SEATTLE -- When Seattles Justin Smoak hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning Tuesday night, the Kansas City Royals chances for a win and perhaps a post-season appearance were in big trouble. Smoak hit an 0-2 fastball from Bruce Chen (8-4) for his career-matching 19th home run and the Mariners went on to a 4-0 victory, creating a bleak playoff picture for the Royals. Time is running out -- just five games remaining -- much distance needs to be covered and two teams need to be hurdled. The Royals three competitors for the two AL wild-card spots -- Tampa Bay, Texas and Cleveland -- all won Tuesday. The Royals, down four games in the loss column to Cleveland, need to win every game and hope that both the Indians and the Rangers completely collapse. "We just go till they say we cant win it," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "We go as hard as we can. Keep playing our best guys and staying after it." Mariners rookie left-hander James Paxton (3-0), making just his fourth major league start, worked a career-high seven innings, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out a career-high 10. "He looked real good. Big, tall kid, straight over the top, straight downhill action on all his pitches," Yost said. "Good fastball, I mean, over-powering fastball at times, got it up to 97, lot of life on it. But downhill pitches are tough to hit, especially fastballs. Good breaking stuff, good changeup, good curveball." Paxton said it didnt matter to him that the Royals had everything on the line. "I wasnt really paying attention to that. I was just focusing on executing pitches, one pitch at a time," he said. "It could be just the electricity. Being out there it just kind of raises your intensity up that much more. I think it helps me to get lock in." It was the 13th shutout for the Mariners and the ninth time the Royals have been shut out. Seattle touched Bruce Chen (8-4) for a run in the first when Brad Miller reached on an infield single followed by Abraham Almontes single to centre. Almonte has reached base in all his 18 games to start his career, 16 with a hit. With one out, Kendrys Morales singled to left, driving in Miller. Chen worked five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. He walked three and struck out five. The Royals could not respond against Paxton. They put together two singles in the first inning but a double play eased him out of trouble. He didnt allow more than one baserunner in any inning after that and at one point he retired 12 straight. "That guy has a good fastball, slider, change," Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar said. "He got a lot of balls down, run in on the black. Great job for him today. Hes sneaky." The Mariners blew the game open in the fifth with three runs -- all with two outs. Morales, who had three hits, doubled to deep centre. Franklin Gutierrez walked and Smoak hit a 0-2 fastball over the wall in left field. "I tried to go up with the fastball and he made good contact," Chen said. "I was ahead in the count. I did not pitch right down the middle. It wasnt a strike. I tried to go up the ladder and he would chase it and keep my team in the ball game. (But) he got it. "I was just trying to do everything I could to help this team win. At that point it was a 1-0 game. That Paxton did a real good job. It unfortunate because today was a really big game for us." Smoak has 19 home runs but it was just his second right-handed. The other was Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels. "I hit it. I dont know if I looked straight into the lights or whatever but I didnt know where it went," Smoak said. "To be able to barrel one up, knowing the work Ive put in the last couple weeks, it is starting to show." The Royals play one more game with Seattle on Wednesday night, then close the season at the Chicago White Sox. "Were not quitting. Were not giving up," Chen said. "As long as we got a chance were going to give it everything we can. Today was big game for us unfortunately. But thats not going to stop us tomorrow." NOTES: Mariners LHP Danny Hultzen, the second player taken in the 2011 draft, has a problem with his left shoulder and will see Dr. James Andrews on Monday. "Ed (team doctor Ed Khalfayan) saw him and, quite frankly, doesnt like what he sees," GM Jack Zduriencik said. "He saw some damage that he was unhappy with. Its in the shoulder but not in the rotator cuff, more tendon area, labrum." . The club confirmed Zduriencik will return in 2014. . The Royals need one more win to match their win total from 1993 (84-78). ... Royals 1B Eric Hosmer had two hits, his ninth multi-hit game in September. He leads the AL with 59. PJ Tucker Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Eric Bledsoe Jersey .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. http://www.sunsofficialshop.us/grant-hill-suns-jersey/ . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Charles Barkley Suns Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. Kevin Johnson Jersey . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars.The half-time hooter sounds this week on the first phase of the Super League season and I thought it was a good time to look at the standout performers so far. It is not easy to recall all of the action from the 66 games we have had so far, so I have chosen to look at the Opta scoring system as a guide. I will begin by saying that it is not perfect, but I would be interested to meet anyone in the world who has a better way of objectively measuring the performance of the players in our top league.The people at Opta watch every match and record every action, good and bad. They award points to each player for the positive things he does and take then off him for any obvious mistakes or errors. They then add a weighing to this dependent on the time in the game, the position on the pitch and the score at the time. Scoring a 50-metre try under the post in the 50th minute when your team are already 50 points in front does not earn you as many points as it would if you were five points behind with 50 seconds remaining. He is fit, fast and a tough competitor. More than anything else, he knows how to play, and would be my tip for Man of Steel at this stage. Phil Clarke on Wigans John Bateman The scoring system does not have any favourites or bias and is done the same for every game. So unlike the voting system for the Man of Steel, it is consistent and happens after every match.So, which players rank the highest at the half-way point? Some of the names might surprise you, you may disagree with it, but this is the team of the year so far according to Optas scoring.Full-back: Zak HardakerThe Rhinos have clearly struggled in 2016 and their full-back has not played as well as he did 12 months ago, but he is still up there as one of the best players in the competition. Despite not firing like he did in 2015, Zak Hardaker is still the best-performing full-back His three closest contenders are Tony Gigot from the Dragons, Matt Russell at Warrington and Dan Sarginson for the Warriors.Wingers: Denny Solomona and Dom ManfrediNot only is the Tigers left winger one of my favourite players, he is also one of the most improved players competition.On the other wing is a man who is perhaps the most enthusiastic player when it comes to returning kicks from his corner of the field. Denny Solomona is one of the most improved players in Super League Matt Russell is probably the only player who is more difficult to stop and put down than the lad from Leigh who plays for the Cherry and Whites.Ranking just behind these two with a slightly lower average game score are Jermaine McGillvary at the Giants, Corey Thompson at Widnes and a possible contender for Young Player of the Year, Tom Johnstone from the Wildcats.Centres: Leroy Cudjoe and Anthony GellingIt may come as a big surprise to many that the player with the highest game score after Round 11 is the Giants right centre. He has played in every minute of every match and been better this year than in 2015, according to the stats. I cannot wait to see him play against Wigan on Thursday night, especially if he is opposite Anthony Gelling. In spite of the Giants Super League standing, Leroy Cudjoe has been a top performer The next three players to rank below were Kallum Watkins, Josh Griffin at Salford - who has played both centre and wing this season - and Kirk Yeaman at Hull.Stand-off: Danny BroughSome might question how he has made it into this team when his side are at the bottom of the table. Well, his runs, passes, tackles and kicks have earned him more points than any other stand-off. Huddersfields Danny Brough has led his side well during a tough period Surprisingly Kurt Gidley ranks second and Kevin Brown sits just below.Scrum-half: Joe MellorAt 25 years of age, the Vikings No 7 is peaking. He has not missed a SSuper League game for over a year and is one of the main reasons why Widnes sit in fifth spot.ddddddddddddThe second highest ranked scrum-half is Richard Myler. His move to France seems to have helped him kick-on with his career, and he looked fantastic last week at St Helens. Joe Mellor has helped propel the Vikings in to fifth spot in the standings Luke Gale never fails to impress me and demonstrates a level of intelligence and understanding that is greater than most players in the sport.The fourth ranked player will surprise most people, but perhaps not Chris Chester. Liam Finn does not have the speed of his rivals but has set up lots of tries for the Wildcats and made many kicks which have helped his team to win almost half of their games. Props: Chris Hill and Adam CuthbertsonThe job description for most front rowers is quite straightforward but these two add a level of subtlety that sets them apart - the Wolves front rower is certain to be a candidate for Man of Steel.Adam Cuthbertson has tried as hard this year as last but it makes a huge difference when youre not on the winning side. He has not caught the eye as much as he is more closely monitored by his opponents but he is still the stand-out front rower in the Opta ranking. Leeds Rhinos Adam Cuthbertson has maintained his good form in 2016 Four other big men who have done well in the first half of Super League XXI are Craig Kopczak of Salford, Castlefords Andy Lynch, Adam Walker of Hull KR and Kyle Amor from St Helens.Hooker: James RobySome teams ask their hooker to do different things and as a result may not spend as long on the field or make as many runs and metres, which will obviously affect their ranking. However, if we consider them all to have the same time to attack and defend then it gives us a level field from which to compare them. Without James Roby, St Helens would have really struggled James Roby - It is perhaps as well that the Saints No 9 has not been one of their injured players in 2016, as they would have struggled without him.Just behind him sit Daryl Clark from Warrington, who has looked great for most of the season and has an incredible strength that allows him to push defenders away. Danny Houghton is Mr Consistency at Hull and deserves to be in a top four team. Will this be the year?In the absence of Paul Aiton, Eloi Pellisier has been given greater time and looked great in most of it.Second Row: John Bateman and Glenn StewartWigan used ex-Bulls back rower Bateman as a centre last week and he could almost get selected in any position - he is that good. He is fit, fast and a tough competitor. More than anything else, he knows how to play, and would be my tip for Man of Steel at this stage. Glenn Stewart has been part of a resurgent Catalans Dragons outfit in 2016 Glenn Stewart might just be the most important player Catalans have ever recruited. They have had loads of attacking player, but none who seem as determined to defend as he does.The next three players were Liam Farrell, Ben Currie and Brett Ferres.Loose forward: Jamie Jones-BuchananThe veteran Rhino has missed four of their matches, but performed well in the others. Jamie Jones-Buchanan scored a crucial try against Hull FC last week His three closest competitors are Michael Lawrence at Huddersfield, Ukuma Taai also from the Giants and Atelex Vea in the six games he has played for the Saints.Do you agree with Phil Clarkes views? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below if viewing on skysports.com. Alternatively you can tweet us @SkySportsR Also See: WATCH: Super League top 10 WATCH: Best of Boots N All St Helens v Leeds: Key battles Sky Live: Wigan v Huddersfield Cheap Jerseys ' ' '