BROOKLYN, Mich.
Per
Mertesacker Jersey UK . -- Joey Logano was only a few laps away from
victory when suddenly, holding off Paul Menard wasnt his main problem. "I could
tell something was wrong on the back straightaway," Logano said. Loganos flat
tire with about five laps remaining allowed Menard to win the NASCAR Nationwide
Series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. It was Menards second
victory on that circuit and first since 2006, and Logano was left trying to come
to terms with a race that was going well until the final moments. "I hate to
give them away like that," Logano said. "You look at the silver lining I guess,
which is we had a fast race car and should have won the race. You win some this
way and lose some this way." Logano was leading when he was derailed by the tire
problem. Menard took advantage of his good fortune, holding off Sam Hornish Jr.
by 0.468 seconds. It was Menards first Nationwide start of the season. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. finished third, followed by pole-winner Kyle Busch and Brian
Scott. Regan Smith finished seventh and remained atop the points list. Menard,
one of several Sprint Cup drivers in contention in the event, won the 250-mile,
125-lap race in his No. 33 Chevrolet. He figures he might have had a shot to win
even without Loganos mishap. "I would have liked to have lined up nose to tail
with Joey," he said. "It would have been a hell of a race." Logano wasnt
disputing that, but the point became moot when he ran over something in his No.
22 Ford and dropped all the way back to 16th place because of the cut tire. "The
33 was quick and had a fast race car also. We were going to have a race because
he was catching me a little bit," Logano said. "Sometimes you are the bug,
sometimes you are the windshield. It is never over until it is over. You think
you are in good shape and you are worried about a caution more than anything
else and then the next thing you know you hear it starting to come apart." Busch
won his third Nationwide pole of the year but was unable to repeat his victory
two weeks ago at Dover. Scott was the highest finisher among this years
Nationwide regulars, holding his own among several Cup drivers. "Ive been
fortunate to run a couple Cup Series races, and I felt like it was a huge
benefit to me and my team in the Nationwide Series," said Scott, who along with
Menard was part of a big day for Richard Childress Racing. "The added track
time, just driving something with more horsepower. You actually figure out ...
the grip threshold, and you realize just how high it is. Then you can get in
your Nationwide car and you know that youre nowhere near it or youre at it, and
how to approach that." Hornish nearly won the Nationwide Series in 2013, but his
sponsorship money dried up and he parted ways with owner Roger Penske. Hes made
only three Nationwide starts this year, but the irregular schedule doesnt seem
to be affecting his performance. Hes finished in the top five in all three
races, including a victory at Iowa in May. He was in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe
Gibbs Racing on Saturday. "Its not really a knocking-off-the-rust thing, because
Im at the shop every week," Hornish said. "I feel like Im keeping from being
rusty by the amount of things that Im doing as far as that. Gotten to do a
little bit of testing, and theyve given me good cars. Everybody at Joe Gibbs
Racing has been super nice to me so far -- glad that we could come out and have
another good day for them."
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on.(SportsNetwork.com) - Postseason baseball returns to the Steel City for the
first time in 21 years on Tuesday when Justin Moreau, Russell Martin and the
Pittsburgh Pirates host Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds in the National
League wild card game at PNC Park. There have been over 600 playoff games
contested in Major League Baseball since the Pirates lost to the Atlanta Braves
in Game 7 of the 1992 NL Championship Series. None of those games, though, have
included the Pirates, who are back in the postseason for the first time since
their last winning season way back in 1992. This will be the first playoff game
in Pittsburgh since Game 5 of that 1992 NLCS. "Thats a long wait," said Pirates
second baseman Neil Walker. "Our focus is winning games and series, and we play
for each other more than anything else. But we also play for the city and the
fans. After teasing its fans with two straight second half collapses, Pittsburgh
put it all together this season behind NL MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen and
ended the year, 94-68. The Pirates spent a good deal of time atop the NL Central
and were 26 games above .500 on Aug. 8. However, they were a .500 team in 48
games after that, but won five of six to close the campaign. In fact the Pirates
cemented their season by sweeping the Reds over the weekend to secure homefield
advantage for the wild card game, outscoring their NL Central foes, 16-6 in the
process. "Itll be electric," Bucs outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "This city, its
sports fans ... they love their sports. Theyve had their Steelers and their
Penguins, and have been waiting on their Pirates. And here we come. "We wanted
to make sure were able to bring it back to Pittsburgh. One game. Now its time to
get it done." Pittsburgh had five All-Stars at this years Midsummer Classic, but
none shined brighter than McCutchen, who continued to state his case as one of
the best young players in the game. McCutchen hit .317 with 21 home runs, 84
RBI, 27 stolen bases, a .404 on-base percentage and .508 slugging percentage in
157 games. He became just the fourth major league center fielder since 1947 to
have consecutive seasons of hitting .300 with a .400 slugging percentage and
.500 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, joining Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and
Ken Griffey Jr. In addition to the great McCutchen, a big reason behind the
Pirates success was the man that will be taking the ball on Tuesday, left-hander
Francisco Liriano. Signed as a free agent this winter, Liriano missed the first
month of the season recovering from a broken arm, but showed no ill effects of
the injury upon his return and ended the year, 16-8, while pitching to a 3.02
ERA. Liriano, the Pirates first postseason starter since Doug Drabek, struggled
against the Reds, going 0-3 with a 3.70 ERA against them in four starts.
However, the Dominican hurler was terrific at PNC Park, where he has just one
loss in 11 starts (8-1) with a sparkling 1.49 ERA. Pittsburgh, as a team, was
50-31 in front of its fans this season. While the Pirates are back in the
postseason for the first time in over two decades, Cincinnati is making its
third appearance in four years after going 90-72.
Petr Cech
Arsenal Jersey UK. Like Pittsburgh, the Reds were in cruise control for
the better part of September, despite being six games back in the NL Central as
late as Aug. 10. Still and all, Cincinnati essentially knew it would be
postseason bound in some capacity after taking three of four from Arizona from
Aug. 19-22. The Reds, though, enter the postseason riding a five-game losing
streak after losing three straight home games to the Pirates. "Youve got to
block it out," manager Dusty Baker said of the rough finish. "Its a situation
where its a new season. What you did previously, it doesnt matter. What you
didnt do previously doesnt matter. Now you start the season all over."
Cincinnati has something to prove this October after an awful collapse in last
years NLDS. The Reds had won the first two games of that series with the San
Francisco Giants, only to lose the final three at home in the best-of-five set
to the eventual World Series champions. Johnny Cueto made only eight pitches in
that series before leaving Game 1 with a strained oblique and will take the ball
for the Reds Tuesday following an injury-plagued 2013 that saw him make three
trips to the disabled list. "Its a really meaningful game for me," Cueto said
via translator Tomas Vera. "This is the most important game of the season. All I
have to do is keep doing my job. Baseball is still the same. I hope to do what I
have to do." After missing 2 1/2 months with a lat strain Cueto returned to make
two starts late in the season and allowed just one earned run in 12 innings. He
ended his year 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA. "Im going to be normal. Im going to be the
same guy," Cueto said. "What happened to me in San Francisco, I was excited. I
was so emotional for the game and I think I overdid it too much. I really dont
know what happened that day or how I got to that point." As bad as Liriano was
against the Reds this season, Cueto has been the exact opposite versus
Pittsburgh, posting a 13-4 lifetime mark against the Pirates with a 2.37 ERA in
21 starts. "They have a great team," Cueto said. "They have really good players
so Im going to have to do my job as well." The matchup between Cueto and Liriano
is just the third in postseason history between two starting pitchers from the
Dominican Republic. In both 1999 and 2004, Pedro Martinez faced off against
Bartolo Colon. "I want to tell my people in the Dominican Republic to follow
this game," Cueto said. "There are two Dominicans on the mound. I want to give
advice to all the youth in the Dominican that you have to work hard and continue
working hard to do things like this." The Pirates took 11 of their 19 meetings
with the Reds, including five of the nine matchups in Pittsburgh. Tuesdays
winner will face NL Central champion St. Louis in the NLDS beginning on
Thursday.
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