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something he wasnt able to do all of last season.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. Dave Winfield Padres Jersey . - With a couple of flicks of the wrist, the Chicago Blackhawks headed into the NHL All-Star break with momentum.Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane beat Marc-Andre Fleury in a shootout to lift the Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.Chicago improved to 8-2 in games decided after regulation when Toews beat Fleury between the legs, and Kane followed with a wrist shot the goalie watched sail by his blocker.We have great confidence, Toews said. Our goaltender can make stops and we have shooters who like to be in that situation. We like our odds given the circumstance.The Blackhawks also regained swagger following a pair of decisive home losses to Winnipeg and Dallas. Chicago thumped Arizona 6-1 on Tuesday and backed it up by surviving a game effort from the undermanned Penguins to win in Pittsburgh for only the second time since 1997.Even if things arent going so well, were good at taking responsibility for it and not dragging our feet around and dwelling on what were not doing or whats not going our way, Toews said. We just find ways that we can make things better, and we showed an example of that in the last two games.David Rundblad and Marian Hossa scored in regulation for Chicago. Corey Crawford made 33 saves and held Pittsburghs David Perron and Sidney Crosby in check in the shootout.It was a tough game, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. You find when you win these types of games, it makes you a good team.Zach Sill scored his first NHL goal and Steve Downie added his eighth of the season for the Penguins. Fleury stopped 24 shots but Pittsburgh hobbled into the break with a fourth straight loss, among them a bruising overtime defeat in Philadelphia on Tuesday that included injuries to stars Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin.Letang was held out as a precaution following a frightening collision with Philadelphias Zac Rinaldo. Malkin skated during warm-ups on Wednesday before telling trainers he couldnt play due to an undisclosed issue. Malkins status for All-Star weekend is uncertain.The absence of two vital parts of Pittsburghs core took some of the punch out of the game both teams hope is a Stanley Cup preview, though neither has looked like a top-flight contender the last month.Pittsburgh has cooled to fall just off the pace of the first-place New York Islanders in the crowded Metropolitan Division. Chicago trails surprising Nashville and steady St. Louis in the Central.Rundblad gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead 6:56 in. The defenceman took advantage of a dominant shift by the top line of Hossa, Toews and Brandon Saad. The trio kept the puck buried in Pittsburghs zone for more than a minute, with Rundblad taking a feed from Hossa at the point and sending a shot past a well-screened Fleury for his fourth goal.Hossa doubled Chicagos lead early in the second with his 10th goal, a wrist shot from just inside the left circle that Fleury barely saw through the sea of bodies. Yet just when it appeared the Penguins were ready to collapse, they responded behind some unlikely contributors.Sill went 47 games before recording the first point of his career with an assist against Minnesota last week. He didnt wait nearly as long to earn his second, sending a wrist shot from the slot over Crawfords glove 5:21 into the second.The fourth-line forward nearly smacked a Chicago player in the head with his stick during a giddy celebration, one that provided the spark necessary to wake the Penguins from a weeklong swoon.Downie tied it at 12:22 of the second, stuffing a rebound past a sprawled Crawford for his first goal since Jan. 2. That set up an electric back-and-forth third period that played in stark contrast to Pittsburghs penalty-filled meeting with the Flyers the night before.When weve been short players, really short players we seem to be able to pick it up, coach Mike Johnston said. We need to be able to do that when we have everybody in the lineup. ... Our depth really stepped it up.NOTES: The Penguins host Winnipeg next Tuesday but will play 21 of their final 36 games on the road. ... The Blackhawks face a difficult six-game trip after the break, starting next Wednesday at Los Angeles. ... The game was stopped twice in the first period due to a clock malfunction. One delay lasted nearly five minutes. ... The Blackhawks went 1 for 2 on the power play. The Penguins were 0 for 2. ... Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall said Rinaldo feels horrible about his illegal check on Letang. Rinaldo will have a teleconference with the NHLs Department of Player Safety on Monday. Greg Garcia Padres Jersey .com) - Carmelo Anthony tallied 31 points to help the New York Knicks continue their improved play of late with a 100-92 victory over a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder squad. Fernando Tatis Jr. Jersey . In the second game of their day/night doubleheader at Minneapolis, three Blue Jays pitchers, Steve Delabar, Sergio Santos and J.CLEARWATER, Florida – J.A. Happ got the start in the Blue Jays rain-shortened, Grapefruit League opener against the Phillies but it was Todd Redmond who left an early impression on his manager. "Redmonds like anybody else, hes going to get hit every now and then but all weve ever seen out of him is good pitching and he gets guys out," said John Gibbons. "Hes pretty polished." The 29-year-old pitched two clean innings, the second and third, striking out a batter over 22 pitches. He got the win, for what thats worth on February 26, in a 4-3 game called midway through the seventh. Redmond is among more than a half-dozen pitchers in contention for the last starting rotation spot. While not much can be made of one outing, Redmonds performance resonated following a comment Gibbons made before the game. "Usually what happens, when theres a spot open, the guy that takes it, some of those guys have those springs where theyre good all spring and theres no doubt about it ... a lot of times that guy from day one, man, hes standing out and theres no hiccups." All Redmonds ever wanted is an opportunity. Here it is, less than three months before hell turn 29. Think hes overwhelmed? Redmonds been around too long – eight minor league cities over nine seasons – to get rattled by the best chance hes had to crack an opening day roster. "Im an easy-going guy," said Redmond. "Just give me the ball, Ill go out there and pitch. Same thing as I do every day. I pitch." Redmond made 17 appearances for the Blue Jays last season, 14 of them starts. Hed only made one previous appearance in the majors, a start for the Reds in 2012 that didnt go well. Familiarity breeds a sense of comfort. "I have a little more confidence coming into camp. Of my stuff, not of me, just of my stuff. More trusting of my ability," he said. As a starter last season, Redmond slowly earned Gibbons trust, which allowed Redmond to pitch deeper into games. If hes going to succeed at the major league level, however, Redmond will have to vastly improve his numbers facing hitters for a second and third time through the order. Batters have a .627 on-base plus slugging percentage against Redmond the first time through. Redmonds OPS against spikes to .939 when the lineup turns over and .914 the third time around. He insists durability isnt an issue. "My entire career, if you look at my minor league side of it, I dont think Ive ever thrown under 160 innings a year," said Redmond. "The workload. Thats one thing I take pride in is being able to go out there every fifth day and take the ball." Redmonds almost right. In the seven seasons between 2007 and 2012, he logged at least 160 innings five times and never through less than 145 innings. Having worked a modified heavy ball program this offseason, he would typically stretch with the one-pound or two-pound weighted ball prior to throwing, Redmond says his should feels strong as he makes the push for a job in the rotation. "Hes been a good pitcher in the minor leagues," said Gibbons. "Every year hes pretty steady and he never really had that opportunity until he came here last year. If this is his year he makes it and he goes on to have a good year, hell be a big league player and II dont think there will be any looking back. Craig Stammen Padres Jersey. " DRABEK UNHAPPY WITH PERFORMANCE Kyle Drabek was visibly upset with his first spring performance, a line that looked like this: 1.2IP/1ER/1H/3BB/1K. In his only full inning of work, Drabek threw 11 pitches but only four for strikes. A candidate for that final rotation spot, he was most bothered by the lack of command. "Ive had it so good in all the bullpens," said Drabek. "Its just frustrating for me to kind of fall back into being wild a little bit. I know what I can do and thats not me." "Kyles whole thing, get it into the zone and hes fine," said Gibbons. "Hes had a long layoff through the surgery. He pitched some last year but in a lot of ways, hes been out for so long it may be something that he can build back into." The 26-year-old has a history of control problems. Hes averaged 5.8 walks per nine innings over 169 1/3 big league innings. Returning from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery last season, Drabek vastly improved his walk rate, issuing just six bases on balls over 43 innings. BAUTISTA IMPRESSIVE It took Jose Bautista all of three pitches to appear in midseason form. He smacked a 2-0, Roberto Hernandez fastball out of the park, literally. The drive to left field cleared the Phillies bullpen, the walkway behind the bullpen and the fence beyond the walkway. "I dont know, for whatever reason, I feel like Im seeing (the ball) better," said Bautista. "Theres nothing that I could have done different. Im not going to go to play winter ball right now. Its kind of odd because I havent played since August. But Im not complaining." CABRERA LIKELY TO HIT SECOND Its not even March, everyone is healthy, and manager John Gibbons is able to envision putting together a full lineup, something he wasnt able to do all of last season. Jose Reyes will lead off and, as the plan was at this time last year, Melky Cabrera has the inside track to bat behind him. "The only real downfall is he does hit a lot of ground balls but you look at what hes done the last few years, take away last year, and hes been one of the better hitters in baseball," said Gibbons. "We like guys there that can get a lot of hits. Hes a switch-hitter, he can manipulate the bat a little bit, he knows how to do those things. Ideally, if hes the player we expect him to be, than hed be a good guy for that spot." One thing Cabrera doesnt do often is walk, an ideal trait of a two-hole hitter and something that would get him on base more often ahead of sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. After walking 56 times in 2006, his first full year in the big leagues, Cabrera hasnt had more than 43 bases on balls in a season. A HEALTHY PERSPECTIVE Nobody wants to read about or hear about injury as an excuse for the Jays disappointing 2013 year. But a little perspective never hurt anyone, either. Last season, manager John Gibbons had these six players – Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie – in the lineup at the same time on only eight occasions all year. It happened over an 11-day period, starting on July 21 and ending on August 1. ' ' '
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