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CHICAGO -- Ian Kennedy wanted to talk about Chris Sales outing more than his own performance.What did he go, eight innings, 12 punchouts? Kennedy said. You know youre going up against one of the best pitchers in the American League. I just wanted to go out there and try to give our team a chance.Kennedy did a lot better than that, combining with three relievers on a two-hitter and helping the Kansas City Royals edge Sale and the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Sunday.The key for Kansas City was swinging early. Kendrys Morales homered on Sales first pitch of the second and Eric Hosmer did the same in the fourth.Honestly, I just try to get out of that box as quick as I can without getting embarrassed, Hosmer said.The Royals won their second straight to stay four games behind Baltimore for the final AL wild-card spot. They have to jump five teams over the final 20 games to reach the playoffs for the third straight year.We needed this, Hosmer said.Kennedy (11-9) walked four, but Adam Eatons leadoff single was the only hit off the right-hander in six innings. He improved to 5-0 in his last six starts.Peter Moylan and Kelvin Herrera each threw a perfect inning before Wade Davis worked around Eatons single and a walk in the ninth for his 24th save.Sale (15-8) struck out 12 in eight innings while becoming the first White Sox pitcher with four consecutive 200-strikeout seasons. It was his third game of 10 or more strikeouts this season and No. 34 for his career.Sale also went over 200 innings for the second straight season.I think more than anything, its the innings, Sale said. I was told very early on when I got here 200 innings was the benchmark for a starting pitcher.But Sale, who has gone at least eight innings in five straight starts, has just one win since starting for the AL in the All-Star Game. It has fueled speculation Sale could be traded in the offseason to help a rare rebuilding project for the struggling franchise.I dont worry about that stuff. Itll shake out on its own, Sale said. I wear this uniform with a lot of pride and I hope I can continue to do that.Kennedy, who struck out six, stymied Chicago despite occasional control issues amid his late-season turnaround.He walked the bases loaded in the third with two out before Melky Cabrera flied to right. Kennedy worked around another walk in the fifth when Tyler Saladino lined to the mound to start a double play.Davis got Jose Abreu to line to right and struck out Justin Morneau with two on to close the Royals fourth win in six games.Its hard to bunch offense against Chris Sale, Royals manager Ned Yost said. You have to hope you can get a pitch and not miss it. Thats what Mo did. Thats what Hos did and you just hope that your pitching matches.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Yost said OF Lorenzo Cain (sprained left wrist) will see a specialist and theyll decide in a week if hell be shut down for the season. Were just doing everything we can right now, Cain said. Hopefully, I can get back on the field. ... C Salvador Perez started a second straight game in his return from a wrist injury. Salvy is a different scenario, its just a bone contusion, Yost said.White Sox: Sale stayed in after taking a liner off his knee in the third. He recovered to throw out Paulo Orlando at first.MEMORIESThe 15-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hit home for both managers. Chicagos Robin Ventura was playing for the Mets and Yost was with the Braves then. The teams faced off in the first game in New York after the attack.Both men brought up the significance of Mike Piazzas game-winning home run.People could cheer, people could hug each other and laugh and root for their team again, Ventura said.UP NEXTRoyals: Oakland comes to Kansas City for four games, with Royals RHP Dillon Gee (6-7, 4.34 ERA) facing LHP Ross Detwiler (1-3, 5.15 ERA) on Monday.White Sox: AL Central-leading Cleveland visits for four games starting Monday, with RHP Miguel Gonzalez (3-6, 3.81 ERA) facing RHP Carlos Carrasco (11-7, 3.15 ERA).Stitched Royals Jerseys . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Kansas City Royals Pro Shop . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Royals Jerseys China . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Custom Kansas City Royals Jerseys . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011.RENTON, Wash. -- When Marshawn Lynch posted that photo of his cleats hanging from a wire, the Seattle Seahawks task became about more than finding a replacement for the yards and touchdowns he provided over the course of six seasons.Along with Lynchs retirement came the challenge of trying to replace what he meant to the Seahawks in terms of style and attitude.Were not going to be able to replace him. Point blank, wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. Not his personality, his attitude, his leadership in the locker room and on the field. Were not going to be able to replace that.Lynch was not an ordinary running back. He was attitude in green cleats. The Seattle swagger that led to two Super Bowl trips was amplified by the likes of Richard Sherman and Baldwin, but it was first created by Lynch when he arrived via trade early in the 2010 season.Now the Seahawks go into a season for the first time during their rise to prominence without Lynch on the roster. It may seem a minuscule worry with all the other challenges the Seahawks face, but there is a lingering question about whether Seattle needs to replace the personality Lynch provided.Who he was in the locker room, its people like him that gel the team together. He was glue. He didnt speak out, he wasnt the guy to get in front and do rah-rah speeches but the few times he did, everyone shut ... up and listened because it was Marshawn Lynch, Baldwin said. To that degree it is what it is. He wasnt the rah-rah leader, he wasnt always saying stuff but when he spoke it meant volumes. We dont really have a guy like that who commands the respect and attention at that level. There are only a handful of guys in the league who do anyway. We have the leaders like Richard Sherman, like Russell Wilson that can still carry that weight across the team.The process of finding Lynchs replacement begins Saturday when the Seahawks face Kansas City in their preseason opener. The expectation is that Thomas Rawls will be Lynchs heir based on his performance last season as Lynchs backup.Rawls rushed for 830 yarrds and four touchdowns, and averaged 5.dddddddddddd6 yards per carry last season, but suffered a serious ankle injury in December against Baltimore that required surgery and a lengthy rehab. Rawls was only activated from the physically unable to perform list earlier this week and may not even see the field during the preseason.So while Rawls seems the likely replacement, there are questions surrounding his health, leaving the likes of Alex Collins, Christine Michael, Zac Brooks and others to spend the next four weeks trying to take advantage of the opportunity.They all seem to know what being a running back for Seattle entails.Id say definitely toughness. Our (running backs) coach (Sherman Smith) likes to look at it as we set the tone and the tempo for the team. Everyone feeds off the running backs, Collins said. Weve got to run down the field and get the defense chasing. You know, we set the tone so I embrace that and our group embraces that. Thats just what we try to do every day.Seattle got a taste of life without Lynch last season when he missed nine games due to hamstring and abdominal injuries. He rehabilitated away from the team for the latter of the two injuries, spending the final weeks of the regular season mostly absent from the teams facility.During that period, the Seattle offense became even more about Wilson. That evolution will continue this season because no one can completely replace Lynch.Our style is who we are. Marshawn just took that to a whole other level, offensive line coach Tom Cable said. What you hope is Thomas (Rawls) and Christine (Michael) and C.J. (Prosise) and Alex (Collins), all these kids can find their niche in it or their role in it or their style in it if you will. But our style is what we have here, what coach has laid out, and finding the runner that can lift that up. Thats certainly what Marshawn did.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '