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NEW YORK -- James Shields caught a break, thanks to Lorenzo Cain and a fleet of Kansas City fielders. Shields escaped early trouble when Cain ran down a deep drive with the bases loaded, Billy Butler and David Lough backed their ace with home runs and the Royals handed the New York Yankees their third straight loss, 3-1 Tuesday night. Cain contributed four nifty catches, and Shields appreciated each gem by the speedy centre fielder. "He seemed like he ran a little more than he usually does," Shields said. "I told him maybe Ill pay for a massage." Said Cain: "Sounds good to me." Defensive replacement Elliot Johnson ranged a long way for a late grounder and Kansas City backed Shields (4-6) with a pair of double plays. Fittingly, the game ended on a fine, twisting grab by another defensive sub, third baseman Mike Moustakas. Beset by a lack of run support, Shields had won just once in his previous 12 starts, and came in with a losing record despite a 3.23 ERA and ranking among the AL leaders in several pitching categories. Shields gave up five hits -- including three consecutive singles to start the game, and four in the first overall -- in seven innings. He struck out five, walked two and retired his final 13 batters. "Forget the record. The record has nothing to do with how hes pitched," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Hes been as good as you would hope a No. 1 starter can be." Shields improved to 8-15 against the Yankees after overcoming a rocky start. Brett Gardner led off with a bunt single and Ichiro Suzuki and Robinson Cano also singled for a run. New York loaded the bases with one out, but Shields fanned Lyle Overbay and wiggled out of trouble when Cain ran down Eduardo Nunezs fly far into the right-centre field alley. If that ball eluded him, Cain agreed, "the game is out of control." CC Sabathia (9-7) gave up seven hits in his second complete game. Once again, the Yankees had trouble scoring. Theyve managed exactly one run in each of their last three games -- not since 2005 had they scored one run or fewer in three straight, STATS said. "Any time you put four hits in an inning, you think youll get more than one run," manager Joe Girardi said. As for Sabathia and the Yankees staff, "I think they are pitching pretty good. Theyre throwing pretty good ballgames. Were just not scoring runs for them," Girardi said. The hitting slump left the Yankees with a three-game home losing streak for the first time since they dropped four in a row in late July 2012. Lough led off the sixth inning with a tying home run and Butler opened the seventh with a go-ahead shot. Butler hit 29 homers last year and was an All-Star, but has slumped this season -- he came into this series with six homers before connecting in the first two games. "Got one yesterday, got one today," Butler said. Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 22nd save, and second in two nights. The Royals are trying to win a series at Yankee Stadium for only the second time since the beginning of the 2000 season. Thanks to Shields and the bullpen, theyre 2-0 in this four-game set. Shields didnt give up a hit after the second inning, sometimes pitching in rain and even hail. "It was nice to settle down," he said. Sabathia allowed only one hit until Lough homered. Butlers shot was the 20th homer yielded by Sabathia this season, second-most in the majors to the 21 off Kansas Citys Jeremy Guthrie. Doubles by Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer gave Kansas City an insurance run in the ninth. NOTES: Gardners streak of striking out ended at a team-record 16 games. He snapped an 0-for-16 rut with his bunt hit. ... Girardi said he hasnt ruled out rehabbing SS Derek Jeter from returning from the minors this weekend. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis (4-7, 5.42 ERA) starts Wednesday night vs. Yankees RHP Ivan Nova (3-2, 4.09). ... Canos 32 hits off Shields are the third-most in the majors among an active hitter and pitcher, STATS said. Michael Cuddyer has 35 against Mark Buehrle, while Michael Young has 33 off John Lackey. If Manny Ramirez makes it back to the majors, his 36 off Andy Pettitte move to the top of the list. ... Sabathia pitched his 37th career complete game.Nike Zoom Ireland Outlet . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Cheap Nike Shoes Ireland . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. http://www.nikezoomsaleireland.com/ . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Discount Nike Zoom Ireland Shop .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Cheap Nike Zoom Ireland . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006.Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott is having a phenomenal season by almost any measure. How does it compare to other great rookie campaigns?Its difficult to compare quarterbacks from different eras for two primary reasons. First, not all of the official statistics of the modern era were always kept; for example, sacks werent officially recorded until 1982. Second, passing has varied significantly throughout the years, so stats such as the traditional passer rating are fairly meaningless when comparing a player from 2016 to one from 1970.We do have a few common measures of quarterback performance we can rely on to compare passers across eras. Total yards, pass attempts and interceptions can all be boiled down into a stat known as adjusted yards per attempt (AYPA). Yards per attempt is one of the best ways to measure quarterback play because its a rate stat thats highly predictive of winning games. The adjusted part subtracts 45 yards from the yardage total for every interception a quarterback throws before dividing by attempts; the 45-yard adjustment has been shown to be roughly the yardage equivalent of an interception.To remedy the problem of different passing environments across eras, we can compare each quarterbacks AYPA with the league average for that season. For example, Prescotts AYPA is 9.2 so far this seasoon, while the league average is currently 7.dddddddddddd2. That means Prescott exceeds the league average by a net of 2.0 AYPA.Only three other rookie quarterbacks in NFL history with as many starts as Prescott have exceeded the league average in AYPA for their respective seasons by more than that. Otto Graham blew the doors off the rest of the league in 1946, averaging 11.2 AYPA when the rest of the league passed at a measly 3.7 AYPA rate. Y.A. Tittle averaged 8.4 AYPA as a rookie in 1948, compared to a league average of 4.6 AYPA. The third quarterback to top Prescott on the list is lesser-known Greg Cook of the Bengals, whose 1969 season beat the league average by 2.6 AYPA. Cooks career was cut tragically short by a chronic shoulder injury.The following is the list of rookie quarterbacks with the best AYPAs when compared to the league average of their respective years:Prescotts passing performance through 10 games outshines the season-adjusted rookie averages of other great first-year quarterbacks Dan Marino, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Jim Plunkett and Ben Roethlisberger. He even beats non-rookie rookies, like Jim Kelley and Warren Moon, who had experience playing in the USFL and CFL respectively. ' ' '