Denver Broncos Loss Hurts in More Ways Than One

It was not a great day to be a Denver Broncos fan. The injuries began to pile up as tight end Julius Thomas, running back Montee Ball and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders all exited with injuries. Oh, and the Broncos lost the game to the St. Louis Rams. Who saw this one coming? In the latest example of why football is such a bizarre sport to follow, the Broncos coughed up a golden opportunity to solidify their position atop the AFC West when they fell victim to a revitalized Rams offense led by quarterback Shaun Hill. Maybe putting Hill back in at quarterback in place of Austin Davis was the right move after all. Who knew?
Peyton Manning threw for 374 yards and a touchdown, but he was picked off two times. Typically when Manning isn’t on his game, the Broncos struggle.
But here is the bigger problem. Without Ball in the lineup, the Broncos’ running game became stagnant. The Broncos only rushed for 28 yards in this contest, which could prove problematic if Ball and Ronnie Hillman remain out of the lineup for extended periods of time.
There’s no question that this loss hurt for Denver. The Kansas City Chiefs held off the Seattle Seahawks 24-20, which elevated the Chiefs into a tie for first place in the AFC West. This makes the big Sunday night showdown on Nov. 30 huge for both teams’ chances to win the division.

Eagles destroyed, 53-20, by Green Bay Packers

Are the Eagles a legitimate threat in the NFC, or have they been feasting on bad opponents all season?

That will be the talk this week after the Eagles were annihilated, 53-20, by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field. With the loss, the Eagles are 1-3 in their four games this season against winning teams.

There will be plenty to review, but here is what you need to know from the big loss: The Eagles fell behind early, trailing 17-0 at the end of the first quarter, and were never able to recover. One week after the defensive line dominated the Carolina Panthers, the unit wasn't able to get close to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was sacked once for minus-2 yards. Rodgers was 22-of-36 for 341 yards and three TDs. He did not throw an interception and had a passer rating of 120.3.

 Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez — taking over for injured starter Nick Foles for his second start — had a terrible game, despite the numbers. Sanchez was 26-for-44 for 356 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two bad interceptions. He spent most of the day on his back, thanks to the Packers' defense, which sacked him three times.
This bad loss will quiet — at least for a week — any talk of Sanchez's NFL rebirth and possible long-term contract with the Eagles.  Rodgers picked on cornerback Bradley Fletcher throughout the game, completing several passes in his direction. Eagles running back LeSean McCoy had another subpar day, finishing with 88 mostly meaningless yards.
Sanchez was slow to get up after a big hit in the first quarter, and was briefly looked at by trainers on the sideline. McCoy's frustrations continued to show, as he slammed the ball down after one play he thought he should have made. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who is sidelined with a collarbone injury, was surprisingly active prior to the start of the game.
Losing to the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay is nothing to be ashamed of, but losing the way the Eagles did is concerning. They once again lost the turnover battle, and looked completely outclassed.
What was defensive coordinator Billy Davis thinking? Cornerback Bradley Fletcher was left out on an island throughout the game, and had little help despite clearly struggling to contain wide receiver Jordy Nelson. The game plan from Davis got the Eagles in an early hole they couldn't escape. Tight end Zach Erzt was once again not part of the game plan, a curious decision by head coach Chip Kelly. Ertz seemed primed for a big season, but he looks to have fallen out of favor with the coaches.

Angry Brady, Patriots Punch Colts in the Face…and Other Places

The game was initially horrible, almost unwatchable. Then it became something else. It became a statement, almost a referendum. Andrew Luck has beaten Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Eli Manning. Now, here was Tom Brady. And after Brady threw two first-half picks, it looked like Luck was going to kick his ass, too.

Then something happened. Brady and the New England Patriots got mad. Really mad. I've seen that look on Brady's face before. For all the jokes Brady gets about his hair and his looks and his model boo, he has always been a nasty competitor. That look. You could see Brady, as he walked off the field at halftime down 14-10, looking like he wanted to punch himself in the face. Other Patriots looked disgusted as well.

Mad Tom means bad Tom—as in badass Tom. No, Brady didn't win the game single-handedly, but his anger was one of the triggers for an entire Patriots team that was infuriated with itself in the first half. In that opening half, Brady was 10-of-19 for 84 yards and two interceptions. In the second, he was 9-of-11 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The anger and disgust with that first half ran thick throughout the Patriots' bloodstream and translated into a blowout 42-20 Patriots win over the Indianapolis Colts in Indy.

There was anger in the trenches as the Patriots would shut down the Colts' run game (19 yards off 17 carries), especially in the second half. There was also anger in the New England running game itself. Running back Jonas Gray had four touchdowns and he actually punched a Colts defender in the 'nads as he crossed the goal line on one of them.

Then there was Rob Gronkowski. Angry over the yammering done by Colts safety Sergio Brown all game—cameras actually caught Gronkowski complaining about it—the Gronk man blocked Brown from the field, to the sideline, beyond the sideline and into a stand holding a camera. It was brutal. It was beautiful. It was emblematic of the Patriots' second-half mood.

