ble in the eighth, but Tyler Thornburg threw a called third strike pa

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez was a bit miffed when he showed up to the park on Thursday. The Kansas City Royals big, affable catcher had worked nine innings the previous night in a game that was delayed nearly three hours by rain and a lighting outage, so manager Ned Yost thought he would give Perez the afternoon off from behind the plate against the Cleveland Indians. "There was no way he was going to play him today," Yost explained later, "but I told him to be ready, because you could have an impact on this game." That proved to be quite the prediction. Perez entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and delivered a bases-loaded double, sending the Royals to a 10-7 victory over the Indians on a sun-splashed afternoon. "I just felt a little sad coming into the clubhouse and seeing the lineup," Perez said, "but I just had to be ready for the sixth inning, the seventh inning, whatever the case." Lorenzo Cain hit his first career grand slam and George Kottaras followed with a solo shot in the sixth inning for the Royals, allowing them to rally from an early 5-0 deficit. The Indians regained the lead on Carlos Santanas two-run double in the seventh, but the Royals answered again in the bottom half when Eric Hosmer cracked a two-run homer. Indians reliever Bryan Shaw (0-2) walked Kottaras to lead off the eighth and then hit Johnny Giavotella. Shaw was lifted for Rich Hill, who promptly walked Jarrod Dyson to load the bases. "We knew Perez was sitting over there ready to hit," Indians manager Terry Francona said. He came through with the biggest hit of the day. "We didnt get the job done the last two nights," said Indians reliever Joe Smith, who served up Hosmers homer. "It leaves a sour taste in your mouth." Luke Hochevar (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth inning for the Royals, and Greg Holland worked around a single in the ninth for his second straight save and his 19th on the season. The Royals scored at least 10 runs for only the fourth time this year -- despite only six hits -- by taking advantage of eight walks and a costly hit batter by the Indians. "In the sixth, seventh and eighth, we walked the leadoff hitter every inning," Francona said. "We just put ourselves in a tough position even though we scored seven runs." Drew Stubbs homered and drove in four runs, and Michael Brantley had four hits and also drove in a run for Cleveland, which had won five straight and pulled into first place in the wide open AL Central before losing its last two games to the Royals in wild fashion. Hosmers go-ahead shot in the seventh on Wednesday night gave Kansas City a 6-5 victory. "The character of this offence is were not quitting," Hosmer said. "We told ourselves before, if were going to make a run at this, these are big games to make up ground, facing the teams ahead of you in the division. We didnt want to let this opportunity slip away." Things looked good for the Indians at the start on Thursday. They took a quick lead on Brantleys single in the first and then Stubbs made it 3-0 with his homer in the second. James Shields put the Indians leadoff batter on base for the fourth time before Santana singled in the sixth. Aviles added a one-out single and Lonnie Chisenhall walked to load the bases for Stubbs, who delivered a two-run single that made it 5-0 and knocked Shields from the game. The prize acquisition in a blockbuster trade with Tampa Bay, Shields went 29 consecutive starts of at least six innings before lasting five against the White Sox on June 23. His early ouster on Thursday made it fewer than six in two of his last three starts. Ubaldo Jimenez had allowed just two hits and kept the Royals in check until the sixth inning, when he led it off by walking his fourth and fifth batters of the game. An error on Jimenez while trying to cover first loaded the bases with nobody out. Cain came to the plate and hit a 3-2 pitch to centre for his first career grand slam, and the second of the series by the Royals. Alex Gordon hit one in Tuesday nights opener. Kottaras, getting the start at catcher for Perez, added his tying shot to right moments later. It was only his third of the season but the second time Kottaras has been involved in back-to-back home runs: He did it with Dyson on June 23 against the White Sox. Jason Kipnis, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 15 games, drew a leadoff walk and Brantley singled off Gutierrez in the seventh before Santanas double made it 7-5. Hosmer matched both runs in the bottom half with his seventh homer in his last 12 games. Thats how the game remained until Perez cleared the bases with his double in the eighth, the three RBI boosting the Royals to their seventh straight win in a game Shields has started. "Weve been doing a good job of coming back all year. Were real resilient," Shields said. "Im proud of these guys. Hopefully we can get a little string of wins together." NOTES: The Royals (24-19) began the day with the ALs second-best winning percentage on July 4. The Indians (88-73) had the fifth-best percentage. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis will start Friday against Oakland. Indians RHP Justin Masterson will take the mound against Detroit. LaDainian Tomlinson Jersey . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Mike Williams Youth Jersey . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-lance-alworth-jersey.html . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Joey Bosa Youth Jersey . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Jerry Tillery Womens Jersey . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. CHICAGO -- Wrigley Field was dark and empty when a loud cheer reverberated throughout the neighborhood surrounding the iconic ballpark.While the Chicago Cubs decided to delay their party, their long-downtrodden fans were ready to celebrate.Chicago wasted its first chance to clinch the NL Central title when pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning Thursday night, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-4 victory. But St. Louis 6-2 loss at San Francisco completed the Cubs season-long dominance of the division.It appeared manager Joe Maddon and his players were long gone when the West Coast game wrapped up. But the final out in San Francisco touched off a celebration in Chicago that included honking horns and chanting in the streets.This is just the first step, Maddon said before the Cardinals lost. I mean, we have much larger baseball fish to fry in our skillet.The Cubs (93-53) were hoping to begin a 10-game homestand with a boozy celebration of their first division title since 2008. But Keon Broxton homered and Orlando Arcia drove in two runs for Milwaukee, making Chicago wait a little while longer.Now the party shifts to Friday, right after the Cubs afternoon start against the Brewers. It might be a bit anticlimactic for Maddon and Co., but they took all the drama out of the division race long ago.Led by a stellar pitching staff and MVP contenders Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Chicago got off to a sizzling 25-6 start. After stumbling into the All-Star break, the Cubs pulled away with a 22-6 August that turned the NL Central race into a mere formality.But the division title is not how this group of Cubs will be judged, not this year. After running roughshod over the rest of the majors for most of the season, they are trying to end the franchises famous championship drought that goes all the way back to when the Cubs beat the Tigers in the 1908 World Series.Weve got a lot ahead of us. We really do, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said before the loss to Milwaukee. It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October.Its only the fourth time the Cubs have reached the postseason in consecutive seasons. They got in as a wild card last year and made it to the NL Championship Series before they were swept by the New York Mets.The offseason additions of Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward only added to the anticipation for the Cubs loyal fan base, and they have delivered up until this point.dddddddddddd But many of those same fans also were around for the last division title, when the 2008 Cubs won 97 games and then were swept by the Dodgers in the division series.Theres no team Id rather be going into October with, Epstein said. But there are never favorites in October the same way there are in the regular season.Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who had won three of four. Mike Montgomery pitched six solid innings and helped himself with a tying single in the fourth for his first career hit.Justin Grimm (1-1) replaced Montgomery in the seventh, and the Brewers put runners on first and third with one out. Gennett, batting for Jimmy Nelson (8-14), blooped an 0-2 curveball into the corner in left for a 5-3 Milwaukee lead.I was just trying to put the ball in play, Gennett said. Hes a guy who throws a lot of curveballs so its important not to get too big or try to do too much. Its really just, get a good pitch to hit and put it in play.The Cubs got one back on Heywards RBI double in the eighth, but Tyler Thornburg threw a called third strike past pinch-hitter Willson Contreras with runners at the corners to end the inning.Thornburg also worked the ninth for his 10th save in 15 chances.It was just a flat-out good ballgame, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. Obviously, with where theyre at, there was great energy in the park tonight.TRAINERS ROOMBrewers: RHP Michael Blazek (right forearm strain) threw a simulated game. Counsell would like to get Blazek into some games before the end of the season, but said theres no rush. The goal with Mike is just to go into the offseason healthy, Counsell said.Cubs: RHP Pedro Strop, who tweaked his right groin while working his way back from arthroscopic left knee surgery, threw a bullpen and said it went well. Hes getting close, Maddon said. Its not far off.UP NEXTMaddon likely will rest several regulars when the series resumes Friday afternoon. RHP John Lackey (9-8, 3.35 ERA) is scheduled to face Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (8-11, 4.53).---Follow Jay Cohen at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '