oked completely out of contention on the anchor leg of the 4x400-m

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Perhaps it simply took a whirlwind trip to the White House for the Kansas City Royals to remember that theyre the reigning World Series champions.Danny Duffy scattered four hits while pitching into the seventh inning, the Royals scratched out three runs off the Rangers Yu Darvish, and Kansas City shrugged off a sluggish start to the second half to beat Texas 3-1 on Friday night in the opener of their three-game series.I think being around the guys on an off day was a positive, said Duffy, who along with the rest of the Royals slipped out of town to see President Barack Obama in the midst of a long homestand. We got to do something not a lot of people get to do.The Royals had dropped four of six since the All-Star break before Friday night, when Duffy (6-1) gave up only Rougned Odors homer in the fourth inning. The left-hander struck out four, walked two and gave his bullpen a breather on a steamy evening that began with a heat index of 108 degrees.Luke Hochevar wiggled out of Duffys jam to end the seventh, Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect eighth and Wade Davis worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his 21st save.The victory kept the Royals (48-47) from dropping below .500 for the first time since May 17.Duffys got a big fastball with a quality changeup and breaking ball. He was really tough on us, Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. A quality start, a quality starter, hes been doing that all year.Darvish (2-2) nearly matched Duffy in his third start off the disabled list. He allowed single runs in each of the first three innings, struck out 11 and made only one big mistake -- Cheslor Cuthberts home run.I feel really good about where Yu is at and what he showed us tonight, Banister said.Still, it wasnt good enough to keep the AL West-leading Rangers from losing for the eighth time in nine games. The slide has been marked by poor pitching, inconsistent hitting and a series of devastating injuries -- sluggers Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo went on the DL earlier this week.Without them, the Rangers certainly struggled to create scoring chances Friday night.Duffy carved through the lineup without allowing a hit the first time through, the only baserunner a walk to Elvis Andrus. He went on to load the bases on a single and hit batter in the third inning, but Duffy calmly struck out Ian Desmond on three pitches to leave them stranded.His only other trouble came when he put runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh, forcing Hochevar in from the bullpen. He got pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland on a liner to preserve a 3-1 lead.They built it in typical Royals fashion: They scored a run in the first on a single, stolen base, error and groundout then scored again in the second on a walk, stolen base and consecutive singles.It wasnt until Cuthbert went deep leading off the third that they made Darvish look fallible.Darvish is a really good pitcher, Royals manager Ned Yost said. To scratch out two runs early is perfect situational baseball, to give us that lead early.ROSTER MOVESThe Rangers reinstated LHP Jake Diekman (cut left index finger) from the DL and designated LHP Cesar Ramos for assignment. Diekman last pitched July 5 at Boston.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: Fielder will see neck specialist Dr. Drew Dossett on Monday. The DH/1B is facing the prospect of season-ending neck surgery after an MRI earlier this week revealed a herniated disk near an area that was repaired two years ago. Dossett also performed that procedure.Royals: CF Lorenzo Cain (left hamstring strain) hoped to begin a rehab assignment his weekend, but it has been pushed back to early next week. Hes been on the DL since June 29. He was pushing it too hard two days ago and just kind of fatigued his leg, Yost said. Not a setback by any stretch.UP NEXTRangers LHP Cole Hamels, who tossed eight sharp innings in a win over the Cubs his last time out, makes his first career start at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday. He faces Royals RHP Yordano Ventura.Marvin Jones Jr Youth Jersey . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. Marvin Jones Jr Jersey . 