As noted in this space last week about the strongly run Breeders Cup Juvenile by Classic Empire and Not This Time, there is much optimism for this years class of 2-year-old males. More encouraging signs came Saturday in stakes victories from Mastery and Gunnevera.Mastery, a most eye-catching debut winner at Santa Anita just two weeks before the Breeders Cup, won the Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar, a springboard to the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity on Dec. 10. Mastery was supposed to win the Bob Hope. He was 1-5. So it says something about Mastery that he also managed to impress.Mastery absolutely toyed with runner-up California Diamond through the stretch run of the Bob Hope. The official win margin was 1-1/4 lengths, but it would have been significantly larger if Mastery had been asked to run. The thing that was most striking about the stretch run of the Bob Hope, however, was the contrasting profiles of the two protagonists.California Diamond might not be the second coming of Hindoo, but he had seven starts before Saturday; he won five, four of which were stakes, including three straight stakes scores. California Diamond had all the seasoning that Mastery lacked, and yet Mastery performed through the stretch as though hes been doing this racing thing forever.If there is one caveat regarding Masterys victory Saturday, it was that the pace he set was slow -- in fact, the slowest of the five main-track races on the Del Mar card -- and by a significant margin. But there are a couple of points that might mitigate the slow fractions. For one, even though he was in front, Mastery still shut himself off, which I take as a strong indicator that he will successfully rate off the early lead.The other consideration is how Mastery finished. If he didnt finish well after that slow pace, then there wouldnt be nearly as much to get excited about. But Mastery went his seventh and final furlong in 11.61 seconds, which is fast, and strongly suggests stretching out will be no issue for him.Gunneveras win in the Delta Downs Jackpot was more of an in your face performance. He lagged early off a fairly strong but contested pace, and overwhelmed his field with a move at least five wide on the far turn that eventually carried him to the lead and then on to a near six-length romp.Gunneveras Delta Jackpot was flashy, but it is important to put his effort in some context. Gunnevera was the only member of the 10-horse field to have won a graded stakes race (he won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August), and he was also the only one in the field to have prior Grade 1 stakes experience (he finished fifth in Keenelands Breeders Futurity in his most recent outing).That said, one of the several things to like about Classic Empire even before he won the Breeders Cup Juvenile is he won the Breeders Futurity despite stretching out to two turns for the first time in his first representative start in three months; Im not counting his Hopeful appearance, when he wheeled coming out of the gate as the favorite as a representative outing. It should be noted that Gunnevera was in a similar position when he ran in the Breeders Futurity.The Breeders Futurity was Gunneveras first start in two months, and it was also his first start around two turns. He wasnt able to overcome those hurdles the way Classic Empire did. Gunnevera was put to a heavy drive on the far turn at Keeneland, yet he gave a little ground and position through the Breeders Futurity stretch run. But while that says Gunnevera has quite a bit of improving to do before he can be considered on the same level as Classic Empire, the outing in the Breeders Futurity worked perfectly for Gunnevera in the context of the Delta Jackpot.Unfortunately, the 2-year-old filly division this year hasnt been as compelling as the juvenile males has been, but that may begin to change after the smashing victory from Shanes Girlfriend in the Delta Downs Princess Stakes one race before the Jackpot.Shanes Girlfriend, a romping if surprising (she was 8-1 in a field of nine) debut winner at Santa Anita late last month, shipped and stretched out for the Princess, and ran off to score by just over 13 lengths. Now, it must be noted that there was not one graded stakes winner among the nine opponents she crushed Saturday, yet I still feel Shanes Girlfriend upstaged Gunnevera.The Princess was run at a mile, the Jackpot was at 1 1/16 miles; thats close enough to make pace comparisons. When you do, youll find the Princesss pace was faster to the first quarter (23.06 to 23.18) and substantially faster to the three-quarter mark (1:11.71 to 1:12.52). Shanes Girlfriend did what she did being right on top of that faster early pace, a pace that was actually the strongest sustained pace (emphasis on the word sustained) all day at Delta, and all day at Delta Saturday was 11 races.And for the record, Shanes Girlfriend completed her mile in 1:37.98. Gunnevera got his mile in 1:38.64. Yes, I know Gunnevera had another sixteenth to go after that mile split, but he certainly wasnt speeding up late, even if he was drawing away. Fred VanVleet Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Cheap NBA Jerseys . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. http://www.cheapraptorsjerseys.com/ . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Kyle Lowry Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Vince Carter Jersey . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Miguel Cabrera continues to torment the Kansas City Royals.Cabrera homered and had a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 7-6 victory over Royals on Friday night.The veteran slugger has 25 home runs and 108 RBI in his career against Kansas City.Cabrera, who finished with three hits and four RBI, singled off Wade Davis (1-1) to drive in Ian Kinsler and Jose Iglesias in the ninth and put the Tigers ahead after they gave up the lead in the bottom of the eighth.Obviously were happy we came out on the winning side, but what a great game to watch, just as a fan of baseball, with the back and forth, both teams scoring off of closers, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. It was good entertainment.Davis, who just came off the disabled list and not pitched since July 22, blew his third save in 24 chances.Cabrera hit a 439-foot shot, his 29th homer, off Peter Moylan in the seventh, and also had an RBI single in Detroits three-run third. Justin Upton homered in the second and added an RBI single in the third.Francisco Rodriguez (3-3) picked up the victory, despite blowing a save in the eighth when Paulo Orlando hit a two-run single to give the Royals a 6-5 leadI was thinking I should make a better pitch than that, for sure, that thing right now is eating me inside pretty much, Rodriguez said. Ive got many options to go with and I didnt. The only good thing possibly I can think of is obviously the guys came back with the two runs. At that point Ive just got to shut it down, one way or another.Orlando, who snapped an 0 for 17 skid with a single in the seventh, punched a single off Rodriguez to right, scoring Alcides Escobar and Jarrod Dyson.World Series champion Kansas City has three consecutive one-run losses after winning 18 of its previous 22 games.Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez gave up three unearned runs and five hits over five innings.Cabreras fielding error opened the door for the Royals to score three runs in the third. Alex Gordon had a two-run single, while Kendrys Morales contributed a run-producing single.Danny Duffy allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings and has allowed 18 hits and 11 runs over 10 2/3 innings in consecutive starts.I felt like I battled, Duffy said. We had a rough third inning there. They were kind of singling me to death. I did my best to ttry to keep my team in the game.dddddddddddd Its kind of been a rough couple of games for us.Tigers left-hander Justin Wilson gave up a run on three singles to Orlando, Cheslor Cuthbert and Eric Hosmer in the seventh, the only three batters he faced.ROYALS PROMOTE FOURThe Royals purchased the contract of INF Hunter Dozier, a 2013 first-round pick who hit 23 HRs with 75 RBI this season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha. They also recalled C Tony Cruz, IF-OF Whit Merrifield and OF Terrance Gore.STRANGE POSITIONErick Aybar started at third base for the Tigers. It was only his second career game there, with the other on May 30, 2007, while with the Angels against the Mariners. He did not have an assist or putout against the Royals.TIGERS SUSPEND SAUPOLDThe Tigers suspended minor league RHP Warwick Saupold for five games after he was arrested on Aug. 28 and charged with assault for getting into a physical altercation with two Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguers at a Toledo bar. Saupold made his big league debut with Detroit this season, going 1-1 with a 7.45 ERA in six relief appearances, but spent most of the season with Triple-A Toledo, where he went 7-2 with a 2.30 ERA in 18 games, including 11 starts.TRAINERS ROOMTigers: OF Cameron Maybin (left thumb contusion) has not played since Monday. ... 3B Nick Castellanos (fractured fifth metacarpal of his left swing) took about 25 swings with a fungo off a tee. He felt it a little bit today, swinging, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. It buzzed him every once in a while, which is normal.Royals: RHP Wade Davis, who went on the disabled list July 31 with a right flexor strain, was activated. Manager Ned Yost said he would avoid using Davis in back-to-back games for a while. ... OF Lorenzo Cain has not played since Tuesday because of a sore left wrist. ... LHP Jason Vargas, who is rehabbing from 2015 elbow surgery, struck out 10 and walked none, while allowing two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings in a Thursday start for Triple-A Omaha against Round Rock.UP NEXTTigers: RHP Michael Fulmer is 0-1 with a 1.98 ERA in two appearances against the Royals.Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura is 6-0 with a 2.98 ERA in 10 games against the Tigers. ' ' '