Kansas Jayhawks centre Joel Embiids return from a spinal injury has been delayed. The freshman has been declared unavilable for this weeks Big 12 conference tournament and will likely be out for at least the first weekend of the NCAA tournament after meeting with a spinal specialist on Monday in Los Angeles. "Based on that, this weekend (in the Big 12 Championship) is out," said Kansas coach Bill Self. "Next weekend, we feel like is a longshot, but the doctors are hopeful that if Joel works hard in rehab and progresses that it is possible that he could play in the later rounds of the NCAA Tournament if our team is fortunate enough to advance." A native of Cameroon, Embiid was named the 2014 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. "Were all very disappointed for Joel," Self said. "Hes worked so hard and improved so much. Hes been one of the most improved players in the country in such a short amount of time. The most important thing is for Joel to get healthy. We were hopeful, Joel was hopeful, the doctors were hopeful that his body would respond more rapidly to rehab and that has not been the case." The 19-year-old seven-footer set the Kansas freshman record for blocked shots with 72 and he leads the team in rebounds with 8.1 per game. "Everyone is 100 per cent confident that Joel will heal and be back to normal soon, but the most important thing is that he gets well," Self said. "Were certainly not going to put him out there unless the doctors, his family and Joel are ready for him to go. I know how bad he wants it, and that he will work his butt off to put him in a position where if our team is successful and fortunate enough to advance, he could return in later rounds." The Jayhawks, the top seed in the Big 12 tournament, will first see action on Thursday when they play the winner of Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Competitors for this months NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday. Fake NHL Jerseys . The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when - after nearly two years - federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges. Custom NHL Jerseys . The Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night, their seventh defeat in 10 games. Rasmus was put on the 15-day DL on May 15 because of a sore right hamstring. Hes hitting .222 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . - Henrik Samuelsson and Curtis Lazar each had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings secured top spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating the host Red Deer Rebels 7-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. NHL Jerseys China . Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Despite being only two games above .500 and facing a 6.5-game deficit against first-place Detroit, the Kansas City Royals believe they have their rivals right where they want them. Judging by recent history, maybe they do. A five-run seventh inning keyed by Omar Infantes two-run single and an RBI double from Eric Hosmer enabled the Royals to avoid a demoralizing four-game sweep against the Tigers on Sunday. It also brought to mind the league-best 33-20 mark they logged last season after stumbling into the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak. "Were eight games better than we were at this time last year," manager Ned Yost said. "And were a second-half team. Weve always been a second-half team." Exactly why they seem to play better after the break, no one seems to know. "Im not sure," designated hitter Billy Butler said. "The seasons long, It wears on guys as they get older. Were young. And sometimes I think as guys get older ... I dont know." But he does know last years second-half surge makes this years challenge seem less daunting. "Were just better the second half. Its our track record and were starting to count on it." Four of the seventh-inning runs were charged to Justin Verlander (8-8), who started the inning with a two-hit shutout but loaded the bases on three straight singles. "Things were going well for us and we ran into the seventh," said Verlander, who lost for just the fifth time in 15 decisions in Kauffman Stadium. "A couple of balls fell in the right spots and Im out of the ballgame. They were able to find some spots." Since June 18 when K.C. beat the Tigers for their 10th straight win and went a season-best seven games over .500, the Royals have gone 9-14 while the Tigers went 17-6. Verlanderr gave up six hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked one.dddddddddddd Yordano Ventura (7-7) pitched 1 2/3 innings in his first career relief appearance and got the win. He allowed one hit and struck out three for the Royals, who beat the Tigers for only the first time in seven tries this year at home. Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 26 opportunities. After Raul Ibanez loaded the bases in the seventh with a single that snapped a 0-for-25 skid, Alcides Escobar brought in a run with a slow-rolling infield single that second baseman Ian Kinsler failed to pick up cleanly. A second run then scored on Jarrod Dysons fielders choice. Ian Krol replaced Verlander and after intentionally walking pinch hitter Salvador Perez, gave up a two-run single to Omar Infante that made it 4-2. "I waited for that pitch and made good contact," Infante said. Hosmers double stretched his career-best hitting streak to 13 games. Rajai Davis and Austin Jackson opened the third with back-to-back singles and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead on Miguel Cabreras sacrifice fly and a two-out bloop single by J.D. Martinez, which fell in between shortstop Escobar and left fielder Ibanez as Jackson came around from first. NOTES: Jackson proved a perfect leadoff hitter in this series, starting all four games with a base hit, three singles and a double. ... Martinez made two nifty running catches in the right-field corner. Martinez was also 3 for 4. ... These were the only home games for the Royals during a 19-game stretch that began on June 30 and runs through July 23. ... The Royals, Dodgers, Yankees and Mariners are the only major league teams with losing records at home and winning marks on the road. ... All nine of Detroits hits were singles. ' ' '