LOS ANGELES -- Zack Greinke is in midseason form.
Paul Coffey Oilers Jersey . Cole Hamels is just starting his season. Greinke outpitched Hamels with seven strong innings,
Hanley Ramirez homered and Yasiel Puig drove in two runs for the Los Angeles
Dodgers in a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night. "It
wasnt like everything was incredible, but I could use anything in or away at any
time," Greinke said. "For the most part, throughout my whole career, Ive had at
least two pitches. There have been very few games where I dont have two pitches
working, and usually theres three." Greinke (4-0) allowed two runs and five hits
while striking out 11 and walking one batter intentionally. Manager Don
Mattingly tried to squeeze one more inning out of the right-hander, but lifted
him after Jayson Nix drove Greinkes 108th pitch to left-centre for a leadoff
homer. J.P. Howell got three outs in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen pitched a
perfect ninth for his eighth save after the Dodgers picked up a couple of
insurance runs in the eighth on Ramirezs leadoff homer to centre and
Justin Turners RBI single off Shawn Camp. Greinke is off to the second-best
start of his 11-year career. He won his first six decisions in 2009 with Kansas
City, when he finished 16-8 and established career bests with a 2.16 ERA and 242
strikeouts en route to the AL Cy Young Award. "Hes been a great pitcher. He took
off in Kansas City when he won that Cy Young and hes been good ever since,"
Hamels said. "Hes a true competitor and hes pretty smart. He definitely knows
how to pitch, and you know when you have to face a guy like him, you have to
keep the other guy from scoring because hes going to do the same." It was
Greinkes 18th double-digit strikeout game in the majors and his first in 33
starts with the Dodgers. This was the 17th consecutive start in which Greinke
pitched at least five innings while allowing fewer than three runs. Hamels took
the loss in his season debut, after missing the first three weeks because of
biceps tendinitis. The 30-year-old left-hander made 86 pitches, allowing two
runs and six hits over six innings with five strikes and a walk. He made 30 or
more starts in each of the previous six seasons, so starting the season this
late was an adjustment for him. "Thats in the past. I dont really think about
last year or last week. I just keep going forward and try to get healthy,"
Hamels said. "I was worried about what I had to do -- build up my pitch going
and get ready to start every five days. Thats what transpired for the past
couple of weeks. Thats kind of all I could do. "I knew what I was going into. It
was just a matter of preparing myself just like I normally have and getting
ready in a spring training-type setting. It was just a couple of weeks later
than everybody else." Puig struck out his first two times up, but lined an RBI
single to right in the fifth to put the Dodgers ahead 2-1 after Hamels gave up a
two-out single by Drew Butera and walked Greinke. "You can never walk the
pitcher. I understand Greinke is a very good hitter, but at the same time, you
have to let him hit his way on," Hamels said. "That right there was the
ballgame. It decided everything in terms of what transpired in the next inning
and it racked up my pitch count right there." Juan Uribes sacrifice fly gave Los
Angeles 1-0 lead in the second, after Matt Kemp led off with the first of his
two doubles. Ryan Howard tied it in the fourth with an RBI single after a
leadoff double by Jimmy Rollins. "One of the keys, where Rollins hit that
leadoff double, I didnt even try to keep him from scoring," Greinke said. "It
would be really tough. As long as you just limit it to that one run, its not
that big of a deal. Thats kind of the mindset. Its been working." Greinke had
nine strikeouts through the first five innings, including five in a row after
Howards hit. Greinke doubled with two outs in the seventh and scored on Puigs
triple off the right field fence. NOTES: Two-time Cy Young Award winner
Clayton Kershaw will make a minor league rehab start on Friday with Class A
Rancho Cucamonga as he works his way back from a muscle strain in his upper
back. He last pitched for the Dodgers in a season-opening 3-1 win over Arizona
during the teams two-game visit to Australia. ... The Phillies have 18
extra-base hits over their last four games after getting none in their previous
four -- the clubs longest drought since a four-game stretch in May 1968. ...
Dodgers 1B and cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez, whose 16-game hitting streak
ended Tuesday, didnt start for the first time this season. He pinch-hit in the
ninth and flied out to the warning track in centre with two men on.
Teddy Purcell Oilers Jersey Authentic .Benfica leads Porto by six points before it visits Pacos Ferreira on
Monday.Bruno Gallo scored what proved to be Maritimos winner with a left-footed
volley in the 32nd minute.
Andrew Ference Oilers Jersey Authentic . Weiese left the arena with a splint on his wrist and will undergo further tests
to determine whether the tendon is torn. Weise was acquired from the Vancouver
Canucks in early February.There have been a lot of seasons for a lot of teams,
well a lot of seasons for three teams that have started with the belief that
this is going to be the season quarterback Carson Palmer leads his team deep
into the playoffs, this year that chatter has begun again. The reason for that
optimism is the back half of last year where the Arizona Cardinals, Palmers
third team after the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders, posted an
impressive 7-2 record including a December 22 victory at CenturyLink Field, that
snapped the Seattle Seahawks 14-game home winning streak and was the only game
they lost their all season in their run to the Super Bowl title. The late season
surge left the Cardinals one win shy of the final wild card spot, but did create
optimism heading into the 2014 season. Palmer for his part helped elevate the
offence from dead last in the league to 12th overall including a 129 point jump
in scoring. If they hadnt stumbled out of the gate they would have been neck
and neck with the top two teams in the division and could have been a major
player in the playoffs, as they were at least in the race. Coming off a season
where he finished with 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, Palmer will have both
speed and talent at the wide receiver position at his disposal. Veteran receiver
Larry Fitzgerald bounced back last season to post solid numbers, pulling in 82
catches for 954 yards and 10 touchdowns. Michael Floyd did even better turning
65 catches into 1,041 yards and he also found the end zone five times to add to
the offfensive cause.
Authentic Oilers Jersey. In the pure speed department, the Cardinals have added Ted Ginn Jr. to the mix and with other
talented pass catchers on the field he will have the chance to prove a real
nuisance to opposing defences and also look for Jaron Brown and John Brown to
stretch the field in multi sets opening the passing lanes for the big boys. On
defence the Cardinals will have to replace Daryl Washington who has been
suspended for the entire season for a violation of the leagues substance abuse
policy and Darnell Dockett who suffered a season ending injury in the preseason.
Kareem Martin and Ed Stinson are a pair of rookies that are now going to see
their playing time increase with the bodies that they will have to replace.
Corner Patrick Peterson will become an even more important person on defence as
they will have to rely on both his skills and his leadership to marshal together
a defence that will be young and inexperienced playing together.
Antonio Cromartie is new to the defence this season but is a veteran with savvy
and skill at the corner position. The Cardinals have a talented secondary when
you also take into account their safeties and at the very least will be a tough
team to pass on, making the job a little easier for their defensive front and
linebackers. If this team can start this season like they ended last season,
they will be right in the mix as one of best teams in the NFL, but if they
stumble out of the gate again in the NFC West it might be too hard once again to
recover.
Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Auston Matthews Maple leafs Jersey ' ' '
