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ekansekans's blog: "df"

created on 10/29/2012  |  http://fubar.com/df/b351055

standings going into

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers jumped out to a big lead before Rick Porcello even threw a pitch. Dwight Freeney Jersey . "We came out swinging, put some runs on the board early," manager Jim Leyland said. "That let Rick relax a little bit, and he was very good against a tremendous offensive club." Given a quick five-run lead, Porcello pitched into the seventh before allowing his only run and the Tigers beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Monday night in a rematch of last years AL championship series. After their first 12 batters, the Tigers had already roughed up Rangers rookie right-hander Justin Grimm (1-1) for six runs and eight hits in the 100-degree heat. They had only five runs and 15 hits while losing two of three in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Cabrera drove in three runs with a pair of doubles. His two-run double started the scoring, and his RBI double in the sixth made it 8-0. "Something Im trying to get better at every time is to control my emotions. For me, its control my tempo and delivery," said Porcello, who won for only the second time his last nine starts. "With the big lead, Im trying to keep the mindset that its a 0-0 game. If I start thinking I have a cushion, I get complacent and Im not as good in the strike zone." Porcello (5-5) struck out seven, the last an inning-ending whiff by Mike Napoli with the bases loaded in the sixth. He was out of the game after his third walk, to Leonys Martin leading off the seventh. Nine days after his impressive winning major league debut against Houston, and never pitching above Double-A before that, nothing good happened for Grimm against the Tigers. "Obviously, he got hit around by a pretty good-hitting team," manager Ron Washington said. "He threw the ball out over the plate and they hit it." Austin Jackson led off the game with a double and Quintin Berry followed with a bunt fielded by Grimm. When the pitcher turned to throw, first base was uncovered because first baseman Michael Young charged in and second baseman Ian Kinsler didnt get there. Cabrera followed with a two-run double. Delmon Young hit a run-scoring single, then Jhonny Peralta had an RBI double and scored on Ramon Santiagos single that staked Porcello to a five-run lead. "He was getting ahead of hitters, the runs helped him settle down and get in a grove," Tigers catcher Gerald Laird said of Porcello. "He got better as the game went on." Berry drew a leadoff walk to start the second, and Grimm was gone after Cabrera singled. Fielder greeted reliever Michael Kirkman with a sacrifice fly. Grimm threw 52 pitches, 40 of them in a top half of the first inning that took 23 minutes to play. Cabrera had three of Detroits 10 hits and is a .378 career hitter at Rangers Ballpark, where he has 18 doubles and 50 RBIs in 48 games. Struggling slugger Josh Hamilton hit his first homer in his last 12 games for Texas, a two-run shot in the seventh. His 23rd homer pushed his majors-best RBI total to 66. Hamilton was coming off a three-game series against Colorado when he was 1 for 12 with eight strikeouts. He was 0 for 2 with a walk Monday before his 409-foot homer in the seventh off reliever Brayan Villarreal. Porcello was gone by time Hamilton homered. The walk to Martin led to the only run against the right-hander, who scattered six hits and walked three. Fielder had a leadoff double in the fifth and scored on Peraltas grounder along the first-base line. Though the Tigers have struggled this season and still have a losing record (36-37), they have good offensive games at Rangers Ballpark. They had hit .301 with 176 runs in their previous 25 games there since April 2006. Fielder, the husky first baseman who signed a $214 million, nine-year deal with the Tigers last winter after having some talks with Texas, even had a nifty 3-5-6-3 defensive play. After Napolis leadoff double in the fifth, Fielder made a backhanded stop on Martins grounder. Fielder ran toward Napoli, who had stopped between second and third, and eventually tossed the ball to third baseman Cabrera. After a relay to shortstop Peralta, the ball went back to Fielder for the tag near third base. "I had a chance to do it earlier this year, and I kind of froze. I just wanted to be aggressive," said Fielder, who acknowledged with a grin that he doesnt often finish a defensive play on the other side of the infield. "Not too many for me." NOTES: Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre had three hits, and is hitting .512 (21 of 41) his last 11 games. ... The game time temperature was 100 degrees, the first triple-digit game of the season. ... Yu Darvish (9-4), who has won all six of his starts at Rangers Ballpark, pitches for Texas on Tuesday. Drew Smyly (2-2) comes off the DL to start for Detroit. The leftys been out since June 11 with a blister on his left middle finger. ... Berry had his 12th stolen base in 30 games. Coby Fleener Jersey . In other first-round matches, second-seeded Sara Errani of Italy downed Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., 6-2, 6-2, Nina Bratchikova beat Russian compatriot Anastasia Pivovarova 6-3, 6-1, and Alexandra Cadantu of Romania defeated Jelena Dokic of Australia 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Andrew Luck Jersey . -- Athletics reliever Andrew Carignan said Wednesday night he needs elbow ligament replacement surgery and is in the process of deciding which doctor will do it. http://www.coltsteamstore.com/andrew-luck-jersey . - Nick Swisher could only applaud the Angels first impressive catch on a ball that he absolutely crushed. Reggie Wayne Jersey . MLSE is Canadas largest sports and entertainment company and owner of the premier professional sports teams in Canadas largest marketplace: The Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Marlies and Toronto FC.  On Dec. 9, Bell announced it had, in a joint ownership arrangement with Rogers Communications Inc., agreed to purchase a net 75 percent ownership position in MLSE from Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board. Andrew Luck Elite Jersey . Debonair, intellectual, high society landed Andres Villa-Boras blends quite magnificently into and amongst the private cul-de-sacs, immaculately manicured Victorian era garden squares, Royal Residencies and certain globally renowned iconic roads that neighbor Stamford Bridge within the wonderfully monikered Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea the club resides in. Londons most expensive real estate district where the likes of Frank Lampard and his low profile ultra-sleek black Ferrari call home is a perfect backdrop for the man who took over the reins from the double winning Ancelotti is failing miserably in his attempts to win over the primates that are Chelseas highly diversified supporter base. MILWAUKEE -- In the end, there wasnt anything Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis or anybody else could do to save the Milwaukee Bucks faint playoff hopes. Not even winning. Jennings scored 25 points in the Bucks 92-86 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, but Milwaukees post-season fate had already been decided. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the New Jersey Nets earlier in the night, clinching the Eastern Conferences final playoff spot and eliminating the Bucks from contention. "Im disappointed -- very disappointed," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We didnt get done what we were expected to get done, so if everybody in there is not very, very disappointed, then weve got big problems." Ersan Ilyasova added 19 points and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee. Ellis played despite an injury to his shooting hand, scoring 17 points on 4-for-14 shooting. Skiles said he wasnt sure how badly the injury was bothering Ellis, but said the guard left the bench and went to the locker room with just over a minute left in the game. "He battled through it tonight," Skiles said. "But with like a minute to go, a minute-five, I guess, he said he couldnt go any more so he went in the locker room." James Johnson had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost four straight games. Torontos DeMar DeRozan was ejected in the second quarter after he was called for travelling and threw the ball down the court in protest. "No matter how tough it gets or how much frustration sets in, fatigue, whatever it is, youve got to buckle up and roll with it," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We talked about it after the game and its a teaching moment for him. Its part of his maturity process. When youre the man on the team, youve got to be responsible for that." But even without DeRozan -- the top scorer in Torontos lineup with Andrea Bargnani out injured -- the Raptors stayed in control of the game going into the fourth quarter. With the Bucks trailing by two points, Jennings converted a three-point play and Ellis made two free throws to give Milwaukee an 82-79 lead with 3:27 left. After a technical foul on Torontos Linas Kleiza, Jennings hit a free throw for a four-point lead with 2:42 left. &quuot;We cant let frustration set in," Casey said. Pat Angerer Jersey. . "Weve got to finish the games in professional ways and play the game the right way. It was clearly a foul on (Kleiza). He ran over a guy and compounded it with a technical. Hopefully, we learned from it. Thats what were teaching right now." Toronto cut the lead to three points with 32.6 seconds left, but Ilyasova hit two free throws to put the game away. The Raptors had 22 turnovers, including nine in the fourth quarter. "I think we just lost our composure," guard Ben Uzoh said. Trailing the 76ers by three games in the standings going into Monday night, the Bucks needed to win their final three games and have the 76ers lose their last three to make the playoffs. The 76ers visit the Bucks on Wednesday night, and Milwaukee was hoping to make that game meaningful. "I didnt really know until after the game that they had clinched," Jennings said. Instead, Wednesday will just be a playoff tuneup for Philadelphia. "We were rooting for New Jersey, but it didnt work out in our favour," Drew Gooden said. "We handled our business tonight, but it is what it is." The Bucks trailed by five points at halftime, then allowed the Raptors to begin the third quarter with a 13-4 run. Toronto took a 61-47 lead on a jumper by Gary Forbes, who was knocked to the court and got up limping after the shot. Forbes was able to stay in the game. After a fourth-quarter rally couldnt save their playoff hopes, Jennings says the Bucks are playing for pride in their last two games. "We still didnt make the playoffs, but if we win these last two games, at least we went out with some wins, and went out with pride and dignity," Jennings said. Notes: Casey started James Johnson instead of Aaron Gray, moving Amir Johnson to centre. "Im putting things together," James Johnson said. "Now that we have a couple of guys out Im finally putting the pieces together and its working out." ... Milwaukee was without Carlos Delfino because of a right groin injury and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute because of a sore right knee. ... It was Jennings fourth straight game with 25 or more points. ' ' '

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