Discussion utilisateur:Thechampionrings

Reynolds slugs Pirates past Yelich-less Brewers 6-5

Bryan Reynolds wasn't even in the conversation for playing time when the Pirates began their 2019 season. As the first half closes, he's established himself as a key contributor to a surprising Pittsburgh offense.

Reynolds hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to lift the Pirates (custom Pittsburgh Pirates championship rings) over the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 Sunday in their final game before the All-Star break.

Reynolds' estimated 403-foot shot cleared the seats beyond the fence in right-center field and bounced toward the Allegheny River. His seventh homer of the season came after Kevin Kramer walked and Adam Frazier singled off reliever Junior Guerra (3-2).

Reynolds also hit an RBI double in the fifth and is batting .342 with a .950 OPS.

The 2016 second-round pick, who came to Pittsburgh as part of the return for Andrew McCutchen in 2018, took advantage of playing time created by injuries.

"Sometimes, at the end of the year, those teams go to the playoffs, that win it all, there's some unexpected pleasures that happen along the way that you didn't have walking in the door," manager Clint Hurdle said.

The Pirates (championship rings for sale) closed the first half by winning back-to-back series against Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs to close to 2 1/2 games back in the NL Central and 44-45 overall.

"This past week for us was big," Reynolds said. "We rattled off a bunch of wins. I'm just thankful I could help us tonight."

Brewers star Christian Yelich did not play and pulled out of Monday's All-Star Home Run Derby with a back injury. He said he plans to play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

"I didn't think I was going to be able do that kind of volume of swings and what the Derby demanded," Yelich said. "If I wasn't going to be able to perform how I was supposed to and do it justice and give it the effort that it deserved, I didn't think it'd be a great idea to do it."

Jesus Aguilar hit a two-run drive in the seventh off Pirates starter Joe Musgrove that tied the game at 3. It was his second home run of the game and eighth of season. He also hit a solo shot to left off Musgrove in the fifth.

Francisco Liriano relieved Musgrove and finished the seventh to improve to 3-1. Felipe Vazquez worked a four-out save, his 20th of the season.

Milwaukee (MLB Teams championship rings for sale) rookie Keston Hiura hit a two-run homer in the eighth, also his seventh of the season.

Musgrove struck out five in six-plus innings, allowing five hits and three runs. His appearance was interrupted by a 40-minute rain delay in between the fifth and sixth innings.

It was the second start in a row for Musgrove that was hampered by the weather. He managed just three innings before the rain on July 2.

"That was my first time going through a delay and having a chance to go back out," Musgrove said. "That was a test for me. Something I haven't been through before. I felt really stiff going back out there."

Musgrove also contributed at the plate during a two-run second inning against starter Chase Anderson. Colin Moran tripled and scored on Kevin Newman's single to right. Newman and Jacob Stallings perfectly executed a hit-and-run that left Newman at third for Musgrove, who put a squeeze bunt down the right side for his first career RBI.

Anderson allowed two runs on five hits over four innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Orlando Arcia pinch hit in the fifth inning after a scary collision with Hiura on Saturday.

BIG DEBUT

Infield prospect Mauricio Dubon, recalled as insurance for Arcia, made his MLB (mlb championship rings for sale) debut as a pinch hitter in the eighth. Dubon is the first big leaguer born and raised in Honduras.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet, having been on a big league field, having a whole country watching you play," Dubon said. "We had a rain delay and everything, and I had a chance to check out my phone and look at how everything was going. The whole country was watching. It was special knowing that I have that support back home. It was really special."

He faced Vazquez in an eight-pitch battle and fouled off five straight before grounding out to first base.

Bucks beat Celtics 116-91 to advance to East final, May 9, 2019

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks (Milwaukee Bucks championship rings) found another gear after their first loss of the playoffs. Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics just couldn't keep up. Antetokounmpo had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and the Bucks routed the Celtics 116-91 on Wednesday night to advance to the Eastern Conference final. After sweeping Detroit in the first round, top-seeded Milwaukee struggled in Game 1 against Boston and lost 112-90 in one of its worst offensive performances of the season. But Antetokounmpo led the way as the Bucks responded with four straight wins by a combined 65 points. "I think our mindset changed," Antetokounmpo said. "In the first game, we weren't focused enough. We weren't ourselves. The next four games, we came out with a different approach, a different mindset."

