Die Allianz T-D-P » for-8 in at-bats that end with a slider

The Saskatoon Blades entered this season believing they were capable of winning the Memorial Cup on home ice. Despite a first-round exit from the Western Hockey League playoffs, the Blades still have a chance to prove they belong in the 2013 Canadian Hockey League championship. The host Blades will have been idle for 51 days when they open the tournament Friday against the Ontario Hockey Leagues London Knights. Saskatoon experienced an up-and-down season -- including a rocky start, an 18-game winning streak and a television crew filming their every move -- before a stunning sweep at the hands of the Medicine Hat Tigers. Blades head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken says the pressure of hosting major junior hockeys premier tournament hung over his players all season. "It was a different year simply because of the highs and the lows," said Molleken, whose club finished the regular season 44-22-6. "Every time we lost a game it almost seemed like people around us thought it was the end of the world. "The talk at the start of the year, everything was about the Memorial Cup and maybe our focus wasnt where it should have been." As hosts of the tournament, the Blades were followed by a television crew. Molleken says it was an adjustment at first, but adds the presence of the cameras had nothing to do with the teams short run in the playoffs. "In the early going our players just didnt know how to react because there was a camera in the locker-room at all times," he said in a recent phone interview. "But I think when I look back at it and as the season went on, they became a part of our team and they did a tremendous job with it. "I think for the players, it was a real learning experience for them and a positive experience for them." Blades captain Brenden Walker joined Saskatoon prior to the season after three campaigns with the Brandon Wheat Kings. He says having the cameras around was a unique situation. "It was pretty cool for us and a pretty cool experience to be involved in, and a great memory of this year that we can show in the future," Walker said before adding, "with the cameras theyre looking for ups and downs and that kind of stuff ... it was difficult sometimes for sure." The Blades, who automatically earned a bye into the Memorial Cup as the host team, have been swept out of the playoffs in the last three seasons. Despite this years stumble, Molleken still believes his team has what it takes to win the Memorial Cup on home ice. "We felt we built a team here that could win a championship but for whatever reason we didnt compete as hard as we needed to against a team that was playing extremely well in Medicine Hat," he said. "They did a great job against us." Added Walker: "Maybe we thought it was going to be easy or we werent prepared for it but now weve got to put that behind us and really not worry about that and instead worry about our readiness for the Memorial Cup." The Blades are led offensively by Josh Nichols (47 goals, 38 assists) and Matej Stransky (40 goals, 45 assists). Walker was next on the scoring list with 33 goals and 43 assists, while Russian world junior goalie Andrey Makarov will be counted on at the other end after posting a 2.62 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Following a two-week break after their March 27 elimination, Molleken put the Blades through more than a month of hard training. He says theyre in the best shape theyve been all the season. Walker says the players can see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Its been a long journey here for the last little bit but were just chipping at it and its going to be a great thing when the puck drops," Walker said. "(Losing in the first round) was a tough way to go but thats behind us and were just moving forward and weve got a bigger goal ahead of us. Weve just to make sure were ready to go." The Blades are drawing inspiration from last seasons hosts, the Shawinigan Cataracts. The club crashed out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs but managed to win the Memorial Cup after a long layoff. Saskatoon will be looking to capture its first CHL title, but the club also knows that there will be detractors. "We are healthy and were anxious to get the puck dropped on the 17th and we know were going to be playing against three league champions that have proven theyre worthy of that," said Molleken, whose team rolls four lines and six defencemen. "Were going to have to take our game to a new level and our players have worked extremely hard at that." The Blades know all they can do is control what happens on the ice going forward. "You never want to think that you get a free bye into the Memorial Cup and instead just come right through the front door," Walker said. "Now this is our last kick at the cat." The Portland Winterhawks and the Halifax Mooseheads round out the field for the MasterCard Memorial Cup, which runs through May 26. Nike Zoom Fly Rea . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Nike Air Vapormax Plus Rea . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. http://www.airvapormaxsverige.com/air-max-plus-tn-rea/dam.html . PETERSBURG, Fla. Nike Air Vapormax Sverige . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Vapormax Flyknit Sverige . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. The Texas Rangers head to Toronto down 2-0 in their ALDS series and are fighting for their playoff lives. Will Colby Lewis help stave off elimination, or will Aaron Sanchez and the Blue Jays advance to their second consecutive ALCS by defeating the Rangers?Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Game 3, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen?Colby Lewis is on the mound:?The veteran right-hander draws the start even though he missed July and August with a lat strain and didnt pitch well upon his return (17 runs, including six home runs in 18 1/3 innings). Jeff Banister is obviously hoping that Lewis can deliver in the playoffs like he has in the past -- he has a 2.38 postseason ERA over 53 innings.Lewis survives on guile and guts as much as anything, with a fastball that averages just 87 mph. Hell add some sink to it once in a while but has to locate the corners to have success. His low 80s slider is his primary secondary offering -- although righties actually hit it better than lefties -- and he mixes in an occasional changeup and curveball. As you might expect from a finesse guy, he can be prone to the home run; he allowed 19 in 116 1/3 innings. He shut down the running game this season (base stealers were just 2-for-7 off him), not that the Blue Jays run that much. --?David SchoenfieldWhen?Aaron Sanchez is on the mound: In his first full season as a starter, Sanchez was the most improved pitcher in the league, going 15-2 in 30 starts with an AL-leading 3.00 ERA. He had pitched well out of the bullpen in 2015 but struggled with walks and a poor strikeout rate as a starter. To the Jays credit, they stuck with him as a starter, and everything came together.Theres nothing fancy here: He comes right at batters with a hard, sinking 93-97 mph fastball which he threw 74 percent of the time -- only Bartolo Colon had a higher percentage of fastballs among starters -- and he ranked seventh among starters in average fastball velocity at 94.7. Even though Sanchez throws the fastball up in the zone, batters have trouble elevating it and hit just 10 home runs in 528 at-bats in plate appearances ending with the pitch.As you may guess, since he throws the fastball so often, his two off-speed pitches -- a curveball and, less often, a changeup -- were lethal. Batters hit .159 with a 45 percent strikeout against the curve and .133 against the changeup. With two strikes he increases his usage of both off-speed pitches. Sanchez ffaced the Rangers twice back in May and allowed six runs in 6 2/3 innings in the second start.dddddddddddd In that game he had his lowest percentage of fastballs of any start, so lets see if he goes back to throwing a lot of heaters. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightCarlos Beltran: The Rangers DH has been one of the greatest postseason performers of all time with a .656 career slugging percentage, but he has gone a harmless 2-for-8 so far. -- SchoenfieldWhat will decide the gameHow do you get Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (5-for-9 in the first two games) out?Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis knows. Tulowitzki is 2-for-13 with a sacrifice fly in his career against Lewis, including 1-for-8 in at-bats that end with a slider. Keeping Tulowitzki from doing damage is important. The Blue Jays are 38-8 when Tulowitzki drives in at least one run this season (for comparative purposes, they were 51-22 when Edwin Encarnacion drove in a run and 28-18 when Jose Bautista drove in a run).-- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win??Texas starter Colby Lewis, who pitches more with guile than stuff, allowed 19 homers in 19 starts this season. The Toronto Blue Jays finished third in the American League with 221 homers, and theyve hit five in the first two games of the ALDS. That does not bode well for the Rangers who must beat AL ERA leader Aaron Sanchez, who went 15-2. The task feels monumental. -- Jean-Jacques Taylor?The Blue Jays are playing at home, have homered eight times in their three postseason games and are starting Aaron Sanchez, who was 15-2 with the best ERA in the league (3.00). The Rangers counter with Colby Lewis who allowed 17 runs in 18 1/3 innings after returning from shoulder injury. So yeah, I think Canadian fans will have something to celebrate on their Thanksgiving Day on Monday. -- Jim CapleWhere the series standsLewis wasnt likely to go deep into this game even if the series was tied, so now its even more likely that Banister turns this game even sooner to his bullpen. Martin Perez could be a multi-inning option, but the Rangers may need Sam Dyson, Matt Bush and Jeremy Jeffress to soak four to five innings between them. The Jays would have Marcus Stroman rested for a possible Game 4, and while the Rangers havent announced a probable starter, you wonder if theyll go back to Cole Hamels on short rest. --?Schoenfield ' ' '