TORONTO -- The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays both had plenty of opportunities to score runs Friday night. The Royals took advantage of their chances while the Blue Jays came up empty. Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain homered as Kansas City defeated Toronto 6-1 on a glorious spring evening at Rogers Centre. Jose Bautista went deep for the Blue Jays, who left 14 men on base and were outhit 9-8. Jason Vargas outduelled J.A. Happ in Kansas Citys second straight victory over the Blue Jays, who had their nine-game winning streak end a night earlier. Toronto (32-24) was a woeful 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. "When you get on one of those hot streaks that we were on, we were cashing those in," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "But Vargas was really, really good." The Kansas City starter allowed seven hits and one earned run over six innings. Gordon homered in the fourth and Cain added another two-run shot in the eighth to knock Happ out of the game. Despite the loss, Toronto maintained its 2 1/2-game lead on second-place New York in the American League East division standings after the Yankees dropped a 6-1 decision to Minnesota. The Blue Jays entered this four-game series on an offensive tear, piling up the runs over three straight series sweeps. The trick will be keeping that win streak hangover to a minimum. "When you win nine games in a row, you expect to come out the next day and win," said Toronto catcher Erik Kratz. "That mentality hasnt changed the last two nights. We were a couple inches away last night from winning and tonight we were a couple hits away from being back in this game." After the game, the Blue Jays announced that top prospect Marcus Stroman had been recalled from triple-A Buffalo and would start Saturday afternoon. "We want to see him as a starter," Gibbons said. "Hes been really good down there this year and this is his opportunity." Toronto looked ready to do some damage in the first inning after Jose Reyes led off with a triple and Bautista reached on a walk. But like he did all night, Vargas snuffed out the threat. "I feel something like that hopefully sets the tone for the game and fires us up," he said. "We were able to get a run the next inning and keep it moving from there." Kansas City (26-28) padded its lead when Gordon smacked his fourth home run of the season. That was more than enough offence for Vargas (5-2), who allowed seven hits, one earned run and three walks while striking out seven. Bautista gave the crowd of 21,543 a charge in the fifth with his 14th home run of the season. Edwin Encarnacion followed with a two-out walk but Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., struck out. Happ (4-2) was tagged for six earned runs and nine hits over 7 2/3 innings. He walked two batters and had six strikeouts. Toronto brought the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh against reliever Aaron Crow. Bautista walked and Lawrie hit a two-out single but Dioner Navarro flew out. In the eighth, Cain tacked on some insurance runs with his second home run of the season. "This is more of the offence that we envisioned coming out of spring training," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "Were not going to be a club thats going to lead the league in home runs but weve got home run power that we havent used." Recent triple-A callup Bobby Korecky relieved Happ in the eighth and retired the lone batter he faced. With the bullpen in need of a rest, he stayed on for the ninth and retired the Royals in order. Korecky was sent back down after the game. Notes: Stroman pitched in a relief role earlier this season before being stretched out again in Buffalo. The move also allows the Blue Jays to give Drew Hutchison -- whos coming off Tommy John surgery -- a little more rest. Hutchison will now start Tuesday. ... Bautista threw out a runner at first base for the second straight night. Omar Infante hit a flare into right field that he thought was going into the seats. Bautista slid and trapped the ball after it bounced before getting Infante in plenty of time at first base. "I dont know if youll see a better play in baseball today than that play right there," Yost said. "Omar hit the ball and lost it, he thought it was foul. For Bautista to come, smother the ball, one, and then still see that he had a play at first base, I dont think Ive ever seen a play like that. Tremendous play." ... Encarnacion, who has hit 16 homers this month, walked three times. ... The game took three hours one minute to play. ... Right-hander Aaron Brooks (0-0) is scheduled to start Saturday for the Royals. ... The Blue Jays have homered in 12 of their last 13 games. ... Korecky has a microscopic 0.29 earned-run average with five saves in 22 games with the Bisons. Johnny Townsend Jersey . Geovany Soto had an RBI for the Cubs. Carlos Silva gave up one run on three hits over six innings to pick up the win. Josh Willingham drove in the lone run for the Nationals, who had just four hits. Raiders Jerseys . -- Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo is going to the Pro Bowl as a replacement for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks. http://www.theraidersfansclub.com/Black-...tml?cat=964.com) - Ryan Johansens creative moves and hometown appeal highlighted Team Folignos successful night at the NHL All- Star Skills Competition. Johnny Townsend Raiders Jersey . How foolishly wrong I was. Forget the now inherent corruption and back handed favours that plague the beautiful game. Goal Line Technology? Youre having a laugh. As for them penalty cheating bandits, footballs lawmakers upend them by awarding the penalty to the opponent each time a player attempts to con the referee into awarding ghost penalties. Brandon Parker Jersey . -- Joe Thornton scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:39 left in regulation to help the San Jose Sharks overcome a two-goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Thursday night.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Charlotte Hornets won two straight and theyll try and make it three on Wednesday night when the New Orleans Pelicans stop off at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Hornets swept a two-game road trip with wins over the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics. Theyve lost three straight at home and have won more than two games in a row just once this season. On Monday, the Hornets bumped off the Celtics, 104-95, in Boston. It marked the first time Charlotte scored over 100 points since before Christmas, a span of six games. Kemba Walker scored 33 points to help the Hornets top the Celtics. It was Walkers second straight game of at least 30 points and he added five assists and five rebounds versus the Cs. Cody Zeller chipped in 20 points and seven boards for Charlotte. The Hornets led most of the contest, until the Celtics made it close late. They led by 15 with 2 1/2 minutes to go, but Boston scored the next eight points and did not allow Charlotte to hit another shot from the floor. The Hornets hit four free throwss in the final minute to hang on.dddddddddddd We made plays. We could have got frustrated, we could have got down but we stayed with the game, said Walker. The Pelicans are on the ultimate see-saw at the moment, alternating wins and losses over their last 10 games. They have lost three in a row as the visitor. On Monday, New Orleans fell at home to the Washington Wizards, 92-85. Anthony Davis posted 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyreke Evans provided 21 points, seven boards and four assists for the Pelicans. Jrue Holiday added 13 points and five assists. We were trying to make the right play, but they did a good job of covering up our options, Davis said. The Pelicans never got closer than four with eight minutes to go in the game. New Orleans returns home Friday to play the Memphis Grizzlies, then heads out on a five-game road trip east. The Pelicans beat the Hornets by nine in the Big Easy on Nov. 4. Theyve won five of the last six meetings and are 4-1 in their last five as the visitor in this series. Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Jerseys NFL China Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping China Jerseys Cheap ' ' '