KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Royals ace James Shields peered in at the Indians Yan Gomes, who had stepped to the plate with two runners aboard in the fourth inning of a nip-and-tuck game between playoff contenders. When Gomes swung and missed at strike three, Shields roared like a lion as he stalked off the mound, the intensity of meaningful September baseball etched across his face. Shields wound up going six innings Monday night, and Salvador Perez led a scrappy Kansas City offence that eventually pulled away for a 7-1 victory in the opener of a pivotal three-game series. Shields struck out a season-high 10 for the Royals (79-71), who moved within 2 1/2 games of the ALs second wild-card berth. The Indians (81-69) remained a half-game back of Texas, which lost to Tampa Bay earlier in the night in a matchup of teams leading the wild-card race. "Every game is important," Shields said. "This is what we live for, this is what we play for, September baseball, and hopefully we have a chance to go to the playoffs." Shields (12-9) allowed only Lonnie Chisenhalls solo homer before turning the game over to his stingy bullpen. Wade Davis, Luke Hochevar and Tim Collins did the rest in a steady drizzle. Perez finished with three hits and was among six different players to drive in a run for Kansas City, which is chasing its first post-season berth since winning the 1985 World Series. "We have the talent to compete each and every night," said Lorenzo Cain, who drove in one of the runs. "You need a little luck every now and then, but we have the talent to compete. Scott Kazmir (8-9) gave up four runs in 5-plus innings for the Indians. He didnt get a whole lot of help from his offence, which racked up a season-high 17 strikeouts. "I did everything I could," Kazmir said. "I battled my butt off to get where I was." Accustomed to pitching in important games, Shields kept the Indians guessing all night. He fanned three in the fifth after Chisenhall went deep, and the only other time he was in trouble was the first, when Shields stranded runners on second and third. "He knows how to handle his emotions and channel it to his benefit, but he also knows how to transfer it to his teammates," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He knows whats at stake and hes getting after it. Hes into it." Billy Butler started the scoring by driving in Emilio Bonifacio with a two-out single in the first, and then Kansas City tacked on another run in the third thanks to some hustle. Alex Gordon struck out swinging but raced to first base when Kazmirs wild pitch went to the backstop. He reached third on Eric Hosmers single and scored on Perezs two-out base knock. "When Scott left the game, were still in striking distance," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We didnt finish a couple of plays and it got away from us." That happened in the sixth, when Perez and Cain opened the inning with back-to-back triples for a 3-1 lead, and David Lough added a pinch-hit single to provide the Royals with another run. Alcides Escobar reached base when shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera fielded his grounder and threw wide of first for an error, and then Bonifacio hit a dribbler toward Chisenhall at third that he mishandled for another error. The second in a span of three batters resulted in a 5-1 game. The Royals added a pair of runs in the seventh inning to put it away. "They put it on us tonight," said the Indians Jason Giambi, who was 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts. "They played great baseball. They just out played us tonight." Notes: RHP Yordano Ventura will make his big league debut for the Royals on Tuesday night in place of LHP Danny Duffy, who has inflammation in his surgically repaired elbow. Ventura was 5-4 with a 3.74 ERA at Triple-A Omaha. ... Indians RHP Justin Masterson (oblique strain) threw from 110 feet before the game. Manager Terry Francona said hes hopeful Masterson will be available down the stretch. ... RHP Corey Kluber will start for the Indians on Wednesday night. Keon Broxton Jersey .That is precisely what they got Sunday.The Ravens trailed at halftime and never built a comfortable lead against lowly Jacksonville, yet did just enough to squeeze out a 20-12 win to stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race. Darryl Strawberry Jersey . Ferrer, the two-time defending champion in Buenos Aires, is aiming to win his 21st ATP tournament. Ferrer will next face fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, the fourth seed, who defeated Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 (7), 6-3 in another quarterfinal match. http://www.metsbaseballauthentic.com/ste...jersey/.Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs head of womens competitions, told a FIFA Live Your Goals Tour news conference Friday that the artificial turf is being tested to make sure it meets standards. Lenny Dykstra Mets Jersey .J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. Devin Mesoraco Mets Jersey . Spains victory rendered Frances 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil. Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivios own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers.CAIRO, Egypt -- The Confederation of African Football has moved the Super Cup game between Egypts Al Ahly and Tunisias Sfaxien to a smaller stadium in Cairo. CAF also brought the match between the winners of the African Champions League and Confederation Cup forward from Feb. 22 to Feb. 20. The Confederation initially said the match would be at the 75,000-seat Cairo International Stadium, raising concerns as games in front of large crowds in Egypt have been rare since more than 70 people, mostly Al Ahly fans, were killed at a stadium riot in 2012.dddddddddddd CAF says the switch to a 30,000-capacity military venue which hosted the Egypt-Ghana World Cup playoff last year was for "organizational reasons." Fans clashed with police before Ahlys victory in Novembers Champions League final at another Cairo stadium. ' ' '