overall MLS table after going 8-1-3 from July from zgr123's blog
SAN FRANCISCO -- Cody Asche took one look at the starting lineup and felt his confidence grow. Cheap Predators Jerseys China . Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg challenged him, and that was enough. Asche hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to tie the game and then started the decisive rally with a double to open the 10th as Philadelphia rallied to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Friday night. "He saw something in me that made him want to put me in," Asche said. "I was confident just by the fact I was in there." Chase Utley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th and Ryan Howard followed with a sacrifice fly against Javier Lopez, snapping the Phillies three-game losing streak. Sandberg gave Andres Blanco the day off and went with Asche against Madison Bumgarner. "If you want a chance to become a regular player, you have to face lefties," Sandberg said. Asche connected against Jeremy Affeldt, who allowed his first home run this season, and doubled off Santiago Casilla (1-3) to set the stage for the winning rally. Ken Giles (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings, and Jonathan Papelbon worked the 10th for his 28th save in 31 chances. Bumgarner threw seven strong innings for his first quality start at home since June 10, a span of seven games. He allowed one run and four hits, striking out nine without a walk. "It was nice to pitch a good game at home," Bumgarner said. "Its been forever." Cole Hamels also delivered a quality start for Philadelphia, giving up three runs and nine hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out five. Pablo Sandoval had three hits, but the Giants lost their sixth in seven games. Bumgarner retired the first 10 hitters he faced, five on strikeouts, before allowing back-to-back hits by Jimmy Rollins and Utley. Hamels let the leadoff hitter reach base in five innings and had baserunners every inning. He was able to avoid trouble with the exception of the fourth. Buster Posey led off with a single and Sandoval hit a ground-rule double ahead of Michael Morses first home run in August, a three-run drive into the left-field seats. Marlon Byrd countered with his 23rd homer leading off the fifth. TRAINERS ROOM Phillies: OF John Mayberry Jr. continues to deal with inflammation in his left wrist. His recovery has been interrupted by minor setbacks following workouts. Giants: 1B Brandon Belt will get another opinion on his concussion when the Giants visit Chicago next week. Belt will see concussion specialist Michael Collins in Pittsburgh. UP NEXT Phillies: RHP Kyle Kendrick (5-11, 4.88 ERA) takes the mound Saturday afternoon. He is 1-3 in his past six starts and has an ERA of 6.98 over his last seven. Giants: RHP Tim Hudson (8-9, 2.81) pitches Saturday. The Giants have lost seven of his last 10 starts. Hudson has started 30 games against the Phillies and is 11-10 with a 3.60 ERA against them. BYRD IS THE WORD Giants third base coach Tim Flannery sent Sandoval home with two outs in the eighth on Joe Paniks single to right. Byrds throw to Carlos Ruiz was there in plenty of time, keeping the game tied. "Defence always comes first," Byrd said. "Im not always going to hit, and I take pride in my defence." Byrd also ran down Morses 400-foot fly in the second to the roomy area of the ballpark known as Triples Alley. COOL LIKE CARLTON Hamels had his streak of pitching at least seven innings and allowing no more than one earned run stopped at five games, one shy of matching the franchise record. Steve Carlton was the last Phillies pitcher to do it, in 1972. Grover Cleveland Alexander (1916) and Elmer Jacobs (1918) also accomplished the feat. Cheap Predators Jerseys Authentic . Bookies were offering odds of 13/1 before kickoff that the home team Houston Dynamo would prevail by three goals to nil. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . The club says its first-choice centre back "underwent medical tests on Wednesday morning" which confirmed he has injured his right hamstring. The injury was caused in the second minute of Tuesdays 4-1 league win over Real Sociedad in the Camp Nou when teammate Sergio Busquets accidentally struck Mascherano just above the knee with an outstretched boot.Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers will be jostling for position in the Western Conference table when the two sides meet at Jeld-Wen Field on Sunday. You can watch the game live tonight at 9pm et/6pm pt on TSN2. There is perhaps no greater rivalry in MLS than Portlands everlasting battle with Seattle for supremacy in the Pacific Northwest, but it has been heightened this year with both sides looking destined to compete in the playoffs. Portland missed out on the postseason in its first two years in MLS, but the third time looks to be the charm as first-year head coach Caleb Porter has guided the club through an impressive campaign. The Timbers have lost just five regular season contests all year, leaving the club in third place in the West on 50 points. But while that points total is one less than Seattle, the form table indicates that Portland is in the superior position. The Timbers are unbeaten in their last five MLS contests, taking 11 points out of a possible 15 during that stretch. They also have not conceded a goal on their home turf since a 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake on Aug. 31 and have not suffered a home defeat since a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Impact on March 3, the clubs first match of the season. Most recently, Portland split the points with Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a 2-2 draw at BC Place, a big result in Porters eyes. "First of all, it is a point," the Portland boss said after the match. "Its a big point overall. Its not what we came here for, but it doesnt allow them to make up any ground, so thats huge. "Obviously, we want to keep moving up, contend for ttop-three, contend for Supporters Shield - were still realistically capable of doing that, even though we got a point. Cheap Predators Jerseys. More important than that, we dont allow (Vancouver) to get closer. For us to do that on the road, I think, is a positive. Well leave here feeling good about a point." While Portland has been quite formidable over the past month, Seattle has been dreadful. The Sounders enter Saturdays Cascadia Cup tilt having lost their last two league contests by a combined score of 9-2, both of which came against Western Conference opposition vying for playoff spots. "We live and die together. We live and die as team, as a staff - everybody," Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid told the clubs official website. "Weve just got to find our form again. The issue is not who we play. The issue is us finding our form." Seattle once sat atop the overall MLS table after going 8-1-3 from July 20 to Sept. 29, but the teams most recent defeats, paired with a strong run from Red Bull New York, has seen Mike Petkes side usurp the Sounders at the summit. Things will not get easier for Schmids side as it will be without Brad Evans and Eddie Johnson, who are away with the United States on national team duty. Seattle can take a bit of confidence away from its previous two meetings with Portland at CenturyLink Field this season. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw on March 16 before the Sounders claimed a 1-0 victory on Aug. 25 behind a goal from Johnson at the hour mark. But with Johnson absent and the Sounders on the road in poor form, picking up maximum points from Sundays clash seems like a daunting task. 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 ' ' '
The Wall