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MIAMI -- Alcides Escobar is the latest player to make an impact at the plate for the Kansas City Royals.Escobar homered, doubled, and drove in two runs to lead the surging Royals past the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Thursday night.Esky had a great game, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Just had a great game. Defensively, offensively, the home run was big to give us a two-run lead at that point.Escobar is hitting .388 (19 for 49) with four doubles, a triple, and a home run in his last 13 games.Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Royals as the defending World Series champions have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.Weve been playing great baseball as of late, but we definitely know were a long way from where we want to be, Royals right fielder Lorenzo Cain said. We have to continue hopefully winning series -- thats our main goal.Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez (10-10) pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, and three hits.The Royals bullpen, which has been a successful formula for the reigning two-time AL pennant winners, pitched four scoreless innings to push their franchise-record scoreless streak to 38 2/3 innings -- the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1/3 straight.Theyve just been spectacular, Yost said.Kelvin Herrera pitched a flawless ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.Tom Koehler (9-9) allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings for the Marlins.It was an interesting game, Koehler said. Youve got to give them credit. They capitalized on our mistakes we made tonight.Kansas City went 4 for 28 with runners in scoring position and scored six runs during the three-game series, but left Miami with two victories.We dont care what we do as long as we win, Yost said. As long as we score more runs than they do and its a combination of pitching, great defense, and timely hitting and thats been our recipe for a while now.The Marlins also struggled hitting with runners in scoring position during the series going 3 for 26 and leaving 24 men on base including 11 on Thursday.We had a few chances, we didnt have a ton, but we had a few chances but werent able to scratch, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.The Royals opened the scoring in the third on an RBI double by Perez after the Marlins elected to intentionally walk Eric Hosmer with first base open. Cheslor Cuthbert scored on Perezs ground ball down the left-field line.Escobar extended the Royals lead to 2-0 on a home run to center field in the fourth. It was his third of the season and second of the month.I was looking for a fastball on that pitch, Escobar said. (Koehler) threw me a first-pitch cutter and the next pitch was a fastball and I swung the bat and hit the ball really good.Third baseman Cuthbert had two doubles to go with two errors, one of which led to the Marlins two runs coming in the fourth to tie the game at 2.Escobars tiebreaking RBI double off Koehler in the sixth gave the Royals the lead. Morales pinch-hit sacrifice fly put the Royals on top 4-2.The Marlins threatened in the sixth loading the bases with two outs, but lefty Matt Strahm entered the game and got Dee Gordon to ground out to escape the jam.The bullpen was phenomenal and Strahm probably gets the gold star, Yost said.The Royals pushed their lead to 5-2 in the ninth as Raul Mondesi walked, stole two bases, and scored on catcher J.T. Realmutos throwing error trying to get Mondesi at third on his stolen base attempt.A club like that over there thats got guys that can hit balls out of the ballpark, a three-run lead is much better than a two-run lead, Yost said.Both teams combined for six errors.DYSON WEB GEMRoyals center fielder Jarrod Dyson made one of the best catches ever at Marlins Park when he robbed Christian Yelich of a home run in the first inning.That was probably the best play that anybodys made for me in my entire career, Volquez said.Yelich said: It was a great play. Its a huge ball park. We play in the worst hitters park in baseball so you better get it. I didnt get enough of it and he made a great play. Youve got to hit it to get it out of here. Its a terrible hitters park.Dyson ran to make a leaping left-handed grab up against the wall in center field.Actually off the bat I thought I was burnt and I had no shot, but as I kept running and got closer I was like, `Yeah I got a chance, Dyson said.Many of Dysons teammates gave him the Royals customary tip of the cap for an impressive defensive play on his way back to the dugout.It felt great, Dyson said. I think thats the first one Ive ever robbed in my career so it was a pretty special moment for me.It was the first home run robbed at Marlins Park since it opened in 2012.Thats history right there and I love being a part of history, Dyson said.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: C Salvador Perez took a foul ball off his face mask in the eighth and was replaced by Drew Butera in the ninth as a precaution. He got a little light-headed so we just got him out, Yost said.Marlins: RF Giancarlo Stanton (groin strain) is hopeful he can return to the team at some point during the regular season to help the Marlins after sustaining the injury on Aug. 13. Anything could help so whatever I can do to be back, if its possible, is going to happen, Stanton said.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Ian Kennedy (8-9, 3.58) will start Fridays game at Boston against RHP Steven Wright (13-5, 3.01) in a three-game series with the Red Sox. Kennedy has recorded five straight starts of at least six innings and one-or-fewer runs matching Larry Gura for the longest such streak in franchise history. Kennedy is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA during the stretch.Marlins: RHP David Phelps (7-6, 2.28) will take the mound Friday to begin a three-game series against San Diego, which will start former Marlins RHP Jarred Cosart (0-1, 4.54). Phelps is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA over his last four starts since moving into the rotation. 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Air Max Free Shipping . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. LOS ANGELES -- The second he heard the phrase moment of truth, you could see the brain cells smoldering in Joe Maddons head. The look on his face said it all. Nope, wasnt going there. Couldnt possibly go there.Im so bad at drawing lines in the sand, he said.What he meant, of course, was that this was no time for any manager to draw that line. But whether he drew it or not, there was no way to escape it. For the 2016 Chicago Cubs, this was that moment of truth. This was a place theyd never been. This was a feeling theyd never felt.Shut out two games in a row for the first time all year. Suddenly, shockingly, trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers?two games to one in the National League Championship Series. And facing the sort of test that all great teams need to pass if theyre going to prove theyre as good as they think they are.For me, its about putting this one in the wastebasket, come back and play tomorrow, Maddon said Tuesday night, after his offense had been dominated again in a 6-0 loss that represented their most lopsided shutout of the year. Its one day at a time. Ive preached that all season long. ... So I cant get so dramatic about it.?OK, cool. We get it. Getting dramatic, thats our job. So cue the strobe lights and the trumpets. Here is what makes this moment so critical for the Cubs:In the history of best-of-seven postseason series that were tied 1-1, the team that lost Game 3 has come back to win the series just 29.5 percent of the time.In the League Championship Series, that rate drops to 27.3 percent.And then theres this: Over the past 30 years, seven teams like the Cubs have found themselves in this precarious position -- down 2-1 in a best-of-seven series -- after winning 100 games that season. Only two have come back to win -- the 1995 Indians and the 1998 Yankees (both in the ALCS).Those are tough odds. And these are tough moments. But coincidentally, a man who played for those 1998 Yankees was in Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, watching the Cubs go down again. And no one had to remind Jeff Nelson what it felt like to be in this position.He remembered it vividly. Remembered exactly what it felt like to have to win Game 4 of that ALCS on the road, in Cleveland, against a team that had eliminated them the year before. Except there was one big difference between those Yankees and these Cubs, Nelson said Tuesday.Their expectation level was a lot different than ours, said Joe Torres prime right-handed setup man, because they havent won since 1908. ... They won 103 games, and I think now theyre feeling that pressure.Torre has said many times that the one time those 114-win Yankees felt anything resembling that pressure was in that ALCS, when they fell behind 2-1 and found themselves facing their first real must-win game of the year. So what happened in that must-win Game 4? El Duque happened.Orlando Hernandez went to the mound and spun seven shutout innings. And once El Duque won, Nelson said, then it was over.Once he won Game 4, we felt the momentum shift, Nelson said, and we went back to doing what we did in the regular season. And you know what? The Indians felt it too. I remember standing around the batting cage the next day, and some of those Indians players said, Now youre going to win. Im not going to name names. But one or two of those guys actually said that.Well, the Cubs dont have El Duque to send to the mound Wednesday night. But they will have a man who has started more postseason games (22) than any active pitcher. That man is John Lackey. And his team has never needed him more.Those 1998 Yankees scored a run for El Duque in the top of the first inning. Then their starting pitcher wouldnt let them lose. And that is the sort of game these Cubs desperately need to play -- after scoring in none of their past 18 innings and just one of their past 24.When you dont score, youre not in control of the game, and youre going to lose, said the Cubs Chris Coghlan in a clubhouse full of players trying to maintain a confident face. Thats just going to be a fact. But I think when we get some runs and push them across, then obviously, thats how you get control of the game. Thats what we did all year.Then again, what they did all year was roll out one of the best offenses in baseball, a lineup that scored more runs than any National League team except the Rockies.dddddddddddd. But the postseason, Coghlan said, is totally different than the regular season, because youre going to get everyones best. And so far, their best has been overwhelming the Cubs best.To be a great team, to be a win-the-World-Series team, you need to score against good pitching and beat good pitching. And in this postseason, outside of a couple of eruptions, these Cubs havent scored and havent hit. Which is how theyve gotten themselves into this mess.Theyve batted .185 as a team in this postseason. Theyve batted .161 in the NLCS. And against left-handed pitching, theyve been even worse, hitting .152 overall and a mind-boggling .106 (5-for-47) in the NLCS. Which is kind of a big deal, because yet another left-handed starter, Julio Urias, will be waiting for them Wednesday night, after taking notes on what Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill have done to the Cubs in the past two games.But the left-handed members of the species arent the Cubs only issue. Theyre also seeing more off-speed stuff in fastball counts than they saw all year and not adjusting real well. During the regular season, these hitters saw non-fastballs in just 28 percent of all hitters counts (2-0, 3-0, 2-1, 3-1 and 1-0). In the NLCS, the Dodgers have nearly doubled that rate to 48 percent. It hasnt gone too hot.I havent really noticed a difference, said Kris Bryant, the one Cub who has actually hit like himself (.333) in this series. But I dont like to pay too much attention to that kind of stuff. I leave that up to you.OK, thats fine too. Were happy to do all that math for him. But heres what is up to him and his buddies: Getting back to work Wednesday and reminding themselves of what they did all year and how they did it.Those 1998 Yankees did that by holding a meeting before every game of that postseason, Nelson said. And in those meetings, their manager, Torre, had a way of restoring order when it was needed most.He had unbelievable confidence in the way we played, Nelson said. He had unbelievable confidence in his players. He never said, We have to do this, or not to do that. There was nothing negative at all. We won 114 games. But those 114 wins have to be in the back of your mind. You cant think, Wed better win because weve got to complete this great year. Joe had that confidence, and it carried over to us.So now maybe its up to another manager named Joe to somehow transmit that same feeling to these Cubs. And Joe Maddon seemed to understand that intuitively Tuesday night.Theyre going to react to how Im going to react, Maddon said. Ive always believed that. Ive always thought, for me, regardless of the situation, that I have to be consistent when I walk into the room. They have to see consistency from me, which hopefully theyre going to be able to do. But beyond that, man, like I said, there is not a whole lot to do except come out and play again tomorrow.So is this their moment of truth? You decide. On one hand, Bryant observed hopefully, this isnt anywhere near as bad as being down 3-0, as they were in last years NLCS to the Mets. But on the other hand, these are the facts:This is a team that spent one day of this entire season out of first place. And that day was April 8. Then the 2016 Cubs hit the accelerator. They started 8-1. And 17-5. And 25-6. They held a nine-game lead in their division by May 14. And they never led by fewer than five games at any point in their last 115 games.So has there been any game since last years NLCS that carried the weight of the game they will play Wednesday at Chavez Ravine? That answer is nope. So this is that moment, when we find out what theyre really all about.Teams that win the whole thing always have games that define them, Coghlan said. They always have games you look back on and say, Holy cow, I cant believe they won that game, or, How did they pull out of that? Well, I feel like weve had a couple of those already. ... And I think every person in this locker room feels like well have a couple more of those in us now. Nike NFL Jerseys China China NFL Hoodies Wholesale NFL T-shirts Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL Hoodies NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys Stitched Jerseys Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Stitched Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys ' ' '