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Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4.No one saw Courtney Okolo coming.The announcers had already called the 4x400-meter relay for Lancaster High School at the 2012 Texas 4A state track championships. Fans had gotten to their feet to watch Lancasters anchor leg and Baylor track commit Taije Jordan cross the finish line untouched. And even without much of a zoom on the TV feed, all the viewers at home could see was Jordan and a lot of empty track.But even though no one saw it, Jordan knew it -- Okolo was coming for her. She had told her teammates before the race that for her to outkick Okolo shed need to get the baton with a 70-meter lead -- in a 400-meter race.But even with a 70-meter lead the question was often when, not if, Okolo would come calling.And with 50 meters to go, screams erupted from the press box.Oh, my goodness, oh my goodness.Jeez, Louise.Courtney Okolo, everybody.That is video-game fast, one analyst said. Thats cheat-code fast.No, thats just Okolo.She has the kind of late-race speed that seems unnatural. While every runners legs are being dragged down by lactic acid and the muscles around their rib cages are tightening, Okolo is picking up steam. Shes fine. She appears unfazed. And one by one, she walks down opponents, seemingly operating on a different plane.Her come-from-behind win in that high school race put the state of Texas on notice then. But she has the world on notice now.In April, Okolo became the first American female collegian to ever run a sub-50-second 400-meter dash. Not even U.S. record holder Sanya Richards-Ross clocked a sub-50 during her collegiate years.Okolo owns three of the worlds top 10 times run in 2016, with her 49.71 standing as the best among American women entering the U.S. Olympic team trials in Eugene, Oregon. She holds a one-second lead between herself and the fourth-best American runner in 2016. In a race thats often decided by a tenth of a second, a one-second lead is meteoric. Even in the 800-meter race, theres only a .21-second gap between the American leader and the fourth-best runner.Texas coach Tonja Buford-Bailey saw early that Okolo was the perfect blend of an elite middle-distance runner with top-level sprinter speed -- almost a unicorn in track and field. Its not easy to find a middle-distance runner with that kind of sprinters kick or a sprinter with high-level endurance, but when you discover both -- and both at an elite level -- in a single athlete, you get Okolo.Because of that, shes kind of in a league of her own, especially at the college level. So, to keep pushing her, Buford-Bailey would have Okolo train her endurance workouts (several 200- or 300-meter intervals with short recovery breaks between) with the mens team..ddddddddddddShe can train with the guys and beat some of them, Buford-Bailey said. You see that way before she ever runs a race -- she has a special gift.Those are the kind of workouts that Okolo enjoys because it reminds her of the 4x400-meter relay. In an open 400, the race plan is very internal. You run the race based on how youre feeling and you have an opportunity to maybe play off some other runners, but when one competitor is in Lane 3 and another is in Lane 8, it lacks of the drama and excitement of Okolo and a competitor racing shoulder to shoulder for the finish.She thrives off that kind of closeness with competitors during races and workouts.Its kind of like how an animal preys on another animal, Okolo said. It knows its weakness, so itll find the right moment to attack. ... You can kind of see, Nows the right time to make a move. Its the right opportunity. So, no one shouldve been surprised when, at this years NCAA track and field championships, Texas looked completely out of contention on the anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay.Though much of the focus was on Floridas Taylor Sharpe and South Carolinas Precious Holmes, who had battled to lead for most of the race, both Sharpe and Holmes knew it was only a matter of time before they saw Okolo.Its very, very scary, Holmes said. Your whole team is counting on you to run away from one of the best people in the world in the 400. Just to know that shes coming -- its very frightening. I wont lie.Okolo is the best female 400-meter runner collegiate track has ever seen, a compilation of exact training, countless races and a genetic predisposition to excel at an impossible task.Ive watched hundreds of 400-meter races, Sharpe said. When I look at hers, theres just something different. Anyone who knows anything about track, or even just a little bit about track, theyll notice that about her.Shes the one moving in hyper speed. The one whose legs dont become cinder blocks as they fill with lactate. The one who somehow has a cheat code to one of the most painful races in all of track.But, its just how Okolo is and has always been.When she finished her high school state title race, winning the 4x400-meter championship for Newman Smith High, one of the analysts said from the booth, Amazing. ... That might be a girl we see again down the road.And in reality, thats how most of her competition feels about her, too. They know that no lead is safe with Okolo on the track. Shes a runner theyll see again down the road -- most likely on that final stretch when shes just warming up. ' ' '