itch to pitch, which good closers can do," Yost said. "

TORONTO -- Liam Hendriks already had a big day on the go before taking the mound for his Blue Jays debut Friday night. The Australian was called up from triple-A Buffalo, enjoyed his six-month anniversary with wife Kristi, and gave his mother Debbie a long-distance present as she celebrated her birthday Down Under. Hendriks capped a day to remember with an impressive 5 2/3-inning performance in Torontos 3-2 win over Oakland at Rogers Centre. The 25-year-old right-hander allowed three hits and one earned run for his first major-league victory since last August. "Its kind of a big deal today for me," he said. Steve Tolleson staked Hendriks to an early lead with a two-run shot -- his first homer of the season -- in the second inning and the Blue Jays scratched out another run in the third. Hendriks allowed a solo homer to Brandon Moss in the fourth inning. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and left to a standing ovation in the sixth inning. "That was incredible," he said. "I got tingles all over my body for that. This is such a good crowd up here. Its fantastic. They know their baseball up here." Hendriks, who spent parts of the last three seasons with the Twins, earned the callup with a sparkling 5-0 record and 1.48 earned-run average this season with the Bisons. He hopes to take full advantage of this second chance in the big leagues. "Its a huge thing for me," he said. "I was given opportunities in Minnesota and I didnt capitalize on them. Now Ive got a different mindset coming into the season of just getting ready, getting aggressive and getting after guys early. "I think its paid dividends so far and hopefully I can continue this trend and stay up here all year." Toronto manager John Gibbons was impressed. "I would definitely say hes earned another start," he said. The Blue Jays have won four straight games, nine of their last 11 and improved to 11-11 at home this season. Toronto (27-22) is five games over .500 for the first time in over two years. The Blue Jays also lead the American League East division. The last time they were alone in first place this deep into the season was way back on July 6, 2000. It was Tollesons first home run in a Toronto uniform and first in the majors since he went deep on June 10, 2012 with Philadelphia. "We have a tremendous lineup, I mean Melky (Cabrera), Jose (Bautista), Eddie (Encarnacion), all of these guys have been swinging the bat really well," said Tolleson, who batted seventh. "When the bottom of the order can get on base and they can drive us in or produce some runs ourselves that just helps everybody." Scott Kazmir (5-2) shouldered the loss for American League West-leading Oakland (30-18). He allowed five hits and three earned runs over seven innings. However, it was the southpaws throwing error in the third inning that allowed the eventual winning run to score. With Kevin Pillar aboard after a double, Kazmir threw to second base on a pickoff attempt but no one was covering the bag. Pillar ran to third on the play and scored when Jose Reyes hit a slow grounder to the right side of the infield. "That turned out to be costly," Kazmir said. "I should have held on to it. It ended up being the difference-maker in the game." Jed Lowrie was playing shortstop and Nick Punto was at second base. "(Kazmir) thought that I was going to go to the base and I was just there to hold (Pillar) on just a little bit longer because he was extending his lead," Lowrie said. "I wanted to stay there. He looked back and thought I was going to break and I didnt have any plans to." The Athletics made it a one-run game in the eighth inning and threatened in the ninth. Coco Crisp hit a two-out double off Casey Janssen and stole third but the Toronto closer got Lowrie to ground out for his sixth save in six opportunities. Notes: Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (4-4) will get the start Saturday afternoon against Jesse Chavez (4-1). ... The Blue Jays will host Tampa Bay and Kansas City during the homestand next week. ... Hendriks allowed three walks and had three strikeouts. ... Moss has 11 homers on the season. ... Bautista, who walked in the third inning, has reached base safely in 48 of 49 games this season. He leads the major leagues with 42 walks. ... Announced attendance was 21,007 and the game took two hours 37 minutes. Telvin Smith Jersey . Mired in an offensive slump, Lowry - the NBAs leader in taking charges this season - did what he has learned to do best, standing his ground and drawing a crucial offensive foul on the Cavaliers all-star point guard. Fast forward 30 seconds to the Cavs next possession, with the home team still trailing by three, Spencer Hawes - one of the leagues best passing big men - threw an interception, intended for Tyler Zeller and picked off by DeMar DeRozan. Yannick Ngakoue Jersey . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. http://www.officialjacksonvillejaguarspro.com/ . Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. Taven Bryan Jersey . The English Football Association had charged the German right back with violent conduct after retrospectively reviewing video evidence of an incident that was missed by match officials at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Custom Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys . This time, Tebow was in a groove the entire second half -- not just in the waning minutes -- and his teammates on defence were getting gobbled up.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alcides Escobar pumped his fist. Jarrod Dyson did a backflip. And for the first time in more than a decade, the Kansas City Royals were in first place in mid-August. Yordano Ventura outpitched Sonny Gray in a matchup of talented young starters Monday night, and Escobar drove in the go-ahead run as Kansas City beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 to take over the AL Central lead from Detroit with its eighth consecutive victory. "You want to be in first place. Our goal was to get back to first place," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Now our goal is to stay in first place." The Royals trailed the Tigers by eight games on July 21, but their 16th win in 19 games wiped away the deficit and gave them the lead at the latest point in a season since 2003. "Were playing great," said Escobar, who drove in a run in the second inning before his two-out single off Gray (12-6) in the seventh gave Kansas City the lead for good. Ventura lasted through sixth innings before giving way to Kelvin Herrera (3-2), who tossed a spotless seventh. Wade Davis breezed through the eighth and Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 35th save, though it didnt come without a little drama. Josh Donaldson led off the ninth with a single, the first hit by the Athletics since the second inning, and Brandon Moss drew a walk. But after a brief conference on the mound, Holland got Derek Norris to bounce into a double play and Stephen Vogt to fly out to end the game. "He has the ability to focus pitch to pitch, which good closers can do," Yost said. "You get first and second with his stuff, you just have a feeling hes going to get out of it." Kansas City put pressure on right from the start, when Dyson and Omar Infante opened the game with back-to-back singles. Gray might have escaped the jam, though, if right fielder Josh Reddick hadnt flubbed a routine throw to the infield after Infantes hit. It allowed Dyson to reach third base easily, and he scored on Salvador Perezs double-play groundout. "Its ppretty embarrassing," Reddick said, "especially since it cost us a run.dddddddddddd. And we end up losing by one run, so it doesnt make your feel any better." After Escobar made it 2-0 in th second, Oakland answered with some help from Ventura, who worked to overcome command problems most of the night. John Jaso led off with a single, Coco Crisp worked a walk and Donaldson earned another free pass to load the bases with two outs. Moss hit a full-count pitch up the middle to score both runners and knot the game. Yost pulled Ventura after a double play got the rookie right-hander through the sixth. And when Gray faltered in the seventh and Kansas City took the lead, one of the stingiest bullpens in baseball made sure the smallest of margins was enough. "Those three guys at the end are as good as you get," As manager Bob Melvin said. "They dont worry about righty-lefty. They feel when they get to the seventh inning with a lead, they feel pretty good about it." LEADERS OF THE PACK The Royals have not trailed since the first inning of Thursdays game in Arizona, a span of 44 innings. "Theres just a real confidence right now when we step on the field," Yost said. BULLISH BULLPENS Herrera has worked 17 1-3 consecutive scoreless dating to June 27. Thats the third-longest stretch in the majors behind Davis, who has gone 17 2-3 innings, and the As Ryan Cook, who has gone 19 innings. Grey AREA Gray struck out a career-low two batters while losing to Kansas City for the second time in his young career. The only other team hes lost to twice is Baltimore. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: SS Jed Lowrie was back in the starting lineup. Hes missed time recently with a bruised right index finger. Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer continues to wear a brace on his right hand after breaking his third metacarpal. He hopes to return in September. UP NEXT LHP Jon Lester, who beat the Royals in his first start with Oakland, tries to move to 3-0 since arriving from Boston in a July 31 trade. Kansas City counters with RHP Jeremy Guthrie. 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