Kansas City Star

kansascity.com — Eight, it seems, is enough. After Sunday's crushing 4-3 loss to the Oakland A's, Royals manager Ned Yost acknowledged he "probably" will pull the eighth-inning duty away from struggling reliever Kelvin Herrera. Herrera served up a leadoff homer in the eighth inning to Yoenis Cespedes that snapped a 3-3 tie.

kansascity.com — The script changed Sunday for the Royals, but not the ending as they concluded a three-game weekend pratfall in the East Bay with a 4-3 loss to the Oakland A's. Yoenis Cespedes opened the eighth inning with a no-doubt homer against Kelvin Herrera - that's eight homers yielded by Herrera in his last 14 innings.

kansascity.com — Sporting Kansas City settled for a 1-1 draw Sunday with Eastern Conference bottom-feeder D.C. United at RFK Stadium, but the game wasn't without controversy. Defender Ike Opara was robbed of a first-half goal. He later was the central figure as Sporting KC, 6-4-3, grabbed a 1-0 lead off a 60th-minute corner kick from midfielder Graham Zusi.

kansascity.com — As residents in Wichita and parts of Central Kansas are being hit with strong winds, hail and heavy rain Sunday evening, local meteorologists say people in the Kansas City area should get prepared. They expect severe conditions to hit our area between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

kansascity.com — Kansas City has seen this movie before. Not often, because the Royals usually ruin the show somewhere around the opening credits. Twice in the last decade the Royals have made it as far as 40 games with their heads above break-even. Both of those seasons - 2009 and 2011 - have ended with more than 90 losses.

kansascity.com — When the Missouri Legislature adjourned its annual session this past week, the Republican majority claimed it was a successful effort – even “historic” and “monumental” – based on the measures they considered and approved. Yet if results are what matter, their success may ultimately depend upon the decisions of Democratic Gov.

kansascity.com — Owners didn't get the required U.S. Department of Transportation number. That registration would have mandated inspection and repairs on vehicle whose “door ajar” warning system wasn't working.

kansascity.com — A 1918 work by Edwin Blashfield, “The Call of Missouri,” was displayed for years at the Kansas City Public Library. It disappeared in 1983. A six-year search found it online — on sale for $650,000.

kansascity.com — D.C. United is off to a wretched start. There's really no debate about it given the 1-8-1 opening salvo by coach Ben Olsen's squad, which has a league-worst four points and scored a league-worst five goals through 10 games.

kansascity.com — Terry Dutton, hanging around with his friend David Yoder and watching the Kansas State baseball team celebrate its Big 12 championship after Friday's victory over Oklahoma, had a fashion problem. His cap commemorated the Wildcats' 2012 Big 12 football championship. Since he bought it, K-State brought home league trophies in men's basketball and baseball.

kansascity.com — Around 1970, Joplin photographer Murwin Mosler had converted the house into a photo studio by reconfiguring its walls to form a reception area, a darkroom, a break room with a kitchen table and a photo studio with a dressing room, mirror, and rolls of blue and gray background paper suspended from one wall.

kansascity.com — It's happened twice now, two nights in a row, and the Royals shouldn't require further proof: While their rotation is much improved over recent seasons, one run isn't often going to be enough. It was Ervin Santana who paid the price Saturday night for failing to pitch a shutout in a 2-1 loss to the Oakland A's.

kansascity.com — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster hushed a Truman Days audience Saturday night with a ringing tribute to a Kansas City state senator who shepherded a gay-rights bill through the Missouri Senate on the session's final day. The Missouri Nondiscrimination Act would ban bias based on sexual orientation and gender in employment, housing and public accommodations.

kansascity.com — Revamped rotation: The offseason efforts by general manager Dayton Moore and his staff to upgrade a long-deficient rotation are showing considerable short-term benefits. Was James Shields worth surrendering Wil Myers? Was Ervin Santana worth the $12 million rental price? Was Jeremy Guthrie worth a three-year deal.

kansascity.com — The questions Saturday afternoon concerned third baseman Mike Moustakas, his ongoing struggles and how patient the Royals were willing to remain and for how long. But they could have been about first baseman Eric Hosmer or, given the day, any of several players who comprise the Royals' youthful core.