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PostPosted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:19 am 
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NEW YORK -- The old guard took care of this one for the Phillies -- with both their bats and their brains. Ryan Howard had four hits, including a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning, and Jimmy Rollins homered and scored four times to lead Philadelphia past the slumping New York Mets 5-4 on Saturday night. Chase Utley drove in two runs for the Phillies, who have won the first two games of the series against their NL East foes after dropping four straight to Toronto. Rollins, Utley and Howard, the All-Star core of Phillies teams that won five straight division titles and a World Series championship from 2007-11, combined to go 9 for 12 with four RBIs. "Yeah, it felt good. It felt like old times out there," Howard said. "If we can get everybody going all at the same time, itll be a force to be reckoned with." David Wright hit his first home run since opening day, ending the longest drought of his career, and had three RBIs. But the Mets wasted another great chance to score in the late innings, losing their season-worst fifth straight and eighth in nine games. Following some confusion in the eighth, Philadelphia reliever Mike Adams (2-1) escaped a major jam by retiring pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu on a bases-loaded comebacker to keep it tied. "Obviously, I had to make him swing the bat," Adams said. "I threw a two-seamer that ran down and made him hit my pitch." With runners on second and third earlier in the inning, the Phillies held a meeting at the mound and threw an intentional ball to Eric Campbell in his second major league plate appearance. Thats when Utley and catcher Carlos Ruiz noticed the 40-year-old Abreu, cut by Philadelphia near the end of spring training, getting ready in the dugout. Utley and Ruiz persuaded Adams to go after Campbell before Abreu had a chance to bat. "We decided to change our minds," Utley said. "We saw him coming up there. We try to see everything, but we dont always." Adams said the chat pumped him up, and Utley is "always on top of it." The intentional walk was called off and Campbell eventually took strike three. "That was pretty neat to watch," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. Rollins drew a two-out walk from Kyle Farnsworth (0-3) in the ninth and went to third on Utleys single. Howard followed with a line-drive single to centre. Jonathan Papelbon worked a hitless ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances. With a runner on second, he retired Wright on a foul popup to end it. A frustrated Wright held his bat above his head most of the way back to the dugout, then lingered on an otherwise empty bench for a few minutes with the lumber still in his hand. "The frustrating part is losing," Wright said. "An inning here, an inning there is costing us multiple games over the last few weeks." After the start was delayed 39 minutes by rain, the Phillies wasted no time jumping on Dillon Gee, who had a 7.46 ERA in nine previous starts against them. Philadelphia began the game with consecutive singles and a stolen base before Utleys sacrifice fly ended Gees career-best scoreless streak at 16 innings. Domonic Brown blooped an RBI single, but Gee dodged additional damage when Cody Asche lined out with the bases loaded. Wright tied it with a two-run shot on an 0-2 pitch from Kyle Kendrick, snapping a streak of 136 at-bats without a homer since March 31 against Washington. "I dont build my game around hitting home runs, so it wasnt too much of a monkey at all," Wright said. Rollins homered off the facing of the second deck in right to put Philadelphia ahead 3-2 in the second. Kendrick retired 14 of 15 batters after Wrights long ball and took a two-hitter into the sixth, when he walked leadoff man Juan Lagares. Daniel Murphy singled and Wright plopped an RBI double into right field, just beyond a diving Marlon Byrd. Campbell, with his parents taking pictures in the stands, was sent up to pinch-hit for his big league debut. He gave the Mets a 4-3 lead with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly against lefty reliever Jake Diekman -- and was all smiles while receiving a high-five from Murphy and congratulations in the dugout. "It was a real up and down day," Campbell said. Rollins legged out an infield single in the seventh and advanced on Scott Rices wild pitch. Utley doubled off the centre-field fence to tie it at 4. NOTES: Kendrick, hurt by poor run support, is 0-8 in 14 starts since beating the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 6 last season. ... Howard is 9 for 18 against Gee with six homers and 14 RBIs. Rollins is 11 for 22. ... Ben Revere made a terrific, tumbling catch in deep centre to rob Travis dArnaud of extra bases. ... LHP Cole Hamels (0-2, 7.02 ERA) will try again for his 100th career win when he makes his fourth start of the season Sunday in the series finale against LHP Jonathon Niese (2-2, 1.82). Hamels was hit hard in a 6-1 loss to Niese at home on April 29 and is 7-14 with a 4.65 ERA in 27 starts against New York. Wholesale Jerseys Cheap . - Steve Stricker usually doesnt show up at a tournament on Sunday. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. http://www.cheapjerseysmorewholesae.com/. The win gives Canada its fifth title at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge. "Weve got to keep pushing," said Westlake, who led Canada with five goals in the tournament. "The second you let off the pedal, everyone catches up. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .Patterson marked his anniversary by proving his worth — once again.Lou Williams poured in 26 points, and Patterson drained two huge three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors topped the Denver Nuggets 112-107 in overtime Monday. NFL China Jerseys Stitched . Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up.PINEHURST, N.C. -- Even in the best of times, Phil Mickelson has ample reason to expect the worst at the U.S. Open. More than two decades of play in the major known as the toughest test in golf has produced everything from agony to aggravation, mostly torment, never triumph. And all Mickelson has to show from the U.S. Open are silver medals -- a record six of them -- for finishing second. "He could have won six, and he hasnt won one," Ernie Els said. "I believe hes going to win one. Hes still young enough. His game is still good enough." The U.S. Open took on even greater importance to the 43-year-old Mickelson last summer when he won the British Open at Muirfield, leaving him one major away -- the U.S. Open, of course -- from joining five other greats who have the career Grand Slam. For all his heartache in golfs toughest test, his optimism hasnt wavered. Never mind that he has been linked to an insider trading investigation involving activist investor Carl Icahn and Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters, in which FBI agents paid him a visit after his first round at the Memorial. Or that Mickelson hasnt won this year, his worst start to a season since 2003. Mickelson not only believes hes going to win the U.S. Open, he thinks hes going to win more than one. "Some people view it as though, Hes come close and hes never done it. I see it as though Ive finished second six times in this event," Mickelson said. "I played some of my best golf in this event, and I should have an opportunity -- and more than one opportunity -- to close one out here in the future." The U.S. Open returning to Pinehurst No. 2 only adds to the intrigue. Thats where Mickelson picked up his first silver medal in 1999. He had a one-shot lead with three holes to play and had a 6-foot par putt on the 16th hole, while Payne Stewart was 25 feet away from par. Stewart made his putt, Mickelson missed and they were tied. Stewart took the lead with a short birdie on the 17th, then famously won the U.S. Open with a 15-foot par putt on the final hole. No worries. Mickelson surely would get another chance, and he did. He just doesnt have the trophy. Five years later, he was tied for the lead on the 17th hole at Shinnecock Hills when he hit into a bunker, blasted out to 5 feet and three-putted for double bogey. "It was like being in a morgue walking up the 18th," said Fred Funk, who was paired with him that day. The most crushing blow was at Winged Foot in 2006. Mickelson had a one-shot lead on the 18th hole. His tee shot clangged off a corporate tent.ddddddddddddThe bigger mistake was going for the green with a 3-iron and hitting a tree. His third shot plugged in the bunker. His fourth shot raced across the green. He made double bogey and lost my one. There was Mickelson, crouched on the green, hands cupped over his head. "I am such an idiot," he said. "Phil handled the whole thing like a true gentleman," said Kenneth Ferrie, who played with him in the final pairing. "He had nice words to say to me coming off 18 and was amazingly courteous and polite to the volunteers and officials considering what had just happened." And yet he keeps coming back for more. Sam Snead, who holds the PGA Tour record with 82 career wins, never won a U.S. Open. Lee Trevino never won the Masters. Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson never won the PGA Championship. Even so, none of those greats ever had as many chances to win the missing major as Mickelson. Hunter Mahan paid him the ultimate respect at Bethpage Black in 2009. Mickelson was tied for the lead with four holes to play until missing short par putts on the 15th and 17th holes. Another U.S. Open bid over, Mickelson was walking up to the 18th green when Mahan -- who had just as good of a chance to win that day -- began applauding, and thousands joined him. Mahan has played with Mickelson twice on Sunday when Lefty was the runner-up. The other occasion was last year at Merion. Mickelson twice made bogey with a wedge in his hand on the back nine. His last hope was to chip in from 40 yards to force a playoff with Justin Rose. He missed. "I looked at him and said, Good try, Phil. You can only do what you can do," Mahan said. "At some point, youve got to get a bounce or two and make a putt. I think he wants to win that tournament more than anything." The thought of Mickelson at Pinehurst stirs emotions. Stewart died in a freak plane crash four months after he won that U.S. Open. Mickelson carried a pager in his golf bag that week and pledged to withdraw if his wife went into labour. His first child, Amanda, was born the next day. Fifteen years later, the pressure is only greater. "Maybe it is his strength of mind, or his short game, that has enabled him to put himself in contention as so many times," Ferrie said. "As each year has gone on and he has won other majors, the focus has become more and more about the U.S. Open. As a player, when you want something so much, its even more difficult to achieve. Yet he keeps giving himself a chance." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '


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