ekansekans's blog: "df"

NEWARK, N. Cary Williams Jersey .Y. - No strangers to losing the first game of a playoff series, the New Jersey Devils know losing the first two at home would dig a deep hole. New Jersey lost their openers against both Philadelphia and the Rangers before coming back to win the series. They may be used to it but veteran goalie Martin Brodeur says being down a game is never a comfortable situation -- especially against a stingy team like the Los Angeles Kings with a 9-0 record on the playoffs road. "Getting off to a 0-2 start would be a tough one to overcome," the 40-year-old goalie acknowledged Friday as the Devils returned to practice after a day off. "Like they did to every single team they started in the playoffs on the road against. Its in the back of our heads a little bit." Game 2 is Saturday at the Prudential Center. Devils coach Peter DeBoer says the team knows what to do. "We know weve been here before. I think also after looking at the tape, we know what we have to fix. So I think theres a comfort level there that we can get that done." And despite the Kings perfect record away from home, DeBoer says the Devils are getting other benefits than last line change at home. "I think the big thing is the crowd, the environment, sleeping in your own bed. All those things. I know L.A.s record kind of, I guess, minimizes the sounds of that with what theyve done on the road but its important to us. "Weve been a good home team. Weve played well here. I know were going to throw a good game out there Saturday night." To do that, DeBoer said the team needs to test goalie Jonathan Quick more than it did on Wednesday. "I think we made it too easy on him. We had some opportunities. But we didnt do enough to make it tough on him." And his skilled players have to step up after not playing their best in Game 1. "I think if you asked our group, theres a lot of guys on that list," DeBoer said. Ed Reed White Jersey .C. Lions in CFL action. Burnett returned his second pick 108 yards at 9:32 of the fourth quarter to secure the victory after the Eskimos held a precarious 19-14 lead. Dennis Pitta Black Jersey . -- Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs will have surgery for a partially torn Achilles tendon, an injury he insists will not keep him sidelined for the entire 2012 season. http://www.ravensthegear.com/joe-flacco-jerseys . Hamels pitched eight innings of one-run ball, Hunter Pence hit a three-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 for their first series victory in nearly a month. Haloti Ngata Pink Jersey . Braun hit two home runs Saturday to give him the National League lead with 22 and lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tyrod Taylor Jersey . Hamilton drove in four runs and the Rangers bailed out Ryan Dempster in his Texas debut in a 15-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Evan Longorias flair for the dramatic on the final night of the season ended Baltimores bid to force a one-game tiebreaker for the AL East title. Instead, the Orioles were left to begin their first playoff appearance in 15 years on the road against two-time defending league champion Texas. Longoria homered three times and the Tampa Bay Rays shut down the Orioles 4-1 Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, where Longoria also ended last season with a bang. Baltimore began the day one game behind the New York Yankees in the division. The Orioles needed a win, plus a loss by the Yankees to Boston, to pull even. New York cruised to a 14-2 rout of the Red Sox and finished two games ahead of the Orioles, earning its 13th division crown in 17 years. The Yankees had a 10-game lead on July 18 but Baltimore caught up Sept. 4 and the teams were tied 10 times in September. "We knew it was a long shot, but we ran into some really good pitching," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Ive got to tip my hat to them, and what is really kind of amazing is that you look over there with what theyve been able to do this year, win 90 games, and that tells you what a fine line there is in all those extra-inning games and one-run losses, and we could be in the same position they are." The loss sent the Orioles to Texas, where theyll play the Rangers on Friday night, with the winner advancing to the best-of-five division series against the New York Yankees. "Were going to take it one game at a time. Obviously if you lose, youre done," said Orioles slugger Chris Davis, who had homered in six straight games. "Were going to try to do everything we can to beat Texas and get back home." Longoria finished the season in dramatic fashion for the second straight year, hitting solo shots off Chris Tillman in the first and fourth innings and adding another solo drive off Jake Arrieta in the sixth. With a chance to tie the major league record of four homers in a game, the three-time All-Star who missed 85 games this year with a strained left hamstring grounded out in the eighth. "It was cool," Longoria said. "Thats about as fun a night as you can have in a ballgame." Longorias second career three-homer game came a year after he hit two of them of the final night of last season, including a 12th-inning, game-ending shot that clinched a post-season berth. The area beyond a short wall in the left-field corner where the biggest homer in franchise history landed is now called 162 Landing. "I just think it highlights how well we play in games 162," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It was a very dramatic game, the way it all unfolded. I just like the idea that we played the last game of the season with that kind of effort and intensity." Ryan Roberts also homered for the Rays in the fourth against Tillman (9-3). Jeremy Hellickson (10--11) allowed one hit -- Adam Jones fourth-inning single -- in 5 1-3 innings. Arthur Jones Jersey. . Jake McGee, Wade Davis, Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney teamed up to hold the Orioles to two hits -- J.J. Hardys double and Matt Wieters single, both in the ninth inning -- the rest of the way. Jones ruined Tampa Bays shot at a 16th shutout with a sacrifice fly off Peralta. After Wieters singled, Rodney was summoned to get the final out for his 48th save in 50 opportunities. Davis, who tied an Orioles record when he homered for the sixth straight game in a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Baltimore had five hits in the final two games of the regular season, but Jones is confident the offence will bounce back for the clubs first post-season game since 1997. "We aint got no choice. You dont hit, you go home," Jones said. "Its no ifs, buts or maybes. Both teams know that." Longoria has homered in five of his last seven plate appearances in the final game of the season. In four career Game 162s, he is 8 for 15 with six homers and nine RBIs. "Sometimes youve got to give credit where credit is due. He put some good swings on some pitches, but I should have been better," Tillman said. "I knew what I needed to do. I just didnt get it done." Longoria is 6 for 12 with three homers against Tillman, who lasted five innings and allowed three runs on four hits in his first loss since Kansas City beat him on Aug. 11. The right-hander who had gone 3-0 with a 1.20 ERA over his previous five starts also allowed three homers in that game, matching his career high. The Rays (90-72) won 12 of 14 down the stretch, remaining in contention for the second AL wild card until the 160th game and finished with at least 90 wins for the third straight season. Hellickson allowed three baserunners, two of them in the fourth inning when Jones singled to right-centre after Davis struck out on a wild pitch that allowed him to reach first. The 2011 AL Rookie of the Year walked Manny Machado leading off the sixth and was replaced by McGee after getting the next batter, Nate McLouth, to pop out. "The big tip of the cap goes to Joe Maddon and the Rays. They played 162," Jones said. "Their players went out every game to the last one and gave it all theyve got." NOTES: Jones played in every regular-season game this season. "Its a pretty cool thing," Showalter said. Jones is the first Baltimore player to accomplish the feat since Miguel Tejada in 2006. ... Orioles RHP Steve Johnson (sore left knee) said he felt great after throwing off a bullpen mound. ... Rays CF B.J. Upton, who can become a free agent this winter, singled in what might have been his last at-bat with Tampa Bay. The crowd of 17,909 gave him a standing ovation when he was removed for a pinch-runner in the eighth inning. ' ' '