WASHINGTON -- By the time Stephen Strasburg reached back and threw a 96 mph fastball for a strikeout to end the top of the seventh with his 106th pitch, his
usual first-inning struggles seemed long ago -- and his day seemed over.
Bruce
Boudreau Maple Leafs Jersey Authentic . When the next inning rolled around
Wednesday, though, Nationals manager Matt Williams sent Strasburg to the mound
to face the top of the Dodgers order in what would become a 3-2 victory for
Washington, the first time this season the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009
amateur draft pitched into the eighth. "Hes our horse," Williams said,
indicating hed like to keep his ace in deep into games more often. "We dont want
to do that every time," Williams added. "But in a game like today, hes got the
lead and (you) want to show confidence in him that were willing to send him back
out there to protect that lead." Said Strasburg, who improved to 3-2 with a 3.42
ERA: "Thats the position I want to be in." After waiting through a rain delay of
more than 1 1/2 hours to throw his first pitch, the righty did what hes done all
season: laboured to get the first three outs, then been fairly dominant. This
time, he gave up four consecutive singles, including run-scoring hits by
Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig, during a 28-pitch first as Los Angeles went
ahead 2-0. "Ive been trying not to go out there and give up a crooked number
early," Strasburg said. "But you can give up one or two early and just keep it
close and give your guys a chance to get back into the ballgame or get the
lead." Hes allowed eight earned runs in his eight first innings in 2014, a 9.00
ERA. From the second inning on, its 2.29. "Hes as good as anybody on any given
day. Weve also seen that anybody can get beat on any given day," Williams said.
"We want to get him to that point where he can finish that eighth inning, too.
Thats important for him." In all, Strasburg allowed two runs and seven hits --
all singles -- in 7 1-3 innings. He faced the minimum three batters in each of
the second through fifth innings, and threw a total of 114 pitches. In the
sixth, he put two men on, but got Andre Ethier on a grounder for the third out.
In the eighth, Strasburg also put two on, then was replaced by lefty
Jerry Blevins, who got Gonzalez to pop out in foul territory. Righty
Tyler Clippard then came in to retire Puig, who missed the two previous games
after crashing into an outfield fence. Rafael Soriano threw a 1-2-3 ninth for
his seventh save in seven chances. Adam LaRoches two-run single off the top of
the wall in right off Dan Haren (4-1), who was with the Nationals in 2013, tied
the game in the bottom of the first. Washington edged ahead on a bases-loaded
sacrifice fly in the fifth from Wilson Ramos, playing his first game since
opening day. Ramos earlier had a double on the first pitch hed faced in the
majors since March 31, when he broke a bone in his left wrist against the Mets.
He sat out 32 games. "Didnt take him long, did it? He pounded that ball," said
LaRoche, who is hampered running the bases and on defence at first base by a
left quad muscle problem. Ramos return is a boost for the Nationals. Theyre also
eager to have right-hander Doug Fister come off the disabled list Friday to face
the Oakland Athletics in his first start of the season. The Dodgers, meanwhile,
have lost four of their past six games. "Were definitely," Haren said, "not
playing to our potential." NOTES: Washington optioned 1B-OF Tyler Moore to
Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the roster for Fister. ... After a day off,
the Nationals open a three-game series at Oakland on Friday, with Fister on a
pitch limit of about 100 while facing LHP Tommy Milone (0-3, 5.86). ... Los
Angeles returns home to open a four-game series against San Francisco on
Thursday, with Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett (0-1, 3.14) facing Giants RHP
Ryan Vogelsong (1-1, 4.60).
James
Van Riemsdyk Maple Leafs Jersey . -- Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner
Johan Santana agreed Tuesday to a minor league contract with the Baltimore
Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left
shoulder.
Milan
Michalek Maple Leafs Jersey .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an
assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory
against the Calgary Flames.
http://www.officialleafsauthority.com/tie-domi-maple-leafs-jersey-c-26/ . Louis Cardinals a hard-fought victory. The Colorado Rockies intentionally
walked Yadier Molina with one out and runners on first and third to load the
bases for Kozma. BAD GASTEIN, Austria -- Andrea Petkovic took another step
toward a return to the top 10 of the WTA rankings by winning her second title of
the season at the Gastein Ladies on Sunday. The 20th-ranked German, who played
her first clay-court event since reaching the semifinals at last months French
Open, beat Shelby Rogers of the United States 6-3, 6-3 to follow up on her
victory at Charleston in April. "Its a super feeling, I am totally happy," said
Petkovic, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 almost three years ago. "I
want back into the top 10 and I am just playing good tennis. My serve and my
footwork can still improve but I am playing well." Petkovic also won the event
in 2009 for her first of four career titles, which have all come on clay. "I
wanted this victory so badly," Petkovic said. "I am very relieved. Shelby played
very aggressive tennis. I didnt know her game but Ive done some research on
YouTubee.
Leo
Komarov Maple Leafs Jersey. " Rogers, who came through qualifying and was
ranked 147th, had not been beyond the second round of a WTA event before. The
21-year-old American from Mount Pleasure, South Carolina, hadnt beaten a top-50
player before but defeated No. 16-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 40 Camila
Giorgi and No. 14 Sara Errani all in straight sets this week before going down
to Petkovic. "I had an incredible time," said Rogers, who has won four events on
the lower-tier ITF circuit. "This has definitely been a week I will never
forget." Rogers broke Petkovics serve for an early 2-1 lead but the German
immediately levelled the score. At 3-3, Petkovic took six straight games to win
the opener and build a 3-0 lead in the second. Rogers closed the gap to 3-2 and
then broke her opponent again when Petkovic was serving for the match at 5-2,
but netted a backhand in the next game on the German players first match point.
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