in 2015-16.Goaltender John Gibson also | Forum

WASHINGTON -- If the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to make a run to the postseason, they will need a strong second-half performance from Gerrit Cole. Vapormax Herren Sale .The right-hander is expected to come off the disabled list and start for the Pirates Saturday night against the Washington Nationals.Im excited to be able to play again and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win a ballgame, Cole said on the eve of his return.Im just excited to be back, compete, and just play.Cole has been on the disabled list for more than a month with a strained right triceps. He is 5-4 with a 2.77 ERA this year, but has gone seven innings only twice in 12 starts.The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2011 draft out of UCLA, where he pitched for three years. He lives in Santa Ana, Calif., the hometown of Washington shortstop Danny Espinosa.Cole will make his first big league start since June 10 after he threw eight scoreless innings in two rehab starts with Triple-A Indianapolis, with the most recent coming last Sunday.He is 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA in three career starts against Washington.Ben Revere has hit Cole at an impressive clip throughout his career, going 7-for-12 (.582) with an RBI.Wilson Ramos (2-for-8) and Michael Taylor (1-for-4) are the only Nationals players who have taken Cole deep, and Daniel Murphy is 2-for-9 with two RBI.Murphy is dealing with left hamstring tightness and was a late scratch from the Nationals lineup Friday. Hes listed as day-to-day.Cole will be opposed by Nationals right-hander Tanner Roark. It will be the first career start for Roark against the Pirates, whom he has faced twice out of the bullpen.No active Pirates player has more than one career hit against Roark, but Andrew McCutchen (1-for-2) and Staling Marte (1-for-5) have each slugged two-run home runs off of him.John Jaso (1-for-3) also has a round-tripper against Roark.Roark is 8-5 with a 3.01 ERA this season. Max Scherzer will start Sunday after Stephen Strasburg started the opener on Friday and allowed one run over eight innings in a 5-1 win.Scherzer threw one inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday.What went into the thinking of the Nationals for their weekend rotation?Strasburg was the strongest. Scherzer was the least rested, so we decided to give him some extra days. We had to keep Tanner kind of rested, Washington manager Dusty Baker said.Baker is a former Cincinnati Reds manager who knows the Pirates well.I was in a division with the Pirates for a long time, Baker said. They have a good power and speed combination. This is the makings of a very good series.Pittsburgh and Baltimore will square off four more times this season, with a three-game series coming late in the season on Sept. 23-25.The Nationals emerged with a 4-3 edge in last seasons series with the Pirates, earning a three-game sweep in their first meeting but dropping three of four last July in Pittsburgh. Vapormax Plus Herren Schweiz . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Air Max 200 Outlet . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. http://www.vapormaxkaufenschweiz.com/ . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks are being rewarded for giving youth a chance.Not exactly by choice.Despite being ravaged by injuries to key defensemen Alex Edler (finger) and Chris Tanev (ankle), and winger Jannik Hansen (ribs), the Canucks won two straight games and six of their last 10 (6-3-1) heading into Thursdays contest against the Anaheim Ducks.In other words, times have changed since the Canucks (10-11-2) suffered nine straight losses earlier in the season. But they are still looking to for more consistency.Its been tough -- win one, lose one, win one, second-year defenseman Ben Hutton, who stood out in Vancouvers semi-surge. Hopefully we can continue to roll with it and get on a nice little streak here.With Edler out, Hutton, 23, and rookie rearguard Troy Stecher, 22, stepped to the fore and helped the Canucks generate more offense as indicated in Tuesdays 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Hutton furnished a goal and an assist while Stecher provided two assists. More importantly, the duo figured in two power-play goals with Hutton scoring one and Stecher assisting on another.As a result, the Canucks power play scored twice in two minutes -- after only scoring once in three weeks during first quarter of the season.You gotta like that, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. They are both young guys and what I like about both those guys is they want to do it. They dont look for somebody else to do it. They want the puck and they want to make something happen -- and you want that. Sometimes you will make mistakes with it, but in the end that is what you are going to win with.Youth is also paying dividends up front as winger Sven Baertschi, 24, playing his second full NHL season, and center Bo Horvat, 21, a third-year player, form an effective lline with veteran winger Alex Burrows. Nike Vapormax Damen Billig. Baertschi scored two goals against the Wild and, following a slow start to the season, has three goals and 10 points.I like that line, Desjardins said. That line has been good, and (Horvat) is a real catalyst on that line -- hes a real driver. He comes with speed and he comes hard and every shift he is like that. Its been a good line for us.Horvat, who is repeatedly mentioned as a future captain candidate, leads the Canucks with eight goals and eight assists. His 16 points are two better than perennial team scoring leaders Daniel and Henrik Sedin.A rejuvenated Burrows, 35, who once played regularly with the Sedins but has become a role player in the past two seasons, has four goals and five assists and is well on pace to exceed the 22 points he posted last season.Meanwhile, the Ducks (11-8-4) are also getting offense from some unsung heroes. Rickard Rakell leads Anaheim in goals with nine after netting the winner against Montreal on Tuesday.It seems like Im finding the right spot to put the puck in right now, Rakell, a 23-year-old Sweden native who signed a new six-year contract in October, told The Orange County Register. Im just trying to keep it going. Im not thinking about it too much. Its obviously fun to score goals.The Ducks are also getting some timely goals from the blue line. Defenseman Cam Fowler scored his seventh goal of the season against Montreal and has already exceeded the five he mustered in 2015-16.Goaltender John Gibson also has a chance to build on a strong performance against Montreal if he gets the nod. Gibson matched a career-high 39 saves in the win over the Canadiens. ' ' '