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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alcides Escobar was going to take the first pitch that Neftali Feliz threw him, no matter what. After that, the Royals shortstop decided to keep taking pitches until he saw a strike. Turns out he never got to see one. Escobar walked on four pitches with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning Friday night, giving Kansas City a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in the opener of an important three-game series between teams in the playoff race. "We had the utmost confidence he was going to get it done right there and he had a great at-bat," said Royals manager Ned Yost, who chose to stick with Escobar despite his .238 batting average and the fact that he had walked just 18 times in more than 600 plate appearances. Make that 19 times. "Im frustrated that I wasnt able to locate where I wanted to, but I understand thats part of the game," Feliz said. "I need to keep my head up and try it again tomorrow." The Rangers dropped a half-game behind the Indians, which beat Houston 2-1 in a rain-shortened game, for the second AL wild-card spot. The Royals were three games behind the leading Rays, who were locked in an extra-inning game with the Orioles. "These games are all going to be like this," said Yost, whose Royals (81-72) are already assured of their first non-losing season since 2003. "Theyre all going to be nail-biters. Theyre all going to be close." This one was so close the Rangers and Royals scored matching runs in the second inning, and then started tossing up zeros the rest of the way. The Royals finally broke through when Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive two-out singles off the Rangers Jason Frasor (4-3) in the eighth. Pinch-hitter David Lough drew a walk on a full-count pitch, and Rangers manager Ron Washington brought in Feliz. He promptly walked Escobar as a crowd of 30,000 roared. Luke Hochevar (5-2) earned the win in relief of Ervin Santana, who allowed one run on five hits in 7 1-3 innings. Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 44th save. "It stinks when you get taken out and youve got to rely on someone else. Its hard to sit there and watch," Frasor said. "Its a tough spot for Neftali." The Rangers actually jumped out to an early lead when Adrian Beltre, whose .374 average coming into the game was the best of any current player at Kauffman Stadium, roped a single to lead off the second. It was followed by a double by A.J. Pierzynski for a 1-0 advantage. The Royals answered in the bottom half when Salvador Perez led off with a double and Justin Maxwell, getting the start in right field, hit a two-out double to tie the game. Kansas City kept wasting chances in the early innings, though. Billy Butler grounded into a double play to end the first, and Moustakas grounded into another in the second. The Royals worked back-to-back walks in the fourth before Escobar flied out to centre field to end yet another scoring threat. The most egregious mistake came in the sixth, when Maxwell walked and Escobar was hit by a pitch from Rangers starter Martin Perez. Maxwell took off for third base with Alex Gordon at the plate, and he was easily thrown out by catcher Geovany Soto to end the inning. Asked whether he was running on his own, Yost replied: "Yeah." Good idea? "Nope." None of those jams was as tight as the one Santana worked out of in the fifth. After retiring the first two batters, David Murphy doubled, Leonys Martin singled and Ian Kinsler drew a walk to load the bases. Santana recovered to strike out Elvis Andrus. The Rangers had another opportunity in the eighth, but Hochever got Andrus to fly out to left and Alex Rios to ground out to first to leave Kinsler standing on first base. "Every game is so big, and thats what makes it fun," Hochevar said. "The intensity, the electricity in the ballpark that weve had during this push, its been awesome." NOTES: RHP Matt Garza goes to the mound for the Rangers on Saturday night. The Royals counter with RHP Jeremy Guthrie. ... Soto gave Pierzynski a night off behind the plate. ... Perez allowed one run on seven hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. ... The Royals left 11 runners on base. Texas stranded five. Calum Chambers Jersey . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. Laurent Koscielny Jersey .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks take aim at their longest winning streak of the season on Sunday when they host the Calgary Flames in a battle at the United Center. http://www.arsenalsoccerproshop.com/Authentic-Petr-Cech-Arsenal-Jersey/ . Wheeler scored at 4:58 of overtime, with Scheifele getting an assist, and the Jets beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. Custom Arsenal Jerseys . The Raptors have been outscored 88-66 in the opening quarter over a three-game span to begin the month of February. Their most recent loss, 109-101 in Sacramento on Wednesday, was eerily similar to Saturdays defeat at the hands of the Trail Blazers. Ainsley Maitland-Niles Jersey . - Jayden Hart scored once and set up two more as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the host Red Deer Rebels 5-3 on Tuesday to clinch the final Western Hockey League playoff berth.With Week 1 of the NFL and Fantasy season in the books, TSN.ca takes a look at the top performers (studs) and biggest disappointments (duds) of the opening week. Studs QB: Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Andrew Luck. Ryan set a Falcons franchise record with 448 yards against the Saints defence and added three touchdowns as the Falcons earned an overtime win. Ryan put up 31.42 fantasy points to lead all players in Week 1. Stafford picked apart the Giants secondary for 346 yards and two touchdowns. He added a five-yard rushing touchdown to give him the second-best fantasy stat line of the week. Luck battled back from an awful first half against the Denver Broncos and put up 370 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort. Lucks night was hurt by two interceptions and a failed quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. Surprise Stud: Jake Locker Locker, an unpopular fantasy quarterback, spread the ball out against the Kansas City Chiefs with 226 passing yards and two touchdowns. Playing behind one of the best offensive lines in football, Locker connected with eight different receivers. He attempted to run the ball six times, but picked up just 14 yards. Locker finished as the fifth-best QB in Week 1. RB: LeVeon Bell, Marshawn Lynch. Bell added 88 receiving yards to his 109 yards and one touchdown on the ground to earn the highest point total of any running back this week. Working against the Packers defence, Marshawn Lynch churned out 110 yards and two touchdowns to finish less than a point behind Bell. Surprise Stud: Knowshon Moreno. Following off-season knee surgery and playing in just one preseason game, Moreno silenced his critics with 134 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots defence. Moreno played a major role in the Dolphins upset win and proved he can have success in an offence not run by Peyton Manning. Honourable mention to Mark Ingram (two rushing touchdowns). WR: Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green. Not surprisingly, Johnson proved why he was (or should have been) the first wide receiver off the board in every fantasy draft. Johnson hauled in a league-high 164 yards and added two touchdowns against the Giants to lead all wide outs in Week 1 points. Green burned the Ravens secondary for 131 yards and a touchdown, including the game-winning 77-yard score. Both these men should continue to dominate the fantasy world on the perimeter. Surprise Stud: Allen Hurns. Allen Who? Hurns, owned in virtually no fantasy leagues, finished second only to Megatron at wide receiver in points this week. An undrafted free agent from Miami, Hurns dominated in the preseason with 14 catches for 232 yards and continued his strong play on Sunday against the Eagles. Hurns hauled in four passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns while working as a starting wide receiver in his first career contest.dddddddddddd Though the Jaguars passing offence remains questionable, Hurns may be worth a flier in fantasy leagues as long as Cecil Shorts remains sidelined. TE: Julius Thomas. Thomas dominated the tight end landscape with three touchdowns to go with his 104 receiving yards. Emerging as Peyton Mannings favourite red-zone target, Thomas could challenge Jimmy Graham as fantasys top tight end this season. Surprise stud: Larry Donnell. The stud title being used loosely, Donnell hauled in his first career touchdown and 56 yards in the Giants loss to the Lions on Monday. He had a team-high five receptions in the loss and could be a worthy fantasy tight end if Eli Manning continues to target him. Duds QB: Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo. It was no secret Rodgers had a tough matchup against the Seattle Seahawks defence and, with the exception of one drive, Rodgers and the Packers offence was all but shut down. Rodgers finished with 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Romo and the Cowboys offence got off to the worst start imaginable with three interceptions and a Demarco Murray fumble in the first half. Romo finished with 281 yards and a touchdown, but his three interceptions killed his stat line. RB: Jamaal Charles, Reggie Bush, Toby Gerhart. Charles had a disastrous start to his season with just 19 yards on the ground. He caught four passes for 19 yards but Charles, along with the Chiefs offence, was bottled up by the Titans in Week 1. Bush ran for just 15 yards on nine carries against the Giants on Monday night. He added six catches for 49 to help add points, but it was a disappointing night for the Lions lead back. Gerhart was touted as the focal point of the Jaguars offence this off-season but rushed for just 48 yards on 18 carries against the Eagles. Gerhart left the game briefly with an ankle injury before he returned with little effectiveness. Packers running back Eddie Lacy also struggled, but suffered a concussion in the first half. WR: Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas. Two of fantasys biggest names were amongst the biggest disappointments in Week 1. Facing the 49ers, Bryant put up just 55 yards, while Thomas hauled in just four of his 11 targets for 48 yards as the Broncos scored 31 points against the Colts. Both should bounce back, but not in time to save many of their owners from 0-1 starts. TE: Jason Witten, Jordan Cameron. A long standing top fantasy tight end, Witten was targeted just once by Romo on Sunday. He caught his lone target for 14 yards. Cameron, the top weapon in the Browns offence, had 47 receiving yards in the teams loss. His status for Week 2 is in question after sustaining a shoulder injury against the Steelers. For the top players worth picking up with this week, read the Waiver Wire. 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