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ANAHEIM, Calif. Cheap Basketball Shoes Wholesale . -- After blowing a three-run lead in the ninth inning on one ill-fated pitch to Raul Ibanez, Jose Valverde needed a lift, and so did his New York Mets teammates. They got one four innings later from Anthony Recker. The backup catcher, the eighth batter in the lineup, led off the 13th with a home run off rookie Matt Shoemaker and also had a two-run single earlier, leading the Mets to a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night. "Obviously, its great to be able to pick him up," Recker said of Valverde. "We want him to have confidence every time he goes out there -- because, lets face it, hes a pretty darn good pitcher. So we dont want to lose that." The Mets evened up their interleague series at a game apiece, but it wasnt easy. Valverde came on in the ninth to protect a 6-3 lead for Jonathon Niese, but the 41-year-old Ibanez drove Valverdes 1-0 pitch deep into the right-field seats after David Freese singled with two outs and Erick Aybar walked. The homer was Ibanezs 302nd in the majors -- and his 2,000th hit. Valverde, who converted all 49 save chances in 2011 for the Tigers, was the 239th pitcher Ibanez has homered against in 19 big league seasons. "Jose wasnt able to come through tonight, but I know he will next time," Recker said. "Hes been there before. Hes been through the good and the bad. Hes a veteran, and hell be OK. We just look forward to moving on from here and getting some more wins." Omar Quintanilla, the Mets No. 9 hitter, provided some temporary insurance in the ninth with a two-run single off Kevin Jepsen. But Valverde, who spent the previous four years in Detroit and lost his closer role last season, ended up with his first blown save in three chances since signing with the Mets as a free agent in February. "We didnt know what was going to happen," manager Terry Collins said. "He didnt pitch a lot last year, so we were hoping that the added rest was going to help him get some arm strength back. And hes throwing the ball very well. Tonights really the worst outing hes had. But the at-bat by Aybar is the one that dismantled him. I was told that when he walks people, he gets in trouble." Shoemaker (0-1), the eighth Angels pitcher, escaped his own bases-loaded jam in the 12th by striking out Juan Lagares. But Recker drove the right-handers second pitch of the 13th into the left-field bullpen for his first homer this season. "The 12th inning was a momentum boost. It got us going and it got me going. That was exciting," Shoemaker said. "I tried to stay in there as long as could to give the team a chance to win. But the next inning, I was supposed to be locating the fastball low and away and definitely missed my spot. It was much higher than it was supposed to be, and he didnt miss it." John Lannan (1-0) pitched two perfect innings for the victory. Niese allowed three runs and six hits in 7 1-3 innings with five strikeouts and a walk. Jered Weaver was charged with four runs, three hits and four walks in 6 2-3 innings and struck out five. Lucas Dudas two-out solo homer in the second was the Mets only hit against him until the seventh, when Duda singled Curtis Granderson -- who walked -- to third with two outs. Lagares followed with an RBI single on Weavers 99th and final pitch. "He struggled a little bit with location early, but he was able to get by and still made a lot of pitches to get out of trouble," catcher Chris Iannetta said. "In the middle of the game, I thought he pitched great. That last inning he made one tough pitch and that was it. Other than that, it was a really good ballgame for him. "I think its more of a mechanical issue that hes fighting right now. He just needs to make a couple of adjustments here and there, but its minor. Hell be fine. Im not necessarily worried about that." Recker greeted Fernando Salas with a sinking liner to centre field that bounced off Mike Trouts glove as he attempted to make a diving catch. The hit gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. Iannetta homered for the Angels in the fifth, thwarted an attempted double steal and tagged out a runner at the plate to complete a double play started by left fielder Collin Cowgill -- who also homered against Niese, in the sixth. NOTES: Pujols had 21 homers, 63 RBIs and a .311 average in 71 career games against the Mets during his 11 seasons with St. Louis. ... Weaver is 27-15 with a 3.38 ERA in 51 starts since his no-hitter against Minnesota on May 2, 2012. ... The Angels obtained Cowgill from the Mets last June in a trade that sent OF Kyle Johnson to Flushing. ... Dudas homer was his first in 27 career at-bats as a designated hitter to that point. ... Freese was 0 for 3 against Niese and is hitless in 12 career at-bats against the left-hander, who struck him out with a runner at third to end the fourth. Wholesalle Basketball Shoes China . -- Marty Havlat scored three goals for the first time in nearly nine years, and the San Jose Sharks prevented Colorado from clinching the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the Avalanche on Friday night. Discount Basketball Shoes . Mladenovics quick hands at the net made the difference while Bencics inexperience in doubles showed. "We took a lot of pleasure," Mladenovic told Sport Plus television. "Its extremely difficult to play in such conditions, but our doubles team showed a lot of quality.The surprising Columbus Blue Jackets will try to grab their first lead of the Eastern Conference first round series when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for tonights Game 5 at CONSOL Energy Center. The Blue Jackets entered this series against the Metropolitan Division champions as heavy underdogs, but they sit tied with the Penguins at two wins apiece. Columbus has arrived at this point with a pair of overtime victories, including a 4-3 triumph in Wednesdays Game 4 clash at Nationwide Arena that gave the franchise its first home playoff win. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, hopes to rebound after coughing up an early 3-0 lead in Wednesdays game. Holding leads has been an issue for both clubs in this postseason encounter. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this series is the first in league history in which four consecutive games have been won by a team which has trailed by at least two goals. Marc-Andre Fleury made 42 saves in Game 4, but the Penguins goaltender is aiming for a bounce-back performance on Saturday. The veteran backstop made a stickhandling blunder to allow Columbus to tie the game in the final minute of regulation before yielding a weak goal to Nick Foligno in overtime. "He was our best player in the (Game 4) last night. Unfortunately a mistake, the bouncing puck behind the net, cost us in the last 30 seconds of the game," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said of Fleury. "He was our best player in the game. He has to rebound now from that, as does our team." Although he helped Pittsburgh win a Stanley Cup title in 2009, Fleurys postseason struggles for the Pens over the last few seasons have been well- documented. Last spring, he was benched in the middle of Pittsburghs first- round series win over the New York Islanders and replaced by Tomas Vokoun as the starter for the rest of the playoffs. Vokoun is still with the Pittsburgh organization, but hasnt played an NHL game since last spring due to ongoing issues with a blood clot. Fleurys current backup Jeff Zatkoff has never played in the postseason. Fleury isnt Pittsburghs only problem in this series, as the club is still waiting for superstar forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to record their first goals of the 2014 playoffs. Both players have four assists through four games. "(Crosby and Malkin) are our best players," Bylsma said. "We need more from our whole team. We need more from them." Foligno, who sat out the first two games of this series due to injury, tallied the game-winner 2:49 into OT on Wednesday. He carried the pucck up the left wing through the neutral zone in a 1-on-1 with Pens defenseman Matt Niskanen, then released a long-distance shot from above the left circle. Cheap Basketball Shoes Online. The puck fluttered toward Fleury and dipped below his glove hand before hitting the net and ending the game. "I didnt think it would actually work, but it ended up working, so Im thanking my lucky stars tonight," Foligno said. Fleury also was responsible for a miscue leading to the Blue Jackets tying goal with less than 24 seconds remaining in regulation. He headed behind his net to play a Jack Johnson dump-in, but the puck hopped over his stick and found Ryan Johansen, who dished into the slot for a successful shot by Brandon Dubinsky. In a performance that was the polar opposite of Fleury, Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky started the game slowly and finished strong. Last seasons Vezina Trophy winner clocked in with 22 stops after giving up the games first three scores in a span of just over five minutes in the first period. Johansen and Boone Jenner notched the other goals for the Blue Jackets, who had gone 0-3 in Ohios capital in the postseason before Wednesdays triumph. Craig Adams, Chris Kunitz and James Neal tallied for the Penguins, who will try to bounce back with a better effort tonight on home ice to regain a lead in this best-of-seven battle. "The work, compete and battle level has been the most troubling thing from our team," Bylsma said. "Thats been the thing throughout this series thats been the most troubling. Thats got to be raised up to a level that is necessary at this time of year, this type of hockey, playoff hockey. We have ourselves in a series now. Its 2-2, best-of-three. We have to have that in our game and in our team if we are going to win this series." Prior to Game 4, the Blue Jackets scratched defenseman Ryan Murray with a right foot injury suffered when he took a shot to the skate in practice. Murray is questionable for Game 5, as is fellow defenseman Fedor Tyutin, who could be back in the lineup Saturday after missing the past two outings with an upper-body issue. Pittsburgh was 28-9-4 in the Steel City during the regular season, while the Blue Jackets were 21-17-3 as the visiting team. Columbus road win in Game 2, a 4-3 double-overtime victory, marked just the third time the Jackets won in Pittsburgh over 11 all-time meetings. Game 6 of this series is scheduled for Monday in Columbus. If needed, a decisive seventh game is set for Wednesday at CONSOL Energy Center. Cheap Hoodies From China Discount NFL Shirts Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Fast Shipping China Jerseys Stitched Jerseys ' ' '
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Activity: Nov 21 '19
Activity: Nov 21 '19