NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera stood on the mound, looking down at his cleats.
[b]Adidas San Jose Sharks Jerseys[/b] . Somehow, hed let yet another lead slip away. Never before had baseballs all-time saves leader blown three straight chances. Silenced by a pair of Detroit home runs, the fans at Yankee Stadium soon perked up. Brett Gardner homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the New York Yankees over the Tigers 5-4 Sunday for their first series win in more than a month. Rivera has a record 643 saves, but had never failed three in a row in 1,087 previous relief appearances. His troubles began in Chicago, where he gave back a lead to the White Sox. "At least its the first time, you know what I mean?" Rivera said. "I just try to go out there and do my job. The last three opportunities, I havent done it. So we have to continue battling and get better. Have to keep working and eventually it will happen." Rivera blew both save chances in this series. Gardner provided the winning hit in both games. "Mos bailed us out a few times," Gardner said. "It didnt matter if it was me or somebody else, we just needed to get a win today and Im glad we made it happen." Rivera (3-2) gave up another homer to a limping Miguel Cabrera, plus a drive to Victor Martinez in the top of the ninth. The solo shots made it 4-all and turned Alex Rodriguezs first homer of the season into a footnote. But Gardner connected off Jose Veras (0-5). The feisty centre fielder flipped his batting helmet to A-Rod just before reaching the plate, then jumped into a cluster of teammates at home. "To Martinez, that ball was just laying right flat up. And also with Miguel," Rivera said. "Youre facing professional hitters. If you dont put the ball where you need to, youre going to get hit." On Friday night, Rivera gave up a two-run shot to Cabrera, who fouled two balls off his leg before launching the tying drive. Gardner won it in the 10th with a single. Manager Joe Girardi is hardly going to start worrying now about the 43-year-old pitcher generally regarded as the best closer ever. "Its not like you forget how to pitch in a week," Girardi said. "Its impossible." Alfonso Soriano homered for his 2,000th hit in the fourth inning. He connected off Justin Verlander, as did Rodriguez. "All great pitchers have one thing in common: they attack you and throw strikes," Rodriguez on why hes had success against Verlander -- four homers in 28 at-bats. Rodriguez, who has missed most of the year while coming back from hip surgery, hit a leadoff homer in the second. His 648th career home run pushed him past Stan Musial for fifth on the RBIs list with 1,951. "It was a tremendous homer by A-Rod," Pena said. "Justin Verlander threw a great inside pitch and he used his hands and sometimes you just have to credit the hitter." Lustily booed Friday night in his season debut at Yankee Stadium, he quickly turned fans around Sunday with a soaring shot to left field that made it 1-all. Rodriguez drove in one more run with a single down the first base line in the third. "Felt good to get the first one out of the way," Rodriguez said. "Today was a step in the right direction." Late lineup-addition Brayan Pena homered in the eighth off Yankees setup man David Robertson, cutting Detroits deficit to 4-2. Pena played for Alex Avila, who was placed on the 7-day concussion list after the game. Avila was hit in the mask by a foul ball Thursday but played Saturday. He was in the initial lineup Sunday. On a glorious August afternoon in the Bronx, the Yankees avoided dropping to .500 for the first time since April 13, improving to 59-57. Taking two of three from the AL Central leaders gave New York its first series win July 5-7 after an 0-5-3 stretch. Gardner started a long-distance double play to end the eighth inning by leaping against the centre field wall to catch Torii Hunters fly and preserve the 4-2 lead. Prince Fielder had an RBI single in the first off Andy Pettitte, the eighth straight game the lefty allowed a run in the opening inning. Thats the longest such streak by a Yankees pitcher, according to STATS research back to 1920. Rodriguez made a stellar play in the eighth when he reached deep behind third base on Austin Jacksons grounder and threw to second to nail Jose Iglesias for the first out. Tigers manager Jim Leyland disputed the call, and TV replays appeared to back him up. Leyland was back on the field one batter later. Shaken after catching Hunters fly, Gardner flipped the ball to Soriano. The left fielder threw the ball to shortstop Eduardo Nunez, who tossed it to second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano easily tagged Austin Jackson, who stood confused on second base. "As I lowered my head as I rounded back to make sure I stepped on second base, I saw the ball on the ground so I thought it hadnt been caught," Jackson said. "Sometimes you have no way of telling whats going on behind you. It happens sometimes. He made a great catch." Half the team met Gardner at the dugout steps to congratulate the centre fielder. They all pounced on him after his homer. NOTES: Verlander gave up seven hits and four runs in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one. ... Rodriguez was given an error in the third on Martinezs slow roller that he ran in for but couldnt scoop with his glove. ... Rodriguezs two hits were his first off a right-hander in 25 at-bats dating to last years playoffs. ... The Tigers recalled C Bryan Holaday from Triple-A Toledo after the game.
