Russias Olympic team was rejected by the IOC.Russi | Forum

CHICAGO -- With just five wins in late July, the temptation is to think that James Shields is having an off year. Mathieu Perreault Jersey . Not true, said Kansas City manager Ned Yost. Shields tossed seven shutout innings on Friday night to lead the Royals to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, and Yost believes that performance was right in line with the way the veteran right-hander has pitched this season. "Forget the record," Yost said. "The record doesnt tell a quarter of the story of the way hes pitched all year. Hes been really, really good. Hes an innings eater (and) he keeps us in the game every time. Weve just struggled to score runs for him. "But tonight was good that he got a W. He pitched great." Shields (5-7) allowed eight hits and walked two but faced only one real scoring threat, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. He lowered his ERA to 3.09 and has been especially effective on the road, where he improved to 4-3 with a 2.50 ERA in 12 starts. Afterward, Shields preferred to talk about the team. The Royals (49-51) have won four straight and six of eight since the All-Star break. "I think were playing some decent baseball right now," Shields said. "I think theres always room to improve, but right now were on a little bit of a roll and its nice. I think were playing on all cylinders right now. Our defence has been playing amazing. Obviously, Lorenzo Cain made a couple of nice catches tonight and the pitchers are making pitches when they need to." Chicago starter Jose Quintana (5-3) also pitched well but allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings to pick up the loss. "Hes a good pitcher and its just one of those things where he doesnt get really what he deserves," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He was sharp." Royals right-fielder David Lough led off the top of the third inning with a home run into the right-field bullpen to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Thats where the score stayed until the seventh, when the Royals stretched the lead to 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Tejada that scored Salvador Perez, who led off the inning with a double. The White Soxs best threat against Shields came in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with two outs. But catcher Josh Phegley grounded into a fielders choice to third base on the first pitch to end the inning. Shields showed his veteran savvy in working out of the jam. With Gordon Beckham at the plate with runners on second and third with two outs, Shields fed the White Sox second baseman a steady diet of breaking balls. Beckham was 0 for 2 to that point, but both outs were drives to deep centre. "Beckhams a pretty good hitter and hes got pretty good numbers against me," Shields said. "He hit the ball hard twice earlier in the game and I had the catcher right behind him. I felt like there was a base open and Im not going to give him too much to hit in that situation." Beckham walked to load the bases, but Shields got Phegley to ground out softly on a slider. The Sox finally got on the board in the eighth on a solo homer by Conor Gillaspie, but the Royals added three insurance runs in the ninth on run-scoring hits by Cain and Mike Moustakas, and a sacrifice fly by Lough. NOTES: White Sox RHP Jesse Crain, who has been on the disabled list since July 3 with a right shoulder strain, played catch on Thursday and said afterward, "It definitely wasnt better today." Crain, who has a 0.74 ERA in 38 appearances this season, said he will take four or five days off before throwing again next week. ... Although hes not ready to commit to it long-term, Royals manager Ned Yost said he will keep first baseman Eric Hosmer batting second for now. "Traditionally, a situational guy hits second," Yost said. The slugging Hosmer was hitting .321 with a .519 slugging percentage in July before Friday. ... Beckham was back in the lineup after missing five games with a strained left wrist, the same wrist he had surgery on earlier this season. "Theres some soreness but no pain, so its go time," he said. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis (4-9) faces LHP Chris Sale (6-9) Saturday night in the second game of the series. Connor Hellebuyck Jets Jersey . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. Laurie Boschman Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-nikolaj-ehlers-jets-jersey/ . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. COLLEGE FOOTBALLAUSTIN, Texas -- Texas says nothing has been decided on football coach Charlie Strong.Longhorns athletic director Mike Perrin, in the face of swirling reports that school officials had decided to fire Strong at the end of a third bad season, dismissed them as rumors and said the coach would be evaluated after playing TCU on Friday.Perrin, who has been publicly supportive of Strong all season, didnt say Strong would return.There are a number of rumors out there about the status of Coach Strong. Ive said it all along, we will evaluate the body of work after the regular season. We have a game to get ready for against TCU on Friday, and I hope our fans will come out and support our team. Well discuss where things stand after that, Perrin said.That sets up an awkward Monday for Strong when he addresses reporters on the Big 12 coaches conference call, and then later at his weekly campus news conference, which is televised by the Longhorn Network.UNDATED -- The Big Ten placed three teams in the top five of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time in 56 years, setting up a No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchup for Ohio State and Michigan.Alabama was a unanimous No. 1 in the poll released Sunday. The Buckeyes were No. 2 and Wolverines No. 3. They meet in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday in a game with Big Ten and national championship implications.Clemson is No. 4, and No. 5 Wisconsin gives the Big Ten three of the first five for the first time since Nov. 7, 1960, when Minnesota was No. 1, Ohio State was No. 3 and Iowa was No. 5.Louisville dropped eight spots to No. 11 after getting trounced by Houston, which jumped in at No. 18.AUTO RACINGHOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson tied Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with a record seven NASCAR championships when the hard-luck breaks of racing turned Sundays title-deciding finale into his crowning moment.Johnson probably had the worst car of the four championship contenders at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but a strange sequence of events opened the track for him to take the title over Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and defending champion Kyle Busch. Nikolaj Ehlers Jersey. .Edwards was in position to win until a caution with 10 laps remaining set up a wild sequence that ruined his title hopes. Edwards tried to block Logano on the restart, wound up wrecked, and it was Johnson who drove through the wreckage to take the championship lead.Johnson had to withstand two more restarts, including one in overtime, to score his first career victory at Homestead in the most monumental race of his career.PRO FOOTBALLNFL kickers missed like never before Sunday, setting a record with 12 failed extra point attempts.Kickers missed left and right, had kicks blocked and hit the uprights. Kickers missed in the wind and indoors. With several games left, kickers already had the most misses in one week since the NFL merger.The NFL moved extra-point attempts back before last season because the kicks had become routine, and professionals almost never missed. The 18-yard attempt became a 35-yarder. In Week 13 of last season, kickers missed eight. That mark was eclipsed by mid-afternoon Sunday.OLYMPICSGLASGOW, Scotland -- Russian sport is a long way from convincing the world that it has cleaned up its act, the World Anti-Doping Agency declared Sunday, pointing to the states failure to accept it was behind a doping program, its continued obstruction of testing, and a series of cyberattacks.Russia is seeking readmission to WADA a year after being declared non-compliant with the doping code, following the publication of a report detailing widespread cheating in track and field.Fresh evidence of state-backed doping cover-ups was revealed by investigators ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Games, although WADAs recommendation of a blanket ban on Russias Olympic team was rejected by the IOC.Russias integrity is set to be challenged again when Canadian law professor Richard McLarens final doping report is published on Dec. 9, with the focus on winter sports.WADA also said Sunday that a gene doping test will be used shortly by accredited laboratories. 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