ARLINGTON, Texas -- A forgettable weekend series ended a forgettable month for the Kansas City Royals.Mitch Moreland homered for the fifth time in his last five starts and Lucas Harrell won in his Texas debut as the Rangers beat the Royals 5-3 on Sunday to finish a sweep of the four-game series.Eric Hosmer and Drew Butera homered for Kansas City, which has lost eight of its last nine games and 10 of its last 11 road games. The defending World Series champions went 7-19 in July, their worst month since recording the same record in July 2012, and havent won consecutive games since June 29-30.We take probably the last couple of weeks and try to forget that, Hosmer said. Times are rough. ... Everyones doing what they need to do to try to win. Its just not happening.Dillon Gee (3-5) gave up two-run homers to Moreland and Nomar Mazara and allowed seven hits over six innings in his longest start of the season. He had a 6.43 ERA in six previous starts.Made a couple mistakes that they obviously capitalized on, said Gee, who pitched collegiately at Texas-Arlington and makes his off-season home in nearby Fort Worth. He said he went to the well, t often on Mazara, with a curveball that had previously fled him. Gee said the scouting report on Moreland was to pitch him down and in. Moreland sent such a cutter just inside the right-field foul pole.Seems like now hes changed his approach a little bit, Gee said.Moreland was 8 for 13 with four homers in the series, including a walk-off winner on Saturday night.Im trying to go up there and have gd at-bats, he said. It definitely worked out well for me this series.The Royals hit 2 for 25 with runners in scoring position during the sweep. Their 17-36 road record is the worst in the majors and is only one loss short of last seasons total.Kansas Citys 12-game deficit in the American League Central is its largest since closing the 2012 season 16 games out.Just waiting for it to pick up, manager Ned Yost said. Efforts not the issue. Its the production.Before the game, the Royals placed closer Wade Davis on the 15-day disabled list with what Yost called a mild flexor strain. Yost said its the same injury that sent Davis, who has converted 21 of 23 save opportunities this season, to the DL in early July.Hopefully hell be back around the end of the 15 days, Yost said.BIZARRE DAY FOR HOSMERHosmers first-inning home run was an opposite-field shot that struck low off the left-field foul pole 332 feet away. He couldnt recall hitting the opposite foul pole in his career.Later, his bat snapped on a foul tip and flew into the stands, leaving him holding only the knob.I barely touched the ball, Hosmer said. I guess the bat was due to go at some point. It was one of the weirder feelings Ive ever had.SHORT HOPSThe temperature was 96 degrees at first pitch and reached 99. ... Rangers manager Jeff Banister gave CF Ian Desmond and SS Elvis Andrus the day off ahead of Mondays travel day. ... The Royals released Triple-A Omaha OF Travis Snider. He hit a combined .232 last season playing 87 games for Baltimore and Pittsburgh.TRAINERS RMWith Davis put on the DL, LHP Matt Strahm was brought up from Double-A Northwest Arkansas and made his major league debut. He faced three batters and allowed one earned run. ... Rangers RF Shin-S Ch (back) did rehab work Sunday for the second straight day and reported no discomfort. He hopes to be ready when eligible for re-activation on Thursday.UP NEXTRoyals: LHP Danny Duffy (6-1) will start the series opener at Tampa Bay on Monday. Duffy has five wins and four no-decisions in his last nine starts, most recently losing on June 6.Texas: RHP Yu Darvish (2-2) will make his seventh start since starting his season in late May following Tommy John surgery when the Rangers open a series at Baltimore on Tuesday. Both losses have come since returning from the disabled list on July 16 following shoulder discomfort.---This version has been corrected to show the Royals were 2 for 25 with runners in scoring position for the series.Custom Grizzlies Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Custom Grizzlies T-shirts . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. http://www.customgrizzliesjersey.com/ . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko tk the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Custom Allen Iverson Jersey .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternn it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. Grizzlies Jerseys China . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. HELSINKI, Finland -- Slovakia defeated the United States 4-1 and the Czech Republic routed Norway 7-0 in group finales for both teams to reach the quarterfinals at the ice hockey world championship on Tuesday. The U.S. had a chance to clinch the group, but will finish second or third, meeting Russia or Finland in a quarterfinal on Thursday. In Stockholm, the other group leader, Switzerland, defeated Belarus 4-1 to achieve its best group record at the worlds, seven wins and no losses. The Swiss hope to win a medal for the first time since 1953, when they were third among three teams. Julian Walker scored twice, and Roman Josi and Mathias Bieber once each. Switzerland won its group, followed by Canada, Sweden and the Czechs. Slovakias Branko Radivojevic was handed a free score after only 15 seconds when U.S. goaltender Ben Bishop turned the puck over, trying to reach a teammate with a pass. Martin Bartek, 3:44 in, and Rene Vydareny made it 3-0 for last years runner-up with Rastislav Stana making only 20 saves. Danny Kristo replied for the U.S. in the second period, and Marko Dano added a late empty-net goal. "We were hopeful and excited about the opportunity to try to finish first. We weree not able to do that but we will be ready for the next opponent," U.ddddddddddddS. coach Joe Sacco said. "The first two goals were unfortunate, its tough to play catch-up. Slovakia made a gd job of bottling up the middle of the ice and they protected the front of the net very well. We had a hard time getting there, and when we did their goalie came up big." The first goal was strange. Bishop went behind the net to pick up the puck and play it to a teammate. He hit the stick of Slovakia forward Tomas Kopecky and the puck went to Branko Radivojevic, who was left with an open net. "The first one bounced right out in the slot from behind the net. The second one I got to but it just squeaked through," Bishop said. "Just unlucky goals. Otherwise I think we played a gd game, but the other goalie played well. We could have scored five easily. Its a shame we didnt win." For the Czechs, Tomas Fleischmann showed the way with goals in the second and eight minutes. In a game without great significance, Christian Ehrhoffs second goal was an overtime winner as Germany beat France 3-2. Both teams quarterfinal hopes were dashed by Slovakias earlier victory. ' ' '