ving depth, something the Oilers lack with their curr

Yordano Ventura tries to pitch the Kansas City Royals to a commanding two games to none lead over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Friday in Game 2 of the American League Division Series. Ventura was almost the goat of Kansas Citys wild card win over Oakland, as he came out of the bullpen and promptly served up a go-ahead three-run homer to the As Brandon Moss. The Royals, though, took him and manager Ned Yost off the hook in that one with a thrilling 12-inning win. Weve got a lot of confidence in (Venturas) ability, Yost said. When you throw a 100-mph fastball and 95-mph two-seamer and 94-mph cutter and a nice curveball and nice changeup -- I think everybody has confidence in him. The 23-year-old flame-thrower, though, won five of his final six decisions in the regular season and ended his rookie campaign 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA. Ventura faced the Angels once this season -- a rain-shortened start in June in which he allowed two runs in four innings and took the loss. Everybody knows they do have a very potent lineup and a lot of guys out there that can hurt you, Ventura said. But I think my main concern is to know that I go out there and make some pitches. Making some pitches means Ive got to put it in good spots against very dangerous people. Kansas City continued to ride a wave of momentum on Thursday, as Mike Moustakas first home run in over a month propelled the Royals to a 3-2, 11- inning win in Game 1. Angels pitchers retired 16 straight hitters at one point, but the hosts wasted a bevy of scoring chances throughout, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight on base. Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Howie Kendrick and Josh Hamilton combined to go 0-for-18 in the setback. We had some guys in scoring position, we just couldnt get that one hit, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. I think we swung the bats a little bit better than what the numbers are going to show. We hit some balls hard and they made some terrific defensive plays. Their only runs came on solo shots from Chris Iannetta and David Freese in the third and fifth innings, respectively. The light-hitting Royals countered with a long ball of their own, as Moustakas got just enough of a Fernando Salas (0-1) offering to barely send it over the right-field wall for the first extra-inning home run in Royals history. Kansas City, of course, hit the fewest amount of home runs (95) of any team in the league this season. Greg Holland (1-0) set down the side in order in the bottom half to cap Kansas Citys second dramatic win in three days. Now the Angels will turn to rookie right-hander Matt Shoemaker, who has not pitched since Sept. 15 due to rib cage and chest injuries. Shoemaker won his final seven decisions and was 9-1 over his final 11 games with a 1.49 ERA. In all, Shoemaker made 20 starts, going 14-3 with a 2.89 ERA in those games. He also won twice in relief, and his 16 total victories set an Angels rookie record. Matt Shoemaker saved our season, Scioscia said. Hes got to be the story of the year for our team, and it might be the biggest surprise in the league. Matts been a guy who has always had to prove himself. Even this year he had to prove himself. But he got the opportunity and hes made the most of it. The news wasnt all good for the Royals on Thursday, as reliever Kelvin Herrera exited with a strained right forearm after walking the only batter he faced in the seventh inning. He will have an MRI on Friday. Los Angeles split six games with the Royals during the season with each team taking two of three in their ballpark. This is the first postseason meeting between the Angels and Royals, former division rivals in the American League West from 1969-93. Kyrie Irving Shoes Deals . Cammalleri scored two goals, Corban Knight netted the winner in a shootout, and the Flames erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Stars 4-3 on Friday night. Clearance Kyrie Irving Shoes . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday. https://www.cheapshoeskyrieirving.com/ . The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. Kyrie Irving Shoes For Sale . Over the course of his career Glenn is 79-71-1 in 151 starts for a .526 career winning percentage. Since becoming a Stampeder, he has elevated his play and raised his stock around the league. Kyrie Irving Shoes Outlet . Jurrjens signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati in May, and was 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA at Triple-A Louisville. He has a 53-37 record with a 3.63 ERA in seven major league seasons, including five with Atlanta.EDMONTON - Craig MacTavish said he has spoken to virtually every NHL general manager over the last few weeks, talking possible deals involving draft picks or roster players in an effort to bulk up his team. The Edmonton rookie GM is heading to Newark, N.J. for Sundays NHL draft determined to add desperately needed size to the Oilers. He said he will be disappointed if he doesnt come home with two or three roster players. "Im motivated to do something to help this current roster," he said. "I want to make sure were at least able to add a big piece with that first pick (No. 7), but outside of that Im pretty open minded to doing anything." The primary need, he explained, was size and depth. "We will try and use some of the existing players that we have now to try to make some trades for the meat that weve all talked about and that everybody has identified as a real area of concern for our team," he said. "My sense is that we try to put together some packages to attract some of those players. We all know the division were going into next year is a strong division. Were going to need big, strong players to compete." He said it will likely take a combination of moving some current roster players and some draft choices. After No. 7, Edmonton has two second-round picks, Nos. 37 and 56, plus one pick each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. MacTavish said he has received some offers for his first-round pick, but nothing "that even remotely would sway me to move that pick." "We know the default option is a good one, were going to get a very good player there," he added. This years draft is considered a deep one and MacTavish is confident there will be several players available at No. 7 who could help the Oilers in the near future, if not immediately. "We realize at seven were going to get one of about four players. Through the course of the last six months … I realized there are a lot of players out tthere I would be excited to add to our roster and certainly at seven theres a lot.dddddddddddd" With the deep draft, he expects the second-round picks to become more valuable as Sunday nears. "I feel the most liquid currency in this business are second-round picks and we have a couple of those," he said At the same time, hes not overly anxious to move those picks without what he considers fair compensation in return, keeping in mind the success the early Oilers had with draft picks. They got Mark Messier at No. 48 in 1979 and in 1980 got Hall of Fame defenceman Paul Coffey at No. 6, forward Jari Kurri at No. 69 and goaltender Andy Moog at No. 132. MacTavish said this years Stanley Cup final once again demonstrated the value of having depth, something the Oilers lack with their current roster. "The year we went to Cup final (2006) we had lots of guys who could contribute offensively and last year we really didnt," he said. "We had a lot of one or two or zero goal scorers who were out there … really the best you could hope for was they were a non-negative factor. We have to let the core players continue to develop … and we have to build that supporting cast around them." For that reason, he said the team wouldnt be looking at role players with their later picks, but rather players with skill potential to develop. Role players, he said, could easily be found if needed. MacTavish wouldnt comment on his plans for the two available contract buy-outs this year or what qualifying offers the team intends to make. He did say he is "somewhat optimistic" he can get forward Sam Gagner, the teams second leading scorer with 38 points, signed to a long-term contract. "At some point we have to, as an organization, start rewarding people who really embody the characteristics that we hold in high regard. Sam really fits that. There are a lot of reasons why we want to get Sam on a long-term contract." ' ' '