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| Like the Brad Jacobs team that won the mens Olympic gold last month, theyre considered the new gener | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 31 2014, 06:17 AM (156 Views) | |
| liamin | Oct 31 2014, 06:17 AM Post #1 |
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DETROIT -- For the Detroit Tigers, a walk-off grand slam happens like clockwork. Once every 10 years, its time to hit another one. On the day the franchise honoured the 30th anniversary of the 1984 World Series team, Rajai Davis hit his third career grand slam with one out in the ninth, giving the Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Oakland As. "I cant even remember the last time I did that," said Davis, who had never hit a walk-off homer of any kind in the major leagues. "It must have been in my dreams, while I was sleeping." It was Detroits first game-ending grand slam in almost exactly a decade. Carlos Pena hit one against Arizona on June 27, 2004. Coincidentally, that was the weekend the Tigers honoured the 1984 teams 20th anniversary. The last one before Penas was also 10 years earlier, as Lou Whitaker, a member of the 1984 champs, hit one against Cleveland on June 21, 1994. Oakland closer Sean Doolittle (2-2) was given a three-run lead to work with in the ninth, but managed only one out. Nick Castellanos and Alex Avila started the inning with singles. Eugenio Suarez struck out, but Doolittle walked Austin Jackson -- just the second walk he has issued this season. Jackson fouled off three straight 2-2 pitches before taking a pair of fastballs inside. "That was a hell of a battle," Doolittle said. "You could really see him shorten up his swing with two strikes, and he did a real good job." Doolittle then missed with a curveball and hung another one over the middle of the plate. "I just hung ... it," he said. "I threw some good pitches, but I threw some bad ones, and the last one cost us the game." Davis didnt miss it, hitting the ball out down the left-field line. "That was amazing," he said. "Austin had a great at-bat, and then I got a pitch that was middle or middle-in. It didnt do much. I wasnt sure if I got enough -- I was just hoping the wind would blow it out." Oakland broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth, helped by a defensive mistake. Yoenis Cespedes led off with a routine grounder to shortstop, but Suarezs throw sailed well over Miguel Cabreras head at first. Brandon Moss followed with an RBI into the left-centre field gap, and Sanchez walked Donaldson. Joba Chamberlain came in and allowed a single to Stephen Vogt, loading the bases. Jed Lowrie made it 4-1 with a two-run single to left, but Phil Coke replaced Chamberlain and got out of the inning. Nick Castellanos grabbed Alberto Callaspos grounder, stepped on third and threw to Ian Kinsler at second for a double play. Kinsler relayed the ball to first, hoping for a 5-4-3 triple play, but Callaspo beat the throw. Detroits rally took Anibal Sanchez off the hook; he now hasnt lost in his last 10 starts. Blaine Hardy (1-0) picked up his first career victory with a scoreless top of the ninth. Sanchez, who struck out his 1,000th career batter in the fourth, lost his shutout in the sixth on Lowries RBI single. Cabrera tied the game in the bottom of the inning, sending a 2-2 changeup into the Oakland bullpen beyond the left-centre field fence. Scott Kazmir left in the sixth, one pitch after appearing to grab at his hip. Dan Otero replaced him and kept the game tied through seven innings. "My calf just cramped up," Kazmir said. "I was OK until I tried to push off." NOTES: Alan Trammell, the 1984 World Series MVP, spoke on behalf of his team before the game. At that point, he was the only Tigers player since World War II to hit a game-ending grand slam with Detroit trailing by three runs. Davis, who stopped warming up to watch Trammells speech, became the second just over three hours later. ... Trammell and Whitaker received the two biggest ovations, and at the end of the ceremony, Whitaker took the mound with Trammell behind the plate. After a dramatic pause, both jogged to their familiar positions on either side of second base. Whitaker flipped to Trammell, who tagged second and threw to Dave Bergman at first for a ceremonial double play. ... Tigers DH Victor Martinez was a late scratch because of a sore side, and was replaced by J.D. Martinez. ... The Athletics have allowed three game-ending grand slams since World War II, with two coming against Detroit. In 1983, Lance Parrish hit one off Jeff Jones, who is now Detroits pitching coach. nfl jerseys china . It all paid off Friday night, when the Toronto right-hander earned his first victory since 2008 with an effective and emotional effort at Baltimore. McGowan allowed five hits over 6 1-3 innings, and the Blue Jays used two unearned runs to beat Chris Tillman and the Orioles 2-0. jerseys from china . Spieth again showed game well beyond his 20 years with a 9-under 63 on the North Course, giving him a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. http://www.atjerseys.com/ . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. wholesale nfl jerseys . Harrison combined with four relievers on a five-hitter to get his first victory since September 2012, in his first home start since April 2013, and the Rangers won 5-0 Thursday night after being overwhelmed by the Rockies the previous three games. wholesale jerseys . Not to be outdone, Atletico Madrid bettered its title rivals by demolishing 10-man Getafe 7-0 with Diego Costa returning from injury to score with a brilliant bicycle kick. "It was an almost perfect night," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- A pair of quick wins for Canadas Rachel Homan at the Ford World Womens Curling Championship on Monday allowed the host country to both regain their confidence and conserve energy for later in the tournament. Allison Pottinger of the United States shook hands after just six ends when Canada held a commanding 9-3 lead. Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club team downed Denmarks Madeleine Dupont 8-4 earlier in a game than went eight ends. "Its definitely nice to get some rest after playing some shorter games," Homan said. "Its nice to get some extra rest when you can." Canada was tied for second at 4-1 with Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson behind unbeaten Binia Feltscher of Switzerland at 5-0. The logjam of countries at 3-2 included the U.S., Chinas Liu Sijia, Russias Anna Sidorova and South Koreas Ji-sun Kim. Scotlands Kerry Barr was 2-3 ahead of Denmark, Latvias Evita Regza and Germany Oona Lehmann at 1-4. The Czech Republics Anna Kubeskova was winless in five games. The top four teams at the conclusion of playoffs Thursday advance to the playoffs. Homan felt she had a read on the ice at Harbour Station by Monday night having played on all four sheets and in the morning, afternoon and evening draws. Another reason the abbreviated game against the U.S. on Monday evening was welcomed by Canada is because they are right back on the ice Tuesday morning against Latvia before facing Scotland in the evening. Homan, vice Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle won the bronze medal at last years world curling championship in Riga, Latvia, after starting 2-3 there. Monday was a big bounce for the Canadians after demoralizing loss to the Swiss the previous day, when it was Canada giving up four points in steals and shaking hands after eight ends. Homan felt their communication was missing in that game. The skip misread the ice early against the Americans, but the Canadians were able to solve it via discussion. "Lisa was missing a couple early and she said is it me? I said no, its completely my ice. So she believed in how she was throwing," Homan explained. "If we didnt have that communication, she would have tried to change the way she was throwing and Id give her more ice and shed miss again. "We made sure when we were missing we knew why and were communicating that to each other." Pottinger was born in Brampton, Ont., and learned to curl in Otterburn Park, Que., but the 40-year-old is representing the U.S. for the 11th time at the womens world championship. She won a silver medal playing third for Patti Lank, another transplanted Canadian from Midale, Sask., when the world championship was last held in Saint John, N.B., in 1999. "Everyone is always so nice when were here. A woman today brought me ketchup chips and Smarties," Pottinger said of two items that are difficult to find in the U.S. "Its terrific. I had them between games." Pottinger made a clutch raise against four Canadian stones in the third end to score a point and trail 2-1, but the fourth end was disastrous for the Americans. With Canada laying two, Pottinger ticked on a guard to let Homan add another counter to the rings. The American skip attempted to draw through a port to get to the four-foot rings, but was well shhort of the house.dddddddddddd Homan had half the house for a target and drew in for four points and a 6-1 lead in front of 1,914 at Harbour Station. "We threw it pretty hard, but just out there in the frost it didnt have a chance," Pottinger said. "It never got there." The Americans got two back in the fifth, but called it a day when Homan collected another three in the sixth. "To get the two back was kind of nice, but at that point every end is the 10th end," Pottinger said. "You dont want them to get away from you and its hard to play five 10th ends against that kind of team." "That was so not good that I think its an off game and you forget about it. Chuck it in the bag." Homan and her teammates are all under the age of 28. Like the Brad Jacobs team that won the mens Olympic gold last month, theyre considered the new generation of Canadian curling stars. A year after graduating from the junior ranks, Homans team made the playoffs in their first national womens championship in 2011. They won the Canadian title last year by beating Winnipegs Jennifer Jones, now the reigning Olympic womens gold medallist after her unbeaten run in Sochi. Homan and company were considered a team to beat at Decembers Olympic trials along with Jones. Homan and her teammates either quit their jobs, took a leave or scaled back work hours in the months leading into those trials to prepare. They rented a suite in Winnipeg away from the MTS Centre so they could cook and eat their own meals during the competition. But Homan lost the semifinal 10-4 to Sherry Middaugh. Homans coach Earle Morris now wonders in hindsight if they "over-prepared" for trials. "I think what we did was we probably practised a bit too much," he said. "A couple of the girls quit their jobs, one of the girls took a leave of absence. They really made it a focused priority and maybe we focused too much on the trials. "We really tried to leave no stone unturned. Because it was our first trials, we prepared as best we could based on what we thought would be difference-makers. If we had to do it again, wed probably do it a little differently. Take maybe a more relaxed approach and not emphasize it too much." The best medicine for their trials disappointment was to participate in the Continental Cup in Las Vegas in January. They played with Jones, Jacobs and other top North American teams in a Ryder-Cup style competition against European curling teams. "We all re-connected with the sport," Miskew said. "It was really tough after the trials to feel a love for curling. "We were able to go out and enjoy the sport again. Before that, it was practising without much of a purpose because it feels weird after you put so much time into something. It changed when we went there and it felt better." That experience set the table for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal, where Homan went 13-0 en route to a second straight Canadian title and a return trip to the world championship. "Continental Cup was perfect," Homan said. "We played mixed, mixed doubles and it was just a lot of fun." "We definitely needed it. We got to press the re-set button and focus again for the Scotties." ' ' ' |
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