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Victorino popped up a bunt and Scherzer
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BROSSARD, Que. - Hope and speculation ran high when Carey Price took to the ice in full equipment before the Montreal Canadiens game-day skate on Tuesday. But coach Michel Therrien threw a wet blanket on it all when he said emphatically that Price will not play again in the NHL Eastern Conference final, even it the Canadiens managed to extend it to seven games. "Thats just part of the process of making a comeback," said Therrien. "Hes not going to play in that series. Hes not going to play." The goalie who backstopped Canada to gold at the Sochi Olympics in February has not played since suffering a right knee injury in the second period of the series opener when New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider crashed into him while on a breakaway. Therrien said at the time that Price would miss the rest of the series but may be back if Montreal advanced to the Stanley Cup final. It appears that is still the plan. Price had a brief skate wearing a track suit before practice on Monday and was out in his gear with goalie coach Stephane Waite and a trainer for about 30 minutes a day later. He didnt put any pressure on the knee by making stops and starts. But he was down on his knees and stopping shots from Waite, without moving from side to side. "There is a process in place for him to come back, but it wont be in the next few days," said Therrien. "And we dont want to start thinking about the next series because we have a (very) big game to play. "But Carey is working really hard in physio and in the gym. (Monday) was a step, this was another step in his rehab. Hes working on what he has to do." Dustin Tokarski, the third stringer behind regular backup Peter Budaj, took over in the third period of the series opener and has been solid in goal, even though the Rangers took a 3-1 series lead going into Game 5 on Tuesday night. The 24-year-old had played in only 10 regular season NHL games before this years playoffs, perhaps because teams are wary of using an undersized (five-foot-11) goalie, but the Watson, Sask., native has held his own. In 11 periods of hockey from the first to the fourth game, including two overtimes, he allowed eight goals for a 2.63 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Price was 8-4-1 with a 2.36 average and .919 save percentage. Forward Max Pacioretty has no worries about having Tokarski in the net. "Not at all, anymore," said Pacioretty. "You dont see goalies get hurt too often, so at first its kind of a tough pill to swallow. "But since Game 1 weve had confidence in Dustin. Each game hes better and better and I think that confidence has gone to a whole new level." He was excited to see Price back on the ice, however. "Seeing him every day and talking to him, we know his timeline and we know we have to win for him to come back," he said. "And that he will come back if we win. "So seeing him put the pads on gets the boys going a bit more than it would just seeing him on the (trainers) table. But we know we have to win to get him going and we want to do that for him." Defenceman Mike Weaver said Tokarski has earned the teams confidence. "Having a goalie back there where you know hes going to make that key save consistently, everybodys behind him," said Weaver. "Weve just got to concentrate on we do — speed, getting pucks to the net and getting bodies to the net." The Rangers had good news on the injury front as well as Derek Stepan skated while wearing a guard on his helmet to protect his broken jaw. Stepan was injured in Game 3 on a blindside hit that earned Montreals Brandon Prust a two-game suspension. While Stepan finished the game, he had surgery the next day on his jaw. He was to be checked out by three doctors, but was expected back in the lineup. Coach Alain Vigneault was ready to welcome back one of his top centres. "I could be wrong here, I think the last game he missed was his first one in four years, right?" said Vigneault. "Hes played all the games Ive been here except for the last one, and prior to that hes played all the games since hes been a New York Ranger. "Hes a good, young player that is a big part of our team. He plays huge minutes, plays five-on-five, power play, penalty killing. Hes the only right-handed face-off guy. So hes a big part of our team and has been a big part of our teams success." Lucas Duda Jersey . That time around, the cage is as much a part of baseballs daily routine as a beer and a hotdog is to a fan in the stands. Coaches, scouts, broadcasters and other media hover, tossing verbal barbs, telling stories and sharing laughs. Occasionally, especially in spring when the atmosphere is relatively laid back, the list of invited guests expands and on this day, Gibbons welcomed two men strongly influential in his life. Lenny Dykstra Jersey . Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 after opening with a 77 -- his worst score of the season -- on TPC San Antonios AT&T Oaks Course. Lefty was 11 strokes behind leader Steven Bowditch, the Australian who had a 67 to reach 8-under 136. http://www.metsbaseballauthentic.com/hoodie/ . Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit. David Wright Jersey . Armstrong was given the rank of "Chevalier" -- or Knight -- in the "Legion dHonneur" in 2005, the last year of his seven consecutive Tour de France victories. Tom Seaver Jersey . The Opening Day starter played 53 games this season hitting .192 with nine home runs and 25 RBI. Red Sox manager John Farrell has decided to start Jose Iglesias at third base as of late instead of Middlebrooks.BOSTON -- When Shane Victorino signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in the off-season, they were coming off a last-place finish that was their worst in almost half a century. They had fired their manager for the second year in a row. He believed they could turn it around. And quickly. Victorino brought the Red Sox one big step closer to completing their comeback, sending them to the World Series with a seventh-inning grand slam that gave Boston a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the AL championship series Saturday night. The Red Sox will open the Series on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team they swept in 2004 to end their 86-year title drought. The Cardinals won the NL pennant on Friday night by eliminating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. "Its one of those moments you live for," Victorino said as he wandered around the Fenway Park infield while Red Sox fans serenaded him with his theme song, Bob Marleys "Three Little Birds," and its chorus, "Dont worry about a thing, Cause every little thing is gonna be all right." "Just listen to the crowd," Victorino said, referring then to the Boston Marathon bombings that left the city reeling during the first month of his first season in town. "The one thing I came here to do is to be a part of this city. With all we went through as a city, theres definitely a bond." Detroit took a 2-1 lead in the sixth and 21-game winner Max Scherzer protected it until the seventh, when Boston loaded the bases on a double, a walk and an error by rookie shortstop Jose Iglesias, traded by the Red Sox in July. Victorino fell behind Jose Veras 0-2 but lofted a hanging curveball over the Green Monster to set off a celebration in the Red Sox dugout and in the Fenway Park stands. "Its been a special ride, and were still going," second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "Were not going to stop. We know what our goal is. We want to win the World Series." Junichi Tazawa got one out for the win, Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless eighth and series MVP Koji Uehara got the last three outs before the Red Sox poured out of the dugout to begin their now-familiar celebration on the mound. "The way I would sum it up is that I thought their starters were good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I thought their bullpen was great." Uehara, who inherited the closer job after the teams first two choices were injured, posted three saves and a win in the series. Then he joked about pitching so well under pressure. "To tell you the truth, I almost threw up," Uehara kidded through a translator. Its the 13th AL pennant for the Red Sox and their first since 2007, when they swept the Colorado Rockies to win it all for the second time in four seasons. Boston swept the Cardinals in 04, winning Game 4 in St. Louis to clinch the title that put an end to generations of disappointment. The latest trip comes one year after a 69-win season that prompted the team to jettison its high-priced stars, rebuild the roster and bring in manager John Farrell to replace Bobby Valentine. Victorino was one of the biggest additions, and he delivered on Saturday as he did for much of the season. "Since the first day of spring training, there wasnt one person more important than the next," said outfielder Jonny Gomes, another newcomer, who doubled to lead off the seventh, missing a homer over the Green Monster by no more than a foot. "Were all pulling in the same direction." Scherzer got one out in tthe seventh but left after walking rookie Xander Bogaerts to put runners on first and second.dddddddddddd Drew Smyly got Jacoby Ellsbury to hit a grounder up the middle, but it popped out of Iglesias glove behind second base and everyone was safe. Veras came in and quickly got ahead of Victorino. But he hung a curveball and Victorino sent it toward the 37-foot left-field wall, which had already knocked down two Red Sox line drives. This one left no doubt. It was the second career post-season slam for Victorino, who also had a record-setting hit-by-pitch in the sixth but failed to get a bunt down in the third. "Hes come up big a number of times this season, none bigger," Farrell said. "Probably the last thing were thinking of, that hes going to hit a ball out of the ballpark, and thankfully the curveball stayed (up)." Scherzer and Clay Buchholz also matched up in Game 2, when the Tigers right-hander took a no-hitter and a 5-0 lead into the sixth. The Red Sox rallied against the Detroit bullpen, tying it on David Ortizs eighth-inning grand slam and winning it in the ninth on Jarrod Saltalamacchias walk-off single through a drawn-in infield. Both starters gave up hits in the first inning in the rematch, but it remained scoreless until Bogaerts doubled off the Green Monster with two outs in the fifth and scored on Ellsburys single. But the Tigers took the lead in the bottom half, chasing Buchholz with a walk and Miguel Cabreras single before Franklin Morales walked Prince Fielder on four pitches to load the bases with nobody out. Victor Martinez lined one high off the Green Monster to make it 2-1, holding at first with a two-run single. Brandon Workman came in and got Jhonny Peralta to hit a hard grounder to Pedroia, who chased down Martinez in the basepath for one out and then threw home to get Fielder in a rundown. Saltalamacchia ran him back to third and dove, somersaulting over him while making the tag. Workman struck out Alex Avila looking to end the inning. Scherzer worked out of a jam in the bottom half after putting runners on second and third with one out. He allowed three runs on four hits and five walks, striking out seven in 6 1-3 innings. Buchholz gave up two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out four in five-plus innings. Scherzer walked the first two batters in the third, but Victorino popped up a bunt and Scherzer made a sliding catch for the first out. Pedroia hit a high drive that was just foul of the Carlton Fisk pole above the Green Monster. After it was confirmed by replay, he hit a hard grounder down the line that Cabrera fielded, easily stepping on third base before throwing to first for the double play. NOTES: It will be the first World Series between the teams with the best record in each league since 1999. ... Detroit C Alex Avila, who absorbed a body shot and a foul ball off the mask in Game 5, took another ball off the mask in the fourth but remained in the game. ... The Dropkick Murphys sang the national anthem before the game, followed by "Shipping up to Boston," wearing Red Sox jerseys that said "Boston Strong" and the number 617. ... The Red Sox are 6-0 in Game 6 of the ALCS. ... Ellsbury had successfully stolen 18 bases in a row in the regular season and playoffs before being thrown out in the fifth. ... Victorino was hit by a pitch leading off the sixth, his sixth of the playoffs, extending his record and setting a major league record with the 10th post-season HBP of his career. Alex Rodriguez had the old record. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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