Congo 0-2 Nigeria: Uche and Samuel keeps Afcon hopes alive

The pair struck to ensure the Super Eagles still have a chance of reaching the finals heading into their last qualifier Ikechukwu Uche and Aaron Samuel both scored to keep Nigeria's hopes of Africa Cup of Nations qualification alive in a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Congo on Saturday. A tight first half yielded few clear-cut chances, but the visitors made the breakthrough just before the hour mark when Emmanuel Emenike was brought down inside the box and Uche kept his cool from the spot. Thievy Bifouma missed a penalty for the hosts five minutes later and Samuel wrapped up the points with a tidy finish in the last minute, with angry home fans causing a slight delay when they threw missiles onto the pitch. The result moves Nigeria into second place, with goal difference pushing them ahead of Congo heading into the final round of games in Group A. Congo started brightly and saw Bifouma spurn two presentable chances inside the opening 10 minutes, while Fode Dore also skewed wide when well placed seven minutes before half-time.

The visitors suffered an early blow after the interval when Hope Akpan went off injured, but they broke the deadlock soon after.

Chancel Massa fouled Emenike in the box and Uche beat the goalkeeper with a low finish into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards. Congo were given a chance to level the scores with a penalty of their own after Godfrey Oboabona was adjudged to have handled a Prince Oniangue shot. Bifouma stepped up to take the kick, but Vincent Enyeama guessed correctly and pushed the striker's effort away to ensure Nigeria's lead remained intact. After Uche had wasted two chances to double Nigeria's lead, the hosts saw efforts from Francis N'Ganga and Delvin Ndinga go close, the latter denied by a great save from Enyeama

A swift counter-attack following that save saw Nigeria secure their victory, substitute Samuel curling a left-footed effort beyond Massa to give Keshi a winning return.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Saturday took opposition All Progressives Congress, APC to the cleaners after the Congo vs Nigeria football encounter. The fans of the home team went unruly after the Super Eagles found the back of the net the second time. Soon after substitute, Aaron Samuel curled a left-footed effort beyond Congo’s goalie, Chancel Massa in the final minutes of the match, the fans cursed and threw missiles onto the pitch.

EM-Quali: Fan rampage overshadowed Italy game

Riot in the European Championship qualifier: The match between Italy and Croatia has been overshadowed by fan riots and was about to crash. The 1: 1 (1: 1) in the San Siro Stadium in Milan had a quarter of an hour before the deadline will be interrupted after fireworks and smoke bombs were thrown onto the field from the Croatian block for the umpteenth time. 17 Croatian was subsequently arrested by the police. The Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers sent both teams temporarily in the cabins. After about ten minutes, the match between the four-time world champion and the leader of the European Championship qualifying Group H could be continued.

Already in the first half, the visiting fans have repeatedly thrown objects on the playfield. At this time the highlights from a sporting perspective were already set. The leadership of the host by Antonio Candreva (11 minutes) resembled Bundesliga player Ivan Perisic (15) from post. His Wolfsburg team-mate Ivica Olic denied in Milan his 100th game. Dortmund striker Ciro Immobile was in the starting line-up Italian. In the Group H table Croatia is tied with ten points ahead of second placed Italians.

Miley Cyrus and Patrick Schwarzenegger Made Out at a Football Game

Patrick Schwarzenegger has joined the Miley high club. The Terminator Jr. engaged in PDA with Miley Cyrus in front of his own mom, Maria Shriver, and 93,000 USC fans during his school’s big win against interstate rival Cal. Schwarzenegger even appeared to take a selfie of the big kiss, indicating Miley isn’t the only exhibitionist in the relationship.

The daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus and the son of Kindergarten Cop? This is real American royalty right here.

Patrick Schwarzenegger, student at USC and model attended the USC/Berkeley game with Miley Cyrus as his date, and they put their mouths on each other's mouths. Probably adds some visual fuel to the rumors of them dating."They were very flirtatious and [looked] like a couple," an eyewitness told E! News. "She was gregarious and was talking to his friends too which was nice to see because she didn't seem stuck up."

I would have never classified Miley Cyrus as a stuck up person, but still I guess that's nice she's sociable. Also that picture of them kissing while he's checking his phone is too real right now.

Derrick Rose on ankles: 'Don't worry'

Derrick Rose sprained his left ankle in Friday night's 114-108 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. A league source told ESPN.com that Rose also sprained his right ankle during the second half, but that injury isn't believed to be serious, either. Rose was in good spirits after the game, even joking around with reporters. He said X-rays were negative, but his status for Saturday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves is uncertain at this point. He had a simple message for the city of Chicago as he got ready to leave the Bulls' locker room. "Don't worry, it's just an ankle sprain," Rose explained before taking a long-term approach to his health during his brief media session. "I guess it's part of the process," he said. "Of course the gods are testing me right now, but it's fine. I think I'll be able to get through it." Rose isn't sure how the initial left ankle sprain occurred, but he wasn't concerned about it after the game.

"It's basketball," Rose said. "It ain't like I tore something, or tore a ligament or something. It's just that I sprained my ankle and I had to sit out. It's minor, and I'll try to give it a go [Saturday]."

Rose scored 18 points in the first half and returned to the game in the third quarter but was largely ineffective, scoring just two points in nine minutes. Rose left the Bulls' bench midway through the fourth quarter and did not return to the game.

Rose finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes of action.

Rose's teammates were glad the injury isn't more serious.

"We hope he's OK," Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said. "We're going to all say a prayer for him tonight. We got to bounce back [Saturday]."

That's Rose's approach as well.

"Right now I'm feeling good," Rose said. "Of course, my ankle is throbbing a little bit right now but it comes with just playing basketball, and I'm just happy it's not that serious."

Green Bay Packers Return to Form, NFL's Elite with Dominant Win over Vikings

Green Bay Packers' 42-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. There's good reason to, since the Vikings were not only without running back Adrian Peterson, but also newly minted starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and tight end Kyle Rudolph as well. Indeed, in a vacuum, it's almost impossible to treat this anything like the preseason contest it looked like. Heck, we even got a backup quarterback Matt Flynn sighting. Yet, can we fault the Packers for the team the opponent put on the field? Is it somehow their fault that Vikings third-string quarterback Christian Ponder had only a couple of days to prepare and wasn't that good in the first place? Should the Packers have handed the Vikings' turnovers back to them to earn this win that much more?

As Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy stated after the game, "Excellent team victory tonight. We feel good about what we accomplished as a football team. Clearly a dominant win." And it was.  In an NFL of such parity, it's important for the haves to not let up against the have-nots. The Packers didn't, and let's not take that away from them.  Let's not look at this win simply in a vacuum. Let's put this win in the context of the Packers' entire season. This victory comes on the heels of the Packers' 38-17 curb-stomping of the Chicago Bears. For those keeping track at home, that's two straight blowout victories against division opponents. Against Chicago, the Packers didn't have to punt. Against Minnesota, the Packers barely had to show up. 

This win brings the Packers to 3-2 with a slate of games against struggling opponents between now and the bye. They go to Miami to play the Dolphins, host the Carolina Panthers at home and then have the misfortune of traveling to New Orleans to play the Saints, where Sean Payton's club benefits from one of the league's best home-field advantages. If the Packers can get out of their own way (you know, like they didn't against the Detroit Lions), 3-0 is a real possibility, and 2-1 is a darn-near certainty. The brilliance of this victory—and the real reason we can draw any information from it at all—is that the Vikings entered the week with the ninth overall scoring defense in the league. Chicago, whom the Packers trounced with an offensive explosion last week, isn't in the same defensive class it once was under Lovie Smith. The big reveal of the Green Bay-Chicago game was that the Packers defense (especially their pass rush and cornerback Sam Shields, who had a rough start to the season) wasn't nearly as bad as it had looked through the first few weeks. 

Against the Vikings, though, it is almost impossible not to start feeling good vibrations about an offense that had struggled against good defenses in Detroit and Seattle. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers only threw the ball 17 times, completing 12 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns. He had a number of effective throws off play action, and the Packers spread the ball around, hitting nine different receivers and three different players for touchdowns. Those aren't lofty yardage numbers, but they didn't need to be, as Rodgers gave way to Flynn, who somehow found a way to make the Vikings defense look good again. After three weeks, it was en vogue to write off the Packers...no longer. There are still legitimate concerns with Green Bay, don't get me wrong. This is still a defense built around pass rushing a dropback passer that will likely have some trouble with mobile quarterbacks like Carolina's Cam Newton in the coming weeks and whomever it might face when it reaches the playoffs (yes, when...not if). 

The offensive line still has plenty of growing up to do and is a remarkably shallow unit. Lacy's struggles early on in the year are directly connected to deficiencies up front. Those sort of problems could cause trouble against a number of teams left on the Packers' schedule, including Carolina and another game against Detroit. The Packers may not be this kind of unstoppable juggernaut week in and week out, but it's clear they are to be taken seriously with the rest of the NFL's best. 

Orioles Crush Tigers In ALDS Game 1

Ever since a cloud of midges swarmed Joba Chamberlain near the shores of Lake Erie, he has learned that he cannot control a hostile environment, only the pitches he throws within it. On Friday, it was not a swarm of insects that buzzed his ears, but a mob of howling fans, 48,058 strong, needling him with their sarcastic cheers. Once a feared and dominant reliever, Chamberlain was a pleasant sight for Orioles fans, and they let him know it. Chamberlain, once a Yankee but now a Detroit Tiger, was the first reliever out of the bullpen Thursday in an eighth inning that turned into an eight-run debacle. The fans at Camden Yards, with their little towels waving in a sea of orange overhead, were hoping for more of the same.

