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02	April 2018

Chris Sale left with a 4-0 lead after

allowing one hit in six innings, but the Rays improbably scored six runs in the eighth to ruin Alex Cora�s managerial debut. The Rays had lost 70 games in a row they trailed by four-plus runs, most in the majors, and were the only team not to win a game last season after trailing by at least four runs.

Real or not: So Stanton homers twice and the Boston bullpen blows a comfortable lead in disastrous fashion. I�m sure that will go over well on sports radio in Boston on Friday morning. Those guys are always very calm and not reactionary at all. Joe Kelly walked three batters and Carson Smith walked one before Denard Span cleared the bases with a triple down the right-field line. Cora explained after the game

that he didn�t want to use Craig Kimbrel before the ninth inning on Opening Day. �We talked about it before the game,� he said. �I�m not going to put him in that spot right now.� I�ll buy that. Kelly and Smith are good relievers who had bad days. The Boston pen led the majors in WPA last season while ranking second in ERA. Sure, a chunk of that was Kimbrel�s dominance, but this should be a very good pen. What happened: The Twins tied it with two runs in the ninth and escaped a bases-loaded jam Laquon Treadwell Youth jersey in the 10th thanks to a five-man infield, but Adam Jones sent Orioles fans home happy with a walk-off blast off Fernando Rodney in the 11th.
Real or not: This was a fun game, as Dylan Bundy and Jake Odorizzi locked up in a scoreless duel before the bullpens took over. Brad Brach blew the save for Baltimore, but the issue here is Minnesota�s bullpen. The Twins invested heavily to upgrade their relief group, signing Rodney, Addison Reed and Zach Duke as free agents. Is Rodney going to be the answer at closer? He�s 41, and although was very good for Arizona last season after a bad April, he still walked 4.2 per nine, so it�s always a tightrope with him. I�d say there's a 50 percent chance he lasts the season as closer.
Real or not: If you�re sensing a trend about bullpens on this Opening Day, you�re right. There was a lot of shoddy relief work. Knebel had a monster season in 2017, making the All-Star team while striking out 126 batters in 76 innings. He was worked hard, appearing in 76 games and tiring in September, but he should be fine. I want to point out something else that allowed the Brewers to win this game:
They actually Hunter Pence Womens Jersey carried 14 position players on the Opening Day roster -- including three first basemen on the bench as Ryan Braun started at first. A lot of teams are carrying just 12 position players. Well, in the 12th inning, manager Craig Counsell still had Ji-Man Choi on his bench to hit for the pitcher. He doubled with two outs and scored the winning run on Orlando Arcia�s single. Choi probably will be replaced on the roster as soon as they need another pitcher, but he helped the Brewers to one big win.
What happened: Matt Davidson became the fourth player to hit three home runs on Opening Day to power the White Sox to a 14-7 victory.Real or not: Davidson matched a record set by Dmitri Young (2005 Tigers), Tuffy Rhodes (1994 Cubs) and George Bell (1988 Blue Jays), and the White Sox tied the Opening Day record with six home runs as a team. So, is Davidson for real? The 27-year-old has power, slugging 27 home runs in 118 games last season, but he also posted a horrific .260 OBP as he hit .220 and had a 165/19 K/BB ratio. He was http://www.authenticducksjerseys.com/Authentic-Rickard-Rakell-Jersey a little better in spring http://www.officialbostonbruins.com/Adidas-Patrice-Bergeron-Jersey training, with nine walks and 19 strikeouts, and drew a walk in this game. If he doesn�t improve the walk rate and cut down the strikeouts, the raw power won�t be enough to keep him in the majors. The game: Angels at Athletics What happened: Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-5 in his major league debut, but the Oakland bullpen threw six scoreless innings as the A�s won 6-5 in 11 innings.
Real or not: Hey, Ohtani has more hits than Mike Trout, who went 0-for-6 for the first time in his career and struck out in the 11th with two runners on. Credit to the Oakland bullpen and Boog Powell�s triple off Justin Upton�s glove (he should have caught it) that led to the winning run, but let�s focus on Ohtani. One thing he did in this game was drop the high leg kick he had in spring training, when he went 4-for-32.
That could be a temporary thing until he gets his timing down, as the leg kick is used to help deliver more power. He Evander Kane Jersey singled in his first at-bat, a hard bouncer past the first baseman, grounded out to second his next http://www.raidersfootballofficialstore.com/Marshall-Newhouse-Jersey three times and then struck out against Chris Hatcher. The A�s even showed him some respect by shifting Authentic Nelson Agholor Jersey on him. He had one decent at-bat against lefty Ryan Buchter, fouling off a couple tough pitches before hitting a hard grounder. You can�t read anything into one game, but he certainly seemed focused on getting the ball in play. Like any young hitter, he just needs at-bats.
Side note: Ohtani will make history of sorts when he starts on Sunday. The last player to start a game on the mound and in the field or at DH in the same season was Rick Rhoden with the Yankees in 1988. Rhoden was a good-hitting pitcher whom manager Billy Martin started one game at DH, saying injuries had left him with no other choice. Before that, Willie Smith started one game at pitcher for the Angels in 1964 (and pitched 14 times in relief) and started 80 games in the outfield. In his case, all his pitching outings came through June 15, at which time he was moved to the outfield. Remarkably, he hit cleanup in his first start in right field and ended the season hitting .301 with a 2.84 ERA in 31⅔ innings.
Real or not: Phillies fans were apoplectic about new manager Gabe Kapler pulling Aaron Nola with one out in the sixth inning after just 68 pitches. It did seem like a quick hook, but the bullpen has to hold a 5-0 lead. Instead, Freddie Freeman greeted Hoby Milner with a two-run homer and four of the five relievers Kapler used gave up runs, including three home runs. Ouch. The story, however, was the Atlanta offense: Is it good? I�m not sure about that. Markakis didn�t homer all spring and hit just eight in 160 games last year. The combination of Ender Inciarte, Ozzie Albies and Freeman is a nice top of the lineup, but it�s pretty thin after that, at least until Ronald Acuna gets called up. They need their catchers to produce again and Dansby Swanson to make big strides.
Real or not: Are the Giants for real? A good bullpen will help given the issues there in 2017. Closer Mark Melancon is on the DL, but Hunter Strickland may be the better option at this point anyway. This much is certain: With Madison Bumgarner likely out until early May and Jeff Samardzija sidelined for three weeks or so, it�s critical for the Giants not to fall way behind before May even kicks in. They play the Dodgers 10 times by the end of April and the Diamondbacks six times, with three-game series against the Angels and Nationals. So beating Kershaw like this is a nice start. wholesale nfl jerseys from china wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys