| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
MINNEAPOLIS -- As he dived through the clubhouse on a makeshift slip-and-slide drenched with beer and champagne, a euphoric Nick Swisher could only think about how far his Cleveland Indians had come, and how quickly they got there. They staggered into September on a five-game skid that had them all but finished in the AL playoff picture and entered the final two weeks of the season essentially needing to win every game to scratch their way into the post-season. And they did just that. Cleveland earned its first post-season berth since 2007, beating the Minnesota Twins 5-1 Sunday to clinch an AL wild card as Ubaldo Jimenez tied a career high with 13 strikeouts. Swisher homered in the first inning for the Indians, who became the first major league team to win its final 10 regular-season games since the 1971 Baltimore Orioles finished with 11 straight victories, according to STATS. "The way weve been playing as of late, talk about starting pitching, talk about clutch hitting from our guys," a goggled Swisher hollered amid the celebration. "Im telling you, were bringing that wild card game back to the 216 and that place is going to be packed out and rockin, baby!" Cleveland will host Tampa Bay or Texas, who will play a tiebreaker on Monday, in the one-game AL wild-card playoff on Wednesday night. Jimenez (13-9) gave up one run and five hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Indians, the first team to sweep seven four-game series in one regular season since the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals. After the final out, Cleveland players mobbed each other on the diamond in a jubilant celebration. "Im so crazy about this group of guys," first-year manager Terry Francona said. "From ownership to baseball ops to the clubhouse guys, to be able to stand here and say the Indians are going to the playoffs, Im so proud of everybody." Scott Diamond (6-13) gave up four runs -- two earned -- and seven hits for the Twins (66-96). Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes also drove in runs for the Indians, who entered with a one-game lead over Tampa Bay and Texas. If the Indians had lost Sunday and the Rays and Rangers won, two days of tiebreaker games would have been needed to determine the wild cards. Jimenez and the Indians wanted no part of that. After giving up a leadoff single to Alex Presley in the first, the right-hander retired 17 straight. He was on a run of five strikeouts in a row when he walked Presley with two outs in the sixth and gave up a single to Brian Dozier. But Jimenez threw a called third strike past Trevor Plouffe to end the threat. Jimenez went 4-0 with a 1.09 ERA and 51 strikeouts in six September starts. "Its really good," Jimenez said. "Were going to start that game knowing we have played really good lately. Were going to be bringing everything we have, especially (because) its only a one-game playoff. Anything can happen. Definitely we have a lot of confidence right now. Hopefully we get that game." Swishers two-run homer landed just over the flower bed in left field in the first inning and the Indians tacked on two more in the sixth thanks in part to throwing errors by shortstop Pedro Florimon and Diamond. Cleveland lost at least 93 games in three of the previous four seasons. But the Indians increased their wins total by 24 games this year behind a strong pitching staff and Francona, a rejuvenated manager who has found a home in Cleveland after a messy end to his tenure in Boston in 2011. Their 21-6 record in September is the best in the majors, and they feasted on a soft schedule. The Indians won 15 of their last 17 games, beating up on the White Sox, Royals, Astros and Twins, but theyre not apologizing. "We needed every one of them," general manager Chris Antonetti said. "We never set any limits on what we can do as a team. Its been really fulfilling to see how weve come together and its a testament to this group of guys and the way theyve continually picked each other up. Its a really resilient group that had some tough stretches but always rebounded. Its been fun to see." And its not over yet. "I just hope we get to keep playing," Francona said. "We dont want to go home." NOTES: The Twins offence reached double digits in strikeouts for a game for the 66th time this season. The previous franchise high for a season was 26. ... Indians 2B Jason Kipnis stole his 30th base of the season in the seventh inning, his second straight season to reach that plateau. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. http://www.cheapnfljerseysfreeshipping.cc/ .C. United of Major League Soccer. United chose the defender in the second round of the 2013 MLS re-entry draft. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Wholesale Jerseys China . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars.BANGKOK, Thailand -- Canadian Milos Raonic upset top-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-3 to claim his fifth title at the Thailand Open on Sunday. The No. 11-ranked Raonic put up 18 aces to beat his No. 6-ranked opponent in the final at the Impact Arena in one hour, 17 minutes. It was Raonics fifth tour victory, adding to the three in San Jose from 2011-13 and Chennai in 2012. He also improved his unbeaten record over Berdych to 2-0 after also beating the Czech player in the Cincinnati Masters last year. Berdych had his chances in the match with a set point at 6-5 in the first but Raonic used his big serve to force a weak return before sending a forehand winner to escape. The Canadian then relied on powerful serves to force the tie-break, which he sealed with another booming serve. Raonic managed an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead in the second after Berdych netted two successive shots. At 5-3, Raonic produced another ace to set up a championship point before blasting a forehand winner to take the match. "It feels great to win the title," said the 22-year-old from Thornhill., Ont., now 37-17 this season. &quoot;The first set was about finding rhythm.dddddddddddd Once I did I was solid after that," he said. "I knew I had to play slightly more aggressive, not just put the ball in play. I did that and was able to take control, I got some insight into what I needed to do to beat him." Raonics next challenge will be in Tokyo, where he lost the 2012 final to Japans Kei Nishikori. "Ill have to carry this momentum onto Tokyo," he said before flying overnight to the Japanese capital for a Monday arrival. "The only thing Im worrying about is what I need to do in the first match (against Japans Go Soeda). "Im serving well and doing a lot of good things, I want to keep that up and put myself in a position to win more." Raonic said hes been working hard on his game since losing to Rafael Nadal in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal in August. "I maybe wasnt playing my best tennis there but Ive been improving a little at a time," he said. And the payoff for the work came in Bangkok. "Im happy with how I dealt with this whole week, I fought my way through and put the pieces together to win," he said. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
|
