whelming on the road this season and you have a recipe for the fourth s | Forum
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Nov 18 '19
(SportsNetwork. Pants Rowland Jersey .com) - The St. Louis Cardinals are confident they can capture a second straight National League Central title with ace Adam Wainwright on the mound Sunday in the finale of a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cardinals had a chance to wrap up the division, but dropped a 5-2 decision to the Diamondbacks Saturday night. They remained one game ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central after the Pirates lost in Cincinnati. Wainwright is shooting for a personal best and has never won 21 games in his career, but has a chance to reach the mark Sunday. Wainwright posted the second 20-win campaign of his career with seven shutout innings of three-hit ball in Mondays 8-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. Wainwright, who is 20-9 with a 2.38 earned run average, has won five straight starts with two complete games in that time and is riding a 21 innings scoreless streak. The right-hander and Cy Young Candidate is 11-6 in 18 road starts and 6-4 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 career games (9 starts) against Arizona. In a 5-0 win over the D-backs on May 20, Wainwright tossed a one-hit shutout and struck out nine batters. He is trying to become the first Cardinals pitcher to win 21 games since Chris Carpenter did it in 2005. That could be an issue because Wainwright is 1-2 with a 2.79 ERA in five games (3 starts) lifetime at Chase Field. Cardinals starter Lance Lynn allowed two homers in six innings and Seth Maness gave up a three-run homer to Mark Trumbo in the seventh last night. Trumbo had two homers and David Peralta went deep against the Cardinals, losers in four of six games. We gotta win the game tomorrow, said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. Thats it. ... It comes down to game 162. I think thats how the schedule-makers draw it up. Jhonny Peralta drove in a run and Matt Carpenter posted two hits for the Cardinals in the setback. St. Louis is playoff bound for the fourth straight season and for the 11th time since 2000. Meanwhile, the D-backs hope greener pastures are upon them when they close out the 2014 campaign. They fired manager Kirk Gibson a few days ago and won for just the second time in the last 11 tries on Saturday. The D-backs, who will miss the playoffs for a third straight season, rode the bats of Trumbo and Peralta. Trumbo, a first-year Diamondback, had four RBI and Peralta added three hits and two runs scored. I aim to be as consistent as I can be, but I think history shows I can be a tad streaky, Trumbo said. Sometimes the good times are pretty good, and sometimes ... theyre not. It seems like recently its been going OK. Trumbo has knocked in 11 runs with five homers in the past six games. Randall Delgado picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief and starter Wade Miley pitched well in five innings of work, charged with a pair of runs and six hits. Addison Reed got his 32nd save in the ninth. The D-backs will close the season with Josh Collmenter on the mound and he is 11-8 with a 3.57 ERA. Collmenter has won three of his last four decisions and defeated Minnesota in Mondays 6-2 finish, as he allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Collmenter, who is 7-4 in 19 games (15 starts) at home, will make his first career start against the Cardinals. He is 2-0 in three relief chances to go along with an 0.84 ERA. St. Louis swept a three-game set from Arizona at Busch Stadium in May. Tom Seaver Jersey . The rookie is rewarding their faith with a stellar first season. MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Jamie McGinn had two goals and an assist, and Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Saturday. Reynaldo Lopez White Sox Jersey . Bobrovsky posted a 2-0-1 record with a 1.58 goals-against average and .950 save percentage to help the Blue Jackets (35-26-6) gain five of a possible six points last week. He capped the week by making 32 saves and stopping 2-of-4 shootout attempts in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.(SportsNetwork.com) - The postseason is already assured for both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers but plenty will be on the line Sunday when the rivals close the regular season at Lambeau Field. The winner will not only claim the NFC North title and an all important first- round bye in the playoffs, it will have an outside chance of securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. For Green Bay that would mean a win, coupled with a Seattle loss, while Detroit would need the triumph and setbacks from both the Seahawks and Arizona. The Lions, however, face some daunting history as they approach the winner- take-all contest. The last time a Detroit team won in Wisconsin was in 1991, as the Lions have lost 23 straight in Badger State. The two teams got here by both winning their Week 16 games. The Packers clinched a spot in the playoffs for the sixth straight season on the backs of their defense, which limited Tampa Bay to 109 yards of offense in a 20-3 win over the hapless Buccaneers. This football team put itself in a great position to accomplish its goal, and thats to win this division, said Packers coach Mike McCarthy. Green Bays tough defense sacked Josh McCown seven times, including 2 1/2 from Clay Matthews and two from Julius Peppers. On the Bucs last offensive play of the game, McCown was under duress and threw an interception to defensive lineman Datone Jones. Offensively the Packers were led by Aaron Rodgers once again as the MVP candidate threw for 318 yards and a touchdown to Jordy Nelson. Rodgers completed 31-of-40 passes. Nelson caught nine passes for 113 yards and fellow receiver Randall Cobb set career highs with 11 catches and 131 receiving yards. Eddie Lacy ran for 99 yards on 17 carries, including a 44-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter. For the Lions, Joique Bells touchdown run in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as Detroit won ugly, 20-14, in Chicago. The Lions came into the game having been assured of a playoff spot in the first season with Jim Caldwell at the helm due to Philadelphias loss to Washington the day before. It is the first time since the 2011 season that Detroit has made it to the postseason. Matthew Stafford had a rough game as he went just 22-for-39 for 243 yards with a pair of red zone interceptions, while Reggie Bush also had a rushing touchdown for the Lions, who have won four straight to reach 11 wins for the first time since going 12-4 in 1991, the last year they beat the Packers outside of Michigan. Im more concerned about victories at this time, said Caldwell. I dont apologize for any victories and I said we didnt play well in the first half. Im not concerned about anything other than that. I would have been really concerned if we didnt come back. Green Bay leads the all-time series by a 94-67-7 margin but the Lions have won the past two meetings, including a 19-7 victory in the Motor City on Sept. 21 when Bush ran for 61 yards, including a 26-yard TD, and the stingy Detroit defense held the Packers to 223 total yards. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Playing in Green Bay is always daunting because Rodgers has been nearly flawless on his home field. The Packers are 7-0 at Lambeau, averaging 41.1 points per game, and Rodgers has been lights out with a almost video-game-like 132.6 passer rating, the highest single-season home passer rating in NFL history. If A-Rod keeps that pace up for one more he will be breaking his own record of 128. Jeff Keppinger White Sox Jersey. 5 in 2011, and next of the list is, you guessed it, Rodgers at 126.4 in 2013. Hes just certainly an exceptional talent, but hes also extremely familiar with the system that they run, Caldwell said. I mean, he knows where everyone is. He delivers the ball quickly and on time. When he doesnt hes certainly capable of getting outside of the pocket and gaining ground on the ground with his legs, but then also finding open receivers down the field. I think his familiarity, and hes a good decision maker as well. Detroit is better equipped than most to at least slow Rodgers down, entering Week 17 with the second-ranked defense in all of football, a group that allows just 295.9 yards per game. The Lions are also second in points allowed, surrendering only 16.8 per game and have the top-rated run defense (63.8 ypg). You just know its going to be a game where you have to be very efficient throwing the ball, Rodgers said. You have to look for those opportunities for extended plays in the run game and the pass game. Another development that could trend toward Detroit is Rodgers health as the veteran has a lingering calf issue and has also been battling with the flu. We have a full-plate game plan and Im confident hell be able to run it, McCarthy said. The Packers have the best turnover differential in the NFL at plus-15 and has given it away just 11 times all season, on pace to be a franchise record and just one above the all-time NFL record of 10 miscues set by the 2010 New England Patriots and matched by the 2011 San Francisco 49ers. Before this season Detroit was known primarily as an offensive team but the Lions are just 20th in total offense at 326.7 ypg and Stafford has been below average away from Detroit with a 72.8 road passer rating. The Lions will also be without veteran center Dominic Raiola, who was suspended for stepping on Bears defensive tackle Ego Ferguson in Week 16. Rookie third-round pick Travis Swanson is expected to make his first start. Im always drawing up on old experiences, where weve had guys in the first part of the season that were young players, rookies that stepped in and played for us on some very good teams, Caldwell said. I think for the most part, we expect (Swanson) to be good, we expect him to get his job done. OVERALL ANALYSIS The game will mark the first time since the 1993 season in which two teams with at least 11 wins will play each other in the regular-season finale to determine the division champion (Dallas at New York Giants, January 2, 1994). Any time you get to play for a division championship, especially in the NFC North, its huge, said Lions guard Rob Sims. Its going to be a good one. This is a hill just too big for the Lions to climb, however. Green Bay has won 22 consecutive regular-season home games against Detroit and 23 consecutive overall if you count a 1994 playoff triumph at Lambeau. Add in the fact that Stafford has been under whelming on the road this season and you have a recipe for the fourth straight NFC North crown for the Packers . I think playing in a playoff-type game is exactly how you want to go into the playoffs, said McCarthy. Its great that were playing for the division title. I think this is exactly how youd want it. I know this is the way Id prefer it. Sports Network predicted outcome: Packers 33, Lions 20 ' ' '
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