ekansekans's blog: "df"

MILWAUKEE -- A sweep of the wild card-contending Pittsburgh Pirates has given the Milwaukee Brewers hope that they, too, can get in the playoff chase. Andy Lee Jersey . Ryan Braun hit his NL-leading 37th home run, pitcher Yovani Gallardo also connected and the Brewers won 12-8 Sunday, sending the Pirates to their 10th loss in 13 games. The Brewers tied a season high with five home runs. The outburst pulled Milwaukee within 6 1/2 games in the post-season race. "Theres a second wild card. You never know what can happen," Braun said. "You just continue to compete every day. Obviously wed have to play great baseball for the rest of the year but by no means are we giving up. We realistically think that we are still in it." Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said hes been paying much more attention to the wild-card standings following his teams recent run of success, including three wins over Pittsburgh. "I know we are looking ... a lot more than we were a couple of weeks ago," he said. "Were playing really good ball. It gets you excited about getting on a roll and seeing what happens." Jeff Bianchi, Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez also connected for Milwaukee. The Brewers have won six in a row at home and 14 of their last 16 at Miller Park. "One thing weve got to do, that I havent seen done since Ive been here, is weve got to eliminate some of their comfort at the plate," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Theyve been pushing us around for years." Garrett Jones, Michael McKenry and Gaby Sanchez homered for the Pirates. "Every game right now is key," Sanchez said. "Weve got to go out there and keep playing baseball, keep trying to have fun out there and continue pushing forward. All we can do is go out there and battle and give everything weve got." Pirates starter James McDonald (12-7) was tagged for eight runs and six hits in 2 2-3 innings. He struck out six, but was tagged for four home runs. "I actually felt good. The fastball command wasnt bad. They hit good pitches," McDonald said. "Im not going to make any excuses for what happened. Bottom line is they put the bat on the ball and hit away." Kameron Loe (5-4) picked up the victory in relief of Gallardo, who failed to complete the fifth inning. John Axford closed out the game to earn his 23rd save. He came in with two runners on base and recorded three consecutive outs. "We have hope," Loe said. "Well take it." The Pirates touched Gallardo for 11 hits and seven earned runs in 4 2-3 innings. He also walked while throwing a season-high 119 pitches. "He was out of whack. Hes thrown so well for so long. He just had a game where he wasnt on," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "The rhythm wasnt there. We tried to fight through it. We tried to get him through five. Unfortunately, we couldnt do it." Gallardo entered the game with a major league-leading 22 quality starts. He had won each of his previous six starts, posting a 1.90 ERA during the stretch. Gallardo said he was struggling with his command even before he took the mound. "Even in the bullpen, I was battling to find my rhythm and consistency with my release point," he said. "It was a crazy game today but we were able to get the win. Thats the important thing." Braun hit a three-run homer in the first, a 458-foot drive. After McKenry hit a leadoff homer in the second, the Brewers scored three more in the bottom half. Bianchi had his second homer and Weeks launched a 455-foot shot off the centre-field scoreboard. Weeks finished with three hits and scored four times. McKenry hit a two-run single in the third that pulled Pittsburgh to 6-4. Gomez hit a two-run homer in the bottom half and chased McDonald. Gallardo homered in the fourth. It was his 10th career home run, extending his franchise record for a pitcher. Jones hit his 23rd homer in the sixth. NOTES: Norichika Aoki returned to leadoff spot in the Milwaukee lineup and played right field after not starting the previous two games because of a stiff neck. ... The Pirates have hit 16 home runs in nine games at Miller Park this season, the most by any visiting team. ... Brock Holt of the Pirates got his first major league start, playing second base and leading off. He recorded his first career hit when he singled in the fourth inning. He also singled in the fifth, driving in his first run. ... Jeff Locke is scheduled to start for the Pirates on Monday against Houston. He was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was 10-5 with a 2.48 ERA in 24 starts. Locke made two relief appearances earlier this season for the Pirates. Justin Smith C Patch Jersey .C. -- Connecticuts Andre Drummond and Kansas Thomas Robinson have worked out for Charlotte as the Bobcats make their evaluations before the June 28 NBA draft. Deion Sanders 49ers Jersey . Alvarez hit his 30th homer, connecting for his first career shot in the city where he was a prep star and leading the Pittsburgh Pirates over the New York Mets 10-6 on Tuesday night. http://www.teamshopsanfrancisco49ers.com/frank-gore-jersey . Manager Buck Showalter said before Mondays game at Minnesota that Andino will be placed on the 15-day disabled list, and the team will recall left-hander Zach Britton to make Tuesdays start against the Twins. Colin Kaepernick White Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Frank Gore 49ers Jersey .C. Boscan from Triple-A Gwinnett. Jones, who plans to retire after the season, is hitting .307 with five homers and 24 RBIs. The DL move was retroactive to Thursday.TORONTO -- It was one of those days when everything worked according to plan for Toronto Blue Jays starter Carlos Villanueva. The right-hander pitched six shut out innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Wednesday. "I felt good today," Villanueva said. "I felt like I really knew what I wanted to do one through nine." Villanueva (3-0) held the Royals to four hits and no walks while striking out seven in his second start since coming out of the bullpen to bolster an injury-depleted starting rotation. "He pitched very well to his scouting report," manager John Farrell said. "His ability to execute four different pitches for strikes disrupted a lot of hitters timing." The Blue Jays were able to score just enough runs with Yunel Escobar driving in two with a single and a sacrifice fly. Rajai Davis had a triple and a sacrifice fly, while Kelly Johnson also had sacrifice fly as the Blue Jays won their second straight over the Royals. Casey Janssen pitched the ninth inning for his 11th save and second in the past two games for Toronto (42-40). Luis Mendoza (3-5) allowed nine hits, one walk and three runs while setting a career high of nine strikeouts over six innings for the Royals (36-44). Villanueva shared the credit with catcher J.P. Arencibia. "He did the home work and we talked a little bit before the game and exactly what we wrote down today in the report is what we took out there," Villanueva said. "We knew exactly what we wanted to do. The two times I did shake him the ball was hit hard." Villanueva, who is a long reliever, also made 13 starts for Toronto last season. "Every time weve asked him to go into this role he has stabilized a game right from the start and has just done an outstanding job for us," Farrell said. "Hes a kid that really pitches," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Hes got an above average curveball, hes got an above average changeup that he can command, he spots his fastball really well." The Jays opened the scoring in the second witth Davis triple and a sac fly by Johnson. Patrick Willis Black Jersey. . Singles by J.P. Arencibia and Brett Lawrie and a walk to Colby Rasmus loaded the bases with two out for Jose Bautista who struck out. Escobar and Davis hit sacrifice flies in the third to put the Blue Jays into a 3-0 lead. Edwin Encarnacion led off with an infield hit on a slow grounder to second and both Mendoza and first baseman Eric Hosmer wound up covering first. Mendoza took the throw but he left the bag to get out Hosmers way. "I called it and then he called it," Mendoza said. "For me it was hard to stop. I should have let Hos make that play. I was just a little confused." Adam Lind sliced a double to left to set up the sacrifice flies. Jason Frasor took over from Villanueva in the seventh. He allowed a leadoff walk to Billy Butler but Yuniesky Betancourt rapped into a double play. But Mike Moustakas singled and Jeff Francoeur hit a liner to left that Davis played into a run-scoring triple as the ball skipped past him to the fence. The Blue Jays scored a run against Kelvin Herrera in the seventh on a single by Rasmus, a two-out walk to Lind and a single by Escobar. Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 17,831. ... After the game right-hander Scott Richmond of North Vancouver, B.C., was returned to triple-A Las Vegas on option with a reliever likely to be called up. ....Left-hander Jamie Moyer, who is on a minor-league contract, allowed seven earned runs in six innings for triple-A Las Vegas in an 11-6 loss to Reno on Tuesday. Moyer is 1-1 with an earned-run average of 8.18 in two starts for the 51s. ..Lind who has three home runs since his return from Las Vegas batted fifth and was designated hitter in Wednesdays game with Johnson dropped to eighth. In Linds seven previous starts since his return, he batted eighth. ...Encarnacion extended his hit streak to 10 games with his first-inning single . ....Henderson Alvarez (5-6, 4.33 ERA) will start the series finale on Thursday for Toronto against Luke Hochevar (5-8, 5.23 ERA). ' ' '