ght now." -Jerry DAmigo, moments after scoring his first career NHL goal. Up Next The Leafs travel to Pittsburgh for a Mo | Forum

NEW YORK -- Ivan Nova thought discovering he was tipping pitches in his start against Boston last week made the difference. Josh Gordon Browns Jersey . Manager Joe Girardi simply attributed this outing to better control. No matter the reason, Novas stellar September start kept the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card chase. The right-hander pitched a six-hitter for his second career shutout, Eduardo Nunez hit a two-run homer and the Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 6-0 Saturday. "We need to win games, and its no time to pitch the way that I pitched the time before," Nova said. Nova watched video between starts with pitching coach Larry Rothschild after giving up five runs -- four earned -- against the Red Sox. Nova thought he saw himself giving away some pitches, so he adjusted the way he held his glove, and he also worked on better curveball command. The adjustments made for a 108-pitch gem. A day before New York honours retiring closer Mariano Rivera in a pregame ceremony, Nova (9-5) gave the Yankees bullpen a rest with his third complete game, all this year. He struck out seven and walked one in winning for the first time in four starts following poor efforts against AL East rivals Boston and Baltimore. "I think he has a lot more confidence in his stuff," Girardi said. Brendan Ryan made several impressive plays at shortstop, Alfonso Soriano connected for the second straight day and Robinson Cano had an RBI single in a three-run third against Ryan Vogelsong (3-6), helping New York win for just the third time in eight games. New York (82-73) remained three games behind Cleveland (85-70) and 2 1-2 back of Texas (84-70) for the second AL wild card but moved ahead of Baltimore and Kansas City (both 81-73). The Yankees have seven games remaining, including three against wild-card leading Tampa Bay (85-69). "If we played like we played last night and today we feel like we can win every game," Soriano said. Soriano connected on the first pitch thrown by reliever Guillermo Moscoso leading off the sixth, giving him 17 homers and 50 RBIs with the Yankees in 52 games. He had 17 homers and 51 RBIs in 93 games for the Chicago Cubs. The Giants gave the many orange and black-clad fans in attendance little to cheer. They only had two baserunners reach second -- one the result of Soriano losing Brandon Belts flyball to left field in the sun for a double. Belt and Pablo Sandoval each had two hits for the Giants, who never put two runners on in the same inning. San Francisco lost for the eighth time in nine interleague road games this season. With a .458 winning percentage (71-84), the Giants are on track for the third-worst winning percentage for a defending World Series champion, trailing only the 1998 Florida Marlins (.333) and the 1991 Cincinnati Reds (.457), according to STATS. After Vogelsong retired six straight to start the game, the bottom three in the Yankees lineup reached opening the third. Mark Reynolds blooped a single over third base and went to third on a hit-and-run single by Ryan, who entered with a .197 average. Chris Stewart walked on four pitches to load the bases for Ichiro Suzuki. "It was upsetting for me from a mental standpoint. I didnt have a good mental game," Vogelsong said. "On the hit and run, I knew they were going to send the runner there and the cutter away but it ran up a bit. If that ball is where I want it to be its a groundball." Suzukis sacrifice fly put the Yankees ahead, Alex Rodriguez drove in another run with a spinning grounder to the left of second base that shortstop Brandon Crawford gloved with a nifty grab, and Cano tacked on a run when he sliced a single the opposite way through a huge hole between shortstop and third base. Nunez connected in the fourth on the first pitch he saw from Vogelsong for his second homer this season. Vogelsong was lifted after five innings. He allowed five runs and five hits in losing for the fourth time in five starts. Sandoval, the Giants third baseman, was lifted for defence before the start of the bottom of the eighth because his back tightened up. He is day to day. NOTES: Nova pitched a three-hit shutout against Baltimore on Aug. 31. ... Girardi said that while C Austin Romine (concussion) was cleared to play, he may not return this season because he still feels dizzy after working out. ... Giants manager Bruce Bochy visited Monument Park. ... Giants 2B Joaquin Arias will miss several games with a pulled left hamstring. Arias was injured Friday night in the seventh inning. ... The Yankees are urging fans to be in their seats for Sundays game before 12:30 p.m. for the start of the ceremony honouring Rivera. .... Giants RHP Yusmeiro Petit (4-0) faces LHP Andy Pettitte (10-10), who will be making his final regular-season start at Yankee Stadium. Rahim Moore Browns Jersey . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Bernie Kosar Jersey . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. http:///...is-coons-jersey.aspx . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost.TORONTO – Peter Holland was riding the GO train just a couple days after he was traded to play for his hometown Maple Leafs when he was recognized by a fan. It was the kind of surreal moment that made life playing at home all the more real. "That never wouldve happened in Anaheim, California," Holland, a native of Caledon, told the Leaf Report with a chuckle. "That was pretty cool." No longer on the west coast with the Ducks, the 22-year-old enjoyed the biggest night of his NHL career in front of the hometown crowd on the Saturday night stage. With his parents and childhood skills coach (Joey Simon from Powerhouse Hockey) in the stands, Holland scored twice and added a helper as Toronto stunned the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 at the ACC. It was the clubs first win in regulation since Nov. 19 and third in the past 20 games. Moved up in the lineup onto a unit with Joffrey Lupul and Mason Raymond – David Clarkson was serving the first of a two-game suspension – Holland scored his fourth this season and first of the game on an early power-play, notching his second on a tic-tac-toe feed from Lupul and Raymond. He would add an assist on the second of two goals from Lupul. "Theyve given me a good opportunity here and I think that as long as Im playing my game I think I have the ability to play at this level," said Holland, acquired from Anaheim in mid-November. "Obviously playing with guys like Lupul and Raymond is going to help me stick around too." A first round pick of the Ducks in 2009, Holland nearly doubled his season output with the standout performance against Chicago, now at five goals and seven points in 16 games this season. With injuries plaguing the Leafs at centre ice – Dave Bolland and Tyler Bozak are both sidelined – opportunity is there for someone like Holland to grab hold of. To this point, he had offered only brief glimpses of the skill his pedigree would infer. But with more opportunity – a career-high of over 19 minutes – he was able to show it off in a big way against the Blackhawks. "Im just kind of approaching it like its a job and it is a job," Holland said. As to the chance to play at home, after bouncing between outposts in Syracuse, Norfolk and Anaheim, Holland said its been more comfort than distraction. "If anything I think it almost relieves pressure," he said. "Youve got more of a support network around you. Its a thrill to play in front of them every night. Going back to minor hockey when your parents came to every game, driving you there and stuff, and now they can come to every home game here. Its a good feeling." Five Points 1. Response from St. Louis Only two days before shocking the Blackhawks at home, the Leafs were embarrassed on the road by the Blues. It was their eighth loss in 10 games and among the worst efforts of the year. "Off our performance in St. Louis we could not have anything close to that again," said Randy Carlyle following the win against Chicago, the leagues top team again this season. "They werent very proud of our performance. They knew that we didnt do a lot of things that we set out to do. "I thought that our hockey club responded the way they needed to respond," he continued. "They took responsibility for our actions and thats a good sign. But the most encouraging thing for us tonight was our work ethic and we stuck to our system and played it." Trekking through their most arduous portion of the schedule – which has included the Sharks, Bruins, Kings, Blues, and Blackhawks – the Leafs now face another top team in Pittsburgh on Monday. "It doesnt get any easier," said Lupul, who had four points on Saturday, "but certainly winning a game against the top team in the league gives you a little bit of confidence so hopefully we can run with it." 2. Cycle Offence Though they generated the bulk of their offence off the rush, the Leafs did manage to sustain bursts of the cycle game Carlyle has been pleading for. The fourth goal of the evening, and fourth this season from Nik Kulemin, found its way into the back of the net off such an attack. "Weve been striving for that," said Carlyle. "And in the games that we are effective it seems that we have more of that in the hockey game. Thats really what were trying to do is were trying to eliminate a one-dimensional rush team." That rush game was certainly effective, notably the line of Holland, Lupul and Raymond. "When you start to wear teams down, if you play more in their zone, your rush game becomes more effective," Carlyle said. "The players will tell you, they never get tired playing in that zone. Theyre not receiving the game. When youre attacking and youre creating more offensive zone time its a better feeling." The Leafs also benefited on this night from scoring beyond their top unit. Phil Kessel would score the seventh and final Toronto goal, his 17th this season, but the remainder of the offence came from the second and third lines. Pegged to slow down the Blackhawks imposing top trio of Patrickk Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa, the third line of Kulemin, Jerry DAmigo, and Jay McClement scored twice while holding their opponents off the scoresheet. John Greco Browns Jersey. "They did a heck of a job for us," said Carlyle. 3. Playing at Home In addition to the unlikely meet and greet with the fan on the GO Train, Holland said the second surreal moment of playing at home came when he put on the Leafs jersey for the first time, one he wore as a fan growing up. "I kind of let that sink in for a couple seconds there because that was a dream come true for sure," he said. Holland often made it down to Leafs games as a kid, mostly at the old Maple Leaf Gardens. "Some of my fondest memories were actually at the Garden," said Holland. "I was in there bleeding blue and white with the fans growing up." 4. Defensive Confusion A frequent frustration for Carlyle in recent weeks has been the rising tide of goals scored against from the critical areas or the zone surrounding the goal. "Its taking care of the front of your net before anywhere else," John-Michael Liles said of such improvement, prior to Saturdays game. "Ultimately, most teams are trying to draw you out of those critical areas so they can get the puck into those critical areas. Its no different than any other sport." Liles compared the tactic to soccer or basketball (where quality outside shooters draw defenders from the basket), noting the desire of an offence to space the defence out and away from the respective goal. "Its that movement (of) trying to confuse," he said. Defensive improvement stands high atop the Leafs priorities. During their ongoing struggle, theyve allowed three goals or more in 13 of 20 games, losing all but two of those games (including on Saturday). "Were trying to implement a defensive zone coverage that we can hang our hat on," said Carlyle. "Once you play better defensively then you start to become more of a team that (attacks) versus receiving the game. Thats really what has happened with our hockey club, I would say specifically in the last 15 games, is weve been receiving more than weve been attacking." 5. Shake-Up For the first time all season neither Paul Ranger nor Mark Fraser was in the lineup for the Leafs. A new-look third pairing of some speed and some skill saw John-Michael Liles paired with Morgan Rielly. The adjustment appeared an early success. "I thought they did a good job from a standpoint of we played our system and we moved the puck pretty much worrisome-free other than about five or six minutes in the second period," said Carlyle of the group. The Toronto defence has been a source of instability all season. Only one pairing has remained a constant from start to present: Carl Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf (save for Phaneufs recent two-game suspension). Asked prior to Saturdays game if he would consider splitting the two as he did last season – and thus balancing the group –Carlyle said no. "Its been an experiment that we felt it failed," said Carlyle. "We werent happy with that. I would say at this point we think that theyre our go-to pair. Right now, I dont think thats a possibility for us … But coaches change their minds." Searching for balance, Carlyle split Gunnarsson and Phaneuf for the first 28 games last season with Phaneuf playing alongside Korbinian Holzer and current Blackhawk Michael Kostka. By mid-March though he abandoned the plan and reconnected the teams usual top pairing. Bonus Point – Bolland Update A bit of positive news amid a difficult stretch for the Leafs saw Dave Bolland off crutches this week and walking around the Air Canada Centre on Saturday morning. "The update is that hes progressing along at the expected rate," said Carlyle without offering any concrete timeline. "Theres no great difference in where hes at versus where we thought he was going to be. Hes not ahead of schedule, hes right on schedule right now." Stats-Pack 7 - Goals for the Leafs against Chicago, a season-high. 3 - Points from Peter Holland, a career-high. 4 – Assists for Mason Raymond against Chicago, a career-high. Raymond also surpassed the 22 points he had in 46 games last season. He now has 24 points in 34 games. 19:22 – Ice-time for Holland, also a career-high. 5 – Points for Jake Gardiner in December. He had six points combined in October and November. 1 - Career NHL goal for Jerry DAmigo. DAmigo also added an assist against the Blackhawks. 2 - Goals from the Leafs third line, who also held Chicagos top unit scoreless. 9 – Games without a goal for Joffrey Lupul prior to a two-goal outing on Saturday. Lupul hadnt scored since Nov. 9 in Boston. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-4Season: 24.3% (3rd) PK: 1-2Season: 76.7% (27th) Quote of the Night "You guys cant see it, but Im just going crazy inside right now." -Jerry DAmigo, moments after scoring his first career NHL goal. Up Next The Leafs travel to Pittsburgh for a Monday date with the Penguins. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '