The Kansas City Royals gave themselves a chance at earning a split of the four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays with a come-from-behind triumph on Sunday, bouncing back after a disappointing setback in Saturday's contest. The Royals will try to finish off the road trip strong when they visit the Blue Jays in Monday's finale.

The Chicago Cubs can't seem to pull away from the pack in the National League Central and enter the final week before the All-Star break tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot. The inability to gain any ground is allowing the rest of the division to stay in the race, and the Pittsburgh Pirates will try to knock a game off their deficit when they host the Cubs in the opener of a four-game series on Monday.

The Tampa Bay Rays owned a one-half game advantage in the American League East after winning six of their first 10 games in June, but the inability to win consecutive games for nearly three weeks has them staring at a seven-game deficit in the division. The Rays were able to string back-to-back victories together for the first time since June 9-10 over the weekend and look to make it three in a row on Monday when they host the opener of a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Cincinnati Reds used the weekend to end the Chicago Cubs' tenuous 1 1/2-week grasp of sole possession of first place in the National League Central. Beginning Monday, they will spend the early part of the upcoming week doing their part to make the division race a veritable free-for-all when they host the opener of a four-game set against the co-Central leading Milwaukee Brewers.

The Texas Rangers look to rebound after losing their first series since May 24-26 when they host the American League West-rival Los Angeles Angels for the first of four games Monday night. The Rangers were 6-0-3 in nine series since dropping two of three at the Angels late in May and won the first game at Tampa Bay on Friday, but managed nine hits combined in the final two contests after the 6-2 setback Sunday.

The San Diego Padres saw a four-game winning streak vanish with a difficult loss Sunday. They'll hope for a quick rebound behind another of their promising young pitchers when they begin a three-game series with the visiting San Francisco Giants on Monday.