MONTREAL -- The odds still weigh heavily against them, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers playoff hopes are not dead yet. Max Hall picked up his first CFL win as a starting quarterback and Will Ford caught a touchdown pass and ran in another as the Bombers staved off elimination with a 34-27 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Monday afternoon. Winnipegs second win in Montreal in 2013 gave them the three-game season series between the clubs by a 2-1 margin, but they will need to win their final three regular season games and have the Alouettes lose their last three to grab the final East Division playoff spot. "So youre telling me theres a chance right?" said Hall. "So weve just got to keep playing. All we can control is winning next week (at home Saturday against Toronto) and, if we can do that, well still have a chance." Clarence Denmark and backup quarterback Jason Boltus also had TDs and Sandro DeAngelis kicked two field goals for Winnipeg (3-12), which ended a four-game losing streak. S.J. Green and Tyrell Sutton scored and Sean Whyte had four boots for Montreal (6-9), which ended a two-game winning run and wasted a chance to clinch a playoff berth. The Alouettes turned the ball over seven times, including three interceptions thrown by starter Josh Neiswander and one by backup Troy Smith. "Anything weve improved on, from turnovers to penalties, we did none of today," said Montreal coach and general manager Jim Popp. "Theres no excuse. We beat ourselves. Youve got to give (Winnipeg) credit. They didnt have to come here and play the way they did, but we gave them a lot, too." The third-place Alouettes can still finish second in the division and host a playoff game as they head into back-to-back games with their second-place Hamilton, who they face Sunday at home. Hall, starting a fourth straight game, completed 16 passes for 223 yards. The Bombers ended a seven-game run with fewer than 300 yards on offence by putting up 309. "Im not going to lie -- that feels really good," said Hall. "I was proud of our guys, with our backs against the wall, to hang in there and get a win. It says a lot about our team going forward." It was a messy, flag-filled game played mostly on a wet field before 22,853 at Percival Molson Stadium. And it featured four lead changes. The game turned midway through the fourth quarter with Montreal ahead 26-24 when Hall made the same handoff to Ford on successive plays. The first gained eight yards and the second got 69 as Ford broke clear but was caught by Chip Cox on the one-yard line. Ford then ran in for the score. Before that, the Bombers got little on the ground against the CFLs best run defence. "Thats a really good defence," said Hall. "We felt we had a few checks at the line we could hit them with. Obviously, we did a good job executing it and Will found the hole and got loose. That long run he had won the game for us, bottom line." The Alouettes marched back late in the game, but Whytes bid to go 5 for 5 in field goals failed when his 33-yard attempt sailed wide. In the first quarter, White fumbled the snap on a punt attempt to give Winnipeg the ball on the 17. On the next play, Hall hit Ford with a TD pass. Desia Dunn picked off a Neiswander pass on Montreals first possession to set up a DeAngelis boot. Troy Smith replaced Neiswander in the second quarter and led a 60-yard TD drive capped by a 12-yard toss to Green. But Smith was picked off on his next series, and Neiswander went back in. After Mike Edem recovered a Hall fumble, Neiswander hit Duron Carter with a 40-toss to the Winnipeg one, where Sutton ran it in for a touchdown. A partially-blocked punt gave Montreal the ball on the Bombers 12 and Whyte was good on the field goal, but Winnipeg marched back for Hall to connect on a 40-yard TD pass to Denmark to tie the score at 17-17 with nine seconds left in the first half. Between two third-quarter field goals for Montreal, Denmark made a tough 34-yard catch in traffic that led to a one-yard TD plunge by Boltus. Denmark ended the day with five catches for 105 yards. "Dennys just a fast guy and hes proven he can be a reliable guy," said Hall. "On the touchdown pass, he was really just a backside post clear-out. Weve never thrown that ball in practice or anything. But, before that play, something told me we might have a chance." Neiswander has been sharp in his last three outings, but he completed fewer than half his attempts while putting up 199 yards. Smith went 3 for 6 for 35 yards and a touchdown. Popp will need to decide whether to stick with Neiswander or go back to rookie Tanner Marsh, who has returned from a sprained thumb and dressed as the third quarterback. Or try giving Smith a start. The loss left the Alouettes 3-5 at home, so they will have a losing record on home turf for the first time since the team returned to Montreal in 1996. "The reality is, there are three games left and if we win out, well be second in our division and host a playoff game -- its right there," said Popp. "We know we can beat anybody in the league, but we cant play down. Were better than our record, but we didnt play that way. Today we played to our record and maybe lower. Weve got to do a better job." . -- Josh MacDonalds second goal of the game kept his team alive as the Peterborough Petes edged the host Kingston Frontencas 6-5 in overtime on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday.
