Dein erstes Forum » 2012. Andrus streak started with his major leagu

TORONTO – The Blue Jays play the rubber match of their three-game series with the Yankees on Sunday. With a win, Toronto (3-3) would head into its first off-day of the regular season above .500 and with the Astros coming to town for a three-game set starting Tuesday. KRATZS FIRST START Catcher Erik Kratz was looking forward to being behind the plate for Drew Hutchisons start on Sunday afternoon. “I like his demeanour,” said Kratz. “I like how he goes after hitters and hes not afraid of contact. Hes going to go right after these guys and Im excited about it.” Its been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Kratz. Acquired from Philadelphia in the offseason, along with pitcher Rob Rasmussen, it was assumed Kratz would have the inside track to be Dioner Navarros backup because hes an offensive threat. Kratz lost the job to Josh Thole, who has a lengthy track record catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, but was recalled in time for opening day when Casey Janssen went on the disabled list. “Theyve been up and down for sure,” said Kratz. “When I got sent down I was disappointed but when I got called back up obviously youre excited again. Its something that, its part of the game, its part of where Im at in my career.” He understands the business and knows there are limited opportunities to impress. But Kratz is familiar to the organization, the Blue Jays drafted him in 2002, and hes confident hes built up enough of a resume during his time in Philadelphia. He hit 18 home runs in 375 at-bats over the last two seasons. “I cant sit here and say, Oh man, this one at-bat that Im going to get off the bench is going to make or break my season,” said Kratz. “Its something that you do have to take advantage of your opportunities. Ive been fortunate to have opportunities in the big leagues so Ive put together a little bit of a resume.” Should he be called upon to catch Dickey this season, Kratz has confidence in his ability to receive the knuckleball. “Its as good as its been,” said Kratz. “I think he said it right and he knows the pitch the best. I definitely improved. Is there room for more improvement? Absolutely. I think its something that, getting that comfort level out in those games, lights are a little brighter than in spring training. Just the more reps I can get the more comfortable Ill get.” WALDEN “SHOCKED” AT CALL-UP Needless to say Marcus Walden was surprised when his contract was purchased from Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday. “I was definitely shocked,” said Walden. “I saw that they were calling up Chad Jenkins. I didnt hear of a 10-day rule, I had no knowledge of it, so my skipper called me in and I was shocked. Really shocked.” The 10-day rule to which Walden is referring applies to players optioned to the minor leagues. Players on option already are on the 40-man roster and if theyre sent to the minor leagues, they must spend 10 regular season days on option before theyre eligible to be recalled. The lone exception is to be an injury replacement when someone on the big league roster is placed on the disabled list. The Blue Jays intended to recall Chad Jenkins but, because hes on option, he isnt eligible for call up until April 10, the 11th day of the regular season. Walden wasnt on the 40-man roster, hence his contract being “purchased,” and so he was selected as Jeremy Jeffress replacement when Jeffress was designated for assignment. Walden, 25, is a sinkerball pitcher who relies on ground ball outs. His career minor league strikeout rate of 5.4 per nine innings reflects his approach. He missed most of 2009 and all of 2010 after undergoing Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. Walden made a number of adjustments to his training regimen as a result. “Ever since then Ive kind of changed a lot of stuff about working out and doing a lot of things to get myself ready to pitch,” said Walden. “At the end of the day I think its paid off.” Walden swears by yoga; he estimates he participated in 40 to 50 sessions in the offseason. Hes considered one of the strongest players in the Blue Jays organization and he credits yoga. “I think its something, it kind of gets people to be more limber and more flexible,” said Walden. “If youve got really big, strong, tight muscles it does you no good. The more limber you are, the more flexibility you can have, the looser your muscles are to help with not having injuries.” ,b>POSITIVE SIGN For the first time in franchise history, the Blue Jays first three wins of a season have come with the club scoring fewer than four runs in each of the victories. The starting pitching, with the benefit of improved defence, is off to a much better start than last year. Its early but the Blue Jays 3.78 starting staff ERA has the team on track to vastly improve on last seasons 4.81 ERA amongst starters, which ranked second worst in baseball. Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games. Cheap Air Max Plus . - Tiger Woods only made it through 10 holes Thursday — this time because of the weather, not his back. http://www.clearanceairmaxplus.com/ . A night later, he was back to help lead a rout of the Detroit Pistons. John Wall had 20 points and 11 assists, and Beal scored 10 of his 15 points during the second quarter as Washington pulled away for a 106-82 victory on Saturday. Discount Air Max Plus .Y. - The New York Rangers have reached a one-year contract extension with goalie Cam Talbot, keeping Henrik Lundqvists backup away from unrestricted free agency. Air Max Plus Free Shipping . The top-ranked Djokovic also beat Gael Monfils and then routed Roger Federer en route to his first Abu Dhabi title. "Its always great to win a title. This is the best way to start the 2012 season," Djokovic said.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Michael Choice delivered the home run that gave Yu Darvish a win the Texas ace couldnt wrap up on his own. Choice hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning after Darvish blew a four-run lead and the Rangers snapped Clevelands six-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory over the Indians on Friday night. The decisive shot from Choice came after his RBI single in a four-run second. A night earlier, he homered to give the Rangers another big early lead they couldnt hold before going on to beat Baltimore. "I feel like I started out kind of passive at the plate, trying to feel guys out," said Choice, who is getting his first extensive time in the big leagues after an off-season trade brought him from Oakland. "And lately Ive tried to be more aggressive and be not so picky at the plate." Choice went the opposite way just over the right field wall against Marc Rzepczynski (0-2) with two outs for a solo homer. The shot made a winner of Darvish (6-2) after the Japanese ace gave up a season-high nine hits in seven innings. Texas reliever Jason Frasor got a nifty double play from Elvis Andrus in a scoreless eighth, and closer Joakim Soria had two strikeouts in the ninth for his 13th save. Lonnie Chisenhall and Asdrubal Cabrera homered off Darvish to wipe out a 4-0 deficit, but the Indians followed a 6-0 homestand by starting a 10-game trip with their fifth straight road loss. They have the worst record in the majors away from home at 9-20. Chisenhall hit the first three-run homer Darvish has allowed in his three big league seasons, a shot off the foul pole in right field in the third inning. The Indians pulled even an inning later on a solo shot to right by Cabrera, who had three hits. "When youre going against a guy like him who never gives in, his best stuff every night, the best stuff in the league, its a good feeling to answer back real quick and hhes not able to get comfortable," Chisenhall said.dddddddddddd Trevor Bauer had retired 13 of the last 15 Rangers he faced without allowing a hit when Rzepczynski came on to face the left-handed Leonys Martin and struck him out. But Choice put the Rangers ahead on the next pitch. Rzepczynski "was just trying to get ahead like he does and sink it," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "It just caught too much of the plate." Cleveland had a good chance to take the lead in the sixth after singles from Yan Gomes, his third of the game, and Carlos Santana. But Darvish got Mike Aviles and Michael Bourn on called strikes and Cabrera on a weak grounder back to him. Darvish had eight strikeouts, and three of the four against Bourn. "I think the strike zone was a little bit smaller today so I had to be creative," Darvish said. "So I started throwing cut fastballs and sliders to throw the other hitters off." Bauer had all six of his strikeouts after giving up a two-run homer to Rougned Odor into the upper deck in right field in the second. "He pitched behind a lot in the count to a lot of dangerous hitters, but he still competed," Francona said. NOTES: An eighth-inning single gave Andrus a hit in all 38 games of his career against Cleveland. It ties the second-longest streak for a player against the same opponent going back to 1914, according to STATS. Vladimir Guerrero had a 44-game streak for the Los Angeles Angels against Texas from 2004 to 2006. Bostons Jacoby Ellsbury had a 38-game streak against Baltimore from 2009 to 2012. Andrus streak started with his major league debut on April 6, 2009. ... Clevelands David Murphy was 0 for 3 with a walk in his first game in Texas since leaving as a free agent. He spent six-plus seasons with the Rangers, including both of the franchises World Series years in 2010 and 2011. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '