Kritik und Lob » things, Velasquez said

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The visiting Seattle Mariners aim to sweep their three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday while peeking toward the future.The Angels are looking, too.Seattle, locked in the AL wild-card race, is aching to end its streak of not reaching the postseason since 2001. Playing past Octobers opening weekend is the goal for a team that has won a season-high seven straight games.The Angels were hoping Tyler Skaggs could fuel their turnaround.Then word came Tuesday night that Skaggs had been scratched because of forearm tightness.Were being cautious, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. But youre always concerned with any pitcher. With Tyler, obviously, we are going to err on the side of caution.So instead of Skaggs, Jhoulys Chacin (4-6, 5.69 ERA) gets the nod.Skaggs (3-3, 4.13) was solid his last three starts. Skaggs is among the Angels starting pitchers undergoing and coming back from Tommy John surgery. He was to make his 10th start since his operation.It appeared Skaggs, a southpaw, had found his groove after some early detours. In his last three starts, he was 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA.The common denominator from his good games is pretty clear, Scioscia said. Its his ability to get his fastball into a good zone; he has great secondary stuff.But the Angels havent had great luck with their starters. This season they have lost C.J. Wilson, Andrew Heaney, Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker.Thats why Skaggs outing was so critical on Wednesday. Now it appears Skaggs, who will undergo an MRI, might be challenged to pitch again this season.Theres not much gray area to the Ms plight. They need to win at every opportunity as they jockey to reach the playoffs.Seattle counters with its ace; and, if you said Felix Hernandez, think again.Instead, Hisashi Iwakuma (15-11, 3.96) is the bellwether.Iwakuma, a right-hander, leads the staff in victories while setting a career high.Hernandezs season was interrupted by a stint on disabled list.Taijuan Walker is still finding his legs at this level, although he was sensational on Tuesday in blanking the Angels.Lefties James Paxton and Ariel Miranda have contributed, but not nearly to the level of Iwakuma.In four of Iwakumas last five starts, he has pitched at least six innings. But over that span, one start stands alone: his last one. Iwakuma went 6 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs in a win over the Oakland As.From the first inning, he had all of his pitches working, Mariners manager Scott Servais told the Associated Press. We got off to a pretty quick start and we kind of faded offensively, so we certainly needed the pitching.Iwakuma is pitching with something on his mind. Of course its among the thoughts of all Seattle backers hoping the Mariners qualify for the postseason.We all fight and play to play in the playoffs, Iwakuma said through a translator.In any language, this is a big game for both teams.The Ms need all the wins they can get.The Angels need to know whether Skaggs will be a key piece in the future. He still might be, but his road back has hit a detour.Nike Vapormax Flyknit 3 Φθηνα . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. nike vapormax skroutz . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http://www.vapormaxgreece.com/ . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. nike vapormax ανδρικα . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. nike air vapormax προσφορες . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals.PHILADELPHIA -- Next to all of that St. Louis power, Mike Leakes single mightve looked puny.But it scored two runs and those helped, too.Leake pitched seven strong innings and contributed at the plate, and the Cardinals homered four times Sunday to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-0.Jedd Gyorko, Stephen Piscotty, Brandon Moss and Jeremy Hazelbaker went deep.Its not the only way we can score runs but its our main way, Moss said. Weve got a lot of guys in the lineup that can do a lot of damage. Its nice to have guys in the lineup who can change a game like that.The Cardinals had hit multiple home runs in nine straight games, tying a major league record, before failing to connect twice Saturday night in a 4-2 loss. Manager Mike Matheny was happy to see the bats get going again.We needed that to continue to watch these guys stay in a good rhythm, he said.Jhonny Peralta added three hits as the Cardinals finished a 6-3 road trip. They remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Miami for the final wild-card spot in the National League.The Cardinals got six extra-base hits to set a club record of 14 straight games with at least three extra-base hits.Leake (9-9) gave up seven hits and struck out eight. Philadelphia had homered in 14 straight games before getting blanked by Leake and two relievers.He needed that, we needed that, Matheny said. It was a great outing for him. Youre seeing some strange swings because the ball was moving a lot for him today, and I thought he used his changeup well. And the breaking ball was there for strikes when he wanted it.Vince Velasquez (8-6) fell to 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA in his last seven starts.He wasnt locating his secondary pitches, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Hes going to be real good at one point. Hes got to keep working on it.Moss hit his 23rd homer and Leake added his single later in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.Piscotty connected in the fifth, the eighth home run Velasquez has allowed in three games.Im trying to figure it out, Velasquez said. I cant give a solid answer beccause I dont know what it is.ddddddddddddelasquez struck out 16 in a game earlier this season, but big league hitters have caught on to his fastball.I didnt have electric stuff early and next thing you know everything goes south when you dont have your secondary pitches, he said. Im not figuring it out and havent found that turning point yet.In the eighth, Gyorko hit his 20th homer and Hazelbaker had a pinch-hit drive.FOULS HIT FANSA day after a young girl was taken to the hospital when she was struck by a foul ball behind the Cardinals dugout, a young woman was hit in the face by Leakes foul in the sixth. She held an ice pack as she was helped to the concourse from her seat about 10 rows behind the dugout.Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis, who hit the foul that injured the fan Saturday night, said before the game that the team should extend the netting from behind home plate all the way to left field.The fans give you the money, so you should protect them, right? Galvis said. Were worried about speeding up the game. Why dont you put up a net and protect all the fans?FORE!Asked how he was going to fix things, Velasquez said he was going to take some swings -- with his clubs.Im going to play a round of golf and take my mind off baseball, he said. I think a round of golf is going to solve it.IN A PINCHThe Cardinals tied a big league record with their 14th pinch-hit homer of the season. Hazelbaker matched a club mark for pinch-hit homers in a season with his fourth.UP NEXTCardinals: After Mondays day off, they begin a six-game homestand with the Mets. St. Louis RHP Jaime Garcia (10-8, 4.11) opposes LHP Jonathon Niese (8-7, 5.30). Garcia has won three straight games and is 2-2 with a 1.58 ERA in six career starts against the Mets.Phillies: Start a five-game road trip on Tuesday night at the White Sox. RHP Jake Thompson (1-2, 8.79) faces Chicago LHP Carlos Rodon (3-8, 4.26). ' ' '