DETROIT -- Jordan Zimmermann doesnt have much time left to recapture his early season magic. If he can, the Detroit Tigers rotation should be strong enough to finish off their playoff push.Zimmermann, signed away from the Washington Nationals as a free agent, went 5-0 with an 0.55 ERA in April and was named the American Leagues Pitcher of the Month. A minor groin injury forced him to miss a late May start and he was generally ineffective in June before he was sidelined with a neck strain.He returned for one August start, suffered a setback in that 1 2/3-inning outing, and went back on the 15-day disabled list. Following another lengthy rehab stint, Zimmermann returns. Hell start the second contest of a pivotal three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.The Tigers tied the Orioles for the second wild-card spot with a 4-3 victory Friday.Its probably the worst feeling, knowing youve wasted two or three months and werent able to pitch and help this team, the veteran right-hander said Friday. This first couple of months were really good and probably better than I expected. The last two or three have been horrible, so hopefully I can turn it around for the last half a month and finish strong.Zimmermann (9-5), who expects to throw approximately 90 pitches if the start goes well, is getting thrust right into the heat of the pennant chase.I feel like Ive been around long enough that I can be thrown into a situation like this and be able to handle it, he said. Some other guys, they might not trust. I feel like Ive done enough in my career that they should be able to trust me and put me into this spot.Zimmermanns fastball reached only the low 90s in last rehab start, which didnt surprise him.Im not sure if my velocity will be back this year, said Zimmermann, who is 2/3 with a 4.54 ERA in six career starts against Baltimore. Ive had so many ups and downs, and its down just a tick right now. Hopefully, the more I get out there, the more its going to come back. But I feel strong, I feel like I can locate pretty good, so well see.Zimmermann will be opposed by Ubaldo Jiminez (6-11), who is coming off his best outing of the season. He tossed his first complete game since 2011 against Tampa Bay, holding the Rays to three runs on two hits in the 7-3 victory.It was fun to watch, said Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman, who is expected to come off the DL and start Sundays finale. He was pretty dialed in from the get go. He was able to command all his pitches. His stuff is good enough, he just has trouble commanding it sometimes. But from the get go, he established his fastball on both sides and everything played off of that.Jiminez is 5-11 with a 5.68 ERA in 20 starts against Detroit.The Orioles are in the thick of the race despite having the 11th-best ERA in the American League while issuing the most walks in the league.We kind of enjoy having people scratch their head about us, manager Buck Showalter said. We get it. In the clubhouse, everybody gets it. A lot of people that are just crunching the numbers dont get it. And Im OK with that.
Steve Nash Mavericks Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite.
Dwight Powell Jersey . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask.
http://www.mavericksteamofficial.info/jose-juan-barea-mavericks-jersey/ . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter.
Dwight Powell Mavericks Jersey . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents.
Steve Nash Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . TORONTO -- Sidney Crosby and the Canadians look as if they cant be stopped.Canada has won 14 straight games in best-on-best hockey tournaments since losing to the U.S. in the preliminary round of the Vancouver Games in 2010.Like the Americans in Olympic basketball, the Canadians simply seem as if theyre on another level against the rest of the world.Team Europe, though, hopes to spoil Canadas plans to celebrate a World Cup of Hockey title on home ice.The eight-nation European team and the one country that everyone else is trying to catch will face off Tuesday night in Game 1 of a best-of-three series.Europe advanced to the finals by beating Sweden 3-2 in overtime Sunday.It opened the event created by the NHL and NHL Players Association by stunning the U.S. and beating the Czech Republic before losing to Canada 4-1 in the preliminary round.Theyre a great story, and shame on us if we dont take them serious for what theyve done to this point, Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said.The surprise team of the tournament is made up of NHL players, many of them stars, who wouldnt have much of a shot to beat the best hockey teams in the world if they were playing for their individual countries: Slovakia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, Austria, France, Norway and Denmark.Id like to begin by thanking the NHL and the NHLPA for creating Team Europe and for giving us this opportunity, said Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger, whose day job is being the chairman of an England-based soccer team in the Premier League. The second organization I need to thank is Southampton Football Club.The Canadians earned a spot in the finals by beating Russia 5-3 on Saturday night.Canada coach Mike Babcock, who leads the Toronto Maple Leafs, has seemed to make all the right moves during the team during its stretch of dominance in this decade.His job will be to make sure the faavored and host Canadians do not underestimate a team theyll be expected to beat if not rout.ddddddddddddou put all those countries together, theres lots of good players there, Babcock said. I like their backend, I like the goaltending. I think theyve done a real good job through the middle of the rink with their team. Theyve got a good-looking team. Thats why you play these games. All the experts can predict what they want, but you got to play the games and decide.Some critics thought it was a joke to put a team together with players from eight nations instead of picking two of them, perhaps Slovakia and Switzerland, to round out the eight-team tournament.No one seems to be saying that anymore.Canada appears to have a clear edge with its skaters, a slew of star forwards and defensemen, but the goaltenders seem to be evenly matched. Hockey is a sport in which one player -- if hes in net -- can neutralize a superior team.Slovakian and New York Islander goalie Jaroslav Halak has been as impressive as any player in the tournament, other than Crosby, who has a World Cup-high seven points.Canada will counter with Carey Price, who has overcome concerns about his right knee injury that kept him of the Montreal Canadiens lineup for much of last season. Price was the No. 1 goalie for the Canadians when they repeated as Olympic champions two years ago.I dont want to say rivalry, but both guys know whos at the other end, said Armstrong, the St. Louis Blues GM, who used to have Halak on his team. Were very comfortable with our goalie, and I know theyre very comfortable with their goalie, so it should be very interesting.---Follow Larry Lage at
www.twitter.com/larrylage and follow his work at
www.bigstory.ap.org/content/larry-lage ' ' '
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