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to begin a three-game series against San Diego,

SPARTA, Ky. Adidas Campus 80s Nigo . -- Kentucky Speedway has changed, and we probably wont know whether its for the better until a full weekend of racing has been completed.Thanks to a repave and a mild reprofiling of Turns 1 and 2, almost everything that competitors have learned since the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series started running there in 2011 has been thrown out. For all practical purposes, Kentucky is a brand-new racetrack, to the joy of some and the disappointment of others.Its a totally different race track, for sure, 2013 Kentucky winner Matt Kenseth?said. Id say its basically like starting over.Almost since it opened in 2000, Kentucky was notorious for its bumpy surface. While that created difficulty in setting up cars to handle, it also provided much of the tracks character. The 1.5-mile oval some 35 miles south of Cincinnati was also famous for its weepers and was known as one of the most difficult tracks to dry and make race-ready after periods of rain.Coarser asphalt and a revised aggregate base, along with south-end banking increased from 14 to 17 degrees, are expected to provide relief from the drainage problems. The other major change to the track is a wider pit lane exit and resultant narrower entry to Turn 1, where the width has been reduced from 72 to 56 feet.About a dozen teams tested the new surface for Goodyear on June 13 and 14, prompting the tire maker to change to a slightly harder right-side compound for the Cup Series to address concerns about the potential for excessive wear.We spent two days testing here and obviously Goodyear needed to make some adjustments to the tires coming back to make them live, said?Kevin Harvick, who claimed pole position based on owner points after qualifying for the Quaker State 400 was rained out Friday.As weve gone through practice, we havent had any tire issues so far. But it changed things a lot with the feel in the car and the things you want in the car. So weve scrambled a little bit, and hopefully getting a little more practice will be beneficial because we still arent exactly where we need to be in terms of balance and whats going to happen the longer you run the car.Harvick admitted that he and crew chief Rodney Childers took a conservative approach for practice. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne both contacted the wall, and?Kyle Busch had to summon all of his skill to catch a huge tank-slapper.Youre definitely cautious just because you dont know where the limits are, and every time you go out you push or see something you havent done before, Harvick said. You start to gather a notebook in your mind about how far you can push things, how far you can hang the car out or how loose or tight the balance needs to be.The hard thing about repaves at some places is you can be overaggressive and slide up out of the groove, but here, you wind up knocking the side off the car into the fence.The rain that arrived just 20 minutes into Fridays Cup practice made things more difficult for competitors in several ways. After any track is repaved, teams need as much track time as possible to dial in their cars to adapt to the changes. In addition, having more rubber laid down on the track tends to widen the groove for the race, creating opportunities for passing.The decision to jettison qualifying in favor of additional practice time was welcomed by the drivers. Just a few days ago, NASCAR altered its rule for a qualifying rainout to set the grid by owner points, rather than practice speeds as it had been done in the past.That put Harvicks Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet on pole, with Brad Keselowskis Team Penske Ford alongside on the front row.With the major changes to the Kentucky track, Keselowski welcomed the extra practice time.The approach is to take all the Kentucky notes and run them through the shredder and start from scratch, he said, adding that he and crew chief Paul Wolfe based their car setup on what worked earlier this summer at Michigan International Speedway. Whats worked here in the past isnt even close to whats going to work here this weekend. That was pretty obvious before we got on the track and confirmed when we did.The cars are challenging to drive like we thought they would be and like we hoped they would be, Keselowski continued. Midcorner speed is way down and straightaway speed is way up, so thats a bit of a handful, but the good kind of handful that really challenges drivers and really forces drivers to really push it to the limit.Keselowski believes that the reduction in midcorner speed brought on by the low downforce package in the Cup Series has the added benefit of reducing the potential for tire issues. But he was concerned about the Xfinity Series race scheduled for Friday night.Its interesting going back and forth between the Xfinity car and the Cup car because the midcorner speed in the Xfinity car is almost 10 mph higher than the Cup car, and the Xfinity cars are just killing the tires.While the focus in the past at Kentucky was getting a car to handle over the bumps, the new challenge is to manage tire wear. With a conservative, ultrahard right-side tire and a high-grip new track surface, expect plenty of two-tire and even no-tire stops Saturday night as teams try to gain track position through pit strategy.The Friday rain didnt help things in that respect.It definitely will make the groove narrower, which is a shame, Keselowski said. The tire on the car this weekend really isnt laying down the rubber that would make the groove wider and wider.It is what it is. We all deal with the same thing and well get through it.One thing the drivers wont have to endure this year is the physical pounding they used to take at the roughest oval on the NASCAR tour. Some of them say theyll miss the bumps and the character they contributed to Kentucky, but Harvick isnt one of them.It feels great, to tell you the truth, Harvick said. My neck doesnt hurt; it doesnt pound your heels and your neck to the point where you cant hardly walk for two days. Nike Roshe One Uomo . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Fiori Nike Roshe One Donna Print University Rosse/Tour Gialle/Sail Scarpe Da Corsa . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. http:///...didas-originals.html . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. MIAMI -- Alcides Escobar is the latest player to make an impact at the plate for the Kansas City Royals.Escobar homered, doubled, and drove in two runs to lead the surging Royals past the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Thursday night.Esky had a great game, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Just had a great game. Defensively, offensively, the home run was big to give us a two-run lead at that point.Escobar is hitting .388 (19 for 49) with four doubles, a triple, and a home run in his last 13 games.Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Royals as the defending World Series champions have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.Weve been playing great baseball as of late, but we definitely know were a long way from where we want to be, Royals right fielder Lorenzo Cain said. We have to continue hopefully winning series -- thats our main goal.Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez (10-10) pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, and three hits.The Royals bullpen, which has been a successful formula for the reigning two-time AL pennant winners, pitched four scoreless innings to push their franchise-record scoreless streak to 38 2/3 innings -- the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1/3 straight.Theyve just been spectacular, Yost said.Kelvin Herrera pitched a flawless ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.Tom Koehler (9-9) allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings for the Marlins.It was an interesting game, Koehler said. Youve got to give them credit. They capitalized on our mistakes we made tonight.Kansas City went 4 for 28 with runners in scoring position and scored six runs during the three-game series, but left Miami with two victories.We dont care what we do as long as we win, Yost said. As long as we score more runs than they do and its a combination of pitching, great defense, and timely hitting and thats been our recipe for a while now.The Marlins also struggled hitting with runners in scoring position during the series going 3 for 26 and leaving 24 men on base including 11 on Thursday.We had a few chances, we didnt have a ton, but we had a few chances but werent able to scratch, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.The Royals opened the scoring in the third on an RBI double by Perez after the Marlins elected to intentionally walk Eric Hosmer with first base open. Cheslor Cuthbert scored on Perezs ground ball down the left-field line.Escobar extended the Royals lead to 2-0 on a home run to center field in the fourth. It was his third of the season and second of the month.I was looking for a fastball on that pitch, Escobar said. (Koehler) threw me a first-pitch cutter and the next pitch was a fastball and I swung the bat and hit the ball really good.Third baseman Cuthbert had two doubles to go with two errors, one of which led to the Marlins two runs coming in the fourth to tie the game at 2.Escobars tiebreaking RBI double off Koehler in the sixth gave the Royals the lead. Morales pinch-hit sacriffice fly put the Royals on top 4-2. Uomo/Donna Atmos x Adidas Originals Superstar 80s G-SNK Nere Scarpe. .The Marlins threatened in the sixth loading the bases with two outs, but lefty Matt Strahm entered the game and got Dee Gordon to ground out to escape the jam.The bullpen was phenomenal and Strahm probably gets the gold star, Yost said.The Royals pushed their lead to 5-2 in the ninth as Raul Mondesi walked, stole two bases, and scored on catcher J.T. Realmutos throwing error trying to get Mondesi at third on his stolen base attempt.A club like that over there thats got guys that can hit balls out of the ballpark, a three-run lead is much better than a two-run lead, Yost said.Both teams combined for six errors.DYSON WEB GEMRoyals center fielder Jarrod Dyson made one of the best catches ever at Marlins Park when he robbed Christian Yelich of a home run in the first inning.That was probably the best play that anybodys made for me in my entire career, Volquez said.Yelich said: It was a great play. Its a huge ball park. We play in the worst hitters park in baseball so you better get it. I didnt get enough of it and he made a great play. Youve got to hit it to get it out of here. Its a terrible hitters park.Dyson ran to make a leaping left-handed grab up against the wall in center field.Actually off the bat I thought I was burnt and I had no shot, but as I kept running and got closer I was like, `Yeah I got a chance, Dyson said.Many of Dysons teammates gave him the Royals customary tip of the cap for an impressive defensive play on his way back to the dugout.It felt great, Dyson said. I think thats the first one Ive ever robbed in my career so it was a pretty special moment for me.It was the first home run robbed at Marlins Park since it opened in 2012.Thats history right there and I love being a part of history, Dyson said.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: C Salvador Perez took a foul ball off his face mask in the eighth and was replaced by Drew Butera in the ninth as a precaution. He got a little light-headed so we just got him out, Yost said.Marlins: RF Giancarlo Stanton (groin strain) is hopeful he can return to the team at some point during the regular season to help the Marlins after sustaining the injury on Aug. 13. Anything could help so whatever I can do to be back, if its possible, is going to happen, Stanton said.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Ian Kennedy (8-9, 3.58) will start Fridays game at Boston against RHP Steven Wright (13-5, 3.01) in a three-game series with the Red Sox. Kennedy has recorded five straight starts of at least six innings and one-or-fewer runs matching Larry Gura for the longest such streak in franchise history. Kennedy is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA during the stretch.Marlins: RHP David Phelps (7-6, 2.28) will take the mound Friday to begin a three-game series against San Diego, which will start former Marlins RHP Jarred Cosart (0-1, 4.54). Phelps is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA over his last four starts since moving into the rotation. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '

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