TA 1, SCOTLAND 5Robert Snodgrass gave Scotland the early edge over neighbor England in Group F with a hat trick on the Mediterra

MIAMI -- Christian Yelich thought he had a home run in the first inning. It was robbed by Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson.It was a great play, Yelich said. Its a huge ball park. We play in the worst hitters park in baseball so you better get it. I didnt get enough of it and he made a great play. Youve got to hit it to get it out of here. Its a terrible hitters park.The home run could have helped set the tone for the Marlins offense, which went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position in a 5-2 loss to Miami on Thursday night.We had a few chances, we didnt have a ton, but we had a few chances but werent able to scratch, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.The Marlins went 3 for 26 with runners in scoring position and left 24 men on base in the three-game series, dropping two games.Alcides Escobar is the latest player to make an impact at the plate for the Royals.Escobar homered, doubled, and drove in two runs.Esky had a great game, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Just had a great game. Defensively, offensively, the home run was big to give us a two-run lead at that point.Escobar is hitting .388 (19 for 49) with four doubles, a triple, and a home run in his last 13 games.Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Royals as the defending World Series champions have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez (10-10) pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, and three hits.The Royals bullpen, which has been a successful formula for the reigning two-time AL pennant winners, pitched four scoreless innings to push their franchise-record scoreless streak to 38 2/3 innings -- the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1/3 straight.Theyve just been spectacular, Yost said.Kelvin Herrera pitched a flawless ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.Tom Koehler (9-9) allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings for the Marlins.It was an interesting game, Koehler said. Youve got to give them credit. They capitalized on our mistakes we made tonight.Kansas City went 4 for 28 with runners in scoring position and scored six runs during the three-game series, but left Miami with two victories.We dont care what we do as long as we win, Yost said. As long as we score more runs than they do and its a combination of pitching, great defense, and timely hitting and thats been our recipe for a while now.The Royals opened the scoring in the third on an RBI double by Perez after the Marlins elected to intentionally walk Eric Hosmer with first base open. Cheslor Cuthbert scored on Perezs ground ball down the left-field line.They (the coaches) have their reasons for why they make decisions, Koehler said of the intentional walk. So they called for it and youve got to do it.Escobar extended the Royals lead to 2-0 on a home run to center field in the fourth. It was his third of the season and second of the month.I was looking for a fastball on that pitch, Escobar said. (Koehler) threw me a first-pitch cutter and the next pitch was a fastball and I swung the bat and hit the ball really good.Third baseman Cuthbert had two doubles to go with two errors, one of which led to the Marlins two runs coming in the fourth to tie the game at 2.Escobars tiebreaking RBI double off Koehler in the sixth gave the Royals the lead. Morales pinch-hit sacrifice fly put the Royals on top 4-2.Both teams combined for six errors.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: C Perez took a foul ball off his face mask in the eighth and was replaced by Drew Butera in the ninth as a precaution. He got a little light-headed so we just got him out, Yost said.Marlins: RF Giancarlo Stanton (groin strain) is hopeful he can return to the team at some point during the regular season to help the Marlins after sustaining the injury on Aug. 13. Anything could help so whatever I can do to be back, if its possible, is going to happen, Stanton said.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Ian Kennedy (8-9, 3.58) will start Fridays game at Boston against RHP Steven Wright (13-5, 3.01) in a three-game series with the Red Sox. Kennedy has recorded five straight starts of at least six innings and one-or-fewer runs matching Larry Gura for the longest such streak in franchise history. Kennedy is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA during the stretch.Marlins: RHP David Phelps (7-6, 2.28) will take the mound Friday to begin a three-game series against San Diego, which will start former Marlins RHP Jarred Cosart (0-1, 4.54). Phelps is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA over his last four starts since moving into the rotation. Nike NFL Jerseys China . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Gear . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. http://www.nfljerseyschinastore.com/ . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. NFL Jerseys Free Shipping .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Jerseys NFL Wholesale China . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. TRNAVA, Slovakia -- Until Adam Lallana pounced in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Sam Allardyce was about to become the first England manager in 34 years to fail to win his opening game.Instead, Lallanas late goal against Slovakia showed Allardyce he just might gain the fortuitous breaks his predecessors havent enjoyed.And the former Bolton, Sunderland and West Ham manager wondered what role a newly-obtained lucky penny had to play in the winning start to World Cup qualifying.A father and his son in a wheelchair came to the hotel this morning and asked if it was OK to have a picture, Allardyce said after Sundays 1-0 win in Trnava. When we finished, he said: `Let me give you a lucky coin. Here it is. I had it with me in my pocket. We won, so itll stay with me.Im not really superstitious but Im going to keep it. Its got us a last-minute winner. I wonder how far it will take us.The first target is just making it to the finals in Russia in 2018. Then Allardyce will need his players to provide more of a threat than they did against Slovakia. It was a turgid England performance reminiscent of Roy Hodgsons final game in charge -- the loss to Iceland in the round of 16 at the European Championship in June.Even after gaining a man-advantage from the 57th minute, when Martin Skrtel received a second yellow card for another foul on Harry Kane, the visitors struggled to break through Slovakias resistance in their first game in Group F.Sloppy goalkeeping helped Lallana score his first England goal in his 27th international after his shot went through Matus Kozaciks legs.Its been a long time coming, Lallana said. I put pressure on myself to score goals and I knew it was only a matter of time.It was pretty nerve-wracking at the end because the 10-man scenario means you must win, a giddy Allardyce said in his post-match television interview, struggling to begin his answer while still laughing at his good fortune.ddddddddddddIt was difficult to break them down ... but we got what we deserved.It took until the 65th minute for England to hit the target for the first time. Wayne Rooney hit a low shot straight at Kozacik as the captain became Englands most capped outfield player, surpassing the record he held with David Beckham, by making a 116th appearance.We didnt panic, I think thats the main thing, the 30-year-old Rooney said. We stuck to our plan, we kept our shape and tried to penetrate them in the right areas but also without giving them too many chances.---MALTA 1, SCOTLAND 5Robert Snodgrass gave Scotland the early edge over neighbor England in Group F with a hat trick on the Mediterranean island as the team chases its first tournament appearance since the 1998 World Cup. Two Malta players -- Jonathan Caruana and Luke Gambin -- were also sent off in the second half for fouling Snodgrass.Scotland only got going in the second half, after Alfred Effiongs header had canceled out Snodgrass opener. Surprise starter Chris Martin restored Scotlands lead in the 53rd minute and Snodgrass was on target again on the hour from the penalty spot after being clipped by Caruana. Snodgrass completed his treble after substitute Steven Fletcher netted, while Gambin saw red in stoppage time.---LITHUANIA 2, SLOVENIA 2Slovenia staged a late fightback to rescue a point, with Bostjan Cesar heading in the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time. Rene Krhin started the comeback in the final 15 minutes after Fedor Cernych and Vykintas Slivka gave Lithuania a 2-0 half-time lead. ' ' '