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Just about everything is going right for the Kansas City Royals these days. Theyve won 24 of their last 31 games to take over first place in the AL Central. Even the schedule seems to be breaking their way. The Royals played their last nine games against teams currently in last place — and theyll play 10 of their final 33 against last-place Minnesota, Texas and Boston. Manager Ned Yost, however, is taking nothing for granted. "These are the games that according to the standings and this and that, these are games youre supposed to come in and win — and thats not always the case," Yost said. "You dont understand the difficulty of coming in and playing a major league game. Its hard to win a major league game." The team chasing the Royals in the division can certainly vouch for that. Second-place Detroit had to fight back over the weekend just to salvage a four-game split against the Twins. Minnesota scored 32 runs in the first two games of that series. According to STATS, the Royals have the easiest schedule in the American League the rest of the way, playing opponents with an aggregate winning percentage of .479. But how significant is that? The Tigers will face teams with a winning percentage of .496, so theyll have a chance to go on a run themselves if they play well enough. In baseball, there are no gimmes on the schedule — and thats even more true this year, when theres a decent chance nobody will lose 100 games. Texas, which has baseballs worst record, is on pace for 99 defeats. The Twins may be in last place, but theyre on pace for 72 wins and just gave Detroits pitching fits. And on the flip side, baseball hasnt had a 100-win team since 2011, and nobody is on pace for it this year either. The parity in the game right now is one reason nobodys schedule will be that easy or that hard down the stretch. For what its worth, the toughest remaining schedule belongs to Texas — the Rangers cant play against themselves, after all. Their opponents have a .537 winning percentage. The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (.467) have the easiest road ahead, but the second-easiest schedule belongs to San Francisco, which trails the Dodgers by 4 1/2 games in the division. Here are five things to watch around the majors this week: HOLDING ON?: The Milwaukee Brewers are clinging to a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL Central, but they catch a bit of a break this week because second-place St. Louis will play a three-game series at third-place Pittsburgh. The Brewers will have a chance to gain ground on one or both of those teams. TATTERED TIGERS: Detroits starting rotation looked imperious when the Tigers traded for David Price, but injuries to Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander left the team in a surprisingly precarious position. Youngsters Robbie Ray and Buck Farmer failed to make it out of the second inning in their starts against the Twins. Verlander is back now, and theres an off day on the schedule Monday, but a doubleheader next weekend against the Chicago White Sox means the Tigers will still have to piece things together. LAST STAND?: Can the New York Yankees reach the post-season in Derek Jeters final season? It looked like a longshot, but New York has won four straight to pull within six games of first-place Baltimore in the AL East, and the Yankees are only 3 1/2 games behind Seattle for the second wild card. This week — with a game at Kansas City followed by three at Detroit and three at Toronto — should be telling. WILD WEST: The Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics have the top two records in baseball, and theres plenty of incentive to win the AL West and avoid the one-game playoff between the leagues wild cards. Los Angeles leads by a game after a victory over the As on Sunday night, and the Angels will host a four-game series between the teams that starts Thursday. CITY OR STATE?: The Washington Nationals have won 12 of 13 to open an eight-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. The Nationals will play an interesting interleague series at Seattle starting Friday, but it looks as though Washington will avoid facing Felix Hernandez. STAT OF THE WEEK Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel now has a 1.46 ERA for his career, easily the lowest in baseball history for a pitcher with at least 275 innings. Zay Jones Stitched Jersey . Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Buddy Robinson scored 43 seconds apart in the second period to lead the Binghamton Senators to a 4-1 victory over the Bulldogs in American Hockey League action Friday night at the Bell Centre. Khari Lee Stitched Jersey . Gorges is believed to have suffered the injury while blocking a shot with a hand during Montreals win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Canadiens added to their defensive depth this week by acquiring veteran Mike Weaver from the Florida Panthers. http://www.officialbillsnflauthenticshop.com/ . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers. Ramon Humber Stitched Jersey . -- Derek Jeter spoke for 25 minutes, 44 seconds and answered 26 questions about his decision to retire at the end of this season. Jim Kelly Stitched Jersey . The seventh-ranked Berdych wants to focus on the ATP Tour after helping the Czechs beat the Netherlands in the first round. Seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, the Czechs will rely again on veteran Radek Stepanek.The Denver Broncos could have entered the off-season as the second best team in football, instead they chose to enter it as the team that face-planted on the largest stage, and lost their last game of the 2013 season by 35 points. Broncos general manager John Elway attacked the off-season like his roster was much weaker than the one that led Denver to a 13-3 regular season record and AFC Championship. For the most part leaving his record-setting offence alone, Elway focused primarily on the defence this off-season, adding three Pro Bowlers to the unit in pass rusher DeMarcus Ware (three years, $30 million), cornerback Aqib Talib (six years, $57 million), and safety T.J. Ward (four years, $22.5 million). In far less talked about moves, the team also added WR Emmanuel Sanders and offensive linemen J.D. Walton and Winston Justice. "Everyone keeps talking about, ‘Well, youre doing this to win now. I say, ‘No, were doing this to win (from) now on. Thats what were doing. Were not mortgaging our future," Elway told 850 KOA in Denver after the deals. Whether the three moves help the Broncos sustain the success theyve enjoyed the past couple of seasons or puts them in a future salary cap bind, its clear Denvers best chance at a Super Bowl coincides with Peyton Mannings remaining years behind centre. Mannings neck injury that cost him his last season in Indianapolis is now of little concern but the five-team MVP will be 38-years-old this season and may only have two or three championship-calibre seasons left. The Broncos have a stable of young, talented players (some of which are due new contracts next off-season) but its clearly Super Bowl or bust in Denver the next three years,, the last three years of Mannings contract.dddddddddddd Notes Much was made about the Broncos Super Bowl implosion at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks (rightly so) and many figured Denver would use the off-season to expunge any weaknesses the Seahawks exposed. While Elway certainly shored up the teams defence, he did little this spring to improve the teams offensive line that was bullied by Seattles relentless pressure defence in the Super Bowl. Denver will rely upon a return to health from left tackle Ryan Clady to improve the units fortunes after only making two depth signings in free agency and not addressing the position until late in the third round of the NFL Draft. With his role reduced and his speed diminished, the Broncos released 12-time Pro Bowler Champ Bailey during the off-season. Bailey had spent the past 10 years of his Hall of Fame career with Denver. The Broncos benefitted from CB Bradley Roby dropping in the draft to select him with the second last pick of the first round. Roby should help fill the void left by Bailey and could start in his first year. Denvers two biggest losses in free agency shouldnt be felt all that much in 2014. Starting receiver Eric Decker put up huge numbers for the Broncos before signing for big money with the New York Jets this off-season, but Manning can make almost any receiver into a star and one of Andre Caldwell, Emmanuel Sanders, or second-round pick Cody Latimer should fill Deckers void this year. The other big loss, running back Knowshown Moreno, was a star only in the Manning-run offence and second-year man Montee Ball, arguably the more talented runner, should give the team a similar level of production at the position this season. Cheap Cowboys Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys Cheap Eagles Jerseys Cheap Redskins Jerseys Cheap Falcons Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Saints Jerseys Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap 49ers Jerseys Cheap Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Rams Jerseys Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Lions Jerseys Cheap Packers Jerseys Cheap Vikings Jerseys ' ' '