CHICAGO (AP) A man
Bradley Zimmer Jersey , who was wearing a plastic bucket on his head when a large metal pin fell from Wrigley Field’s centerfield scoreboard during a
Chicago Cubs game, said he feels lucky to be alive.Kyle McAleer was sitting with
his family and friends under the manual scoreboard when he was hit by a 6- to
8-inch pin during last week’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.The
20-year-old Iowa man said he began wearing the bucket with his family as a
”rally cap” after he saw former Cubs player Starlin Castro wear one a few years
ago.McAleer said he put the bucket on his head about a half-inning before his
injury. He said he believes he might have been killed without it.”It might have
fractured my skull. It definitely could have been fatal. I am extremely lucky,”
McAleer said.Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the incident occurred when a loose
pin that rolled out of the scoreboard when a tile was being changed. The
scoreboard is now secure, Green said.The Cubs have sent McAleer some gifts,
including a jersey. McAleer praised the team for their quick response, but said
no decision has been about legal action.”If it was any other injury than a head
injury, chances are this already would have been settled,” McAleer said. ”But
the fact it was a head injury, and there’s still a definite possibility I could
suffer concussion symptoms within a couple of weeks or months after the
incident.” NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge got the party started with a two-run
homer nine pitches in . By the time Giancarlo Stanton capped the mauling with
monstrous drive in his postseason debut , New York Yankees fans already were
looking ahead. “We want Boston!” they chanted.Coming up next.“It’s going to be
intense,” CC Sabathia predicted after the Yankees pounded the Oakland Athletics
7-2 on Wednesday night to win their second straight AL wild-card game.New York
will take a train to Boston for a best-of-five Division Series starting Friday
night, a matchup of 100-win heavyweights.“I think they’re ready and relish the
opportunity to go up against the game’s best this year
http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-brandon-guyer-jersey ,” Yankees rookie manager Aaron Boone said of his players.Boone remains a dirty
word among the Fenway Park faithful. His 11th-inning homer in Game 7 of the 2003
AL Championship Series beat the Red Sox. A year later Boston overcame the
Yankees and became the first major league team to bounce back from a 3-0
postseason deficit. The Red Sox went on to win their first World Series since
1918, but Boone’s drive off Tim Wakefield has not been forgotten or
forgiven.Boston went 10-9 against the Yankees this year and set a club record
with 108 wins. New York became the first team since the 2001 A’s to reach triple
digits in wins and fail to finish first.“We’ve just got to do our homework and
come out swinging,” said Luke Voit, who broke open the game with a two-run
triple in a four-run sixth .Luis Severino atoned for last year’s flop in the
wild-card game against Minnesota, pitching no-hit shutout ball into the fifth .
Dellin Betances entered with two on and got six straight outs as part of a
five-hitter, and the Yankees extended their home postseason winning streak to
seven. Severino let out a primal scream after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the
fourth with a 99.6 fastball — his fastest pitch of the night — to strike out
Marcus Semien .Yankees fans fretted about an all-or-nothing knockout match,
thinking back to last year when Severino fell behind Minnesota 3-0 just 10
pitches in. New York rallied for an 8-4 win against the Twins, but the memory
remained raw.Severino retired his first three batters in order on 10 pitches“I
think the first inning was huge for me, after all the stuff that people say on
social media, all of that stuff,” he explained.Andrew McCutchen walked leading
off the bottom half against reliever-turned starter Liam Hendricks, and Judge
hit a drive over the left-field scoreboard
[b]Erik Gonzalez Jersey[/b] , joining Reggie Jackson as the only Yankees with four home runs in their first seven postseason home games.“I was already excited
from the national anthem on,” said Judge, who hit his second homer since
returning in mid-September after missing seven weeks with a broken right
wrist.Short on options, A’s manager Bob Melvin opted for baseball’s latest fad:
starting a reliever. Hendriks (the loser) had not allowed a home run since June
24, the night before he was cut from the major league roster.“Got into some bad
counts and they made me pay,” Hendriks said.Voit’s two-run triple missed a home
run by inches. Stanton added a 443-foot drive off closer Blake Treinen in the
eighth that landed in left field’s second deck, completing a power show by the
team that set a major league record for most home runs in a season. Stanton’s
drive left the bat at 117.4 mph and Judge’s 116.1 mph, the hardest-hit
postseason home runs since measuring began in 2015.A sellout crowd enjoyed one
of those boisterous Bronx celebrations that used to be an October staple.“Early
in the game they’re going to be loud. It’s our job to try to take them out of
it,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “This is a tough ballpark to play
in.”Oakland has lost eight straight winner-take-all postseason games since
beating Willie Mays and the New York Mets in Game 7 of the 1973 World Series,
and dropped all four of their postseason matchups against the Yankees.“It’s
pretty hard but I’m not disappointed at all,” said big league home run champion
Khris Davis, who hit a two-run homer off Zach Britton in the eighth . “I think
we showed some people we can do some things and I think next year
http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-tomlin-jersey , we’re a little bit more of a threat.”Severino was 14-2 at the All-Star break
this year but slumped badly in the second half, and Boone’s decision to start
the 24-year-old right-hander against the A’s instead of J.A. Happ or Masahiro
Tanaka was intensely debated — the type of argument Boone used to enjoy as a
television analyst who broadcast last year’s wild-card game.Severino made the
move look like genius. He threw nine fastballs in the first inning, then
switched to more offspeed. He threw 36 fastballs, 37 sliders and 14 changeups in
all.“Because they’re patient and they’re dangerous, you’ve got to be able to mix
those pitches and you’ve got to be able to throw strikes with all those
pitches,” Boone said.He struck out seven his first time through the batting
order, but wound up walking four as he pitched carefully. Jonathan Lucroy and
Nick Martini singled leading off the fifth, and Boone signaled for Betances to
relieve.This time, Severino had a no-decision to savor.Betances retired Matt
Chapman on a liner to right and Jed Lowrie on a fly to center, then struck out
Davis with a slider and gleefully backpedaled off the mound .“I’ve been waiting
for this moment a long time. Last year I was a cheerleader,” Betances said,
reflecting on his reduced role last October after late-season control
problems.New York opened a 6-0 lead in the bottom half. Judge started it with a
double — his grounder hit about a foot foul just beyond the batter’s
box
Carlos Carrasco Jersey , then twisted fair down the line . Aaron Hicks followed with another double off Fernando Rodney.After Treinen walked Stanton,
and Voit hit an opposite-field drive to right, thinking it was a home run and
raising his right arm at the plate. He chugged into third with his first big
league triple and let loose with a holler.The burly Voit tumbled across the
plate, actually making a nifty slide , to just make it home on Didi Gregorius‘
sacrifice fly.Betances (the winner) pitched a perfect sixth and David Robertson
a 1-2-3 seventh. Aroldis Chapman followed Britton and finished with the final
two of 13 strikeouts by New York pitchers .Oakland was a little engine that
could, coming off three straight last-place finishes and last in opening-day
payroll before creeping up to 28th following midseason acquisitions to bolster
its injury devastated pitching staff. The A’s managed to win 97 games despite a
half-dozen starting pitchers getting hurt.“We feel like with the group that we
have here together that we’re going to get better each and every year,” Melvin
said.While he spoke, the Yankees were spraying Chandon in a soggy clubhouse
filled with the sweet smell of California brut.“This place was crazy tonight,”
Stanton said. “Everything I would have expected and more.”
