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Lakers -- on paper -- are very, very
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2014/04/21 12:17AM
Latest post: 2014/04/21 12:17AM, Views: 313, Posts: 1
Latest post: 2014/04/21 12:17AM, Views: 313, Posts: 1
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NEW YORK -- A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko and the Chicago White Sox were totally prepared to face Adam Warren in his major league debut. Seeing Dewayne Wise on the mound, now that was a surprise. Pierzynski homered twice, Konerko and Alexei Ramirez also connected and the White Sox pounded the Yankees so hard that New York needed an outfielder to pitch, bringing in Wise to finish up a 14-7 romp Friday night. "Ill be honest, I was very happy I didnt get up against Dewayne," said Pierzynski, who was left on deck. "Hes a good friend of mine. And no matter what you do, youre going to hear about it." A night after the White Sox rallied to win at Yankee Stadium on Dayan Viciedos three-run homer in the ninth, they made it a short and sour outing for Warren. The 25-year-old newcomer didnt make it through the third inning By the end, the Yankees brought in Wise for his pro pitching debut -- it was the first time since 1968 that a Yankees position player pitched in a home game. Throwing a 79 mph fastball, the crafty lefty was perfect, retiring Konerko on a routine fly and getting Alex Rios on a grounder to close a four-run ninth inning. "I like Dewayne Wise a lot better when hes making catches to preserve perfect games than when hes on the mound," Konerko kidded. "You cant win, even if you hit it a mile." "But Rios got jammed. At least I got the bat out," he said. Wise was familiar to many Chicago players. His outstanding grab for the White Sox in 2009 helped Mark Buehrle pitch a perfect game. Wise was the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Nick Swisher in 2009 -- Gene Michael was the last to do it for the Yankees at home 44 years ago. Wise wasnt in the game when he was told he had two minutes to warm up. "I was very nervous. I havent pitched since my sophomore year in high school," he said. "Of all the people on that team, I wish it had been A.J. that I faced. I would love to try to strike him out," he said, laughing. "It was fun. I always said that someday I hoped I would get the chance to go in and pitch. Im just glad I was able not to walk anybody and not give up any hits." White Sox manager Robin Ventura was impressed. He knows what Wise went through, having pitched an inning for the Dodgers. "He beat me. I topped out at 72 (mph)," Ventura said. Rookie Jose Quintana (3-1) fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, then hung in to give the White Sox their fourth straight win in a matchup of AL division leaders. Derek Jeters leadoff double was his 3,185th hit, moving him past Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. for 13th place on the career list. Curtis Granderson followed with his 22nd homer. It was 95 degrees at gametime, and the ball was flying. It was 6-all by the fourth and Pierzynskis leadoff homer in the fifth against David Phelps (1-3) put Chicago ahead to stay. Pierzynski hit a pair of solo drives for his fifth multihomer game, and drove in three runs. Ramirez had four of Chicagos 19 hits and Gordon Beckham had two of the teams five doubles. "This is a nice park to hit in," Ventura said. "Its nice to get everybody swinging the bat." Quintana has been quite a surprise for the White Sox, and the rookie began the night with a 1.25 ERA and a 16-inning scoreless streak. He had not allowed more than two runs in any of his six starts. The Yankees quickly tagged Quintana, and Andruw Jones two-out, two-run double made it 4-0 in the first. But the 23-year-old lefty from Colombia stayed cool, and was nicked only by Jayson Nixs two-run double off Ramirezs glove at shortstop in the fourth before leaving after six innings with a 10-6 lead. Warren was promoted from Triple-A this week after CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte went on the disabled list. A few hours before the game, Warrens suitcase was in his locker and there wasnt yet a nameplate over his stall. The Yankees tried to make him feel welcome. After the infielders whipped the ball around after Warrens last warmup pitch, Jeter took a toss from Alex Rodriguez and trotted in for a final word with the new pitcher. Warren started out fine, striking out leadoff man Alejandro De Aza and drawing a cheer from friends and family members sitting in the second deck behind the Yankees dugout. Catcher Chris Stewart tossed the ball out of play as a keepsake -- pretty soon, the White Sox started providing their own souvenirs. Pierzynski opened the second with his 13th homer. Beckham lined a two-run double and Kevin Youkilis had an RBI groundout that made it 4-all. Konerko hit his 14th homer on Warrens first pitch in the third. After an RBI single by Pierzynski and a sharp single by Ramirez with one out, Warren was pulled. Phelps relieved his fellow rookie and got out of the inning, drawing a high-five from Warren. Rios had an RBI single in the sixth. Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the seventh and added an RBI double in the ninth. NOTES: Konerko has homered 21 times against the Yankees, tying Joe Kuhel for the most by a White Sox player. ... Youkilis left in the fifth inning because of an upset stomach. He said he expects to be OK to play Saturday. ... Pierzynski played his 1,000th game with the White Sox. ... Chicago LHP Leyson Septimo pitched a perfect ninth in his MLB debut. cheap jerseys from china . The 15th overall pick in the 2008 draft, Lopez has struggled with consistency and temperament. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in four seasons with the Suns and served as starting centre Marcin Gortats backup last season. cheap nfl jerseys . The Bayern Munich player fractured his left foot in July and was unlikely to recover in time for the Sept. 11 Group C game in Vienna. "Alaba wont be added to the squad even if he gets fit just in time," Koller said Tuesday. http://www.comcheapjerseys.com/ . Levante defender David Navarros elbow opened a gash above Ronaldos left eye that required treatment on the sideline before returning to the pitch. Ronaldo scored Madrids opener in the 21st minute but could not continue after halftime. cheapjerseys.com . Lopez broke serve just once, but hit nine of his 14 aces in the final set to advance at the clay-court event. Sixth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France was eliminated after slumping to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 loss to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. wholesale jerseys . -- Connecticut has given mens basketball coach Kevin Ollie a new contract that runs through the end of the 2017-18 season.LeBron James against Kobe Bryant, the dream NBA Finals thats never become a reality. Maybe this is the year. James Miami Heat are on top of the league and got even stronger this summer, but nobody loaded up like the Lakers, who acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. One team or the other has appeared in the last six NBA Finals. Now, with more help than either has ever had, James and Bryant both will face title expectations -- and a sense theyre due for that long-awaited showdown with each other in June. "If we see that matchup, Kobe vs. LeBron, I think it would break all the records," Lakers Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Magic Johnson said. "I think the viewership would be off the charts." Its no guarantee, of course. The Oklahoma City Thunder might still be best in the West, making a James-Kevin Durant rematch in the finals just as likely as James-Bryant. Or maybe the Boston Celtics, who came so close to knocking out the Heat last year, can finish the job this time even after Ray Allen ditched them to join James on South Beach. But even the guys chasing the King concede how difficult it will be to dethrone him. "I think everyone knew if he won one that its going to be hard for everybody. ... Im hoping theres enough good teams, and we can be one of them, that we can knock him off," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "The good news is hes the clear target. We know who were going after, theres no doubt about that. But hes awful good. Hes a good guy, hes great for the league and hes a great player. Thats good for everything. But now lets beat him." The Celtics get the first shot, visiting the Heat in Tuesdays season opener. The Lakers open later that night against Dallas, and for a change all eyes at Staples Center wont be only on Bryant. The Lakers acquired the NBAs best big man in Howard after surprisingly adding Nash, long one of the leagues best point guards, earlier in the summer. Just like that, a team that couldnt get out of the second round the last two years put itself right back in the hunt for what would be Bryants sixth championship. "Were all determined to get there for sure," Bryant said. "The hunger from Dwight and Nash can definitely, definitely help our energy." Howards departure from Orlando was lengthy and messy, finally completed in August. James and Bryant were in London preparing to play in the Olympic semifinals on the day the trade was completed, and news of the deal overshadowed their victory en route to the Americans second straight gold medal two days later. For James, the gold was the completion of one of basketballs greatest individual seasons. He joined Michael Jordan in 1992 as the only players to win the NBA championship, the Olympic gold medal, and the regular season and finals MVP awards in the same season. Once Jordan got to the top, he was never really knocked from it, save for one partial season after he returned from playing baseball during his first retirement. James, now considered the leagues best player, has similar designs on a lengthy run. "In a sport like this, I think the ultimate goal and the only goal is to win," James said. "You prepare to win. It doesnt happen all the time. Of course not. But that should be your mindset. Prepare your mind each and every night to win.dddddddddddd" Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh should be back at full strength after both were slowed by injuries in the playoffs, and the Big Three is now surrounded by Allen, the leagues career leader in 3-pointers, and Rashard Lewis. League executives are convinced of a trip back to the finals, with 96.7 per cent of responses in NBA.coms GM survey picking the Heat to win the Eastern Conference. Miami got 70 per cent of the vote to repeat as champion, and James was the choice of two-thirds of the responders to add another MVP award to his collection. Things probably wont be quite as easy for the Lakers, since the Thunder should be better with their young core another year older -- if they keep it together. Sixth Man of the Year James Harden could be a free agent after next season, and the small-market Thunder will have to decide if they can commit more dollars after already giving big contracts to Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. "Its a new season," said Durant, the leagues three-time scoring champion. "Last year is over with. Weve got to start over from day one and see where were at." San Antonio has had the Wests best record in the regular season each of the last two years and is still hoping for one more title in the Tim Duncan era. The Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets could be threats out West, and dont forget that Indiana had a 2-1 lead over Miami in the second round last season. Theres a new look in New York, which is now home to the Nets but no longer to Linsanity. When the Nets host the Knicks on Nov. 1 in the first regular-season game at the Barclays Center, their $1 billion arena in Brooklyn, Jeremy Lin wont be suiting up on the other side. The Knicks decided not to match the contract last seasons breakout star from Harvard signed with the Houston Rockets. All-Star weekend, David Sterns last before retiring as commissioner in 2014, also is headed to Houston, where James was MVP of the 2006 game. Now he wins the awards for the games that count. He used to come up short in the post-season, a big reason the finals matchup with Bryant hasnt happened yet. His Cleveland teams had the top seed in both 2009 and 10, but were bounced by the East teams that ended up losing to the Lakers. Its clear James has it all figured out, taking his game to another, seemingly unstoppable level when Wade and Bosh were limited last post-season. Now, when it seems he needs it least, he has his best collection of talent around him. When he hugged the beaten Durant after the finals, it was easy to imagine them doing it again next year. Then the Lakers pushed Bryants championship window back open with their summer haul, constructing a lineup of Bryant, Nash, Howard and Pau Gasol that could be on its way from Hollywood to the Hall of Fame -- with a trip to South Beach along the way. "The Heat are the team to beat because they are the champs," said TNTs Shaquille ONeal, who won titles with both franchises. "Kudos to Pat Riley for putting great shooters around his big man. The Lakers -- on paper -- are very, very talented. Its going to be a very interesting year and I wish both of those teams make the finals." ' ' '
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