er J.B. Shuck and the Canadian mens basketball team. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to the pressure being exerted o

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jose Quintana entered September in the AL Cy Young Award conversation with an 11-9 record and a 2.77 ERA.A trio of lackluster starts has taken him out of it.Quintana allowed six runs over four innings and the Chicago White Sox lost to the Kansas City Royals 10-3 on Sunday.Quintana (12-11) faced 24 batters, gave up a season-high 10 hits and three walks. It was his shortest outing since April 19, 2015 at Detroit.Its just a bad day. Quintana said. They hit me good, early, and thats all. That changed the game for me.Aside from a dominant outing last time out against Cleveland, Quintana has been lousy this month. Hes 1-2 with a 6.85 ERA in four September starts after going 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA in his previous eight outings. Quintanas career record against the Royals dropped to 1-9.It wasnt the normal stuff, the stuff you expect from him, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. They hit him pretty hard, too. He just wasnt locating the way he usually does. It was just an off day for him.Todd Frazier hit his 37th homer, a White Sox record for a third baseman.It would be real nice, Frazier said about getting to 40. Always got to round the numbers up. We talk about that all the time, trying to get a couple here, a couple there. And there are a lot of opportunities. The more the guys get on base, theres more opportunity for me.Kendrys Morales homered for his 1,000th career hit and drove in four runs, and Royals starter Danny Duffy pitched effectively into the eighth inning.Morales was hitting .191 on June 5, but in his past 20 games he is hitting .359 with a .705 slugging percentage, bringing his season total to .261 with 38 home runs and 85 RBI.Duffy (12-2) picked up his first victory since Aug. 21. He struck out eight and gave up three runs.Morales homered in the sixth with Paulo Orlando aboard. Orlando reached base four times -- two doubles, a walk and hit by pitch -- and scored three runs.Morales contributed an RBI single in the first and doubled home Eric Hosmer in the fourth.Hosmer drove in three runs, giving him a career-best 95 RBI. Whit Merrifield had three hits and two RBI.Alex Gordon ended an 0-for-21 drought with his 16th home run, which splashed into the upper right-field fountain.DOUBLE CHALLENGEThe third inning included a 4-minute, 25-second review that included both managers making a challenge on the same play. Ned Yost of the Royals claimed shortstop Tim Anderson did not touch second base before throwing to first on Hosmers grounder. White Sox manager Robin Ventura challenged that Orlando violated the slide rule. After the review, the call on the field was overturned with Orlando ruled safe and the slide deemed legal.We felt like when you slide and you cant reach the bag thats enough for me to feel like its not a real slide or a bona fide slide, Ventura said. Again, that stuff is written in a way that it could go either way.TRAINERS ROOMWhite Sox: INF Tyler Saladino was out for the second straight game with a left calf issue. ... DH Justin Morneau missed his sixth straight game with neck discomfort.UP NEXTWhite Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon, who is 5-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his past eight starts, will start the series finale.Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura has allowed at least 11 baserunners in each of his past three starts with 12 walks and 23 hits. Nike Air Max 90 Rabatt . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Nike Air Max Tn Sverige .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. http://www.reaairmaxsverige.com/air-max-720-rabatt.html . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Billiga Nike Air Max 270 Dam . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Nike Air Max 98 Sverige . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the IOC and Russias policy towards homosexuality, the poor defence of the Toronto Blue Jays, the stellar defence of Los Angeles Angels outfielder J.B. Shuck and the Canadian mens basketball team. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to the pressure being exerted on the International Olympic Committee and its partners over Russias violent and despicable oppression of homosexuality in advance of the 2014 Games in Sochi. Russia is sending mixed messages; public support of homosexuality will or wont be allowed, but its policies are abhorrent, either way. Opponents are pushing boycotts, none of which seem likely, though its a worthy debate. Either way, this has a chance to be a critical moment in the global push for equal rights. The world will be watching, someone will speak up and the IOC and its sponsors will have a small and unlikely chance to prove that their amoral globe-trotting sporting carnival has any morals whatsoever. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the Toronto Blue Jays, and no, Im not going to squawk about starting pitching this morning. Its about their defence - which has been described by one American League scout as being similar to a slo-pitch softball team. Thats not meant as a compliment. Ive been watching this team from its infancy and honestly, I cant remember a Jays club as poor defensively as this one. Its one thing to be near the bottom in earned runs given up. Its another thing entirely to marry that with being near the bottom in unearned runs allowed. Its a formula that adds up to a last place finish. Gary Lawless, Winniipeg Free Press: Thumbs up to the future of Canadas senior mens basketball team which has gone from a witness protection program to one of promise.dddddddddddd New GM Steve Nash gave the program buzz and substance all in one make-it-look easy, no-look pass. Not long ago Basketball Canada had difficulty attracting NBA players but now, according to coach Jay Triano, theyll find themselves in a position where theyll be strong enough to cut an NBA player. Nash and Triano can look at their top end talent and see Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Andrew Nicholson and Joel Anthony. First overall pick Anthony Bennett and lottery selection Kelly Olynyk and also on the radar as is 2014 projected no. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins. Nash calls this new era the golden age of Basketball in Canada. Fair enough. The fun part starts now as we get to watch and see if they can transform from paper tigers to giant slayers. Dave Hodge, TSN: Steve talked about shoddy defence by the Toronto Blue Jays -- well, on Friday night, a sensational defensive play by Angels outfielder J.B. Shuck reminded the Jays how important plays in the field can be--they can be as good as a Jose Bautista homer, if they can rob Jose Bautista of a homer. Undoubtedly this play made Bautista say something stronger than "shucks". The otherwise little-known J.B. Shuck had a long run to the left-field corner -- he had the ball and the wall to deal with, and he had to leap to make the catch, and then he disappeared.... with the ball in his glove. It was one of those plays that made everyone who saw it happen "live" say the same thing in unison -- "Sportscentre highlight." Indeed, it was. ' ' '