KANSAS CITY, Mo.
Courtney Upshaw Ravens Jersey . - Mike Moustakas had his eye on the ball from the moment it left Adam Joness bat, tracking it against the bright lights of Kauffman Stadium. When it settled into his glove and he tumbled into a dugout suite, a dozen fans were waiting to pick him right back up.Just like Moustakas has picked up his team during its perfect post-season.The third baseman with the four playoff homers dazzled with his glove Tuesday night. And when Billy Butler drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, the long-downtrodden Kansas City Royals were on their way to a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles and a commanding 3-0 lead in their AL Championship Series.It really did fire up the whole stadium, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said of his teammates circus catch. Hats off to the fans in the dugout suite, pick him up and put him back on the field. That was great. Moose finding ways to get it done.The entire team has found ways to get it done. The wild-card Royals have won 10 straight post-season games, including all seven this year, in their first playoff appearance in 29 years.The only thing thats slowed Kansas City so far was a rainout Monday.Weve got a snowball effect going right now, Butler said. The confidence couldnt be any higher. Thats when you come to the park each day, focus on the next pitch, focus on your job and just not be the guy to end the streak.Fresh off a combined three-hitter, Kansas City will send Jason Vargas to the mound for Game 4 on Wednesday, trying to advance to its first World Series since 1985. Miguel Gonzalez will go to the mound for the Orioles.Its hard to take advantage of mistakes when theyre not making any, Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce said. This is tough, man. Weve got one loss left. Weve got to find a way to start pulling this out. We got to find somebody to get it done.The Orioles are the 34th team to trail 3-0 in a best-of-seven major league post-season series — the only team to come back and win was the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, STATS said.Its been done before, so that gives you a chance, Jones said. Weve won four games before. Obviously, not in this situation. But weve won four games, four games, four games. So start tomorrow, start in the first inning and get some runs on the board.The Royals Jeremy Guthrie and Orioles Wei-Yin Chen hooked up in a tense pitching duel for five innings Tuesday night, and the game was still 1-all when Chen gave up a leadoff single to Nori Aoki in the sixth. Eric Hosmer followed with a one-out single to put runners on the corners, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter brought in hard-throwing reliever Kevin Gausman.Butler greeted him with a fly ball to left field for the tiebreaking run — just the latest example of Kansas City doing all the little things right.One of the best bullpens in baseball took care of the rest.Winning pitcher Jason Frasor breezed through the sixth, and Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis nailed down the next two innings. Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his third save of the series, setting off a wild celebration in the stands.In all, Kansas City pitchers retired the final 16 batters.It was the 13th game to be decided by one run this post-season, matching the record set in 2011 and tied last year. Six games have gone to extra innings, including the Giants 5-4, 10-inning victory over the Cardinals hours earlier in the NLCS.I wish I didnt have so much stake in it, Showalter said dryly. Id probably enjoy watching both teams play more than I do.After failing to take the lead in the first two games of the series, Baltimore managed to strike first this night, temporarily silencing a frigid, flag-waving capacity crowd.It happened in the second inning, when Pearce and J.J. Hardy hit back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead. Guthrie wiggled out of the jam, though, and grinded through five innings against his former team in his first start since Sept. 26.Chen matched him pitch-for-pitch until the fourth, when the Royals put together one of their quintessential innings: a pair of bloop singles, a walk and a tying RBI groundout.The Royals played catch up with their gloves, too.Moustakas made a diving grab to rob Pearce of a single in the fourth. Then in the sixth, he tracked that popup by Jones into foul territory, steadied himself at a railing near the dugout, then extended himself to catch the ball and tumbled into the stands.They were both tremendous plays, Royals manager Ned Yost said.The blue-clad crowd rose to its feet to give Moustakas a rousing cheer, and many fans were still standing when Butler drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning.By the time the Royals Big Three of Herrera, Davis and Holland had closed it out, the Royals were on the verge of another post-season sweep.Weve got to zone in on the task at hand, Holland said. Theyre not going to lay down. We understand that.STATS AND STREAKSOrioles DH Nelson Cruz had his streak of six straight multihit playoff games end. He was 0 for 4. ... Pearce had been 0 for 9 in the series before his double in the second inning.UP NEXTOrioles: Gonzalez has not started since his final regular-season outing on Sept. 28. Im going to try as best as possible to give our team a chance, he said.Royals: Vargas has also had a long stretch without a start, last taking the hill against the Angels in Game 1 of AL Division Series on Oct. 2. Ill be ready to go, he said.
Morgan Cox Ravens Jersey . - Nick Bjugstad took a deep breath before his second attempt in the longest shootout in NHL history.
Kamar Aiken Ravens Jersey .ca. Hey Kerry, Big fan of your column on TSN. It helps put things perspective from the official’s point of view. I was watching the game Tuesday night between the New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs and I was hoping that you could shed some light as to why David Clarksons late goal was disallowed.Members of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office and coaching staff are on the same page, assistant general manager Kyle Dubas said. And its not the same page that includes the NHL standings.Despite the teams stretch of seven victories in its past nine games, Dubas said president Brendan Shanahan, general manager Dave Nonis and coach Randy Carlyle arent happy with the way the Leafs have been outshot and outplayed.Theres nobody content that weve gone 7-1-1 in this stretch, Dubas said on a conference call Thursday. Theres no one really content with it. Its trying to continue to hone in on our process and really maximize our potential as a team.This state-of-the-team address by Dubas mightve been necessary after the Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night in a game where they owed everything to backup goaltender James Reimer. Toronto was outshot 42-19 but won in a shootout almost single-handedly because of Reimer.Dubas said Thursday that no one has to be an analytics expert to recognize thats not great. Recent trends beyond that game are also troubling, like the Leafs being outshot 303-247 over this nine-game run, an average of around 34-27 a game.In the process, the Leafs have picked up 15 points and moved into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Thats with some smoke, a few mirrors and mostly No. 1 goaltender Jonathan Bernier saving their hides.Weve managed to find a way to win, Dubas said. Weve shot the puck well, weve made the most of our opportunities, weve gotten terrific goaltending.The Leafs got off to similar starts the past two seasons before collapsing under the weight of their own struggles. In 2013 it was a Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins after a lockout-shortened 48-game season, and in 2013-14 it was an eight-game regulation losing streak that dropped them out of playoff conteention.
Mike Wallace Ravens Jersey. Asked about the pattern of being outshot badly in certain stretches lately, Dubas said the team has ideas about whats wrong and how to fix it but didnt want to share much more than that. Given the past couple of years, this doesnt seem to be a new problem.Its a process, Dubas said. I can tell you that within the organization that everyone whos been here has been aware of the issues that have been there, and now were just trying to all work together to correct them and move ahead.One thing the Leafs need to do better, according to Dubas, is play with the lead. Evidence of how to do that came in the two games after the infamous 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 18, when the Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning and Red Wings.We did a really, really good job of closing out those games when we were up and we werent overly conservative, did a good job not giving up too much to two very good teams, Dubas said. Then in the last couple games here, thats started to sag a little bit. But I think thats the one area that if we can hone in on that and just continue to find ways where we can close out games better, where we dont let our goalie close it out for us on his own, thatd be terrific.Dubass comments werent all bad. How could they be for a team that has won seven of nine? He sees the potential in the Leafs strong momentsWeve shown stretches of playing the way were fully capable of, he said. Thats probably what intrigues me the most about the group moving forward is the way that weve shown we can play. Its been there. Its a prolonged process ahead, and thats the way I look at it. Im excited to see if we can start to put that together over the long run.Note — Dubas said theres no timetable for the return of forward Leo Komarov, who has missed the past five games with a concussion.
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