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PHOENIX -- Through three innings Thursday night, Jeremy Guthrie looked shaky. New Balance Italia Negozi . After that, he was perfect. Guthrie retired the final 19 batters in Kansas Citys first complete game of the season, and the Royals beat Arizona 6-2 for a three-game interleague sweep of the Diamondbacks. Guthrie (8-9) allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked none in his eighth career complete game. "I think its the pitchers goal every time is to get as deep as they can," he said. "I havent done that very well, especially the last couple of months. So its nice to have a high pitch count out there early but be able to settle in and get through some quick innings." As Guthrie finished off one batter after another, manager Ned Yost decided to just ride his starter as far as possible and rest his bullpen. "Were getting down to the point of the season where you know youve got to try to make sure everybodys strong," Yost said. "When youve got a pitcher that is throwing as good as he is, you try to take advantage of every pitch that he has in his tank." Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer and Alcides Escobar had a two-run single for the Royals, who have won four in a row and 12 of 15 to pull within 2 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central. They were eight games out on July 21. "Obviously were playing well and thats all we can control," Gordon said. "We havent really played Detroit in a while so were not really concerned where theyre at right now. Were just trying to take care of our business and go from there." Vidal Nuno (2-8) lasted just four innings for Arizona, allowing five runs and seven hits. The left-hander is 0-3 with a 4.05 ERA in six starts since he was acquired in a trade with the Yankees that sent Brandon McCarthy to New York. Kansas City (60-53) moved seven games above .500, matching its season high. It went 5-1 on a trip to Oakland and Arizona and is 33-26 on the road this season. The Royals have won five consecutive series. Jake Lamb, called up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day, got his first major league hit and RBI when he singled in a run for the Diamondbacks in the third inning. Guthrie retired every batter after that. "We got him in the beginning but later in the game he was throwing more cutters to the lefties," Arizonas David Peralta said. "He tried to get it in and jam us. We were trying to make an adjustment. It didnt work this time for us, it worked for him." TRAINING ROOM Royals: First baseman Eric Hosmer, on the 15-day disabled list since Saturday with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand, is to have no baseball activity for two weeks, then be re-evaluated. Diamondbacks: Outfielder A.J. Pollock, out for two months with a broken right hand, is 2 for 13 (.154) with a double and a run scored in four rehab games with Triple-A Reno. ... Right-hander Daniel Hudson, recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, made his first rehab appearance Tuesday, allowing a run in one inning for the Diamondbacks Arizona Rookie League team. ON DECK Royals: Kansas City opens a seven-game homestand against Bay Area foes, three against San Francisco and four against Oakland. A pair of left-handers go in the opener Friday night, Madison Bumgarner (13-8, 3.21 ERA) for San Francisco, Jason Vargas (8-5, 3.69 ERA) for the Royals. Diamondbacks: Arizona wraps up a 10-game homestand with a three-game weekend series against Colorado, matching the bottom two teams in the NL West. In Friday nights series opener, the Diamondbacks go with right-hander Chase Anderson (6-4, 3.19 ERA) and the Rockies counter with lefty Tyler Matzek (2-6, 5.31 ERA). ROLLER COASTER Guthrie has had a streaky season. Prior to his current three-game winning streak, he dropped three straight, allowing 17 earned runs in 14 innings. Before that, he was 3-0 in four starts with a 2.70 ERA. Guthrie won his first two starts of the season, and then was winless in his next 11. TRIPLE-A DIAMONDBACKS The addition of Lamb gives Arizona eight position players who started the season in the minors. Five of them were in the lineup Thursday night. SLICK PLAY Escobar made a slick fielding play in the seventh, racing to his left to snag Roger Kieschnicks grounder to shortstop, and then spinning 360 degrees before throwing the runner out at first. New Balance Scontate . But Josh Bailey scored the shootout winner to lead the Islanders to a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in a battle of the Eastern Conferences two worst teams. New Balance Outlet Scontate . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (4) – He had a strong game Sunday; was very good in tight with big saves on Crosby, Malkin and Neal in-crease. http://www.newbalanceoutlet.it/ . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap.PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Calling the New York Mets a "marquee franchise," new players union head Tony Clark is paying attention to the teams payroll. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said he expects the teams payroll to be between $85 million and $88 million this season, which would be a slight decrease from its $90.9 million final figure last year. Despite the additions of free agents Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon and Chris Young, the Mets have a payroll resembling that of a mid-market franchise. The Los Angeles Dodgers payroll is over $225 million and the New York Yankees will top $200 million. "Any time there are concerns or issues with any club related to certain habits or trends, we pay attention to it," Clark said after speaking with Mets players Tuesday during his tour of the 30 spring training camps. "New York is no different than any other club, from the standpoint of appreciating whats paid in payroll and how clubs may be functioning in general, related to improving the group they have on the field." Clark declined to say specifically whether the union has spoken with the Mets owners or front office about payroll. "Rest assured that any conversations were having with management likely wont end up in the newspaper," he said. "We will always stay engaged, from top to bottom with any club, at least reelated to any concerns we may have and how those concerns manifest themselves. New Balance Outlet On Line. " Clark also said he was concerned free agent shortstop Stephen Drew has not signed. Drew, pitcher Ervin Santana and designated hitter Kendrys Morales declined to accept $14.1 million qualifying offers, and teams signing them would lose a selection in Junes amateur draft. But if a team signs one of those players after the draft, it would not forfeit a pick. "Any time you have players on the free-agent market who are still sitting at home come March 4 that I think everyone would agree can have a positive impact on any club that they would happen to play on, it is a concern," Clark said. "Its a topic that we pay a lot of attention to because we dont think its in anyones best interests to have some of the top players in the game sitting at home and not playing on the field." NOTES: RHP Matt Harvey is paid $546,625 while on the major league roster this year under the one-year deal announced Monday and at an annual rate of $299,250 if on option to the minors. Harvey, recovering from elbow ligament-replacement surgery on Oct. 22, gets paid at the big league rate while on the disabled list or during a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment. ... RHP Zack Wheeler has a $512,375 salary in the majors and $169,349 in the minors. ' ' '