four-point win against Green Bay, the Irish played much better at both and in extending their home winning streak to 34 games.POLL IMPLICATIONSW

SEATTLE -- You know a team has been through a grueling stretch when the players are eagerly looking forward to spending their long-needed off day at ... an island prison.Were actually going to Alcatraz, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Joyce said of his plans for Pittsburghs day off in the Bay Area on Thursday. John Jaso is going to go, and my wife has been asking for years, and Im going to surprise her. She likes stuff like that.His wife cannot have liked all the time Joyce has been at work the past month and half, though. Because of rainouts, makeup games and the usual packed baseball schedule, the Pirates have gone to a ballpark 47 of the past 48 days. They were supposed to have three off days during that span, but rainouts and makeups meant they took the field 37 times in 36 days, including a doubleheader against the Mets on June 7 to makeup for a rainout on June 6. Their only day off was also a travel day.One rainout meant that what should have been a day off in the middle of a nine-game homestand became a road game. The Pirates played a game June 8 in Pittsburgh, then flew to Denver and arrived after midnight, played a game June 9, then flew back to Pittsburgh and arrived home after midnight. On June 10, catcher Francisco Cervelli broke his hand.Its pretty grinding, Jaso said. Even with the off day [Thursday], were still going to be getting in super late and were going to be exhausted from the plane ride and jet lag, and everything that comes with it.We have to get over that. Its a never-ending battle, but its just something you need to remain callous to, and just grind through it and just keep playing.Jaso said this after having played a night home game Sunday followed by a 12:30 p.m. start Monday, a five-hour flight to Seattle and a game Tuesday. As he talked about it, he yawned twice.The Pirates started off their long stretch in good fashion, winning 10 of 12 games in one span to improve to 28-19, good then for second place in the National League Central, 4 ? games behind the Chicago Cubs. But as the games started to mount, the Pirates began to nosedive, going 10-22 and falling to 38-41, 14 games out of first and fifth in the wild-card standings.It probably has affected the performance on the field. You have to be honest about it. It has, Jaso said. But the other honest part that you have to work with is that every other team deals with the same thing, so its a pretty even playing field when it comes to that. So you just have to take it as it comes.You cant take it personally like something is against our team. Other guys are playing night games followed by day games in another city.Or as Andrew McCutchen said: We cant let that be the excuse for our play overall. We have to suck it up. Everyone has to play 162 regular games, so it doesnt matter when you play them -- you just got to play them and go out there and keep going and keep going hard.We just need to play better. Thats the biggest thing. Were not playing our best baseball.Especially not in June. The staff ERA was 5.31 (148 runs/250 ? innings), with Francisco Liriano going 0-4 with a 7.03 ERA, Juan Nicasio going 1-2/7.08 and Jonathon Niese 1-4/6.21. They also lost starter Gerrit Cole to a strained triceps in the same game Cervelli broke his hand.Its one of those things thats frustrating for sure. I havent pitched this bad in my whole career, Niese answered when asked what was the cause of the decline. Its a crazy year. If I had all the answers, I wouldnt have the results I have.Meanwhile, Pirates batters struck out 258 times in June, or roughly once an inning. Manager Clint Hurdle thinks part of it is umpiring that has gone against his batters. He was ejected in Tuesday nights 5-2 loss to the Mariners after arguing with the umpire.Its short at-bats, Hurdle said. I dont think were getting three strikes.Part of the recent hitting slump also was because they faced some of the best pitchers in baseball, including Jake Arrieta (twice), Noah Syndergaard (twice), Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto, Jose Fernandez, Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels.The Pirates did have one good recent series, taking three of four games from the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend at home. They also beat Kershaw and Bumgarner last week.We had a stretch where we played the best teams in baseball, Joyce said. We understand its a long season. Were not looking for excuses or anyone to feel sorry for us. Its just one of those tough stretches we had. And we walk away stronger from it.Now youve seen us bounce back from that and figure ourselves out and how were going to win and start having fun again. Now we just have to keep the momentum going.Hurdle said it is important to closely examine the stretch and see how they can improve.An overall thing like this were going through for everyone involved is to review, he said. What did we well, what might we be able to tweak or do better or different next time.The Pirates went 20 season without going to the postseason before playing in the wild-card game in 2013. They won that game but didnt win the ensuing division series and lost the wild-card game in 2014 and 2015. They havent won the World Series since 1979. Pittsburgh will have to improve on its recent stretch to get another crack at the postseason this year.In this game, when it rains, it pours. Its always going to happen, Jaso said. Youre always going to go through slumps, but its all about staying positive to get out of those slumps. But I would never say, Were out of it, were going to be cruising now.Like fate is going to take us. No. Fate doesnt take us anywhere. You have to keep working and stay focused. Thats what also gets you out of slumps.And perhaps some time off at the break will help, too. Andre Johnson Womens Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Deshaun Watson Womens Jersey . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. http://www.texansrookiestore.com/Texans-Andre-Johnson-Jersey/ . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Max Scharping Womens Jersey .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Justin Reid Youth Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The tenaciousness of top-ranked Notre Dames defense, the speed of its offense and a crowd of 8,106 overwhelmed No. 17 Washington early in the Preseason WNIT final on Sunday and the Huskies never recovered.The Fighting Irish jumped to a 12-0 start and led 25-8 at the end of the first quarter en route to a 71-60 victory on Sunday as Arike Ogunbowale led Notre Dame with 17 points and Kathryn Westbeld added 14 points and eight rebounds. Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey had four steals each as Notre Dame forced 17 turnovers, leading to 19 points.Transition is our game. We want to get out and run, Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. I think thats one of the things were known for.Washington coach Mike Neighbors said the male players who the Huskies normally practice against werent available the past few days so it made it tougher to prepare for Notre Dames speed.Wow are they fast, he said.After trailing by as many as 20 points early in the second quarter and 19 late in the third quarter, the Huskies (3-1) closed to 63-53 on a basket by Chantel Osahor with 5:53 left. But Ogunbowale hit a basket inside and Turner hit a free throw and scored on a rebound as the Irish regained control.Turner added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Irish (4-0).Kelsey Plum, who entered the game averaging 30 points, finished with 22 points on 7 of 19 shooting, including 2 of 6 from 3-point range. Plum credited Notre Dames defense.They sat on my left hand the entire game. They made me take a step back, fadeaway jump shots, and I didnt knock as many down as I should have, she said.The Huskies entered the game shooting 48.2 percent from 3-point range, but only shot 32 percent on Sunday.Washington, which hadnt trailed by more than seven points in its first three games, missed their ffirst five shots and had four turnovers while the Irish hit 5 of 8 shots.ddddddddddddI think once we got punched in the mouth we just settled down, and said, `Thats OK. Thats why theyre No. 1 in the country. Lets start playing basketball now. So I think that initial punch, it was cool to see our team battle throughout and play them even, Plum said. I think that will help us in the tournament and future big games. I think well be a little bit more prepared from the jump.BIG PICTUREWashington: The Huskies, playing on the road for the first time, struggled shooting early and couldnt hit consistently from 3-point range as they usually do. ... They fell 0-7 all-time against teams ranked No. 1.Notre Dame: After struggling both offensively and defensively in a four-point win against Green Bay, the Irish played much better at both and in extending their home winning streak to 34 games.POLL IMPLICATIONSWashington: The Huskies outscored the Irish 52-46 after a slow start so the loss shouldnt hurt them in the poll and could help them.Notre Dame: The win over a ranked team might be enough to keep hold of the top ranking, although the Irish could be hurt by the way they struggled to a four-point win over Green Bay on Thursday.HE SAID IT:Were not used to playing in front of 8,100 people. So that had a lot to do with it, Neighbors said.UP NEXTWashington: The Huskies host Idaho on Tuesday and Seattle on Saturday before playing at Portland on Sunday.Notre Dame: The Irish play Louisiana-Lafayette in Houston on Tuesday, a neutral-site home game for the Irish so Turner can play near her home in Pearland, before returning home to face TCU at home on Saturday. ' ' '