ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers had to keep winning to keep playing.
Memphis Depay Netherlands Jersey . After
seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs.
Craig Gentry had a key two-run single, Geovany Soto had a tiebreaking RBI double
and a solo homer, and the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 Sunday to
force a one-game tiebreaker for the second AL wild-card spot. "They showed
heart, fight, gut -- any other adjective you want to find," Rangers manager Ron
Washington said. The Rangers (91-71), who began September with the AL West lead
before a 5-15 slide, added game No. 163 to the regular season. They will host
Tampa Bay on Monday night in baseballs first wild-card tiebreaker since 2007.
The winner plays two days later at wild-card leader Cleveland for a berth
against Boston in the division series. "You cant say enough. Just the fight, the
character of this team," Gentry said. "From being about as low as we could
possibly be and almost everybody probably counting us out, and to come home and
play the way we have." Rookie left-hander Martin Perez (10-5, 3.55 ERA) starts
for Texas on Monday against Tampa Bay and lefty David Price (9-8). About the
same time Tampa Bay wrapped up its 7-6 win at Toronto to necessitate a victory
by the Rangers, Gentry hit a two-run single in the fifth for a 2-1 lead. Los
Angeles quickly tied the game in the sixth against major league strikeout leader
Yu Darvish, but the Rangers went ahead to stay in the bottom half on Sotos
two-out double. Adrian Beltre and Soto added solo homers in the eighth. It was
Beltres 30th and the ninth for Soto, who has become the primary catcher for
Darvish. Texas has been in the playoffs the past three seasons, last year losing
at home to Baltimore with Darvish on the mound in the ALs first one-and-done
wild-card game. With a chance to get back in the post-season for the fourth year
in a row, they will get back Nelson Cruz. The All-Star slugger on Sunday
completed his 50-game suspension that followed Major League Baseballs
investigation of the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic, which was accused of
distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. General manager Jon Daniels
said Cruz, who has been playing in the instructional league in Arizona the past
two weeks, will be activated for Mondays game. The Rangers were 29-21 without
Cruz, who has 27 homers and 76 RBIs this season. "Ill have a chance tomorrow to
be with me teammates and do the thing I love the most, play baseball," said
Cruz, who went 9 for 27 with five doubles, a homer and nine RBIs in eight games
in Arizona. "The guys are excited. Im excited." Asked whether he expected to
play Monday, Cruz responded, "I think so." The Angels (78-84) finished with a
losing record for only the second time in 10 seasons after being swept in a
four-game series at Texas for the first time since June 1978. "You have to tip
your cap to those guys. They played well and stayed alive," Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. "Our guys played as well as they could. It would have been nice
to come in here and get some wins. .. Im disappointed, but theres nothing to be
ashamed about the way we went after them. Those guys brought their game up a
notch, and were going home." Neal Cotts (8-3) replaced Darvish in the sixth and
allowed the tying hit, but struck out Howie Kendrick for the inning-ending out
with runners on first and third. Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers and Joe Nathan
each pitched a scoreless inning after that. When the Rangers started their game,
Tampa Bay already led 7-0 at Toronto. Then Mike Trout homered to put the Angels
up 1-0. Darvish struck out eight in 5 2-3 innings. But for the sixth time this
season, and second game in a row, Darvish immediately gave up the lead a
half-inning after the Rangers went ahead. The right-hander from Japan finished
with a majors-leading 277 strikeouts, the most since Randy Johnson had 290 for
Arizona in 2004. The last AL pitcher with more was Pedro Martinez with 284 for
Boston in 2000. Darvish had retired 11 in a row after a one-out walk in the
second, and a mound visit from Washington, pitching coach Mike Maddux, a trainer
and Darvishs interpreter to check on him. A.J. Pierzynski had a leadoff double
in the fifth and Soto walked before an errant pickoff throw by Jason Vargas
(9-8) moved both of them up a base. They scored on the single up the middle by
Gentry, the No. 8 hitter who is 17 for 36 his last 10 games. There was a reverse
double play in the Angels sixth -- J.B. Shuck hit a grounder to second baseman
Ian Kinsler, who ran back Andrew Romine before throwing to first baseman
Mitch Moreland, who had to make a quick throw to shortstop Elvis Andrus to tag
out Romine. But Darvish then gave up a single to Erick Aybar and walked Trout on
four pitches. Cotts, the left-hander whose 1.13 ERA is the lowest ever for a
Texas reliever, gave up an tying RBI single to Josh Hamilton, who finished with
a 14-game hitting streak -- his longest in his Angels debut after the previous
five years with the Rangers. "It is disappointing," Hamilton said. "They had
something to play for, and we wanted to try to help them stumble." NOTES: Beltre
had a two-out single and scored on Sotos go-ahead hit in the sixth. ... Gentry
singled and scored in the seventh.... Trouts 27th homer was his 190th hit,
making the 22-year-old only the third major leaguer since 1900 with 190 hits,
100 walks and 30 stolen bases in the same season. The others are Ty Cobb in 1915
and Lenny Dykstra in 1993.
Karim Rekik Jersey . That gave fans outside
Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose
stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected.
Jeremain Lens Jersey . Down by seven with 90
seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable.
http:///...t-Netherland-Jersey/
. Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal
looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners
are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists
Walcott will add something extra to his team.PORTLAND, Ore. -- Diego Valeri
scored in the 13th minute and Donovan Ricketts earned his 10th shutout of the
season, leading the Portland Timbers to a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids
on Friday night. Valeri scored for the third straight match as the Timbers
(11-5-13) moved one point ahead of the Rapids (12-9-9) for third place in the
Western Conference. "The game wasnt pretty," Portland head coach Caleb Porter
said. "We need to be able to win those games. I thought we were very
professional how we managed the second half, especially. I continue to see a
very positive evolution." On the games only scoring play, Rodney Wallace leapt
to head a Colorado clearance back towards goal, and Valeri raced onto the loose
ball and chipped a shot from 20 yards out over Rapids goalkeeper Clinton Irwin
for his eighth goal of the season. Valeri continues to be a driving force for
the Timbers, despite recent injury issues. Porter noted the quality of the goal,
while acknowledging the need to manage Valeeris playing time.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Jersey. "That (goal) was
class, and thats what he is, a class player," Porter said. "This was an
important game and we got a good 75 minutes out of him. I hope hes still OK, he
got a little tight at the end. Hopefully we saved enough in the tank for him to
go the next game." Colorado nearly tied it 25 minutes later, when Portlands
Pa-Modou Kah and Mamadou Danso both missed on their attempts to clear a pass,
allowing the ball to fall to Edson Buddle. However, the Rapids forward could
only manage to blast his shot off the goalpost. Despite the loss, Colorado head
coach Oscar Pareja believes his team will make the playoffs. "Of course," he
said. "With the team you saw on the field today, of course. I saw a team full of
character." Both teams next face conference rivals for playoff positions.
Portland will host Los Angeles on Sept. 29, while Colorado has two weeks to
prepare before hosting Western Conference-leading Seattle on Oct. 5.
Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys
Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '