he last month. They added closer Marc Melancon, traded Felipe Rivero, cut Jonathan

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Joakim Soria blew another save and the Kansas City Royals chances to return to the postseason took another hit.Pinch hitter Yonder Alonso delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics rallied past Kansas City 5-4 Tuesday night.The defending World Series champion Royals dropped five games out of the wild-card race with only 18 games left.Thats a really hard situation to come in to, Alonso said. I think early on, I knew I was going to have an opportunity, a meaningful opportunity obviously, with the game on the line to come up with a big at-bat.Soria blew his seventh save chance in eight opportunities. He was summoned with two outs in the eighth and the Royals clinging to a 3-2 lead.On his second pitch, Soria gave up a double to Alonso over the head of center fielder Jarrod Dyson, scoring Brett Eibner and pinch runner Joey Wendle.Soria then yielded an RBI single to Marcus Semien.Its a difficult position when youre not used to that, said Soria, who has 203 career saves. This season has been really, really different to me. I guess in 10 years it can happen sometimes.Unfortunately for me and my team, it happened this year. They need me the most and Ive been having poor results, he said.Rookie Matthew Strahm (2-1), who gave up an infield single to Chad Pinder before Soria replaced him, took the loss.Royals manager Ned Yost said he did not to use Kelvin Herrera for a four-out save and Wade Davis was unavailable after throwing nearly 50 pitches in back-to-back saves Saturday and Sunday.I had confidence in Jack, Yost said. I thought it was a good situation for him. I didnt mind the matchup with Alonso. Jacks had two days off.Ultimately, its my plan. Im responsible for my plan. And that was my plan and it didnt work, he said.Will he continue to use Soria in those pressure situations?I dont make decisions after games like this, Yost said. I havent even thought about. Im not even going to speculate on what Im going to do, without thinking about it and sleeping on it.Jacks that guy right now that everybody is on. Jacks had some really good outings this year and hes had some poor outings. How do you determine from one day to the next if I put him out there if its going to be a good outing or a bad outing? It very easily could have been a good outing. It wasnt, he said.John Axford (6-4) pitched one inning. Ryan Madson balked home Dyson with two outs in the ninth before closing for his 30th save in 36 tries.Royals starter Danny Duffy, who has not won since Aug. 21, limited the As to three hits, but two were home runs, in 7 1/3 innings.Duffy gave up a home run to Khris Davis on his first pitch in the fifth. Davis has homered in back-to-back games and hiked his season total to 37, which is the most by an Athletics player since Frank Thomas hit 39 in 2006.Ryon Healy homered to lead off the eighth. After Duffy walked Eibner with one out, he was replaced by Strahm.Paulo Orlando hit a two-run single in the fourth to score Cheslor Cuthbert, who had doubled, and Alcides Escobar, who reached on Semiens error.Semien has committed 11 errors in the past 53 games and tops major league shortstops with 19 fielding miscues.Escobars two-out single in the sixth scored Salvador Perez and chased Jharel Cotton, who was making his second big league start since being acquired in an Aug. 1 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Cotton allowed three runs, only one earned, in 5 2/3 innings, while walking one and striking out two.Im just going out there and pitching the way I know how to pitch, Cotton said. Im not trying to do anything special, just go out there and give my team a chance to win every time I get the ball.ROOKIES GALOREThe As started five rookies -- 2B Pinder, RF Eibner, 3B Healy, DH Renato Nunez and RHP Cotton -- matching a season high.FOOTBALL VISITAs manager Bob Melvin stopped by the Chiefs practice Tuesday. He is a friend of Chiefs coach Andy Reed. The managers cousin, Tom Melvin, coaches the Chiefs tight ends.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (right biceps tendinitis) is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday. I dont think it will be tomorrow, but hes definitely making progress, Yost said. ... Perez returned to the lineup after missing the game Tuesday for the birth of his second son, Johan Salvador.UP NEXTAthletics: LHP Sean Manaea will make his first start since Aug. 29 when he left after 3 1/3 innings with strained left rhomboid muscles in the shoulder blade.Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura gave up a season-high 10 hits over seven innings in a loss Friday to the White Sox. Wholesale Jerseys For Sale . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Cheap Jerseys From China . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. http://www.authenticwholesalejerseys.net/ .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. NFL Jerseys Outlet . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. SAN ANTONIO -- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich spoke Friday about his frustration with Tuesdays election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.Im still sick to my stomach, and not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor, tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, he said before the Spurs home game against the Detroit Pistons. And I live in that country where half the people ignored all that to elect someone. Thats the scariest part of [the] whole thing to me.Its got nothing to do with the environment, Obamacare and all the other stuff. We live in a country that ignored all those values that we would hold our kids accountable for.Popovich spoke with reporters for nearly six minutes about the election. He said he understands why some, including political leaders, are calling for Americans to support the president-elect. But Popovich said Trumps words cannot be simply overlooked and forgotten.Everybody wants him to be successful. Its our country; we dont want it to go down the drain, Popovich said. Any reasonable person would come to that conclusion, but it does not take away the fact that he used that fear-mongering and all the comments from day one. The race-baiting with trying to make Barack Obama, our first black president, illegitimate. It leaves me to wonder where Ive been living and with whom Im living.Popovich also expressed empathy for minority groups that might be adversely affected by Trumps remarks during his campaign.What gets lost in the process are African-Americans, Hispanics, women and the gay population, not to mention the eighth-grade developmental stage exhibited by him when he made fun of the handicapped person, he said. I mean, come on. Thats what an eighth-grade bully does, and he was elected president of the United States. We would have scolded our kids. We would have had discussions and talked until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things. And he is in charge of our country. Thats disgusting.Popovich emphasized that his problem with Trump isnt merely a matter of political affiliation.Values to me are more important than anybodys skill in business or anything else because it tells who we are, how we want to live and what kind of people we are, he said. Thats why I have great respect for people like Lindsey Graham, John McCain, John Kasich, who I disagree with on a lot of political things. But they haad enough fiber and respect for humanity and tolerance for all groups to say what they said about [Trump].ddddddddddddWhen a reporter interrupted to start a new line of questioning, Popovich cut him off.Im not done, he said. One could go on and on. We didnt make this stuff up. Hes angry at the media because they reported what he said and how he acted. Its ironic to me. It just makes no sense. So thats my real fear.?And thats what gives me so much pause and makes me feel so badly, that the country is willing to be that intolerant and not understand the empathy thats necessary to understand other groups situations.Im a rich, white guy. And Im sick to my stomach thinking about it. I couldnt imagine being a Muslim right now or a woman or an African-American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person, and how disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, its just beyond my comprehension how they ignored all that.As his remarks ended, Popovich said he was concerned that the U.S. is on the same path as the Roman Empire.My final conclusion is, my big fear is, we are Rome, he said.Popovich is just one of many coaches and athletes who have shared their opinions on the election following Trumps victory Tuesday.As anti-Trump protests spread nationwide after the election, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday night that there was nothing wrong with people protesting Trumps election victory but that they should be open to giving him the opportunity to prove himself.The election didnt go the way I wanted it to go, Rivers said. I personally know Donald Trump. Ive golfed with him, and I know him. I dont think theres anyone who runs for president that wants to do bad. I really dont. So, you know, he won. My take on it: Lets give him a chance and see what he can do. Thats the only way anyway now. So, lets go with that.Pistons?coach Stan Van Gundy said he noticed his players were uncharacteristically quiet because they were thinking about the election, and Van Gundy told the Detroit Free Press that Trump was openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic.I have problems with thinking that this is where we are as a country. Its tough on [the team], he said. What we have done to minorities ... in this election is despicable. Im having a hard time dealing with it.The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '