DETROIT -- With their playoff hopes fading fast, the Kansas City Royals showed some fight.Paulo Orlando hit a tying, two-run double and Eric Hosmer followed with a three-run homer against Francisco Rodriguez, capping a ninth-inning comeback that led the Royals over the Detroit Tigers 7-4 Saturday.Kansas City stopped a four-game losing streak, and its tragic number for elimination from postseason contention remained at three. The Royals would be the fourth straight World Series champion failing to reach the playoffs after winning a title the previous season.We want to finish strong, no matter where we are in the standings said Hosmer, who was hitless in four at-bats, including three strikeouts, before the home run. We have to be professional about what were doing and continue to play it through.Given a 4-2 lead, Rodriguez (3-4) allowed singles to Alex Gordon and Hunter Dozier before Orlandos double. Cheslor Cuthbert walked and Hosmer hit his 24th homer.We put together a lot of gd at-bats, Hosmer said. I was just trying to get a gd pitch to hit and not miss it.Wade Davis (2-1) pitched a one-hit eighth and Kelvin Herrera, Kansas Citys seventh pitcher, got three straight outs for his 12th save in 15 chances, ending a game that tk 3 hours, 50 minutes. Rodriguez blew a save for the fifth time in 49 opportunities.Detroits five-game winning streak was stopped, and the Tigers dropped a half-game behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card berth.Its a bad position to fail the way that I failed, Rodriguez said. Just unacceptable. This one hurts, big time. I let my team down.Royals starter Yordano Ventura, 7-0 against Detroit in his career, allowed three runs and 10 hits in four innings, then left with back tightness. Kansas City said he is day to day.Tigers starter Daniel Norris, who was in line for his first career victory over the Royals, gave up two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.Alcides Escobar hit a sacrifice fly in the second, but the Tigers went ahead 3-1 on third-inning RBI singles by Cameron Maybin and J.D. Martinez, and Maybins RBI single in the fourth.Kendrys Morales homered leading off the sixth, becoming Kansas Citys first player to reach 30 since Jermaine Dye hit 33 in 2000. Martinezs RBI single gave Detroit a 4-2 lead in the sixth.Give them credit for coming back against one of the best closers in the American League, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.FREE PASSTigers slugger Miguel Cabrera drew an intentional walk in the fourth inning, his 14th of the season. He is tied for the most intentional walks in the AL with Bostons David Ortiz.LONG AFTERNNSaturdays game was the longest nine-inning contest of the season for Detroit, which played a 3:47 game at the Chicago White Sox on June 14.TRAINERS RMRoyals: C Salvador Perez started after missing Friday nights game with a minor knee issue. He went 1 for 5 with a single.Tigers: SS Jose Iglesias and Cabrera started after sustaining minor hand injuries Friday.UP NEXTRHP Edinson Volquez (10-11) is to start Sundays series finale for the Royals and LHP Matt Boyd (6-4) for the TigersFake Yeezy Bst 350 .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Fake Yeezys 350 2020 Online . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. http://www.fakeyeezy350.com/ .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Fake Yeezys 350 V3 . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Cheap Yeezy Bst 350 V2 . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No.Five years ago, Oklahoma president David Boren std at the construction site of a new campus dormitory and declared that the Sners would be no wallflower during this second round of conference realignment. Borens comments sent a clear message that Oklahoma was no longer necessarily committed to making the Big 12 work in the age of the Longhorn Network. That sudden shift destabilized the Big 12, ignited a panic throughout the league and prompted Missouri to jump ship for the SEC.Five years later, the Big 12 faces another fork in the road. Once again, the Sners are on the spot. Only this time, Oklahoma is loaded with leverage -- to dictate what happens to the conferences grant of rights, its composition and its overall future.Two weeks ago, the conference authorized commissioner Bob Bowlsby to begin exploring the leagues expansion options and start negotiating with prospective candidates.Texas immediately placed its expansion cards on the table, with president Greg Fenves seemingly endorsing the Big 12 candidacy of the University of Houston over Twitter not two days later -- launching the ball across the Red River.Making the critical question now: What does Boren want? The answer to that could go a long way in determining the direction of the Big 12 in the coming weeks.While Bowlsby has been examining expansion possibilities, the