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On the first day of the Boston Major, eight teams fought for their metaphorical lives in Bostons Wang Theatre. After a heated group stage filled with upsets and surprises, Wednesdays elimination matches were set to be dramatic, with rivalries and rematches set to play out on the main stage.The series between Evil Geniuses and Wings Gaming was the highlight of the day; it was a matchup most expected to see in the semifinals or later. Both expected to take first in their groups, but upsets for both teams matched the former International champs against each other early in the bracket.EG struck first in the series, with Sumail Suma1L Hassans Alchemist farming up almost 1200 gold per minute, buffing his supports with Aghanims upgrades and rebuffing Wings Gaming from the high ground to push back and secure the win. Wings responded in Game 2 with a surprising Lycan pick for Zhou bLink Yang, but the minus-armor composition struggled against EGs aggressive Shadow Demon/Luna composition. Wings Gaming, winners of The International 6, were eliminated from the Boston Major with an unceremonious 2-0.OG would face a familiar foe in MVP Phoenix, the team who knocked the mean green into the lower bracket at TI6. MVPs rough group run didnt bode well, but the Korean team held its own against OG in Game 1, going blow for blow with the European top seed. OGs composition held out on the back of a last-pick Ember Spirit for Anathan ana Pham, securing the first game for OG. MVP Phoenix struck back hard in Game 2, with Lee Forev Sang-don putting up impressive numbers on Mirana, but OGs Gustav s4 Magnusson made huge plays for his team, controlling teamfights and setting up OGs high-impact ultimates. Winning key fights, OG shut down MVP Phoenix and pushed into the ancient, securing the teams livelihood in Boston 2-0.Looking for another shot at Evil Geniuses, Complexity would have to take on Warriors Gaming Unity, a team that had also nabbed its share of upsets in the group stages. The two underdogs faced off, with WGU taking an early lead with a Shadow Demon/Luna draft complemented by some great Timbersaw play from Kam NaNa Boom Seng. Complexity banned the Demon in Game 2, trying to avoid a similar situation, but Kams Timbersaw slipped through the draft once again, ensuring the SEA qualifier team a top 8 berth in the major and a date with OG in the quarterfinals.Virtus.Pro, coming into the major on a hot streak and securing a top seed in Group B, looked confident against Group Ds bottom seed Invictus Gaming Vitality. A wipe of VP in Game 1 looked to swing the game in IGVs favor, but Virtus.Pro played back from the deficit and took Game 1 for themselves. A longer Game 2 saw early advantage shift back and forth some more, but Aghs pickups on Pavel 9pasha Khvastunovs Centaur Warrunner and Ilya Lil Ilyuks support Weaver secured teamfights for VP and ensured a Game 2 win, advancing the team onwards to face EG in the quarterfinals.Keep up-to-date on the Boston Major with the ESPN Esports website, Facebook, Twitter and the ESPN App. . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. PITTSBURGH -- Milwaukee second baseman Scooter Gennett saw Pittsburghs Josh Harrison chugging for third leading off the bottom of the ninth in a tie game on Tuesday night and did some quick math.In that play, especially with no outs there, were trying to get that guy out, Gennett said. A runner on third with no outs is not very good. I took a chance at it.One that didnt work out for the struggling Brewers. Gennetts relay throw skipped by teammate Hernan Perez at third and out of play, allowing Harrison to stroll home and give the Pirates a 3-2 victory.Perezs RBI single off Pittsburgh All-Star closer Mark Melancon (1-1) with two outs in the top of the ninth had tied the game, though the momentum lasted only as long as it took Harrison to drill an offering from Tyler Thornburg (3-4) off the wall in right-center to set up the winning sequence.Were taught just to throw it right at the guy and hope for the best, Gennett said. Thats what I did and it didnt work out.Milwaukee lost for the fifth time in six games, the last two defeats coming on walk-off hits.Its not fun when you get walked off on but for the most part were playing good baseball, Gennett said. Were in these ballgames. Got to keep grinding and eventually well run into some win streaks.Junior Guerra overcame a shaky start to allow two runs over six innings, striking out six and walking three. Guerras only wobble came in the first, when two walks and a single by Andrew McCutchen loaded the bases with one out. David Freese loped a soft single to right field to score Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervellis fly to left easily plated McCutchen to give Taillon an early lead.Guerra surrendered one more hit over his final five innings.Junior was excellent like hes been all year, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.Pirates rookie Jameson Taillon pitched six innings in his return from the disabled list, narrowly avoiding serious injury after taking a line drive off his head in the second.With one out, Perez sent a liner toward the mound that drilled Taillon on the back of the head. The 24-year-old rookie lay on the ground for several moments while being tended to by ttrainers but was permitted to stay in the game.dddddddddddd.Whenever someone gets hit in the head, its scary, Gennett said. He stayed in there and almost pitched even better after getting hit in the head, which is pretty incredible.The scare hardly seemed to faze Taillon, who allowed one run and five hits, striking out three without a walk before being removed after throwing 65 pitches in his first start since being placed on the disabled list on June 28 with right shoulder fatigue.Chris Carter doubled leading off the fourth and scored on a groundout by Perez but otherwise Taillon kept the Brewers in check as he outpitched Guerra, who has been one of the bright spots for the struggling Brewers.I thought we hit some balls hard off (Taillon) but we couldnt get the runner-in-scoring position hit, Counsell said.Milwaukee went just 1 for 8 with men in scoring position, the lone hit Perezs single up the middle that scored Ryan Braun, who had led off the ninth with a five-pitch walk against MelancoCpeful his teams gritty performance against one of the better closers in the game can provide a boost going forward.Against an All-Star closer, a guy thats been lights out all season, we had the guys up there we wanted, Counsell said. Braun ... got us started, put pressure on Melancon and then a big two-out hit. Its good to see.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RF Gregory Polanco went 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored while showing no ill effects from a sore left hamstring that kept him sidelined since July 8.UP NEXTBrewers: Chase Anderson (4-10, 5.44 ERA) will try to get a handle on his control issues on Wednesday night when he makes his second start of the season against the Pirates. Anderson has issued a career-high five walks in each of his last two starts, both losses to St. Louis.Pirates: Jeff Locke (8-5, 5.26 ERA) will try to win his fourth straight decision on Wednesday night when he makes his 18th start of the season. Locke is 5-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 13 career starts against the Brewers. ' ' '
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