stly hit batter by the Indians. "In the sixth, seventh and eighth, we walked the leadoff hitter every inning," Francona said. "We just put ourselves in a tou

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Its one thing to say youre going to win an Olympic medal or two. Its another to plan out every step in minute detail -- on laminated flash cards, even -- the way Tianna Bartoletta does.The 30-year-old American is one of those rare throwbacks -- trying for sprint medals in the 100 and the relay, while also focusing on her day job, the long jump, where shes the defending world champion.It makes her busier than your average Olympian, and shes got the perfect system to handle it all. Printed on cards , in near minute-by-minute detail, are her daily routines for pretty much everything -- practice days, long jump days, sprint days, transportation, meals, packing her suitcase, and so on.We have laminated cards to give to the cab drivers, said Bartolettas husband, John, who doubles as her team manager. We treat it like a business. That way, it takes everything off her mind and allows her to run free. When shes on the line, theres nothing else shed even need to think about.There are legendary Olympic stories about missing bibs, late buses and other attention-diverting mishaps that come on the athletes biggest days. Shouldnt happen in this case.That sort of organization helps explain how Bartoletta put together a second act in track and field. Her world title in long jump last year came a full decade after she won the championship the first time, back in 2005 when she went by her maiden name, Tianna Madison.She described herself as on the verge of quitting during her lowest points but I was still competing just to make money for tuition, because I planned to go to school.I felt I didnt have it anymore, she said. I felt it was embarrassing to once be the world champion and not be able to jump 21 feet anymore. It was my time to go on and move onto other things.Right around her lowest point, she met her future husband, a hedge-fund trader in Florida who took a lot of what he learned in the financial world and brought it over to the track.She wasnt training, was overweight, having some struggles, John Bartoletta said. I told her, `I would never tell you what to do, but Ill give you some options. It didnt happen at the kitchen table. It was a deep, intellectual discussion of her options.It meant recommitting herself to a new training regimen, better diet, better planning. John Bartoletta did more than talk the talk; he designed an improved training program for himself, as well: If shes (going to do it), then Im not eating a piece of pizza in front of her, he said. In fact, Im going to train myself like an Olympic athlete ... because if shes doing it, Im going to do it.The truest test of their planning came at Olympic trials, where Bartoletta was trying to qualify for the 100 and long jump -- events that were literally going on at the same time. She had to take her first jump, then get to the starting line for the 100-meter heats, then back again.The plan wasnt to win, the plan was to make the team by earning a top-three spot in each event, she said. We executed it beautifully.Given the stress of that day, the Olympics will feel like a breeze in some ways.The womens 100 final is set for Saturday. The long jump starts next Tuesday. While the womens 100 -- featuring Americans Tori Bowie and English Gardner and two-time defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce -- is considered possibly the most competitive event on the program, Bartoletta will be among the favorites in the long jump. Shell also be in the mix in the 4x100 relay -- an event where she already has a gold medal, courtesy of her role as the lead-off runner in the world-record trip around the track (40.82 seconds) in London four years ago.Something magical could happen in Rio, her husband said. If we get her to the track and she makes the semifinals and performs there, the rest of the week will light up. Shell do very, very well.All part of the plan. Wholesale Yeezy Shoes . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Cheap Yeezys Real . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. http://www.wholesaleyeezy.com/ . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Discount Yeezy Shop . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Wholesale Yeezy Boost . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez was a bit miffed when he showed up to the park on Thursday. The Kansas City Royals big, affable catcher had worked nine innings the previous night in a game that was delayed nearly three hours by rain and a lighting outage, so manager Ned Yost thought he would give Perez the afternoon off from behind the plate against the Cleveland Indians. "There was no way he was going to play him today," Yost explained later, "but I told him to be ready, because you could have an impact on this game." That proved to be quite the prediction. Perez entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and delivered a bases-loaded double, sending the Royals to a 10-7 victory over the Indians on a sun-splashed afternoon. "I just felt a little sad coming into the clubhouse and seeing the lineup," Perez said, "but I just had to be ready for the sixth inning, the seventh inning, whatever the case." Lorenzo Cain hit his first career grand slam and George Kottaras followed with a solo shot in the sixth inning for the Royals, allowing them to rally from an early 5-0 deficit. The Indians regained the lead on Carlos Santanas two-run double in the seventh, but the Royals answered again in the bottom half when Eric Hosmer cracked a two-run homer. Indians reliever Bryan Shaw (0-2) walked Kottaras to lead off the eighth and then hit Johnny Giavotella. Shaw was lifted for Rich Hill, who promptly walked Jarrod Dyson to load the bases. "We knew Perez was sitting over there ready to hit," Indians manager Terry Francona said. He came through with the biggest hit of the day. "We didnt get the job done the last two nights," said Indians reliever Joe Smith, who served up Hosmers homer. "It leaves a sour taste in your mouth." Luke Hochevar (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth inning for the Royals, and Greg Holland worked around a single in the ninth for his second straight save and his 19th on the season. The Royals scored at least 10 runs for only the fourth time this year -- despite only six hits -- by taking advantage of eight walks and a costly hit batter by the Indians. "In the sixth, seventh and eighth, we walked the leadoff hitter every inning," Francona said. "We just put ourselves in a tough position even though we scored seven runs." Drew Stubbs homered and drove in four runs, and Michael Brantley had four hits and also drove in a run for Cleveland, which had won five straight and pulled into first place in the wide open AL Central before losing its last two games to the Royals in wild fashion. Hosmers go-ahead shot in the seventh on Weednesday night gave Kansas City a 6-5 victory.dddddddddddd "The character of this offence is were not quitting," Hosmer said. "We told ourselves before, if were going to make a run at this, these are big games to make up ground, facing the teams ahead of you in the division. We didnt want to let this opportunity slip away." Things looked good for the Indians at the start on Thursday. They took a quick lead on Brantleys single in the first and then Stubbs made it 3-0 with his homer in the second. James Shields put the Indians leadoff batter on base for the fourth time before Santana singled in the sixth. Aviles added a one-out single and Lonnie Chisenhall walked to load the bases for Stubbs, who delivered a two-run single that made it 5-0 and knocked Shields from the game. The prize acquisition in a blockbuster trade with Tampa Bay, Shields went 29 consecutive starts of at least six innings before lasting five against the White Sox on June 23. His early ouster on Thursday made it fewer than six in two of his last three starts. Ubaldo Jimenez had allowed just two hits and kept the Royals in check until the sixth inning, when he led it off by walking his fourth and fifth batters of the game. An error on Jimenez while trying to cover first loaded the bases with nobody out. Cain came to the plate and hit a 3-2 pitch to centre for his first career grand slam, and the second of the series by the Royals. Alex Gordon hit one in Tuesday nights opener. Kottaras, getting the start at catcher for Perez, added his tying shot to right moments later. It was only his third of the season but the second time Kottaras has been involved in back-to-back home runs: He did it with Dyson on June 23 against the White Sox. Jason Kipnis, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 15 games, drew a leadoff walk and Brantley singled off Gutierrez in the seventh before Santanas double made it 7-5. Hosmer matched both runs in the bottom half with his seventh homer in his last 12 games. Thats how the game remained until Perez cleared the bases with his double in the eighth, the three RBI boosting the Royals to their seventh straight win in a game Shields has started. "Weve been doing a good job of coming back all year. Were real resilient," Shields said. "Im proud of these guys. Hopefully we can get a little string of wins together." NOTES: The Royals (24-19) began the day with the ALs second-best winning percentage on July 4. The Indians (88-73) had the fifth-best percentage. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis will start Friday against Oakland. Indians RHP Justin Masterson will take the mound against Detroit. ' ' '