KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Rick Porcello has an AL-leading 12 wins and a 3.39 ERA for the first-place Detroit Tigers. His manager believes thats good enough for the right-hander to be on the All-Star team. However, Porcello, who has a family fishing trip planned for the All-Star break, hasnt been picked for the team yet. "I think he clearly is an All-Star," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said after Porcello pitched seven strong innings in Detroits 5-1 victory over Kansas City on Saturday. "Hes got 12 wins, An ERA in the low 3s. Theres going to be snubs every year at the All-Star break and I think hes clearly a snub." Porcello (12-5) outpitched James Shields as the Tigers won their fifth in a row. He also raised his career record against Kansas City to 8-3 while yielding six hits and one run to help give Detroit a 7 1/2-game cushion over Kansas City in the AL Central. Alex Avila drove in three runs, putting the Tigers in position to go for a four-game sweep on Sunday. Porcello, who has won four of his last five decisions and been key in Detroits taking a big lead in the division, is fine whether or not hes selected for the All-Star game. "Thats not my decision," he said. "I just go out there and pitch and let everybody else take care of that." His teammates clearly believe Porcello deserves to be there when the games elite are introduced. "We all thought he definitely deserved (a selection), but I will say that is a tough group he was in, that final vote," said Avila, who drove in three runs with a single and a ninth-inning homer. "All those guys did deserve it, too. Theres always going to be a guy who gets left out." The Royals have lost six of their last eight and are 0-6 at home against Detroit this year. "To this point, weve underachieved but were still seven games better than we were at this point last year," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "We know were a second-half club. Weve been a second-half club." Shields (9-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked none while throwing 121 pitches. The Tigers scored three in the ninth against reliever Aaron Crow, starting with J.D. Martinezs leadoff home run. Nick Castellanos was safe at first after a replay review overturned a call, and Avila hit a 427-foot homer. Ian Kinslers RBI single put the Tigers on top 1-0 in the third. In the fourth, Torii Hunter hit a drive into straightaway centre field over the head of Jarrod Dyson and turned it into his first triple of the season. The relay throw actually beat the sliding Hunter to the bag, but he was safe when third baseman Mike Moustakas failed to get the tag down. Avilas RBI single made it 2-0. Billy Butler had a sacrifice fly in the sixth after the Royals had wasted several scoring chances. Alcides Escobar bounced into an inning-ending double play in the second, Lorenzo Cain did the same in the third and then, with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth, Porcello struck out Cain on a 2-2 pitch. Al Alburquerque pitched a perfect ninth for the Tigers, who held the Royals to one run for the second night in a row. NOTES: Austin Jackson has led off the Tigers first inning with a base hit in all three games of the series. ... Cain made a terrific catch of Miguel Cabreras opposite-field drive in the first, snaring the ball just as he crashed hard into the wall. ... Both starters laboured, but after four innings, Shields had thrown 78 pitches and Porcello 40. ... It was the 12th time in his career that Shields has thrown 121 or more pitches. ... Eric Hosmers first-inning single stretched his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games for the Royals. Keith Magnuson Jersey . -- After a year spent travelling the world, Brooks Koepka suddenly is in a position to play a lot more golf at home. ED Belfour Jersey . -- Miguel Angel Jimenez quickly shifted his focus back to the Ryder Cup after winning his first Champions Tour event. http://www.officialblackhawksfanstore.co...ckhawks-jersey/. Price also posted the longest shutout sequence since 1960 at 164:19 minutes. He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas final two games and 70 of 71 shots in Canadas three elimination games, allowing only a breakaway goal to Lauris Darzins of Latvia. For his efforts, Price was named best goalkeeper by the tournament directorate. Prices outstanding play is marred only by the extremely strong defensive play of Canadas top six defencemen; Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. Jonathan Toews Jersey . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. Chris Chelios Jersey . Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes, the bandleader of the beard brigade during Bostons run to the 2013 World Series title, said he will be shaving his off before spring training so that he can file it "in the archive" with his memories of the teams improbable championship.SAN FRANCISCO -- All-Star Scott Kazmir capped the best first-half of his career with one of his best starts yet. Kazmir struck out nine in seven scoreless innings to help the Oakland Athletics win the annual Bay Bridge series by beating the San Francisco Giants 6-1 on Thursday. "I felt good from pitch one," Kazmir said. "I felt comfortable. I was able to get some quick outs and use all of my pitches." Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer and Stephen Vogt drove in three runs for the As, who won three of four in the two-city series that began Monday night in Oakland. The As (58-34) have won seven of eight overall and have matched the best start in Oakland history. Tim Hudson (7-6) was unable to make it out of the sixth inning and lost his fourth straight decision for the floundering Giants. San Francisco has lost 15 of its past 19 home games and hasnt won consecutive games here in more than a month. "Were not playing nearly the kind of baseball we want to play, for sure," Hudson said. "We just have to improve in a number of different areas." The game ended on a replay review when As manager Bob Melvin challenged a call that Vogt pulled his foot off first base on an infield hit by Gregor Blanco. The replay showed Vogt kept his foot on the bag, leading to the final out. Kazmir (11-3) got the best of a heralded matchup against Hudson, allowing three hits and one walk. Kazmir has allowed one run or fewer in 11 of 19 starts this season for a 2.38 ERA. He is just two wins shy of matching his career best set in 2007 in Tampa Bay. "The way he moves feet and moves eyes and dots up the corners and gets people to chase pitches is really remarkable," Vogt said. "Hes doing such a great job." Kazmir retired the first eight batters before walking Hudson and didnt allow a hit until Michael Morses leadoff single to centre in the fifth. Kazmir struck out Brandon Belt and Brandon Hicks before Blanco doubled Morse to third base to snap a 19 at-bat hitless streak. Hudson then hit a drive to deep left-centre that Craiig Gentry ran down on the warning track for an inning-ending catch.dddddddddddd The As broke the game open in the top of the sixth when they put together four straight extra-base hits to open the inning against Hudson, including a two-run homer by Donaldson over the right-field wall. Donaldsons 20th homer came the same day he was picked to participate in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game next week. "Its definitely pretty neat," he said. "It will be one of those things that adds icing to the cake. Hopefully Ill be able to put on a show." Vogt added a two-run single off Javier Lopez to give the As a 6-0 lead. Vogt also drove in a run earlier when he singled in the fifth following John Jasos two-out triple to make it 2-0. This marked the first time Hudson allowed four straight extra-base hits, according to STATS LLC. "That sixth inning got away from me a little bit, a couple bad pitches that they took advantage of," Hudson said. "They hit a couple decent pitches, I thought. It was a little bit of a weird inning. It kind of unraveled on us a little bit." Hudson allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings and lost for the second time in his career against the As. Hudson spent the first six years of his career in Oakland and has beaten every team in the majors except the As and Atlanta. The Giants finally got on the board in the eighth when Pablo Sandoval hit an RBI single off Dan Otero. NOTES: As All-Star OF Yoenis Cespedes went to a double play. ... Home plate umpire Adrian Johnson left the game before the top of the fourth after being hit in the mask by a foul ball in the first inning. Crew chief Angel Hernandez moved from second base to behind the plate and the game finished with three umpires. ... Tim Lincecum (8-5) goes for his fourth straight win Friday when the Giants open a three-game series against Arizona. ... Jeff Samardzija (1-0) will make his second start for Oakland when the As open a three-game series in Seattle against Felix Hernandez (10-2). ' ' '