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[b]Pat Connaughton Jersey[/b] . LOUIS - Slumping All-Star Yasiel Puig was benched by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday for Game 4 of their NL Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.What can I do? I wasnt in the lineup, Puig said through an interpreter. That was a decision they made. Whether it was the managers decision or anyone, they made that decision.Now its my responsibility to be supportive from the dugout.Manager Don Mattingly said he thought Andre Ethier was a better option. Eithier often has been the odd-man out in a crowded outfield.Hes healthy, Mattingly said of Puig. Pretty simple today: We just feel like this gives us the best chance to win today, just the best chance to win today.Mattingly said it was difficult to read whether the 23-year-old Puig was pressing.Its just confidence, the manager said. I cant tell you that hes not confident or that hes overly confident or anything. So thats a question for him.Puig struck out seven consecutive times before he tripled and scored the tying run in the Dodgers 3-1 loss on Monday night, which gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. He is batting .250 in the series, going 3 for 12, with eight strikeouts.He just had a tough game, closer Kenley Jansen said. But Yasiel, hes learned a lot, I feel like. Hes been doing much better in the post-season, even though the numbers dont show, probably.Cardinals pitchers handled him last year in the NL Championship Series, too, holding the rookie to a .227 average with 10 strikeouts in 22 at-bats.Mattingly hedged about whether hed hesitate to use Puig off the bench.Well use whatever the game calls for. Thats what we will do, the manager said. You cant sit here and say This guy is not going to play. Thats not what this is all about.If hes part of the equation of trying to win a game, hell be in the game.The 32-year-old Ethier was listed to play centre field and bat sixth in place of Puig against right-hander Shelby Miller. Ethier was 1 for 2 in the series and 2 for 6 this season against Miller.Puig batted .296 with 16 homers, 69 RBIs and a .382 on-base percentage. He had three homers and 10 RBIs during September.Ethier batted .249 with four homers and 42 RBIs in 331 at-bats, fewest by two among the Dodgers outfield quartet. Ethier had three starts in September, including the last two games after the Dodgers clinched the NL West.One reason why Andres not playing every day is we have an abundance of outfielders, Mattingly said. Nothing bad about Andre. Weve got more than enough everyday outfielders.
[b]Sterling Brown Jersey[/b] . -- Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson couldnt hear himself amid the roar in Koch Arena, so he kept stomping on the floor in a fruitless attempt to get his teams attention.
[b]Nikola Mirotic Jersey[/b] . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said.Winnipeg Jets 2 Carolina Hurricanes 1 (Jets 28-25-5, Road 14-14-1) – With the win the Jets move to three games above the five hundred mark for the first time this year, while getting their road record to an even .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix. The Jets do jump ahead of Nashville, and are now tied with Dallas, one point behind Phoenix. It was the Jets 33rd one-goal game of the season. The first period was scoreless with some careless play by both teams leading to a number of scoring chances, forcing both Ondrej Pavelec and Anton Khudobin to make a number of outstanding saves. The Jets outshot the Hurricanes 11-9. The only goal of the second period came from Andrew Ladd, his 13th of the season. Ladd now 3-7-10 in the last ten games. Ladd buried a rebound of a Micheal Frolik shot, with Bryan Little also picking up an assist, giving him 13 points in the last 14 games. A key part of the game later in the period with Zach Bogosian off for holding, the Jets were nailed with too many men on the ice. So for the eighth time this season the Jets were down two men (51 seconds) and for the eighth straight time they killed it off. Other than a shot off the post, the Hurricanes did not have a shot on goal on the power play. Adam Pardy made a number of key plays including a key blocked shot. Shots in the second were 12-9 Carolina. Riley Nash tied the game early in the third, setting the stage the game winning goal with 1:03 left in regulation. Blake Wheeler started the play with a cross blue line pass to Jacob Trouba in the Carolina end. Trouba took the puck all the way around the Hurricanes goal, tried to get a pass to Mark Scheifele in front, but instead found Chris Thorburn at the edge of the circle who scored his second of the year for the win. Wheeler has 15 points in the last 14 games, Trouba nine points in the last 10 games.
[b]Larry Krystkowiak Jersey[/b]. Final shots were 29-27 in favour of Carolina. Pavelec is now 7-2 in his last nine games, allowing 20 goals against, including six games where he has allowed two or less. Al Montoya has played the other two in the 9-2 Jets run, allowing one goal in each. Bogosian for the fifth straight game led the Jets in ice time at 25:01, Trouba next at 24:13. Little had five shots on goal, four of which were great scoring chances. Face-offs very much favoured the Hurricanes, who finished at 64%. 37 hits for the Jets, Trouba leading the way with five. Trouba was a plus-1 and is now a plus-14 in the last 11 games to lead the team, Scheifele was a plus-1 and is now a plus-12 in the last 11 games and is second on the team. "It wasnt one of our best games, but we found a way," commented Coach Paul Maurice post-game. "The effort was there, our structure was good, our goalie was good. Huge penalty kills. Just wasnt anything easy about the game but we handled it well." There was a lot of line matching with the Hurricanes wanting Manny Malhotra against the Little line and Eric Staal against the Scheifele line. "Scheifele is Winnipegs dirty little secret, hes a pretty good player. I have no problem putting Scheifele out against anyone." Trouba struggled early in the game handling the puck, but Coach Maurice kept putting him out. "He had a couple of shifts that were unusual. But he wants the puck on his stick with a chance to win the game. He took it low with his head up, and he can make those big plays. Hes been on the ice for a lot of big goals." On the penalty kill, "We got bodies and sticks where they needed to be. A big block by Pardy, that shot was a bomb." Jets continue their four-game trip in Washington Thursday as for the second straight game they renew the old South East Division rivalry. (TSN Jets, TSN 1290). The pre-Olympic schedule concludes in St. Louis Saturday afternoon. (TSN Jets, TSN 1290). ' ' '
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