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Topic Started: Oct 24 2012, 08:06 AM (55 Views)
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ATLANTA -- Joe Blantons plan for a quick and efficient win on Thursday keyed on his hope to take advantage of a marathon game the night before. Ryan Fitzpatrick Jersey . Blanton pitched a three-hitter for his first shutout in five years and Shane Victorino hit a two-run homer to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday. "I tried to use last night to my advantage a little bit with an early 12 oclock start today," Blanton said. "I wanted to pound the zone a lot and hope that maybe they were coming out a touch lethargic. I dont know if that was the case or not. Blanton needed only 2 hours, 2 minutes for his win in the noon start. It provided a dramatic reversal of the Braves 15-13 win in 11 innings on Wednesday night when the teams combined for 36 hits. Wednesday nights 4-hour game lasted almost twice as long as Blantons masterful performance. The Braves barely had time to wake up. Blanton (3-3) did not walk a batter and had six strikeouts in his third career shutout, his first since June 2, 2007 for Oakland against Minnesota. The Braves only hits were singles by Freddie Freeman in the first, David Ross in the fifth and Michael Bourn in the ninth. Martin Prado then lined out into a double play to end the game. Blanton, with his red socks pulled up to his knees, was dominant as he needed only 88 pitches. He faced only 29 batters, two above the minimum. "Perfect timing after last nights game," Phillies catcher Brian Schneider said. "Joe did great. He mixed up his pitches, he got ahead of a lot of hitters. ... It was a lot of fun catching him today." The Phillies used six pitches in Wednesday nights loss. Because he was able to give the Phillies bullpen a break, Blanton said this could be the best start of his career. "I think so, just from the fact there were a lot of guys who pitched last night and I had to go deep," he said. "I think that was the biggest thing, that guys got some rest today." Left fielder Laynce Nix had two hits, including a homer in the sixth inning. He was 5-for-9 in the series with four RBIs and is hitting .342 as he continues to earn playing time in the outfield and at first base. "Its hard for me to take him out, isnt it?" asked manager Charlie Manuel. "Hes hitting the ball hard, hes hitting homers, hes hitting doubles, hes hitting .300, and .300 hitters are hard to come by these days. At the same time, that doesnt mean that John Mayberry is not going to be playing." The win allowed the Phillies to take two of three games in the first series between the NL East rivals. The Phillies were 12-6 against the Braves in 2011, including three-game sweeps in the last two series. "Its not a rivalry until we beat them, and beat them consistently," Atlantas Chipper Jones said. "Can we play with them? Yes. Can we beat them? Yes. We just have to do it consistently." Atlantas Randall Delgado (2-3) also pitched well while allowing six hits and two runs with no walks in eight innings, the longest start of his career. "He deserved a better fate than what he got," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Delgado. "He pitched great. He gave us every opportunity to win this game, and we didnt." Delgado gave up a run in the first when Jimmy Rollins singled, moved to second on Juan Pierres bunt single, advance to third on Victorinos fly out and scored on Hunter Pences sacrifice fly. Delgado didnt allow another run until the seventh, when Nix hit his second homer over the 400-foot sign in centre. Victorino hit a two-run homer in the ninth. Blanton had a base-running blunder in the eighth. He singled to centre with one out, but then took off for second on Rollins fly ball to left field. Martin Prado quickly threw the ball to Dan Uggla, whose relay throw to first easily beat Blanton back for a double play. Blanton said he knew there was only one out when Rollins at-bat began but then wrongly thought there were two outs. "My mind was somewhere else," Blanton said. "I guess I was still thinking about pitching." NOTES: RHP Roy Halladay left the team after Wednesday nights game to attend to a personal family matter. He is expected to rejoin the Phillies in Washington on Friday. ... Braves C Brian McCann had a scratch on the edge of his right eye when Michael Bourn, attempting a high-five at the plate after McCanns grand slam Wednesday night, accidently hit him in the face. McCann had the eye examined Thursday morning. He said he feels some discomfort but said there is no injury. He had a scheduled day off Thursday. ... Jones also had a routine day off after his game-winning homer in 11th Wednesday night. ... The Braves open a three-game series at Colorado on Friday night with RHP Tim Hudson (1-0) making his second start against RHP Guillermo Moscoso (0-1). Mario Williams Womens Jersey . This week, he and the rest of the B.C. Lions are looking for redemption against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night. Steve Johnson Womens Jersey .C. United to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night. Dwayne De Rosario and Brandon McDonald also scored to help United (12-8-4) become the first team to score more than two goals against the Fire this year. http://www.billsteamstore.com/fred-jackson-jerseys . Smith signed with the Steelers earlier this year. He has also spent time with the Omaha Nighthawks (2011) of the United Football League, the San Francisco 49ers (2010) and the Baltimore Ravens (2007-2009). Ryan Fitzpatrick Youth Jersey . Scuffling through a wet post-season, the Detroit ace and likely AL Cy Young Award winner left a start early again Saturday night when a pair of rain delays prevented him from pitching more than four innings. Fred Jackson Womens Jersey .C., won gold in the mens final at the Snowboarding Gran Prix on Saturday.Less than two months after Alexandre Despatie hit his head on the diving board during a practice session, Canadas top male diver finished 11th at his fourth Olympic Games. Competing in the mens three-metre springboard final - an Olympic competition that the diver from Laval, Que., has said could be his last - he scored a total of 413.35 points. The finish was over 100 points away from what would have been his third podium finish at an Olympic Games, but following a difficult year, Despatie said he was happy with the result. "I was so fortunate and lucky to be here in the first place," he told CTVOlympics. "In the final I was quite relaxed. I was really comfortable, calm. I really wanted to enjoy this moment. Its been the most taxing year of my life on a physical level, on an psychological level, on an emotional level as well." In first place, it was a Russian who shattered Chinas hopes at a perfect diving competition at London 2012. Ahead of the mens springboard final, China had picked up gold in five out of five events, and looked on pace to sweep the eight-event competition. But Ilya Zakharov, a 21-year-old diver competing at his first Olympic Games, pulled off an extremely strong set of six dives to earn his first Olympic gold medal with 555.90 points. The score was enough to unseat two extremely strong Chinese divers - the closest finisher, by over 14 points. Zakharovs last two dives were his best, and the Olympic rookie picked up a competition-leading 104.50 points for a front 4.5 somersault with his final plunge. Qin Kai, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, dissolved into tears after he finished second with 541.75, while the defending Olympic champion, He Chong, finished third with 524.15. In June, Despaties shocking accident shook the diving community to its core. Performing an inward 3.5 somersault, a dive he had performed countless times before, the Canadian glanced his head off the board. He was rushed to the hospital, a panicked text message sent home to his mom in Quebec. Despatie required surgery to repair a 10-centimetre cut to his forehead, and later tests revealed that he suffered from a mild concussion. Recently, he also admitted that the accident likely caused nerve damage to his scalp as well. "Six weeks ago I was lying in a bed in the hospital," the diver said on Tuesday. "Its been challenging but its been a very very special experience for me." And so, it was a real gamble when Despatie, with a prominent scar still running across his hairline, decided to make a last-minute change to his dive list in Tuesdays final. He had played it safe through the first two rounds of the competition, finishing within the top-10 in both the preliminary and semi-final rounds. But on Tuesday morning, he announced that he would add his newest dive, the forward 4.5 somersault, into the fifth spot out of six dives on his list. The dive is relatively new to the mens springboard competition, and it was not performed at the 2008 Olympic Games where Despatie won his second Olympic silver medal.. Steve Johnson Elite Jersey. Following a knee injury that kept Canadas diving veteran sidelined from competition for much of the 2011 season, Despatie rushed to develop the dive in time for London 2012. But with the added setback of the accident in June, there just did not seem to be enough time to prepare. Ahead of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, he had only performed it once in competition, receiving mediocre scores for his effort. In his attempt on Tuesday, Despatie was unable to get the big hop he needed off the board. He overcompensated in the air, pulling through his four-and-a-half rotations to overshoot his entry into the water. With his second-last dive of the day, he scored just 74.10 for the attempt. "Who knows what could have happened with so much more training in me?" Despatie said later. Already close to falling out of medal contention with just one round to go, he appeared to lose concentration ahead of his final dive. Performing a forward 2.5 somersault with two twists, he began his hurdle off balance, taking off from the edge of the board. The dive fell extremely short; in his final dive of the competition, Despatie scored just 22.10 points. By comparison, the next-lowest score of the round was 64.75. "Its one of those things that happens once in a blue moon. Diving is like that," he said. "Sometimes these kinds of things happen to the best in the world. Its happened to (bronze medallist) He Chong in competition as well. "I wasnt placed on the board very well and then my legs just gave out. I wasnt able to push. So the year ended the way it started, filled with misfortune, but I think that in general I have to be proud of yourself and what I accomplished." Canadas most-decorated male diver with two Olympic silver medals, nine Commonwealth Games titles and eight world championship podium appearances, Despatie says he has not decided when he will retire. "Thats the million dollar question, isnt it?" He said on Tuesday, with a smile. The most influential Canadian diver in decades - if not ever - Diving Canada has said that Despatie changed the face of mens diving in his country. Every four years following one of his Olympic appearances, populations in Canadian diving clubs swell. "Hes the guy," Despaties coach, Arturo Miranda, told CTVOlympics.ca in an interview in February. "He is an icon for a lot of young kids in Canada... He gets a lot of kids involved in diving. "I think the legacy that he will leave behind (when he retires) is obviously results, but also just the way he has always been. He has always been a great ambassador for every diver in Canada. All over the world everybody knows all about him because hes always been a very easy going guy, he has always been a great ambassador for every diver in Canada." "Its going to take a lot of calming down, thinking (to decide)," Despatie said. "Events like this, they make you want to dive more. To be in these kinds of events make you want to stay forever," he said. ' ' '
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