Kreativecke » .Charges around the country involve nine victims,

CLEVELAND -- Brandon Guyer was playing for a last-place team until a trade Aug. 1.On Tuesday night, his first career game-ending hit moved his Cleveland Indians closer to their first AL Central title in nearly a decade.Guyer singled in a run with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Indians over the Kansas City Royals 2-1 to reduce Clevelands magic number for the division to six.Cleveland leads Detroit by seven games and hasnt won the Central since 2007.Guyer was acquired from the struggling Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline, and now hes contributing to a team on the brink of the postseason.Its kind of a first for me, he said. Were loose and not thinking about it much, knowing if we go out and play our game, good things are going to happen.Guyers hit off Joakim Soria landed just fair in the right-field corner and scored Coco Crisp. Guyer was the third pinch-hitter of the inning used by manager Terry Francona.Brian Flynn (1-2) walked Jose Ramirez to start the ninth, then fumbled a bunt by Crisp, batting for Lonnie Chisenhall, down the first-base line for an error.Catcher Salvador Perez threw Ramirez out at third on Abraham Almontes sacrifice attempt. Rajai Davis, batting for Tyler Naquin, hit a hard ground ball that deflected off Sorias foot and rolled to first baseman Eric Hosmer for the out.Guyer, batting for Roberto Perez, then delivered with the winner that fell in despite a sliding effort by right fielder Paulo Orlando.I wasnt sure if it was going to be fair or foul, Guyer said. I rounded first base and saw the umpire say fair and I started celebrating.The Royals, the reigning World Series champions, will be eliminated from contention in the division if they lose to Cleveland on Wednesday night.The ball was fair by a couple of inches, where you cant get to it, Royals manager Ned Yost said.Kansas City advanced a runner to third with one out in the eighth, but Andrew Miller (9-1) struck out pinch-hitter Christian Colon and Whit Merrifield before retiring the side in order in the ninth.Carlos Santana led off the third with his 33rd home run. Alex Gordons RBI single tied the game in the fifth.Royals starter Edinson Volquez gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings.JOSHS CHANCEIndians starter Josh Tomlin allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings.Tomlin, because of injuries to Carlos Carrasco (broken right hand) and Danny Salazar (strained right forearm), will be in the postseason rotation if the Indians advance. He began the season 9-1 but was sent to the bullpen after going 0-5 in August.Carrasco and Danny are a key part of that rotation, Tomlin said. Were trying to do the best we can to help win the Central and get into the playoffs and play deep into the playoffs.CALL US BACK, OK?Right-hander Tyler Plutko learned he was being promoted to the Indians in a most unusual fashion -- while he was a groomsman in his best friends wedding Saturday in California.They had literally just got done saying `I do and taking pictures, he said. It was in the middle of the wedding. I couldnt take the phone call right away, ended up calling them back and they said I got to get to Cleveland.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: OF Lorenzo Cain (left wrist inflammation), who last played on Sept. 9 at the White Sox, is traveling with the team.Indians: Pitching coach Mickey Callaway said theres a small chance Salazar will be available in the bullpen if Cleveland makes the playoffs. Salazar hasnt pitched since Sept. 9 but played catch at 60 feet Tuesday.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Ian Kennedy is unbeaten in his last 10 starts, going 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA. His last road loss occurred July 1 at Philadelphia.Indians: RHP Corey Kluber seeks his career high-tying 18th victory. He is 9-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 15 home starts this season. Christian Jaros Senators Jersey . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Craig Anderson Senators Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. http://www.senatorssale.com/authentic-jason-spezza-senators-jersey/ . PAUL, Minn. Christian Jaros Jersey . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Senators Jersey . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. NEW ORLEANS -- Former NFL star Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in a case in which he was accused of drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states.U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper on Thursday, telling him she couldnt understand how he did what he did, as he was college educated and obviously had grown up in one of the most loving households.We can never ignore the damage you inflicted on those women and society at large, she said.Sharper, jailed since February 2014,?had pleaded guilty in federal court in New Orleans to drugging three women so he could rape them. He also has pleaded guilty or no contest in state courts in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada to charges arising from allegations of drugging and raping women.I would like to apologize a thousand times, Sharper said. He looked at the floor as he said, Im still trying to figure out why I made some of these choices. ... I lived my life right for 38 years, then I took this path.His voice thickened and broke as he said his parents hadnt raised him to take such actions.Defense attorney Billy Gibbens asked for leniency because Sharpers testimony helped get late guilty pleas from two co-defendants who will be sentenced in October.Sharper will be sentenced on Aug. 25 in Louisiana state court, Gibbens said outside court. He said he believes Sharper will be sentenced next month in Las Vegas and couldnt recall the Los Angeles sentencing date.An Arizona judge sentenced him to nine years and what both Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon and Gibbens said amounted to lifetime probation.McMahon told the judge in court, I dont think Mr. Sharper has really wrapped his head around the fact that he is a serial rapist.A woman who woke up next to Sharper after being drugged also spoke before Milazzo handed down the sentence. The womans voice was shaky and she frequently brought a handkerchief to her eyes. Her name was not given in court, and The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual abuse by name.She told Sharper that because of arrogance and clear stupidity, he kept drugging and raping women even after he knew she was talking to state and federal investigators.Within days ... you gave me ... and the entire judicial system in Louisiana the big middle finger because you thought we werent capable of stopping you, she said. You continued to rape other women in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas.She said she understands that people make mistakes. But it wasnt a mistakke.dddddddddddd A mistake happens once and you never make it again. Rather, she said, it was a way of life for you and your friends.Prosecutors suggested a 9-year prison term for Sharper under a multi-jurisdictional plea deal, but Milazzo rejected it in June as too lenient. The sentence she imposed, 18 years and four months imprisonment, was 15 months short of the maximum. Sharper also was fined $20,000.Sharper is getting the same sentence on each of three counts of distributing drugs with rape as the aim, but they will run concurrently with each other and with state sentences, the judge said. She said he will be on three years supervised release after he gets out of prison, including sex treatment conditions and registration as a sex offender.Sharpers family left the courtroom without speaking to reporters. Gibbens said later that the federal sentence wont affect plea agreements in the four state courts.Sharper or his friend Brandon Licciardi, a former sheriffs deputy in neighboring St. Bernard Parish, put anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives into womens drinks so they could rape them, according to a 15-page statement signed as part of Sharpers plea agreement.Milazzo has scheduled sentencing Oct. 13 for Licciardi and a second New Orleans codefendant, Erik Nunez.Outside the courtroom, McMahon quietly asked the woman, Are you ready to do this in October? She nodded.Charges around the country involve nine victims, but Milazzo has said in court that there could be as many as 16.She said Thursday that she will, as Gibbens requested, recommend a prison either in Petersburg, Virginia, or Butner, North Carolina, so he can be near his family in Richmond, VirginiaLike Sharper, Licciardi and Nunez admitted distributing drugs with the intent to commit rape. Their federal plea agreements say Licciardi has accepted a 17-year sentence, with 10 years for Nunez.Sharper was named All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times during a career that included stints with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Packers as a rookie and one with New Orleans Saints when they won in 2010.He ended a 14-year career in 2011. He was working as an NFL network analyst when women began telling police in several cities similar stories of blacking out while drinking with him and waking up groggy to find they had been sexually abused. ' ' '