Dein erstes Forum » Desperate to fix the memento before the playoff ga

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Although Jered Weaver is pitching with a fraction of his early-career velocity, the veteran right-hander still gets victories with craft and guile.And he never lost his curious mastery over the Chicago White Sox.Albert Pujols hit a pair of two-run homers, Weaver pitched seven strong innings and the Los Angeles Angels completed an emphatic three-game sweep of the White Sox with an 8-1 victory Sunday.After their worst first half since 1992, the injury-plagued Halos (40-52) returned from the All-Star break by outscoring Chicago 16-1. Los Angeles also escaped sole possession of last place in the AL West, pulling even with Oakland.Our motto is just to go out there and have some fun, Weaver said. Obviously were not in the position wed like to be, but thats not going to deter from going out there and competing. A sweep against a team like this is a step in the right direction.During the Angels first series sweep since mid-May, Hector Santiago, Matt Shoemaker and Weaver (8-7) became the first consecutive Los Angeles starters to go seven innings since July 2015.With his fastball showing a bit more speed than usual after 10 days off, Weaver beat the White Sox for the eighth time in his last eight starts against them since 2011, giving up just six hits.Im still trying to get stronger, but my body is feeling a lot better, Weaver said. Its not fun going out there and having to trick people and throw pitches that you wouldnt necessarily (want to) throw in certain counts. To have a little more of a fastball and being able to locate it keeps guys off your secondary pitches a little bit more.Pujols connected in the first and fourth innings of his 53rd multi-homer game. He has 577 career homers as he pursues Mark McGwire (583) for 10th place on baseballs career list.Obviously we didnt have a great first half, but thats the way you want to start the second half, Pujols said.Five Angels drove in a run while lighting up Jacob Turner (0-1) over the first five innings. He yielded seven hits and eight runs in his debut for the White Sox, who have lost four straight.Chicago never threatened to do much against Weaver, who repeatedly tricked overeager hitters into harmless popups.You sit there and you marvel at the fact that its not going very hard, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. Speed isnt anything to alarm you about, but he almost throws it under that, anything thats a comfortable hitting speed. He takes a little off. Big curveball. Nothing seems to be in the middle of the plate.Omar Narvaez got his first big-league hit in his first at-bat, and he scored Chicagos first run since July 9 on Adam Eatons double moments later in the third inning. The run ended a 34-inning scoreless streak for the White Sox, who have lost six of eight.We need to score runs, Ventura said. Scoring one in a series is not going to do it for us.GOT HIS NUMBERPujols improved to 4 for 4 with three homers and six RBI in his career against Turner, who hadnt pitched in the big leagues since 2014. He got promoted from Triple-A Charlotte for a spot start because Ventura decided to give an extra day of rest to All-Star Game starter Chris Sale.BIG BLASTSPujols opened the scoring with a 431-foot homer, his first since July 2. His second homer drove in Mike Trout, who snapped his longest hitless streak of the season (0 for 10) with a double off the wall moments earlier.FIRST TASTEAlong with Narvaez, White Sox right-hander Carson Fulmer also made his big-league debut, tossing two innings of one-hit relief. The 22-year-old Fulmer, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft, was called up from Double-A Birmingham before the series. It was impressive, Ventura said.TRAINERS ROOMWhite Sox: 3B Matt Davidson (broken foot) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Turner on the roster.Angels: Geovany Soto was scratched before the game with discomfort in his left knee.UP NEXTWhite Sox: Sale (14-3, 3.38 ERA) goes after his sixth victory in seven starts when Chicago begins a three-game series in Seattle.Angels: Nick Tropeano (3-2, 3.12 ERA) will make his third start since returning to the rotation in early July when Los Angeles hosts Texas. Wholesale Magic Jerseys . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Hedo Turkoglu Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. https://www.cheapmagiconline.com/ . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Michael Doleac Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Ryan Anderson Jersey . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. SANDY, Utah -- Its hardly a surprise that it takes sacrifices along the way to make it to the U.S. womens national team. It requires a willingness to follow a road wherever it leads, accepting that its end might not be your desired destination.So when she found herself eye-to-eye with a sheeps severed head, Casey Short could have been forgiven for thinking she might have missed a turn or two along the way. In Norway at that moment, she was literally and figuratively a long way from her desired destination.The sheeps head was dinner; the dish a longstanding part of Norwegian cuisine.I dont know that I miss it, but it was kind of a neat experience, Short said of that culinary adventure she had while playing professionally overseas. Surprisingly, I kind of liked it.If the current moment is about where the national team goes next, it also encompasses how those who hope to answer that question got here.For the past two weeks, the national team searched for the pieces to complement the familiar and help solve puzzles posed by the 2019 World Cup and 2020 Olympics. A left foot here, poise on the ball there. With 11 players who were either entirely new to the pool or back in the fold after the briefest of cameos, the experiment marked the first wholesale roster expansion since Jill Ellis took over as coach in 2014.Without the chess pieces, Ellis wont have the team she believes she needs.Without people willing to commit years to the chase, she wouldnt have the luxury of choices.I feel like you never really feel fully prepared when youre coming in here, said first-time call-up Arin Gilliland in Utah. You always feel like you need to do something better before you get called in. So I didnt expect it, but I wanted it to happen.Standing next to her teammate, both with the NWSLs Chicago Red Stars and the national team, as Short discussed eating sheeps head, Gilliland listened with mouth agape in mock revulsion. There was far more agreement when it came to stepping on the training field for the United States, with Short vigorously voicing her consent when Gilliland found an apt metaphor.Its so high-tempo, its like the NWSL on three Starbucks coffees, Gilliland explained. But its great. It makes you think faster; it completely changes your game. And its not something you can adjust to in just one camp.It is daunting. Just not nearly as daunting as life can be.Gillilands mother, Letita, was diagnosed with cancer while her daughter was still in high school. Arin enrolled at Kentucky a semester early, in part to ensure the same mom who had helped her get ready for Halloween trick-or-treating dressed as Mia Hamm, would see her play for the Wildcats.?Letita saw those spring scrimmages and, with the same resolve thats evident in the way Arin plays soccer, saw enough games beyond that spring to witness her daughter grow into one of the best players in college soccer. She also saw a once rebellious young girl grow into the woman who would be honored, after Letita passed away in 2012, with the Honda Inspiration Award, given each year to only one female athlete across all NCAA divisions and sports.For Short, the path to the national team included not only the Scandinavian sojourn but three knee surgeries before it. A regular in the U.S. youth national team system, Short enjoyed a standout college career at Florida State and was the fifth pick in the 2013 NWSL draft. But the injuries ensured she never played a game in the leeague until this year, so her first professional season was spent not in the NWSL but in Avaldsnes, Norway.ddddddddddddhe culture was incredible. That was probably the best part, Short said. Everyone was so nice there. And they love football. Its everywhere. You see kids playing everywhere. So I think I was able to find a new passion for the game there and learn from everybody there. I was playing with people from all over the world. It was where I was meant to be at that time.The menu offerings might have made for the occasional comic moment, but Norway wasnt a lark. The sun sets for only a few hours a night during the Avaldsnes summer, but the twilight of Shorts career was fast approaching if she couldnt catch a break. For years, there had always been the opportunity for another game and another season. Suddenly those things were no longer givens.Almost had to put myself back together, Short, 26, explained. It was such a long journey to get there. ... I just needed to find myself again and find my confidence and get my fitness back and all these other things.Unlike the college coach she was at UCLA, Ellis isnt trying to get to know recruits and convince them to choose her program. Here the players are trying to convince her they deserve to stay. Once that is done, there might be more room to get to know the people. For now, Short isnt the product of her story; she is a rare left-footed option to play on the left side. Gilliland is a technically raw but athletically gifted prospect at outside back.Some of the newcomers left little doubt they will be back, Short is among them after a pair of starts in defensive capacities. The same goes for goalkeeper Jane Campbell, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Lynn Williams. Abby Dahlkemper, Ashley Hatch and Kealia Ohai played too sparingly to offer hints as to their fortunes, Ohais record-quick debut goal after 48 seconds on the field notwithstanding. Still others -- Gilliand, Danielle Colaprico, Shea Groom, Merritt Mathias -- trained throughout but didnt dress for either game.The reality is that for most of the newcomers, a contract with the national team does not await. Not at this moment. Maybe not ever. But they made it this far. And with Allie Long just the most recent example, after the 29-year-old claimed an Olympic starting spot following years in purgatory, that can be enough to keep some traveling an uncertain road.Gillilands purple-streaked hair is, in her own words, a hot mess. Shortly before an NWSL semifinal, she broke her necklace chain while engaged in some aggressive brushing. The pendant that went tumbling is an impression of her mothers thumbprint. Desperate to fix the memento before the playoff game, she said she commandeered one of the teams vans and made an emergency run to the store. It was in those minutes that her phone rang with the news from U.S. Soccer that she would be joining them in Utah.People can call it a coincidence, Gilliland said. But I kind of thought that was a sign from her telling me she was listening and knew what was going on -- and that she was happy. I got really emotional and called my dad, and we had a breakdown in the car, but it was great.The past week offered a glimpse of where the national team goes from here.It was also a reminder that here isnt anything to take for granted. ' ' '