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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Danny Duffy pitched superbly into the eighth inning, but Joakim Soria blew another save as the Kansas City Royals chances to return to the postseason took another hit.Pinch hitter Yonder Alonso delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics rallied past Kansas City 5-4 Tuesday night, another key loss for the Royals.The defending World Series champion Royals dropped five games out of the wild-card race with only 18 games left. The Royals have lost six of their past seven home games.Duffy, who has not won since Aug. 21, limited the As to three hits, but two were home runs, in 7 1/3 innings.Were all doing everything we possibly can to claw away at this deficit that weve got in the standings, Duffy said. Were all taking it one game at a time. You know things like this happen.Soria blew his seventh save chance in eight opportunities. He was summoned with two outs in the eighth and the Royals clinging to a 3-2 lead.On his second pitch, Soria gave up a double to Alonso over the head of center fielder Jarrod Dyson, scoring Brett Eibner and pinch runner Joey Wendle. Soria then yielded an RBI single to Marcus Semien.Its a difficult position when youre not used to that, said Soria, who has 203 career saves. This season has been really, really different to me. I guess in 10 years it can happen sometimes. Unfortunately for me and my team, it happened this year. They need me the most and Ive been having poor results.Rookie Matthew Strahm (2-1), who gave up an infield single to Chad Pinder before Soria replaced him, took the loss.Royals manager Ned Yost said he did not want to use Kelvin Herrera for a four-out save and Wade Davis was unavailable after throwing nearly 50 pitches in back-to-back saves Saturday and Sunday.I had confidence in Jack, Yost said. I thought it was a good situation for him. I didnt mind the matchup with Alonso. Jacks had two days off. Ultimately, its my plan. Im responsible for my plan. And that was my plan and it didnt work.Will he continue to use Soria in high-level situations?I dont make decisions after games like this, Yost said. I havent even thought about. Im not even going to speculate on what Im going to do, without thinking about it and sleeping on it. Jacks that guy right now that everybody is on. Jacks had some really good outings this year and hes had some poor outings. How do you determine from one day to the next if I put him out there if its going to be a good outing or a bad outing. It very easily could have been a good outing. It wasnt.John Axford (6-4) pitched one inning. Ryan Madson balked home Dyson with two outs in the ninth before closing for his 30th save in 36 tries.Duffy gave up a home run to Khris Davis on his first pitch in the fifth. Davis has homered in back-to-back games and hiked his season total to 37, the most by an Athletics player since Frank Thomas hit 39 in 2006.My gosh that guy has some kind of pop, Duffy said. I dont even know if he picked up his feet, but it still went about 600 feet. Hes got 37 home runs for a reason. I just need to make a better there.Ryon Healy homered to lead off the eighth. After Duffy walked Eibner with one out, he was replaced by Strahm.I cant walk Eibner there, Duffy said. I cant leave that pitch over to Healy, who hit the bomb in the eighth. I cant do that. Ive got to get through that eighth.Paulo Orlando hit a two-run single in the fourth to score Cheslor Cuthbert, who had doubled, and Alcides Escobar, who reached on Semiens error.Semien has committed 11 errors in the past 53 games and tops major league shortstops with 19 fielding miscues.Escobars two-out single in the sixth scored Salvador Perez and chased Jharel Cotton, who was making his second big league start since being acquired in an Aug. 1 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Cotton allowed three runs, only one earned, in 5 2/3 innings, while walking one and striking out two.STREAK ENDSRoyals DH Kendrys Morales went 0 for 3, snapping his season-high 14 game hitting streak and a career best streak of seven straight games with a RBI.FOOTBALL VISITAs manager Bob Melvin stopped by the Chiefs practice Tuesday. He is a friend of Chiefs coach Andy Reed. The managers cousin, Tom Melvin, coaches the Chiefs tight ends.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (right biceps tendinitis) is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday. I dont think it will be tomorrow, but hes definitely making progress, Royals manager Ned Yost said. . Perez returned to the lineup after missing the game Tuesday for the birth of his second son, Johan Salvador.UP NEXTAthletics: LHP Sean Manaea will make his first start since Aug. 29 when he left after 3 1/3 innings with strained left rhomboid muscles in the shoulder blade.Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura gave up a season-high 10 hits over seven innings in a loss Friday to the White Sox.Nike SF Air Force 1 Mid Nz . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Air Force 1 High Sale . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.airforce1salenz.com/sf-air-force-1-nz.html . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Nike Air Force 1 Mens Nz . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Air Force 1 Low Mens Sale . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons.CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Patrick Cole and Pablo Rivas scored 18 points apiece to lead North Carolina Central to a 67-59 victory over Western Carolina on Wednesday night.Cole was 7 of 16 from the floor. Rivas did not miss a shot, finishing 7 of 7 from the field with two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. Dajuan Graf added 14 points and Kyle Benton had 11 for the Eagles (1-2), who shot 48 percent from the floor.Marc Gosselin had 13 points for Westerrn Carolina (1-2).dddddddddddd Deriece Parks added 12 points, and Devin Peterson and Haboubacar Mutombo had 10 apiece.The Catamounts had a 45-43 halftime lead, but NC Central opened the second half on an 8-0 run and led the rest of the way. Western Carolina pulled to 62-58 with 49 seconds left, but did not get closer. ' ' '