01-21-2020, 06:24 AM
ST. LOUIS -- After stumbling in his first start following three months on the disabled list, Joe Kelly tinkered with his mechanics. Kelly bounced back with seven strong innings and Matt Adams homered in a four-run first as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Saturday to send All-Star Zack Greinke to losses in consecutive regular-season starts for the first time in nearly four years. Kelly (2-1) gave up four hits over seven innings, retiring his last 13 batters as the Cardinals won for the eighth time in 10 games. Kelly didnt get a decision on July 11 in his return from a strained left hamstring, when he gave up six runs over three innings during the Cardinals 7-6 win at Milwaukee. After winning for the first time since April 5, he wouldnt detail his changes. "I did a lot of stuff different, but Im not going to give it away," he said. "If you watch the video, you can probably tell." Kelly induced 12 groundouts and got out of trouble with double plays in each of the first two innings. "I was just trying to mix up pitches and hide stuff better," he said. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny was impressed with Kellys ability to keep the ball down. "I thought it was one of his better pitching performances," Matheny said. "There were times when I even thought his changeup was a breaking ball. It has so much depth to it. So his secondary pitches were on." The Dodgers Adrian Gonzalez thought Kelly had great pitch location. "He didnt throw any balls in the middle of the plate," he said. "He kept throwing his fastballs right on the corner. There werent any pitches to drive." Trevor Rosenthal, the Cardinals third reliever, got his 30th save in 34 chances when Andre Either grounded into a game-ending double play. Coming off a July 9 defeat at Detroit, Greinke (11-6) walked a season-high five and gave up four runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had not lost back-to-back starts in the regular season since Sept. 20 and 25, 2010, for Kansas City at Detroit and Cleveland, according to STATS. Greinke did lose his regular-season finale against Colorado last year and was beaten by Atlanta in his first post-season start. "Too many mistakes in one inning," Greinke said. "Ive been doing that too much lately, getting behind in a game too early. I need to find a way to be better right from the get-go." St. Louis improved to 21-10 at home against the Dodgers in the regular season since the start of the 2006. The Cardinals also beat Los Angeles in six games in last years NL championship series. Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday left the game in the fifth, four innings after he was shaken up while diving back into second base on a pickoff attempt. The Cardinals said team doctors determined Holliday did not sustain a concussion. Dodgers All-Star outfielder Yasiel Puig left in the eighth, five innings after he was hit on the left hand by a Kelly pitch. Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly said Puig got hit, "near the top or on the side a little bit." Both players were considered day to day. Matt Carpenter opened the Cardinals first with a walk, and Kolten Wong reached on a slow roller when second baseman Dee Gordon threw wide of first, a play ruled a hit and an error that put runners on second and third, Holliday followed with a two-run single and Adams hit his 12th homer on Greinkes 16th pitch of the game. Adams, who has 15 hits in his last 39 at-bats, drilled a line drive over the right-field wall. "The curveball just popped up in the zone," Adams said. "When it does that, you know its a good one to swing at." Greinke said Adams outsmarted him. "I was just trying to be aggressive and it was the wrong choice," he said. "Usually, hes kind of patient early." Los Angeles, which has lost five of eight, scored on Hanley Ramirezs RBI infield single in the third and Carl Crawfords sacrifice fly against Sam Freeman in the eighth. The Dodgers have only 12 runs in their last seven games. "It just tells us that weve got to get better," Mattingly said. NOTES: Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (11-2, 1.78) is to face RHP Carlos Martinez (2-4, 4.43) in the series finale on Sunday. ... Wong extended his hitting streak to eight games. He has hit safely in nine of 10 games since returning from the DL on July 6. ... Los Angeles OF Matt Kemp is in a 2-for-18 skid over the last seven games with 11 strikeouts. ... Kelly retired the Dodgers in order in the fifth on consecutive groundouts to Wong at second base. ....Gordon leads the major leagues with 31 infield hits. ... St. Louis OF Jon Jay played all three outfield positions during the game. Bruce Gregory . Bjoergen pulled away from Swedens Charlotte Kalla on the final straight to win in 38 minutes, 33.6 seconds and defend her title from the 2010 Vancouver Games. Kalla was 1.8 seconds back. Heidi Weng of Norway took bronze. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Authentic . The 2010 batting champ showed what he can do when hes mostly healthy. Gonzalez homered, doubled and singled in his return to the lineup, and the Colorado Rockies snapped a five-game losing streak with a 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. https://www.cheapnfljerseyschina.co/ . The veteran NFL receiver received his work permit and is in Montreal for the start of the Alouettes rookie camp. Johnson even took in the Montreal Canadiens Game 5 win over the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre Tuesday night. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Store . Today, their baseball playing sons were reportedly traded for each other. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Cubs dealt minor league outfield Trevor Gretzky to the Angels for catcher Matt Scioscia. Charley Brock .ca! There is plenty of blame to be shared as a result of the most recent NHL player (Pittsburghs Brooks Orpik) to be evacuated from the ice on a stretcher following an ugly incident Saturday night in Boston.Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals is in the books and while the Spurs took care of home court to little surprise, the circumstances were somewhat interesting. Will Strickland and Duane Watson from TSN 1050s 1 On 1 With Will & Duane are joined on the Three Man Weave this week by On Points Drew Ebanks. On Point is a series of basketball films featuring prominent basketball personalities from across Canada. The trio look at what happened and what needs to happen for Game 2. The heat or The Heat couldnt slow the Spurs. Who and what can? Strickland: The HVAC Havoc in the AT&T Center is another in a long line of arena mishaps and strange occurrences in the history of San Antonio professional hoops, be it snakes in a locker, bats on the court or having the old Boston Garden heat trap trick in play. Whether you believe or not weather was the biggest culprit here, when history is at stake on both sides, you do what is necessary to improve your chances for victory. That said, Miami has to have better contributions from their bench or its One For The Thumb deep in the heart of Texas soon! Ebanks: Only the Spurs can truly stop the Spurs in these playoffs. When this collection of future Hall of Famers and highly productive role players and veterans are moving the ball, spreading the court and creating havoc for rotations they are almost impossible to slow down, never mind stop. If their 3 pointers are falling the only thing left to do is pray. San Antonio plays a beautiful style of basketball, making the game looks so easy and effortless, which in turn causes problems for opposing defenses. Watson: I wouldnt be entirely surprised if Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich was behind the AC "failure" in the arena. Im sure it will come to light in an ESPN 30 For 30 one day. Despite Miami forcing 22 turnovers, it was the smaller stars for San Antonio that shined bright in Tiago Splitter, Danny Green and Boris Diaw. If the Heat expect to compete in this series, it cant be solely on the backs of the Big Three who scored 62 of their 95 points. LeBron James: Cant Stand The Heat... Or Human? Strickland: I loved the analysis of instant athletic trainers and non-athletes on social media who spent days pontificating on what they or someone else whose name rhymes with Michael Jordan would have done in that situation, but… There will always be a difference between fans and fanatics. Did LeBron shrink in the moment? No. Miami lost the game once James went down. Be sure that preventative maintenance will be the goal to keep James on the court for the rest of the Finals. Ebanks: Of course LeBron James is human. Look, this man is one of the most incredible physical specimens/athletes in the history of sports. 69", 265 lbs. who can play and defend all 5 positions, has the speed of a sprinter and the strength of a power lifter. Hes been pretty much an ironman throughout his career despite being hammered by defenders consistently in his career on his forays to tin. Plenty of players have succumbed to cramps. Heck, if youve played sports and havent had cramps you probably werent playing as hard as you should have. Watson: He cramped up, it happens and has happened in the past. It was a hotbox in the AT&T Center; that much was obvious. The only thing I found interesting was that he didnt seem to be taking any fluids while agonizing on the bench. How vital were bench contributions to Game 1? Strickland: Its no secret that the Spurs may have one of the most productive and diverse benches in NBA Finals history. It was surely an advantage in Game 1, where Manu Ginobili almost outscored the entire Miami bench alone and Booris Diaw combined with him to dish out 17 of the Spurs 30 assists off the pine.dddddddddddd Vital? No question. The Heats subs not named Ray Allen have to show up for Game 2 to give Miami a chance to take their talents back to South Beach with a split. Ebanks: For any basketball team, especially at the NBA level, benches are extremely important. The less drop off a team has from its starters to their subs means more success, generally speaking. In this series, the Spurs clearly have a definite advantage. In Game 1, San Antonios bench of super-sub Manu Ginobili, Boris Diaw, Marco Bellinelli and Patty Mills outscored the Heats bench of Ray Allen, Norris Cole, Chris Anderson and Shane Battier, 34-20. The Spurs margin of victory was 15, so there you go. One other point: San Antonios bench is also more crucial for them because their main players are older and have more mileage than Miamis. Watson: There hasnt been a more obvious stat disparity between these two teams and it was clear in Game 1. The depth of the Spurs bench has never been secret, outscoring the Heat 34-20. Yet, the rebounding (20-10), assists (17-9) were both overwhelmingly in San Antonios favour. What does Miami need to do to win Game 2? Strickland: No wholesale changes by the Heat are necessary except preventing 36 point 4th quarter explosions. Other than that, continue to impose their defensive identity on the game, crafting live ball turnovers that they convert into fast break points and fouls for the Spurs and getting multiple Triple Singles off the bench from players other than Walter Ray Allen. Ebanks: They need to LEBRON! Hows that for an answer? As King James goes, so do the Miami Heat. Before LeBron James went down in Game 1, the Heat were actually right in the ball game. LeBron has to bounce back and lead Miami to victory in Game 2. If I were the Heat, Id bring in some Miami Air Conditioning specialists of their own, just in case. I mean who knows more about air conditioning than Floridians?!? Watson: The Heat were only down by 94-92 when James left the game for the final time with 3:59 left and then effectively choked on a Spurs 14-3 run to close out the game. They were very much in Game 1 and the defensive pressure on the ball clearly worked. They need contributions from the supporting cast not named Ray Allen. What does San Antonio need to do to hold serve in Game 2? Strickland: They won Game 1, which they did in Miami last year, only to lose the Finals in 7. It will be a long series and this veteran Spurs team knows it. Popovich will implore his charges to protect the pumpkin better despite shooting almost 60 per cent vs the Heat because 22 turnovers are never good. When players 1-12 contribute as they did in Game 1, Game 2 should be no problem because Teamwork Makes The Dream Work! Ebanks: The Spurs I think have to be smelling blood and its only Game 2. Their opponents best player (LBJ) is hobbling, meanwhile San Antonios leader and floor general, Tony Parker, coming off ankle issues, played well and says he feels great and is ready to go for the next game. Watson: More of the same, their game plan was effective. While only five players can play on the court at a given time, everyone gave them something; whether, scoring, defense, ball movement, three-point shooting, or rebounds. That balanced approach has been the cornerstone to the franchises success. The Three-Man Weave contributors are co-hosts of TSN Radio 1050s 1-on-1 with Will and Duane, Will Strickland (@WallStrizzle1) and Duane Watson (@byDuaneWatson) and guest air conditioning and 3-point specialist Drew Ebanks (@DrewEbanks) ' ' '
