e United States lead the ice dance after | Forum

BOSTON - The St. Rickey Jackson Jersey . Louis Cardinals have a problem on their hands. Its not how poorly they played in the World Series opener or whether theyre able to bounce back with a better performance on Thursday night. It appears, after a cold spell, David Ortiz is heating up. "Big Papi," as hes affectionately known in these parts, has had an up and down fall. After torching the Tampa Bay Rays in the Division Series to the tune of .385/.556/.923, two home runs, a double and three RBI, Ortiz slumped in the ALCS. Tigers pitching held him to just two hits and a .091/.200/.227 slash line. Its easy to forget Ortiz struggled against Detroit because one of his two hits was an eighth inning grand slam in Game 2 that erased a 5-1 deficit, propelled the Red Sox to a series-evening victory and may well have saved Bostons chances of advancing. The other was a dunk single to left field in Game 5. The mantra of good teams is when one player is struggling; another guy - or guys - picks him up. Dustin Pedroia has been finding ways to get on base. Mike Napoli has been hot since his home run off Justin Verlander in Game Three of the ALCS. Ortiz seemed to break out on Wednesday night. He was robbed of a second inning grand slam by Carlos Beltran but later singled and, in the eighth inning, hit a two-run home run he made sure cleared the right centerfield fence. If not for Beltrans great catch, Ortiz would have had a two home run, three hit, six RBI night. To this point in the playoffs, not that its deterred them; the Red Sox havent had Pedroia, Ortiz and Napoli hitting well at the same time. If last nights performance is an indicator of whats to come, Boston is in good shape. "Im very encouraged, particularly with what Mike Napoli has done since probably Game 3 of the ALCS," said Farrell. "Probably each guy has the ability to carry us. And the fact that we can get the middle of the order going like that - we still have other guys we need to get going." St. Louis, on the other hand, has non-performance related issues in the middle of its order. An injury and a recovery have put two key players in difficult positions. Beltran was injured making the catch on Ortizs would-be grand slam. He left the game and went to hospital for tests. A CT scan and an X-ray showed no fractures and he will attempt to play through a deeply bruised right side of his ribcage. Its hard to imagine Beltran wont be compromised by the injury. Meantime, Allen Craig will be the Cardinals designated hitter again in Game 2. He returned last night, having not played since September 4 due to a sprained foot. Craig had a single in four at-bats and is being asked to quickly find his offensive timing with so little time left in the season. Farrells starting lineup will suffer with the deletion of either Ortiz or Napoli under National League rules. It appears Ortiz will get the Game 3 start at first base, relegating Napoli to a pinch hit role. The Cardinals dont have a left-handed starting pitcher so Ortiz could get all the starts at Busch Stadium. Napolis degenerative hip condition prevents him from returning to catcher, a position which hes played for most of his career. "The one outside view might be to put Mike Napoli behind the plate but we wouldnt do that," said Farrell. "One or the other is going to sit, unfortunately." Archie Manning Saints Jersey . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Sheldon Rankins Jersey . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. http:///...n-lewis-gold-jersey/ . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second.TOKYO -- Local favourite Daisuke Takahashi produced a solid free skate on Saturday to win his fifth NHK Trophy. Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Three-time U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott, who was seventh after the short program, had a strong free skate and finished third with 237.41 points. Takahashi, who was a disappointing fourth at Skate America, hit his opening quad toeloop. He had a shaky landing on a triple axel and was downgraded on a combination jump but was solid otherwise. "I didnt do well at Skate America so I was determined to get my confidence back," Takahashi said. "I wasnt perfect today but little by little was able to gain momentum." Two-time world champion Mao Asada completed a successful day for the host nation by winning the free skate to capture her fourth NHK Trophy. Asada, who was first after the short program, under-rotated her opening triple axel but finished with a total of 207.59 points. Coupled with her win at Skate America, Asada secured a berth at the Grand Prix final next month in the Fukuoka, Japan. "t;I was a bit disappointed not to do the triple axel cleanly," Asada said. Hau oli Kikaha Jersey. "Its something I want to be able to do well but Im happy with the overall result." Russian Elena Radionova was second with 191.81 points while Japans Akiko Suzuki finished third with 179.32. Gracie Gold of the United States was third in the free skate but finished fourth overall with 177.81 points. Russias Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov won the pairs by an overwhelming margin of more than 50 points. The defending world champions totalled 236.49 in their victory, while second-place Peng Cheng and Zhang Hao of China received just 182.18. Volosozhar and Trankov extended their impressive streak of victories with the triumph and qualified for the GP final. Two-time world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States lead the ice dance after the short dance. Davis and White (73.70) are more than nine points ahead of Italys Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte (64.58) heading into Sundays free dance. The NHK Trophy is the fourth of six events in the International Skating Unions Grand Prix series. The next event is the Trophee Bompard in Paris Nov.15-17. Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Authentic China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NHL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '