For his 42nd birthday, Tom Brady (New England Patriots championship rings) received a special gift from the New England Patriots: a long-awaited contract extension.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback agreed to terms on a two-year, $70 million contract extension with New England on Sunday, a source told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. The deal raises Brady's 2019 salary from $15 million to $23 million. Brady is then scheduled to make $30 million in 2020 and $32 million in 2021, though both Brady and New England are "amenable" to adjusting the numbers if necessary, Rapoport added.
Already in uncharted territory, Brady is now under contract through 2021, his age-44 season. The quarterback has insisted for years that he would like to play until he's at least 45 years old. This deal keeps that goal still in the realm of possibility.
Brady was set to enter the final season of a two-year restructured deal agreed to last August before he struck an extension with the Pats this weekend. Brady was scheduled to make $15 million and carry a $27 million cap hit in 2019. The Patriots QB has still never entered a season in the final year of his deal.
The six-time Super Bowl (super bowl rings for sale) champion was never at risk of entering the 2019 season without assurances past this campaign. Striking a deal was a matter of when not if. Brady and the Pats came to agreement on Aug. 4, nearly one year to the day when they agreed to a restructured deal in 2018 (Aug. 10), so a contract adjustment like this was not unprecedented.
Brady appeared calmly confident this week when asked whether he deserved a contract extension, joking to reporters, "Have I earned [an extension]? I don't know. That's up for talk show debate. What do you guys think? Should we take a poll?"
There's no denying Brady deserved assurances from the Patriots past this season, but negotiating extensions for players of his age is not an exact science. The QB's ability to play into his 40s at an MVP level is unprecedented, and New England does not have a succession plan yet.
For some time, Jimmy Garoppolo (San Francisco 49ers championship rings for sale) was thought to be the heir to the throne, but New England traded him to San Francisco during the 2017 season. Behind Brady now are journeyman backup Brian Hoyer and rookie Jarrett Stidham, not exactly world-beaters.
Brady's play has barely taken a dip. After his 2017 MVP campaign, the Patriots QB got off to a slow start but finished with 4,355 yards, 29 touchdowns, 11 picks and, most importantly, one Lombardi trophy.
However, there's no telling when a quarterback, even one as limber as Brady, will see a dropoff in ability. Peyton Manning's skill memorably fell off a cliff during Denver's 2015 Super Bowl (authentic nfl super bowl rings for sale) season before the Broncos QB announced his retirement. The difference: Manning had myriad injury issues, while Brady has stayed relatively healthy since he tore his ACL in 2008.
Most important in Brady's extension might be the flexibility. The sides' reported willingness to revisit Brady's contract after every season allows for the two to tinker with his salary and bonuses, as they see fit.
Through thick and thin, Brady and New England have demonstrated a strong and unique working relationship. The historic success this century of both the quarterback and franchise are inextricably linked. Sunday's news confirmed that will remain the case until at least 2021.
Posted to Generalna
08/05/2019
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The Ottawa Senators (stanley cup ring for sale) took advantage of their chances on special teams against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and the Senators earned a 4-1 win against the Rangers.
Bobby Ryan, Zack Smith and Brian Gibbons also scored while Anders Nilsson made 27 saves as the league-worst Senators picked up their second win in the past three games. Colin White also had two assists.
"We needed the energy to come from different sources tonight," Senators coach Marc Crawford said while dressing four defensemen under the age 25. "Our young guys played well. Our young defenseman all played well tonight. It's a big challenge, cause you are taking a step up and playing against NHL guys."
Lias Andersson scored for New York (cheap New York Rangers championship rings) and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 of 31 shots as the Rangers fell for the second straight game.
Ryan opened the scoring when he sent a wrist shot past the glove of Lundqvist at 12:14 of the first period. Chris Tierney delivered the puck from below the goal line to set up Ryan for the power-play goal. Tkachuk also assisted on the play.
"We played a full 60-minute effort tonight," Nilsson said after his 11th victory with Ottawa since he was traded from Vancouver earlier this season. "We had good power play and a good PK."
While skating down a man 1:15 after the first goal, the Senators doubled their advantage when Smith redirected a puck past Lundqvist. Smith's ninth of the season was set up when he and Magnus Paajarvi executed a give-and-go around Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.
Pavel Buchnevich, who returned after missing one game with an upper-body injury, also failed to pick up Smith driving to the net.
"It was just an embarrassing effort all around from us," Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "I don't know if we just expected the game to come easy or whatever it was tonight, but we certainly didn't put forth an effort that deserved a result."
Ottawa converted on a two-man advantage at 3:51 of the second period to extend its lead to three. Tkachuk collected a loose puck near the side of the net and stuffed it home for his 22nd of the season. White and Thomas Chabot assisted on the play.
The Rangers converted a short-handed chance of their own when Anderson performed a nifty backhand, forehand deke to beat Nilsson at 4:52 of the second period. Vladislav Namestnikov and Brendan Smith assisted on the play.
Lundqvist, who has only two wins since Feb. 1st, was denied his 450th NHL (championship rings for sale) victory for his sixth consecutive game.
"It doesn't matter if you played 14 years or 40 games in this league, there is always a reason to go out there and leave everything you got," Lundqvist said. "It's just disappointing because it comes down to a couple of plays if our effort is a little higher I think there are no goals."
Gibbons scored his eighth of the season at 14:58 of the third period to make it 4-1. White and Gibbons completed a nifty passing sequence that led to the tap-in opportunity to seal the game for the Senators.
"We were just flat, very very flat," Rangers coach David Quinn said after the game. "Not a lot of emotion, not a lot of passion, not a lot of enthusiasm on the bench."
Game notes
Prior to the game, the Rangers announced that Mika Zibanejad has been named the winner of the 2018-19 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award. The award is presented annually to the Ranger who, as chosen by the fans, "goes above and beyond the call of duty." "He works hard on both ends of the ice and makes a difference all over the ice, more than any other player on this team," Lundqvist said of Zibanejad. "He deserves it." ... Rookie center Filip Chytil missed the game and is considered day to day. ... Andreas Englund made his season debut for Ottawa. The defenseman has played six NHL (stanley cup ring) games over the past two seasons.
Posted to Generalna
07/30/2019
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After watching the Oakland Athletics (cheap Oakland Athletics championship rings) stage a late rally to take the lead for the third straight game, it might have been easy for the Minnesota Twins to get frustrated. Instead, they got back to work and Max Kepler came up with another huge hit. Kepler drove in four runs, including the game-winner to cap a two-run rally in the ninth inning, and the Twins beat the Athletics 7-6 on Sunday.
"Kep's been doing it all year for us," said Twins (custom championship rings) manager Rocco Baldelli. "He's done it against everyone that we've thrown him up there against." Kepler also doubled and hit his 24th home run of the season as the Twins came back after blowing a 4-0 lead. His base hit in the ninth was his second walk-off hit in as many months.
Trailing 6-5 entering the ninth, the Twins got a one-out single from rookie Luis Arraez, his third hit of the game. Ehire Adrianza followed with his third hit as well, a triple off Liam Hendriks (2-1) that tied the game. After Hendriks struck out Jason Castro, Kepler lined the first pitch into left-center for his third hit.
"I heard the crowd behind me. It kind of gave me goose bumps for a second, and I could feel the emotions get ahold of me," Kepler said. "And then I just took a deep breath and zoned in on the pitcher." Hendriks had picked up saves in each of the previous two games and hadn't allowed an earned run in 20 2/3 innings. "These guys worked their tails off today and I couldn't bring it home," said Hendriks, who blew his first save since taking over as Oakland's closer in late June. "It's disappointing in that regard." Reliever Kohl Stewart (2-1) earned the win after pitching a scoreless ninth as the Twins earned a split of their four-game series with Oakland.
The Twins (cheap Minnesota Twins championship rings) jumped ahead 4-0 in the second on Kepler's three-run homer off A's starter Daniel Mengden, but Oakland cut that lead in half in the fifth when Josh Phegley hit his 10th homer of the season against Twins starter Michael Pineda.
The A's kept chipping away and eventually took the lead with two runs off reliever Trevor May in the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Chris Hermann's RBI double tied the game, and Phegley hit a sacrifice fly to put the A's on top 6-5.
But the Twins kept grinding and pulled out a big win ahead of a three-game showdown with another AL first-place team, the Yankees, who come to town on Monday. "I think with this win the team has to lift up a little bit," Adrianza said. "We've got a pretty big series coming -- we face a pretty good team and we have to fight these three nights."
ROSTER MOVE
After the game the Twins optioned RHP Zack Littell to Triple-A Rochester. Littell had pitched in three straight games, including striking out the only batter he faced on Sunday. The team said it would announce a corresponding move on Monday.
I'M WALKING HERE!
Both starting pitchers came into the game riding extended streaks with good control, but both had trouble finding the plate on Sunday. Mengden hadn't walked a batter in his previous three starts, covering 18 innings, but he walked five Twins in just 3 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, Pineda was fifth in the major leagues in fewest walks per nine innings this season and had walked just three batters in his previous five starts, covering 29 innings. But he tied his career high with five walks in 5 1/3 innings.
LEFT STRANDED
The Twins (world series rings) left 12 men on base through the first eight innings and failed to drive in a runner on third with fewer than two outs four times on the day. But Baldelli chose to take a more optimistic view of the situation. "The fact that we had those guys on base was a good sign,." he said. "We would much rather have that than the alternative."
Posted to Generalna
07/26/2019
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The New York Rangers (New York Rangers championship rings for sale) were glad to finally get another win. Ryan Strome scored 1:48 into overtime as the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak. Pavel Buchnevich also scored for the Rangers and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 44 saves as the Rangers won fur just the second time in 13 games (2-6-5).
"Obviously our goalie was huge but we did a lot of good things too," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "It's one of the most dangerous teams in the league and I thought we did a real good job in a lot of areas and finally won an overtime game," The Rangers lost the last five times -- and 10 of the last 11 -- when the game went beyond regulation. On the winning goal, Andersen had just made an amazing save on Boo Nieves on a 2-on-1 but the puck went to Strome who stuffed it in from the left side of the net to give the Rangers their second win in 13 games (2-6-5).
Zach Hyman scored for the Maple Leafs (stanley cup ring for sale) and Frederik Andersen stopped shots. With Boston beating Florida 7-3, Toronto fell seven points behind the second-place Bruins in the Atlantic Division. "I thought we did a lot of good things tonight. I didn't think we got in our own way," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "Obviously a disappointing way to end. I didn't think we were as good tonight as we've been in the last two games but I still thought we had lots of opportunity." Added Hyman: "It just wasn't going in. Give credit to their goalie, he played great. I thought (Andersen) played great as well." Buchnevich ended a scoreless deadlock 19 seconds into the third, beating Hyman to the puck in a mass of bodies in front of Andersen after Brady Skjei's shot from a bad angle produced a fat rebound. It was Buchnevich's 18th goal of the season.
The Maple Leafs (championship rings for sale) tied it 8:33 after a rush by Morgan Rielly opened up the Rangers' defense and John Tavares fed Hyman for his 19th into a wide-open net. It was Toronto's 33rd shot on the night. That was all the Maple Leafs could get against Georgiev, a second-year Bulgarian who had a career-high 55 saves in New York's 4-1 win against Toronto in New York on Feb. 10. "I have big respect for that team, obviously one of the top in the league," Georgiev said. "You know that you have to bring your best game to be able to (defeat) those guys."
Toronto center Auston Matthews took 16 shots but only four got to Georgiev. Another four were blocked and eight missed the target. "(You) just keep going," Matthews said. "It's eventually going to go in. If it's not tonight, it's going to be tomorrow. If it's not tomorrow, it'll be the next game." Tavares was hurt later in the third, sent flying by a cross-check from Rangers defenseman Marc Staal in front of Georgiev. The star center skated off slowly, hunched in pain after finally being helped to his feet. Staal was penalized on the play. Tavares returned for the power play, almost scoring.
Toronto (cheap Toronto Maple Leafs championship rings) was coming off a 4-2 win Wednesday in Buffalo but lost for the sixth time in nine games (3-4-2). Georgiev was busy from the get-go, forced to stop a dangerous wrist shot from Auston Matthews on the Maple Leafs' first shot. Toronto outshot New York 6-1 to start. The Rangers began to fight back, tying the shot count at 7-7. Matthews had two more good chances on a late power play in the period. Toronto outshot the Rangers 13-11 in a sloppy first period that saw New York win just 24 percent of face-offs. It was more of the same in the second with Toronto outshooting the visitors 9-2 to start the period. Georgiev was rock-solid, however, with a highlight-reel pad save on Hyman from point-blank range. "It just wasn't going in," Hyman said. "Give credit to their goalie, he played great. I thought (Andersen) played great as well."
Posted to Generalna
07/19/2019
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Slowing Cleveland's (Cleveland Indians championship rings for sale) charge in the standings, Jorge Polanco's two-run double in the seventh inning rallied the AL Central leaders to a 5-3 victory Friday night that ended the Indians' six-game winning streak in the opener of a showdown series. The Twins, who led the division by 11 1/2 games last month, took advantage of an error in the seventh inning by reliever Nick Goody before Polanco delivered his clutch, two-out hit off Oliver Perez (2-2).
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"Any time you give good teams anything, it can come back to bite you," Indians manager Terry Francona said.
The Twins (custom championship rings) took a small chunk out of Cleveland as Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver homered for surprising Minnesota, which saw its huge lead dwindle to 5 1/2 but slowed the Indians for at least one night. "It was a great way to start out the second half against a good team that's playing very well," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We continually forced ourselves into good situations until we finally broke through." Zack Littell (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth, Ryne Harper worked the seventh and left-hander Taylor Rogers got six outs for his 13th save.
Carlos Santana connected for his 20th homer for Cleveland. The Indians trimmed six games off Minnesota's (world series rings for sale) lead by going a major league-best 21-8 since June 4. Goody came in to protect a 3-1 lead and got one out in the eighth before he couldn't cleanly field a slow roller by Miguel Sano. The right-hander compounded his problems by walking Ehire Adrianza before getting a second out. However, Max Kepler made it 3-2 with an infield RBI single -- on a call that was overturned by video replay -- before Polanco followed with a drive over rookie center fielder Oscar Mercado's head, scoring Adrianza and Kepler.
"I knew I hit it well, and as soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to the wall," Polanco said. "I was just looking for a good pitch to hit." Francona felt Mercado could have made a better play. "It looked to me like right off the bat he got his feet a little bit tangled up and then he turned the wrong way," Francona said. "And after that it was too late." Garver made it 5-3 in the eighth with his 14th homer.
This young Minnesota team seemed to be showing signs of feeling pressure with the three-time defending Central champions nipping at their heels. But the Twins shook off two errors and came back to stun the Indians, who have been riding high and hoped to keep the momentum after hosting a memorable All-Star Game and epic Home Run Derby.
Indians (cheap Minnesota Twins championship rings) starter Mike Clevinger allowed just one run -- the homer to Nelson in the first -- over five-plus innings and was in line to get the win before Cleveland's bullpen had a rare meltdown. The Indians fell to 37-4 when leading after six innings. Roberto Perez's two-run single gave the Indians a 3-1 lead in the fourth.
A first-time All-Star at 33, Santana led off with his homer. Santana, who was beaten in the first round of the All-Star Home Run Derby by eventual winner Pete Alonso, has reached base safely in 30 straight games -- the majors' longest current streak. the first, Cruz guessed right and drove a 96 mph fastball from Clevinger over the wall in center and into shrubbery next to Minnesota's bullpen. It was the Twins' 167th homer, one more than all last season.
Posted to Generalna
07/15/2019
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With one big swing, Travis d'Arnaud made sure the Tampa Bay Rays (championship rings for sale) and New York Yankees didn't go into extra innings for the third consecutive day.
D'Arnaud hit a two-out homer off Chad Green in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Rays past the Yankees 4-3 on Saturday.
"I'm still on cloud nine right now," d'Arnaud said. "We definitely needed that."
Aaron Hicks had tied it at 3 in the top of the ninth for the Yankees, homering on a 2-2, two-out pitch from Colin Poche (2-1).
D'Arnaud's winning homer on the first pitch against Green (2-3) into the right-field seats got the Rays back within 7 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Yankees, who had won the first two games of a four-game series in extra innings. Tampa Bay is 3-9 against New York this season.
"It happened fast," Green said. "Hicks putting a great at-bat together there in the ninth, it's just frustrating."
It was just New York's (world series rings) third loss in its last 19 games.
Nate Lowe hit a go-ahead two-run homer off CC Sabathia in the seventh that gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead. He hit his first big league homer Friday night off Masahiro Tanaka.
Lowe was hit by a Sabathia pitch with two on and two outs in the second.
"Yeah, that was nice," Lowe said of his homer.
Sabathia went a season-high seven innings, giving up three runs and seven hits.
The Yankees (cheap New York Yankees championship rings) went up 2-1 in the seventh on Hicks' RBI single off Jose Alvarado, who left with two outs with a right oblique strain.
"The doctor did say it could be between two-to-six weeks depending on the MRI, which is going to be tomorrow," Alvarado said through a translator.
Blake Snell, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, kept the game tied at 1 by getting a shallow fly to right from Aaron Judge and Hicks' comebacker with the bases loaded in the fifth.
"We made it tough on Snell, although we couldn't quite break through," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Judge, who fanned in his other two at-bats against Snell, is 1 for 12 with eight strikeouts overall against the left-hander.
Snell allowed one run and five hits over five innings. He went 2/3 with a 9.64 ERA in six starts last month.
Brett Gardner put the Yankees up 1-0 on a second-inning homer. He has homered in consecutive games for the third time this year and 13th overall.
D'Arnaud had an RBI single later in the second for the Rays (cheap MLB Teams championship rings).
Posted to Generalna
07/11/2019
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After missing a couple of chances to put the game away Sunday, the Houston Astros (Houston Astros championship rings for sale) felt fortunate to finally close it out in the 10th inning.
George Springer hit a game-ending, RBI single in the 10th and the Astros beat the Angels 11-10 Sunday after a violent collision at home plate knocked Los Angeles catcher Jonathan Lucroy out of the game.
The Astros' Yuli Gurriel hit a grand slam to homer in his fifth straight game, and All-Star Ryan Pressly (2-1) allowed one hit in a scoreless 10th for the win.
Josh Reddick led off Houston's 10th with a double off Taylor Cole (0-1) before Springer hit a ball to the right-center gap with one out to give Houston the victory.
"We left a lot of guys on base, but at the end of the day, we found a way to win it," Springer said.
Mike Trout homered twice for the Angels, who watched Lucroy get carted off in the eighth inning after being bowled over by Jake Marisnick. Lucroy was taken to a hospital, and the team said he would get a CT scan and be evaluated for a concussion and nose fracture.
"It certainly didn't look like a clean play," Los Angeles manager Brad Ausmus said. "I don't know what actually happened, but it looked like Marisnick took a step to the left and bowled into him with his arm up. The call was right. Really, I think Major League Baseball should probably take a look at it. Consider some type of suspension, quite frankly."
The Astros (custom championship rings) loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Hansel Robles struck out Tyler White to send it to the 10th.
There were runners at second and third with no outs in the eighth when rookie Yordan Alvarez sent them both home with a single to center to tie it at 10. The bases were loaded with one out when Marisnick attempted to score on a flyout by Springer.
Marisnick crashed into Lucroy as he attempted to field the throw, and the catcher immediately fell on his back. He didn't move for a few seconds before struggling to sit up. Marisnick tagged home and then leaned over Lucroy to see if he was OK. He lifted his head off the ground a few seconds later as blood dripped from his nose.
Angels (mlb world series championship rings) players rushed to the plate as trainers checked on him. He was lifted to a sitting position after a couple of minutes and held a towel to his nose. He was then helped to a cart and taken off the field while clutching a bloodstained towel.
Marisnick was called out for colliding with Lucroy and the call was upheld after a crew chief review to end the inning.
"I watched the play again and it looks -- he just drops right in front of me and once I kind of made a decision it was too late," Marisnick said. "It was a bad play and I hope he's OK."
Trout has an American League-leading 28 home runs and set a franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break.
Trout had a solo shot in the sixth before Gurriel's slam in the bottom of the inning tied it at 8.
"Yuli has been incredible," manager AJ Hinch said. "I know he needs a little bit of rest at this break, but man I want to put him in the lineup tomorrow. He's doing such a good job of being clutch and getting good pitches to hit."
There was one on in the eighth when Trout connected off Will Harris to straightaway center field to put Los Angeles on top. Trout, whose previous high before the break was 26 home runs, has hit six homers in the last five games. Ausmus marveled at what Trout's production in the last few weeks with he and the team dealing with the passing of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in his hotel room on Monday.
"Considering what happened this week, it's kind of remarkable that he's been able to focus that much in the batter's box and be that hot," Ausmus said.
Shohei Ohtani added a two-run home run for the Angels in a five-run third inning that gave them the lead.
The Angels (MLB Teams championship rings for sale) led by four after Trout's home run in the sixth inning.
Gurriel has hit nine homers in his last 11 games to give him 14 this season after he finished with 13 last year.
Tony Kemp put Houston up early with a two-run homer in the second. Lucroy had an RBI triple in the fifth to make it 7-2.
Posted to Generalna
07/08/2019
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The Chicago Cubs (Chicago Cubs championship rings for sale) splurged on closer Craig Kimbrel last month in hopes of shoring up the back end of their spotty bullpen.
So far, the seven-time All Star is fitting in for all the wrong reasons.
Jung Ho Kang scored on Corey Dickerson's sacrifice fly to cap a frantic ninth-inning rally off Kimbrel and lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the struggling Cubs on Wednesday night.
Kimbrel (0-1) came on to protect a one-run lead and pick up his second save since signing a three-year deal with Chicago. Instead he trudged to the dugout with his teammate walked off with his first loss since joining the Cubs. The Pirates used a walk, a flare that turned into a double and some aggressive base running to win their third straight.
