NEW YORK -- Kansas City players tipped their caps to Derek Jeter when the retiring New York Yankees captain walked up to the plate in the first inning. Then the Royals went back to work trying to make some history of their own. Yordano Ventura pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, and the AL Central leaders beat the Yankees 2-0 Sunday on a pair of unearned runs for their second shutout in the three-game series. Trying for its first playoff berth since winning the 1985 World Series, Kansas City maintained a two-game lead in the AL Central over the second-place Tigers, who defeated San Francisco 6-1 on Sunday night. The Royals headed to Detroit for a three-game series that starts Monday. "Were playing great baseball," manager Ned Yost said. "Were pitching, and were playing defence and scoring runs and winning ballgames, and thats all I can ask." Kansas City scored due to errors by pitcher Shane Greene in the second inning and right fielder Carlos Beltran in the third. The Royals won 1-0 Friday night on an unearned run following third baseman Chase Headleys error and went 4-3 against the Yankees this year to take the season series for the first time since 1999. And they won on Derek Jeter Day, when many Yankees stars of the past returned for a 45-minute ceremony that also included NBA great Michael Jordan and baseball ironman Cal Ripken Jr. Video messages from athletes, celebrities and even astronauts in space were shown throughout the day. "Oh, man! That was, honestly, one of the coolest things Ive ever seen," Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said. "Any time anyone came on that board or anyone they announced, I got chills." Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie suggested to his teammates that they tip their caps. "He was my favourite player growing up," Guthrie said. "I was there for the final game at (the original) Yankee Stadium. I was there when he recorded his 2,723rd hit that broke the hits record for the Yankees. ... And now to be here for this -- Ive seen quite a few really cool moments." Kansas City, which hasnt been in first place this late in a season since 1989, hopes to give its fans a reason to celebrate this fall. Ventura (12-9) won his third straight start, leaving after a leadoff walk in the seventh -- his fourth of the game. "When I was able to throw the curve for a strike, it really helped all of the other pitches and made for quick innings," he said through a translator. "When the curveball wasnt getting over for a strike, that could have been the difference in the walks." With closer Greg Holland sidelined by a strained right triceps, Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis combined for one-hit relief. Kansas City went ahead in the second when Josh Willingham reached on an infield single near the mound, advanced on Moustakas single and scored with two outs when Nori Aoki hit a slow roller that Greene (4-3) threw wildly past first base. Beltran dropped Alex Gordons easy fly leading off the third, and Gordon stole second before scoring on a single by Eric Hosmer, his first RBI since July 29. "Any way you can score runs is a good way," Moustakas said. "It doesnt matter how they get across as long as youre scoring." TRAINERS ROOM Royals: LHP Danny Duffy headed back to Kansas City for an MRI of his sore left shoulder. Yost said Holland played catch, "felt much, much better today" and will have his status re-examined Monday. Yankees: OF Brett Gardner missed his second straight game because of a lower abdominal strain. UP NEXT Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-10) is slated to pitch Monday, with Justin Verlander (12-12) on the mound for the Tigers. Yankees: RHP Hiroki Kuroda (10-8) starts Tuesdays series opener against Tampa Bay RHP Chris Archer (8-8). BIRTHDAY BOY Pitching on his 29th birthday, Davis got his second save of the series -- and his big league career. After Beltran singled over first leading off the ninth, Davis struck out Brian McCann on a 3-2 pitch, retired Mark Teixeira on a soft grounder to third and fanned Stephen Drew on another full-count pitch. Davis has 94 strikeouts in 63 1-3 innings this season and has allowed one run in 53 innings dating to late April. That run scored when he hit the Los Angeles Dodgers A.J. Ellis with a bases-loaded pitch on June 25. ROAD WARRIORS Kansas City is 6-0-1 in its last seven road series. NFL Jerseys Wholesale . -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to keep Logan Mankins with the team for a long time. Cheap Jerseys 2020 . -- Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu will be the Dodgers starting pitchers in their two-game season-opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. https://www.nfljerseys2020.com/. He, the 25-year-old Toronto backup net-minder and Manitoba native, would be making just his fourth start in the past 16 games against the Jets the following evening. It was the word of opportunity for Reimer, who has fallen into the role of backup, outmatched in recent weeks by Jonathan Bernier, his Quebec counterpart. NFL Jerseys 2020 . Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane wanted to stay in Chicago and the Blackhawks wanted to keep the high-scoring forwards in the only NHL uniform they have ever known. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt.Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Jamal Crawford scored 25 points, Chris Paul supplied 23 points with 10 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers held on for a 100-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. Blake Griffin finished with 18 points and DeAndre Jordan totaled 17 points with 18 rebounds for Los Angeles, which snapped its five-game road losing streak. LaMarcus Aldridge paced the Blazers with 37 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Kaman had 15 points with 11 rebounds and Damian Lillard scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. They trapped me, blitzed every pick-and-roll. When I didnt have the ball they were all over me, said Lillard. Portland had its four-game winning streak halted, including its three-game home winning streak to the Clippers. Crawford closed a 15-4 run with a deep 3-pointer and a jumper to put the Clippers up 94-89 with over two minutes left. Our bench had 25 points tonight, Clippers coach Doc Rivers joked of Crawford. Aldridge answered with a corner jumper, then Jordan came up with a timely block of Matthews with over a minute to play. Paul hauled in the loose ball, was fouled by Matthews and converted the ensuing free throws to keep the Clippers iin front by two baskets.dddddddddddd Lillard and Matthews each missed jumpers inside a minute and Los Angeles secured the win from the free throw line. Portland grabbed its first lead since the opening minute early in the fourth thanks to its reserves. Kaman tied the game at 74-74, then C.J. McCollums runner gave the Blazers their first advantage since it was 2-0. Kaman kept the momentum going with a dunk off a feed from Meyers Leonard to force a Clippers timeout. Lillard forced another stoppage from Los Angeles when he followed a Kaman dunk with a step-back jumper from the baseline to extend Portlands lead to 82-77 with 7:22 to play. Los Angeles was held scoreless over the final 2:32 of the third, but the Blazers could only manage to tie the game at 72-72 after four free throws over that span. The Clippers led 27-21 after the first quarter and brought a 50-49 edge into the locker room at half. Game Notes LA made 37-of-88 shots from the floor, while Portland converted 35-of-87 shot attempts ... Leonard checked in with 10 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort ... The Clippers had a 14-2 edge on the fastbreak ... LA scored 19 points off 13 turnovers. ' ' '