CLEVELAND -- There wasnt a bench-clearing brawl. Jordan Berry Steelers Jersey .That is about the only thing that didnt happen during seven tense, theatric and highly entertaining regular-season games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Indians, who will renew acquaintances when the AL Championship Series opens on Friday night at Progressive Field.If Octobers drama is anything close to what it was like between the clubs in July and August, buckle up.Their previous matchups included a 19-inning marathon on July 1 in Toronto and a walk-off Indians win on Aug. 19 on back-to-back homers in the ninth inning, the second an inside-the-park shot that turned rookie Tyler Naquin into a local legend.I was watching on TV, said Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who was rehabbing a sprained left knee in Florida and missed Torontos series in Cleveland. There were some games that were obviously close that had some quirky plays in them.The Indians, who swept Boston in the AL Division Series after a season filled with injuries, start Corey Kluber in Game 1 against Torontos Marco Estrada.Kluber was magnificent in his postseason debut, holding the Red Sox to three hits in seven shutout innings in Game 2 of the ALDS. The right-hander, who injured a quadriceps late in the season, will have to be on his game against the Blue Jays, who hit eight home runs in their sweep of Texas and feature a lineup with danger from top to bottom.Theyre a solid lineup, one through nine, said Kluber, tagged for five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings against Toronto on July 3. Its not just two, three, four guys that can hurt you. Everybody in that lineup can hurt you. They have a lot of power, but theyre also patient. You have to go out there and execute pitches. Theres not really a magic formula. Just like what we asked about with Boston, its not a magic formula, theyre just a really good offense. We all have our work cut out for us.That was the case on Canada Day, when the Indians and Blue Jays slugged it out in Rogers Centre for more than six hours before Cleveland escaped with a 2-1 win.Indians manager Terry Francona, whose bullpen touch was on display against the Red Sox, brought in starter Trevor Bauer, who was scheduled to pitch the following day, and the rubber-armed right-hander responded with five shutout innings.The victory capped a franchise-record, 14-game winning streak for the Indians, and although it may have sapped them physically, the win had a positive effect.Anytime youre in a game like that, you always want to win a game from the first inning, said closer Cody Allen. But when youre playing extra ball, youre like, `Lets figure out a way to win. And when we did it was like, `Man, if we can figure out a way to win that game, we can win any game.Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said the game was a test of endurance.I felt like I was out there at shortstop forever, he said. We were using position players to pitch. That game stands out because it shows how evenly matched we are. Every game was close. They walked us off and you remember that because youre walking into the dugout saying, `Man, we had that one. And you hear the Indians people saying theyve been doing that all year, so theres a lot of story lines for this series. Its the two best teams to me.The Blue Jays have been in playoff mode for weeks. They battled their way to a wild-card berth and beat Baltimore in the one-game playoff, riding a sonic wave from their rambunctious home crowd and three-run homer from Edwin Encarnacion into a matchup with the Rangers, the team they traded punches with earlier in the season and knocked out with a flurry of long balls to advance to the ALCS.Now, theyll square off with the Indians, a team that may lack marquee names but not confidence.They have their strengths and weaknesses, Bautista said. And so do we. As long as everybody executes and excels at what theyre good at, its going to be a tough series for either opponent to come out on top. Well see what happens. Theyre a speed-and-base-hit club and were a walk-and-home-run club. Its going to be a pretty good series, I believe.If the first seven games were any indication, believe.LIRIANO SET: Blue Jays reliever Francisco Liriano has recovered from the concussion he received when he was struck on the back of the head by a comebacker in the ALDS.Hes expected to be cleared from the concussion protocol on Friday in time for Game 1.Hes got a chance to be a valuable guy to us if hes healthy, manager John Gibbons said.PRIZE POSSESSION: Several of the Indians players posed in the clubhouse for pictures with the Larry OBrien Trophy, won by the NBAs Cleveland Cavaliers in June. The championship was the first for a Cleveland team since 1964 and the Indians are trying to end a World Series drought dating to 1948. Jerome Bettis Steelers Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Ladarius Green Steelers Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games.http://www.footballsteelerstore.us/Black-Friday-Sean-Davis-Jersey/ . 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. EUGENE, Ore. -- Just 18 years old, Vashti Cunningham is the reigning world indoor high jump champion. Trying to qualify for her first Olympics in the opening round of the U.S. track and field trials Friday afternoon, she was so focused on her jumps that she did not distract herself by talking to competitors inside the Hayward Field track.Not that there wasnt someone competing there alongside Cunningham who could provide strong advice for her future career.Amy Acuff first competed at the track trials at age 16 in 1992 before the Barcelona Games. She did not qualify at those trials, but she made the next five U.S. Olympic teams, competing in Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London. Despite being a month shy of her 41st birthday, having two children and a number of health issues this year, she was fighting for her sixth Olympics in Rio.Unfortunately, Acuff failed to advance to the high jump finals, missing her final three attempts at 1.84 meters (6 feet, one-half inch). With mixed emotions, she walked away from the high jump, and her career.I feel closure, Acuff said. I guess I felt like, Oh well, I tried my best and thats all you can hope for. I am officially retired from track and field. I said that before, but its for real now.Meanwhile, Cunningham qualified for Sundays finals, along with American record-holder and three-time Olympian Chaunte Lowe. The daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, Vashti is considered the favorite by many, though she says she doesnt consider herself that way. There are people who have done amazing things before me, she said. Im just one of the jumpers.Acuff said not to count out Lowe as the favorite, either, though she is definitely impressed by Cunningham.Vashti looks great, Acuff said. I had never seen her jump before. She just looks so natural and elastic. Im sure shell have a great career.Asked for what advice she has to pass to Cunningham and others, Acuff said: Just take care of your bodies. Landry Jones Steelers Jersey. There are so many great jumpers littered on the side of the freeway to the Olympics. Mainly ankles. A lot of people are just done by their late 20s due to injuries, so you have to be really smart about your training and very open to looking at it and being realistic about what you can handle.So how was Acuff able to jump so high for so long?I think because I just love it, she said. At the core of it, I just love the art of jumping. My biggest hope was to come here and have that perfect timing and beautiful jump. Thats the funnest part.Despite having never medaled in her five Olympic competitions (she came closest with a fourth-place finish at the 2004 Games in Athens), she definitely has a symbolic Olympic torch to pass on to Cunningham, perhaps one that will help the younger jumper compete all the way to the 2036 Games.I think that for Amy going into this meet, and her willpower is just amazing. Shes mentally stronger than a lot of other people, to come and fight and jump and do what she loves. I respect her a lot for that, Cunningham said. After the years shes competed, the fact she still has the fight to come back and compete again is amazing and I hope that Im like that when Im older.Given how well Cunningham is jumping at such a young age -- she won indoor worlds with a leap of 1.95 meters -- she could definitely win a medal, perhaps gold. Not that she says she feels any pressure in that respect.There is not as much pressure as there is on people who have been here before, Cunningham said. I think Ive done well at the beginning of the season. ? Im trying to win [Sundays final]. Get first place and go into the Olympics with that confidence. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys China ' ' '
