VAL DISERE, France -- Two-time defending World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher limited his celebrations Saturday after dominating the treacherous Stade Olympique de Bellevarde course to win a giant slalom race. The Austrian produced a superb second run to win his third career giant slalom race and fourth overall at Val dIsere. However, Hirscher was disappointed that Ted Ligety did not finish. The American, seeking his fourth straight win in GS, made an uncharacteristic technical error and was among several racers to ski out and failed to qualify for the second run for the first time in nearly five years. Hirscher would prefer to measure his performance against Ligetys to see where he stands in GS terms. "Its a great victory for sure. But we dont know where we really are right now," Hirscher said. "Was it a really good run from us or is Ted skiing better than the rest of the world right now? Thats the question." It was Hirschers second win of the season after his slalom victory at Levi, Finland, and fourth podium from five races so far. His Val dIsere record is superb, and he will go for his eighth career podium at the French Alpine resort in Sundays slalom. "Im not the heaviest, largest guy in the World Cup. For me its easier to get the speed if its steep," Hirscher said. "I think its the steepest of the World Cup tour. I dont think Ive ever skied really bad here." With little snowfall in the past couple of weeks, the course was even more difficult. "It was definitely the toughest slope preparation Val dIsere has ever done," Hirscher said. "Normally it is a bit colder and the slope is not injected with so much water, so it is a kind of ice skating place." Hirscher was third after the first run, 0.41 seconds behind Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, but finished 0.76 seconds ahead of Thomas Fanara of France and 1.09 clear of Germanys Stefan Luitz. The Bellevarde course lived up to its tough reputation as Ligety, Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal and Bode Miller of the United States failed to finish their first runs. Miller got his skis tangled near the bottom and tumbled over. U.S. mens head coach Sasha Rearick said Miller was unlucky. "Today he got his outside ski caught right at the initiation of the turn in the flat light. Those things can kind of happen," Rearick said. "I was proud of the effort he put in today and the way he approached the hill." Both Miller and Ligety will take part in Sundays slalom. "Looking forward to it," Rearick said. "Get some revenge on Val dIsere." The 24-year-old Hirscher won the same race at Val dIsere last year and also finished third in the slalom. "I have to train pretty early in the morning," he said. "I know exactly what I have to do tomorrow. Im looking forward to it." His winning margin would have been even larger, but he made a slight error halfway down as he veered to the left before managing to straighten his skis. The pressure was on Pinturault to respond and he started well enough, .28 back on first split, but lost speed at the bottom to finish fourth. Ligety won the GS at Soelden, Austria, and Beaver Creek, Colorado but ended up missing a gate turning in from the left side, going down on his hip and out of a first run for the first time since February 2009 at Sestriere, Italy. "Its been a few years. But Ive had a bunch of races where (on) second runs I went out," the 29-year-old Ligety said. "Just a little bit (of) bad luck on my part today." The four-time defending World Cup GS champion does not count the Bellevarde among his favourite courses. "Its always super, super bumpy and miserable to ski so I wasnt surprised by that at all," Ligety said. Svindal, an Olympic bronze medallist in the discipline, lost his balance approaching a gate from the right, missed the next gate and almost toppled over as his right foot lifted off the ground. Both of Luitzs World Cup podiums have been at Val dIsere. The 21-year-old German was second last year, before facing a cruciate knee ligament injury in February. "To be on the podium 10 months after an operation is unexpected, its a great comeback," Luitz said. ... Adams Steelers Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. [url=http://www.footballsteelersauthentic.com/Black-Mel-Blount-Steelers-Jersey/]... . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. [url=http://www.footballsteelersauthentic.com/Joe-Greene-Steelers-Jersey/]Joe Greene Steelers Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- From worst to first, and now back in the AL championship series. Shane Victorinos infield single snapped a seventh-inning tie and journeyman Craig Breslow gave Boston a huge boost out of the bullpen, sending the Red Sox into the ALCS with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. Koji Uehara got the final four outs -- one night after giving up a game-winning homer -- and Boston rebounded to take the best-of-five playoff 3-1. A year after finishing in last place, the AL East champion Red Sox won 97 games to match St. Louis for the best record in baseball. Now, theyre moving on to the ALCS for the first time in five years. "Its great, but weve still got one more to get where we want to be," Victorino said. "Were going to get a few days off to rest and see what happens in the other division series, and well go from there." After the resilient Rays were finally eliminated, Boston will open at home Saturday against the Athletics or Tigers. Oakland hosts Detroit in a decisive Game 5 on Thursday. Both managers mixed and matched all night at Tropicana Field in a tense game that felt more like a chess match. Desperately trying to force a fifth game, Rays skipper Joe Maddon used nine pitchers -- a post-season record for a nine-inning game -- and had ace David Price warming up for a potential 10th inning. "The way it was working at the beginning there, I could see it was just not going to work and we had to do something differently," Maddon said. "We became a little bit more extemporaneous at that point." Breslow relieved Boston starter Jake Peavy in the sixth and struck out his first four batters -- all in the middle of Tampa Bays lineup. The 33-year-old lefty from Yale has pitched for six teams in eight big league seasons, including two stints with the Red Sox. "We had guys come to spring training, everybody bought in," Breslow said, explaining Bostons quick turnaround after going 69-93 last year. "Theres accountability and 25 guys who prioritize winning baseball games beyond any kind of individual achievement or accolade." The highest-scoring team in the majors this season, Boston scratched out three runs on six singles in a game that featured only one extra-base hit. But that was enough to knock out the wild-card Rays, who won four win-or-go-home games over the previous nine days. "They didnt make any mistakes. You could see their grit," Maddon said. "Theyve got a bunch of gamers over there. ... On the other side, I think our guys were equally as tough. We have had a hard time hitting their pitching staff." Making their fourth playoff appearance in six years, the low-budget Rays have not advanced past the division series since reaching the 2008 World Series. Xander Bogaerts scored the tying run on Joel Peraltas wild pitch in the seventh and Victorino followed with an RBI infield single. Dustin Pedroia drove in Bogaerts with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 3-1, and Uehara struck out Evan Longoria to end it. "It feels great," outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury said. "We played a great team over there. It was a hard-fought game.dddddddddddd Its more mentally tiring than anything. But its a fun group of guys." David DeJesus snapped a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the sixth for the Rays, and Boston squandered several opportunities before finally breaking through in the seventh. Bogaerts drew a pinch-hit walk with one out and raced to third on Ellsburys two-out single off Jake McGee. The Rays brought in their sixth pitcher, Peralta, and the game shifted suddenly on his first pitch, which skipped in the dirt past catcher Jose Lobaton -- allowing the tying run to score. Ellsbury was stealing second on the pitch and continued to third when the ball rolled toward the backstop. Victorino beat out a slow chopper to shortstop, putting the Red Sox ahead 2-1. "Victorino really adds a different dimension to that group, and you saw that again tonight. He just drips with intangibles," Maddon said. Breslow pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win. Uehara earned a save, bouncing back from Lobatons ninth-inning homer in Game 3. Tampa Bay won three win-or-go-home games last week just to reach the division series. Coming from behind in another elimination game Monday gave them hope of taking the series back to Fenway Park, where the Rays were outscored 19-6 in the first two games. The trip to the ALCS will be Bostons first since 2008, when the Red Sox lost in seven games to Tampa Bay. When the Red Sox acquired Peavy from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline, they had nights like this in mind. The 32-year-old right-hander made his third career post-season start 2,562 days -- a span of seven years, five days -- after starting Game 1 of the NL division series for San Diego in 2006. Both he and Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson were working with plenty of rest. Although he pitched two innings in a simulated game last week while the Red Sox were waiting to learn who they would face, Peavy hadnt appeared in a major league game in 13 days. Hellickson hadnt pitched since Sept. 27, and his selection as Tampa Bays starter in an elimination game was somewhat of a surprise. He didnt last long. After a 1-2-3 first inning, Hellickson walked David Ortiz and Mike Napoli on eight straight pitches to begin the second. Daniel Nava singled to load the bases, and Maddon had seen enough. Jamey Wright, an 18-year veteran in his first post-season series, worked out of the jam by striking out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and getting Stephen Drew to line into a double play. NOTES: Peavy allowed one run, five hits and struck out three in 5 2-3 innings. ... Former major leaguer Rocco Baldelli, a Rhode Island native who played for both the Rays and Red Sox, threw the ceremonial first pitch. ... Rookie RF Wil Myers was back in Tampa Bays lineup after leaving Game 3 with leg cramps. ... Victorino was hit by a pitch four times in the series, twice in Game 4. ... Lobatons game-ending homer Monday night landed in the giant fish tank beyond centre field. Only two others players -- Miguel Cabrera earlier this season and Luis Gonzalez in 2007 -- have homered into the tank that has been home to cownose rays since it was installed in 2006. 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