http://www.nbaknicksprostore.com/kids-t ... ks-jersey/. Liriano pitched in and out of trouble in his duel with Josh Beckett, and Ike Davis homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Friday night. . "If we only consider this season," Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said, "there is just one club in Manchester -- and its ours. . 11 Ana Ivanovic and American Sloane Stephens, and former world No.CHICAGO -- Starlin Castro put an emphatic end to his power drought with one impressive drive. Castro hit a long solo shot in the sixth for his first homer in a month, helping the Chicago Cubs to a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Cole Gillespie drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly as the Cubs earned their fourth win in 20 home games since the All-Star break. Castro, Junior Lake, Wellington Castillo and Darwin Barney had two hits apiece. Castro drove a 1-0 fastball from Zach Miner (0-1) to the centre field batters eye for his eighth homer. The leadoff drive through a steady wind was his first homer since July 31 against Milwaukee and gave Chicago a 4-3 lead. "Ive been kind of struggling," Castro said. "Its been a long time since that happened, so Im pretty happy." Castro went 2 for 5 for his second consecutive multihit game. The shortstop is batting a career-low .242, but the homer against the Phillies was one of his hardest-hit balls this year. "If he can put that kind of swing on that ball to centre with the wind blowing in, that was nice and thats your game winner" Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Balls are coming of the bat like it did a couple of years ago and last year." Michael Young collected three more hits for Philadelphia, which has split its last six games. Young went 4 for 5 in the Phillies 6-5 victory in Fridays series opener and is batting .588 (10 for 17) in four games against the Cubs this season. Kevin Frandsen homered for the second straight day, giving him five on the year, but Philadelphia dropped to 9-7 under interim manager and former Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg. Carlos Villanueva (3-8) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win and Kevin Gregg got three outs for his 28th save in 33 chances. Five Cubs relievers combined for four innings of two-hit ball. "Villanueva got four huge outs and then you can match up to get to your setup guy and closer and set what happens," Sveum said. "Obviously (home wins) havent been coming around too much lately," he added. "So it was nicee to get the lead and all the relievers did a great job and we made the plays when we had to.dddddddddddd" It turned into a battle of the bullpens after left-handers Cliff Lee of the Phillies and Chris Rusin of the Cubs each allowed three runs, two earned, in five innings. Gillespie drove in Welington Castillo with the last of three consecutive singles in the second, tying it at 1. Castillo had a tying RBI single in the third, and Gillespies sacrifice fly in the fifth made it 3-3. Lee allowed nine hits, struck out four and walked three. The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner is 1-4 with a 3.98 ERA in his last eight starts. "He just seemed a little out of sync the whole start, throwing a lot of pitches, missing just off the plate," Sandberg said "Hes a guy that usually pitches ahead in the count and goes after it and pounds the zone." Lee agreed that it was an odd day for him. "It was a strange game in the fact that they waited out some pitches that were right there just out of the strike zone and they were being called ball consistently," Lee said. "It didnt seem like I ever got a good break as far as them chasing a good pitch." Frandsen gave the Phillies the lead with a line drive to left in the second, and Carlos Ruiz had a run-scoring double in the third after first baseman Anthony Rizzo committed a costly two-out error. Young made it 3-2 in the fourth with an RBI triple that got past Gillespie in the right-field corner. He also had a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning in the series opener. But Young also committed an error in the third that led to Castillos tying hit. NOTES: Phillies OF Domonic Brown struck out swinging in the ninth as a pinch hitter. The All-Star slugger was out of the starting lineup after he left the series opener due to soreness in his right Achilles tendon. "Im probably going to feel it the rest of the year," Brown said. ... Philadelphia 3B Cody Asche (right hamstring strain) was ready to return to the lineup, but Sandberg decided to give him another day with a lefty pitching for the Cubs. ' ' '
