to a strong start. Toronto fought back to take a 37-36 lead with 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On paper, it didnt look like a good matchup for Jeremy Guthrie. The Kansas City Royals starter had yielded an American League high 12 home runs and the Chicago White Sox rank second in the AL with 52 long balls. The right-hander didnt get the win, but he beat the odds. Guthrie, Wade Davis and Greg Holland combined on a four-hitter and the Kansas City Royals rallied in the eighth inning to beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1 Wednesday night and avoid being swept in their three-game series. "I try to win and try not to give up home runs," Guthrie said. "You tell me how Im doing. Ive got 12 home runs and two wins. So I guess Im not doing so hot on either." The White Sox had scored 14 runs and hit five home runs in the first two games. "Today was more defence and pitching," Guthrie said. "They hit for power, which is obviously dangerous anytime when you have a chance to leave the yard. It makes it tough to pitch to them." Guthrie, who is winless in seven starts since an April 9 victory over Tampa Bay, left after seven innings with the score 1-1. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out two. "He just moves the ball in and out," White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie said. "Guthrie throws a lot of pitches out of the zone and it seemed like he does it on purpose, but not really today. We just kept swinging at it." Guthrie credited his fastball for his success against the White Sox. "I thought the fastball was used effectively to both sides of the plate to all the hitters. ..." he said. "My mindset was to throw strikes and get deep into the game." Wade Davis (3-1) struck out two in a flawless eighth and has tossed 10 scoreless innings in his last nine appearances. Greg Holland logged his 13th save in 14 chances, but not before giving up a single to Dayan Viciedo and walking Adam Dunn in the ninth. "It makes everybodys job easier when you have Wade and Holland and the way theyre thrown the ball all season long," Guthrie said. The Royals snapped a 1-1 tie in the eighth when Nori Aoki scored on Billy Butlers sacrifice fly. Aoki started the one-out rally with a bunt single on a two-strike count. He advanced to third on Alcides Escobars single. Eric Hosmer was walked intentionally to load the bases, and Aoki scored on Butlers fly to right. "Thats actually the first time in my entire baseball career Ive bunted with two strikes," Aoki said. "I was actually pretty nervous. Pedro (Grifol, hitting coach) convinced me to do it. I guess I have a pretty high chance of getting a bunt down, so it doesnt really matter what the count is. Im glad I was able to do that today." Danny Valencia then walked on five pitches, scoring Escobar with the second run of the inning. Paul Konerko, who leads all active visiting players with 149 RBIs at Kauffman Stadium, singled to left in the second to score Alexei Ramirez for the Chicagos run. The Royals tied it in the third when Aokis groundball single to left scored Pedro Ciriaco. The Royals wasted a chance to take the lead in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out on singles by Butler, Valencia and Lorenzo Cain. Ciriaco, however, rolled the first pitch back to the mound and left-hander Jose Quintana started an inning ending double play. Quintana (2-4) took the loss, charged with three runs on eight hits over 7 1-3 innings. "I feel a little bit sad for no win," Quintana said. "It was a really hard game. We won the series and well get ready for the next game. I think next time itll be better for me. I dont get frustrated. I only have control to pitch a good game." NOTES: RHP Matt Lindstrom, who tops the White Sox with six saves, will have left ankle surgery to repair a torn sheath Friday and is expected to be out three months. RHP Ronald Belisario will close out White Sox games in Lindstroms absence. . White Sox LHP Chris Sale will come off the disabled list Thursday and start against the Yankees, his first outing since April 17. . The Royals 20 home runs rank last in the majors. Best Site Buy China Jerseys . Cesar said the difficulties he went through after the 2010 World Cup helped him become "a better professional" and made him "more focused" on his career. He admitted that he took things for granted before the World Cup in South Africa, when he arrived considered the worlds top goalkeeper. Wholesale Jerseys Online . The 42-ranked Czech saved seven break points while converting his one chance, and defeated the No. 3 seed in 1 hour 46 minutes. Rosol, who lost in the final in Stuttgart against Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday, awaits the winner between Philipp Kohlschreiber or 2011 champion Gilles Simon. https://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ . -- Jack Del Rio only wanted to talk about the Cowboys, not the Trojans. Cheap Jerseys Review . Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field.NEW YORK -- Road crowds and fourth-quarter deficits are suddenly no problem for the Toronto Raptors, who have turned from chokers to closers. "Last year we were in a ton of situations, late-game situations we couldnt pull out. Wed kind of fold under the pressure, get frustrated or let a big shot frustrate us," guard DeMar DeRozan said. "Now, we dont let none of that get to us." Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, DeRozan scored 25 and the Raptors rallied for a 95-83 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night. The Raptors trailed by 12 points in the third quarter but outscored the Knicks 29-12 in the fourth to take the opener of a home-and-home series. "Second half we picked it up defensively and offensively. We got the ball up the floor a little bit faster, picked up the pace in that third and fourth quarter, and really made a charge down the stretch," point guard Kyle Lowry said. Lowry had 15 points and 11 assists for the Atlantic Division leaders, who host the Knicks on Saturday with a chance to extend their lead to five games over last seasons division champions. Andrea Bargnani had 18 points and 12 rebounds against his former team. Beno Udrih finished with 15 points and 10 assists for the Knicks, who played again without Carmelo Anthony because of a sprained left ankle. Anthony was hurt Monday and had hoped to play against Oklahoma City on Christmas, but instead might be out until the new year. Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Anthony likely wouldnt travel with the team to Toronto for the rematch. The Raptors won for the fifth time in their last six road games, this one adding to a recent stretch of impressive fourth-quarter performances. The Raptors started the fourth with an 11-0 run in an overtime victory at Dallas on Dec. 20, then outscored Oklahoma City 29-14 on Sunday while handing the Thunder their first home loss. Toronto shot 9 of 18 in the fourth quarter, held the Knicks to 5 of 19 and had a 16-9 rebounding advantage. "Fourth quarter we just couldnt get a win. We couldnt get stops. They played well down the stretch," said thee Knicks Amare Stoudemire, wearing a brace over what he said was a jammed right wrist from the previous game but adding he expected to play Saturday.dddddddddddd. John Salmons 3-pointer gave Toronto the lead for good with 8:07 left, and DeRozan followed with a jumper. After J.R. Smiths basket, Salmons made another 3 before Valanciunas scored to make it 81-75. Valanciunas had a three-point play that made it 91-81 with 2:01 remaining. Despite the Knicks miserable 9-20 record, Woodson has continued to point their focus toward the division title. The Knicks thought for most of the game they would cut their deficit to two games, but instead headed north of the border down four. "Its just disappointing because I felt like we had the game in control for a big part of the game. And then kind of let it dwindle away fourth quarter, its pretty disheartening," centre Tyson Chandler said. Despite playing without Anthony and point guard Raymond Felton, the Knicks jumped out to a strong start. Toronto fought back to take a 37-36 lead with 3:17 to go in the second, but the Knicks outscored the Raptors 13-3 the rest of the half, with Smiths second 3-pointer during that span coming with 4.5 seconds left and giving New York a 49-40 lead. The Knicks extended it to 61-49 on Tim Hardaway Jr.s 3-pointer with 7:17 remaining in the third, but the Raptors had it down to 71-66 by the end of the period before controlling the fourth. Smith had 17 points and Hardaway added 15. NOTES: Saturdays game is the last of 2013 for the Knicks, who are off until visiting San Antonio, Houston and Dallas from Jan. 2-5. ... Woodson wouldnt comment on an ESPN.com report that Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan met with the team Thursday and told players there were no trades or coaching changes forthcoming. Knicks forward Metta World Peace, who played despite a sore left knee, said he wasnt there and couldnt comment because he was an alien. "I was in another galaxy yesterday with my galactic friends," he said. ... Toronto and New York will have played eight times in 2013. The Raptors only faced Orlando once. ' ' '