ATLANTA -- Give Clayton Kershaw a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning, and theres not much chance hell mess things up. The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to quite a start in the NL division series. Kershaw struck out 12 during seven dominant innings, Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6-1 in Game 1 on Thursday night. The big-money Dodgers havent won a World Series championship since 1988 -- by far their longest dry spell since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Southern California in 1958. In an interesting twist, Kershaw was born the same year as that most recent title. If the ace left-hander keeps pitching the way he did in his first post-season win, the Dodgers might have a chance to go all the way again. "This one definitely has special meaning to me," Kershaw said. For the bumbling Braves, it was another dose of October misery. "When you have an opposing pitcher on the mound who is as good as Kershaw, theres not a lot of room for error," said Atlanta starter Kris Medlen, knocked out in the fifth. "I had a lot of error tonight." Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Friday night in Atlanta, with Zack Greinke (15-4) starting for the Dodgers against Mike Minor (13-9). Kershaw, who had a 1.83 ERA during the regular season, limited the Braves to Chris Johnsons run-scoring single with two outs in the fourth. That just seemed to make the pitcher mad -- he struck out Andrelton Simmons to end Atlantas only serious threat, and the next five Braves hitters for good measure. Appropriately, Kershaw finished up by striking out the side in the seventh, matching his season high for Ks. He allowed just three hits. "Hes the best pitcher in baseball," Gonzalez said, "and he showed it tonight." Atlanta struck out 15 times in all. Even though slugger Matt Kemp is out for the playoffs and Andre Ethier is hobbling with an injured ankle, the Dodgers had no trouble piling up runs against Medlen, who came into the playoffs riding a five-game winning streak. He gave up nine hits and five runs in four-plus innings, finally getting the hook when he plunked Yasiel Puig with a pitch right between the shoulder blades. Of course, Medlen wouldve fared better if hed gotten any help from the guys behind him. The Braves played some truly atrocious defence, though they were not charged with an error. In the second, rookie left fielder Evan Gattis flopped to the ground in an attempt to catch a sinking liner, only to look very much like the converted catcher he is. The ball hit by A.J. Ellis rolled all the way to the wall for an RBI double, putting the Dodgers ahead 2-0 on a play that an outfielder with even a modest amount of experience probably wouldve grabbed fairly easily. "I thought there was a couple plays that we could have made," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I think that the guys were just a little amped up." Adrian Gonzalez began to put it out of reach in the third, driving a pitch over the centre-field wall for his first post-season homer, a two-run shot that made it 4-0 as a sense of doom fell over a Turner Field crowd that had been so raucous in the first when Medlen struck out the side. Not that Atlanta fans havent seen this all before. The Braves are perhaps best known for winning only one World Series ring during a historic run of 14 straight division titles. Now, theyre already in the hole as they try to snap a streak of losing seven straight post-season series since 2001. At least theyre not done yet. After losing to St. Louis in a one-and-done wild-card game last season, which was marred by a disputed infield-fly call, the Braves have a chance to bounce back this time. In addition to Gattis stumbling attempt at a catch, second baseman Elliot Johnson bobbled Carl Crawfords grounder leading off the third, a play that was generously ruled a hit by the official scorer. Medlen retired the next two hitters, but Gonzalez drove the next pitch over the wall, with Jason Heyward making a futile leap that left him hanging from the top. Heyward, who was moved from right field to centre as part of an outfield reshuffling, had his own problems. Twice, he overthrew the cutoff man on throws to the plate, allowing runners to advance. Just to add to Atlantas outfield woes, Justin Upton wasnt even close on a sliding attempt when Ellis doubled down the right-field line in the fourth. He wound up scoring on Mark Ellis two-out single, stretching the lead to 5-0. Kershaw struggled with command of his fastball, but worked more off his breaking pitches and made it look easy against the free-swinging Braves. "Strikeouts just kind of happen," he said. "Its not something Im trying to do. Im just trying to get outs as fast as possible." Gattis, one of Atlantas most pleasant surprises during the regular season, had a miserable night in his post-season debut. He ended the second by somehow getting doubled off first on a lazy fly to short right field. Dan Uggla watched it all from the dugout. The three-time All-Star was left off the Braves playoff roster after a dismal season in which he batted just .179 with a franchise-record 171 strikeouts. Uggla wasnt the only big-money flop for the Braves, who had to juggle their outfield because of B.J. Uptons season-long slump. After signing a five-year, $75.25 million deal during the off-season, he batted just .184 and was finally benched late in the year. Merely a backup in the playoffs, he took a called third strike as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and walked slowly toward the dugout to a chorus of boos. "It just got away from us," Braves catcher Brian McCann said. NOTES: The Dodgers put Ethier on their 25-man roster even though he can likely only be used as a pinch-hitter because of an ankle injury. He came up in that role in the eighth, batting for Kershaw and grounding out to first base. ... After Medlen struck out the first three hitters of the game, Los Angeles didnt have another 1-2-3 inning until the seventh against Braves rookie Alex Wood. ... Skip Schumaker started in centre field for the Dodgers and drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly in the second. ... Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen finished up with one scoreless inning apiece. Jansen struck out the side in the ninth.
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Thomas Davis Panthers Jersey . The Irishman managed to save par from a fairway bunker on the last in a round of 4-under 68 to move to 11 under on the Golf du Palais Royal course. McGrane, whose only previous European Tour success was a nine-shot victory in the 2008 China Open, started his second round late Friday after a lengthy delay to the start of play because of high wind.CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa skated as if he had been recharged during a five-game vacation -- not sidelined for five games with an upper-body injury. The Blackhawks 35-year-old forward celebrated his return to the lineup with plenty of energy -- resulting in a key goal and two assists -- and Chicago defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Sunday night to snap a two-game losing streak. "Its great to come back and try to help the team," Hossa said. "Its five games, so I dont know how much fresher Ill be than the other guys. But theres some benefit, maybe." Hossa was back in action for the first time in two weeks. He was knocked out in the Blackhawks 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Soldier Field on March 1. On Sunday, Chicago lead 2-1 after 40 minutes, then Hossa put the game away with two big plays in the third period. "He changes the look, the complexion of our line, of our team game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We seem to have the puck a lot more when hes out there. "He made some nice finished plays and he definitely had some nice jump to his game, as well. It made a big difference having him back tonight." Hossa used his speed to give Chicago a 3-1 lead at 6:33 of the third. After taking a feed from Patrick Sharp, Hossa raced down the right wing, cut in around Detroit defenceman Brendan Smith and beat Jimmy Howard from close range. "He was coming with so much speed, I thought he was going to try to drag me across (the crease)," Howard said. Hossas set up Jonathan Toews short-handed goal with 2:10 left that iced it. After stealing the puck from Johan Franzen near Chicagos blue line, Hossa skated down the right wing. He pulled up and then fed Toews, who cut to the net and tucked in a shot. Ben Smith had a goal and assist, and Nick Leddy also scored for defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago, which is struggling to keep up with the top contenders in the Western Conference. Despite the win, the Blackhawks are 11-8-7 in 2014 and remained fifth in the conference and third in the Central Division. Gustav Nyquist scored for the injury-depleted Red Wings, who are desperate for wins as they try to get into the playoffs for the 23rd straight time. Chicagos Corey Crawford made 19 saves and Detroits Jimmy Howard had 26. "We felt good going into the third, but obviously Hossas goal really made it a ttwo-goal game and makes it tough for us," Detroit Daniel Alfredsson said.dddddddddddd The banged-up Red Wings played without 10 injured players, including stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Forward Todd Bertuzzi joined the list Sunday, sitting out after suffering a lower-body injury Friday against Edmonton. "Once the game got to 3-1, its not as good a spot for our team," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We dont have enough goals in our lineup to play like that. We were set up (at 2-1) and we let it slip away." The Blackhawks faced Detroit for the second time since beating them in overtime in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series last year to complete a comeback from a 3-1 deficit. The Red Wings defeated Chicago 5-4 in a shootout on Jan. 22 at Joe Louis Arena. The Blackhawks and Red Wings were division rivals for the past 31 years until Detroit moved from the Western to Eastern Conference this season. The Original Six teams were grouped together in the Central Division for the previous 19 seasons and in the Norris Division for 12 years before that. The Blackhawks outshot the Red Wings 11-5 in the scoreless first, but neither team generated sustained pressure or many prime scoring chances. The Blackhawks turned up the pressure early in the second and outshot Detroit 14-7 in the period. Leddys power-play goal, on Chicagos 19th shot, finally opened the scoring at 8:44 of the second. Nyquist tied it at 1 with 4:50 left in the period with a power-play goal that deflected in off the skate of Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook. Smith put Chicago back in front 2-1 on a rebound with 14 seconds left in the period. Hossa then helped Chicago put the game away in the third. NOTES: Chicago F Brandon Saad didnt return for the third period after playing a total of 11 shifts. Quenneville said he had an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. ... Detroit RW Jordin Tootoo, recalled from Grand Rapids of the AHL on Saturday, filled in for Bertuzzi. ... Red Wings D Jakub Kindl was a healthy scratch. ... Before the game, Quenneville hinted that C Teuvo Teravainen, one of the Blackhawks top prospects, might join the team soon. Teravainens team in Finland, Jokerit, was eliminated from the playoffs Sunday. That paves the way for the 19-year-old forward, drafted in the first round by Chicago in 2012 (18th overall), to sign an NHL contract.
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Topic: The Original Six teams (Read 1858 times)
