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MIAMI -- Chicago White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon reached 100 mph with his fastball in his most recent start, Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles. Shoes NZ Nike .Now Rodon, a native of Miami who is of Cuban ancestry, is headed straight toward his hometown team like, well, one of his breathtaking fastballs.Rodon (2-8, 4.49 ERA) will take on Miami right-hander Andrew Cashner (4-8, 4.96 ERA) in the series opener at Marlins Park on Friday.The Marlins (60-54) own a better record than the White Sox (54-60), who lost 2-1 to the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday night.Rodon, though, can be an equalizer if he is on his game.He moved to North Carolina in time for high school. Rodon threw a no-hitter as a junior, won a state title as a senior and signed with North Carolina State, turning down an offer from the Milwaukee Brewers, who drafted him in the 16th round.College proved to be a wise choice for Rodon, who became the first Atlantic Coast Conference player to win that leagues Pitcher of the Year award as a freshman, going 9-0 with a 1.57 ERA. He finished third nationally in strikeouts.He followed that in 2013 by leading N.C. State to its first College World Series since 1968, setting the Wolfpacks single-season record as a sophomore with 184 strikeouts.As a junior, he broke the schools record for career strikeouts, and the White Sox were convinced, drafting him third overall in 2014 -- and that is where the tie-in with Miami continues.The Marlins, who picked second in 2014, had a chance to draft the hometown hero, the college-ready pitcher.Instead, the Marlins opted for a high school pitcher, hard-throwing right-hander Tyler Kolek, who has yet to move past low Class A ball and is out for the year due to elbow surgery.Rodon, meanwhile, made his major league debut last year, going an impressive 9-6 with a 3.75 ERA.This season, Rodon went on the disabled list on July 9 due to a sprained left wrist. That injury has put a damper on his year. The 23-year-old returned to action July 31, but he has not won a road game since April 13.Last Saturday, in just his second start back from the DL, Rodon seemed to recapture his standout form, allowing just five hits and one run in six innings while striking out seven.Even in that first inning, he reared back and had some velocity, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said after the game. That was very impressive. His slider was great -- it had a lot of break.This was one of his better games, being able to go deep in a game and keep a lineup like that off balance. He has great stuff.Ventura was asked about Rodons enthusiasm and fire on the mound.He has that fire, although sometimes its directed at the water cooler, Ventura said. You just hope he can direct it toward home plate.If Rodon can do that on Friday, he could be a load for the Marlins, who are suddenly struggling at the plate. Miami, shut down by the San Francisco Giants this week, has not scored in 17 consecutive innings.The Marlins also have scored just two runs in their past 25 innings, and that is a big reason why they dropped two out of three games against the Giants.Miamis offense -- which has been shut out five times since the All-Star break -- should see the return of right fielder Giancarlo Stanton on Friday. He did not start on Wednesday, largely due to a sore hip. He did serve as a pinch hitter, flying out to center.The Marlins could use help from power-hitting first baseman Justin Bour, who has been on the disabled list since July 5. Originally, the diagnosis called for a quick return, likely two weeks, but Bour has had setbacks.At this point, (Bours injury) has gone from his ankle to different areas, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. His Achilles has been bothering him, and he has had trouble moving.Without Bour, the Marlins are using a platoon of Chris Johnson against left-handers and Derek Dietrich against right-handers. Johnson is likely to start Friday.Cashner, acquired from the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline, will be making his fourth appearance for the Marlins, although he has yet to win a game for Miami.He was solid in his first start (six innings, one run), got rocked in his second start (five innings, seven runs) and gave up the winning hit when used in an emergency relief role in the 14th inning on Monday against San Francisco.Now he aims to match Rodon, the prodigal son of Miami, pitch for pitch when they square off Friday night.In other story lines:--Ventura said he is not changing closers despite the fact that David Robertson blew two save chances earlier this week.--White Sox right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, who started on Thursday night against the Royals, departed after just 21 pitches due to a strained groin. As a result, the Chicago bullpen enters the Friday game depleted after picking up eight innings Thursday. Shoes NZ Online . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Wholesale Shoes NZ . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. https://www.shoesnzonline.com/ . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- On the same Saturday that Ohio State and Michigan played perhaps the most heart-stopping of their 113 games, No. 1 Alabama closed out the only undefeated regular season among the Power 5 conferences with all the drama weve come to expect from the Crimson Tide this season. That is to say, none.Alabama is powerful. Alabama is dominant. Alabama is much better than its archrival, a game but beat-up No. 13 Auburn, and the 30-12 final score failed to reflect the one-sided nature of the 81st Iron Bowl.Alabama is not really big on keeping the interest of any audience not dressed in crimson or houndstooth. Anyone with any sense of this rivalry understands how much Tide fans enjoyed seeing Auburn struggle to finish with 182 total yards and seven first downs. But the rest of us are left to contemplate why we didnt cover the game in Columbus.Just kidding. But there is a point to make here. Michigan and Ohio State played a game for the ages, but one in which excitement and emotion papered over the mistakes. Alabama just keeps churning out victories. The latest winning streak is 24 and counting. If the Tide make mistakes, they are temporary, like a rub-on tattoo. A bad punt and two Jalen Hurts interceptions in the first half led to three Auburn field goals, and Alabamas lead at the half was only 13-9.While the scoreboard said the game was close, Auburn had two more field goals in the first half than it had first downs. The Tigers gained 31 yards on 20 offensive plays. Alabama didnt turn the ball over in the second half and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, and that was that, as surely as hum follows ho.Auburn, didnt have its injured starting quarterback, Sean White. Tigers tailback Kamryn Pettway, who missed the past two games because of a hamstring injury, gained 17 yards on 12 carries. The Auburn offense couldnt keep its defense off the field. Alabama, which averages 31 minutes, 9 seconds in time of possession, held the ball for 40:29 and gained 501 yards.In the fourth quarter, the Auburn defense was so spent that it couldnt stop a simple handoff to Bo Scarbrough on third-and-9 at the Alabama 6. The Crimson Tide bled the final nine minutes off the clock on a 15-play drive to nowhere. They took a knee at the Auburn 37 to end the game.No, the definition of excitement in Tuscaloosa is watching the clock tick as it adds to the minutes since the Alabama defense last allowed a touchdown. That s 267:54, or nearly four-and-a-half full games, since early in the third quarter of the Texas A&M game on Oct. 22.In other words, the last time Alabama gave up a touchdown, the Chicago Cubs had gone 1108 years without winning a World Series and Donald Trump had just lost the third presidential debate. Shoes NZ Sale. A lot has happened since then. Just not in the Crimson Tides end zone.So how do we measure this Alabama team? We know that head coach Nick Saban has won four national championships in the past nine seasons in Tuscaloosa. But this is only his third Alabama team to finish the regular season undefeated, and the first since his 2009 team went 14-0.We know that Alabama has won only one game by fewer than 10 points, and this mismatch was the third-closest final score of the Tides 12 victories.We know that what excites Saban might not do a lot for the rest of us.The consistency in performance, Saban said. I think thats the most difficult thing for any team now, especially for college players, to be able to sustain that for the season. Im really, really pleased and proud of our players, that weve been able to do that.We are at the nexus of a problem inherent in the College Football Playoff, albeit one that didnt arise in the first two seasons. Alabama has had a good enough season that it doesnt have to win the SEC championship game against Florida to make the four-team field. When presented with this scenario after the game Saturday, Saban almost winced.I hate it when you say that, Saban said. I hate it when you put that on TV, radio, internet, any type of communication. Look, Im really proud of our team. But really, the legacy of a team still lies ahead.Saban, the master of playing the next play, doesnt venture down the legacy road very often. He noted that the next goal is the SEC championship, which we hold in very high esteem.Sophomore tailback Damien Harris was more blunt.Anyone that says we can afford to lose a game, Harris said. doesnt know what its like to play sports.Junior linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton, perhaps cognizant of the mistakes in the first half Saturday, perhaps merely matter-of-fact as his team heads into the bonus portion of the season, uttered one truth unsealed by the 12 games to date.Alabama, Hamilton said, is our strongest competition.The rest of the season gets tougher. Alabama will play No. 15 Florida, and then, barring something cataclysmic at the Georgia Dome, will play two of the top four teams in the nation, whomever they might be. Alabama has played no one as tough as Ohio State, no one as explosive as Clemson or Washington. But they havent played anyone as tough or as explosive as Alabama, either. That team has yet to reveal itself. ' ' '