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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After striking out his first three times, Lorenzo Cain came through in the ninth inning for the Kansas City Royals. Cain hit a tying, two-run homer off Jose Valverde with two outs in the ninth and Eric Hosmer had a winning RBI single in the 10th, helping the Royals rally for a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Cain struck out three times against Detroit ace Justin Verlander, who pitched seven scoreless innings. "It was a crazy game from having the hat trick to being able to get a ball out of here was huge," Cain said. "I was glad I was able to get a good pitch and get it over the fence for us to tie the game up." Drew Smyly pitched a one-hit eighth, then allowed a leadoff single in the ninth to Hosmer and was replaced by Valverde. He retired Santiago Perez on a flyout and struck out Billy Butler as Hosmer stole second -- becoming the first Kansas City runner in scoring position. Cain fouled off three pitches, then sent an 85 mph offering over the wall in left-centre. Valverde blew a save for the third time in 12 chances. Cain was not sure it was going to clear the fence. "I put it on the barrel, but after that it was either wind or carry," Cain said. "I thought it was in the gap. I was just blowing for it to go out for me and it did." Verlander did not allow a batter past first base, giving up three singles, striking out eight and walking two in a 117-pitch outing, his second-highest total this season. "It was a tough outing, Verlander being Verlander as usual, dominating," Cain said. "I say continue to battle, got a pitch up, put a nice easy swing on it and it got over the fence." Verlander has a 15-2 record with a 2.56 ERA in 25 starts against the Royals. "It hurts," Verlander said. "Youve got two outs and two strikes, and when the ball leaves the yard, its not a good feeling. It only tied the game, so we immediately need to change our mindset to OK, lets win it. To lose it that way, its a tough pill to swallow. "Losing period stinks. When you lose one thats so close to a win makes it that much more difficult." Greg Holland (2-1) pitched a perfect 10th, striking out Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera and retiring Prince Fielder on a lineout, and Miguel Tejada singled off Phil Coke (0-4) leading off the bottom half. Tejada advanced to third on Alcides Escobars sacrifice and Alex Gordons groundout to first, and Hosmer singled to centre. "That was a great win," Hosmer said. "Were down to our last strike with the closer on the mound. Thats just the character of this team. Were not going to give up until the last out is made. "Cain had a day like he did, the first couple of at-bats, strikes out. The way he comes up in the last inning with two strikes, its battling right there." Tigers manager Jim Leylands post-game press conference was brief, lasting 97 seconds. "Verlander showed why hes the horse today," Leyland said. "He was terrific, absolutely terrific. He stepped up today. Thats the way hes been the seven years Ive been here." But the Tigers bullpen remains an Achilles heel with a 4-12 record and eight blown saves. "He (Valverde) got two quick outs and then he hung a splitter," Leyland said. "He left it out over the plate. It didnt split and the kid hit it out. The key was the ninth inning. We got two quick outs and two strikes and the guy hit it out." James Shields, acquired from Tampa Bay in a December trade, allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings for the Royals. He is 0-4 in eight starts since beating the Rays on April 30 despite a 2.64 ERA in that span. Detroit built its lead on Fielders RBI single in the first and consecutive doubles by Matt Tuiasosopo and Brayan Pena in the fifth. Pena, who played the four previous years with Kansas City, has three doubles, two homer and 10 RBIs in his past 16 games. Royals right fielder David Lough robbed Cabrera of a run-producing extra-base hit in the third when he made a diving catch of his liner to the gap with Hunter on first. Lough received a standing ovation from the Kauffman Stadium crowd of 24,564, while Shields tipped his cap and waited for Lough in front of the Royals dugout to congratulate him. "If you rate it a 15 on a 10 (scale), thats how I would rate his catch," Shields said. "Its a very crucial part of the game. Thats going to be up there for catch of the year as far as Im concerned." NOTES: Royals manager Ned Yost will miss the game Thursday at Tampa Bay to attend his daughters wedding. Bench coach Chino Cadahia will manage in Yosts absence. ... Tigers RHP Anibal Sanchez, who sat out his previous start with shoulder tightness, is scheduled to start Saturday at Minnesota. ... The Tigers had three sacrifice bunts, including two by Ramon Santiago. They had only eight in their first 64 games.Amani Hooker Womens Jersey . 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As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night.MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Things sure do get wild in West Virginia whenever Oklahoma comes to town.In the first meeting of top 10 teams in the Big 12 this season, the eighth-ranked Sooners (8-2, 7-0 Big 12, No. 9 CFP) will try to keep their faint national playoff hopes going on Saturday night, along with the consolation prize of moving closer to a league title.Then theres No. 10 West Virginia, which badly wants its first league crown but needs some help along the way.The Mountaineers (8-1, 5-1, No. 14 CFP) also want to put to rest the notion that its not up to par with Oklahoma, which is the only Big 12 team that West Virginia hasnt beaten since joining the league in 2012.Ive been here a long time, 0-4 against Oklahoma, said West Virginia center Tyler Orlosky. Obviously you want to win this game and itll set you up for the rest of the season, finish out strong. And hopefully we do.West Virginia has the Big 12s stingiest defense, allowing 20.6 points per game. Chances out that goes out the window in a series that has seen two high-scoring games in Morgantown.In 2012, Oklahoma needed a last-second TD pass by Landry Jones to beat the Mountaineers 50-49 in a game that featured 1,440 yards of offense .Two years later, the teams combined for 1,013 yards, Oklahomas Samaje Perine ran for 242 yards and four scores , and the Sooners won 45-33.Oklahoma has a 14-game conference winning streak. Its last three road games have been decided by 10 points or less.Theres always a certain challenge and energy to playing on the road to a rowdy crowd, said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. The guys kind of unify, and bond, and its sort of you against all of them, and you can get a charge out of that.---Some other things to note when the Sooners and Mountaineers meet on what could be a cold, rainy night:TITLE FOCUS: Oklahoma or No. 13 Oklahoma State can win the Big 12 title if one of them wins theiir remaining games.dddddddddddd The Sooners can wrap it up with a win Saturday coupled with an Oklahoma State loss at TCU. The Cowboys and Sooners meet Dec. 3. West Virginia takes the title if it wins its remaining three games and Oklahoma State loses once.QBS PERFORMING DIFFERENTLY: Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has thrown 17 TDs with two interceptions in his last four games. West Virginias Skyler Howard has five interceptions in his last three but hopes to take advantage of a Sooners defense that is allowing an average of 297 yards.HONORING TAVON: Oklahoma wide receiver Dede Westbrook revealed this week that he wears No. 11 in honor of Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin, who currently wears the same number. Austin starred at West Virginia. In 2012, he had a school-record 344 rushing yards and league-record 572 all-purpose yards against the Sooners, a performance that Westbrook enjoyed watching while attending junior college. That guy was awesome, Westbrook said.WVU RBS: Coach Dana Holgorsen said he wasnt sure of the status of West Virginia running backs Rushel Shell and Justin Crawford, who playing sparingly last week with injuries. That left freshman Kennedy McKoy to get the bulk of the carries in a 24-20 win over Texas . McKoy ran for 73 yards and West Virginia had a season-low 114 yards on the ground in struggling to close out the Longhorns after building a two-touchdown lead.PASS RUSHERS APPLY: If the Mountaineers want to get to Mayfield, theyd better get busy. West Virginia has just 17 sacks this season. Noble Nwachukwu, who is tied for the team lead with three, sat out the Texas game with a leg injury. Holgorsen said he expects Nwachukwu to be ready this week.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '