TORONTO -- Like hes done all month, Edwin Encarnacion did his part to put the Toronto offence in position for a victory. Randal Grichuk Jersey . It was the defence that came up short Thursday night and it proved costly in an 8-6 loss to the Kansas City Royals. With two outs in the ninth inning, Toronto shortstop Jose Reyes had a chance to seal the win on a routine ground ball. However, his throw was low and pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson came around from second base to tie the game. The Royals scored two more runs in the 10th inning to end Torontos season-high nine-game winning streak. "Theres no excuse," Reyes said. "I should make a better throw there. Thats a routine ground ball, I got it perfect. I just didnt have enough on the throw." Omar Infante drove in a pair of runs off Toronto reliever Todd Redmond (0-4) in the 10th inning as Kansas City (25-28) ended its four-game losing skid. Greg Holland got the last three outs for his 15th save. "Well you dont expect to lose one like that," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "But you know what, weve been playing some good baseball. The key is just to come back out and play a good clean game tomorrow." Encarnacion continued his phenomenal play this month by launching two no-doubt homers to give him 18 on the season and a team record 16 for the month. "To watch what hes been doing this month, I dont know where it goes down in history but its pretty historic in my mind anyway," Gibbons said. Jose Bautista also homered for the Blue Jays, who had their seven-game home winning streak come to an end. Encarnacion is now one away from tying Barry Bonds major-league record for most homers in the month of May. Bonds hit 17 with San Francisco in May 2001. The Toronto slugger also has five multi-homer games this month, which ties the major-league record for any month currently shared by Albert Belle (September 1995) and Harmon Killebrew (May 1959). Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey pitched to two batters in the sixth inning before being pulled. He said the team will focus on its positive play over the last few weeks. "Jose makes that play 99 out of 100 times, it was just a real fluke thing," Dickey said. "But we cant second-guess things the way that weve been playing and the way weve been pitching and hitting. I mean, Edwin -- what can you say? "I mean its been fun to watch and to be on a team where so many things are going well and I think itll continue tomorrow. I think this was just kind of a mild hiccup." The American League East-leading Blue Jays fell to 32-23 with the loss. Kansas City starter James Shields worked seven innings and reliever Wade Davis (4-1) pitched two innings for the win. The Royals left 11 batters on base but outhit Toronto 14-9. "I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats tonight," said manager Ned Yost. "We were driving balls. We just had some great at-bats." Salvador Perez hit his fifth homer of the season for the Royals in the second inning and Kansas City added three runs in the fifth. The Royals also loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning but Aaron Loup got out of the jam by striking out Alcides Escobar on three pitches. Closer Casey Janssen, who was looking to pick up his ninth save, recorded the first two outs in the ninth before Alex Gordons single. He was replaced by Dyson, who stole second. "We were facing a hot team that had swept their last three teams," Dyson said. "I thought we did a great job to come over here and kind of break that up a little bit and get going." In the 10th, Redmond gave up a single to Escobar to open the inning and Pedro Ciriaco reached when he was beaned while squaring up to bunt. Nori Aoki advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Notes: Announced attendance was 17,978 and the game took three hours 26 minutes to play. ... Encarnacion belted his second homer of the night into the second deck in left field -- virtually the same spot as his first blast. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and he came out of the dugout to tip his hat. ... Bautista threw out Billy Butler from right field for the second out in the ninth inning. ... Torontos J.A. Happ (4-1) is scheduled to start Friday night against fellow left-hander Jason Vargas (4-2). ... The Rogers Centre roof was closed despite comfortable spring conditions outside. Jesse Barfield Jersey . -- The Kelowna Rockets earned their 16th straight win with a 7-2 rout of the Portland Winterhawks in Western Hockey League action Thursday. Roberto Alomar Jersey . Almost 40 years to the day, the two teams will meet again, this time at BC Place, to celebrate the past and try to earn important points for the present. http://www.officialbluejaysgearshop.com/Blue-Jays-Devon-Travis-Kids-Jersey/ . - The fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is set to ask a judge to throw out allegations that she lied to a grand jury.New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The 2013-14 World Marathon Majors championship concludes on Sunday with the 44th running of the New York City Marathon, in what is expected to be one of the most contentious races in history. A star-studded field of competitors will take to the streets of Americas largest city, in which competitors will be searching for a victory to knock off the current WMM leader on the mens side, Dennis Kimetto. The 30-year-old native of Kenya tops the WMM leaderboard after picking up a victory and setting a world record in Septembers Berlin Marathon. The course in New York starts across the The Narrows on Staten Island, but competitors quickly cross the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. From there, runners take long trips up Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, work their way up the East River and then cross over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. Once in the heart of the city, runners will shoot straight up First Avenue, make a left hook up on 135th Street over the Madison Avenue Bridge, and make their way down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park, where the race finishes up. The race has been run every year since 1970, with the exception of the 2012 season in which the event was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai has won each of the last two races. His 2011 victory set the course record with a time of 2:05:06. The New York City Marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors courses. The World Marathon Majors is a competition for marathoners that spans a two-year period, and takes four of a runners highest finishes into account when determining which runner receives the prize jackpot. The runner who has the best four finishes gets the jackpot of $500,000. The six race courses are in Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago and New York. To be eligible for the jackpot, each athlete must compete in at least one of these qualifying courses in each of the two calendar years. New York hosts the final leg of the World Marathon Majors. In the 2014 version of the race, a mens champion will be crowned for the 2013-14 season. The two- year period overlaps, though, and this race will count toward the 2014-15 WMM series as well. On the womens side, Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo has already captured the WMM crown and the $500,000 jackpot by taking victories in the 2013 and 2014 Boston Marathons, and the 2013 and 2014 Chicago Marathons. Jeptoo defended her 2013 Chicago title with a victory there last month, which awarded her the WMM crown. She is not in the New York field. But for the men, it all comes down to this race. Kimetto leads the WMM standings after capturing the victory in Berlin back in September, so he is not running this race. He adds his victory in Berlin to the 2013 Tokyo Marathon and the 2013 Chicago Marathon in the WMM series. The top challenger who can steal the WMM crown away from Kimetto is Wilson Kipsang, a fellow Kenyan who is making his New York debut. Kipsang has taken victories in the 2013 Berlin Marathon and the 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon, so a victory here in New York is the only thing that can help him surpass Kimetto for the title. Kimetto broke Kipsangs previous world record of 2:03:23 in Berlin not even two months ago with his 2:02:57 time. Kipsang, a 32-year-old, said hes eying the course record in New York this weekend. The two-time defending champion Mutai is also in this years field of competitors. He won back in 2011 with a time of 2:05:06 - the current course record - and then won again in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy canceled the 2012 event. Mutai looks to become the first three-time NYC Marathon winner since American Alberto Salazar captured three straight titles from 1980-1982. Another American, Bill Rodgers, won four straight titles in New York immediately before Salazars run. Ethiopian contenders Lelisa Desisa and Gebre Gebremariam will both present challenges to Kipsang and Mutai. Desisa won his marathon debut last year in Dubai in just under 2 hours, 5 minutes, and then followed that victory up with a win in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Desisa dropped out of this years Boston Marathon at the 40-kilometer mark, but won a half-marathon in October in 1:01:38. Gebremariam, a 31-year-old, has a marathon personal best of 2:04:53, and won the New York event back in 2010. Reigning World and Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich, a 25-year-old Ugandan, will ccertainly be a runner to watch in this years race. Custom Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys. Kiprotich finished 12th in last years NYC race, but finished third in his last Bupa Greatest Race outing in Newcastle last month. Kiprotich is just the second man in the world to win both the Olympic and World championship marathon titles, but he wasnt able to make an impact in Aprils London Marathon. My problem was speed, and I have been working on it, Kiprotich said. I believe that it is great enough for me to put up some good challenge against that high field of elite runners. The best chance for Americans in the race falls on 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi. The 39-year-old may be one of the more overlooked competitors, considering he won this event in New York back in 2009, and wasnt seen as much of a threat in Boston before he pulled ahead for the win. Keflezighi beat some big names in Boston earlier this year, including Kimetto, Desisa and Gebremariam. Defending womens champion Priscah Jeptoo, who won last years event with a time of 2:25:07, withdrew from the Nov. 2 race early in October due to a leg injury that occurred during the London Marathon. Jeptoo said she plans to come back and run in New York again in 2015. That leaves the womens side pretty open. The front-runners are Mary Keitany (of Kenya) and Buzunesh Deba (of Ethiopia). Keitany, 32, hasnt participated in a marathon since the London Olympics, which was before the birth of her second child. Since then, she has competed in just two other non-marathon races. My training has been going on very well, Keitany said. I have also had a chance to compete and test my body, but this will be the first major hurdle in my program to return to the top of marathon running. Shell be challenging for the course record, which was set by Margaret Okayo back in 2003 (2:22:31). In the second of her London Marathon wins (2012), Keitany set a blistering pace of 2:18:37, which was the fastest time since Paula Radcliffe ran a sub-2:18 back in 2005. But since she hasnt raced in a marathon since then, any form of record may be unrealistic for Keitany. Deba is from Ethiopia, but calls the Bronx her home. She finished second last year in New York with a time of 2:25:56. She had built up a lead at the 15-mile mark over Priscah Jeptoo, but then Jeptoo turned on the jets to take the win and the WMM title at the end of last season. It was the second time in as many years that Deba finished second in New York. Deba also finished second at this years Boston Marathon by running a personal best of 2:19:59. Coming into the final race of the season and the WMM title already being awarded to Rita Jeptoo, Deba will be shooting for a first-place finish. Because of the withdrawal by Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan Jemima Sumgong was added to the list of race entrants. She has a personal best of 2:20:41, and plans on challenging for one of the top spots this year. Also, 34-year-old Kenyan Edna Kiplagat will be running in this years New York event. She finished first in New York back in 2010 with a time of 2:28:20. Kiplagat has a personal marathon best of 2:19:50. Keitany has run the New York Marathon twice in the past, and finished third both of those times with a best finish of 2:23:38 in 2011. I hope to be third-time lucky, she said. But that is easier said than done. In New York, there are no pace makers, no jokers and only serious challengers. I hope I will pass the test and get the best result. The top three American contenders on the womens side consist of Deena Kastor, Desiree Linden and Kara Goucher. American Shalane Flanagan will not compete after finishing seventh in the 2014 Boston Marathon and third in the 2014 Berlin Marathon (which she finished with a personal-best 2:21:14). Kastor, a 41-year-old, holds the American record for the fastest marathon at 2:19:36, which she set in 2006 in London. She might be the best hope for the American women, who havent won the New York City Marathon since Miki Gorman did so back in 1977. Its the final event of the 2014 marathon season, which means the final try for Kipsang to unseat Kimetto at the top of the WMM standings. The mens side will be highly competitive with the title on the line, but the women will be running for a big boost in the 2014-15 WMM race. Either way, this field of competitors is one of the deepest in marathon history, so expect fireworks in New York on Sunday. Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys Cheap Mets Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys ' ' '