ANAHEIM, Calif.
Julian Green Bayern Munich Jersey . -- With all the power they possess in the middle of their lineup, the Los Angeles Angels
dont usually need home runs from Chris Iannetta. Yet thats what they got in a
three-game series with the Kansas City Royals. The veteran catcher hit a
tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning Sunday to lift the Angels to a 4-3
victory. He also connected Friday night for their first run in a win. Iannettas
latest go-ahead drive sailed into the lower seats in the left-field corner. "I
didnt know if it was going to go out or not. I was just hoping it would stay
fair. Im glad it did," he said. Reliever Tim Collins (0-3) retired the first
batter in the eighth before Iannetta hit his fifth homer of the season. "I just
missed. I was trying to go away," Collins said. "You cant miss your spots in
those situations. Thats what I did, and thats what happens." Michael Kohn (2-1)
pitched a scoreless inning. Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his sixth save,
retiring Alcides Escobar on a popup with a runner on third. Garrett Richards,
trying to preserve some arms in the Angels bullpen following Saturday nights
13-inning 7-4 loss, pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
He struck out seven and walked two. "I was prepared to go back out for the
eighth, with the bullpen being taxed from last night," Richards said. "But I
always try to go deep in game because I know that if I do, Im doing my job. Im
going as hard as I can for as long as I can." Royals starter Jason Vargas was
charged with a run and three hits over 6 1-3 innings in his return to Angel
Stadium, and was lifted after 109 pitches with a 3-0 lead. Kelvin Herrera took
over with a runner at first and gave up a single by No. 9 hitter Collin Cowgill
on his first pitch. Mike Trout hit an RBI double with one out, Albert Pujols was
hit by an 0-2 pitch and David Freese had a tying, two-run single. Pujols tried
to score the go-ahead run from second on C.J. Crons sharp single, but
Lorenzo Cain -- starting in right field for the first time this season after 28
starts in centre -- threw him out at the plate. Vargas struck out six and tied a
career high with five walks. This was the sixth time in 165 big league starts
that the 31-year-old left-hander has walked as many as five batters, and the
first time since July 20, 2011, with Seattle. "I think he was being extra
careful with Pujols and Trout -- and Howie Kendricks also tough," manager Ned
Yost said. "Thats a powerful lineup over there. So either he was going to make
his pitch, or he wasnt going to make a mistake to those guys and let them drive
it out of the ballpark." Vargas walked his first batter in the second, third and
fourth innings after giving up a leadoff single in the first, but the Angels
couldnt capitalize. He walked his first two batters in the third before retiring
Pujols on a double-play grounder to shortstop and striking out Freese. "It was
just one of those games where I had to battle through some innings," Vargas
said. "I was just missing and wasnt able to get ahead on some of those guys, but
I was fortunate to get back into some counts later in the inning and ended up
getting out of it." The Royals, who scored first in all three games of the
series, took a 3-0 lead in the second. Pedro Ciriaco hit a bloop double that
scored Jimmy Paredes, who singled and advanced on Richards first balk in 291 1-3
career innings to that point. Jarrod Dyson reached on a fielding error by Gold
Glove shortstop Erick Aybar, and Eric Hosmer followed with a sacrifice fly
before Alex Gordon capped the rally with an RBI single. Richards retired his
next 11 batters, striking out the side on 11 pitches in the fifth. "Other than
the third inning, it was good," Richards said. Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in
24 starts with the Angels last season after four years with Seattle. He signed a
four-year, $32 million contract with Kansas City on Nov. 21. NOTES: LF Cowgill
made two sliding catches in foul territory, one on Hosmers sacrifice fly. ...
The Angels optioned RHP Matt Shoemaker to Triple-A Salt Lake and selected
six-year veteran LHP Wade LeBlanc to the major league roster. LeBlanc, who
signed a minor league contract in November as a free agent, was 5-1 with a 3.69
ERA with Salt Lake. He had a combined 20-32 record and 4.51 ERA in 96 big league
appearances with the Padres, Marlins and Astros, including 68 starts. ... The
Royals recalled RHP Michael Mariot from Triple-A Omaha and optioned C Francisco
Pena to the minor league team. Pena is the son of former Royals manager and
current Yankees bench coach Tony Pena.
Mats Hummels Bayern Munich Jersey . - Defenceman Robyn Regehr was placed on injured reserve by the Los Angeles Kings
on Friday with an upper-body injury.
Holger Badstuber Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat.
On The Block? According to thefourthperiod.com, the Carolina Hurricanes are
looking to trade goaltender Cam Ward, who has a no-trade clause and must approve
any deal. The Winnipeg Jets overachieved to some degree in 2013 and their best
players are likely to experience some regression, but there are plenty of
quality fantasy options on this team. Top Picks: LW Andrew Ladd has thrived
offensively since joining the organization, scoring 75 goals over the last three
seasons, which is tied for 19th, but also he hit a career high with 0.96 points
per game last season. Hes not likely to continue at that pace, because last year
brought a very high on-ice shooting percentage, but Ladd remains a quality No.2
left winger for fantasy purposes. RW Blake Wheeler also registered a career-high
0.85 points per game last season and has 105 points in 128 games over the last
two seasons, which ranks 30th. Wheeler has similar percentage issues to Ladd,
but because he doesnt score as many goals, having not hit 20 since his rookie
season in 2008-2009, Wheeler is a lower end No. 2 right winger. D
Dustin Byfuglien is a No.1 fantasy defenceman. Over the last three seasons, he
ranks second among defencemen in points (134), second in goals (40) and first,
by a significant margin, in shots on goal (712). Value Plays: C Bryan Little is
a fine player, though not necessarily productive enough for the 20 minutes per
game he plays on the Jets top line. Playing with Ladd and Wheeler does provide
value, though, so Little can settle in as a No. 4 fantasy pivot. A two-time
50-point scorer, D Tobias Enstrom has 48 points in 84 games over the last two
seasons, the problem being that hes played 84 of a possible 130 games. When he
plays, he definitely deserves a fantasy spot, but the recent injuries cast a
cloud over his value. Sleepers/Breakthrough: In the last two seasons, only two
players (Alex Ovechkin and Rick Nash) have more shots on goal than LW
Evander Kane, who has 4777.
Julian Green Jersey. Kane also had 47 goals in that time, despite less-than-ideal linemates, so hes ripe for an offensive
explosion, particularly if he finishes at a slightly better rate than his 9.5%
career shooting percentage. Aside from 2008-2009, when he hit the jackpot on
Joe Thorntons wing, RW Devin Setoguchi has scored between 0.25 and 0.29 goals in
his other five NHL seasons, finishing between 0.51 and 0.57 points per game in
each of the last four years. Those numbers are decent, and consistent, enough to
make Setoguchi a viable late-round fantasy pick. The third overall pick in 2008,
D Zach Bogosian has battled injuries, missing 32 games the last two seasons, but
is well-rounded enough to generate fantasy interest when healthy. Over the last
four years, G Ondrej Pavelec has a .908 save percentage, which ranks 24th (out
of 25 goaltenders to play at least 150 games), so thats not the most promising
for the 26-year-old, but he is an undisputed number one goalie, so that means he
could have fantasy value, if he could even get to an average save percentage in
the .915 or .916 range. Rookies: In 11 career NHL games, C Mark Scheifele has
one point, but he was a force in the Ontario Hockey League last season, scornig
79 points in 45 regular season games, then adding 41 points in 21 playoff games.
If Scheifele is really ready to make his mark in the NHL, he could bump veteran
Olli Jokinen from the second linem, a spot that would allow him to play with
rising star Evander Kane. If Scheifele cant make that jump right away, that
probably limits his fantasy appeal, but the opportunities will be coming soon.
Scott Cullen can be reached at
[email protected] and followed on Twitter
at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on
Facebook.
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