Big 12s television partners, ESPN and Fox, have anxiously been waiting to see what happens. Due to a pro-rata clause in the current contracts, the networks are on the hk for roughly $25 million for every schl the Big 12 adds, regardless of the schl, through the end of the deal in 2024-25. That could total up to $800 million if the Big 12 expands by four schls, an option Bowlsby and Boren have both stated is on the table.That has obviously placed the networks in a precarious position.If the Big 12 pulls the trigger on expansion, one recourse the networks would have would be to request an extension to the grant of rights, to at least gain long-term security for the leagues live content. Recently, ESPN agreed with the ACC on a network, which will launch in 2019. In exchange, ESPN got the ACC to sign an extension of its grant of rights through 2035-36.The difference with the Big 12 is that ESPN and Fox, contractually, have nothing to leverage the conference for the grant of rights extension -- the $25 million-per-schl increases are already in the contract.On this one, ESPN and Fox can only ask and hope.The gd news for them is that several of the Big 12s members might be incentivized to sign such an extension. In the event the Big 12 ever dissolved, its not entirely clear that everyone in the league would have a Power 5 landing spot. The Big Ten has a track record of only inviting members of the prestigious Association of American Universities; two-thirds of the Pac-12, meanwhile, are AAU-affiliated. Other than Texas, Kansas and Iowa State are the leagues only AAU members. And Oklahoma and Texas are the leagues only national ftball brands.Maybe Texas Tech and Oklahoma State and Kansas State would have a Power 5 home elsewhere. Maybe not. Big 12 survival is a safer route.Because of its lucrative deeal with ESPN on the Longhorn Network, which doesnt expire for another 15 years, Texas has 225 million reasons to stand pat in the Big 12.ddddddddddddOklahomas only motivation, however, would only be, well, an altruistic stance on greater Big 12 stability.However, one industry insider, who worked directly with programming before recently leaving for another job in the industry, indicated getting the Big 12 schls to sign a grant of rights without offering anything in return will be a tough sell for the networks, even as they have to shell out up to $800 million to the league. More likely, to get a grant of rights extension, ESPN and Fox would have to put forward an immediate renegotiation of the Big 12s tier 1 and 2 deals, and pay the Big 12 up to the levels of the SEC and Big Ten. The Big Ten is now getting an estimated $250 million per year from Fox for only half of its rights.If the networks put that on the table, the Big 12s viability for the next two decades would be virtually assured. But only if the Red River flagships signed off. If either balked against a proposal the rest of the conference supported, it could, once again, send a message to the other Big 12 members -- that the Sners arent completely committed to the conference.It might say, OU could begin flirting again, the insider said. That theyre not sure about the Big 12.Of course, Boren could attempt to utilize this leverage for whats clearly become his white whale: a Big 12 network. The ACC previously implemented a clause in its agreement with ESPN that triggered the upcoming network launch. If the ESPN or Fox were unwilling to do yet another network deal now -- but still wanted a grant of rights extension to avoid competing with a Netflix or a Ggle for rights down the line in an ever-changing media landscape -- perhaps Boren could procure such clause on a future Big 12 network.Still, given the current television climate, that could prove to be t ambitious.Even then, Boren would still have the option to push back on Texas.To get a new schl into the conference, eight of 10 schls must sign off. Its hard to envision the Longhorns being able to get Houston into the Big 12 without Oklahomas support. Boren could demand Texas sanction his expansion schl of choice, in exchange for rallying northern support for Houston.The Sners have long believed to have had their eye on BYU, which has the strongest ftball brand of any non-Power 5 schl. The Cougars also have a national following through the Mormon Church, and operate near Salt Lake City, a top-35 TV market. Boren also has shown interest in Cincinnati; he traded emails with then-Cincinnati president Santa Ono last year. Besides that, Boren could also press Texas to support a four-schl expansion, which would net the conference an additional $50 million a year.Just what lever will Boren pull? That remains unclear. What is clear is this -- he has a move to make.Five years ago, those moves had a major impact on the direction of the league.They figure to this time around once again. ' ' '