[b]Authentic Logan Couture Jersey[/b] . -- Nick Bjugstad snapped out of his scoring slump and spoiled Drew MacIntyres first NHL start.
[b]Authentic Joakim Ryan Jersey[/b] . In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil.DES MOINES, Iowa -- Wichita State soared past yet another overwhelmed Missouri Valley Conference opponent on Saturday night. Now the Shockers could be in line for another leap in the national polls. Cleanthony Early scored 19 points, Ron Baker added 14 and fifth-ranked Wichita State stayed perfect with a 78-61 win over Drake. Wichita States latest win -- combined with an ugly home loss by No. 4 Villanova to Creighton during the week and No. 3 Michigan States home defeat against No. 21 Michigan on Saturday -- could put the Shockers (21-0, 8-0 MVC) in position to leapfrog both teams on Monday. Coach Gregg Marshall appeared to be stumping for his team with what seemed to be a bit of a jab at Michigan State (18-2) after the game. "Did the mighty Spartans lose again?" Marshall said as he left the podium following his postgame news conference. The Shockers will have to wait until March for Michigan State or whoever else might stand in their way at another Final Four appearance. For now, theyll have to settle for pounding on teams in the Valley. Drake was the latest to succumb to Wichita States acrobatic offence and suffocating defence. Nick Wiggins had 11 points for the visiting Shockers, who outscored Drake 28-15 to open the second half and turn a relatively close game into a rout. The Shockers have now won four straight by at least 15 points after an overtime scare at Missouri State two weeks ago. Aaron Hawley had 16 points to lead Drake (11-9, 2-6), which lost for the sixth time in seven games. "That team is extremely tough-minded," Drake coach Ray Giacoletti said. "Each possession offensively and defensively, they control their destiny. They dont splinter ever. We were not able to make them splinter." The Bulldogs had their moments against the Valleys top team, but Wichita State showed off its superior talent with a handful of game-defining plays. Baker answered a Drake 3 with a three-point play through traffic with 15:45 left, and that kicked off a pair of spurts that overwhelmed the Bulldoogs.
[b]Cheap Adidas San Jose Sharks Jerseys[/b]. Chadrack Lufile scored inside, and Tekele Cottons floater put the Shockers ahead 52-35 with just over 13 minutes left. Early then soared through the paint to flush down an errant shot, and Wiggins three-point play capped an 11-0 run that made it 65-44. The Shockers outrebounded Drake 34-20 and held its leading scorer, Richard Carter, to six points. Its been six years since Drake caught the nations attention with a stunning surge to the Valley championship, the programs first in 37 seasons. The Bulldogs are on their third coach since that NCAA tournament run, with Giacoletti in his first season in Des Moines. Drake started the season 10-3 and whipped Evansville 94-66 in the league opener before slipping during the heart of its Valley schedule. But the Bulldogs, bolstered by a near-sellout crowd, did their best to push the Shockers early. They hit nine of their first 16 shots to stay as close as 30-26. But Baker found Cotton for a one-handed alley-oop that sent Wichita State into the break with a 37-29 lead. "I know Tekele Cotton pretty well. He can jump really high and he likes to dunk it," Baker said. "It was a really athletic play from him, which is no surprise." Cotton then opened the second half with another dunk and the Shockers were on their way to their eighth road win. The Shockers wont face a remaining schedule as tough as Michigan States or perhaps anyone else in a power league. But Marshall said his Shockers can play with anyone in the country. Wichita State next hosts Loyola and Evansville ahead of what could be its toughest test of the year, at 16-4 Indiana State on Feb. 5. "This is a very good basketball team. We dont have to apologize to anybody about our schedule," Marshall said. "Was it (former Arizona Cardinals coach) Dennis Green that says, We are what they say we are? So, were (fifth) in the country and probably moving up -- that is unless theres some elite team wants to jump us this week. I dont know who that elite team might be."
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