|  Wys³any: 2019-03-26 02:11:12 Temat postu: historic home opener at the majors second
CHICAGO -- Ryne Sandberg loves the way Chase Utley plays the game. The Phillies manager says the second baseman reminds him of the way he used to play during Hall of Fame career. So of course Utley delivered on a blustery day at Wrigley Field. Utley hit a two-run homer and an RBI single, helping Philadelphia beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2 on Friday in a historic home opener at the majors second oldest ballpark. "It was cold out there and the wind was blowing. It made it even colder," Utley said. "But I thought overall we swung the bats pretty well." John Mayberry Jr. also had a two-run drive for his fourth career pinch-hit homer as Philadelphia bounced back after dropping the last two games of its opening series in Texas. Ben Revere and Domonic Brown had three hits apiece, and Brown also drove in two runs. The Phillies also got a strong outing from Roberto Hernandez, who pitched into the sixth inning in his first game after signing a $4.5 million, one-year contract with Philadelphia in the off-season. "He did his job today. He looked good," Sandberg said. "Really liked his two-seam fastball, action on it was going down pretty good." Welington Castillo hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who have dropped four consecutive home openers for the first time since 1991-94. Travis Wood (0-1) struck out eight in 6 1-3 innings, but was charged with four runs, three earned, and six hits. "Id like to have a couple pitches back," Wood said. "The one to Utley, the one there at the end to Revere that ended up chasing me from the ballgame." Wrigley Field was all dressed up for the first game of its 100th anniversary season. There were big blue banners on each side of the red sign that welcomes visitors to the beloved ballpark, and fans headed to the outfield bleachers strolled past historical pictures from the Cubs longtime home. The crowd of 38,283, wearing jackets and winter hats for the chilly afternoon, roared when Sandberg joined fellow Cubs Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams on the mound for a ceremonial first pitch. Banks, Jenkins and Williams drew more cheers when they sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. "Its a special day for me to be here, just for the festivities and the memories of opening days here," said Sandberg, who spent 15 seasons in Chicago. "The fan base and the excitement opening day brought every year with the optimism that this is going to be the year. I thought that every single year." The Cubs are still waiting for that year. They last won the World Series in 1908, and many of their fans are more interested in the prospects in Chicagos touted farm system than the players on the major league roster. Hours before the home opener, one fan held up a sign near the Cubs dugout that read: "Theres Always Next Year." Chicago got off to a nice start when Castillo went deep in the second inning and Starlin Castro singled home a run in the third, but that was it for the Cubs offence. Utleys first homer of the season, a drive to right-centre in the fifth, gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead. He also singled in Ben Revere in the seventh. It was more than enough for Hernandez (1-0), who allowed two runs and three hits while throwing only 73 pitches in 5 1-3 innings. Sandberg said Hernandez hadnt pitched to hitters for nine days because of a weather-related backup, and he pulled the right-hander when his velocity dipped in the sixth. "We had some balls that just missed," rookie Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "They ended up hitting some balls that carried a little bit more. But I think all in all, we did not go in there and have a very good plan of attack in general so it kind of cost us." NOTES: The game-time temperature was 38 degrees with a wind chill that made it feel like 28. ... Phillies LHP Cliff Lee (1-0, 14.40 ERA) faces Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-0, 0.00 ERA) on Saturday ... Renteria said the team is still deciding whether RHP Carlos Villanueva will start the series finale against the Phillies. Villanueva got the loss in Chicagos first two games of the season. Cheap Andy Pettitte Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson has a sixth NASCAR championship in hand and two legends within reach. Wholesale Astros Jerseys . Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders earned a 2-1 win over Ottawa Wednesday, leaving the Senators five points out of a playoff spot with just five games to play and four teams ahead of them. http://www.cheapastrosjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-nolan-ryan-jersey.Brooks, a three-year veteran, was slow to get up after suffering the injury during a 5-yard run by Arian Foster.Brooks limped off the field midway through the quarter and then slowly walked to the locker room a few minutes later. Cheap Jimmy Wynn Jersey .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen, NFL Editor Ben Fisher, and Isaac Owusu discuss three hot fantasy football topics. Cheap Astros Jerseys Authentic . Brooks replaces right-hander Yordano Ventura, who left his last outing with a sore elbow. Ventura is expected to miss one start. Brooks has made one relief appearance for the Royals this season, allowing six runs in two innings in a May 3 loss to Detroit.The Toronto Raptors will pay a visit to the New York Knicks Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The Raptors are 6-3 on the road and have won four of their last six games, including Fridays 106-94 triumph at home versus the Indiana Pacers. Lou Williams scored 26 points off the bench and the Toronto reserves tallied a season-high 64 points. Watch all the action LIVE on TSN2 beginning at 7pm et/4 pm pt. Toronto is 5-0 when Williams has 20-plus points. James Johnson and Greivis Vasquez scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench and Patrick Patterson added 11 in a reserve role. Jonas Valanciunas led the starters with 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Kyle Lowry posted nine points for the Raptors. I thought our defensive effort was there tonight. We played great defense, said Vasquez. The Raptors outrebounded Indiana 52-39 and are 4-3 without star guard DeMar DeRozan (groin). They sit second in the NBA with 108.4 points per game and have a 10-1 mark against teams with a record below .500. Lowry is averaging 21.0 points and 10.0 assists in December. The Knicks ended a 10-game slide with Fridays 101-95 win at Boston in the conclusion of a three-game road trip (1-2). Rumors of in-house fighting between players and problems with first-year head coach Derek Fisher filled the headlines during New Yorks skid, but the team was able to stick together. Carmelo Anthony allegedly had issues with reserve guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and scored 22 points. Amare Stoudemire had 20 points and Hardaway ended with 16 for the Knicks, who shot 49.dddddddddddd percent and won for the first time since Nov. 22 versus Philly. We had the will to win tonight. A total team win, said Anthony, who missed Wednesdays loss against San Antonio with a lingering knee issue. New York is back home for two straight versus Toronto and Dallas, and has a 3-9 record at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have lost four in a row at home. In injury news for the Knicks, guard J.R. Smith (foot) is questionable Sunday and guard Iman Shumpert (shoulder dislocation) is out. Shumpert suffered the injury against the Celtics and Smith will be listed as day-to-day if he does not play Sunday. For us to lose another guy on our team, its another blow to us, Anthony told the New York Post. Guys stepped up big time in place of Shump and were going to need that regardless if J.R. is playing, Shump is playing or Im playing. We are going to need guys to step up. The Knicks are scoring just 94.0 ppg this season and will need to boost that number in order to stay competitive with high-scoring Toronto. The Knicks and Raptors will play the first of four meetings this evening, and the Atlantic foes split four games last season. DeRozan will be missed Sunday and he posted an average of 20.0 points, 4.5 boards and 3.0 assists in four games against the Knicks in 2013-14. Anthony played in only one game and posted 30 points and eight rebounds. ' ' ' |
historic home opener at the majors second
