Inland Waterways » six seasons against

MINNEAPOLIS -- The rain dripped off the brim of his cap as Phil Hughes walked off the mound. An hour-plus delay meant the last start of his first season for Minnesota was over. That half-million-dollar bonus stayed one out away. He still earned a nice prize: the major league record for strikeout-to-walk ratio. Hughes struck out five without a walk over eight innings, and the Twins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon. "I was very aware of it, yeah, but some things just arent meant to be," said Hughes, who wouldve been paid $500,000 for reaching 210 innings. He finished with 209 2-3, having already triggered a pair of $250,000 bonuses for reaching 180 and 195 innings, on top of his $8 million salary. Manager Ron Gardenhire said Hughes wouldve returned for the ninth on a dry day, but the 66-minute delay ended that. Gardenhire also said he wouldnt try to get Hughes in any of the teams last four games at Detroit. Hughes didnt seem to mind. "Finishing that out today is a pretty cool way to do it," he said. Hughes had been aware of his chance at the record, too, for the last few weeks. Every three-ball count created some anxiety. "You cant just lay pitches down the middle," he said. Hughes (16-10) finished his first year with the Twins with the same number of wins and walks. With 186 strikeouts, his 11.63 ratio became the best of all time for pitchers with a qualifying amount of innings. Hughes beat Bret Saberhagen, who had 143 strikeouts and 13 walks for the New York Mets in 1994 for an 11.00 ratio. Hughes allowed only a sacrifice fly by David Peralta in the sixth. "Everybodys looking from the dugout and trying to keep off that borderline high pitch, but with the way it comes out, hes sneaky, and it makes it hard to do," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. Jared Burton closed for his third save. Hughes completed at least seven innings over each of his last nine starts, quite the rebound from a rough 2013 season in New York for the Yankees. "Hes been our guy all year long that you count on," Gardenhire said. Diamondbacks starter Vidal Nuno escaped with only two runs allowed in five innings despite loading the bases in the first two frames. Nuno finished 0-7 with a 3.76 ERA in 14 turns for the Diamondbacks since he was acquired July 6 from the New York Yankees in the Brandon McCarthy trade. He went 2-5 with a 5.42 ERA in 17 appearances for the Yankees. Paid attendance was 29,445 for the home finale, though the number of people in the park was probably one-third of that and far less once the rain came. That gave the Twins a season total of 2,250,606 tickets sold, the fewest in five years at Target Field and the lowest number since 2004. TRAINERS ROOM Diamondbacks: 2B Aaron Hill didnt play after he dislocated the top of his right pinky finger Monday in an eighth-inning headfirst slide into home. Twins: Mauers bruised right elbow was "a little sore," Gardenhire said, from a pitch that hit him Tuesday in the first inning. The manager wanted to keep Mauer fresh for the weekend for an optimal lineup against Detroit with the AL Central race ongoing. "I want him playing all those games," Gardenhire said. In the sixth inning, 3B Trevor Plouffe left the game with a broken left forearm. He was struck by A.J. Pollocks knee during an attempted tag as Pollock slid into third base. UP NEXT Twins: Minnesota has four games left against the Tigers, who hold a slim lead over Kansas City, with rookie Trevor May (3-5, 8.39) pitching Thursday at Detroit against Tigers ace Max Scherzer (17-5, 3.19). May had a three-start winning streak snapped last Saturday against Cleveland, giving up seven runs in 4 2-3 innings. Diamondbacks: Arizona has Thursday off before returning home to finish the season against St. Louis, the NL Central leader still seeking to clinch a third straight division title. Trevor Cahill (3-12, 5.55), who is winless in his last six starts with 25 earned runs surrendered in 28 1-3 innings, will start for Arizona against Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.18). Al Horford Celtics Jersey . - Aroldis Chapman, with two black eyes, has returned to the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse four days after being hit in the face by a line drive. Robert Parish Celtics Jersey . (January 11, 2014) – Once again Kevin Martin proved why he is the all-time TSN skins leader, winning $11,500 in prize money and a spot in the Travelers All-Star Curling Skins Game presented by Pintys final following a semifinal victory over Brad Jacobs earlier this evening at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in Banff, Alta. http://www.authenticcelticsteamproshop.com/Cheap-Bob-Cousy-Celtics-Jersey/ . -- Conor Casey scored two goals, his first of the season, as the Philadelphia Union beat Chivas USA 3-0 on Saturday night. Shaquille ONeal Celtics Jersey . The 55th-ranked Istomin saved 11 of 14 break points to win in just over two hours, setting up a second round meeting with Australian Marinko Matosevic. It was the Uzbeks third win in three matches against fifth-seeded Kohlschreiber, the 2007 and 2012 tournament winner. Gordon Hayward Celtics Jersey . The mood in Seattle was electrified as the parade featuring the NFL champions began near the Space Needle and made its way to CenturyLink Field, the home of the team. At a ceremony inside the stadium, the team thanked its loyal followers -- the 12th Man -- capping a day of boisterous celebration that drew an estimated 700,000 revelers to Seattle.It hit me this week. There it was staring at me in the form of a magazine advert for posters. Placed together as portraits were drawings of four high-profile football managers but one made me do a double take. It wasnt long ago that the face of David Moyes, placed next to Jose Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini and Arsene Wenger, would not have made me think twice. I have always hoped he would succeed, back to the days when I covered him as a manager of Preston North End. Yet, heading into Wednesdays crucial game against Olympiakos, it was easy to look at him differently after what has taken place under his watch at Manchester United this season. I am not a United fan but when I visited Old Trafford for their clash with Chelsea in August I was pleased that he had been given a chance. "The Chosen One" sign hung proudly in the famous Stretford End and the United fans sung songs with his name in them and mocked the manager in the opposing dugout. "You wanted the job...you wanted the job...Jose Mourinho...you wanted the job!" Seven months on and the joke has turned on them. Oh how they must wish for Mourinho to be in charge of Manchester United today. The same amount of home league wins as Crystal Palace. Fewer home league goals than Stoke, Swansea and West Ham. More than twice as many league losses than Chelsea. "This has been a difficult season," admitted Moyes in his programme notes for Wednesdays home match against Olympiakos in the second leg of their last 16 encounter in the crown jewel of club football, the Champions League. The official matchday programme had a message for fans before they even opened it saying, on the front cover, the Reds are determined to give everything. Inside the desperation reached new heights with a message from Moyes telling the fans to "make time wasting noticeable to the officials." It all felt a little forced. Defensive, in fact. From a team full of stars who have underperformed this season, the one message they wanted to make sure they got across was that they would give it everything. Manchester United expect more than effort but on a day when it felt like their managers job was seriously on the line, this was the message they were given. It was a night when more than a managers job seemed in jeopardy. A club who this season have badly lost their identity, were in danger of losing their place amongst the sports elite. On Wednesday night they claimed back a little bit of both. Before Robin van Persie scored a terrific hat-trick, United were in danger of falling from the balcony hosting the greatest clubs in the world and hanging on by their finger nails. Their position, outside the room, is not exclusively David Moyes fault but an elimination on Wednesday would have certainly played a massive part in the eventual sacking of the manager, whether that would have been this week or in the summer. The truth is United dont think they should be on the balcony, instead they think they should be inside hosting the party, but a home win against Olympiakos wont get them back in. What it does give them is two more games to show if they can once again be back where they belong as well as a victory that this club badly needed, not just for Moyes, but for themselves. To understand Uniteds demise at the elite level it is important to look at their performances in the true big games. No United team should be judged on past victories over any team out of the top 7 of the Premier League. For the purpose of this study, I looked at all of Manchester Uniteds matches in the last six seasons against Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham and their games in EEurope, whether it be in the Champions League, Europa League or the European Super Cup.dddddddddddd Over the last three seasons (2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14) United have now played 66 of these big game matches. They have won 28, drew 15 and lost 23 for a very disappointing win percentage of 42 per cent. They have been knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage and the last 16 in the last two seasons. In the three seasons prior to this stretch (2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11), United played 70 big game matches. They won 45, drew 18 and lost 17 for a very impressive win percentage of 64 per cent. During this time they went to the Champions League final TWICE and lost in the quarter-finals on away goals to a team called Bayern Munich. The alarm bells should have been sounded during Sir Alex Fergusons penultimate year in charge when United were well and truly outplayed at Old Trafford in Europe by Benfica, Basel, Ajax and Atletico Bilbao. Likely, this was when Ferguson knew his time to retire was coming soon. He no longer belonged in the room at the top table with the sports best clubs. A collapse in April in two more big game matches, 4-4 at home to Everton and 1-0 at Manchester City, gave away the title and Ferguson returned for one more year but the big game cracks continued to show. The four previous seasons United had lost 24 big game matches combined – an average of 6 losses per season. Despite cruising to the Premier League title last season, United lost nine big game matches in 2012/13. Yes, they were Premier League champions but against the best sides they looked desperately short of genuine world class players. Alarmingly, in the last 14 months, heading into Wednesdays match, they had played 27 of these matches and won just seven of them. This is where the intense pressure fell on Moyes. This season, before Wednesday, in 18 of these games, his United team have scored more than one goal in a game only three times. No wins in four games against Chelsea and Tottenham. One goal, from a set piece, in two matches against Arsenal. A loss at home to Everton and away at Manchester City and, above everything else, two losses to rivals Liverpool who absolutely demolished United at Old Trafford on Sunday. All of these results, and specifically the performances, stayed with Moyes like bruises on the face of a prize fighter and with every new failure in a big game his loyal supporters started to doubt him more. Moyes wasnt just on the ropes on Wednesday night. He was on the floor facing a count to 10. Thats what makes the victory over Olympiakos so enormous. It is arguably the biggest victory in the career of Moyes. A victory that proves to himself, his bosses and his players that he can take charge of a significant victory in a big game. A loss would have capped off a nightmare season for United and the only way the club could have hung on to that balcony will have been to fire Moyes and blame him for their season. Players care about three things. Money, trophies, and playing at the highest level. It is essential that Manchester United are always able to offer that. If they had been knocked out on Wednesday they will have only had money in their hands to offer players who will have been worried to play for Moyes. Yes, the 3-0 victory saved Moyes but it also saved United who have been treading water in big games for far too long. It is clear star players need to come in to improve their record in those games but, perhaps, a star manager does not. Wednesdays win is only one game but for Moyes it can help change perceptions that, perhaps, he belongs amongst the games best managers without anyone looking at him twice. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '