e nine more wins required to proclaim this The Year | Forum
Mitglied jcy123
Feb 5 '20
ORCHARD PARK, N. Rashan Gary Super Bowl Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams is questionable for Sundays game against the Pittsburgh Steelers because of a back injury.Bills coach Rex Ryan says Williams back locked up on him Thursday night, placing his availability for the game in doubt.Ryan says, Obviously thats a big concern.Williams has started all 12 games this season, racking up 55 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He missed 10 games last year because of a knee injury.The Bills will be healthy at wide receiver, one of the few times this season. Receivers Sammy Watkins (foot) and Robert Woods (knee) are expected to play. Montravius Adams Super Bowl Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Dave Robinson Super Bowl Jersey . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. http:///...king-packers-jersey/ . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. CLEVELAND -- Sometimes the best insights on the qualities that make a winning team special come from players who parachute in during the middle of it all. In the?Cleveland Indians case, one of the freshest takes is provided by Brandon Guyer, a veteran outfielder with a reputation as a hit-by-pitch magnet and a masher of left-handed pitching.In late July, Guyer was playing for the last-place Tampa Bay Rays in the sterile environs of Tropicana Field. After the Indians acquired him at the Aug. 1 trade deadline, Guyer quickly settled into an environment where newcomers were welcome, togetherness was paramount and each new obstacle was viewed as something to be overcome.Some days are especially fun. On Friday afternoon, Guyer was preparing for Game 2 of the American League Division Series against Boston when he discovered that Cleveland sports teams place a lot of stock in sticking up for one another. In a classic case of intracity sports franchise brotherhood, LeBron James took the field and delivered an impassioned Cleveland against the world speech to the Progressive Field crowd.I didnt know that was happening, Guyer said. When I got done warming up, I was in the dugout and I saw him talking, and I was like, Wow, if that doesnt get you pumped up, I dont know what will. Im sure the whole team got pumped up. That was amazing.Its almost as amazing as the pitching-impaired Indians being one win away from a shot at the American League pennant.After beating the Red Sox 5-4 and 6-0 at home, the Indians headed to Boston to try to finish the job. If they cant put away the Sox on Sunday or Monday at Fenway Park, they can advance to the American League Championship Series with a win behind rested ace?Corey Kluber?in Game 5 on Wednesday in Cleveland.Recent history suggests the Red Sox will be a tough out. In 1999, Cleveland seized a 2-0 ALDS lead over Boston only to lose three straight games by a combined score of 44-18. In 2007, the Tribe suffered an equally dispiriting ending. They were one victory away from a World Series appearance when they dropped three straight to the Red Sox by scores of 7-1, 12-2 and 11-2.The Indians have spent so much time overcoming obstacles this year, they havent had time to bone up on the franchises historical baggage. The first significant setback came in May, when All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley went down for the season with a shoulder injury. That bad news paled in comparison to the devastation in September, when starting pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar both got hurt in the span of a week.The Indians endured. They scored the second-most runs in the American League this season and logged the second-best ERA while ranking 28th in attendance and 23rd in Opening Day payroll. Cleveland was the only team in the majors not to suffer a losing streak of more than three games. (Yes, that includes the 103-win Cubs, who dropped five straight games right before the All-Star break).We dont have big names or the big contracts or any of that stuff, said second baseman Jason Kipnis. We have 25 guys who are baseballl players and love to compete and have bought into this team. Clay Matthews Super Bowl Jersey. Thats kind of the way we need to be. We dont have a David Ortiz or a Miguel Cabrera that you can just put in lineup and expect big things. We need to do the little things.Next man up has become a tired cliché, but the Indians have embodied it in the ALDS. Catcher Roberto Perez, who had to close with a rush to bat .183 during the regular season, is 2-for-5 with a homer and two walks against Boston. Right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall, who made only eight starts against left-handed pitchers all season, provided the big hit with a three-run homer off David Price on Friday. Guyer came off the bench to go 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.Manager Terry Francona is on a roll, too. He used his best two relievers, Cody Allen and Andrew Miller, for a total of 80 pitches and 11 outs in the series opener, leading everyone to wonder whether either pitcher would be available for Game 2. Then Kluber went out and stifled the Red Sox for seven innings, and neither Miller nor Allen even had to warm up. Theyll go into Game 3 with a full two days of rest.First baseman Mike Napoli, who hit a team-leading 34 homers with Cleveland on a one-year, $7 million contract, sees some parallels between this Indians team and Bostons 2013 championship club. The Indians are younger than that Boston team, but the priorities are the same.It starts with checking your ego at the door and coming together as a team and focusing on winning and not yourself, Napoli said. It didnt just happen overnight. It started in spring training -- people coming together and showing that everyone cares for each other and wants to pick each other up and ultimately win. Me personally, I like to bring everyone together and put their eye on one prize. I think weve done a good job of that.Before this series began, some baseball insiders regarded the Indians as a dangerous team regardless of their pitching injuries. The list of believers included Detroit special assistant Jim Leyland, who saw all he needed to when the Indians took 14 of 18 regular-season meetings with the Tigers.Heres a telling piece of trivia: Since Francona took over as manager in 2013, the Indians lead the American League with 352 victories. Thats one more win than the Baltimore Orioles have in that span.This team has a confidence about it, not only to win the division but to make some noise this postseason, Kipnis said. It started when we laid the foundation with some winning seasons. I felt like it was our turn this year.James and the Cavaliers helped change the tone of the sports-related conversation in Cleveland and turn fatalism to cautious optimism, and now the Indians are doing their part to extend the citys momentum. It wont be easy to eliminate Boston, or logging the nine more wins required to proclaim this The Year of Cleveland in baseball. But the Indians sure are playing like a team that plans to stick around. 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