KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When the Oakland Athletics open a four-game series on Monday night at Kansas City, they will be sans Billy Butler, who was released Sunday.Butler was a 2012 All-Star, hitting .313 with 29 home runs and 107 RBI that season with the Royals, who drafted him in the first round in 2004. Butler played with Kansas City from 2007 to 2014 and was the designated hitter on the team that won the 2014 American League championship.Butler became a free agent after the 2014 season and signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the As but hit a career low .251 last season. This year, he was relegated to mostly DH duty against left-handed pitchers.Butler had only a dozen at-bats since Aug. 17 and was in a 1-for-15 funk when released.I knew it was a possibility because I wasnt playing, Butler said. Its been like that all year. Theyre the ones that make the decision. I know that now that Cocos (Crisp, trade to Cleveland) gone, I was the highest paid player. Theyre not going to let guys making that much just sit around and not make a move eventually.Ive been in this game long enough to know that moves like these happen. Unfortunately, the last two seasons as a team it has not gone the way as expected. Your higher paid players end up taking the brunt of that because I was expected to come in to keep this organization where it was at.As general manager David Forst said this was the right time to move on without Butler.Its something weve discussed, Forst said. With a lot of the younger players here now, potentially more coming once Nashvilles done, the at-bats just werent there. Its time to move our focus beyond.Obviously, he didnt perform last year up to what we expect, and then coming into this year it was tough for him to ever get going. We made some moves this last offseason that took away from some of his opportunities this year. There were times, frankly, right before the incident with him and Danny (Valencia clubhouse fight) when he was swinging the bat well. He obviously still has ability. It just wasnt going to be a fit here.The As are 13-27 in their past 40 games and have dropped to a season-worst 22 games below .500 after a 3-2 loss Sunday to the Seattle Mariners. Overall, the As are 60-82, assuring them of a losing record in back-to-back years.Three other former Royals with the As are Brett Eibner, who had a RBI triple Sunday; Ryan Madson, a reliever who suffered the loss Sunday, and Valencia.The defending World Series champion Royals shut out the White Sox 2-0 on Sunday to complete a 4-2 trip to Chicago and Minnesota. They remain on the fringe of the wild-card race, but theyll need a great eight-game homestand against the As and White Sox to stay viable in the postseason hunt.The Royals Ned Yost is one victory shy of 1,000 in his managerial career.Win two series on the road, which was big, Yost said. Weve got to win series. Each win is crucial right now. It feels good when you match up against a guy like Chris Sale and end up on the winning side of it. Just keep grinding them out and keep winning ballgames.Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales homered for the only runs off Sale, but that was enough for Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy and the bullpen. Wade Davis logged his 24th save of the season.Definitely huge, Hosmer said to capture the series at Chicago. We needed this. We need every series from here on out, and every game is huge. Well head back home. We play good in Kansas City. Well see if we can take it a day at a time against Oakland and get things shaken up here at the end.Royals right-hander Dillon Gee will start the series opener, his 14th start and 30th outing of the season. He is 0-2 with a 6.39 ERA in three career outings, including two starts against Oakland.The As will start left-hander Ross Detwiler, who is 1/3 with a 5.06 ERA in five starts and one relief appearance since called up from Triple-A Nashville.Detwiler has faced the Royals once, on May 14, 2015, while with the Texas Rangers. He took the loss, allowing three runs, nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts in five innings.Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys China . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Lee Roy Selmon Jersey . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.cheapbuccaneersjerseysauthentic.com/ . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Wholesale Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Warren Sapp Jersey . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Gary Kubiak trusts Trevor Siemian has both the physical toughness and the mental tenacity to lead the Denver Broncos down the stretch.That much was clear this week when Siemian received a second cortisone shot in his ailing left shoulder along with a vote of confidence from his coach.Like a kid playing Whac-A-Mole at an arcade, Kubiak seemingly has spent the whole season hammering away at rumors of another quarterback controversy in Denver:-No, Paxton Lynch isnt going to be under center for the homestretch that includes two games against Kansas City, one against Oakland and another against rival New England.-No, Kubiak has never wavered on Siemian, who won the job as Peyton Mannings successor over trade acquisition Mark Sanchez and Lynch, the teams first-round draft pick.-Yes, he expects much, much more of his QB who has earned GM John Elways praise for going 7-2 as the starter.I want Trevor to play big. I dont want Trevor to play OK or good, Kubiak said.Elway said Tuesday hes pleased with the teams record and also expects the Broncos to go on another post-bye roll.I think we would take it if you said at Week 10 wed be 7-3 with whats happened, Elway said. We havent played our best football yet, which I think is the encouraging thing.But weve played hard week in and week out, and so Im excited about our possibilities and what we can do. I know that the schedule is a tough schedule from here on out, but thats what happens when you win the division. But were excited about it.We feel like we can get better on the offensive side. We have room for improvement there. Weve figured out ways to win. Thats what you have to do. Were excited about the last six.Siemian said he relishes the rising expectations.Kube expects a lot out of me. I expect a lot out myself truthfully, Siemian said.To do that, he knows he has to stay upright.Siemian took a beating in Denvers 25-23 win at New Orleans on Sunday when he was sacked six times, hit on 11 other drop-backs and tackled on three runs. Thats an agonizing total of 20 shots on that sore left shoulder thats bothered him since it was driven to the turf in Tampa on Oct. 2, forcing him to sit out the next six quarters.Hes beat up. He took a lot of shots, Kubiak said. Some of them he has to take responsibility for. We have to make sure that hes stepping up in the pocket.Aside from the dazzling defensive 2-point conversion that won it, thhe takeaway image from the Superdome was Siemian on his back, his arms outstretched toward the roof in celebration after getting hammered while throwing a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.ddddddddddddThe reason he does make a lot of plays is because he will sit in there and get hit right in the mouth and make a play. That is a great characteristic of a quarterback because you have to do that sometimes, Kubiak said.Kubiak then added this caveat: Siemian needs to protect himself better. This, even though five of the sacks and both of Siemians interceptions Sunday came on four-man rushes, meaning the Broncos had the blockers, but still couldnt protect the passer properly.Right now, sometimes his depth is bad in the shotgun, Kubiak said. Its something weve got to work on. When its good, hes stepping up. Sometimes hes drifting and getting hit when he shouldnt be getting hit.He gets on the road, gets loud, you get in the gun, you start getting away from the center a little too far and now all of a sudden youre back there hitting 11 yards. Were not going to protect you if youre doing that. Its just something that we have to improve with him.That was Kubiak defending his beleaguered lineman, something hes willing to do because hes as much assured in Siemians psychological doggedness as he is in his physical toughness.The bye week will provide the coaching staff the opportunity to reconfigure Siemians pocket of protection.Ty Sambrailo replaced an ineffective Donald Stephenson at right guard midway through the game Sunday, when the Broncos broke out of a prolonged funk and had zero three-and-outs in a dozen drives.Kubiak said Tuesday that Sambrailo deserves to play a lot more football.Like a seasoned veteran, Siemian placed plenty of the blame for his aches and pains on his battered shoulders.A lot of times Im holding the ball too long and I get what I deserve in that sense, Siemian said.He said this five-day furlough that begins Wednesday is all about letting his battered body heal.Yeah, a lot of rest, Siemian said. Wont be doing much bench press this week.Hell be doing the heavy lifting soon enough.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapletonCheap JerseysChina NFL Jerseys [url=est, Siemian said. Wont be doing much bes[/url] Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '