surprised me, the challenge that was in that league, definitely

BOSTON -- Rubby De La Rosa quietly walked up behind reporters waiting for him and went unnoticed before he got their attention. His actions are much louder on the Fenway Park mound. De La Rosa had another strong home start, going seven solid innings to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. "Hes been outstanding at home," Boston manager John Farrell said. "Even in the couple of situations where we gave an extra base runner, he shut it down and pitched with a lot of poise tonight." Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking homer, sending the defending World Series champions to their sixth win in seven games. Boston is looking to climb back into the race from the AL Easts basement. Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games with a single. The Royals lost for the eighth time in 11 games, falling to 10-20 in one-run games after leading the AL with 31 victories last season. Napolis homer cleared a billboard atop the Green Monster seats and completely left the park in the sixth. De La Rosa (3-2) gave up one run on five hits, walking four and striking out two. He worked out of trouble most of his outing. "Its fun to pitch here," he said. "I feel comfortable here at Fenway. I like the mound. I like the fans. I feel comfortable here." Danny Duffy (5-10) allowed two runs -- one earned -- on six hits in 6 2-3 innings. It was his fifth loss in six starts, but hes allowed two or fewer runs in four of the losses. "Were not scoring enough runs. Its as simple as that," Royals manager Ned Yost said of the one-run losses. "When we score, we win. Our bullpen does a nice job of holding it close. Its a combination of not capitalizing on opportunities, and we had opportunities tonight, a couple of them." The Royals have scored four total runs, and not more than one in any of Duffys last five losses. "I dont even think about it that way," he said. "These guys in here got my back day in and day out." Andrew Miller pitched a perfect eighth and All-Star Koji Uehara a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save in 22 chances. In two of his three home starts, De La Rosa pitched seven shutout innings. In his last one, he gave up three runs in five innings. De La Rosa stranded runners at second base in four of the first six innings, twice also leaving a runner on first. "I didnt try to think about me on base," he said, flashing a quick smile. "I try to think about the next hitter." The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third when Jarrod Dyson tripled and scored on shortstop Omar Infantes sacrifice fly. Infantes fielding error allowed Bostons tying run in the fourth. With runners on first and second, Infante had Shane Victorinos probable inning-ending, double-play grounder go right through his legs, scoring Napoli. Boston left fielder Jonny Gomes bumped into shortstop Brock Holt, dropping a ball for a two-base error in the fourth, and called off Holt, but had the ball fall in front of him for a double in the fifth. NOTES: Bostons last eight home wins have all been by one run. ... The Red Sox activated RF Victorino from the 15-day DL before the game and optioned OF/INF Mookie Betts to Pawtucket. Victorino, who had been on the DL since May 24 with a strained right hamstring, got a nice ovation before his first at-bat, and went 1 for 3. ... The Royals started Dyson in CF in place of slumping Lorenzo Cain, who is hitless in his last 19 at-bats. "The off days definitely help him, coming off the three days at Tampa on the turf really beat up his legs," Yost said of Cain. "If I could do it the day I wanted, wed give him the day off tomorrow, but theres a lefty going tomorrow." ... Boston sends LHP Jon Lester (9-7, 2.65 ERA) against RHP Yordano Ventura (7-7, 3.22) is the series finale Sunday. Lester has a 6-3 mark with a 1.60 ERA in 10 career starts against Kansas City. ... Actor Steve Carell of "The Office" was in the stands, wearing a Red Sox T-shirt. Ben Powers Womens Jersey . The Canadians led for much of the game before Argentina forced overtime in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Canada weathered the storm after squandering a lead with a series of made shots. "Its a fantastic win for our country with 11 first-time Canadian national team members," said head coach Roy Rana. Ben Powers Jersey . The CFL unveiled its 2014 schedule Wednesday and the Redblacks will play their first-ever regular-season game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on July 3. http://www.cheapravensshoponline.com/Youth-Mark-Andrews-Ravens-Jersey/ . PAUL, Minn. Jonathan Ogden Jersey . - The Seattle Seahawks have signed nine players to 2014 future contracts, including quarterback B. Jaylon Ferguson Womens Jersey . The All-Pro left tackle agreed to a five-year contract with the Eagles on Wednesday. Peters was signed for 2014, and his new deal adds four years through 2018. OAKLAND, Calif. -- If those independent league road trips werent humbling enough for Scott Kazmir, starting over from square one with his delivery and mechanics sure did the trick. As Kazmir looks back a couple of years now, a fresh $22 million, two-year contract with the Oakland Athletics in hand, that challenging time in his baseball career is all worthwhile. "The past couple years the organization has had a great team, a great fan base and that definitely swayed my decision a little bit," said Kazmir, who drew serious interest from several clubs. The two-time defending AL West champion As announced the deal Wednesday after Kazmir passed his physical. The addition of Kazmir fills a key rotation spot with a player plenty familiar with the division after his stint pitching for the Los Angeles Angels. As general manager Billy Beane, who also made three trades in the past three days to build his 2014 roster, isnt ready to pencil Kazmir into a particular spot in the clubs young rotation. That will be up to manager Bob Melvin. "The advantage of having as much good starting pitching as you can get is something that has helped make us successful," Beane said. "The more we looked at it, the more we thought we should jump on the opportunity to bring him in. Having five good starters, and I think in some respects we have more, puts us, puts the club in a position of strength." That was before the two-time All-Star was limited to one start in 2011 for the Angels before going on the disabled list with a lower back strain and being released. The 29-year-old Kazmir then spent the 2012 season with independent Sugar Land before bouncing back to go 10-9 with a 4.04 ERA in 29 sttarts and 158 innings for Cleveland this year.dddddddddddd "Pitching in the AL West, Im very comfortable there. I like pitching in the Oakland stadium," Kazmir said. "After my time in Los Angeles with the Angels, I kind of did a lot of self-evaluating and a lot of hard work getting to where I was last year." A stint in the Atlantic League with Sugar Land -- a mere 20 minutes from his Houston-area home -- provided Kazmir an ideal place to find himself again. "It was a great venue for me to get back into the game, get my feet wet again, face hitters. It surprised me, the challenge that was in that league, definitely surprised me and got me ready for this past season," Kazmir said. "It was a lot of fun. The road trips werent ideal to say the least." Kazmir went 9-15 in 2010 for Los Angeles and Beane recalls his early days among baseballs best lefties. Taking the long road back to the big leagues has only helped Kazmir get to this point. "Its probably a great learning experience. He was one of the top prospects coming out of high school in the game," Beane said. "It was probably a character-building experience for him as much as anything. Theres an appreciation in having made that climb back that will serve him well going forward." Despite all of the hours in the video room, tweaking his delivery and mechanics, Kazmir still considers himself much like his old hard-throwing self -- just with some added elements. "Stuff wise, I feel like Im the same pitcher," Kazmir said. "Im a lot more of a pitcher now than I was in my early years. I was more a guy who threw as hard as I could and got swings and misses." ' ' '