lucylily's blog: "ght"

VANCOUVER -- Goalkeeper David Ousted received a most fitting welcome to Vancouver when he arrived Thursday afternoon. It rained. Although the new Vancouver Whitecaps recruit was beaming about his move to Canada from Danish Superliga side Randers FC, the grey skies and wet weather perhaps reminded him that pinching the starting spot from Brad Knighton is going to be no summer walk along the Stanley Park seawall. Ousted, 28, is coming off a superb season in Denmark where he steered Randers to third place in the Danish Superliga on the back of 14 shutouts and a spot in the upcoming UEFA Europa League. But the six-foot-three goalkeeper felt it was time for a change of scenery and a new challenge. "I wanted to try and go abroad and play in other places than Denmark and this was the place that had all the right features for me both on and off the field," he said at his introductory press conference Friday. While Ousted will have to wait until July 9 before he is eligible to play, his signing sets up a tantalizing battle in net between him and Knighton, who has a 3-1-1 record and a 2.00 goals-against-average in five MLS games this season. Could the Whitecaps have a Vancouver Canucks goalie situation on their hands? Vancouver head coach Martin Rennie said the club was "really honoured" to have snared the services of the respected Dane, however the onus is on the new recruit to earn his stripes. "Hes coming into a team thats doing well and hes coming into a situation where he will have to be at his absolute best to even get on the field," Rennie said. "Right now Brad Knightons the number one and hes been doing well while weve been getting good results. "(Brads) got a great presence as well and hes a strong leader too so I think that it will be a great battle. Theyre both around similar ages (Ousted is older, by five days), theyll push each other really hard and I think theyll both become better through the competition." Ousted said it was "important" for any team to have players vying for every position, but he is well aware of what is needed to claim the coveted No. 1 spot. "Hard work is the key to getting in there," he said. "Im going to get my physical levels up, Im going to work as hard as I can and when the coaches think Im ready, Ill get the chance and I will have to grab it." Before arriving in North America, Ousteds exposure to MLS was minimal at best, but he was able to get a taste of what to expect. "I quickly saw that the level is quite good over here," he said. "I went over and saw some of the matches and just the spectators and the whole hype around the game is something Im really looking forward to." Ousted hopes to bring his family over to Vancouver in about a month, but in the meantime he is aiming to get straight down to business on the training track on Monday. "Im looking forward to try and see if I can hit the ground running here, work hard and come in (to the team) as early as possible," he said. "So theres a lot of hard work for me in the next couple of weeks and then I hope to get settled really quick." Ousteds arrival brings the number of goalkeepers at the Whitecaps to four, with Knighton, veteran Joe Cannon and Simon Thomas already in the ranks, so plenty of eyes will be on the player between the posts going forward. But it doesnt bother the soft-spoken Roskilde native. "I love it (the scrutiny)," he said, flashing his pearly white smile. "You have the chance to be the hero and the villain on the same day. 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The Colts rookie threw two touchdown passes, took advantage of several key Minnesota penalties and marched Indianapolis 45 yards in 23 seconds to set up Adam Vinatieri for a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, which gave Indianapolis a 23-20 victory over Minnesota in Lucks home debut. MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer was home again, back in Minnesota. He looked as normal as could be, crouching behind the plate and batting third for the Twins. For Mauer, though, this was no ordinary game. Danny Valencia welcomed an admittedly nervous Mauer back with a three-run home run in the first inning Friday, and the Twins held on to beat the San Diego Padres 6-5 for their fifth straight win. "I was running on all adrenaline," Mauer said. He played for the first time since April 12, the leg problems finally behind him. Greeted with a standing ovation before his first at-bat, Mauer hit an RBI single, though he later grounded into a double play and left five men on base. "That really meant a lot to me. I was trying to concentrate so hard on the at-bat and all that, but it meant a lot," Mauer said. "Ive put in a lot of hard work to get back here, and to get that support, it was awesome." The Twins have won 12 of their past 14 games. Brian Duensing (4-6) picked up the victory with six effective if inefficient innings, and the Padres lost for the sixth time in seven games despite a 4 for 5 performance by Chase Headley. He drove in two runs, and Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer in the seventh. Clayton Richard (2-9) lost his fifth straight decision, a career-long streak. He gave up five runs in the first inning. Glen Perkins, making his first appearance for the Twins since May 21, struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Matt Capps followed with a perfect ninth for his 10th save, in 15 attempts this season. Mauer, the three-time American League batting champion and ever the patient hitter, predictably took the first pitch he saw from Richard. He drove in the games first run with a bouncer up the middle and scored on Michael Cuddyers broken-bat bloop ground-rule double, before a walk by Delmon Young and the big hit by Valencia gave the Twins a 5-0 advantage. That hit raised Mauers batting average 22 points, a strange sight for a June night. "When you put yourself in a big hole early, its tough to come all the way back," Headley said. The last-place Padres had two errors, a wild pitch and a passed ball in that ugly half-inning, but Richard recovered enough to work two batters into the sixth. Pat Neshhek, the native of nearby Brooklyn Park, a few miles from Target Field, relieved Richard with two on and none out and finished the frame unscathed by retiring Mauer on a routine fly to left with the bases loaded.dddddddddddd Ben Revere stretched the lead to 6-1 with an RBI single in the fourth after providing a big play an inning earlier in centre field. Revere lunged forward and nearly made a diving catch of Chris Denorfias sinking liner, an effort so intense he broke his belt. He smiled as he jogged to fetch a new belt from the bat boy, and the fans cheered and laughed. Duensing sweated through the fifth, giving up an RBI double to Headley. The left-hander finished with 106 pitches, seven hits, one walk, five strikeouts and a 6-2 lead. But after a pair of two-out singles against Alex Burnett in the seventh, Ludwick launched a first-pitch fastball into the second deck to pull the Padres within one, his first home run in a month. Though Richard was already out of the game, this was unfamiliar support for the struggling left-hander. The Padres scored only five runs -- total -- in his past five starts. The former Chicago White Sox prospect, who came to the Padres in the Jake Peavy trade two years ago, has a 6.33 earned-run average on the road. "Im sure hed like to have the at-bat to Valencia back," Padres manager Bud Black said, adding: "But he hung in there without his best stuff." The Twins would like to have the first two months of the season back, but theyve been slowly returning to full strength and quickly catching up in the division race. "Everythings kind of coming around where were getting things done when we need to," Duensing said. "Thats what we needed all season, and hopefully well keep it together. Everyone in the lineup is contributing, and everyone defensively is contributing also. Weve just got to keep it going." Notes: Twins SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka made his fourth error of the season. Hes played in only eight games. ... Neshek was cheered when he reached the mound. "I couldnt believe it," he said afterward. ... Said Valencia: "I feel like Im hitting. 300, you know? Its unfortunate, because it isnt showing up. The reality is Im hitting .216, and those lineouts are just outs." ' ' '