Talk » eims goal came on the power play from LW Patrick Maroo

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Max Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers won their appeal on a wild play, and Joe Nathan escaped a ninth-inning jam to hold off the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Saturday and boost their AL Central lead. The Tigers increased their edge to 2 1/2 games over the Royals. Kansas City fell into a tie for the second wild-card spot with Seattle, which played later at Houston. Detroit, seeking its fourth straight division title, has won 13 of 18 against the Royals this year, including eight of nine at Kauffman Stadium. Scherzer (17-5) outpitched James Shields (14-8). The Royals put two runners on against Nathan, but he retired Nori Aoki and pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez on grounders for his 33th save in 40 tries. It was 1-all in the sixth when a line drive and a wild throw led to an appeal toss and a pair of umpire discussions that wound up ruling a Royals runner had left third base too soon. With Salvador Perez on third and Eric Hosmer on second with one out, Omar Infante lined out to Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler. Trying for a double play, Kinsler threw to shortstop Eugenio Suarez and the ball sailed into left field. Perez, who had been trying to get back to third after the catch, reversed course, headed home and appeared to score the go-ahead run. Scherzer got back on the mound and made an appeal throw to third, saying that Perez never tagged up. Third base umpire Larry Vanover called Perez safe, prompting Tigers manager Brad Ausmus to ask for video review challenge. The umpires checked with the replay booth in New York, and were told the play was not reviewable. As a replay was displayed on the videoboard, clearly showing that Perez never tagged up, the umpires gathered again and reversed their original call. They ruled Perez out, ending the inning. Pinch-hitter Tyler Collins and Rajai Davis hit RBI singles in the seventh. Torii Hunter opened the Tigers fourth with his 17th home run. He also singled in the sixth for his sixth straight multihit game, the longest streak of his career. Alcides Escobar hit an RBI single in the fifth and Hosmer singled home a run in the eighth. Jarrod Dyson and Escobar singled with one out in the ninth. They moved up on Aokis groundout and were stranded on Ibanezs grounder. Aoki, who was 13 for 16 in the past four games, put down sacrifice bunts in first and third innings, but the Royals failed to convert that into a run off Scherzer. TRAINERS ROOM Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez, who has not pitched since Aug. 8 because of a right pectoralis strain, will throw a simulated game Sunday. ... C Alex Avila remains sidelined with concussion-like symptoms and has not played since Sunday. Royals: LHP Danny Duffy, who has missed his past two starts with a sore shoulder, threw a bullpen session in the ninth inning Friday and is scheduled to rejoin the rotation Tuesday at Cleveland. Duffys previous start was Sept. 6 at New York, but departed after one pitch with shoulder pain. UP NEXT Tigers: Sunday starter Rick Porcello is 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA in three starts this season against the Royals, allowing 17 hits and striking out 16 in 20 1-3 innings. Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie gave up eight runs, six earned, on 10 hits and one walk in 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season, in a Sept. 8 start at Detroit. Hernan Perez Jersey . - No matter the lineup or location, the San Antonio Spurs are rolling through the NBA again this spring, just the way they have for most of the last two decades. Jesus Aguilar Jersey . And yet as they left TD Garden amid the slush and snow of a winter storm on Thursday evening, there was a sense among the Leafs that they had finally stood toe to toe with their long-time bully, only to fall just short. http://www.brewersteamshop.com/Brewers-Corey-Knebel-Kids-Jersey/ .J. -- Kevin Gilbride retired Thursday as offensive co-ordinator for the New York Giants. Lorenzo Cain Jersey . Only it wasnt the extended right pad of his old teammate Jonathan Bernier early in the final frame, it was James Reimer, who stole a night that was supposed to belong to the former King. Matt Garza Jersey . Ending a nine-game losing streak? That gave the Milwaukee Bucks veteran forward a reason to smile.The Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings combined for 32 shots on goal, yet both won Monday night. Notes on Crosby, Fleury, Diaz, Gaborik, Schultz and more. FLEURY SHUTS OUT RANGERS, AGAIN Sidney Crosbys first goal of the postseason was the game-winner and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 35 New York Rangers shots he faced, giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 2-0 win in Game Three and a 2-1 lead in the series. Crosby played 16:54, a threshold that he surpassed in 86 of 88 previous games this season and only had one shot on goal, but it found the back of the net, going five-hole on Henrik Lundqvist after being sent in on a partial breakaway by a Robert Bortuzzo pass. Crosbys goal gives him seven points (1 G, 6 A) in nine playoff games, which is below his standard, but getting off the goose-egg ought to alleviate some pressure. The Penguins other goal was a gift for Jussi Jokinen, who picked up an errant Rangers pass for a breakaway as he stepped out of the penalty box. Jokinen now has seven points (4 G, 3 A) in the playoffs and, with four shots on goal, was the only Penguin with more than two shots on goal in the game. Back-to-back shutouts sure changes the view on the playoff performance of Fleury, who had allowed at least three goals in six of his first seven games in the playoffs, but hes stopped all 57 shots that the Rangers have sent his way in the last two nights. His save percentage is up to .919 for this postseason. While the Rangers held a possession advantage by games end, they gained that advantage on their punchless power play (now 0-for-30 in the past eight games) and once the Penguins had built their 2-0 lead. Before that point, the Penguins had 24 5-on-5 shot attempts for and 23 against (51.1%). After that, the Rangers held a 24-9 (72.7%) edge, but those are empty possession calories, a nature of the way the game is played by teams holding a multi-goal lead. The player sending the most shots toward the Pittsburgh net for the Rangers was D Raphael Diaz, who had six shots on goal and nine shot attempts in his first game of the postseason. Next was RW Rick Nash, who had eight shot attempts, but is still looking for his first playoff goal this year. Nash has two goals in 25 career playoff games. The schedule has been ridiculous for the Rangers, who have played five games in seven days, but tthey had better hope that getting back on a more normal schedule will be enough for them to solve a suddenly-hot Marc-Andre Fleury.dddddddddddd KINGS HOLD ON TO BEAT DUCKS Jonathan Quick stopped 36 of 37 shots while Marian Gaborik and Alec Martinez scored first-period goals, then the Los Angeles Kings held on (adding an empty-netter by Dwight King) to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1, taking a 2-0 series lead. Gaborik scored his playoff-leading sixth goal just 34 seconds into the game, after scoring the last two goals of Game One, and the Kings were off and running. Martinez, who finished the year strong (7 G, 8 A in 22 GP after the Olympics) now has two goals and five points in nine playoff games. Perhaps the most remarkable part of the night for Los Angeles was that D Jeff Schultz, playing with Robyn Regehr and Willie Mitchell injured, logged 19:58 of ice time, ranking fourth on the Kings blueline behind Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin and Slava Voynov. That might not seem like such a big deal -- someone had to play those minutes -- but Schultz didnt play a game in the NHL this season. He had 13 points (2 G, 11 A) and was plus-10 in 67 AHL games. Schultz was minus-10 in Corsi for Game Two but that ice time played into that deficit. Anaheims goal came on the power play from LW Patrick Maroon, their third-leading playoff scorer (2 G, 4 A, 8 GP), behind Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The Ducks were dominating the possession game, but couldnt solve Quick and now head to Staples Center down two games in the series. With the ice tilted so heavily in Anaheims favour, the defence pairing of Ben Lovejoy and Cam Fowler was on for better than 80% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Anaheim was seven seconds away from winning Game One and carried the play in Game Two, yet still lost, so while they are facing a daunting task to come back, they have been able to handle the puck possession game against a Kings team that was the leagues best in that respect during the regular season. It may not do them much good, but its more encouraging than getting beaten from pillar-to-post in the first couple games. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '