t the Boston Braves, then known as the from zgr123's blog
PITTSBURGH -- The latest addition by the suddenly splurging Pittsburgh Pirates hustled into the dugout in the sixth inning on Saturday night eager to step into the batters box against St. Garett Bolles Jersey . Louis if necessary. Take a breath, Justin Morneau. The Pirates -- and the pennant race -- arent going anywhere. A.J. Burnett scattered four hits over seven innings, Russell Martin hit a three-run homer and the Pirates beat the Cardinals 7-1 on Saturday night to regain sole possession of the NL Central lead. Neil Walker added three hits for the Pirates, who improved to 79-56 and moved within three victories of their first winning season since 1992. And theres still a month left. "Its a great feat," Burnett said. "Its been a long time, but our goals have been higher than that." Burnett (7-9) gave up one run while striking out six and walking one. He received plenty of help only hours after the Pirates acquired Morneau from the Minnesota Twins, hoping the 2006 AL MVP can give a middling offence a jolt heading into the stretch drive. Morneau didnt waste time getting to Pittsburgh. He left Texas -- where the Twins were playing the Rangers -- in the middle of the afternoon, arrived at the airport just before 8 p.m. and was in uniform trading jokes with his new teammates moments after pulling on a black-and-gold jersey. "You try to get here as quick as you can because you want to be a part of this," Morneau said. The 32-year-old first baseman will have to wait until Sunday to get his first major league at-bat for someone other than Minnesota. By the time he was inside PNC Park, the Pirates had things well in hand. Martin keyed a five-run second with his drive off Lance Lynn (13-9), who has a 7.66 ERA in his last four starts. "It just (ticks) you off and thats where Im at," Lynn said. "Im not happy with the way Im throwing the ball, but Im going to fix it and Im looking forward to the next month because its going to be better." It might have to be if St. Louis wants to keep pace with Pittsburgh. The trade for Morneau marked the second big move by the Pirates in five days as they try to beat out the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in baseballs tightest division race. Pittsburgh brought in Marlon Byrd and John Buck from the New York Mets on Tuesday. Asked if he was encouraged by the way the Pirates notoriously thrifty front office opened the checkbook to bring in three proven veterans, Burnett couldnt fight back a smile. "Thats what theyre supposed to do," he said. Pittsburgh ranks 10th in the NL in runs scored, one of the main reasons general manager Neal Huntington aggressively pursued Morneau. But the Pirates are averaging 5.2 runs per game during their current six-game homestand and Morneaus arrival gives MVP contender Andrew McCutchen and slugging third baseman Pedro Alvarez some much-needed protection. "Everybody knows we got better with the addition of Justin," Martin said. "Hes an ex-MVP. He knows what hes doing out there. Hes going to give you a productive at-bat and he lengthens the middle of the order." For a night, however, it wasnt McCutchen, Alvarez or Morneau but role players who provided the pop as the Pirates clinched the season series over St. Louis. Burnett got Pittsburgh started with an RBI single in the second, and Jose Tabata followed with one of his own to stake the Pirates to a 2-0 lead. It could have been worse after Lynn loaded the bases before striking out McCutchen to get out of the jam. Lynn wasnt so fortunate one inning later. Alvarez led off with a double, Byrd singled him home and Garrett Jones walked. Martin stepped in and sent a fastball into the front row of seats in right-centre for his second homer in two nights to give Pittsburgh a 6-1 lead. Walker added an RBI triple later in the inning. While Lynn managed to stay in the game, he left after four innings following a miserable start in which he gave up seven runs on 10 hits with three walks and four strikeouts. His ERA rose to 4.29. The deficit proved far too large for a suddenly reeling offence. The Cardinals lead the NL in batting average and runs but have scored just once in their last three games. "Weve had a few balls hit hard, but not a lot," manager Mike Matheny said. "I like what our offence has done over the majority of the season. You dont want to take a couple of games and start making conclusions. Were just going to keep going about it." Burnetts control had something to do with it in front of the second-largest crowd in the 12-year history of PNC Park. Working both sides of the plate effectively, Burnett assured Pittsburgh heads into the final month of a remarkable season in first place for the first time since it won the NL East in 1992. NOTES: Reliever John Axford, acquired on Friday from Milwaukee, pitched a perfect seventh in his Cardinals debut. ... The Pirates have outhomered St. Louis 18-3 in 15 meetings this season. ... St. Louis SS Pete Kozma grounded out while pinch-hitting for Lynn and is hitless in his last 29 at-bats. ... The series concludes Sunday. Joe Kelly (6-3, 2.91 ERA) starts for St. Louis against Kris Johnson (0-1, 3.00). ... The Cardinals have not settled on a starter for Tuesday in Cincinnati. Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Tyler Lyons are all under consideration. Carlos Henderson Youth Jersey . The NFL says Wednesday that the game between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions at Wembley on Oct. 26 will start at 1:30 p. Brendan Langley Youth Jersey . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany.The Blue Jays have had an incredible month of May - no two ways about it. With two games still to play, they are 20-8 including a nine-game win streak that came to an end at the hands of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at the Rogers Centre in 10 innings. If they win the last two games in May against KC, they will close out the month at 22-8. A year ago only four teams had a singular month better than that, three in the American League and one in the National League. Three of the four made the post-season and the other, the Texas Rangers, made it to the knockout tie-breaker and lost out in Game 163. The Tampa Bay Rays were the best going 21-5 in June, while the Cleveland Indians were a scorching 21-6 in a pressure-packed September run. The Rangers were 20-7 in August. The Blue Jays best month in 2013 was June where they finished 17-9, including an 11-game win streak. but they quickly faded after that. The Dodgers actually put together the most incredible short-term run on the way to winning the NL West. On June 20, they were sitting 12 games below .500 and there was talk skipper Don Mattingly was on the verge of being fired. Then, almost coincidentally with the arrival of Yasiel Puig , they went 8-1 to close out June, followed by a League best 20-6 in July and 23-6 in August. That in total is a fabulous 51-13 run that led them to finish the campaign at 90-72. Im not saying one 20-win month guarantees you a playoff spot. Injuries can undermine all that momentum, but one huge month can provide a team with an incredible boost of confidence and provide a bit of a cushion for the inevitable cold spells as the season unwinds. Heres something else. I know the season is only one-third over, but I cant remember the last time the Blue Jays had contenders for four major awards. Edwin Encarnacion for MVP, Mark Buehrle for Cy Young, Melky Cabrera for Comeback Player of the Year and, possibly, Casey Janssen for Fireman of the Year ( 8-for-9 in save opportunities, so far) and, if Edwin werent my pick for MVP, Jose Bautista would be right there, too. A lot can change over the course of the final fourth months of the season, but you cant ignore all of the positives coming out of the Blue Jays camp after all those years wandering in the wilderness. - There has been plenty of talk about the Blue Jays trying to pry right hander Jeff Samardzija loose from the Chicago Cubs to shore up the rotation and possibly push the Blue Jays over the top. Well, Alex Anthopoulos made it pretty clear on Thursday, the Blue Jays wouldnt be making any trades until July at the earliest and could wait up until the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. This wont really make any difference as far as possible dealings with the Cubbies go this season, but in their entire 37-plus years history, the Blue Jays have only made six trades with the Cubs. Only one really included a significant name player from a Blue Jays standpoint. On December 10, 2001, Gord Ash, eembarking on his final season as Jays GM, dealt shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Cubs for lefty reliever Felix Heredia and a player to be named later, who turned out to be 3B/SS prospect Jim Deschaine who never made it to the Majors. Brendan Langley Womens Jersey. Heredia only spent one season with the Jays before leaving as a free agent. Alex spent two-plus years with Chicago and even went to the playoffs with them in 2003, the year of the " Bartman" catch down the left-field line, that helped the then Florida Marlins rally to win that NLCS in seven games and ultimately go on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. Some Blue Jays fans believe George Bell was dealt to the Cubs. Not so, as he left the Jays and signed with the Cubbies as a free agent on December 6, 1990. On March 30, 1992 Bell was swapped across town to the White Sox for reliever Ken Patterson and, yes, Sammy Sosa who would go on to become a tainted legend with the Cubs. That is to this day considered to be the worst trade in White Sox history. Outside of teams that have never won the World Series, the Cubs have the worst Fall Classic legacy. They are 2-8 all-time and, since winning their last World Series over the Detroit Tigers in 1908, they have won only one playoff series since when they edged the Atlanta Braves in a five-game NLDS in 2003. They dropped seven-straight World Series appearances between 1910 and 1945 and their all-time playoff win-loss record is 27-54. If thats not enough, they have the worst record in the Majors this season at 19-32 and are sitting in last place in the NL Central 11-and-a-half games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and the season isnt even two months old yet. - Friday night at Dodger Stadium, Josh Beckett will be the latest to try and equal a record that most feel can never possibly be broken. Beckett will have the chance to throw a second-straight no-hitter when the Dodgers host Francisco Liriano and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds made history within a four-day span in June of 1938. On June 11, the 23-year-old lefty, in his first full season in the Majors, pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Braves, then known as the Bees. It was the first no-hitter by a lefty since 1931. Four days later at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Vander Meer was the Reds starting pitcher in the first night game ever in New York in front of a sellout crowd of 48,000. "Vandy" was outstanding again. He almost lost it in the ninth when he walked the bases loaded with one out, but he got a force out at the plate for the second out and then got Leo Durocher to fly out to end the game. Though he was a four-time All-Star and was one of a handful of pitchers to lead his league in strikeouts three years in a row, he finished with a 119-121 record and a 3.44 ERA with 29 career shutouts, He also has the ever-lasting fame that goes with back-to-back no-hitters. Josh Beckett gets his shot at immortality on Friday night. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
The Wall