e changed.Holgorsen comes from the Air Raid coaching

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Joakim Soria blew another save and the Kansas City Royals chances to return to the postseason took another hit.Pinch hitter Yonder Alonso delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics rallied past Kansas City 5-4 Tuesday night.The defending World Series champion Royals dropped five games out of the wild-card race with only 18 games left.Thats a really hard situation to come in to, Alonso said. I think early on, I knew I was going to have an opportunity, a meaningful opportunity obviously, with the game on the line to come up with a big at-bat.Soria blew his seventh save chance in eight opportunities. He was summoned with two outs in the eighth and the Royals clinging to a 3-2 lead.On his second pitch, Soria gave up a double to Alonso over the head of center fielder Jarrod Dyson, scoring Brett Eibner and pinch runner Joey Wendle.Soria then yielded an RBI single to Marcus Semien.Its a difficult position when youre not used to that, said Soria, who has 203 career saves. This season has been really, really different to me. I guess in 10 years it can happen sometimes.Unfortunately for me and my team, it happened this year. They need me the most and Ive been having poor results, he said.Rookie Matthew Strahm (2-1), who gave up an infield single to Chad Pinder before Soria replaced him, took the loss.Royals manager Ned Yost said he did not to use Kelvin Herrera for a four-out save and Wade Davis was unavailable after throwing nearly 50 pitches in back-to-back saves Saturday and Sunday.I had confidence in Jack, Yost said. I thought it was a good situation for him. I didnt mind the matchup with Alonso. Jacks had two days off.Ultimately, its my plan. Im responsible for my plan. And that was my plan and it didnt work, he said.Will he continue to use Soria in those pressure situations?I dont make decisions after games like this, Yost said. I havent even thought about. Im not even going to speculate on what Im going to do, without thinking about it and sleeping on it.Jacks that guy right now that everybody is on. Jacks had some really good outings this year and hes had some poor outings. How do you determine from one day to the next if I put him out there if its going to be a good outing or a bad outing? It very easily could have been a good outing. It wasnt, he said.John Axford (6-4) pitched one inning. Ryan Madson balked home Dyson with two outs in the ninth before closing for his 30th save in 36 tries.Royals starter Danny Duffy, who has not won since Aug. 21, limited the As to three hits, but two were home runs, in 7 1/3 innings.Duffy gave up a home run to Khris Davis on his first pitch in the fifth. Davis has homered in back-to-back games and hiked his season total to 37, which is the most by an Athletics player since Frank Thomas hit 39 in 2006.Ryon Healy homered to lead off the eighth. After Duffy walked Eibner with one out, he was replaced by Strahm.Paulo Orlando hit a two-run single in the fourth to score Cheslor Cuthbert, who had doubled, and Alcides Escobar, who reached on Semiens error.Semien has committed 11 errors in the past 53 games and tops major league shortstops with 19 fielding miscues.Escobars two-out single in the sixth scored Salvador Perez and chased Jharel Cotton, who was making his second big league start since being acquired in an Aug. 1 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Cotton allowed three runs, only one earned, in 5 2/3 innings, while walking one and striking out two.Im just going out there and pitching the way I know how to pitch, Cotton said. Im not trying to do anything special, just go out there and give my team a chance to win every time I get the ball.ROOKIES GALOREThe As started five rookies -- 2B Pinder, RF Eibner, 3B Healy, DH Renato Nunez and RHP Cotton -- matching a season high.FOOTBALL VISITAs manager Bob Melvin stopped by the Chiefs practice Tuesday. He is a friend of Chiefs coach Andy Reed. The managers cousin, Tom Melvin, coaches the Chiefs tight ends.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (right biceps tendinitis) is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday. I dont think it will be tomorrow, but hes definitely making progress, Yost said. ... Perez returned to the lineup after missing the game Tuesday for the birth of his second son, Johan Salvador.UP NEXTAthletics: LHP Sean Manaea will make his first start since Aug. 29 when he left after 3 1/3 innings with strained left rhomboid muscles in the shoulder blade.Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura gave up a season-high 10 hits over seven innings in a loss Friday to the White Sox. Nike Air Max 97 Factory Outlet . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Nike Air Max Plus Discount . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/ . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Balenciaga Triple s Cheap . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Air Jordan Wholesale China . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has gone from the hot seat to leading West Virginia to a sizzling start to the season.No. 12 West Virginia (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) is a surprising early contender in the conference after being tapped in the preseason to finish seventh.Im excited where were at, Holgorsen said. But its just five games. Weve got seven more important ones coming up.Faced with plenty of questions about his own job security entering 2016, Holgorsen has put together strong performances -- and had some good luck along the way.Kansas State missed a late field goal in a tight game earlier this month, and BYU nearly rallied from 16 points down in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on its final drive near West Virginias end zone.A confidence boost came with West Virginias 48-17 dismantling of high-scoring Texas Tech on the road last Saturday. The celebration was limited to the two-plus hour plane ride home before preparations started for Saturdays home game with TCU (4-2, 2-1).You get over it real quick, Holgorsen said. Its pretty much you settle in and get back to work. This is our hardest game yet.To be determined: Whether his players heed his word about staying focused.It didnt work in 2012, when West Virginia started 5-0 and rose to No. 5 before its first full Big 12 season took a toll. West Virginia lost the next five games.I dont think anybody truly knows that answer until we go through it. And you all are thinking 2012. I know you all are, Holgorsen said. This is a totally different team.I think this team is a good group of kids that like each other and like playing the game. And they didnt listen when everybody was saying we sucked, and theyre not going to listen when everybody is saying were good. Its pretty much as simple as that.Win or lose, his players say Holgorsen has remained consistent with his perfectionist approach.Hes always going to be fired up, linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton said. Hes allways going to be one of those guys that will get in your face if you arent doing exactly what you need to do.dddddddddddd From the first game to the last game, he wont let up. He just wants to see you getting better and better each week.Holgorsens schemes certainly have changed.Holgorsen comes from the Air Raid coaching tree that included Hal Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan and later under Mike Leach at Texas Tech. But rather than relying on a passing attack, Holgorsen understood the need to evolve his running game, too.Wendell Smallwood was the Big 12 rushing champion a year ago. West Virginia now runs the ball 54 percent of the time. Quarterback Skyler Howard has shown hes dangerous with both his arm and his feet.On defense, Holgorsen has made it a greater priority to recruit junior college players and other transfers who can step right away. Despite having nine new starters this season, most of them are seniors.Holgorsen went 10-3 and won the Orange Bowl in his first season in 2011, then signed a six-year contract extension -- his last one -- in August 2012. But Holgorsen went 26-25 the next four seasons.Athletic director Shane Lyons told Holgorsen last December he could keep his job. Lyons later said no further contract discussions would be held until after the 2016 season.Lyons reiterated that point again this week. He did say the Texas Tech win accelerated the teams momentum.Thats what you want, you want to build your confidence, Lyons said. Thats what Dana and his staff have done.TCU coach Gary Patterson said hes noticed the Mountaineers have got a lot of energy and theyve got a lot of positive on their side right now.Its been fun watching them. Dana has done a great job. The kids are playing hard, Patterson said. Youve got to be able to go match that.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '