Dein erstes Forum » be fun.7. Speaking of the Duck

BALTIMORE -- The Houston Astros have rediscovered their hitting groove in Camden Yards.In the process, theyve been bullying the Orioles in their own backyard.Jason Castro homered and drove in four runs, Alex Bregman and George Springer also connected and the Astros beat Baltimore 12-2 on Saturday night.The blowout came one night after the Astros whipped the Orioles 15-8 to snap a five-game losing streak.Weve had a lot of guys putting together quality at-bats, going up there trying to hit the ball hard, Bregman said.Bregman got this rout started with a two-run homer in the first inning off Chris Tillman (15-5), who had been given an extended rest because of a sore shoulder. Houston increased its lead to 6-0 in the third and went up 10-1 in the sixth.That was a good offensive night for us from the very beginning, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. We had numerous chances we didnt even take advantage of. We continue to get contributions from the top of the lineup, bottom of the lineup, middle of the lineup. Its a fun offense when we get going.It might get even better on Sunday. The Astros announced after the game that they will recall Cuban defector Yulieski Gurriel from Triple-A Fresno and start him as the designated hitter in the finale of the four-game series.The Orioles, meanwhile, are in full recovery mode after a 1-4 start to a homestand that began with two losses to Boston.Its pretty tough to cover that many runs the last two nights, manager Buck Showalter said. Its pretty obvious we need to pitch better.Chris Davis homered in a fourth straight game and Steve Pearce also went deep for Baltimore. But the Orioles have dropped eight of 12 overall to fall into the third place in the AL East.Baltimore pitchers combined to allow a season-high 10 walks. Utility infielder Ryan Flaherty worked the ninth inning, giving up two runs and three hits.Asked the last time he pitched, Flaherty replied, High school. Wasnt very good then and still not.Mike Fiers (9-6) had little trouble in his first career appearance against the Orioles. The right-hander went seven innings, allowing one run and five hits to lower his ERA on the road from 6.27 to 5.71.Tillman had his start pushed back from Wednesday to Saturday because of shoulder discomfort. He and Showalter insisted that wasnt a factor in one of his worst outings of the year -- two innings, six hits, six runs and five walks.Physically, I felt fine, the right-hander said. Thats the big positive coming out of this -- probably the only positive you can find. I felt good. Just couldnt command the baseball.Showalter said Tillman was rusty, and would have been forthcoming if the shoulder bothered him before his start.Hes not going to do anything to hurt the club, the manager said. I trust his honesty with us.DEUCES WILDThe Astros scored two runs in six different innings. Every starter scored at least one run.MOVESThe Astros optioned 1B Tyler White to Fresno to make room for Gurriel. ... The Orioles optioned Odrisamer Despaigne to Triple-A Norfolk after recalling him earlier in the day.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: 3B Luis Valbuena (right hamstring) was sent back to Houston to have his injury re-evaluated and could be done for the year. Its going to threaten his season, just based on where we are, Hinch said. ... OF Jake Marisnick missed a second straight game with a sore groin. I am not going to put him out there if he is not 100 percent, Hinch said.Orioles: Orioles C Matt Wieters was placed on the paternity leave list and will likely be out through at least Sunday.UP NEXTAstros: Dallas Keuchel (7-12, 4.76 ERA) starts Sunday in the series finale. In his two outings this month, the lefty blanked Texas and gave up six runs in five innings to St. Louis.Orioles: Yovani Gallardo (4-4, 5.18) has won only one of his last nine starts. Hes 1/3 since June 29.Mark Bavaro Jersey . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. Odell Beckham Jr Jersey . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". http://www.giantsonlineteamshop.com/odell-beckham-jr-jersey-cheap.html . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Lawrence Taylor Youth Jersey . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Phil Simms Cheap Jersey .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans.College football has nine undefeated teams, and seven of them play away from home Saturday, so odds are there wont be nine undefeated teams Sunday.No. 4 Washington?and No. 7 Nebraska?play their toughest opponents yet. No. 3 Clemson?plays at No. 12 Florida State, where the Tigers havent won in a decade.We havent had a crazy weekend yet, the kind of Saturday where one upset trumps another from early games to late. Why not this one? Time for crazy.1. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson may be more passer than runner these days, but his competitive fire remains his best asset. Coach Dabo Swinney reminded everyone that after Watson threw the first pick-six of his life against NC State, he completed his next 14 throws (actually, it was 12 of his next 14 throws). Then Swinney noted the third-quarter play when Clemson wideout Mike Williams fumbled at the Wolfpack 4-yard line and NC States?Shawn Boone returned it 70 yards. Tight end Jordan Leggett made the tackle because Watson threw himself into two blockers. Deshaun has all of that other stuff, Swinney said, but that right there, you cant coach that. That comes from the inside.2. Its a long way from Clemson to South Carolina?these days, and a long way from 1-7 UMass, against whom 18-year-old Gamecocks freshman quarterback Jake Bentley threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns last week in his debut, to No. 18 Tennessee?coming off a bye week. While Bentley is the third quarterback the Gamecocks have started this season, he energized an offense that averaged only 14 points per game in its first six games. What made coach Will Muschamp feel good about Bentley was not what he did Saturday. It was Monday. I asked him today on the field, How much film did you get in yesterday, Muschamp said Tuesday, and he said, About two-and-a-half hours. Thats what you want your quarterback to do.3. When Penn State?blocked the kick that rocked Ohio States?world, the Nittany Lions scored their first special-teams touchdown in four years. The Nittany Lions had been the only Power 5 team not to score a touchdown in the kicking game in that time. I drew a direct connection from that failure to the Penn State roster depleted by NCAA-mandated scholarship reductions -- lack of depth, etc. But USC, which had similar reductions from 2012-14, scored 10 special-teams touchdowns -- five punt returns, three kickoff returns and two blocked kick returns -- in those three seasons. Either Penn State didnt get it done, USC did, or both.4. Nuggets unearthed while combing through USA Todays annual survey of head-coaching salaries?released Wednesday: The SEC and the Big Ten each have five of the top 14 highest-paid coaches. But the SEC has the next four. The first Pacc-12 coach on the list, David Shaw of Stanford, is 19th ($4.dddddddddddd06 million annually). The top Mountain West coach, Tim DeRuyter of Fresno State?($1.51 million) was fired Sunday. The lowest-paid coach ranked in the top 10 listed in the database -- salary information for Baylor is not available -- is Mike Riley of No. 7 Nebraska (42nd at $2.8 million). Three of the top-10 salaries are paid to African-Americans -- Charlie Strong, Kevin Sumlin and James Franklin -- a reminder of the progress already made.5. Speaking of Strong, nowhere is the disparity among the Big 12 membership more starkly illustrated than in head coaches salaries. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma?($5.55 million) and Strong of Texas?($5.2 million) have the fourth- and sixth-biggest paychecks in the game, respectively. The next-highest Big 12 salary, Gary Patterson of TCU, is 20th ($4.01 million). The lowest-paid head coach among the Power 5 conferences, and the only one who isnt paid a seven-figure salary, is David Beaty of Kansas, 1-18 in his attempt to resurrect the Jayhawks. Beaty makes $801,169 per year. The next-lowest paid Power 5 head coach, first-year man Tracy Claeys of Minnesota, makes $1.4 million.6. How about the tumultuous turnover at the top in the Pac-12? The league says that when Stanford dropped out of the AP poll two weeks ago, it was the first time since 1999 that neither Stanford, USC nor Oregon?was?ranked. Its not merely that the Cardinal and the Ducks, the only teams to win the North in the five-year history of the Pac-12, are fourth and sixth, respectively, in the division; its that the only two South teams that have yet to appear in the championship game, Utah?and Colorado, are tied for first in their division. They play on Thanksgiving Saturday; No. 4 Washington and Washington State, both undefeated and atop the North, play the Apple Cup the day before. This could be fun.7. Speaking of the Ducks, if Oregon loses at home Saturday to Arizona State, the Ducks losing streak would reach six games for the first time since they lost the last six games of the 1991 season (and the first two of 1992). Coach Mark Helfrich has begun to look to the future by giving the offense to freshman Justin Herbert. Hes the first Oregon native to start at quarterback since Kellen Clemens in 2005. Thats a reminder that Oregon must find its players outside the state. The Oregonian earlier this year named the top 20 prep quarterbacks in Oregon since the 80s. The only one of recent vintage, Brett Smith, started at Wyoming while the Ducks played Darron Thomas and Marcus Mariota. ' ' '