Plauderecke » RHP Max Scherzer (6-2) to the mound against R

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers insisted they were not concerned about their worst skid of the year a few hours before playing the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox in a rematch of the AL championship series. Detroit later showed it still has what it takes to win with strong pitching, big hits and usually sound defence. Ian Kinsler and Torii Hunter hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning and Victor Martinez cleared the fences in the eighth, helping Detroit beat Boston 6-2 and end a season-high five-game losing streak Friday. "This was a good night for everyone," Drew Smyly said after pitching six strong innings. Detroit had lost 13 of 17 games, including the previous four, since sweeping the Red Sox on the road a few weeks ago. "Ive spoken to players a couple times over this stretch," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Theres no reason to throw a fit unless its a lack of effort or concentration. This stretch has not been caused by a lack of concentration or effort." Smyly (3-4) snapped a skid of his own. He was 0-2 in his last two starts, giving up a total of nine runs over nine innings, and was 0-3 in his previous six outings. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits over six innings and struck out four, walking only one against the Red Sox. "He was locating his pitches and keeping us off balance," Boston centre fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. said after going 0 for 3 with three strikeouts. "He had command on both sides of the plate." Rubby De La Rosa, meanwhile, paid a steep price for letting some pitches sail too high. De La Rosa (1-1) gave up four runs, nine hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts over 5 2-3 innings. In his first start of the season, he threw seven scoreless innings against Tampa Bay last week. "I feel almost 100 per cent like last time," De La Rosa said. "I just missed more pitches." Boston has lost four straight after winning seven in a row. The Red Sox are averaging fewer than three runs during the losing streak. "Offensively, were scuffling," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Weve had a rough go with runners in scoring position." The Red Sox hope to end a trend this weekend. In their last seven series, they been swept four times and have won each game in the other three matchups. "We became so accustomed to being consistent," Farrell said. "The last two and a half weeks have been difficult." Kinsler and Hunter cleared the fences during a three-pitch sequence in the fifth, giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead. "They squared (De La Rosa) up when he was up in the strike zone," Farrell said. The Red Sox pulled within two runs in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia reached on Romines throwing error, advanced to third on David Ortizs single through the right side against a shifted infield and scored on Jonny Gomes sacrifice fly. Detroits Ian Krol and Joba Chamberlain each threw an inning of scoreless relief and Joe Nathan pitched the ninth in a non-save situation. NOTES: Tigers C Alex Avila is expected to miss Saturdays game after being hit in the head by Ortizs backswing in the eighth inning, and being replaced by Bryan Holaday. "Hes in a good humour, but he got stung pretty good," Ausmus said. ... Red Sox hitting coach Greg Colbrunn is expected to stay hospitalized in Cleveland for at least another week after he had bleeding in the area between his brain and the thin tissues covering it. Tim Hyers, Bostons minor league hitting co-ordinator, is filling in for Colbrunn while hes away from the team indefinitely. ... Tigers SS Eugenio Suarez was held out of the lineup to rest his sore left knee and Ausmus said he is "hour to hour," when asked for timetable on his return. ... The Tigers will send RHP Max Scherzer (6-2) to the mound against Red Sox LHP Jon Lester (6-6) on Saturday in a nationally televised game. ... Boston RHP Clay Buchholz (left knee) is scheduled to throw a simulated game Saturday in Detroit, where Mike Napoli, who is on the DL with a sprained left finger, is expected to hit against him. Peter Forsberg Jersey .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. Philipp Grubauer Jersey . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games. http://www.authenticavalanchepro.com/Ale...alanche-jersey/. Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five. Lanny McDonald Jersey . Appearing on TSN 690 Monday afternoon, Mike Babcock said he had conversations with both P.K. Subban and Carey Price about those on-ice traits during Hockey Canadas summer orientation camp. Mike Babcock: McGill experience, P. Mikko Rantanen Jersey . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday.OAKLAND, Calif. - Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson sat on the scorers table at Oracle Arena on Wednesday morning. He gazed around the building and tried to envision what it will look and sound like when the Warriors host the Los Angeles Clippers for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night. A gold-shirt wearing sellout crowd of 19,596. Roars so loud that, at times, they drown out whistles. The sights and sounds all embodying the spirit of the teams post-season motto: "Loud. Proud. Warriors." "Its going to be a great environment," Jackson said. "But with that being said, they wont get a stop, they wont get a score, they wont make a free throw. Weve got to do our part." The Warriors will indeed need to regain more than their homecourt prowess if they want to pull off another upset in the first round of the playoffs. They need to rediscover their game. Blake Griffin and the Clippers crushed Golden State 138-98 in Los Angeles on Monday night to even the best-of-seven series at a game apiece. The third-seeded Clippers showed just why most had picked them to beat the sixth-seeded Warriors, coming back from a foul-filled opener with an all-around game that wouldve worked in any venue. In Game 1, Griffin had 16 points and three rebounds in 19 minutes before he fouled out. The All-Star forward regrouped to score a career playoff-high 35 points in Game 2. He shot 13 of 17 from the floor, made 9 of 10 free throws and grabbed six rebounds — doing it all in just 30 minutes. The Clippers forced 26 turnovers, shutdown streaky shooting Stephen Curry most of the game and took advantage of the absence of Warriors centre Andrew Bogut — who is out indefinitely with a fractured right rib. "We realized that if we played our game and do the things that we worked on wed be successful," Griffin said. "We play well when were just playing free, so were just going to try and achieve that." Whether the Clippers caan duplicate that performance on the road is another matter.dddddddddddd For all the success Los Angeles has had in recent seasons, the twice-reigning Pacific Division champions have struggled at Oracle Arena. The Clippers have lost 15 of their last 17 games in Oakland, including the last five meetings. And they have never played at Golden State in the playoffs, when the crowd often reaches even higher decibels. "Its going to be loud. Its going to be exciting. I think every basketball player loves playing in an environment like that," Griffin said. "Weve played in places that are pretty loud before, especially in the playoffs. Ive heard good things about the crowd and were looking forward to it. Absolutely." Of course, home court has not always been an advantage for the Warriors this season. The Warriors went 27-14 at home, including 2-0 against the Clippers, but they had several head-scratching setbacks in Oakland. That included home losses to lesser teams such as Denver (twice), Cleveland, Minnesota, New York, Washington and Charlotte. Golden State has taken advantage of its home court its last two trips to the playoffs. The Warriors are a combined 6-0 at Oracle Arena in the first round in 2007 against Dallas and last season against Denver. "Hearing the roar of the crowd making a big play, it gets you hyped, it gets you feeling good," Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson said. "It definitely wont hurt being home." Game 4 and Game 6, if necessary, also will be in Oakland — where the Warriors promise to make things tougher for the Clippers than they ever did in Game 2. "Were not going to quit. Were not going to just lie down and allow a team to do what they want against us," Curry said. "Were going to be physical, come back and its about that competitive fire for Game 3 that were going to need to get it done to protect our home court." ___ Antonio Gonzalez can be reached at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys discount uswnt jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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