GAPS BETWEEN LEADING GOALKICKERS . | Forum

HOUSTON -- With their top two starters sidelined and the clock on the regular season winding down, the Houston Astros are in the precarious position of opening an interleague set against the Chicago Cubs with a busted rotation and an overworked bullpen. Axel Witsel Shirt .There is a correlation between the losses of left-hander Dallas Keuchel, shut down earlier this week with left shoulder inflammation, and right-hander Lance McCullers, out since early August with right elbow discomfort, and the Astros current run of abbreviated starts.Right-hander David Paulino, making his major league debut, lasted three innings in a 10-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Thursday, the eighth consecutive game that a starter failed to record more than 15 outs for the Astros.It was a big ask for us to expect him to go pretty deep in the game, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Paulino. Weve got a start on Tuesday; weve got to figure out whos going to face the Rangers. Well get home and see where it takes us.Complete baseball wins games against good teams.Without Keuchel and McCullers, the Astros (74-66) have plugged holes in their rotation with the likes of right-hander Brad Peacock, an organizational arm who spent most of this season with Triple-A Fresno, and rookies Joe Musgrove and Paulino. Musgrove (2-3, 5.06 ERA) will open the three-game series with his first appearance against the National League Central-leading Cubs (89-50).After a promising start to his career, a stretch that included a dazzling relief appearance and two subsequent starts, Musgrove has struggled over his last four starts. Hes posted an 8.53 ERA and 1.125 opponents OPS while surrendering six home runs in 19 innings pitched. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings in his last start at Texas.The Cubs, 13-4 in interleague play, will start left-hander Jon Lester (15-4, 2.61 ERA) in the opener. Lester is 6-0 with a 1.85 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break. He has faced the Astros (10-7 in interleague play) once in his career, allowing six runs on nine hits over five innings for Boston on June 28, 2008, at Minute Maid Park.Lester has faced only two current Astros in his career: catcher/designated hitter Evan Gattis (2-for-3) and outfielder Colby Rasmus (3-or-14 with five strikeouts).Maddon flipped his weekend rotation behind Lester, opting to bump right-hander Jake Arrieta to Sunday night while keeping right-hander John Lackey on regular rest. Lackey will start the middle game of the series on Saturday.Its just to break up Lester and Jake, Maddon said to MLB.com. It was strategical because we could. Shirt Rode Duivels Kevin De Bruyne . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Shirt Yannick Carrasco 2018 . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. http:///...by-alderweireld.html . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. A limp AFL grand final performance from Sydneys forward line has reopened the debate about the Swans relying too much on talisman Lance Franklin.While Sydneys new-look forward line has won plenty of plaudits from their coach this season for their pressure, they were clearly found wanting in an offensive capacity on Saturday.Franklin battled on bravely after a first quarter ankle injury in Saturdays 22-point loss to the Western Bulldogs, but got little support in the goalkicking stakes from his forward colleagues.The Swans forwards kicked only three of their 10 goals, one of them a Franklin trademark long-distance bomb in the final quarter to give his team some brief hope.Sydney continued to direct plenty of kicks inside their forward 50 to him, but Franklin was generally well contained and often had to deal with more than one defender.Kurt Tippett, Xavier Richards and Gary Rohan had little impact as did the small forward brigade of Tom Papley, George Hewett and Ben McGlynn, with those six players mustering a combined tally of just two goals..Tippett alternated between the ruck and forward line but finished goalless for the seventh time in his past eight matches. Shirt Thibaut Courtois. .Rohan is Sydneys X-factor, but only touched the ball five times on Saturday and tallied just seven disposals in the 2014 grand final.Hewett and Richards were both converted to forwards this season but struggled to stamp their presence on the grand final.Sydney missed the proven marking ability of key forward Sam Reid, who didnt play a senior game during the season due to injury.Reids return in 2017 would surely take some pressure of Franklin, who with 81 goals, finished a staggering 52 majors ahead of Papley, Sydneys next highest goalkicker.No other club had anywhere near as big a gap between their top two goalkickers.The Bulldogs had only two goals separating their top two goalkickers Jake Stringer (42) and Tory Dickson (40), and Greater Western Sydney Giants had four players finish between 38 and 53 goals.GAPS BETWEEN LEADING GOALKICKERS .AT THE SAME AFL CLUB* 52 - SYDNEY: Lance Franklin, 81, Tom Papley 29* 39 - GOLD COAST: Tom Lynch 66, Peter Wright 27* 38 WEST COAST: Josh Kennedy 82, Jack Darling 44* Cheap MLB Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping cheap nfl jerseys Cheap Jerseys USA China Jerseys Cheap NFL Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys For Sale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys ' ' '