The Bucks (championship rings for sale) used a balanced attack to close out the Celtics in Game 5, placing seven players in double figures. Khris Middleton had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe finished with 18 points. Next up for the Bucks is the winner of the Philadelphia-Toronto series. The Raptors are up 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday night. It's the first Eastern Conference final for Milwaukee since 2001. "At the end of the day, we realize we've never been there before," Antetokounmpo said. "We're really hungry to achieve our goals. That's all we care about. As long as we play hard, we really don't care about what anybody has to say." Prior to the clinching win, several Bucks took turns speaking to the team. "Giannis' speech was, `A lot of us probably came from nothing and we have the opportunity to write our own story right now.' That's what everybody did," George Hill said.

The Celtics (custom Boston Celtics championship rings) clamped down on Antetokounmpo for most of the game, but Middleton, Bledsoe, Hill and Nikola Mirotic picked up the scoring to help rob the game of any drama in the final minutes. Hill finished with 16 points, and Mirotic had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon also had 10 points in his return to the lineup after being sidelined by plantar fasciitis. "Everybody was ready to play," Hill said. "Everybody was ready for the opportunity to put them away as quick as we can."

Irving scored 15 points for Boston, which shot 31.2% from the field. Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris each had 14. "Not what we expected," Boston center Al Horford said. "Just disappointing for us. At the end of the day, really, you have to give Milwaukee credit. They're just a better team than us. That's a reality." Antetokounmpo picked up his third foul when Jaylen Brown drove to the hoop early in the second half, but he stayed in the game. He stole an Irving pass and slammed it home to make it 65-52 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.

Antetokounmpo, one of the front-runners for NBA (cheap nba championship rings) MVP, closed out the period with consecutive baskets, including a finger-roll layup that gave the Bucks an 80-62 lead. "They played like they wanted it," Irving said. Irving went 6 for 21 from the field in what might have been his final game with Boston. He is eligible for free agency in the offseason, and his future is one of the major questions facing the Celtics this summer. "I understand we didn't meet the outside expectations," coach Brad Stevens said. "We rode a roller coaster most of the year." Irving's only 3-pointer of the night trimmed Milwaukee's lead to 38-32 with 2:51 left in the second quarter. But Brogdon and Mirotic each connected from long range to help the Bucks to a 52-39 advantage at the break. Brogdon hadn't played since March 15. He also had four assists and three rebounds.

Schwartz caps Blues' rally in 3-2 win over Jets 1 in Games 5

Jaden Schwartz (">stanley cup ring for sale) called it a lucky goal for the St. Louis Blues. It was a dagger to the Winnipeg Jets. Schwartz scored with 15 seconds remaining to cap St. Louis' three-goal third period in a 3-2 win over the Jets on Thursday night, giving the Blues a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference playoff series. Tyler Bozak sent a pass over to Schwartz, who batted the puck in the air and sent it past Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck for the winner. "(Bozak) came on, he was fresh, and probably knew there wasn't much time left so he just threw (the puck) on net and I kind of got lucky, it just hit my stick," Schwartz said of his first goal in the playoffs.

Ryan O'Reilly and Brayden Schenn scored earlier in the final period for the Blues, who host Game 6 of the best-of-seven series on Saturday. Jordan Binnington stopped 29 shots. Winnipeg was up 2-0 after the first period on goals by Adam Lowry and Kevin Hayes. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves as the Jets lost their sixth straight at home, including the regular season. "If we lose, we're done," Hayes said. "That's enough motivation. Game 6 will be our best game."

The Blues' win marked the first time in 15 years, and fourth time overall, the road team has won each of the first five games in a seven-game series. "You don't see that too often, right?" Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "You don't see the road team win all the games but, again, we've got to go home and we played better in Game 4 there so we've got to build off that."

According to a league stat, when a best-of-seven NHL (">stanley cup rings) playoff series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 takes the series 78.8 per cent all time (205-55). St. Louis went on its first power play with 21 seconds remaining in the second period when Jacob Trouba was called for roughing. The period ended with Winnipeg holding the 22-21 edge in shots on goal. O'Reilly scored with 11 seconds remaining in the power play, off a rebound in a crowd in front of the net at 1:29 of the third to pull St. Louis to 2-1. Schenn tied it with 6:09 remaining following a review. Oskar Sundqvist passed the puck over to Schenn and then was pushed down by Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and into the net, knocking it off. A review determined Schenn had shot the puck before a defensive player caused the net to come off. That set up Schwartz's winner in the final minute.

"Lucky pinballs," Hellebuyck said of the Blues' (custom championship rings) go-ahead goal. "The puck just bounced and ended up right on their tape. Tough to eat that one, but I thought we were the better team. If we keep fighting here, it's not over." Winnipeg mounted a 2-0 lead after the first period, even though the Blues had the 15-12 advantage for shots on goal. Lowry got the crowd fired up 12 seconds into the game when he used Brandon Tanev's rebound to notch his first goal in the series. It set a franchise record for fastest goal in the playoffs. Trouba had the previous mark of 31 seconds, scored in Game 5 against Minnesota last season.

After fans stopped cheering, some on the rink side of St. Louis's net started chanting "You look nervous" to Binnington. Before Game 1, a video clip of the rookie saying, "Do I look nervous?" to reporters made the rounds on social media. "Yeah, that's incredible," Binnington said of hearing the chants. "You get what you ask for because when I was younger, I really enjoyed that stuff and always wanted it, and now it's here. It doesn't feel as good as I thought, but it's cool, it's really cool."

Hayes cut to the front of the net with 6:25 left in the first and sent the puck under Binnington's pad to make it 2-0 with his second goal of the playoffs. Hayes almost scored twice more in the second period. He took away his own goal when his close shot slid under Binnington and started going toward the goal line. He tried to swipe it across, but his stick pulled the puck out instead. Hayes also had a breakaway late in the period, but Binnington sprawled on the ice and the shot from the side went into his pads. Winnipeg got a four-minute power play when Robert Thomas was dinged for high sticking Mark Scheifele in the face shield, but the Jets only had one shot on goal after a number of misses and blocked attempts.

Strome scores in OT to lift Rangers past Penguins 4-3

Jake Guentzel's 40th goal of the season had a significant impact on the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Guentzel scored with 2:35 to play, sending Saturday's regular-season finale against the New York Rangers (New York Rangers championship rings for sale) to overtime.

Ryan Strome scored 2:09 into overtime, as the Rangers beat Pittsburgh 4-3 on Saturday night, but the point the Penguins earned prevented them from dropping into the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.

"There was a lot of emotion," Guentzel said. "It was nice to get that one and get a big point for us."

Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Nick Bjugstad scored for the Penguins, who earned a point to secure third-place in the Metropolitan Division and a matchup with the New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. Matt Murray finished with 26 saves while starting 20 of Pittsburgh's last 21 games.

Because of Carolina's regulation win on Saturday, a regulation loss would've dropped Pittsburgh to the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. That would've matched Pittsburgh with the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, the team that ended the Penguins' run of back-to-back championships last season.

Instead, Pittsburgh will get the Islanders in the first round.

"The Islanders will be a tough opponent," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "They're a real good team, they had a great year and we've had some really hard-fought battles against them. I'm excited about the opportunity that we have."

Brendan Smith, Brady Skjei and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for New York, long eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight year. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 36 shots while starting for the second straight night. The Rangers snapped a three-game skid and won for just the fifth time in their final 21 games (5-10-6).

"I just thanked them for their effort," Rangers (stanley cup ring for sale) coach David Quinn said. "This has been a great group to coach. Obviously, not the season we wanted to have and certainly not the record we wanted to have. We certainly want to be playing past this point next year, but they gave it their all."

Skjei and Namestnikov scored 1:16 apart to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead with 6:10 remaining in regulation. Namestnikov's go-ahead goal was the 15th short-handed score allowed by Pittsburgh, tied for worst in the league.

"You go out there for a power play with a chance to win the game and it changes pretty quickly when you get scored on," Crosby said. "I think it's how we got to that point, the fact that they scored two quick ones."

However, Guentzel came through for Pittsburgh. He became the 20th player in franchise history to score at least 40 goals. Crosby, who scored his 35th earlier in the game, had an assist on the play for his 100th point. Crosby reached the mark for the sixth time in his career, and first time since 2013-14.

"Sid and Jake have probably been our most consistent players all year," Sullivan said. "I think 40 goals in this league is quite an accomplishment, especially a young player like Jake. I think Sid getting 100 points is a great accomplishment as well."

The Penguins (stanley cup rings) were happy with their third-period comeback, but they weren't particularly pleased with the regular-season finale as a whole against the Rangers.

Pittsburgh will look to rectify that in the playoffs against the Islanders.

"I don't think it was one of our better games as of late," Sullivan said. "I thought we were loose as far as our play away from the puck and as a result, we gave up more quality chances than we should have. I have to believe we're excited about the opportunity in front of us. I know we're capable of playing a lot better."

Game notes
Pittsburgh recorded 100 points for the 10th time in the last 12 full seasons. ... Penguins (custom championship rings) D Brian Dumoulin missed his third straight game, but he skated Saturday morning. ... Guentzel joined Chris Kunitz as the only players other than Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to lead the team in goals during the Crosby and Malkin era. ... Guentzel, Phil Kessel, and Jack Johnson played all 82 games for Pittsburgh. Kessel played in every game for the ninth consecutive year, a total of 774 straight games. Pettersson, who spent time in Anaheim this season, led the league in games played with 84 this season. Mika Zibanejad played in every game for New York.

Hurricanes beat Islanders 5-2, take 3-0 series lead

The Carolina Hurricanes (Carolina hurricanes championship rings for sale) put an old goalie in net and welcomed back their teenage draft pick. With the game tied, another young star set up their graying captain's go-ahead goal. That blend of young and old has the surging Hurricanes on the verge of a sweep.

Sebastian Aho assisted on Justin Williams' key goal with 9:45 remaining, and Carolina beat the New York Islanders 5-2 on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead in their second-round series. Teuvo Teravainen had two goals, including an empty-netter with 57.1 seconds remaining, Justin Faulk also scored and Aho added another empty-net goal with 4.8 seconds to play.

The wild-card Hurricanes -- in the playoffs for the first time in a decade -- moved within a victory of a berth in the Eastern Conference final and took a 3-0 series lead for just the second time since they moved to North Carolina in 1997. After losing the first two games of its first-round series with Washington, Carolina has won seven of eight and will try for the sweep Friday night.

"The next game's always the toughest," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "They're not going to go away. We know that. These games have all been tight -- one-goal games, essentially, and it's going to be like that on Friday."

Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist and Devon Toews scored on the power play to spark a dormant Islanders offense. New York had scored one goal in the first two games of this series and its average of 2 1/2 goals in its previous six postseason games was the lowest among the eight teams that are still playing. But it wasn't enough to keep them from a precarious spot. After sweeping Pittsburgh in the first round, the Islanders are in danger of being swept. Only four teams in NHL history have won a series after losing the first three games. "It's a big mountain, but we've dug in many times this year when people doubted us," coach Barry Trotz said. "So we're just going to have to dig in. ... We have to earn the right to keep playing. That's it. It's do or die."

Curtis McElhinney -- who at 35 years and 343 days old became the oldest goalie in NHL (stanley cup rings) history to make his first playoff start -- stopped 28 shots in place of Petr Mrazek, who is day to day with a lower body injury. After McElhinney made two bang-bang saves in the second period while doing a split, the crowd chanted his first name. "It's one of those timely saves that you need to come up with at certain points of the game," McElhinney said, "and tonight, it was there for me."

Robin Lehner stopped 34 shots for the Islanders, but his career record against the Hurricanes fell to 0-7 with four losses in the regular season and three more in this series. It took an impressive individual effort for Aho to put the Hurricanes ahead to stay. After Nino Niederreiter dumped the puck in, Lehner played it behind the net -- only to have Aho snatch it in the corner and pass to Williams, who chipped it past the Islanders goalie. "Every time we get pucks deep, good things will happen," Aho said. New York couldn't get Lehner off the ice for an extra attacker until about 90 seconds remained, and if Teravainen didn't ice it with his empty-netter in the final minute, Aho certainly did with his.

The Hurricanes (custom New York Islanders championship rings) have six players dealing with publicly known injuries, but -- aside from the injury to Mrazek -- they seem to be getting a bit healthier.

Rookie winger Andrei Svechnikov, a 19-year-old who had been in the concussion protocol after taking a punch from Alex Ovechkin in Game 3 of the Washington series, returned to the lineup. And forward Jordan Martinook, who missed the first two games of this series and suffered a lower body injury in Game 4 against the Capitals, also was back.

The most impressive goal of the night belonged to Faulk. As he stormed out of the penalty box after his hooking minor expired, Warren Foegele flipped the puck toward him at the blue line. Faulk plucked it out of the air -- like an outfielder tracking a fly ball -- and then beat Lehner with a rising backhand with 8:02 left in the second. "I watched a lot of Torii Hunter," quipped Faulk, a native Minnesotan and noted Twins fan. The lead didn't last long. Bailey tied it at 2 with 5:47 left when his shot from between the circles got past McElhinney's glove -- and then teammate Brock Nelson gave the Carolina goalie's helmet a tap after the play.

It was the second time a Hurricanes (stanley cup rings) lead turned out to be short-lived. Teravainen put them up 1-0 with 13:19 left in the first. Unchecked at the right post, he stopped the rebound of Jaccob Slavin's shot with his left skate, then whacked it in for his fourth goal of the playoffs and third in five games. Toews -- who drew a high stick that sent Foegele to the penalty box -- tied it 99 seconds later with a straightaway blast from just inside the blue line through traffic.

2019 NFL season: Todd Gurley leads top 3 running backs

NFL (super bowl rings for sale) Network's "Top 100 Players of 2019" airs daily at 9 p.m. ET over the next two weeks, unveiling a new set of 10 honorees in each installment. In Episode 4, a pair of running backs -- Phillip Lindsay and James Conner -- were revealed at Nos. 68 and 62, respectively. Ahead of the episode, NFL Network analyst and Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson provides his own ranking of the top 10 running backs heading into the 2019 regular season.

1. Todd Gurley

I know folks tend to dwell on how Gurley's 2018 campaign ended, but let's not forget that he was in the MVP conversation for a majority of the season. Gurley had a league-high 21 touchdowns and didn't even play in the final two games of the regular season due to a knee injury, which also hindered him significantly in the postseason. Gurley's trainer, Travelle Gaines, said last month that the All-Pro back has an "arthritic component to his knee," and there have been concerns about whether Gurley, who didn't participate in team drills during offseason workouts this spring, will be 100 percent come Week 1. Plus, as Gurley has worked to shed weight to lessen the load on his knee, there are questions about whether he'll still be a bell cow for the Rams' offense. However, head coach Sean McVay recently said Gurley is " ready to go," and that is why he's No. 1 on my list. When healthy, Gurley is the best all-around running back in the NFL (championship sports rings), and his dynamic play will allow him to be effective no matter his touch count in 2019. He's a physical dual-threat with breakaway speed -- the kind of running back most teams desire to have and all teams loath to play.

2. Saquon Barkley

A bright spot for the Giants (real super bowl rings for sale), Barkley strung together an amazing rookie campaign to take home the Offensive Rookie of the Year award last February. He led the league in scrimmage yards (2,028) and his 91 receptions were the most for any rookie running back in NFL history. If Barkley can do all of this behind a porous offensive line against loaded boxes, just imagine what he's capable of with a middle-of-the-road or above-average front blocking for him. I can say with full confidence that this kid will become an all-time great.

3. Ezekiel Elliott

Zeke (Dallas Cowboys championship rings for sale) has been every bit the star we all expected when he was drafted fourth overall in 2016. Earning two league rushing titles (2016, 2018) and leading the NFL in rush yards per game in each of his first three seasons, his production alone proves his value in Dallas. He led the NFL with a career-high 381 touches last season, and 2019 should be no different for the powerful workhorse (assuming his absence from the opening of training camp isn't a precursor to a contract holdout that lingers into the season). According to NFL Research, if Zeke gets the ball as much or more in 2019, he'll become the first RB with consecutive seasons of 380-plus touches since yours truly (six straight seasons) and Tiki Barber (two), with both streaks ending in 2006. Barring a prolonged contract dispute for No. 21, I'm confident he will join us by season's end, but I hope more of those touches will come in the passing game. With a career-high 77 receptions for 567 yards a year ago, Zeke has proven he's a great pass catcher, too. He does it all.