DETROIT -- Michael Fulmer is one of the biggest reasons the Detroit Tigers are still in the mix for a postseason spot.At the start of the teams final homestand, the rookie right-hander came through with his sharpest performance in weeks.Fulmer pitched seven strong innings for his first win in over a month and the Detroit Tigers homered three times in an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. Justin Upton, Victor Martinez and Cameron Maybin went deep for the Tigers, who won their fifth game in a row to remain in the lead in the race for the ALs second wild card.Detroit remained a half-game ahead of Baltimore, which beat Arizona in 12 innings.I think theres a little bit of a sense of urgency now, Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said. This is our last homestand. This is the last chance at home to try and do something in the standings, and were playing against two teams ... in Kansas City and Cleveland, we know very well. Maybe I was the only one that felt it, but I felt there was more energy.Fulmer (11-7) allowed a run and eight hits, striking out nine with no walks. It was the first victory since Aug. 14 for Fulmer, who emerged around midseason as a Rookie of the Year candidate but is now having to fight off a torrid challenge from Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees.Danny Duffy (12-3) allowed six runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out four.The Tigers jumped ahead right away against Duffy. The Royals made two errors in the first inning, and Uptons RBI double made it 2-0.Martinez and Upton each hit solo shots in the third, and Maybins two-run homer in the fourth made it 6-0.Upton has 27 homers on the season, including 14 in his last 29 games.Kansas City has lost nine of its last 12.DISPUTED CHALLENGEKansas Citys only run off Fulmer came after replay overturned the second out of an apparent double play, which would have ended the top of the sixth. Ausmus complained to the umpires, saying the Royals had waited too long before challenging.I said I wanted to protest, which, even going into it, when I said it, I knew instant replay wasnt protestable, Ausmus said.After the review revived the rally, Paulo Orlando hit an RBI single.ON THE BORDERLINEFulmer is the ALs ERA leader at 2.95 -- his 155 2/3 innings are enough to qualify at this point. Hell need to throw 6 1/3 more to qualify for the title at the end of the season.The Tigers have taken steps to limit his workload, and this latest start was a positive sign.I still feel good, so I guess its working, Fulmer said. Hopefully Im able to still pitch beyond the regular season. Thats our goal as a team.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Kansas City C Salvador Perez sat out with what manager Ned Yost described as a very minor knee issue.Tigers: 2B Ian Kinsler returned to the lineup from a concussion after missing three games. He had a single, a double, two walks and three runs. ... SS Jose Iglesias left in the top of the seventh with a bruised right hand. X-rays were negative.UP NEXTRoyals: Kansas City sends RHP Yordano Ventura (11-11) to the mound for Saturdays game at Detroit. Ventura is coming off a complete game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.Tigers: Detroit starts LHP Daniel Norris (3-2) in the middle game of this series.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtristerCheap China Jerseys .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Cheap NFL Jerseys China .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysforcheap.com/ . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Wholesale Jerseys From China . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Cheap Jerseys USA . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. DENVER -- Von Millers two sack-strips of Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50 were just the start of his torment of Carolinas quarterback.Denvers star linebacker made the NFL MVP the butt of his jokes on SNL and trolled him on Instagram, saying it was all in good fun.On Saturday Night Live six days after he was voted MVP of the Super Bowl, Miller discussed the discovery of gravitational waves first postulated by Albert Einstein a century earlier by declaring: These waves are everywhere in the universe -- just like Im everywhere when Cam Newton closes his eyes.When Newton posted a picture of himself playing water polo with the U.S. national team in April, Miller photo-shopped himself in knocking yet another ball out of the QBs right hand.Although theyre more associates than amigos, Miller said his teasing and tweaking of Newton were actually measures of the respect he has for the man he calls the best player in the league.If I had sons that wanted to play quarterback, I would point them in the direction of Cam Newton and Peyton Manning, Miller said. I think thats where all the poking and fun comes for me is because I really do admire him and really respect him at the end of the day.That reverence is mutual, Newton said.Great player. Ninety-nine on Madden, said Newton, who added that Miller is a great and exceptional talent, one of the great players in this NFL by far.Newton, who faces his nemesis again Thursday night in the 2016 NFL kickoff in Denver, swears he didnt mind Miller rubbing it in after denying him the Lombardi Trophy.No, it doesnt bother me at all, Newton insisted. Hes a great player and with his elite ability, it gives him the right to do that.Newton spent much of his offseason adjusting to becoming a father and working on a Nickelodeon TV show for kids called All In With Cam Newton.But escaping the Super Bowl loss wasnt easy. Miller was everywhere.His cross-country victory lap included four dozen national TV appearances. Manning called it Millers world celebrity tour, a six-month jet-setting junket of television and dance studios, A-list parties and B-roll appearances.Surely, Newton was pained to see all that whimsicality at his expense.No, sir, Newton said matter of factly.Still, like the Super Bowl, its something Newton clearly doesnt want to talk about anymore.Im so focussed on the future as far as leading up to our game on Thursday, I cant even look back or dwell on the past, Newton said.ddddddddddddMiller isnt going down memory lane this week, either.Last year is last year, he said. We really dont talk too much about the Super Bowl. We dont want the success from last year to make us lackadaisical or to have us not prepared, or to come into this game without having our guard up. We know exactly what type of team the Carolina Panthers are.Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in the exalted 2011 draft class, is 0-2 against Miller, the second selection.When they first faced each other in 2012, Miller had a half-dozen tackles and a sack in Denvers 36-14 win at Carolina, where he imitated Newtons Superman celebration after taking him down.In the Super Bowl, Miller had six tackles and 2+ sacks, forced two fumbles and broke up a pass.Newtons 60 minutes of frustration on the field spilled over to his post-game interview when he answered questions with terse, short responses while slumped behind a podium with a hoodie covering most of his face. After three minutes he abruptly got up and walked off, drawing the ire of some other athletes who criticized his antics.Miller was voted the games MVP and quickly embarked on an offseason that transformed him from NFL superstar to mainstream celebrity. He signed the biggest contract ever for a non-quarterback : $114.5 million over six years, including $70 million in guarantees.That came roughly a year after Newton set the standard for franchise QBs with his five-year, $103 million deal, with $60 million guaranteed.Once the schedule came out featuring the Super Bowl participants kicking off the 2016 season, Newton responded to Millers Instagram jab by replying: Thought this was cute Von Miller. Lookin lookin lookin . lookin for revenge. Sept. 8.He included the hashtags All respect to you my killa, and I know you will be ready, we will too.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed from Charlotte, North Carolina. Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '