERA in six games against the Mets.

Pirates: Pittsburgh sends Gerrit Cole, whose 13 wins lead the majors, A.J. Burnett and Melancon to Cincinnati, as well as McCutchen. The team begins the second half on Friday at Milwaukee when Charlie Morton (6-2, 4.15 ERA) gets the start. Pittsburgh is 133-152 after the break under manager Clint Hurdle.

— Associated Press —

USA defeats Russia at World University Games, advances to gold medal game

Posted on July 12, 2015July 13, 2015

GWANGJU, Korea – Guard Wayne Selden, Jr., scored 22 points and his last seven came at the most crucial juncture in USA’s 78-68 win against Russia in the semifinals of the 2015 World at Dongkang College Gymnasium Sunday.

With the win, the USA (7-0), made up mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, will play Germany (6-0) for the gold medal on Monday, July 13, at 9 p.m. local, which is 7 a.m. in Kansas, at Yeomju Indoor Gymnasium in Gwangju. Germany defeated Brazil, 59-49, in the semifinal contest just prior to the USA-Russia matchup.

Having won an all-time most 19 medals (13 gold, three silver and three bronze), the USA is looking for its first medal in the last three World University Games (WUG). USA finished ninth in the 2013 WUG and fifth in 2011. The last medal won by the American men’s basketball team was bronze in 2009. The previous USA medal was gold in 2005.

With the USA up 12 at 61-49, Russia went on a 13-0 run to take a 62-61 lead with 6:40 to play. Included was a half court three-pointer by Ivan Strebkov as time expired, giving the Russians momentum heading into the final period. Russia would score the first six points of the fourth quarter to take the 62-61 lead, then Selden took over. The Roxbury, Massachusetts, native first made a three-pointer over Russian 7-3 center Andrei Desiatnikov to give lead back to the Americans. Selden then made a layup on a fast break to put USA up four and regain the mojo.

“That’s something we’ve done the whole tournament, even against Canada,” Self said. “We get behind and our guys don’t panic. Certainly, when we got up by 10 and they (Russia) came back to take the lead, they had all the momentum and had some things go right to get back in the game. Then we locked in. Their ball movement wasn’t as good and they didn’t drive, pitch and create as many open looks as they did early, but we guarded. Then we had two individuals just play great down the stretch. Perry (Ellis) and Wayne were terrific.”

Guard Nic Moore finished a 6-0 USA run with a jumper in the lane. Following a Russian basket, forward Perry Ellis did one of his patented spin moves to give the USA a 70-64 with 4:50 to play. With Desiatnikov switching to guard Selden again at the three-point line, the 6-5 guard found room on the baseline and blew past the Russian for a monster dunk and the USA never looked back.

“My teammates found me,” Selden said of his crucial run. “I had the seven-footer on me both times, and I didn’t feel like he was able to guard me. He backed off the first time so I was able to shoot it. The second time he got a little closer so I had to drive it.”

Ellis found his groove and led all scorers with 23 points to go along with four rebounds. Selden’s 22 points marked his fourth 20-point effort in the seven USA contests at the World University Games. Moore ended the night with five points and four rebounds, while point guard Frank Mason III had 10 points, six rebounds four assists and three steals. He also drew six fouls for the game. Forward Landen Lucas ended the game with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting with five rebounds and two assists. Strebkov led Russia with 20 points.

“Attacking,” Ellis said of USA’s keys to defeating Russia. “We didn’t want to settle. Coach told us to keep attacking and that’s what we did. The key for me is to not get down. To not get down when I miss shots. My teammates were encouraging me the whole game to keep going.”

Russia built a six-point lead at 13-7 with just over four minutes left in the opening quarter, which included seven points by Stanis Ilnitskiy. The USA scrapped back and cut the lead to on at 15-14 on a Mason free throw. Russia lead 18-14 at the end of the first quarter on a Ilnitskiy three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the period.

Down 23-16, the USA used hustle and went on a 22-7 run which culminated with a steal and dunk by guard Lagerald Vick who ended the game with four points. Forward Hunter Mickelson scored all five of his game points during the run including a dunk and lay-in off a Mason miss causing a Russia timeout. The Russians did not back down and closed the quarter 9-4 run to give the Americans a 42-39 lead at halftime. Ellis kept Russia at bay down the stretch by scoring four of his 14 halftime points on turnaround baskets in the final minute of the half.

“If you’re in the game, you gotta win it,” Self said of playing for the gold medal. “It’ll be a great game for our players. I think before the trip if you would’ve asked me, ‘Hey if we can get to the medal round and have a shot at playing for the bronze? It would be a great trip.’ But here we are, our guys haven’t settled for that at all. To think that the team who started the tournament down 11 or 12 to Turkey in the first quarter, scared to death, and now we’re in attack mode. It’s fun to coach kids that are in attack mode.”

