MINNEAPOLIS -- Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 over seven-plus scoreless innings for his first win with Baltimore, and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run to pad his lead for the Orioles in a 3-0 victory on Friday over the Minnesota Twins. Jimenez (1-4) allowed only three hits while taking a significant step forward from five rough starts to begin his $50 million, four-year contract with the Orioles. Jimenez dropped his ERA from 6.59 to 5.19, after leaving with one out in the eighth following Eduardo Escobars double. Zach Britton stranded the runner with a groundout and a called third strike on Joe Mauer, and Tommy Hunter picked up his eighth save in nine tries by pitching the ninth. Trevor Plouffe led off with a double, but Hunter struck out the next two and ended the game on a groundout. Ricky Nolasco (2-3) gave the Twins a complete game, giving up nine hits and one walk while striking out six for his eighth career nine-inning appearance. Cruz doubled in the fourth, scoring on a double by Matt Wieters, before his soaring drive into the third deck above left field followed a leadoff single by Manny Machado in the sixth inning. Cruz, who entered the night tied for fourth in the league in homers, has gone deep eight times already with his new team. The sign that this would be Jimenezs night came in the third inning, when the first two Twins he faced reached base. The 30-year-old right-hander with the herky-jerky delivery dug in and struck out the side after that: Brian Dozier, Mauer and Plouffe. From the third into the eighth, Jimenez retired 16 of 17 batters, with the only outlier a fielding error by second baseman Jonathan Schoop that put Escobar on with two outs in the fifth. Jimenez, who threw a season-high 118 pitches, had issued 17 walks in 27 1-3 innings over those prior five starts. Three runs allowed was his lowest total. Nolasco, who received the richest deal the Twins have ever given a free agent from another team, likewise has had a rocky start to the $49 million, four-year contract he signed with the club. But only on the road, where the right-hander has taken the mound four times. In two turns at Target Field, Nolasco has allowed just four runs on 14 hits and two walks in 17 innings. These were two tired teams taking the field, each forced into a doubleheader the day before by wet weather prior to that. The Orioles swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in Baltimore on Thursday and arrived in Minneapolis around 5:30 a.m. The Twins had the benefit of being at home, but after a Wednesday night game that lasted 3:38 they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in games that took 3:01 and 5:11. The last one, the longest game in five seasons at Target Field, took 12 innings. NOTES: The Orioles will send LH Wei-Yin Chen (3-1, 4.34 ERA) to the mound on Saturday afternoon, and RH Kevin Correia (0-3, 7.33 ERA) will pitch for the Twins. Chen has won both of his road starts this year. Correia gave up eight runs in only 2 1-3 innings in his last turn. ... Correia went down to the bullpen as the emergency pitcher in case the game kept going the night before. Was he warming up, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was asked? "No, he was freezing," Gardenhire quipped. ... Prized Orioles prospect Kevin Gausman, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft, was diagnosed with a form of pneumonia, Showalter said, but the RHP should be able to resume pitching for Triple-A Norfolk as soon as hes feeling well again. ... The Twins announced their rained-out game against Detroit last Sunday will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 23 when the Tigers make their next weekend trip to Target Field. . The three Calgary natives will compete after the sport was skipped by the Vancouver Games in 2010 but later included on the program for Sochi, Russia. The fight to include womens ski jumping prior to Vancouver went to the courts only to have the Supreme Court of Canada rule against the athletes appeal in 2009. . Louis Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012 season in 12th spot in the TSN.
http://www.cheaptitansjerseyssale.com/? ... ersey-sale. City, fielding a depleted team having already qualified, was twice pegged back by the plucky Czech champions but substitute Negredo tapped home in the 78th minute and Dzekos header made sure of victory in the 89th. The result kept City three points behind Bayern Munich ahead of their meeting in Germany in two weeks. . Team officials did not indicate the extent of the injury Saturday, simply listing Rose with "left knee soreness." Rose has played two preseason games without any sign of problems. The first NBA game in South America now will be missing its biggest star. . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer.SARASOTA, Fla. - After his second knee operation in a less than year, Manny Machado thinks hell be ready to play when the Baltimore Orioles start spring training next month.The dynamic 22-year-old third baseman participated in batting practice and running drills Wednesday at the teams spring training headquarters during the final session of the Orioles three-day mini-camp.My goal was just to come out here and show them that Im ready to go, he said.Machado hit .283 with 14 homers, 51 doubles and 71 RBIs in his first full season in 2013, when he was picked for the AL All-Star team and earned a Gold Glove. He tore a left knee ligament that Sept. 23 when he stepped awkwardly on first base in a game at Tampa Bay and needed surgery.Machado returned May 1 and batted .278 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs. He was suspended for five games after throwing his bat against Oakland on June 8 following consecutive high-and-tight pitches from Fernando Abad.Machados season ended Aug. 11 when he tore a ligament in his right knee while swinging during a plate appearance against the New York Yankees. He had surgery 16 days lateer.ddddddddddddRight now, I feel like Im ready to go come spring training. Im ready to roll — finally have a spring training, Machado said. I havent had one in a while. Thats the first thing thats on my mind. Hopefully, Ill be ready if nothing comes up.Manager Buck Showalter asked Machado to drive over from his off-season home in Hialeah.Manny looked good today. Glad he came over, Showalter said. Didnt have to. Appreciated him making the trek.Machado married Yainee Alonso, the younger sister of San Diego first baseman Yonder Alonso, during the off-season, and took off a month.Machado said that when he came back, he felt awesome.I felt great. My body was feeling great, he said. I think thats why Im in this position now that I could do what Ive been doing, because I took that little time off and kind of let my body heal completely.NOTE: RHP Suk-min Yoon, who was signed last year to a $5.75 million, three-year contract, will not be invited to big league spring training, Showalter said. The South Korean was a highly coveted free agent a year ago, and spent 2014 pitching for Triple-A Norfolk. ' ' '
