Gästeboard » a driving shot in traffic to put Sacramento ahead 77-75

NEW YORK - Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays will have their work cut out for them tonight when they face Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka to open a three-game series in New York. Tanaka has certainly lived up to the hype this season, going 10-1 with an American League-best 2.02 ERA. The Japanese right-hander went the distance to win his fourth straight start on Wednesday in Seattle, as he held the Mariners to a pair of runs and six hits. He also struck out 11. With 103 strikeouts and 14 walks, no pitcher ever has struck out more while walking fewer through their first 13 games. Also, hes thrown a quality start in all 13 of his outings. "If he keeps this up, hes going to have one of the greatest first years in baseball of any pitcher whos ever played this game," said Mark Teixeira. Tanaka debuted with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays back on April 4. He gave up three runs over the first two innings, but settled down and pitched five scoreless innings after that. Of course, the Jays will only be the second team to have faced him twice. Tanakas lone loss came against the Chicago Cubs, the first team that had a second look at him. "Theyre a very good lineup, whether you see them the first time, the fifth time," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the Blue Jays. "Theyre extremely dangerous so, yeah, Im looking forward to it. My thought is hes going to do fine. I wouldnt think that he wouldnt. But obviously youre curious." Tanaka will be trying to help the Yanks bounce back after losing two of three in Oakland that culminated with a 10-5 setback on Sunday. Carlos Beltran and Brett Gardner homered, while Derek Jeter and Teixeira knocked in a run each for the Yankees, who ended a nine-game road trip 5-4. "Today was one of those games," Jeter said. "But I think for the most part weve been playing good as of late." Toronto heads into the Bronx holding a 4 1/2-game lead on both the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles atop the American League East standings, despite losses in seven of its last 10 games. The Blue Jays, though, have won two of three and split a four-game series with the Orioles over the weekend. On Sunday, Dioner Navarro finished with three hits and drove in a pair of runs, leading Toronto to a 5-2 win. Edwin Encarnacion doubled twice among his three hits and scored twice for the Jays, who received an RBI each from Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista and Steve Tolleson in the victory. J.A. Happ (6-3) worked six-plus innings, allowing seven hits and one run while fanning six. Casey Janssen recorded the games final four outs to earn his 12th save. "Today was a big game for us," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We came to life a little bit and Happ was outstanding. He really was. He gave us what we needed, just like he was the other night. He gave us a chance to win." Getting the call for the Blue Jays on Tuesday will be right-handed rookie Marcus Stroman, who suffered his first loss of the season his last time out. After winning his previous two starts Stroman absorbed the loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, allowing three runs and nine hits over six innings to fall to 3-1 on the year to go along with a 5.18 ERA. The Medford, New York native will be making his first-ever appearance against the Yankees. "Any time you have an opportunity to pitch in front of a bunch of family and friends its exciting," Stroman said. "I have a bunch of people texting me, a lot of people from high school, college reaching out to me telling me theyll be at the game." New York won two out of three games in their lone meeting with Toronto this season. Cheap Air Max 97 Wholesale . Toronto (11-12) gave up leads in 10-8 and 11-4 losses to the Baltimore Orioles this week. It was never close Friday as the Boston Red Sox got to Mark Buehrle early en route to an 8-1 win. Cheap Air Max 97 For Sale . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. http://www.airmax97discountuk.com/ . FIFA said in a statement Friday that "several racist and discriminatory incidents were apparently perpetrated by local supporters during the match, in particular by displaying neo-Nazi banners and by making monkey noises and gestures as well as Nazi salutes. Air Max 97 Discount Uk . This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs. Air Max 97 Cheap Sale .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- With go-to scorer Dirk Nowitzki having an off night, the Dallas Mavericks relied on other offensive options to hold off the Sacramento Kings. Monta Ellis scored eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks kept their playoff position with their third straight win, a 93-91 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. The Mavericks won for the fourth time in five games to maintain seventh place in the Western Conference. It was the fifth straight road win for Dallas, which concludes its four-game road trip Tuesday in Utah. "Every game is a playoff game right now," Dallas reserve centre DeJuan Blair said. The Kings defeated Dallas at home earlier this season and their three straight losses have been by a combined nine points. So with Nowitzki getting 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting, the Mavericks had to look elsewhere for a reliable scorer. It was Ellis who stepped up in a tight fourth quarter. He made a crucial 3-pointer and converted all three free throws when Dallas was clinging to its slim lead down the stretch. Ellis made a 3 at the 3:04 mark of the fourth quarter and converted a three-point play to give the Mavericks a 90-84 lead with 1:51 left. "Monta saved the day in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "He made that huge 3 and then he had the and-one (three-point play) on a pick and roll. He was phenomenal in the fourth quarter." Rudy Gay had 32 points and tied a career high with eight assists for the Kings, DeMarcus Cousins added 28 points and 10 rebounds, and rookie point guard Ray McCallum had eight points and nine rebounds. The Kings played their sixth straight game without starting point guard Isaiah Thomas (right quadriceps contusion), who is averaging 20.7 points and 6.4 assists per game. "The Kings match up tough against us," said Blair, who had six points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes. "They have played us three tough games." Vince Carter scored 17 points and Jose Calderon hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points for the Mavericks, who made 13 threes. Nowitzki, who shot 64 per cent and averaged 28.7 points in his previous three games, missed eight of his first 10 shots. Followwing a timeout early in the third quarter, Nowitzki hit a 19-footer and soon after made a 3-pointer.dddddddddddd "Obviously, their backs are up against the wall right now. They know they need every game they can get to get into the post-season," Gay said. "We went into this game knowing that we didnt have anything to lose. They are going to play a lot of teams that dont have anything to lose. For them to stay competitive, its going to be tough for them." The Kings fouled Ellis intentionally and he made two free throws to put Dallas in front 92-87 with 24 seconds left. McCallums layup and two free throws by Gay pulled the Kings to within one point. But Nowitzki hit one of two foul shots and Cousins was short on a baseline jumper in the closing seconds that would have sent the game to overtime. "I still think we had an opportunity to make something happen," Cousins said. "But I am kind of disappointed in myself for settling for a shot like that. I could have gotten a lot better shot than that." The teams swapped misses before Gays three-point play pulled the Kings within three points with 26 seconds left. Cousins made a driving shot in traffic to put Sacramento ahead 77-75 with 6:51 to go in the fourth. Consecutive 3s by Carter and another by Shawn Marion put Dallas ahead 84-79 with 4:20. Trailing for much of the third quarter, Ellis had three transition baskets and Calderon made a 3 to help Dallas outscore the Kings 11-4 in the final 3:15 to take a 68-65 lead into the fourth. "We knew it was going to be a dog fight, but the good thing is we stayed together," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "The Kings are pretty tough, but we came through. Every game has such a high level of importance. We need to play much better than tonight." NOTES: Cousins had 14 of his 16 first-half points in the first quarter. The Kings led 48-45 at the half. ... Dallas shot 29 per cent in the second quarter and was outscored 24-16. ... Ex-King Peja Stojakovic, a three-time All-Star in Sacramento, sat courtside next to Kings owner Vivek Ranadive. ... Derrick Williams scored 31 points in an earlier home wins against the Mavericks, but had only five in the rematch. ' ' '