The closer walked Elias Diaz on a full count with one out. Kang followed with a double to right that Chicago's Willson Contreras couldn't track down. Diaz beat the throw to the plate from Chicago second baseman Addison Russell on Adam Frazier's fielders' choice. Kang sprinted home when Kyle Schwarber's heave from left field following Dickerson's fly ball was late to set off a giddy celebration.
"I think my stuff was moving and I was throwing it where I wanted to a little bit more, but didn't get the results," Kimbrel said. "That doesn't always work out."
Not the way the Pirates are playing.
Pittsburgh (cheap Pittsburgh Pirates championship rings) has won 12 of 17 following a seven-game losing streak to pull within one game of .500 (42-43).
"That was nuts. Craziest ending to a game that I've ever seen," said Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell, who hit his 26th home run of the season and added a double to give him 59 extra-base hits, the most ever by a National League player before the All-Star break. "I feel like that just adds to the momentum."
Starling Marte collected three hits for the Pirates. Frazier's streak of hits in seven straight at bats ended in the first but he singled in the seventh. Melky Cabrera went 3 for 4 and delivered a two-run home run off Chicago starter Yu Darvish but was also thrown out at home by Contreras to end the eighth while trying to score on a single by Colin Moran.
All it did was set the stage for Pittsburgh's (world series rings) 21st comeback win of the season.
"We play hard from the beginning to end," Diaz said. "It's special."
REELING CUBS
Victor Caratini homered from both sides of the plate for the Cubs, including a go-ahead two-run shot in the seventh off Francisco Liriano to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead. Javy Baez added his 22nd home run for Chicago but the Cubs lost their fourth consecutive game.
Chicago (cheap championship rings) missed a chance to pull even with Milwaukee for first in the jam-packed NL Central, where all five clubs are separated by 4 1/2 games heading into July 4.
"These kinds of losses are difficult but you have to come back and play the next day," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "That's how the game is set up. I do like the fact that we played a better brand of baseball. We did a lot of things well in spite of not having everybody out there."
No team has been able to take control of the division. Chicago looked like it was ready to in early June, but an 8-19 stretch brought the Cubs back to earth.
Chicago president Theo Epstein has threatened changes if the Cubs don't get going, and Chicago called up outfield prospect Robel Garcia on Wednesday after he racked up 21 home runs in the minors following a five-year stint playing in Italy.
Garcia ended up striking out in the eighth in his first big-league at bat, but by then Caratini had already given the Cubs the lead.
Caratini's fourth home run of the season and second of the game put Darvish in line to win his first game since April 27. Darvish endured a stretch of 10 straight no-decisions -- the longest by any starting pitcher in 42 years -- before a loss to Atlanta last week. He worked crisply for most of his 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks while throwing 62 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
Posted to Generalna
07/04/2019
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Snell (5-7, 4.87 ERA) struck out 12 over six innings for just his second win in 10 starts and the Tampa Bay Rays (cheap Olympic Champion Rings championship rings) beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 on Sunday.
"The way that I feel and what I'm doing I believe it's better than last year," Snell, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, said. "Consistency, swing-and-miss, strikes, less walks, weak contact, everything. The only thing that's bad is ERA and length that I'm going in starts."
Snell gave up three hits during an 80-pitch outing. He had an 11.94 ERA (17 1/3 innings, 23 earned runs) in five previous starts this month.
"Did a lot of things actually very similar to what he's been doing," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Just a little better at command and location to those pitches."
Snell threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of 20 batters.
"He wasn't really doing that before," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "When he's ahead in the count, he's a Cy Young winner for a reason."
Tommy Pham homered for the Rays, who won consecutive games for the first time since June 9-10. The first AL wild card leaders went 13-16 in June.
Four Tampa Bay (custom championship rings) relievers completed a four-hitter that included 17 strikeouts.
Texas got a two-run homer from Joey Gallo.
After Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI single and Willy Adames added a run-scoring single off Jesse Chavez (3-3) the fourth, Pham's fifth-inning solo shot made it 4-2.
Chavez allowed four runs and five hits in six innings.
Kiermaier had an RBI triple in a two-run eighth.
Gallo's two-run homer in the fourth off Snell got stuck on the "D-Ring" catwalk, which is approximately 70-feet above the right-field seats.
"I didn't notice that it didn't come down," Gallo said. "But that was a pretty cool home run off a guy who's really nasty."
Gallo had the only Texas (MLB Teams championship rings) hit through three innings, a leadoff bunt single in the second against a shift that had four outfielders and three infielders on the first-base side of second.
He was thrown out on another bunt attempt in the seventh against Colin Poche with a runner on first and no outs, and Texas trailing 4-2.
"Obviously a lot came into play," said Gallo, who talked with Woodward about the situation before the at-bat. "It's a tough lefty who struck me out the day before. Obviously if I lay one down and get it a little more over to the left, we're having a different conversation about it."
Cash was ejected by plate umpire Bruce Dreckman in the second for arguing after Avisail Garcia took a called third strike.
"Bruce Dreckman does a tremendous job," Cash said. "We just didn't see eye-to-eye."
Posted to Generalna
07/01/2019
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Jean Segura had no problem with three water coolers being dumped on his head after a big hit off his former teammate.
Segura ripped a three-run, walk-off homer against Edwin Diaz moments after Maikel Franco hit a tying, two-run shot against the closer in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Philadelphia Phillies (custom Philadelphia Phillies championship rings) beat the New York Mets 6-3 Thursday to complete a four-game sweep.
New York's Todd Frazier hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Hector Neris with one out in the ninth, but the Phillies rallied in the bottom of the inning -- their fourth straight win since utility man Brad Miller brought a bamboo plant into the clubhouse as a good-luck charm.
Diaz (1-5) walked Cesar Hernandez to start, and Franco followed with his third homer of the series. He hit go-ahead, two-run homers in each of the first two games. Pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez walked with one out and advanced to second on Scott Kingery's hard-hit, bad-hop single off Frazier's glove at third.
Segura then slammed his 10th homer into the seats in left. He leaped on his way down the first base line, got mobbed by teammates after circling the bases and was showered by sports drinks and water.
"I'll take 10," he said. "The guys are having fun so I'll take that."
Segura played for Seattle last season when Diaz had 57 saves for the Mariners.
"That guy last year was incredible," Segura said. "The fastball is his best pitch, so when you come to the plate, you look for his fastball."
It was Philadelphia's (world series rings) first four-game sweep against the Mets since Aug. 27-30, 2007. That season, they overcame a seven-game deficit with 17 remaining to edge the Mets on the final day of the regular season for their first of five straight NL East titles.
"This one stings the worst because it just happened," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said after his team dropped a season-worst eight games under .500 at 37-45.
Diaz has allowed at least a run in three of his past five appearances, and his ERA ballooned to 4.94. The All-Star closer is in his first season since being acquired from Seattle for a package of prospects. He's blown four saves this season, one shy of his career high.
"I was trying the best I could," Diaz said through an interpreter. "It seems like they were prepared for every pitch. Bad day for me."
Aaron Nola allowed one hit and struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings but didn't get a decision. J.D. Hammer (1-0) got two outs for his first career win.
Pitcher Zack Wheeler's single off Nola leading off the sixth was New York's (custom championship rings) only hit until Michael Conforto got a single off Neris with one out in the ninth. Frazier then blasted a 3-2 pitch out to left. Amed Rosario's RBI groundout extended the lead to 3-1.
Bryce Harper crushed a 438-foot homer in the sixth for Philadelphia's first hit since Kingery lined a single on Wheeler's first pitch.
Wheeler gave up one run and two hits, striking out seven in six innings.
Nola, a 2018 All-Star, has allowed one earned run in his last 15 innings and is pitching more like an ace again.
"I'm feeling good, my body is healthy," Nola said.
The Phillies had lost seven in a row and 16 of 22 to fall out of first place before the Mets (New York Mets championship rings for sale) came to town.
"The group is confident, they're playing easy and there's some swagger in that room right now," manager Gabe Kapler said.
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06/28/2019
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Arizona made sure there wouldn't be any late heroics in a fourth straight game by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers (custom Los Angeles Dodgers championship rings).
Instead, it was the Diamondbacks who came up big.
David Peralta hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning and the Diamondbacks rallied for an 8-5 win over the NL West-leading Dodgers on Monday night.
The Dodgers had won their last three on game-ending home runs.
Former Dodger Tim Locastro put the game out of reach with a two-run single off losing pitcher Dylan Floro (2-2), part of a four-run outburst in the eighth for the Diamondbacks. Christian Walker and starting pitcher Zack Greinke homered, Ketel Marte had two hits for his seventh consecutive multi-hit game and Arizona ended the Dodgers' winning streak at six games.
"I tell these guys, once we're in a tie game, let's play all night until somebody comes out and does their job. And I'll bet on us to do it right," Diamondbacks (championship sports rings) manager Torey Lovullo said.
The highly anticipated battle of Cy Young Award winners didn't produce much of a pitchers' duel, though both the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw and Greinke lasted six innings.
Yoan Lopez (1-1) worked a scoreless inning and earned the win.
Max Muncy drove in three runs for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers jumped on Greinke for three runs in the first inning. Joc Peterson and Justin Turner singled, and with one out, Cody Bellinger doubled to right-center, plating the first run. Muncy grounded out to first, allowing Turner to score.
Then, Chris Taylor doubled to right field, bringing home Bellinger. Both Bellinger and Taylor hit first pitches from Greinke.
"I just came out throwing strikes, they came out swinging," Greinke said.
Kershaw was burned twice with two-out mistakes. Walker took him deep to left-center field in the bottom of the first, tying the game. That gave Walker three home runs in his first six career at-bats against the Dodgers' ace, tying him for the most homers against Kershaw among active players.
"Baseball's funny. Things come in bunches," Walker said. "For whatever reason, I see that slider well. Two of them for sure, maybe all three (home runs) on that pitch."
Greinke's second-inning home run was a line drive into the left-field seats, his career-high third of the season.
"It was a bad game. It was just unfortunate they scored three runs early for me and I give it right back," Kershaw said. "It was a tough one for sure. It just lands on my shoulders to do better the next time."
Both pitchers settled down after early struggles, but the Dodgers (world series rings for sale) squandered an opportunity to at least draw even in the sixth. Bellinger singled and Muncy reached on a throwing error, before Greinke struck out the side.
The Dodgers threatened again in the seventh, and after Greinke departed one batter in. Bellinger was intentionally walked a second time, loading the bases. Muncy drew a two-out walk from Yoshihisa Hirano, tying the game at 4-all.
Hirano battled back from a 3-1 count on Taylor, striking him out looking and ending the inning.
Greinke and Kershaw had identical lines of six innings and four runs on seven hits allowed. Greinke struck out six; Kershaw struck out two.
Greg Holland got one out in the ninth for his 200th career save.
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06/25/2019
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McNeil homered and drove in three runs while making his first career start in right field, helping the New York Mets (cheap New York Mets championship rings) beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Friday.
