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lingzi
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Dec 18 2012, 08:32 AM
Post #1
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MINNEAPOLIS -- A battery made up of former Twins once traded for one another teamed up to beat their old team Tuesday night. Trent Williams Elite Jersey . A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning and the Chicago White Sox held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3. After Alex Rios singled off Jeff Gray (5-1), Pierzynski hit a 0-2 hanging slider into the right field bleachers for his second homer in as many nights after missing five games with a right oblique strain. "I figure I gave em one yesterday, maybe I could try to get one back for us today," said Pierzynski, whose ninth inning throwing error Monday led to Minnesotas winning run. In his first start with the White Sox, Francisco Liriano, who was traded from Minnesota to Chicago late Saturday for infielder Eduardo Escobar and left-hander Pedro Hernandez, allowed two earned runs and four hits in six innings. "Its just another game for me. I just tried to go out there and make some good pitches," he said. With his fastball regularly in the low-to-mid 90s and his slider and changeup staying away from Minnesota hitters, Liriano walked four and struck out eight, including Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham twice each. Mauer was caught looking at an inside pitch with two runners in scoring position in the third, leading the All-Star catcher to exchange words with home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski. "Minnesota got a dose of what weve been facing for the last seven years and how hard he is to hit," said Pierzynski, who was dealt to San Francisco in exchange for Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser in November 2003. "It was a good night for him." Although the Twins were getting deep in the count, Liriano allowed just two hits through five innings before the Twins got to him for two runs in the sixth. With one out, Darin Mastroianni hit a dribbler up the first base line and stole second and third. Walks to Mauer and Willingham loaded the bases for Justin Morneau, who hit a chopper to first base. Paul Konerko fielded the ball, but failed to step on the bag for the forceout and his throw home was wide of the plate, allowing Mastroianni to score. Valencia followed with a single that was stopped by a diving Alexei Ramirez at shortstop, but he could not make a throw. Brian Dozier nearly hit a grand slam the next at-bat, but the ball was caught on the warning track by Dayan Viciedo in left field. An RBI single by Ramirez scored Pierzynski to tie the game 2-2 in the seventh. Matt Thornton (3-6) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the win. Chicago is now 2 1/2 games up on Detroit in the AL Central. Addison Reed allowed an RBI single to Denard Span in the bottom of the ninth, but still earned his 17th save in 20 chances. Span, who was openly worried about being traded and expressed relief once the deadline passed, had four hits for the Twins, whose win streak was snapped at four. "I feel all right now. Ready to go home and relax. Its been a long 48 hours for me but I know where Im going to be at, at least for now," he said. There was polite applause from the fans when Lirianos name was announced and the crowd had no reaction when Liriano came out for the bottom of the first. Liriano came in with a 50-52 record and 4.33 ERA in his career. But so much more was expected of the enigmatic left-hander, who went 12-3 in 2006 as a rookie with a 2.16 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 121 innings. However, he underwent reconstructive elbow surgery later that year and has been inconsistent since. Liriano had a 9.45 ERA in six starts this year before being demoted to the bullpen in early May. After being put back in the rotation out of necessity late that month for the injury-plagued Twins, Liriano allowed three runs or less in eight of 11 starts while showing glimpses of his former dominance -- including games with 10 and 15 strikeouts in July. "He was doing what we got him to do," said Chicago manager Robin Ventura. "He came out and pitched well even though the circumstances were probably a little odd for him." Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn allowed two earned runs and five hits in eight innings. Six days earlier against Chicago, Blackburn allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits over 4 1-3 innings in a losing effort. It was just the second time in eight starts that Blackburn allowed fewer than four runs. "Thats the best Ive felt in a long time," he said. "I was finally out there relaxed a little bit, and let the ball move around. Unfortunately, we didnt pull that one off, but, obviously, Im pretty pleased with the way everything went for me tonight." Rios scored on a sacrifice fly by Viciedo to give Chicago a 1-0 lead in the second inning. NOTES: Chicago LHP John Danks is done for the season and is scheduled to have exploratory surgery Monday to find out what is causing his left shoulder strain. ... After trading Liriano late Saturday night, the Twins let the non-waiver deadline pass Tuesday afternoon without another deal. GM Terry Ryan said he wasnt really close, either, but that the inaction didnt disappoint him. "Id be more disappointed if we made a bad trade," said Ryan, who focused his search on starting pitchers. ... Minnesotas Scott Diamond (9-4, 2.88 ERA) is scheduled to face Chicagos Jake Peavy (8-7, 3.15) in Wednesdays series finale. Darrell Green Jersey . "Hey Loup, you can take off the uniform," said Romero. "Its not going