KANSAS CITY, Mo. china jerseys . -- Alcides Escobar pumped his fist. Jarrod Dyson did a backflip. And for the first time in more than a decade, the Kansas City Royals were in first place in mid-August. Yordano Ventura outpitched Sonny Gray in a matchup of talented young starters Monday night, and Escobar drove in the go-ahead run as Kansas City beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 to take over the AL Central lead from Detroit with its eighth consecutive victory. "You want to be in first place. Our goal was to get back to first place," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Now our goal is to stay in first place." The Royals trailed the Tigers by eight games on July 21, but their 16th win in 19 games wiped away the deficit and gave them the lead at the latest point in a season since 2003. "Were playing great," said Escobar, who drove in a run in the second inning before his two-out single off Gray (12-6) in the seventh gave Kansas City the lead for good. Ventura lasted through sixth innings before giving way to Kelvin Herrera (3-2), who tossed a spotless seventh. Wade Davis breezed through the eighth and Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 35th save, though it didnt come without a little drama. Josh Donaldson led off the ninth with a single, the first hit by the Athletics since the second inning, and Brandon Moss drew a walk. But after a brief conference on the mound, Holland got Derek Norris to bounce into a double play and Stephen Vogt to fly out to end the game. "He has the ability to focus pitch to pitch, which good closers can do," Yost said. "You get first and second with his stuff, you just have a feeling hes going to get out of it." Kansas City put pressure on right from the start, when Dyson and Omar Infante opened the game with back-to-back singles. Gray might have escaped the jam, though, if right fielder Josh Reddick hadnt flubbed a routine throw to the infield after Infantes hit. It allowed Dyson to reach third base easily, and he scored on Salvador Perezs double-play groundout. "Its pretty embarrassing," Reddick said, "especially since it cost us a run. And we end up losing by one run, so it doesnt make your feel any better." After Escobar made it 2-0 in th second, Oakland answered with some help from Ventura, who worked to overcome command problems most of the night. John Jaso led off with a single, Coco Crisp worked a walk and Donaldson earned another free pass to load the bases with two outs. Moss hit a full-count pitch up the middle to score both runners and knot the game. Yost pulled Ventura after a double play got the rookie right-hander through the sixth. And when Gray faltered in the seventh and Kansas City took the lead, one of the stingiest bullpens in baseball made sure the smallest of margins was enough. "Those three guys at the end are as good as you get," As manager Bob Melvin said. "They dont worry about righty-lefty. They feel when they get to the seventh inning with a lead, they feel pretty good about it." LEADERS OF THE PACK The Royals have not trailed since the first inning of Thursdays game in Arizona, a span of 44 innings. "Theres just a real confidence right now when we step on the field," Yost said. BULLISH BULLPENS Herrera has worked 17 1-3 consecutive scoreless dating to June 27. Thats the third-longest stretch in the majors behind Davis, who has gone 17 2-3 innings, and the As Ryan Cook, who has gone 19 innings. Grey AREA Gray struck out a career-low two batters while losing to Kansas City for the second time in his young career. The only other team hes lost to twice is Baltimore. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: SS Jed Lowrie was back in the starting lineup. Hes missed time recently with a bruised right index finger. Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer continues to wear a brace on his right hand after breaking his third metacarpal. He hopes to return in September. UP NEXT LHP Jon Lester, who beat the Royals in his first start with Oakland, tries to move to 3-0 since arriving from Boston in a July 31 trade. Kansas City counters with RHP Jeremy Guthrie. fake jerseys china . Footballs governing body said Tuesday that of the 2,577,662 tickets allocated for this years tournament, 1,041,418 have gone to people in Brazil. The U. cheap china jerseys . With a victory seemingly slipping away late in the third quarter, his quick scoring flurry helped Golden State regain control early in the fourth. https://www.chinajerseysreplica.us/ . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto.MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers won their ninth in a row, with Kyle Lohse coming within one out of a complete game Sunday in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. At 10-2, the Brewers are off to their best start since going 13-0 to start the 1987 season. This is Milwaukees longest winning streak since a nine-game string last April. Lohse (2-1) gave up four hits and struck out nine in 8 2-3 innings. He fanned five straight in the seventh and eighth innings. Lohse retired 12 of his last 13 batters. He was pulled with two outs in the ninth after giving up a single to Andrew McCutchen. Will Smith struck out Pedro Alvarez on three pitches to record his first career save. Charlie Morton (0-1) pitched seven innings as the Pirates lost for the fourth time in five games. Overall, Milwaukees rotation has been outstanding to start the season. The starters have combined 1.80 ERA over the first 12 games, giving up just 22 earned runs. The Brewers backed Lohse with fine fielding. Shortstop Jean Segura made several tough plays and Logan Shafer robbed Alvarez of at least a double in the second inning when he hauled in a long drive just before crashing into the left field wall. Martin Maldonado got the first hit of the game aas he lined a double off the right field wall leading off the Milwaukee third. wholesale jerseys china. Lohse sacrificed and Carlos Gomez hit a sacrifice fly. The Pirates tied the game in the fourth. Starling Marte led off with a single, moved to third on a perfect hit-and-run single by Jose Tabata and scored on McCutchens sacrifice fly, just beating the throw from Gomez in centre. Ryan Braun doubled in the Milwaukee fourth and scored on a single by Ramirez, giving him 11 RBIs this year. The Brewers broke open the game in the sixth, helped by an error. Ramirez walked and moved to third on Lyle Overbays double, just his second hit of the season. Morton struck out Scooter Gennett, but the ball was in the dirt. Catcher Tony Sanchezs throw to first was wide and went down the right field line, allowing Ramirez and Overbay to score and Gennett to reach third. NOTES: The Brewers will try for their 10th straight win Monday night when they host St. Louis. Matt Garza starts against the Cardinals Lance Lynn. ... The Pirates move on to Cincinnati, where Wandy Rodriguez will face Homer Bailey of the Reds. ... The Brewers and the Pirates will meet again in a four-game series in Pittsburgh starting Thursday. ' ' '