Self’s attackers have now earned themselves a chance to win the World University Games for their country, something the Jayhawks are not taking lightly.

“It feels great,” Selden said of USA playing for the gold. “I’ve never had this opportunity in my life and who knows when we’ll ever get this opportunity again, so we’re really going to seize the moment.”

UP NEXT

The USA team will play Germany Monday, July 13, at 3 p.m./9 p.m. local, which is 1 a.m./7 a.m. in Kansas at Gwangju University Gymnasium/Yeomju Indoor Gymnasium. The game will be televised on ESPNU and seen on the Watch ESPN app.

— KU Sports Information —

Mustangs sweep doubleheader against Branson

Posted on July 11, 2015

The St. Joseph Mustangs bounced back from a loss to Chillicothe as they swept a doubleheader against the Branson Nationals Saturday inside Phil Welch Stadium, 11-4 and 5-0.

St. Joe’s summer college baseball team is now 28-12 and 23-11 in the MINK League. The Mustangs have a three-game lead on the Sedalia Bombers in the North standings and they travel to Sedalia on Sunday.

In game one, St. Joseph broke up a 5-4 game in the sixth inning as they pulled away from Branson with two runs in the fifth and four more in the seventh inning.

Orencio Fisher finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Trent Hill, Ramsey Scott, Jerry Houston and Jackson Schnurbusch had two hits each.

Schnurbusch and Scott each had two RBI.

Miles Gully earned the win as he allowed four runs and six hits in five innings of work. He’s now 4-1 this summer.

In game two, Trent Kinney and two relievers held the Nationals to three hits and earned the seventh shutout of the season for St. Joe.

Kinney is also 4-1 this summer as he went 6.2 innings and allowed just three hits. Humberto Medina and Steve D’Amico then struck out the four batters they faced.

Trent Hill and Trevor Moeck each had two hits in the second game, while Moeck, Evan McDonald, Francisco Alvarez and Kyle Richards had one RBI each.

The Mustangs play at Sedalia at 7:00 p.m. Sunday and the game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

Royals’ six-game win streak snapped by Toronto

Posted on July 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — All the Toronto Blue Jays needed to break out of a skid was an impressive outing by Mark Buehrle and two big swings.

Buehrle pitched seven strong innings, Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer and the Blue Jays beat Kansas City 6-2 Saturday to snap the Royals’ six-game winning streak.

Buehrle (10-5) limited the Royals to two runs and five hits while improving to 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA in his past four starts against them. It was Buehrle’s 26th victory over the Royals. Only Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven (34) has more wins against the Royals.

“He continues to roll, on a tough day to pitch,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It was hot out there. The offense came to life. We do what we do with a couple of home runs; that was the difference there. Buehrle was really good. They put a run up early and he kicked it up a notch.”

Encarnacion’s 18th home run in the fourth inning off Chris Young ended the Blue Jays’ 27-inning scoring drought.

“If the pitch was executed a little bit better, it might have been a pop up,” Young said. “The next at-bat I threw a better slider and he popped it up. It was a mistake. I didn’t make too many mistakes today. It’s a bad feeling as a pitcher, letting the team down with one pitch. I felt like I executed most of my pitches to give us a chance, but again Buehrle was just better today.”

Toronto led 3-2 in the ninth when Danny Valencia, traded by the Royals to the Blue Jays last July 28, hit a three-run homer off rookie Brandon Finnegan to extend the advantage.

“Obviously I played here last year, but we needed a win and I wanted to help the team,” Valencia said.

Jose Reyes had three hits, stole three bases, walked, scored a run and drove in a run for the Blue Jays.

Young (7-5), working on three days’ rest, gave up three runs and five hits with two walks in six-plus innings. He left after giving up a single to Kevin Pillar to open the inning.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first as Alcides Escobar doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on Kendrys Morales’ grounder. It gave Morales 10 RBI in his past 11 games, and 57 on the season.

The Royals had Alex Rios at third and Omar Infante at second with one out in the second, but Buehrle held them there by striking out Drew Butera and getting Jarrod Dyson on a ground out.

Encarnacion’s homer in the fourth gave the Blue Jays the lead for good, and Reyes had a run-scoring infield single in seventh to make it 3-1.

Rios led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, moved to third on a fly ball to center and scored on Paulo Orlando’s grounder to pull the Royals within a run again.

SEEING 10s

Buehrle has won 10 or more games in 15 straight seasons, the longest active streak in the majors. “That’s what he does,” Gibbons said. “I hate to see him retire because he doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down.” Buehrle is 5-1 with a 1.88 ERA in his past nine starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: 3B Josh Donaldson left in the sixth inning after three at-bats with flu-like symptoms. He was replaced by Valencia.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen (rehabbing from 2014 reconstructive elbow surgery) allowed three runs, all on solo home runs, in a start Friday for Triple-A Omaha against Iowa. He walked none and struck out seven, throwing 62 strikes in 89 pitches.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: LHP Felix Doubront will make his second start after beating the White Sox on Tuesday, allowing one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez is 0-3 in four career starts against Toronto, allowing 19 earned runs over 19 1/3 innings.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis loses to Pirates in 14 innings on McCutchen’s walk-off HR

Posted on July 11, 2015July 12, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Andrew McCutchen’s two-run home run in the 14th inning capped Pittsburgh’s third rally of the night and helped the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Saturday night.

McCutchen’s homer to center off of Nick Greenwood (0-1) immediately followed Neil Walker’s leadoff single and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games. It was his 12th home run of the season.

Jhonny Peralta’s single off Vance Worley (3-4) in the top of the inning drove in Matt Carpenter.

Pittsburgh scored twice in the eighth to tie the game after falling behind 3-0, and Chris Stewart singled in Jung Ho Kang in the 10th after Mark Reynolds’ second homer of the game had given St. Louis another lead in the top of the inning.

Kang and Pedro Alvarez had RBI singles in the eighth for the Pirates, who have won seven of eight and 10 of 12. Pittsburgh, which has the NL’s second-best record, lost the first three games of the season series with the Cardinals in extra innings in May.

Both of Reynolds’ homers came with no one on base and were pulled down the left-field line. The first of which — in the second inning — ultimately resulted in ejections of Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli and manager Clint Hurdle, who were upset home plate umpire Vic Carapazza ruled a foul tip on an 0-2 pitch immediately preceding the homer.

In a starters’ matchup of two of the six winningest active pitchers in the majors, The Cardinals’ John Lackey outdueled A.J. Burnett. Lackey allowed one run — a Burnett homer, his first in almost a decade — on five hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings.

Burnett was looking to make his first All-Star game appearance Tuesday with a sub-2.00 ERA, but the three runs on six hits and three walks he allowed in 6 2/3 innings Saturday increased his ERA from 1.99 to 2.11.

UP NEXT

Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano has allowed more than three runs in just three of his 17 starts this season. However, that lone occasion came at PNC Park against the Cardinals, whom he will face in a nationally-televised game Sunday night. Pittsburgh has lost both of Liriano’s starts against St. Louis this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Mitch Harris was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday after sustaining a right groin strain while warming up in the bullpen Friday night. … All-star OF Matt Holliday, out since June 9 (right quad strain), did some running Saturday. “We’re just trying to pace it now, get him ready to play when we get back (from the break) against New York,” manager Mike Matheny said.

Pirates: OF Starling Marte returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the previous five games because of discomfort in his left side. The team leader in home runs, Marte batted cleanup.

— Associated Press —

Kansas City blanks Toronto in series opener 3-0

Posted on July 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy’s fastball was too much for the Toronto Blue Jays’ power hitters.

Duffy pitched six sharp innings to pick up his first victory in more than two months as the Kansas City Royals beat the Jays 3-0 Friday night.

Duffy (3-4) shut down a Blue Jays offense which leads the majors with 470 runs. He gave up four singles while walking three and hitting a batter to earn his first victory since beating Detroit on April 30.

“I wasn’t really executing a whole lot, but my fastball was good enough to get in on guys and riding a little bit,” Duffy said. “With the life I had on my fastball, I was able to get a couple of first pitch ground outs, a couple of more than I’m used to getting.

“That’s the way I needed to pitch. With how much thump they have and how many good hitters they have, keep the ball down, put a little sink on it, try to get them to roll over it and they did tonight.”

The Royals have won six straight to improve to an American League-best 51-34.

“Duffy maneuvered through a real tough lineup,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Eric Hosmer went 4 for 4, his first four-hit game of the season and his eighth career game with at least four hits. Salvador Perez, Alex Rios and Alcides Escobar each had two hits and an RBI.

Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada (6-5), who did not allow a hit until the eighth inning in two late June starts, gave up a season-high nine hits.

“It’s a long season and I know that a lot of times it’s going to feel like the changeup’s not there,” Estrada said. “I’ve just got to fight through it and work hard to get it back to the way it should be. I think I’m on the right path.”

The Blue Jays, 3-7 in July, dropped below .500 for the first time since June 8.

Rios’ double in the second scored Salvador Perez with the first run.

Escobar’s two-out fourth inning single brought home Rios to make it 2-0.

Perez homered, his 15th, in the eighth off reliever Ryan Tepera.

Duffy was in trouble only in the fourth when he walked Danny Valencia and Russell Martin singled to begin the inning, but Duffy retired the next three batters.

“You could probably say he was effectively wild,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “He’s got a good arm. He clutched up and made good pitches when he needed, good changeups. We had those chances, but it just didn’t happen.”

After Duffy exited, Royals relievers Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland completed the shutout. Holland struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save in 20 opportunities.

Rain delayed the beginning of the game for 2 hours, 7 minutes.

ROYALS RECORD

The Royals’ 51 victories before the break matches a club record. The 1976 and 2003 clubs also won 51 before the All-Star Game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: Rookie RHP Aaron Sanchez (strained right latissimus dorsi) will throw 50 pitches for Advance-A Dunedin (Florida) on Saturday. If all goes well, he will report to Triple-A Buffalo for a Thursday for a rehab start.

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas was reinstated from the bereavement/family medical emergency list after missing four games. Moustakas went 0 for 4 in his return. INF Cheslor Cuthbert was optioned to Triple-A Omaha and will play in the Future’s All-Star game Sunday in Cincinnati.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: LHP Mark Buerhle, 4-1 in his past eight starts, will start Saturday.

Royals: RHP Chris Young will be working on three days for the fourth time in his career.

— Associated Press —

USA advances to semifinals of World University Games

Posted on July 11, 2015

GWANGJU, Korea – For the first time in three World University Games, the USA will play for a medal as it defeated Lithuania, 70-48, in the quarterfinals Saturday at Dongkang College Gymnasium in Gwangju, Korea.

The USA, made up mainly of University of Kansas student-athletes and staff, went on a 25-2 run from the final minute of the third quarter to just over five minutes of the fourth period to outdistance Lithuania and advance to the semifinals against the winner of the Russia-Estonia quarterfinal, Sunday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m., 4:30 a.m. in Kansas, at Dongkang College Gymnasium. The last time USA played for a medal was when it won bronze at the 2009 World University Games, which are held every other year. USA finished fifth in 2011 Universiade and ninth in 2013.

“We played a bad third quarter, but we defended,” USA head coach Bill Self said. “Even though we only scored eight points in the third quarter, they only got 12. Then we go on a 25-2 run and it was because of defensive rebounding. We absolutely locked them up the last 13 minutes of the game. That was really a good display against a team that had been leading the tournament in scoring.”

With the score 43-42 with 1:04 left in the third quarter, USA guard Julian DeBose’s free throws started what would be an incredible run by the Americans. Guard Nic Moore made four of the first six points with two steals, resulting in a layup and a jumper. Guard Frank Mason III sandwiched in a traditional three-point play, forcing a Lithuania timeout with 8:38 to play and the USA up 52-42. Not two minutes later, Wayne Selden, Jr., drained a three-pointer off a forward Landen Lucas assist, forcing a second Lithuania timeout. Rolling, forward Perry Ellis dunked from another Lucas assist and Lucas then made a free throw to give USA a 58-42 lead at the 5:07 mark and Lithuania had yet to score in the period. Following a Lithuania basket by Paulis Dambrauskas at 4:44, the USA went on a 10-0 run en route to the victory.

Mason led USA with 18 points and four assists to go along with four steals. Moore had six steals to add to his nine points, while Lucas pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in scoring seven points. Ellis scored 11 points with six boards. Dambrauskas led Lithuania with 18 points.

“Everything starts with me – it’s starts with the point guard,” Mason said. “So I try to come out and do everything I can to get my team going. The guys did a great job of following and coming along.”

Lithuania took advantage of two USA turnovers and scored the first five points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 37-35 in favor of the Americans. With the USA up 39-37, no team scored for nearly three minutes until Mason stole the ball and raced in for a layup. On the next possession, Mason found Lucas for a dunk to give USA a 43-37 lead with 3:53 left in the period. Lithuania scored the next five points to cut the USA lead to 43-42 before DeBose drained the two free throws, his only points of the contest, to put the USA up 45-42 at the end of the period.

With the game tied at two the USA went on a 14-4 run highlighted by a Mason patented drive and lay in followed by a three-pointer and finished with a three-pointer by Selden off a Mason feed. Lithuania countered and would cut the lead to 23-18 after one period.

USA opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run with forward Hunter Mickelson capping it on a lay-in from Mason on a USA fast break which gave the Americans their largest lead of the game at 32-20 with 6:12 before intermission. Mickelson would end the contest with six points on 3-of-4 shooting and four rebounds. Lithuania was not fazed and cut the lead to seven twice including a steal and lay in by Rokas Giedraitis with 35 seconds remaining, which ended up being the halftime score at 37-30 in favor of USA.

“That’s what we came here for,” Lucas said about playing for a medal. “We still have two more games to focus on. Any medal besides gold and we’ll feel like we didn’t really accomplish what we wanted to. So we’re going for that gold.”

UP NEXT

The USA team will play the winner of the Russia-Estonia contest in the medal round semifinals on Sunday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m. local, which is 4:30 a.m., July 12, in Kansas at Dongkang College Gymnasium. The game will be televised on ESPNU and seen on the Watch ESPN app.

— KU Sports Information —