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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals finished this season a long way from where they finished last season.In time, location and record.Instead of capping a World Series championship on a crisp November night in New York, the Royals ended their year with a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on a mild Sunday afternoon in early October.It left them 81-81, their first non-winning season in four years.We were just one win away from having a winning season, Royals manager Ned Yost said. We had four cracks at it at the end of the year and just couldnt get it. Offensively, we just couldnt do it.The Tigers loss to the Braves coupled with the Red Soxs loss to the Blue Jays gave Cleveland (94-67) homefield advantage in the divisional round. The newly minted AL Central champions open against Boston (93-69) on Thursday at Progressive field with Trevor Bauer slated to take the hill.You get to the last weekend of the year, you see a lot of guys kind of tailing off, said Francona, who has yet to win a postseason game in Cleveland. Our guys never did that.Not even in their regular-season finale.Josh Tomlin (13-9) dueled with the Royals Ian Kennedy (11-11) into the eighth before finally pulling ahead. Carlos Santana drew a walk off Kennedy to start the inning, Jason Kipnis followed with a double and Francisco Lindor hit a fly ball deep enough to right field for the lead.Tomlin got the first batter in the eighth before Andrew Miller finished it up, and Cody Allen handled the ninth to earn his 32nd save and give the Indians a nice boost heading into the playoffs.Ive never really experienced the postseason, said Tomlin, the expected Game 3 starter, so I know Ill be ready when that time comes. We knew we put ourselves in good position.It was a frustrating finale to an injury plagued season for the Royals, who had been to the past two World Series and were coming off their first championship since 1985. A dismal July nearly buried them, an inspired August got them back into contention, and a stumbling finish left them at .500.Meanwhile, there were so many playoff permutations riding on the final day of the regular season that Francona was still trying to sort everything out 3 hours before first pitch.The only thing he knew was his club was playing Boston on Thursday -- somewhere.So, the Indians chose to focus solely on a club theyve dominated this season.They fell into a 1-0 hole when Jarrod Dyson and Whit Merrifield opened the game with doubles off Tomlin, the expected Game 3 starter in the divisional series, but the lead didnt even last the two innings.The Indians answered in the third when Tyler Naquin was plunked by a pitch from Kennedy, and Yan Gomes went deep to left field on the first big league pitch hed seen since July 17.Kansas City tied it up when Cheslor Cuthbert homered leading off the fifth inning.Tomlin wound up allowing two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings, retiring the final 10 he faced. Kennedy retired 13 in a row during a similar stretch, giving up three runs on four hits in 7 2/3 innings.One mistake, I gave up a home run and it kind of cost me, Kennedy said. Overall, I was really happy how the outing went. At least, I gave our team a real solid chance.TRAINERS ROOMIndians: Gomes, activated from the 60-day DL on Friday, started for the first time since breaking his right hand in a rehab game Sept. 14. Its been a long way back, Gomes said. They said I cant hurt it any more. Youll just have to play through it, play through the pain.Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer missed the finale with a wrist issue hes been battling for weeks. C Sal Perez was the DH to protect an ailing hamstring. ... RHP Dillon Gee is scheduled to have another procedure Oct. 11 for blood clots in his shoulder and lung. The issue popped up during a start in Detroit.UP NEXTIndians: The chase begins for their first playoff victory since 2007, when they lost to the Red Sox -- managed by Francona -- in a seven-game AL championship series.Royals: Time to think about next season. General manager Dayton Moore has some roster decisions to make, including whether to exercise team options on SS Alcides Escobar and RHP Wade Davis. Custom Detroit Tigers Nike Jerseys .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. Custom San Francisco Giants Nike Jerseys . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/?tag=custom-arizona-diamondbacks-nike-jerseys . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Stitched Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Custom Oakland Athletics Nike Jerseys .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Chargers coach Mike McCoy isnt clear when Joey Bosa will practice again.I cannot tell you when he will be back out there, McCoy said on Thursday.San Diego continued its preparations for Sundays opener against the Kansas City Chiefs as Bosa skipped another workout.Bosa, the drafts third pick, has practiced once since ending his 31-day holdout. It appears he injured his left hamstring during a light, non-padded session Sept. 5.Hes getting better, and like I am going to keep saying until he is out here, Im going to say he is day to day, McCoy said. When he is healthy and ready to roll he will be out here and helping our team win.The Chargers, at 4-12, didnt do much of that last year, producing their worst record since 2003. Among the reasons San Diego missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons was its mark against AFC West teams.San Diego was blanked, losing all six games against divisional rivals to run its losing streak to eight. In the past two seasons, the Chargers are 2-10 in the AFC West, with both victories coming against winless Oakland Raiders teams.You have to win games in the division, Philip Rivers said. When we have been 3-3 or better, we have had a chance, weve been right there. When we are not, we are not even around. We definitely know how important those division games are and we got to get back to winning them.ddddddddddddThey will be challenged to begin on Sunday. The Chiefs ended their playoff season last year with 10 straight regular-season wins. In two games against the Chargers last year, Kansas City held them to six points.The 33-3 shellacking the Chargers absorbed at Arrowhead in November was the second-worst loss in McCoys three years.Championships start in the division, Rivers said.The Chargers think they can contend in an AFC West that is considered more wide open than in past years. The Denver Broncos defend their title without Peyton Manning.Shoot, we lost all six (AFC West) games so we cant put ourselves up there yet, Rivers said. But I do think our expectation is to win the division. We believe in here that we can go from the very bottom to winning the division.There are a lot of things that we have to do to make that happen, but I think its going to be all four teams I would imagine battling for a long time.When Bosa joins that battle remains to be seen.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '