HOUSTON -- The Kansas City Royals figure their offence will come around sooner or later. Until then, theyre happy to rely on a bullpen that keeps helping them eke out close wins. Bruce Chen pitched into the sixth inning on three days rest and the Royals used four relievers to close out a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday. Alex Gordon tripled and scored for Kansas City, which took two of three from the Astros and has won seven of nine overall. Thirteen of Kansas Citys last 14 games have been decided by two or fewer runs, including six one-run games. Manager Ned Yost smiled when asked what all these close games are doing to him. "Im fine. Piece of cake. We had them all the way," he said. Chen (6-6) struck out six in 5 2-3 innings and was charged with one run and five hits. Pitching on three days rest for the sixth time in his career, Chen bounced back from his last outing when he yielded six runs and seven hits in just 1 2-3 innings against St. Louis, but still received a no-decision in the Royals 10-7 loss. Houston put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth, but Jonathan Broxton struck out Brian Bixler and retired Jordan Schafer to earn his 18th save in 21 chances. "Theyve been doing it all year and once again they came up big today," Gordon said of the bullpen. "A 2-1 win, it feels like weve been doing that all year. I swear one of these days our offence is going to get rolling and were going to start giving the bullpen a rest. Hopefully it will come soon." Yost was impressed with Broxtons poise in the ninth. "The thing about him is he doesnt panic," Yost said. "He stays calm and continues to make pitches." Kansas Citys pitchers have been particularly good late in games, posting a major league-best 1.31 ERA in the ninth inning or later. That performance has helped make up for an offence that has scored the second-fewest runs in the American League. "Well start putting some big numbers up, but these wins are important, too," third baseman Mike Moustakas said. "These 2-1 wins, these nail-biters give us a lot of momentum going home." Houston starter Jordan Lyles (1-4) gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings. He has bounced around between the Astros and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. "Ive been looking for an outing where I can just turn that corner," Lyles said. "Hopefully, this was it and thats what Im striving for. It is big because I know I can pitch up here and get outs." The Astros had eight hits, compared to just four for Kansas City, but they went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. "Its the key situations where were just not able to find the holes," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "Theres a lot of things we can point to like guys trying too hard, putting a little too much pressure on themselves. When you start to struggle in those situations, it starts to mount." The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Moustakas hit a leadoff double, moved up on Alcides Escobars grounder and scored on Brayan Penas infield out. Gordon tripled with one out in the sixth and scored when Yuniesky Betancourt reached on an error by shortstop Jed Lowrie. Billy Butler then bounced into a double play to end the inning. Houston got on the board in the bottom half, but lost out on a chance for a bigger rally. Schafer and Carlos Lee opened the inning with consecutive walks, and Schafer moved to third when J.D. Martinez grounded into a double play. Lowrie drove in Schafer with an infield hit and Chris Johnson chased Chen with a single to left, but Kelvin Herrera struck out Chris Snyder to end the inning. The Astros also had a chance to take the lead in the eighth. Lee hit a one-out single into right field, barely beating Jeff Francoeurs throw to first. Martinez then walked before Greg Holland struck out Lowrie and Johnson. Chen got into a jam in the fourth when Martinez doubled with one out and Lowrie was hit by a pitch. But he struck out Johnson and Snyder to end the threat. Lyles got off to a great start, retiring 12 of his first 13 batters, including the first six. NOTES: The Royals recalled INF Irving Falu from Triple-A Omaha and optioned reliever Louis Coleman to their top farm club. ... Houston pitcher Bud Norris, on the DL with a sprained knee, threw a light side session and is expected to start for Triple-A Oklahoma on Saturday. ... Mills said OF Fernando Martinez, on the DL for concussion-like symptoms, could begin a rehabilitation assignment in the next couple of days. ... Houston CF Justin Maxwell left with a sprained left ankle. ... Both teams are off on Thursday before Houston hosts the Indians and Kansas City plays the Cardinals. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . In many ways, these teams are mirror images of each other. Neither scores much. Neither allows opponents to, either. Jerseys China Cheap . It would be sweet redemption for a year ago, when he was passed by Jenson Buttons McLaren Mercedes on the final lap of a wild, rain-delayed event to let victory slip away at a race he has yet to win. http://www.wholesalesportsjersey... . -- Injuries, an ejection and a dubious record. [url=http://www.wholesalesportsjerseysshop.com/]Hockey Jerseys China . The "Blade Runner" is set to become the first amputee track athlete ever to compete at the Games after South Africas Olympic committee picked him Wednesday as one of 13 athletes on the national team that was initially selected last month. Wholesale Jerseys . Johnson pitched seven solid innings and ended his career-worst four-game losing skid, leading the Miami Marlins past the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Thursday.NEW YORK -- The NFL has swallowed the poison pill. When the league and the players association reached a new collective bargaining agreement in 2006, a clause called for eliminating the salary cap in 2010. Both sides assumed an uncapped season would be so distasteful that a new contract would be finalized long before the cap disappeared. Even when the owners opted out of the CBA in 2008, little thought was given to an actual removal of the salary cap that generally has been beneficial for both owners and players. On Friday, pro footballs salary cap dies. Free agency begins under a whole new set of rules, and no one is sure where it will lead -- perhaps even to a work stoppage in 2011. Yes, the most profitable and popular sport in America is entering territory even more uncharted than the end zone was for the St. Louis Rams last season. "The situation were walking into is certainly unknown for everyone," Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik says. "So no one can really look at the crystal ball and say heres what people are going to spend and heres what people arent going to spend. Its all pure speculation." Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consulting company Sports Corp. Ltd., thinks teams will be tightfisted. "Thats one of the possibilities in the uncapped season, will some teams be spending far below the current floor, especially teams that perform poorly on the field?" says Ganis. "Teams will have the option of spending the amount on their team that they think it is worth. A 4-12 team does not have the calibre players a consistently 12-4 team has. "I expect the small and midsize market clubs are going to start to pay in this uncapped year based on what they can afford." But sports agent Joe Linta, who represents Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco among others, is optimistic the pocketbooks will remain open. His thoughts echo those by many of his colleagues: "The owners are all wealthy," Linta says, "and as much as they need and want to make money, the need to win is greater than the need to make money -- they already have plenty. Their insatiable desire to win will override their greed to save and make money. So, yeah, theyll spend." Some can spend more than others. But the crop of unrestricted free agents contains few difference makers and is inferior to the group of restricted free agents. Under the CBA that expires next March, the top conference semifinalists from Januarys playoffs have extra restrictions in signing free agents. The final four, for example, must lose an unrestricted free agent (UFA) before they can sign one. That hamstrings the Saints, Colts, Jets and Vikings. "I think it is a penalty for sure," Jets coach Rex Ryan says. "Maybe you need a tight end or whatever it is and you dont have that ability to go out and get some of the top guys that might be available." Many of those top guys arent available at all. With no salary cap, it takes six years of service to become an unrestricted free agent, two more than in the past. Players with four and five seasons now are restricted, meaning the team losing them would earn compensation or would have the right to match offers from other clubs. Among the 212 players who now are not totally free because of the uncapped season are All-Pro defensive end Elvis Dumervil off Denver, who led the league in sacks in 2009; San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman and receiver Vincent Jackson; Miami running back Ronnie Brown; Dallas receiver Miles Austin; and Houston linebacker DeMeco Ryans.dddddddddddd While Dumervil, Austin and Ryans might be worth the heavy compensation they would cost, how many teams are willing to part with high draft picks and all the money it will take to sign such standouts? "For us its not changing," San Francisco 49ers GM Scot McCloughan. "Were going to go forward as if there is a cap. ... Were not going to be considered a big free agency team anyway. But well do what we need to do in free agency if we think its a smart move." Not that there wont be lots of bucks flying into players bank accounts. Teams always want to procure as much talent as they can. If someone perceives defensive end Julius Peppers as the answer to their line issues, the money figures to be there -- although certainly not on the scale of the US$20 million-plus Carolina would have needed to spend to make him a franchise player for the second straight year. "When we talk about possible free agents, certainly Julius is one of the guys we talk about," Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren says when asked if Peppers could have the kind of impact free-agent Reggie White had in Green Bay when Holmgren was the coach. "Then I have to put on my other hat because there are some financial ramifications there. "As great a player as Julius is, Id be reluctant to compare anybody to Reggie White. We did it, at the time we bonused him for I think $8 million. Everybody thought we were nuts. It was numbers off the chart. Now think of that today." Think of this today, as well: NFL teams must consider the ramifications of high spending in an uncapped 2010 if a salary cap returns in subsequent years. The money spent on Peppers or another quality UFA this year might be unlimited, but contract provisions beyond that could hinder staying under a salary cap in the future. Lions coach Jim Schwartz sees more experienced, but possibly more worn-down players available in free agency this year. That, too, could curtail spending. "Most of the ... unrestricted players are going to be players that are 29, 30, 31 years old. I think the biggest thing about that is, it places a lot more emphasis on getting the player right," says Schwartz, whose club needs all the talent it can get just to reach mediocrity. "You can get mileage out of a 29-year-old or a 30-year-old as long as you have a very specific role in mind for him and he fits your scheme and you feel good about that, because youre not going to have a whole lot of startup time with him." Many team executives also believe Aprils draft carries more significance than usual because of the flux in free agency. "I sense that we are a lot more focused seemingly this year on draft preparation," Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said. "Usually we take this in cycles or segments. There was definitely a free agent segment leading up to beginning of free agency. Now we tend to be focusing on the draft that much earlier. I will be interested to see how much interest there is going into free agency with the fewer numbers." Dimitroff and everyone else can only wonder. ' ' '