"I think that this guy is playing the type of baseball that you want everybody to play," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said.
Michael Conforto also connected as the slumping Mets won for just the fourth time in their last 11 games. Brooks Pounders (1-0) got his first victory since he was acquired in a deal with Cleveland last week, and Edwin Diaz worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 16th save.
McNeil's two-run shot off Yu Darvish gave New York a 3-2 lead in the third. With two outs and Adeiny Hechavarria on second in the seventh, Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in left-hander Mike Montgomery to face McNeil, and he pulled an RBI single into right field to break a 4-all tie.
"Kind of swung at a borderline pitch, but got enough barrel on it and found a hole," McNeil said.
McNeil also played right as part of an unusual defensive lineup by Callaway, who was looking for more offense after New York lost 7-4 on Thursday night in the opener of the four-game series. He got his first major league action in right when he played two innings at the position May 21 against Washington.
McNeil moved to left before the Cubs (custom Chicago Cubs championship rings) batted in the eighth and made a key defensive play on Willson Contreras' bloop hit. McNeil picked up the ball, noticed Anthony Rizzo had taken a wide turn around second and ran at the big first baseman to begin an inning-ending rundown.
"I think that's just my baseball instincts kind of taking over," he said.
The Cubs also had Albert Almora Jr. picked off first for the final out of the sixth.
"We made too many mistakes," Maddon said, "on the bases we made mistakes."
Addison Russell hit a two-run homer for Chicago (championship rings for sale), which dropped to 2-2 on a 10-game homestand. Brad Brach (3-2) got the loss after surrendering Hechavarria's leadoff single in the seventh.
Darvish allowed four runs and four hits in six innings in his 10th consecutive no-decision, extending a franchise record. He became the first traditional starting pitcher with 10 straight no-decisions since Philadelphia's Randy Lerch in 1977.
"I want to compete," Darvish said. "Not only frustrating, like weird. I'm not losing. I'm not winning. It's just weird. I want to win."
While Darvish was just OK on the mound, he had quite a day at the plate.
He slapped a two-out RBI single through the right side to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the second. He led off the fifth with another single against Jason Vargas, and Russell followed with a drive into the bleachers in left for his fifth homer .
The 32-year-old Darvish entered with one hit this season and six for his career.
Russell's first homer since May 28 made it 4-3, but the Mets (mlb world series championship rings) tied it in the sixth. Darvish struck out Pete Alonso and Robinson Cano before Conforto went deep for his 15th of the season .
"I know I give up a lot of runs after we score," Darvish said. "I really focused on Conforto on that pitch, but just, he hit it."
WORTH WATCHING
If Craig Kimbrel sails through his second appearance with Triple-A Iowa on Friday night, he could pitch for the minor league club again on Saturday. The 31-year-old Kimbrel is ramping up after finalizing a three-year contract with Chicago on June 7 that guarantees the closer $43 million.
MULLING IT OVER
The Cubs are contemplating various options for their rotation after Adbert Alzolay's successful major league debut Thursday night. Alzolay pitched in relief of Tyler Chatwood, but the right-handers could switch places next time the spot comes up. The team also could go with a six-man rotation to provide some rest for its starters before the All-Star break.
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06/22/2019
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Jimenez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning in his first game against his first major league organization, helping the Chicago White Sox (cheap Chicago White Sox championship rings) beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old Jimenez was a top prospect for the Cubs before he headlined a rare trade with the White Sox for veteran left-hander Jose Quintana in July 2017. The Jimenez deal will live on in sports bars all over Chicago for many years to come, and the rookie added another wrinkle with one big swing in his first game at Wrigley Field.
"It was a dream come true," he said. "I wanted to hit one at Wrigley, but now with the White Sox it feels really good."
James McCann hit a leadoff single before Jimenez drove a 1-0 pitch from Pedro Strop (1-3) over the wall in left for his 12th homer . Considered one of baseball's top young sluggers, Jimenez has gone deep six times in his last nine games.
"We were hoping he could get a pitch he could handle and obviously he did," White Sox (custom championship rings) manager Rick Renteria said. "It was a big blow."
Adding another layer to the accomplishment, Jimenez cracked his bat on the swing. He smiled as he proudly displayed the broken lumber after the victory.
"It was an amazing moment," he said.
Evan Marshall (3-0) got two outs for the win and Alex Colome worked the ninth for his 15th save. Four White Sox relievers combined for four scoreless innings after Ivan Nova turned in one of his best starts of the season.
The slumping Cubs (custom Chicago Cubs championship rings) kicked off a 10-game homestand with their fourth loss in five games. Kyle Schwarber connected for his 16th homer and Cole Hamels pitched seven effective innings, but that was it for the North Siders.
"We just have to do a better job offensively," manager Joe Maddon said.
Hamels became the 10th left-hander with 2,500 career strikeouts when he threw a called third strike past Nova for the first out of the third . The crowd of 41,192 responded with a big cheer when his accomplishment was displayed on the videoboard, and Hamels tipped his cap in appreciation.
"To do it in front of fans that really understand and get it, that's a very special moment," Hamels said.
Jimenez had a chance to get the White Sox off to a fast start when he batted with the bases loaded in the first. But Hamels got him to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
Schwarber then lined Nova's first pitch of the game into the bleachers in left for his fourth career leadoff homer . He also started Thursday's 7-3 loss to the Dodgers with a home run on Clayton Kershaw's first pitch.
The White Sox tied it in the sixth. Leury Garcia led off with a double and Tim Anderson followed with a hard grounder into the hole at shortstop. Javier Baez made a sliding stop, but he threw wild to first and Garcia hustled home on the error.
IN ACTION
Craig Kimbrel took another step toward joining the Cubs (mlb championship rings) when he worked a perfect inning in his first appearance with Triple-A Iowa. The 31-year-old Kimbrel is ramping up after finalizing a three-year contract with Chicago on June 7. The closer could pitch in another minor league game Thursday or Friday.
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06/19/2019
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Albers allowed just one inherited runner to score in a key spot, and Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar homered to help the Milwaukee Brewers avoid a three-game sweep with a 5-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants (cheap San Francisco Giants championship rings). Christian Yelich had two doubles, extending his season-high hitting streak to 13 games. The reigning NL MVP is batting .472 (25 for 53) with five homers over that stretch. Albers (3-2) pitched the fifth for the win, working in relief of starter Chase Anderson, who gave up three runs in four-plus innings.
"Matt came in in a big spot, was able to limit the damage to just one run," Yelich said. "With the bases loaded no outs you take that any time, consider that a victory. "That was really the game right there. It was a big spot." Albers struck out Posey before giving up Brandon Belt's sacrifice fly, which closed the Giants to within 4-3. He got Brandon Crawford to hit a pop up for the last out after walking Evan Longoria. Albers, Junior Guerra, Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader combined for five shutout innings of two-hit ball in relief for the Brewers. Hader pitched a perfect two final innings, striking out three to get his 17th save in 18 chances. "Our bullpen had a great game today," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Really good stuff. That was the game, the bullpen today was the game for sure, and they did a nice job."
Thames' homer, his 10th of the season, off Giants (custom championship rings) starter Jeff Samardzija (3-6) in the fifth gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead. Samardzija gave up four runs on nine hits and two walks in five innings. The 34-year-old threw 114 pitches. Aguilar hit a pinch-hit homer off Giants reliever Derek Holland leading off the sixth to make it 5-3. The Brewers took an early lead on RBI singles from Yasmani Grandal in the first and Ben Gamel in the second. The Giants tied it in the second, when Evan Longoria's leadoff triple started a two-run inning. Yelich's double made it 3-2 in the fourth. The Brewers had lost four of their previous five after winning straight.
The Giants (mlb world series championship rings) had their season-high four-game winning streak snapped as they concluded their homestand at 5-3. "We didn't cash in enough," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "There was a lot of traffic out there and we couldn't get the big hit." With two outs and Ben Gamel aboard in the top of the second, Yelich hit a drive to right that slipped through a small gap between the fencing doors in right field. The fluky play cost the Brewers a run with Gamel, who would have easily scored if the ball remained in play, held at third on the ground-rule double. "It went through the wall, we obviously wish it didn't go through the wall," Yelich said. "Just one of those freak baseball plays."
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06/17/2019
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One year after he was left off Atlanta's (cheap Atlanta Braves championship rings) postseason rotation, Julio Teheran has re-emerged as a reliable leader on a young staff. Teheran's roll of superb starts is a big reason the Braves are back in first place in the NL East. Josh Donaldson drove in the tie-breaking run in Atlanta's five-run fifth inning to win his rematch with Joe Musgrove, Teheran allowed only one earned run and the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Thursday to complete a four-game sweep.
The Braves (championship rings for sale) have won seven straight to move into the division lead, 1 1/2 games ahead of idle Philadelphia. The Phillies and Braves open a three-game series on Friday night. Teheran (5-4) opened the game with two walks and needed 27 pitches to survive the first inning. He recovered, lasting six innings while giving up only three hits. He has allowed no more than one earned run in his last eight starts. Manager Brian Snitker said he saw Teheran's renewed resolve in spring training. "It was very evident to me that he was on a mission," Snitker said.
Teheran lowered his ERA to 2.92, a full run lower than last season's 3.94 mark, when he finished 9-9 and was in the bullpen for the NL division series loss to the Dodgers. He is on pace to challenge his career-best ERA of 2.89 in 2014, when he won 14 games. "That's the way I want to pitch," Teheran said. "Last year, it doesn't mean I was bad, but it was up and down." Luke Jackson gave up Starling Marte's run-scoring single in the ninth before recovering for his 10th save in 15 chances.
The Pirates (Pittsburgh Pirates championship rings) have lost seven straight after failing to hold an early 2-1 lead in this one. Musgrove (4-7) struck out Donaldson in the first inning. It was their first meeting since Musgrove hit Donaldson with a pitch on Monday night, igniting a confrontation that led to both players' ejections. The short outing gave Musgrove the rare opportunity of making two starts in the same series. "I was ready to go out and attack him like I normally would," Musgrove said. "I put that behind me. I can't go out there with that stuff lingering in the back of my mind or try to prove a point with him."
Musgrove hit Dansby Swanson with a first-inning pitch, but there was no sign of leftover bad feelings from the skirmish three days earlier. Freddie Freeman's triple to the right-field corner in the fifth drove in Swanson to tie the game. Donaldson, who is appealing his one-game suspension for his role in the confrontation, hit a single to right to drive in Freeman. Ozzie Albies added a two-run double to center field in the big inning.
The Braves' poor outfield defense helped Pittsburgh (mlb championship rings for sale) take the lead in the fourth. Left fielder Matt Joyce lost Colin Moran's fly ball in the sun, missing his late lunge for the ball as Moran moved to second on the error. Moran scored when Elias Diaz doubled past a diving Ronald Acuna Jr. in center field. Musgrove faced five batters in the fifth without recording an out. He allowed six runs on nine hits and two walks.
Posted to Generalna
06/14/2019
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