Dominating pitching continues to be the story for the Detroit Tigers as they aim for a three-game sweep against the Boston Red Sox tonight at Fenway Park. Watch the game live on TSN2 and TSN GO at 8pm et/5pm pt. Winners of five in a row and six of the last seven, the Tigers have surrendered a total of just eight runs during the current win streak, thanks in part to a commanding 6-1 victory on Saturday. While he may not get as much press as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello continued his strong start by picking up his seventh win in eight decisions. Porcello gave up just a single run on six hits and a walk, striking our four over the course of eight innings as he lowered his ERA to 2.91. Thanks to the positive effort, Detroit continues to sport the best winning percentage (.684) in the majors and is 6 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for first place in the American League Central. "Its May," Porcello said after his performance. "Ive said before, this is a marathon, its not a sprint. ... The most important thing to me right now is that were in first place and were playing good ball. Thats huge. We want to keep that going." From an offensive standpoint, the Tigers picked up support from Miguel Cabrera who finished with three hits and two RBI, while Victor Martinez added a pair of hits and scored once. Over on the other side, Mike Napoli tallied three singles in four trips to the plate for a Boston squad which is fourth in the AL East, 2 1/2 games off the pace set by Baltimore and New York. Xander Bogaerts pitched in with another two hits at the bottom of the order. His solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning accounted for the lone run of the contest for the Sox. John Lackey suffered his third loss of the season after giving up five earned runs on nine hits and a couple of walks over 5 1/3 innings. "Theyre deep all the way through the lineup," Lackey said of the visitors. "Theyre pretty good." Detroit hitters are currently first in the AL in batting at .275, coming in second in slugging (.421), which combines well with the fact that the pitching staff is second in the league with a combined 3.19 ERA. Sundays slate of games culminates with Anibal Sanchez taking the hill for the Tigers and Jake Peavy facing off against the Detroit lineup. Peavy, a right-hander from Alabama, has appeared in eight games in 2014 but has just a 1-1 mark to show for his efforts. Earlier this week the hurler lasted just 4 1/3 innings against Minnesota on the road, giving up six runs on nine hits and a pair of walks as the Sox suffered an 8-6 setback. Sporting a career mark of 4-5 with a 4.83 ERA in 12 all-time appearances against Detroit, Peavy lasted only three innings in his most recent matchup versus the Tigers, allowing seven runs on five hits and three walks. Over on the other side, Sanchez is still searching for his first win of the campaign. The right-hander has been on the shelf for several weeks, last pitching against Minnesota on April 26 when he lasted a mere 2 2/3 innings in what turned into a 5-3 setback on the road. A member of the Miami staff for the bulk of his career, Sanchez has yet to register a decision versus Boston. Detroit, which edged the Red Sox in the season series last year by a 4-3 count, is now ahead this time around at 2-0. Overall, the Tigers are off to their best start since 1984, thanks in part to a 10-game road win streak which is their longest in three decades. . -- Once again, Carlos Santana was a huge hit in Kansas City. . As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team.
