KANSAS CITY, Mo.
Wales Jersey . -- Chris Sale knew he had to pitch his best Sunday with James Shields starting for the Kansas City Royals. "Indubitably, yes," Sale said. "You know what youre getting with a starter like James. You have to bear down and do it." Sale gave up four singles in eight scoreless innings as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Royals 5-1 in a pitching duel between top starters. Alexei Ramirez and Tyler Flowers each drove in a pair of runs as the White Sox won the series finale after dropping the first two games. Sale (2-0) struck out six and walked one. In his previous four starts against the Royals, the White Sox had backed him with one run, enough to beat James Shields 1-0 in the 2012 opener. "There was an energy to Chris coming off the mound," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Big pitchers do that when you face up against a guy like Shields. He knows weve lost three in a row and hes going up against Shields and he wanted to go out and shut them down." Shields (0-1) took the loss in this one, too, giving up a run on five hits, striking out six, walking none and hitting two batters in seven innings. "What we saw out there today was two No. 1 starters that were at the top of their game," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Both of them had their A-game on the mound. Thats as good of stuff as Ive seen James Shields have. He had everything working, his fastball at 94-95, a great cutter, a great change, a great curveball. "Sale was right there with him. He has everything going. Both starters just pitched a great game, both of them." Ramirezs drove in the games first run in the seventh when Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar knocked down his grounder but had no play for Conor Gillaspie at home. Sale allowed a runner past second only in the third inning, when Lorenzo Cain and Omar Infante singled and Ramirez committed a throwing error. Sale wiggled out of trouble by retiring Danny Valencia on a pop up. Cain had two of the hits off Sale. The White Sox scored four runs in the ninth off Royals left-handed relievers Tim Collins and Francisley Bueno. The inning included a Flowers two-run single and an RBI double by Ramirez. Alex Gordon singled home Eric Hosmer in the ninth off Matt Lindstrom for the only Kansas City run. The Royals won their first replay challenge of the season when Marcus Semien was ruled safe at first, but it was overturned on a review that took 68 seconds. White Sox manager Robin Ventura challenged that Hosmer was out at first to complete a double play in the sixth, but replays indicated he was safe. Plate umpire Greg Gibson issued a warning to both benches in the sixth when Infante had to jump out of the way of Sales pitch way inside after Shields had hit two batters, including Jose Abreu in the top of the inning. "Im not trying to hit Abreu right there, theres no doubt it," Shields said. "Weve got a zero-zero ball game. Im not trying to put a runner on base. There was definitely no intent. I understand they are trying to protect their players over there, but in that situation Im not trying to hit him. I dont think theres any reason for any retaliation at all." Notes: White Sox 2B Gordon Beckham, who is on the disabled list with a left oblique strain, has been shut down after one game from a minor league rehab assignment with Double-A Birmingham, still feeling tenderness when he swings. . The White Sox starting lineup Saturday included four Cuban-born players: C Adrian Nieto, RF Dayan Viciedo, SS Alexei Ramirez and Abreu. The last team to start four Cubans were the Indians on April 8, 1969 -- SS Zolio Versalles, RHP Luis Tiant, CF Jose Cardenal and C Joe Azcue. .The Royals will start LHP Jason Vargas against Tampa Bay on Monday, while the Rays probable is LHP Matt Moore. .The White Sox will start RHP Felipe Paulino for the series opener at Colorado. RHP Jordan Lyles will be the Rockies starter.
Joe Allen Jersey . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.
Joe Ledley Jersey .A. remained bitter for Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers on the long flight back home to New York.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Bojan Bogdanovic led the way for the Brooklyn Nets with a season-high 22 points. Bogdanovics three-point field goal with 5:41 remaining in the fourth quarter sparked a Nets 15-7 run to seal a 104-96 victory against the Orlando Magic.KG (Kevin Garnett) found me, Bogdanovic said. He found me on like four or five layups. I got involved in the game after I scored the three-pointer and we turned in a great game with all the offence we played.Since he arrived from overseas Bogdanovic has impressed Deron Williams.Hes a rookie, but hes not because hes played at a high level for so long, Williams said. Hes 25 years old and he knows how to play the game. He doesnt have much of a weakness. He can pass, he can shoot, he can dribble and he can post up. Hes very versatile. He means a lot to this team.Williams believes Bogdanovic can produce at a high level because of coach Lionel Hollins offensive system.Our offence is the kind of offence where if you screen, if you cut hard, if you move, youre going to get open, Williams said. Also, I think teams are keying on myself, Joe (Johnson) and Brook (Lopez) and hes going to benefit from that. He finds himself getting wide open shots, but hes also doing a great job of attacking the defence.Mason Plumlee added 12 points and 10 rebounds while Williams and Garnett each had seven assists for Brooklyn (4-2).Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Vucevic scored 17 of Orlandos 25 points in the third quarter as the Magic trailed 81-77 entering the fourth quarter.I felt like I got it going, Vucevic said. My teammates were able to find me for that mid-range and I had a couple rolls to the basket and I was able to finish around the basket after missing in thee first couple of periods.
Gareth Bale Jersey. I felt pretty good, wish we just came out with a win.Evan Fournier scored 19 points in the loss for Orlando.Brooklyn ended the game with a small lineup, which included Garnett at centre and Johnson at power forward. That lineup slowed down Vucevic, who didnt have a field goal attempt for the entire fourth quarter.Lopez sat the entire fourth quarter after failing to slow down Vucevic on defence.Yeah, he wasnt guarding, coach Hollins said. I want him to guard, simple as that. Get on him.Brooklyn finished with a 45-31 rebounding advantage over Orlando (2-5).Magic coach Jacque Vaughn thought that was the main reason for the loss.We got out-rebounded pretty badly so that produced points in the paint and with us thats pretty easy to come by right now, coach Vaughn said. A lot of times, rebounding is position, your early work. I think we can continue to address that and take care of that.TIP-INSNets: Bogdanovic scored a season-high 22 points, which marked the highest scoring total for a rookie in a single game this season. Joe Johnson eclipsed the 4,000-rebound mark with his second rebound the first quarter. Brooklyn is now 5-0 against Orlando all-time at Barclays Center.Magic: Victor Oladipo (facial fracture), Kyle OQuinn (sprained left ankle) and Devyn Marble (strained rotator cuff) were sidelined for Orlando. Oladipo wore a clear mask to cover his face during pregame warm-ups. Oladipo worked on offensive pick-and-roll offensive plays on the court and then rode a stationary bike in the tunnel.UP NEXT:Nets: Brooklyn begins a three-game West Coast trip Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.Magic: Orlando is on the road Tuesday for a matchup against the Toronto Raptors.
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