anywhere." If Loups first major league appearance is any indication, Romeros probably right. Art Monk Jersey . Walker caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Alex Smith handed off five times before calling it a night and the 49ers wrapped up the preseason with a 35-3 win over the San Diego Chargers on Thursday. http://www.nflwashingtonredskinsgears.com/robert-griffin-iii-jersey/ .Va. -- Career-best games by freshmen Perry Hills and Stefon Diggs couldnt give Maryland a lift. London Fletcher Youth Jersey . -- Denise Ramsden outsprinted Olympic teammate Clara Hughes to win the womens road race Friday at the national road cycling championships. Robert Griffin III Redskins Jersey . LOUIS -- St. BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU defenders had their hands in the air even before they started celebrating interception returns for touchdowns. Tigers safety Ronald Martin and defensive end Lavar Edwards each snagged deflected passes and returned them for scores, helping No. 3 LSU pull away for a 63-14 victory over winless Idaho on Saturday night. The victory gave LSU (3-0) an NCAA FBS record 40th-straight non-conference regular season victory, surpassing Kansas States 39 from 1993-2003. LSU also set a Tiger Stadium mark with 20 straight home wins, while extending its nation-long regular-season winning streak to 16 games. "Everybody can see that we can be a dominant football team," LSU coach Les Miles said. While LSU extended winning streaks, No. 2 Southern Cal lost to Stanford 21-14, a result that could move the Tigers up a spot in the poll behind No. 1 Alabama, a 52-0 winner at Arkansas. LSU intercepted Idahos Dominique Blackman four times. Martin, a sophomore making his first start with Craig Loston getting the night off, had two, both off deflections by cornerback Jalen Collins. Both also resulted in touchdowns. "The play by Collins really was the play," Miles said of Martins interceptions. "That is pure textbook. ... Its that safety playing the eyes of the quarterback that can be late to the scene and make that interception. Those were big-time plays." Martins first interception was a diving catch at the Idaho 30, setting up a six-play drive of all runs and ended with Alfred Blues 3-yard score. Martin made his second interception while balancing along the sideline, then ran it back 45 yards for the score. Martin said he intended to deliver a hit as he converged on the ball when he saw it pop up off Collins hand. "Once he tipped it and I saw daylight, after that, I was gone," Martin said. "It was the tip-drill just like you learn in practice." Edwards interception came when he tipped the ball to himself at the line of scrimmage, then lumbered to the outside, spinning away from one would-be tackler to the delight of the Tiger Stadium crowd before carrying another tackler across the goal line on a 23-yard return. "Whenever I get the ball in my hands, especially being a defensive lineman, we dont get those opportunities too much," Edwards said. "So whenever I get it, you know I try my hardest to make sure I get" to the end zone. The two defensive scores matched Idahos point total for the night. "You have to be right aall the time when you play somebody like those guys," Idaho coach Robb Akey said of LSU. Kory Lichtensteiger Jersey. "When they made those plays against us we couldnt overcome those things in the ballgame and thats the bottom line." LSUs offence showed plenty of punch despite several sloppy first-half drives that had the crowd groaning a bit. Zach Mettenberger completed 17 of 22 passes for 222 yards with TD passes of 17 yards to Kadron Boone and 7 yards to Jarvis Landry. Kenny Hilliard rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns -- one of 71 yards -- giving him six TDs this season. Freshman running back Jeremy Hill made his LSU debut in the fourth quarter and scored two short touchdowns. Blackman was 23 of 36 for 174 yards and two TDs passes. "I need to step up my game," Blackman said. "We have a lot to prove. We came out here and competed with a great team. You have to give it up to that defence. They hit me hard tonight and it was fun." Gary Walker had a 94-yard interception return for Idaho (0-3), setting up the Vandals first touchdown. Earlier in the week, Miles alluded to opening up the passing attack in the Tigers final game before beginning their Southeastern Conference schedule at Auburn next Saturday. On LSUs first offensive play, Mettenberger hit Russell Shepard down the left sideline for 33 yards and soon after found Boone for the receivers third TD of the season. Shepard finished with three catches for 68 yards, while Odell Beckham Jr. had four catches for 73 yards. LSU was looking to take a three-TD lead when Mettenberger threw an interception near an opponents goal line for the second time this season. Walker caught it at the 1, but was caught by Beckham at the LSU 5. That set up Blackmans 4-yard TD toss to Michael LaGrone. Martins score made it 21-7, but Idaho drove 81 yards on seven plays to pull to 21-14 on Blackmans 22-yard scoring pass to Jahrie Level. Idaho then sacked Mettenberger twice to stall LSUs next drive, getting the ball back for a potential game-tying drive on its own 12. Thats when the Vandals got the Death Valley jitters, committing three straight false starts before punting from their end zone. Mettenberger closed the half with his scoring strike to Landry to make it 28-14. "That slow start in the first half I put on myself," Mettenberger said. "We knew that my mistake really cost us in the first half and we knew we just had to go out and play LSU football in the second half and turn things around." ' ' '
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