http://www.cheapnbajerseysauthenticonline.com/. Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up. . Lawrie was hit on the hand by Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Cueto in the second inning of Sundays 4-3 loss to the Reds. . -- Miguel Angel Jimenez quickly shifted his focus back to the Ryder Cup after winning his first Champions Tour event.MONTREAL -- Its Brad Richards turn to be the old hand, tutoring his young New York Rangers teammates on what its like to win a Stanley Cup. It wasnt like that in 2004, when Richards and teammate Martin St. Louis won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. "This whole playoffs its been fun to do that," the 34-year-old Richards said Tuesday. "When I was in Tampa, Marty also, we didnt really have a clue what we were doing. "We were first time through it, leaning on other people, older people, asking them all the questions. Its fun to try to gather the group and talk about things. This group has come together so much and they ask a lot of questions. They make fun of us a lot for doing that, too, but its fun to try to help out that way." The Rangers are two wins away from a trip to the Stanley Cup final after taking the opening two games of the NHL Eastern Conference final from the Canadiens in Montreal. They swamped the flat-footed Canadiens 7-2 in the series opener on Monday afternoon, but then needed a 40-save effort from goalie Henrik Lundqvist to pull out a 3-1 win in a major Montreal push-back on Monday night. Game 3 is set for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. In 2004, the Canadiens came back to beat Boston in the opening round but then were swept by the Lightning. This year, Montreal is again coming off a Game 7 win over the Bruins and is in danger of losing in four straight to the Rangers. That has Richards, a P.E.I. native who played junior hockey in Quebec with the 2000 Memorial Cup champion Rimouski Oceanic, and Montreal native St. Louis at 6-0 in career playoff games against the Canadiens. Their message to teammates who havent won a Cup is to not let the opportunity slip away. "Weve been to the conference final twice in three years, thats very rare," said Richards. "Look at teams around the league that you think are going to have chances to win Cups every year and it just doesnt happen. "Its very tough. I havent been back to a final since 04. I just try to hammer that stuff home." And despite taking the first two games on enemy ice, the conference final is far from over even if Montreals star goalie Carey Price is out with a suspected right knee injury for the rest of the series. The Canadiens had the puck most of the first period on Monday but came out of it down 2-1 due to an unlucky bounce on a shot from the red-hot Ryan McDonagh and blast on the rush from Rick Nash that was perhaps third-string goalie Dustin Tokarskis only big mistake. Montreal will no doubt come out hard again in Game 3. "Im sure they have more," said Richards. "And you dont always roll the dice that your goalies going to stop all those shots. "They could come with less and score two goals. You just never know. But youve got to give yourself an opportunity and thats by holding onto pucks and getting it down the other end. We did that in Game 1, but in Game 2... youre playing with fire is what Im trying to say." Montreal coach Michel Theerrien said his team is confident it can still win the series if it gives up fewer odd-man rushes and keeps up the fast-paced game it brought on Monday night.dddddddddddd "I believe that we will turn it around," said Therrien. "Yes, the first game was tough for us emotionally and physically. "We didnt get much time between Game 7 (against Boston) and Game 1 (against the Rangers), and it was an afternoon game. It shows in the result. But I thought we regrouped really well. We were a team that played with a lot of energy, that was pushing the pace, and we played a solid game." Therrien spoke to the media on a conference call while his players took what he said was a much-needed day off. They will practice on Tuesday before flying to New York. "The only thing that were going to focus on is to make sure weve got another solid game in New York," he said. "You get one win and after that, the momentum can change really quickly in the playoffs." There is also the chance of fatigue setting in on the Rangers, whose first two rounds went seven games each. Therrien touched off a debate by giving Tokarski his first NHL playoff start over regular backup Peter Budaj, who let in three goals on eight shots after subbing for Price in the third period of the series opener. It seemed like a hunch. The 24-year-old Tokarski, who has played only 10 NHL regular season games over five years with Tampa Bay and Montreal, has a history of winning championships at the junior and AHL levels, while Budaj has a career 0-2-0 NHL playoff record. It appeared Therrien will stick with Tokarski, at least for Game 3. He said Tokarski played well and wasnt the reason they lost. He also liked what he saw of Alex Galchenyuk, who missed the final two games of the regular season and the first 12 playoff games with a knee problem. The gifted forward taken third overall in the 2012 draft skated on left wing on the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Thomas Vanek. "For a guy that hadnt played for six weeks, I thought he did well," said Therrien. "Especially because this is not regular season pace, this is a playoff pace. "I thought Alex was capable, made some plays. The more the series goes on, the more were going to see Alex get better and better." It should be a happy homecoming for Rangers sniper Nash, who was without a goal in the playoffs and endured some booing in New York before the team got to Montreal. Then he scored in each of the first two games. "Ive tried to stay positive through this whole thing," said Nash. "The teams winning, and thats all I care about. "But I want to do what I can to help the team win, and its frustrating when you cant help offensively and youre supposed to." After Game 2, coach Alain Vigneault said he had an inkling that Montreal would start Tokarski, who he referred to as "that gentleman." Asked if he had another inkling for Game 3, Vigneault said: "I do, but Im not willing to share it with you." ' ' '
