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DETROIT -- Omar Infante showed the Detroit Tigers what theyre missing. Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. Infante became expendable in Detroit last November when the franchise traded first baseman Prince Fielder to Texas for second baseman Ian Kinsler. The next month, Infante signed a $30.25 million, four-year contract with the Royals, and their manager is glad he did. "I didnt really think much about Omar last year with the lineup that they had," Royals skipper Ned Yost acknowledged. "I would try to pitch around this guy and pitch around this guy to get to Omar, and Omar constantly just beat our brains in offensively. At about the midway point, I started realizing how really good he was." With 90-plus games left this season, the Tigers are finding out how vulnerable they are and how good Kansas City is in the tightly contested AL Central. The Royals have won a season-high eight straight to pull within a half-game of Detroit atop the division. Kansas City has won 11 of 13 since trailing the Tigers by 6 1/2 games at the start of the month. "We got on a nice little run here and weve made up some ground," Yost said. Detroit scored six runs in the ninth inning and pulled within three on J.D. Martinezs two-out grand slam off Donnie Joseph. Michael Mariot struck out Austin Jackson looking for the final out. Jason Vargas (7-2) gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks to win his third straight. Verlander (6-7) allowed seven earned runs in consecutive starts for the first time in his career, giving up a season-high 12 hits and striking out two over six innings. He got off to a good start, retiring the Royals in order on 10 pitches in the first inning, and pitched four scoreless innings before getting roughed up. The Royals took a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning when Billy Butler followed Infantes RBI single with a three-run double off Verlander. "Our confidence level is as high as it can get," Butler said. "I dont think it is as much him as it is were going really good right now." Infante cleared the left-field fences with his third homer this year with two on to make it 7-2 in the sixth, leading fans to boo Verlander, who is in the second season of his seven-year, $180 million deal. "I dont blame the fans for booing," Verlander said. "They are frustrated with me, just like Im frustrated with myself. I would have probably booed myself tonight. Theyve cheered me a lot of times, and they will cheer me again." The jeers kept coming in the next inning when Kansas City scored four runs -- one earned -- on four hits and two errors off Evan Reed, who failed to retire any Royals as their lead grew to 11-2. The Royals finished with a season high in runs and hits (17) on a steamy night in the Motor City. Detroit hurt its chances of winning the opener of the four-game series early in the game. Both teams lost a player to cramps. Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter left the game in the fourth with a cramp in his right hamstring. "Its not a strain," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus insisted. Royals catcher Salvador Perez was replaced in the seventh because of cramps in both calves. "Hes fine," Yost said. "They made him drink a bunch of fluids and gave him an IV." NOTES: Kansas City RHP Yordano Ventura (4-5) will start against Detroit RHP Max Scherzer (8-2) on Tuesday night, when the Royals will have a chance to move into first place and push the Tigers to second in the division for the first time this season. ... Kansas Citys winning streak is the longest active streak in the majors and its best since winning nine in a row from July 22 to Aug. 1 last year. Johnny Unitas Jersey . The Gatineau Olympiques head coach will lead Canada in its quest to end its gold medal drought at the 2015 world junior hockey championship held in Montreal and Toronto at the end of this year. Quenton Nelson Jersey . Jeter doubled high off the left-field wall and scored on Jacoby Ellsburys first hit in pinstripes in the fifth. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings in the Yankees 112th opener in New York. In what manager Joe Girardi said would be a season-long lovefest for Jeter, the shortstop was cheered every step of the way by an adoring crowd of 48, 142 -- even when his double-play grounder back to Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2) scored Solarte in the third inning for the first run. http://www.coltsfansshop.com/Colts-Pierre-Desir-Draft-Jersey/ . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Nyheim Hines Jersey .C. - Nick Merkley and Damon Severson each had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Al Woods Jersey .Y. - Everyone expected Clayton Kershaw to pitch a shutout, and he did — a unanimous choice for the NL Cy Young Award.TORONTO -- Russ Howard was asleep in his Riga hotel room when the phone rang with word that he would be inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame. The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. "I get the chance to golf with (hockey legend) Bobby Orr once in a year in a charity event and hes my hero," Howard said Wednesday at a morning news conference. "To think that a little guy from Midland, Ontario is in with Bobby Orr is pretty cool." Howard is a two-time world champion who now does curling broadcasting work. He was in the Latvian capital last March to cover the world womens championship. "Nobody knew I was in Latvia so thats why I got the call at four in the morning," he said. "I thought I was dreaming obviously -- and I still am." Joining Howard in this years class are former NHL star Joe Sakic, cyclist Alison Sydor, five-time Paralympian Andre Viger and the 1992 Olympic champion womens coxless four rowing team of Kirsten Barnes, Brenda Taylor, Jessica Monroe-Gonin, Kay Worthington and Jennifer Walinga. Former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello and sport development architect Dr. Jean-Guy Ouellet enter as builders. Inductees will be presented with their member jackets at an evening ceremony. Howard won national and world titles in 1987 and 1993. He said the first Brier victory with his brother Glenn was one of the most special victories from his long career, especially since they came up just short in the 1986 final. His most memorable win came at the Turin Games in 2006 when he earned Olympic gold with skip Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador. "There was so much different pressure at that, with 70 million people watching our final game," Howard said. "Youre representing your country. At my age it was my last and only chance to win an Olympic medal for my country. So that pressure was a lot different than at the Canadian championships." Sakic, who had 1,641 career regular-season points over 20 seasons in the NHL, won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and 2001. He currently serves as the teams executive vice-president of hockey operations. "Its a tremendous honour," Sakic said. "When I got the call it was very, very exciting. "Obviously you start to reflect and you think back, and I just remember as a kid youre watching your Canadian Olympians and obviously cheering them on and you want to see them do well. And then to get a taste of it yourself, have a whole new appreciation for what all the athletes in different sports had to do to prepare and get ready for these things.dddddddddddd" Sakic won titles at the Winter Olympics, world hockey championship, World Cup of Hockey and the world junior championship. He first broke into the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques in 1988. "To play for your country, I got a chance to play with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, and I wouldnt have had that happen on my regular team," he said. "Any time you put the Canadian jersey on, you just felt something more and something special. The game just seemed to mean a little bit more. We never took that for granted." Sydor won Olympic silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games and picked up her third straight world title that year. The three-time Pan Am Games medallist had 17 career World Cup mountain bike victories. Viger, who died in 2006, was one of the best wheelchair racers of all-time. He won 10 medals over five appearances at the Paralympic Games and held world records at several distances. The coxless four team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona is considered one of Canadas best-ever rowing crews. Walinga was forced to withdraw with a back injury shortly before the competition but Worthington stepped in and helped the crew win a gold medal. "I think we feel that our honour has a great deal to do with what we went through," Walinga said. "I think we represent the power of sport and the power of team, or what human beings are capable of achieving and what human beings are capable of overcoming when they function as a unified, collaborative team." Costello has helped Canada become a hockey powerhouse. He has served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (now Hockey Canada) and vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He has spearheaded numerous development and skills programs that continue to be used today. "Its always nice to be recognized," Costello said. "Its particularly nice when youre recognized across all sports in this great country." Ouellet, who held the position of Director of Mission Quebec, designed and implemented programs to prepare athletes from the province to represent Canada at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The programs were the basis for the high performance sports model in Quebec and are used today as a model for other provinces and countries around the world. A gallery featuring each of this years inductees will be showcased at the Hall of Fame facility at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. The Class of 2013 brings the total number of honoured members to 540. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '