KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Despite being only two games above .500 and facing a 6.5-game deficit against first-place Detroit, the Kansas City Royals believe they have their rivals right where they want them. Judging by recent history, maybe they do. A five-run seventh inning keyed by Omar Infantes two-run single and an RBI double from Eric Hosmer enabled the Royals to avoid a demoralizing four-game sweep against the Tigers on Sunday. It also brought to mind the league-best 33-20 mark they logged last season after stumbling into the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak. "Were eight games better than we were at this time last year," manager Ned Yost said. "And were a second-half team. Weve always been a second-half team." Exactly why they seem to play better after the break, no one seems to know. "Im not sure," designated hitter Billy Butler said. "The seasons long, It wears on guys as they get older. Were young. And sometimes I think as guys get older ... I dont know." But he does know last years second-half surge makes this years challenge seem less daunting. "Were just better the second half. Its our track record and were starting to count on it." Four of the seventh-inning runs were charged to Justin Verlander (8-8), who started the inning with a two-hit shutout but loaded the bases on three straight singles. "Things were going well for us and we ran into the seventh," said Verlander, who lost for just the fifth time in 15 decisions in Kauffman Stadium. "A couple of balls fell in the right spots and Im out of the ballgame. They were able to find some spots." Since June 18 when K.C. beat the Tigers for their 10th straight win and went a season-best seven games over .500, the Royals have gone 9-14 while the Tigers went 17-6. Verlander gave up six hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked one. Yordano Ventura (7-7) pitched 1 2/3 innings in his first career relief appearance and got the win. He allowed one hit and struck out three for the Royals, who beat the Tigers for only the first time in seven tries this year at home. Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 26 opportunities. After Raul Ibanez loaded the bases in the seventh with a single that snapped a 0-for-25 skid, Alcides Escobar brought in a run with a slow-rolling infield single that second baseman Ian Kinsler failed to pick up cleanly. A second run then scored on Jarrod Dysons fielders choice. Ian Krol replaced Verlander and after intentionally walking pinch hitter Salvador Perez, gave up a two-run single to Omar Infante that made it 4-2. "I waited for that pitch and made good contact," Infante said. Hosmers double stretched his career-best hitting streak to 13 games. Rajai Davis and Austin Jackson opened the third with back-to-back singles and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead on Miguel Cabreras sacrifice fly and a two-out bloop single by J.D. Martinez, which fell in between shortstop Escobar and left fielder Ibanez as Jackson came around from first. NOTES: Jackson proved a perfect leadoff hitter in this series, starting all four games with a base hit, three singles and a double. ... Martinez made two nifty running catches in the right-field corner. Martinez was also 3 for 4. ... These were the only home games for the Royals during a 19-game stretch that began on June 30 and runs through July 23. ... The Royals, Dodgers, Yankees and Mariners are the only major league teams with losing records at home and winning marks on the road. ... All nine of Detroits hits were singles. Anthony Averett Jersey . Omar Rahou made the discriminatory gesture several times while celebrating scoring a goal against Romania at Antwerp in January, UEFA said. The sanction was double the five-match ban Nicolas Anelka received from an English Football Association independent tribunal last week for the same act. Willie Snead IV Ravens Jersey . The young man, never lacking confidence, thought he could be really good. http://www.ravensauthoritystore.com/Auth...-Ravens-Jersey/. The rookie is rewarding their faith with a stellar first season. MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Jamie McGinn had two goals and an assist, and Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Saturday. Michael Crabtree Ravens Jersey . The 18-year-old centre was the Senators first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot 196-pound native of Salmon Arm, B. Jaleel Scott Ravens Jersey .Y. -- Mark Steenhuis scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Buffalo Bandits over the Toronto Rock 12-10 in National Lacrosse League action on Saturday.Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray is entering his 12th year in the CFL and his third with the Argos. Hes coming off a season where he was injured twice, missing eight games, but still put up some eye-popping numbers. Ray passed for just under 2,900 yards, completing 77 per cent of his passes. He threw 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, finishing with a mind-numbing QB rating of 126.4. Ray sat down on Saturday for a chat with Mike Hogan, the play-by-play voice of the Argos on TSN 1050. MH: Whats different about camp this year? RR: The same basic philosophies are still there that coach (Scott Milanovich) carries on about how we practice, our tempo and what he expects from us, but there is a new feeling. We have a new defensive staff, a lot of new guys on defence. Offensively, were returning a lot of guys and coaches so it feels pretty similar. MH: On your side of the football, its good that you have the continuity that you do (Chad Kackert, Dontrelle Inman and Joe Eppele are the only 2013 starters not back this year). Can you put into words how important that is at this stage? RR: It just makes things so much easier. Thinking back to the first year here, there was so much to learn, trying to get used to a new system and trying to get used to all the guys around you. Last year and this year, weve all played together and have a lot of game experience together and were still running the same stuff out there, so youre not trying to get used to everything and you can go out there and try and improve on things from the previous year. MH: Whats your relationship like with Coach Milanovich in the off-season? Do you keep in contact continually trying to tweak things, or do you go home to Northern California and just ignore football for a couple of months? RR: I pretty much go home and get away from football. Hell call me every now and then and tell me whats going on, say if they have any new ideas and really just see how the off-season is going, but its only a couple of times a year. Other than that, I try to get back and relax and just get refreshed for the new year. MH: Your first two seasons in Toronto saw very different results. The first year couldnt have gone any better, winning the 100th Grey Cup. Last year, everything was going fine when you were on the field, but you had to deal with a couple of injuries. When you look back at last season, just how frustrating was it? RR: It was, just missing so mucch time and having to watch and rehab and do all that.dddddddddddd It was fun to watch the guys play, to go out west and have that four-game winning streak, but not so much fun because youre sitting there watching and cant be out there playing. It was a weird year. We wrapped up first place and were just waiting around to see who we were going to play and had such high expectations and just werent able to get it done in the playoffs. MH: After the Argos were beaten badly in the 2010 Eastern Final by Montreal, some of them took it very hard, thought about it a lot in the off-season and used it as motivation. Did you think about losing last years Eastern Final often? RR: You think about it a lot, especially when you feel like you had a great opportunity to win the game. Sometimes when you get beaten pretty badly, its easier to swallow those than the ones that are close games where you had an opportunity to keep moving on. Its funny because were getting ready to play Hamilton in our next game (Thursday at Varsity Stadium), putting that film back on and then watching it (laughs) brings back a lot of not-so-good memories. So ya, that keeps you motivated. When you think about it, you try and work harder and you think about the next time you do get an opportunity like that to try and seize it. MH: There are still four running backs competing for the starting job. (Steve Slaton and Jeremiah Johnson are the new imports, up against returnee RB Curtis Steele. Also in the mix is University of Manitoba rookie Anthony Coombs) All of them seem to add something different to the mix. How would you assess the group? RR: Its been pretty fun watching them in camp. Curtis has a pretty good feel for what were trying to do out there. He gives a ton of effort on every play. The new guys are both very gifted athletes. Thats the position that we expect the most out of, with pass protection, running and catching out of the backfield and weve got three guys that can do it very well. Then you put Coombs in there and watching him, especially in one-on-one drills, he runs routes almost like a receiver, so hes going to be a good weapon for us. MH: Grey Cup or bust? RR: Thats what it is every year (smiles). Thats the expectation that (General Manager) Jim Barker and Coach Milanovich have put on us. Theyve built a great foundation here and we feel like we should be able to go out and win every year and have a chance to get to the Grey Cup. 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