| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
ATLANTA -- Kris Medlen is pitching like an ace. Thats good news for the Atlanta Braves post-season hopes. Chris Johnson led off the eighth inning with a homer to spoil an otherwise dominant start by Cliff Lee, Medlen allowed only two hits in eight innings and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 on Friday night. Medlen and closer Craig Kimbrel combined on the shutout. Johnson said beating Lee affirms Medlens status as a starter who can lead a rotation. "I feel like he can go toe to toe with anybody," Johnson said of Medlen. "If you can go toe to toe with that guy (Lee) over there, then youre an ace and hes our ace and hes proved it for a while now." Medlen (15-12) strengthened his case to be the Braves Game 1 starter in the NL division series next week. After not allowing a hit for 5 2-3 innings, he gave up two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. He will carry a streak of five straight winning decisions into the post-season. "I had to get ready for the big stage," Medlen said. The Braves (95-65) remained tied with St. Louis, which beat Chicago 7-0, for the best record in the NL. The Braves won the regular-season series with the Cardinals and would win home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs if they finish with the same record. Medlen said the win was especially meaningful because of his respect for Lee and his history of struggles against the Phillies. He was 3-2 with a 5.17 ERA in 17 career games, including six starts, against the Phillies. Medlen said the Phillies "absolutely owned me." "Theyre just a team Ive had so much trouble against," he said. "For me to have some success against them for even one game felt pretty awesome and I just want to take it to the playoffs." The Braves rotation is arranged for Medlen to start Game 1, but manager Fredi Gonzalez is waiting to make his plans official. Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth for his 50th save. Johnson hit a 0-2 slider for the homer to left field. The homer, Johnsons 12th, snapped a streak of 16 consecutive batters retired by Lee, who allowed only three hits with no walks and 13 strikeouts in eight innings. "Cliff was outstanding," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Medlen was equally good." Lee (14-8) completed a strong September finish despite the loss. He was 3-2 in five starts in which he had 54 strikeouts with only one walk. "It basically came down to one pitch: 0-2 to Chris Johnson," Lee said. "I felt like I made a good pitch, slider down and in. I dont normally throw sliders to right-handers; I might have done that three times all year. Maybe four or five at the most. But I threw him one earlier today that he pulled way foul and I was trying to bury that one down and in. It was down and in. I think it was a ball, even. He put a good swing on it, hit a home run and thats the game. "Its frustrating but youve got to give credit to Medlen. He shut us down." Cesar Hernandez beat out a grounder to third base for an infield hit with two outs in the sixth, the first allowed by Medlen. Hernandez was thrown out by Evan Gattis trying to steal second base. Chase Utley, who had Philadelphias second hit on a seventh-inning single, was thrown out on a double-play grounder by Carlos Ruiz, leaving Medlen as having faced only one batter above the minimum. Medlen walked Ruiz to lead off the second before Domonic Brown hit into a double play. Lee struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings as part of a stretch in which he retired 16 consecutive batters. Reed Johnson, making his first start since July 25, made a running catch of Jimmy Rollins liner in left field in the first inning. Johnson missed 38 days with left Achilles tendinitis and had appeared only as a pinch hitter since coming off the disabled list on Sept. 10. Dan Uggla struck out looking with runners on first and third to end the second inning. Uggla also took called third strikes from Lee in the fifth and eighth innings, giving the slumping second baseman a franchise-record 170 strikeouts, breaking his own mark. He had 168 strikeouts in 523 at-bats in 2012. The fourth-inning strikeout came in his 445th at-bat. Uggla, Justin Upton (158) and B.J. Upton (151) rank third through fifth in the National League in strikeouts. NOTES: The game lasted 2 hours, 7 minutes. ... Lee set his career high with 16 strikeouts in a 5-0 loss to the Braves on May 6, 2011. ... Braves C Brian McCann, who left Thursday nights game against the Phillies with an adductor strain, was held out and is not expected to start in the final two regular season games. Gonzalez said McCann is expected to be ready for the post-season. ... Gonzalez said he hopes RHP Jordan Walden (shoulder) can throw an inning this weekend. Walden has not pitched since allowing four hits and three runs in one inning against Washington on Sept. 17. ... Sandberg said RHP Ethan Martin "most likely" will start on Saturday against Braves LHP Mike Minor. http://www.flyknitshoescheap.ca/womens-nike-roshe-...shoes.h tml .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http://www.flyknitshoescheap.ca/men-s-nike-roshe-o...white.h tml . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.flyknitshoescheap.ca/nike-free-4-0-flyk...shoes.h tml .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. http://www.flyknitshoescheap.ca/kevin-durant-nike-...9-663.h tml . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.flyknitshoescheap.ca/men-s-women-s-rosh...shoes.h tml . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins acknowledge theyve been getting by more on talent than discipline recently even as theyve soared to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The perpetually rebuilding Florida Panthers have no such luxury. On Monday night, the Panthers hard work made up the difference. Drew Shore scored twice for the first multi-goal game of his career and the Panthers ended Pittsburghs club-record 13-game home winning streak with a 5-1 victory. "It was a big game," Shore said. "We kind of treated it like a playoff game. We only had a couple more games until the (Olympic) break so we wanted to make a strong push." Jonathan Huberdeau, Dmitry Kulikov and Shawn Matthias also scored for the Panthers, who won in Pittsburgh for the first time in five years. Scott Clemmensen stopped 35 shots in his first start in three weeks as Florida ended a two-game losing streak. "I asked them for 60 minutes and 200 feet," Florida coach Peter Horachek said. Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma received neither. Matt Niskanen scored the only goal for the Penguins as Pittsburgh lost at home for the first time since Nov. 13. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves but fell for only the fourth time in his past 37 starts at Consol Energy Center. "We were just awful," Niskanen said. "Bad execution. Bad work ethic. We just werent hungry enough to win the loose puck battle and they just beat the (stuffing) out of us." Pittsburgh defenceman Paul Martin played 20 minutes in his return from a broken leg, clearing the way for him to play for Team USA in the Olympics. Forwards James Neal, Chuck Kobasew and Jayson Megna also returned from injuries as the Penguins -- already with a comfortable 13-point cushion in the Metropolitan Division -- continue to get healthy with the Olympic break looming. While it may take a game or two for the Penguins to adjust to the familiar faces, they dont necessarily view it as an excuse. "Were assimilating players back into our lineup ... but thats not a new challenge for this group," Bylsma said. "Its not a new challenge for our team." Neither is winning in Pittsburgh for the Panthers. But Florida beat the Penguins for the second time in three meetings behind Clemmensen, a resurgennt penalty kill that has gone a franchise-record 10 games without allowing a goal and some unlikely offensive contributions.dddddddddddd "I dont think we got lucky tonight," Clemmensen said. "I think we just willed it a little bit. It doesnt always go your way obviously. You stick with it and nights like tonight happen." Shore entered with just four goals in 54 career games and has spent most of this season in the American Hockey League. Still, he scored twice in less than 20 minutes to stake Florida to an early lead that was more than enough to end Pittsburghs two-month run of perfection. The Penguins entered the night having trailed barely 10 per cent of the time at home since their streak began. A significant chunk came in last weeks 4-3 comeback victory over Washington, when they rallied from a goal down three times to escape. It was the kind of game thats popped up frequently since Christmas, where Pittsburghs high-powered offence was able to overcome some uncharacteristic lapses at the other end of the rink. The miscues finally caught up with them. A rare breakdown by the leagues top power-play unit gave Shore the chance to stake Florida to an early lead. Clemmensen stopped Evgeni Malkins shot, then passed to Shore to spark a two-on-one that ended with Shore flicking a wrist shot over Fleurys shoulder 15:46 into the first period. The Panthers had three opportunities in the second to double their lead only to let three straight power plays go to waste before Shore struck again. Huberdeau stripped a Penguin behind the Pittsburgh net, slid the puck to Jesse Winchester, who found a streaking Shore down the slot. The wrist shot caromed off Fleurys shoulder and into the net to make it 2-0 at 13:34 of the second. Kulikov pushed the Florida lead to 3-0 by taking a long bounce off the end boards then beating Fleury just 1:17 into the third. Niskanens seventh goal of the season 5:11 into the period briefly gave the Penguins some energy, but it faded when Huberdeau and Matthias scored 12 seconds apart to send the Panthers to the upset. NOTES: Pittsburgh went 0 for 3 on the power play. ... The Panthers have killed 31 straight penalties. ... Florida is 10-0-1 when leading after two periods. ... Pittsburgh hosts Montreal on Wednesday. ... The Panthers play at Buffalo on Tuesday. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
|
