The New York Mets and Kansas City Royals opened the season against each other back in April in a rematch from last years World Series.Its been mostly downhill from there.Beset by injuries and a general sense of malaise, the Royals and Mets would both miss the playoffs if the season ended now. Kansas City (57-60) is 7 + games behind the second wild card in the AL, and the Mets (59-58) are 2 + back in the NL.The last time both pennant winners from the previous season failed to make the playoffs was in 2007, when the Tigers and Cardinals fell short. The last time both finished below .500 was in 1994 (Blue Jays and Phillies) -- and in a non-strike year the last time was 1986 (Royals and Cardinals).While the Royals are facing an uphill climb, the Mets are still in the thick of the race for a wild card, but its been an ugly August for New York, which now trails St. Louis, Miami and Pittsburgh in the postseason race.With Matt Harvey, Yoenis Cespedes, David Wright and Lucas Duda all on the disabled list, New Yorks lineup looks nothing like it did during the run through last years postseason.The Royals can relate, with Mike Moustakas and Wade Davis both currently on the DL. Kansas City also had to deal with earlier injuries to Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain.The Mets did get Jose Reyes back from the DL over the weekend, and Cespedes is expected back soon.Were scratching and clawing right now, but we know that theres some reinforcements on the way, second baseman Neil Walker said.Here are a few other developments from around baseball:SECOND WINDThe Chicago Cubs are back on pace for over 100 wins after an 11-game winning streak that lasted until Saturday. The Cubs had a 5-15 stretch shortly before the All-Star break, which took some of the luster off their terrific start -- but after this recent surge, Chicago is 12 games ahead of second-place St. Louis in the NL Central.RUNNING AWAYThe Cleveland Indians have stolen an AL-best 95 bases this season, which is nine more than they had all of last year. The Indians are also stealing at an 81-percent clip. Rajai Davis (31 for 35), Jose Ramirez (18 for 23), Francisco Lindor (15 for 20) and Jason Kipnis (11 for 14) are all threats on the bases.Cleveland tied a team record with eight steals Friday night in a win over the Los Angeles Angels.FANTASY FOCUSAlex Rodriguezs departure from the New York Yankees doesnt change much from a fantasy perspective -- he wasnt playing a lot anyway. But if the youth movement is underway now, it certainly looked promising Saturday, when New Yorks Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge each homered in his first major league at-bat -- in back-to-back plate appearances.Judge is the more highly touted prospect -- he was ranked No. 42 on Baseball Americas midseason list and No. 18 by Baseball Prospectus at the beginning of the season. But its hard to ignore what Austin did at Triple-A this year, hitting .323 with 13 homers in only 57 games.LINE OF THE WEEKBrandon Crawford had seven hits in San Franciscos 14-inning win over Miami on Monday. Crawford became the first major leaguer with seven hits in a game since Pittsburghs Rennie Stennett in 1975. Remarkably, Crawford only scored one run Monday despite all those times on base. The next three hitters in the batting order were a combined 2 for 15, and the pitchers spot was next after them.Honorable mention goes to the three-homer games by Colorados Charlie Blackmon and Bostons Mookie Betts later in the week.---AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report. NFL Jerseys China . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Discount NFL Jerseys Outlet . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. http://www.cheapwholesalejerseysnfl.com/ . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys For Sale . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Cheap NFL Jerseys China .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Four-time Olympic medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings says she is boycotting an event on the AVP domestic beach volleyball tour because of two rule experiments that werent honestly or meaningfully discussed with players beforehand.Walsh Jennings said in a 950-word Facebook post on Wednesday that she and her husband, Casey Jennings, are both skipping the event in Chicago this weekend.One rule to be tested would give a server another service attemptt if the first one hits the net and falls inbounds, much like on a serve in tennis.dddddddddddd Under the current rule, the ball is in play.The other rule would prevent a team from winning the match unless it is serving.AVP owner and commissioner Donald Sun did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. 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