appearance in the seventh. He became the 32nd play...
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appearance in the seventh. He became the 32nd player to make his Cubs debut this seas
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2015/01/21 08:56PM
Latest post: 2015/01/21 08:56PM, Views: 271, Posts: 1
Latest post: 2015/01/21 08:56PM, Views: 271, Posts: 1
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Once again, the Texas Rangers look perfectly comfortable under the roof at Tropicana Field. Colby Lewis outpitched all-star David Price, Mike Napoli hit a go-ahead homer and the defending AL champions survived a shaky effort from the bullpen to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Monday in Game 3 of their best-of-five playoff. The Rangers fourth straight division series road win matched the third-longest streak in major league history and gave them a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4. Texas won three ALDS games at Tampa Bay a year ago, when it eliminated the Rays in five games. The Rangers will send left-hander Matt Harrison to the mound Tuesday against rookie Jeremy Hellickson. "We dont take these guys lightly because theyve got momentum, theyve got a lot of heart," Rangers CEO and president Nolan Ryan said. "That concerns you a lot, and so we know weve got our hands full with them." Playing in front of the first sellout at home since opening day and hoping to recapture the magic of clinching the AL wild card in the regular-season fianle, Tampa Bay got a pair of solo home runs from rookie Desmond Jennings. The Rays kept it interesting by scoring twice off Rangers relievers before Neftali Feliz got four outs for his second save of the series. Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre, playing deep and guarding the line to prevent a double in the ninth, started an around-the-horn double play on Kelly Shoppachs grounder to end it. "It was three of the toughest innings that we experienced all year. ... I am just so happy we were able to get the 27th out," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of the late-game drama. Lately, opponents have found that difficult to do against Tampa Bay. "Believe me, this thing is not over," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "You have seen what we have done over the past month." The Rays made up a nine-game deficit on Boston in the wild-card standings after Sept. 3 and claimed their third post-season berth in four years by overcoming a seven-run deficit to beat the Yankees and edge the Red Sox for the playoff spot on Evan Longorias dramatic homer last Wednesday in the 12th inning. And just as Tampa Bay rallied to stay in the game Monday night, Maddon expects his team to bounce back again in Game 4. "Well get back out there ... win that game, take it back to Texas," Maddon added. "I talked in the beginning of the season of doing it in another way. Were set up for it." Price was the losing pitcher in two of Tampa Bays playoff losses in 2010 and welcomed the opportunity to try to redeem himself against the only AL opponent hes yet to beat in his career. The left-hander shrugged off a poor outing in his last regular-season start to take a 1-0 lead into the seventh, thanks to Jennings fourth-inning homer off Lewis. Beltre singled leading off the seventh against Price and took second a wild pitch. The crowd of 32,828 fell silent when Napoli lifted a 2-2 pitch into the seats in left-centre for a 2-1 advantage. Josh Hamilton extended the lead with a two-run single off reliever J.P. Howell. "Napoli has just been -- this is the year of the Napoli, man," Maddon said. "He is just hot. And he got a pitch." Napoli also had a second-inning single, stole a base and threw out Tampa Bays B.J. Upton trying to steal second base in the eighth inning. "I like hitting here. I feel comfortable hitting here," said Napoli, who hit .320 with 30 homers and 75 RBIs in 113 games for the Rangers after being acquired from Toronto in an off-season trade. He was 9 for 20 with three homers and seven RBIs on the road against the Rays. As good as Price was early, Lewis was better in limiting the Rays to one hit over six innings. Jennings first homer was the only hit off the right-hander, who had worked 16 consecutive scoreless innings against the Rays up to that point -- a stretch that began with a five-inning stint in last years ALDS. He followed that with an eight-inning performance to beat Price and the Rays on June 1. But the Rangers bullpen nearly let a three-run lead slip away. Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman singled to load the bases against reliever Darren Oliver in the seventh. Damon scored when pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez grounded out, and the Rangers escaped further damage when the second pitcher of the inning, Alexi Ogando, induced pinch-hitter Sam Fuld to hit a roller to second base. The Rays werent finished. Jennings led off eighth with his second homer, trimming Texas lead to 4-3. Mike Adams walked Upton, who was caught stealing, and then walked Longoria and Matt Joyce to get himself into trouble again. The Rangers wiggled off the hook when Michael Gonzales struck out Damon and Feliz came on to fan Zobrist with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. The Texas closer got Zobrist on a check-swing on an 82 mph curve, one pitch after the Rays hitter fouled off a 100 mph fastball. "That was one intense ballgame," Washington said. "And we needed everything that we got from everyone today." Price lost at home to Cliff Lee and the Rangers twice in last years ALDS and was coming off a disappointing outing against the Yankees in which he allowed six runs in four innings of a game that the Rays needed to win to ensure they stayed alive for the wild-card berth on the final night. Although Tampa Bay rallied to grab the playoff spot, it didnt discourage questions about whether the Rays could count on him in a big game. The 26-year-old lefty was 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA in eight career starts against Texas before Monday, yet insisted he didnt lack confidence to get the job done in Game 3. The Rangers had chances against him early, stranding runners in scoring position in the first, second and sixth innings. Michael Young lined to first baseman Kotchman, who made a diving catch to end the first. Nelson Cruz and Mitch Moreland grounded out after Napoli singled and stole second base in the second. Price escaped the sixth by retiring Hamilton and Young on groundballs. With Lewis pitching, Maddon tinkered with the bottom of his batting order, stacking six consecutive left-handers behind righty-hitting Jennings, Upton and Longoria, who went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts against the Rangers starter -- once with Upton in scoring position after walking and stealing second in the fourth. "The playoffs are not supposed to be easy. Well be ready tomorrow and keep plugging," Damon said. "Were used to having our backs against the wall. Well definitely be ready." NOTES: Only two teams have won more than four consecutive LDS road games. The Atlanta Braves won eight straight from 1995-99. The Yankees won five in a row from 2003-05. ... Lewis allowed an AL-leading 38 home runs during the regular season. The Rays have outhomered the Rangers 7-2 in the first three games of the series. ... Hamilton and Young combined to go 0 for 6 against Price and are 5 for 45 against the Rays pitcher in their careers. ... The family of pro football Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end died on Sept. 4. wholesale nfl jerseys . Confusion set in when the British driver felt a searing pain before he ever reached it. Tristan Vautier, unable to see through the smoke of Wilsons spinning car, had driven directly into the side of Wilsons car. cheap jerseys from china . The matchup between the top two rushers in the NFL didnt disappoint. The difference was Seattles rookie QB. Lynch ran for 124 yards and a touchdown, Wilson threw three first-half touchdown passes, and the Seahawks overcame 182 yards by Peterson in a 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday that could hold greater importance later in the season. http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.co... . The Vancouver Canucks made themselves better this year by improving their defence and adding depth on their third line. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.com/]cheap jerseys . -- The Anaheim Ducks have activated defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky from injured reserve after a month-long absence with a broken finger. jerseys from china . Tyler Bozak scored the winning goal early in the third period Saturday as Toronto kept its faint playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.CHICAGO -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke finally saw what made Johnny Hellweg successful in the minors. Hellweg (1-3) pitched six innings for his first career major league victory and Logan Schafer hit a three-run triple to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 on Saturday. He allowed three runs on four hits. He struck out one and pitched around three walks to earn his first victory after flourishing in the minors. "That was good to see," Roenicke said. "He came out of the first inning still a little different. But as innings went on stuff got better, location got better, I thought he pitched more with his changeup and his breaking ball. Hopefully this is the guy were going to see." Brewers relievers Rob Wooten and Brandon Kintzler each pitched a scoreless inning then Jim Henderson pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save in 27 opportunities. Hellweg was the Pacific Coast Leagues pitcher of the year after going 12-5 with a 3.15 ERA in 23 starts at Triple-A Nashville. The 24 year-old made his major league debut on June 28 in Pittsburgh. The 6-foot-9 right-hander was knocked out after giving up seven runs -- five earned -- and six hits while walking two in 1 2-3 innings of a 10-3 loss. He was also roughed up in a relief appearance and another two starts before being sent back to the minors. "It feels awesome," Hellweg said. "It feels good to contribute to the team up here. I am going to embrace it a little bit. I am not going to put it behind me yet, it feels good to go out there and put up six innings and give a chance for our team to win." The Cubs got solo shots from Luis Valbuena and Brian Bogusevic who fell to 16 games under .500 at Wrigley Field. With the loss, the Cubs dropped behind the Brewers for last place in the NL Central. Cubs starter Jake Arrieta (2-2) pitched five innings and allowed four runs on three hits. He also gave up three walks and hit one batter. The 27 year-old right-hander was done in by a four-run fourth inning. Arrieta, who is trying to compete for a spot on the 2014 roster, gave up all three hits in the fourth. After Starlin Castro committed his 18th error at shortstop in the ninth, Milwaukee got an insurance run on Jonathan Lucroys RBI triple. Trailing 2--0 in the fourth, Scooter Gennett drove in a run on a single and Schafer cleared the bases with a triple to right-centre to put Milwaukee ahead 4-2.dddddddddddd "First and foremost, I got a little too fine with those couple of walks and I got myself into a situation when Schafer came up," said Arrieta. "(I) just left a sinker right in the middle of the plate and he didnt try and do too much there, he just shot the ball in the gap in the right spot to clear the bases. Schafer came into the game 3-for-23 against the Cubs this season. "Well, Schafer is off and on. He comes through with some big hits, I dont want to say much hes been struggling for us, but he has been getting some big hits for us," said Roenicke. Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Arrieta needs to work on putting away opposing batters when he gets ahead of the count. "Its obviously something were trying to get a grip on, its been a problem, couple good pitches and get two strikes on guys and not being able to make a pitch to put somebody out," said Sveum. Valbuena hit a two-run homer into the right-field basket in the second inning. It was his 10th of the season and first home run since July 20th. Bogusevic added a solo homer off Hellweg in the sixth to cut the Brewers lead to 4-3. It was his fourth of the season. NOTES: Cubs manager Dale Sveum said 2B Darwin Barney deserves to repeat as a Gold Glove winner. Barney had four errors and a .993 fielding percentage entering Saturday. "He hasnt done anything for anybody to take it away from him," Sveum said. "Hes had a heck of a year defensively again." ... RHP Scott Baker (Tommy John surgery) will not be limited in his first outing since Sept. 24, 2011 on Sunday against the Brewers, but he likely wont throw more than 100 pitches, Sveum said. ... Brewers CF Carlos Gomez was out of the starting lineup, but came in as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and stayed in the game. Gomez has been slowed with a sore knee. ... Despite both teams competing to stay out of the cellar in the NL Central, the announced crowd was 34, 929. ... Cubs RHP Chang-Yong Lim made his major league debut in a relief appearance in the seventh. He became the 32nd player to make his Cubs debut this season, a franchise record. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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