What they got was even better. Baltimore was ahead when Chamberlain came in Thursday, but on Friday, he started the eighth with a three-run lead to protect. He recorded the first out, but he let the next three batters reach base, and the Orioles rode another Tigers bullpen collapse to a 7-6 victory in Game 2 of their American League division series. If the games lasted only seven innings, the Tigers would be in much better shape. Instead they have allowed the Orioles to score a combined 12 runs in the eighth innings of the first two games of the series. Chamberlain was replaced by Joakim Soria, another culprit in the Game 1 meltdown. Soria walked J. J. Hardy to load the bases, and what happened next was almost predictable. Pinch-hitter Delmon Young, a former Tiger with a knack for postseason success, hit a bases-clearing double on a first-pitch slider from Soria.

“This one is on me,” Chamberlain said. “If I don’t put us in that situation, Soria won’t have to come into that situation, and obviously, this one’s on me, and I’ll wear it.” Young has played in 34 postseason games — 22 with the Tigers — and has nine home runs and 21 runs batted in. “I’ve just been fortunate,” Young said. “I could just as easily hit a line drive to the left fielder for a sacrifice fly, and he has the opportunity to get out of the inning.” But it did not happen that way. Game 3 of the best-of-five series is Sunday in Detroit, where David Price will make his postseason debut for the Tigers against Miguel Gonzalez. If Detroit is fortunate enough to have the lead in that game, it is unclear whether Manager Brad Ausmus still has the confidence to turn to Chamberlain or Soria. “I don’t know that I necessarily have an answer for that,” Ausmus said. “But if we have a lead in the eighth inning on Sunday, we’re going to have to find somebody.”

Anibal Sanchez would be a good candidate. Normally a starter, he entered Friday’s game after starter Justin Verlander was removed with a runner on base and no outs in the sixth. Sanchez threw two perfect innings, but he threw 30 pitches, and Ausmus said that was his limit, so in came Chamberlain. After Game 1, in which he did not record an out despite inducing two ground balls from the only two batters he faced, Chamberlain’s earned run average this postseason was infinity. After Game 2, it is 108.00. The Tigers’ bullpen, other than Sanchez, has allowed 10 earned runs and 8 hits in one and two-thirds innings for a 54.00 E.R.A.

Bullpen frailties are not new to the Tigers, whose championship hopes of the past have been derailed, in part, by the shortcomings of the former closer Jose Valverde. Since then, they brought in Joe Nathan to be the closer, but they have not even been able to get to him. “It’s certainly a little tough to swallow,” Ausmus said. “When you have a three-run lead going into the last couple of innings, you feel like you should get the job done. But we didn’t.”

The Tigers scored five times in the fourth, as J. D. Martinez hit a three-run homer and Nick Castellanos followed with another homer. Then, in the top of the eighth, with Detroit leading, 5-3, and Torii Hunter on third and Miguel Cabrera on second, Victor Martinez doubled to left. Hunter scored, but the lumbering Cabrera was waved home and was thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning. Detroit would not get that seventh run. In the bottom of the eighth, with the fans howling at him, Chamberlain got an out. But then, he hit Adam Jones with a pitch, and Nelson Cruz and Steve Pearce singled. As he came off the mound, Chamberlain, the victim of that midge attack seven years ago in Cleveland when he was a Yankee, heard the roar of the crowd as he walked into the clubhouse. “It’s something you expect,” he said of the fans. “Nothing’s going to catch me off guard in this game, I can promise you that.” Soria walked Hardy, and then came Young, the most valuable player of the 2012 A.L.C.S. against the Yankees. Now, he is delivering the same big hits against Detroit. “You can’t sugarcoat it,” Hunter said. “Our backs are to the wall. Can’t go no further backwards. It’s not looking good. But we still have a pulse.”

Eric Hosmer’s homer powers Royals to 4-1 win over Angels in 11 innings

They drafted him for this moment, groomed him for this moment, waited in vain for years, all through the 2014 season, for this moment. The Kansas City Royals chose Eric Hosmer with the third pick in the 2008 draft as a cornerstone of their franchise for this exact situation, the 11th inning of a playoff game, dreaming of the day he would stand at home plate and watch a game-winning home run disappear from sight.As the nerves of his fan base frayed back home, Hosmer announced himself on the national stage by crushing a two-run homer against Anaheim reliever Kevin Jepsen in a 4-1 victory over the Angels on Friday night. At first base, Lorenzo Cain heard the sound and he understood. Hosmer flipped his bat, his 34-inch, 31.5-ounce Zinger bat floating in the muggy air, the finishing touch of a three-hit night to complement his usual sterling defense. Like fellow former first-round pick Mike Moustakas did the night before, Hosmer erupted with a late homer, the sort of artillery this club usually lacks, to allow the Royals to return to Kauffman Stadium with a commanding two-game lead in the American League Division Series.

Hosmer slumped in the summer, broke his hand in July, nearly lost his job in August and returned as the most dangerous hitter on perhaps baseball’s most dangerous club in October. “I know teams right now don’t want to face us,” Hosmer said. “We’re tough to put away.” James Shields can shepherd Kansas City to its first American League Championship Series since 1985 with a win in Sunday’s game three, part of what general manager Dayton Moore called his team’s “best-case scenario.” The Angels must prove they weren’t demoralized by 22 innings of torture at their own ballpark, where they raced to the best record in baseball during the regular season.“Confidence is high right now,” Cain said. “Momentum is definitely on our side.”

But overtime belongs to the Royals this October. They saved their season with a 12-inning barn burner against Oakland in the AL Wild Card Game. They outlasted the Angels in 11 innings on Thursday. On Friday they became the first American League team to play three consecutive extra-inning playoff games and the first overall since the Phillies and the Astros went four straight in the 1980 National League Championship Series.So the circumstances on Friday felt familiar. The scoring was limited and the tension was palpable. And the heroes standing next to Hosmer were numerous. Yordano Ventura tossed seven innings of one-run baseball. The bullpen dusted off its competition. In the eighth inning, Jarrod Dyson flashed the power of his arm to save Wade Davis.

Davis appeared on the verge of a collapse. He yielded a leadoff double to rookie designated hitter C.J. Cron, who was replaced by pinch runner Collin Cowgill. When catcher Chris Iannetta lined out to center field, Cowgill broke for third. He wanted to test the arm of Dyson, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement. Dyson passed the test. Dyson powered a throw that drew Moustakas a step outside the base. He scooped the ball and darted back in time to slam a tag on the runner. The energy seeped from this ballpark’s sea of red, the sound of silent Thunderstix. “For him to be going right there,” Dyson said, “I’m assuming they said I didn’t have a good arm.” The scariest moment, at least for the future of this franchise, occurred in the bottom of the fifth. Ventura was in the process of disarming the Angels after a pair of singles. With two outs, Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton swung through a change-up and his backswing cracked catcher Salvador Perez above his right eyebrow.

Perez recoiled from the blow and rolled into the dirt. Trainer Nick Kenney hustled from the dugout to tend to the organization’s cornerstone. Perez passed an on-field concussion test, and underwent further examinations after the inning ended. When the sixth inning began, he was the first Royal on the field. Ventura could not hold his team’s one-run lead through that inning. He gave up a two-out single to outfielder Kole Calhoun and walked Mike Trout after opening the at-bat with two strikes. As Albert Pujols strode to the plate, Ventura showed no signs of strain, save for a trickle of sweat tracing the side of his head. His composure did not alter the encounter’s outcome. Pujols shot a game-tying single into right field, preventing Ventura from securing his first postseason victory. It was Anaheim’s first sign of life all evening. After the first game of this series, evaluators around the game wondered if the Royals’ style of play altered Anaheim’s tactics. Angels manager Mike Scioscia neglected to pinch run for catcher Chris Iannetta in Thursday’s eighth inning because he fretted about aiding the Royals’ running game. The Angels attempted 26 sacrifice bunts during the regular season; they tried three on Thursday.

On Friday, they attempted to run on Ventura, who possesses a sizzling fastball and a quick delivery to the plate. Standing at first base in the first inning, Trout could not get much of a jump. He broke for second anyway, and was thrown out easily by Perez.Ventura was one of two rookies making his first postseason start Friday. Matt Shoemaker, a 28-year-old right-hander, strained an oblique muscle on Sept. 15 and did not pitch again during the regular season. The injury often requires a month of rest. He returned for Anaheim after fewer than three weeks. Hosmer jumped a hanging slider in the second inning, a single that Calhoun misplayed to yield an extra base. Alex Gordon rifled an RBI single up the middle, and therein lay Kansas City’s last offensive salvo until extra innings. Ventura strived to protect the lead. A day before, he sat at a podium in Angels Stadium and shrugged off questions about the aftershocks of his postseason debut. Shoved into the sixth inning of Tuesday’s AL Wild Card Game, Ventura surrendered a three-run homer and blew a lead. He hung his head, and heard messages of supports from friends, family and even his idol from the Dominican Republic, Pedro Martinez.

On Friday night, Ventura displayed why he is worth the attention. He faced the minimum through four innings. He opened up throwing in the mid-90s. His velocity jumped into triple digits in the second inning. David Freese saw five pitches in the last at-bat of the frame. Four pitches cracked 100 mph. The fifth was a 99-mph scorcher — Ventura’s version of offspeed. The Angels held no illusions about Ventura’s approach. Freese illuminated this hours before the game. “He’s going to bring it,” he said. “He’s going to attack you.”

Ventura relies on heat because his change-up and curveball can be fickle. The pitches often bounce in the dirt, like his first curveball to Pujols in the fourth inning. His next curve, a 1-1 bender, nipped the top of the zone. His next crossed the middle of the plate, locking up Pujols and ending the inning. Pujols would best Ventura in the sixth, but the Angels could not capitalize while he hung on the ropes. The Royals’ pitching staff refused to bend. For the second night in a row, it was the Angels who broke. “No one picked us to be up 2-0, I’ll tell you that,” Dyson said. “We believed in ourselves, and we know what we can do if we go out and play our game. And that’s what we did. That’s why we’re up 2-0.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article2507928.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article2507928.html#storylink=cpy

Cardinals win slugfest over Dodgers in Game 1: Quick hits

Breaking down Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium final score was Cardinals 10, Dodgers 9; Cardinals lead the series 1-0. So much for the greatest postseason pitching matchup in a half-century at Dodger Stadium, and welcome to one of the most dramatic turnarounds you'll ever witness. Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, cruising with a 6-1 lead and retiring 16 consecutive batters, was ambushed in the seventh inning with the Cardinals staging an eight-run uprising. The Cardinals had just two hits the entire game - both homers - and led off the seventh inning with four consecutive singles, and five singles in the first six batters, cutting the Dodgers' lead to 6-4. Then, with two outs and the bases still loaded, Matt Carpenter slammed a bases-clearing double into the right-center-field gap, and just like that, the Cardinals had a 7-6 lead. It soon became a rout when Matt Holliday took reliever Pedro Baez deep for a three-run homer. Just like that, the Cardinals turned the game into a rout, 10-6. The Cardinals, huge underdogs in this series, suddenly are looking awfully pretty. They needed to win just one game in Los Angeles to have a chance. Now, with Lance Lynn on the mound in Game 2 on Saturday, they believe they can go home with a 2-0 lead with John Lackey scheduled to start in Game 3 in St. Louis. Certainly, after ripping Kershaw for eight hits and eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, their confidence is sky-high. Kershaw unraveled so quickly, startling manager Don Mattingly, he never had time to react. The Cardinals produced their hits in such rapid fire that Mattingly failed to get the bullpen up in time. By the time he did, the Cardinals had cut the lead to 6-4, and after five hits and the bases still loaded and one out, Mattingly finally went to the mound. He talked to Kershaw, and opted to leave him in the game. Kershaw responded by striking out Oscar Taveras. 

Yet, with Matt Carpenter up, after homering off Kershaw in the sixth inning, Mattingly decided to stay with Kershaw. Kershaw quickly got ahead of Carpenter, 0-and-2, but couldn't put him away. Carpenter sent a double into the right-center gap, clearing the bases, and the Cardinals had a 7-6 lead, ending Kershaw's night. Matt Carpenter. The guy is considered the ultimate gamer, and he carved a niche in Cardinals' folklore with his homer, double and four RBI off Kershaw. Kershaw may never want to see him again. Carpenter also made two fine plays in the field. Kershaw. He became the first pitcher in postseason history to give up at least seven earned runs in back-to-back starts, giving up seven runs a year ago in his last start against the Cardinals in the NLCS. It was also the first time since June 9, 2011, that he lost a game with his team scoring at least four for him. He was 76-4 in his career when getting four or more runs of support. The boisterous crowd, going absolutely bonkers the entire game_fueled by the bench-clearing skirmish between the two teams in the third inning - going numb when Carpenter hit his three-run double. And all of those cheers turned to boos when Holliday capped off the comeback with three-run homer off Baez. Mattingly trusted Kershaw that he could get out of his jam in the seventh inning, and it backfired. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny went to left-handed specialist Randy Choate to face Adrian Gonzalez in the eighth inning. And it blew up in his face when Gonzalez hammered a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 10-8.

S.F. Giants: Shocking win over Nationals, Strasburg seems very familiar

An unlikely group of ballplayers — some All-Stars, some misfits — band together to make an unlikely postseason push against all odds. We’ve seen this movie. I think Bruce Bochy got an Oscar nomination last time around. (Or maybe that was Cody Ross, for best supporting outfielder.) Jesting aside, the San Francisco Giants continued an improbable postseason run by squeaking by the Washington Nationals in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series, 3-2. Giants starter Jake Peavy outdueled the Nats’ superstar ace Stephen Strasburg, getting by on guts and gumption and some high-energy fist bumps over 6 2/3 innings. The Giants were led by the team’s lastest cadre of no-name rookies, with second baseman Joe Panik delivering key hits at the plate and flame-throwing reliever Hunter Strickland coming in to get a HUGE, bases-loaded strikeout in the 6th inning, utilizing a 100-mph fastball no less.

This being the Giants, there was plenty of drama down the stretch. Strickland gave up a tape-measure home run to the Nationals’ Bryce Harper in the 7th. A second home run, from Asdrubal Cabrera, made it 3-2. And Sergio Romo made things interesting in the eigth, giving up a couple of hits before shutting things down.

The most surprising development of the night was Strasburg’s performance. He came out throwing 98-mph darts. But the Giants hung in there and started to make simple contact, dribbling a few seeing-eye-grounders through the infield. Before long, it was 2-0. And Strasburg was gone by the 6th inning, having given up 8 hits.

At that time in the game, Peavy still had a no-hitter going. Go figure. The fiery, former Cy Young winner proved he still had the guts to pitch the big games, no matter the opponent. With Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner going well right now, this bodes well for the Orange and Black. In the end, it all felt very familiar to Giants’ followers. Manager Bruce Bochy is pulling the right levers. Unlikely heroes are emerging every night. A new generation of Giants are learning how to handle postseason pressure from their battle-tested teammates. Could this be another command performance from Bochy and the boys? Way to early to tell. But the trailers, so far, are pretty interesting.

San Francisco Giants beat Pittsburgh Pirates in National League wild card game

The San Francisco Giants know what it takes to win this time of year. The Pittsburgh Pirates are still learning. Madison Bumgarner and Brandon Crawford provided a powerful lesson on the difference during the National League wildcard game. Bumgarner pitched a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Crawford hit the first grand slam by a shortstop in postseason history as the Giants routed the Pirates 8-0 Wednesday night. "That's crazy," Crawford said. "With all the great shortstops that have played before, that's pretty special. I'm happy to be able to do it."

"That's pretty amazing when you think about it," observes CBSSports.com Baseball Writer Mike Axisa. "Crawford had a fine year with the Giants this season. ... Not great, but rock solid, especially by shortstop standards. The grand slam certainly was not expected though, and it continued a recent tradition of postseason heroes coming out of nowhere for the Giants." After silencing a black-clad crowd hoping for another Pittsburgh playoff run, San Francisco will face the National League East champion Washington Nationals in the best-of-five Division Series beginning Friday.

This one fizzled by the middle innings - one night after the Kansas City Royals edged the Oakland Athletics in a thrilling start to baseball's postseason. Crawford's shot over the right-field wall in the fourth inning off Edinson Volquez put the Giants ahead. Bumgarner did the rest, as San Francisco won its eighth consecutive postseason game and seventh in a row when facing elimination. Overpowering one of the NL's best lineups, Bumgarner walked one and threw 79 of 109 pitches for strikes in his latest stellar October performance. The big lefthander, who allowed only four singles, has thrown 15 scoreless innings in two World Series starts.

"It's fun," Bumgarner said. "If you're not playing, you can be excited and nervous and all that. But if you're pitching in the game, you've got to try to push that all aside and try to make pitches like we did tonight." Brandon Belt drove in three runs. Volquez was trying to cap his remarkable comeback season by sending Pittsburgh to the National League Division Series for the second straight year, but he couldn't match Bumgarner. The right-hander cruised until the fourth, when a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with none out. Crawford followed with a drive that kept carrying all the way to the seats above the 21-foot high Roberto Clemente wall to quiet the largest crowd in the 13-year history of PNC Park. That was more than enough for Bumgarner, who mixed his fastball with a slider the Pirates couldn't seem to figure out. Pittsburgh, fourth in the majors in extra-base hits this season, rarely hit the ball hard. "We got outplayed tonight," second baseman Neil Walker said. "Bumgarner went out there, he did what he wanted to do. He put up the strike zone and he made it tough on us."

Bumgarner was helped by his defense, too. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval - all 245 pounds of him - flipped over the railing in front of the Pittsburgh dugout to track down a foul popup off the bat of Russell Martin. Sandoval landed on his feet, a perfect symbol of San Francisco's seemingly endless resilience when the calendar flips to October. Back in the playoffs after winning the World Series in 2010 and 2012, the Giants are looking to continue their every-other-year success. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, was unable to duplicate last year's victory over Cincinnati in the wildcard game that followed a 21-year playoff drought. Playing before raucous crowds at PNC Park, the Pirates pushed St. Louis to a decisive Game 5 before losing their NLDS. This year, Pittsburgh went 17-9 in September while taking the Cardinals to the final day of the season in an attempt to win the National League Central.

The chase included a decision to start budding ace Gerrit Cole in the regular-season finale in the hopes of catching the Cardinals and avoiding the wildcard game. Cole struck out 12 in a brilliant performance but the Pirates lost, putting Pittsburgh's hopes for extending its season on Volquez's excitable shoulders. The former All-Star navigated three innings in the biggest start of his career before it all unraveled in the fourth. Sandoval and Hunter Pence opened the inning with singles. Belt walked on a full count to set up Crawford, who sent a 1-2 hanging breaking ball soaring to right. Pittsburgh's Travis Snider drifted back and turned, expecting it to carom off the wall.

It didn't, instead landing a couple of rows deep to immediately turn a frenzied atmosphere into a stunned silence save for the whoops coming from the San Francisco dugout, a familiar sound when its season is on the line. Crawford's grand slam was the fourth in Giants postseason history. "The last thing on my mind was probably hitting a home run," Crawford said. "I was just trying to hit something good enough to get Pablo home, and I figured that would probably be good enough for Madison." Shortstop had been the only position - including pitcher - without a slam in postseason play. San Francisco added on against Pittsburgh's normally reliable bullpen, and the "Black Out" crowd faded to black, some heading to the exits long before the final out. "When they got up early on us we were trying to scratch and claw our way back," Walker said. "He was good from the first pitch until the last pitch."

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, was unable to duplicate last year's victory over Cincinnati in the wild-card game that followed a 21-year playoff drought. Playing before raucous crowds at PNC Park, the Pirates pushed St. Louis to a decisive Game 5 before losing their NLDS.

This year, Pittsburgh went 17-9 in September while taking the Cardinals to the final day of the season in an attempt to win the NL Central. There will be no extended playoff stay this time after Crawford's grand slam, the fourth in Giants postseason history. Shortstop had been the only position - including pitcher - without a slam in postseason play. "That's crazy," Crawford said. "With all the great shortstops that have played before, that's pretty special. I'm happy to be able to do it."

NFL Network’s Sean Taylor film attempts to provide ‘a full picture of Sean’s life’

Near the end of NFL Network’s new film about Sean Taylor, an image appears of fans silently holding commemorative “21″ towels during that unforgettable 2007 game against the Bills — Washington’s first after Taylor’s death. No one who was at FedEx Field that day, I imagine, will ever forget the atmosphere: The mixture of silence and cheers, the pregame video tribute, the weird manner in which ordinary NFL sights — beer, hot dogs, jerseys, applause — were jumbled together with the somberness and discomfort of a funeral. That image stays on the screen for a full five seconds, and that’s no accident. Those fans and their “21″ towels were one of the main inspirations for the entire project.  Erik Powers, now a producer in his ninth season with NFL Films, was in his early 20s when Taylor died, with just the cursory NFL fan’s familiarity with the Pro Bowl safety. He had heard some of the national media chatter — that Taylor’s death was not terribly surprising if you considered how he lived his life — but that account seemed incongruous with the reaction at FedEx Field.

“That image just sort of stuck with me,” Powers said this week. Taylor “was a man who you didn’t really hear from. He didn’t give interviews. And yet he had this bond with Redskins fans. There were just so many full-grown adults moved to tears, holding up those towels. It just stuck with me.” Two years ago, Powers started pitching the idea of a film about Taylor, as part of NFL Network’s “A Football Life” series. A year ago, he and NFL Films senior producer Chip Swain began laying the groundwork by interviewing Taylor’s father, and by last March, they were working on the project full-bore. They interviewed about 40 people — friends, relatives and teammates of Taylor’s — leading to around 50 hours of footage. They secured grainy highlights from his high school days. Powers watched every network broadcast of every NFL game Taylor played in, identifying the biggest hits, the game-changing turnovers, the athletic wonders. And Powers and Swain wound up with a 44-minute piece that tells a story familiar to many Washington fans, but likely less so outside this market: that Taylor’s public image did not mesh with the private man. The message of the film — which premieres on NFL Network on Friday at 9 p.m. — is thus “fairly obvious: that you really can’t judge anybody based on isolated incidents,” Swain said. “It would be really easy to judge him based on the things that you heard or you read, [because] he never really said anything about it or defended himself or told the real story. Yeah, those events were part of his life, but I don’t think they are what defined him, at least not to the people he knew.”

“Those events” — an arrest for DWI, a plea of no contest to misdemeanor assault and battery charges after a confrontation in Miami, an ejection from a playoff game for spitting, a hefty fine for leaving a mandatory rookie symposium — are included in the film. But they’re balanced with a different story told by family and friends: of a kid who never recovered from being separated from his mother and siblings, whose football career was predicated on a desire to reunite his family. Of a player so devoted to excellence that he would join three separate workout groups at Redskins Park, would leave his car at the park and run home after practice, would do sprints by himself before the rest of the team arrived. Of a father who imprinted his newborn daughter’s footprints on his T-shirt in the delivery room, who was so protective that he blanched at letting even family members hold his young child. And, of course, of a football player with few peers. “Even though all of us were top-flight athletes, there was something different about him, and it separated him from the rest of us,” Fred Smoot says in the film.  “First game in the NFL, he was the best player on the field,” Chris Cooley adds. “Every game, he’d do something to let you know that he wasn’t from this planet, and all of us were,” Ryan Clark says.

“God made certain people to play football, for sure,” Joe Gibbs tells the filmmakers. “He was one of them.” Like much of Taylor’s story, the fascination with his football prowess has only grown because of his premature death. And the film spends time on that, as well. Taylor’s fiancee Jackie Garcia Haley, who has been reluctant to do many media appearances, spoke at length to the filmmakers, even discussing the day Taylor was shot. So did his father and several friends and relatives who were in the hospital during Taylor’s final days. Those passages are not easy to watch, nor were they easy to edit. “There weren’t many days when I wasn’t breaking down at some point,” Powers told me. “With everyone opening up about something that still hurt so much, this is the most emotionally difficult project I’ve ever had to work on.”