NEW YORK -- Kansas City players tipped their caps to Derek Jeter when the retiring New York Yankees captain walked up to the pla

NEW YORK -- Kansas City players tipped their caps to Derek Jeter when the retiring New York Yankees captain walked up to the plate in the first inning. Albert Almora Jr Jersey . Then the Royals went back to work trying to make some history of their own. Yordano Ventura pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, and the AL Central leaders beat the Yankees 2-0 Sunday on a pair of unearned runs for their second shutout in the three-game series. Trying for its first playoff berth since winning the 1985 World Series, Kansas City maintained a two-game lead in the AL Central over the second-place Tigers, who defeated San Francisco 6-1 on Sunday night. The Royals headed to Detroit for a three-game series that starts Monday. "Were playing great baseball," manager Ned Yost said. "Were pitching, and were playing defence and scoring runs and winning ballgames, and thats all I can ask." Kansas City scored due to errors by pitcher Shane Greene in the second inning and right fielder Carlos Beltran in the third. The Royals won 1-0 Friday night on an unearned run following third baseman Chase Headleys error and went 4-3 against the Yankees this year to take the season series for the first time since 1999. And they won on Derek Jeter Day, when many Yankees stars of the past returned for a 45-minute ceremony that also included NBA great Michael Jordan and baseball ironman Cal Ripken Jr. Video messages from athletes, celebrities and even astronauts in space were shown throughout the day. "Oh, man! That was, honestly, one of the coolest things Ive ever seen," Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said. "Any time anyone came on that board or anyone they announced, I got chills." Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie suggested to his teammates that they tip their caps. "He was my favourite player growing up," Guthrie said. "I was there for the final game at (the original) Yankee Stadium. I was there when he recorded his 2,723rd hit that broke the hits record for the Yankees. ... And now to be here for this -- Ive seen quite a few really cool moments." Kansas City, which hasnt been in first place this late in a season since 1989, hopes to give its fans a reason to celebrate this fall. Ventura (12-9) won his third straight start, leaving after a leadoff walk in the seventh -- his fourth of the game. "When I was able to throw the curve for a strike, it really helped all of the other pitches and made for quick innings," he said through a translator. "When the curveball wasnt getting over for a strike, that could have been the difference in the walks." With closer Greg Holland sidelined by a strained right triceps, Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis combined for one-hit relief. Kansas City went ahead in the second when Josh Willingham reached on an infield single near the mound, advanced on Moustakas single and scored with two outs when Nori Aoki hit a slow roller that Greene (4-3) threw wildly past first base. Beltran dropped Alex Gordons easy fly leading off the third, and Gordon stole second before scoring on a single by Eric Hosmer, his first RBI since July 29. "Any way you can score runs is a good way," Moustakas said. "It doesnt matter how they get across as long as youre scoring." TRAINERS ROOM Royals: LHP Danny Duffy headed back to Kansas City for an MRI of his sore left shoulder. Yost said Holland played catch, "felt much, much better today" and will have his status re-examined Monday. Yankees: OF Brett Gardner missed his second straight game because of a lower abdominal strain. UP NEXT Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-10) is slated to pitch Monday, with Justin Verlander (12-12) on the mound for the Tigers. Yankees: RHP Hiroki Kuroda (10-8) starts Tuesdays series opener against Tampa Bay RHP Chris Archer (8-8). BIRTHDAY BOY Pitching on his 29th birthday, Davis got his second save of the series -- and his big league career. After Beltran singled over first leading off the ninth, Davis struck out Brian McCann on a 3-2 pitch, retired Mark Teixeira on a soft grounder to third and fanned Stephen Drew on another full-count pitch. Davis has 94 strikeouts in 63 1-3 innings this season and has allowed one run in 53 innings dating to late April. That run scored when he hit the Los Angeles Dodgers A.J. Ellis with a bases-loaded pitch on June 25. ROAD WARRIORS Kansas City is 6-0-1 in its last seven road series. Fergie Jenkins Cubs Jersey . Rinehart joins safety Darrell Stuckey and linebacker Donald Butler as potential unrestricted free agents who are remaining with the team. Ian Happ Cubs Jersey . The former world No. 1 Djokovic, who is the top seed here despite being ranked No. 2, snuck past 35-year-old Czech showman Radek Stepanek in four high- quality sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), on Centre Court. Djokovic appeared relieved when he converted on his first match point by swatting a cross-court forehand winner that just caught the line to end an affair that featured only two service breaks. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-Ron-Santo-Kids-Jersey/ . The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said.The bad blood between the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues continued on Wednesday night in Denver. After the game that saw the Blues snap the Avalanches three-game winning streak with a 4-1 win at the Pepsi Center to win their fifth-consecutive game, head coaches Patrick Roy and Ken Hitchcock had choice words for one another. Though there was some rough play during a 7-3 Blues win over the Avalanche on Nov. 14 - with Blues forward Chris Stewart showboating after a fight with Colorado defenceman Cory Sarich, the source of contention between the two coaches goes back to Colorados opening night win over the Anaheim Ducks. At the conclusion of that game, Roy got into a heated dispute with Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau and pushed over a glass partition that separated the two benches. Roy was fined $10,000 for the incident. Asked about what happened the following day, Hitchcock called Roys actions "junior hockey" and said they had "no place in our game." Roy chose Wednesday night to finally respond to Hitchcock. "You know what, I waas very mad at the end because I have been jabbed by different coaches around the league, especially Hitchcock when he said that was junior stuff, talking to players, talking to the referees," Roy said. David Ross Jersey. "But I saw a guy on the other side who was talking to players and then was also talking to the referee and got the referee (mad)." The first-year coach then suggested that there was a league-wide double standard in play that allows for more leniency for a veteran coachs interaction with referees. "Seems to me that theres different rules for everybody in this league," Roy said. "I guess the old guys are allowed to do whatever they want and I guess us, because we are younger, we are not allowed to say anything. I am a little (mad) about that." When informed of Roys comments, Hitchcock did not mince words of his own. "Oh, give me a break," Hitchcock said. "Tell Patrick to shut the ---- up." The NHL has not commented on the exchange. The Avalanche and Blues will play in St. Louis on Mar. 8. ' ' '