Bine ati venit Vizitator ( Logare | Inregistrare )

 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
> League Title But Instead Slumped To Its Worst Home
ruogu1234
postare Jan 18 2020, 07:28 AM
Postare #1


Top Member
****

Grup: Top Members
Postari: 585
Inscris la: 6-December 19
Membru nr.: 239,927



PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Starling Marte swung so miserably at the first two sliders he saw from Arizona Diamondbacks closer Addison Reed in the ninth inning that the Pittsburgh left fielder knew more were on the way. So he stepped out of the batters box, took a deep breath and waited. "I was struggling the first two pitches but I was thinking about the pitch I want," Marte said. "He threw me a slider and it was a good chance to hit the ball." Was it ever. Marte turned an 81 mph slider over the middle of the plate into a game-tying, two-run double and then scored on pinch-hitter Ike Davis single two batters later as the Pirates rallied for a 3-2 win Tuesday night. "Every time were up to bat theres a chance we do something," Davis said. "Its hard to shut us down for nine. Weve done it a lot this year ... anything is possible with us." The Pirates were shut down for eight innings by Arizona starter Wade Miley before rallying in the ninth. Neil Walker and pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco started the inning with singles against Miley. One batter later, Marte turned an 0-2 count into a tie game. "He got a ball that he could get a barrel on," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He slowed it down and put a good swing on it and hit it to the big part of the ballpark." Andrew McCutchen was intentionally walked and Davis hit a broken-bat single to right, scoring Marte easily as the Pirates won for the fourth time in five games. Ernesto Frieri (1-3) earned his first win with the Pirates after working a scoreless ninth. The abrupt ending ruined an otherwise stellar outing for the struggling Miley, who is winless since May 10. The left-hander retired the first 14 batters he faced and allowed four hits in eight-plus innings, striking out 10. Despite the slender lead, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson didnt hesitate to send Miley back out for the ninth in search of his first career shutout. Things changed quickly, however, when Walker and Polanco reached. "I didnt make good pitches," Miley said. "Actually, the pitch to Walker was a good one, a slider down and in, but I hung a pitch to Polanco. I was making pitches all night long but I didnt make them when I needed to." Until the late miscues, it appeared Miley was on his way to his first victory in nine starts. Miguel Montero and Aaron Hill produced consecutive RBI singles in the fifth off Pirates starter Jeff Locke. Paul Goldschmidt went 2 for 4 with a run for the Diamondbacks, who fell to 27-2 when leading after eight innings. "I want to be the guy out there with the game on the line," Reed said after blowing his fourth save. "Sometimes it doesnt go the way I want or my teammates want it to." Locke lacked Mileys crispness but allowed only two runs over eight innings, yielding eight hits while walking one and striking out three. The Diamondbacks stranded six runners in the first four innings and were on their way to doing it again in the fifth before catching a break thanks to some sloppy defence by the Pirates. Goldschmidt singled with two outs and was attempting to steal second when the Pirates sniffed it out. Locke threw to Gaby Sanchez at first to start the rundown, but the burly Goldschmidt was safe at second when Sanchezs throw to shortstop Jordy Mercer sailed into left field. Montero followed with a single that brought Goldschmidt home, and Montero scored moments later on Hills flare to shallow right. Given some room to work with, Miley didnt let it go to waste. He struck out the side in the seventh and had little trouble in the eighth. Arizona nearly extended its lead to 3-0 in the ninth, only to have Gerardo Parra thrown out at home trying to score on a single to right by Ender Inciarte. Less than 15 minutes later, the Pirates were celebrating their second win in 35 games when trailing after eight innings. NOTES: Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano is scheduled to pitch four innings in a simulated game Wednesday. Liriano, on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, threw 52 pitches without an issue in the bullpen on Sunday. ... An MRI on Arizona SS Chris Owings left shoulder Monday revealed no structural damage. Owings went on the disabled list Sunday with a left shoulder strain. Gibson called the injury just a bruise. Owings wont hit for about a week, but Gibson is confident the rookie will be able to return when his 15-day stint on the DL is up, barring any setbacks. ... The series continues Wednesday when Arizonas Chase Armstrong (5-3, 3.63 ERA) faces Pittsburghs Charlie Morton (4-9, 3.41). Billy Turner Super Bowl Jersey . Aaron Hill and Cliff Pennington hit home runs in the first inning for the Diamondbacks, who beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night. Brett Favre Super Bowl Jersey . a€“ All signs point to the Maple Leafs having their top offseason acquisition in the lineup on opening night. http://www.officialgreenbaypackerspro.com/...packers-jersey/ . I suppose Sternberg has earned the right to speak out since his Rays, despite one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors at $58 million, are entering the final weekend of the regular season holding down the first Wild Card spot in the American League, one game ahead of Cleveland and two up on Texas. Jason Spriggs Super Bowl Jersey . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. Elgton Jenkins Super Bowl Jersey . Now, he might be their hottest pitcher. Lobstein earned up his first major league victory Sunday night, allowing one run in 5 2-3 innings in the Tigers 6-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. MUNICH, Germany -- Sergio Ramos has his redemption, Cristiano Ronaldo has his goal record and Real Madrid is one win away from the long-awaited "Decima." Real Madrid carried out coach Carlo Ancelottis game plan to perfection and routed title holder Bayern Munich 4-0 on Tuesday to reach its first Champions League final in 12 years. Madrid will play either Chelsea or city rival Atletico Madrid in the May 24 final in Lisbon. Madrid, a 5-0 aggregate winner over Bayern, will be seeking a record 10th title -- "La Decima" in Spanish. "We played a perfect game in the first half, we defended very well and pressed very high," Ancelotti said. "We used the space we had for counters, with some great passing." Madrid had never won in Munich in 10 previous matches, losing nine of them. But this time, Ancelottis team put its stamp on the game early and struck with awesome efficiency -- something its Italian coach had promised ahead of the match. Madrids sweeping, fast counterattacks paced by Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria, along with its tenacious tackling when Bayern tried to come out of the hosts own half, were a huge problem for Bayerns defence. However, the first two goals came from set pieces, as well as the last. Ramos, who missed the crucial penalty when Madrid lost to Bayern at the same stage in 2012 in a shootout, scored those first two goals and Ronaldo added two more to break the Champions League season record with a tally of 16. Ramos headed the first from a corner taken by Luka Modric in the 16th and nodded in the second four minutes later after a free kick from Angel Di Maria. "We prepared the set pieces and we used them to make things easy for us," Ancelotti said. "We knew they defend with a zone, not man to man." Ronaldo made it 3-0 to Madrid in the 34th minute after a perfectly executed counterattack and completed the victory with a free kick in the 89th as he shattered Barcelona star Lionel Messis record of 14 goals in a season. "Goals are great, satisfying on a personal level, but what matters is what we did as a team. The overall result was deserved," Ramos said. &quoot;Its a dream come true.dddddddddddd Its a dream game, fantastic for all Madrid fans." After the final whistle, Madrid players put on T-shirts with the words Now for the 10th. It was a bitter defeat for Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who had enjoyed so much success against Madrid when he was in charge of Barcelona. Bayern was seeking to become the first team to defend the Champions League title but instead slumped to its worst home defeat in the competition, and equaled its heaviest loss overall -- 4-0 away to Barcelona in 2009. Guardiola bemoaned the lack of possession in the first half -- although UEFA statistics show Bayern had two-thirds of possession for the game. "We didnt have ball possession and thats why we had no control," Guardiola said. "Its a great disappointment. 0-4 sounds very bitter," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said. "We wanted a lot, but we failed tactically in the first half." Madrid had lost three consecutive semifinals, including a 2012 shootout when Ramos missed a penalty. Of five previous semifinal series against Bayern, Madrid had won only one. Coming into the match, Madrid had only two wins in 27 outings in Germany, with six draws. But Ancelotti had won with AC Milan in Bavaria and believed he could do it again. "Id won here, so thats why I felt confident about our chances here," the Italian said. "After 12 years to return to the Champions League final is very good for us." Holding midfielder Xabi Alonso will miss Madrids 13th final because of accumulated yellow cards. There is a good omen for Madrid: every time it had defeated a title holder, it went on to win the title -- in 1998, 2000 and 2002, the last two times getting through past Bayern, it the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. Madrid had won only two of its 27 previous matches in Germany, with six draws, but it has eliminated three German teams this season in succession -- Schalke, last seasons runner-up Borussia Dortmund and now Bayern. Ancelotti won the competition twice as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 -- under the European Cup format -- and then twice as coach of Milan in 2003 and 2007. ' ' '
  Daca iti place acest topic recomanda pe facebook :
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

Reply to this topicStart new topic

 

RSS Versiune Lo-Fi Acum este ora: 29th March 2024 - 04:39 AM