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18 Apr 2018 at 03:45

MADRID -- Atletico Madrid is not used to struggling like this, not under coach Diego Simeone. Cairo Santos Jersey .After its third loss in five Spanish league games on Monday, Atletico dropped to sixth place -- its worst position at this point in the season since Simeone took charge in 2011.The 3-0 loss at Villarreal left Atletico 12 points behind leader Real Madrid after 15 matches. It also trails Barcelona, Sevilla, Villarreal and Real Sociedad.There have been some mistakes, said Simeone, who won the title with Atletico in 2014. We accept the criticism. When a team loses two games in a row, things need to improve.Atletico also lost 1-0 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League, a result that snapped the teams perfect record in the European competition. It was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Espanyol in its previous Spanish league game. One of its recent losses in the league was a demoralizing 3-0 setback against Madrid at home in the city derby.The team is trying its best to get in position to win, Simeone said. But in these last few games we are not having any luck, especially with the scoring chances, and that leads to losses. We have to keep working, because its the only way we can improve.Atletico has not been worse than third in the league since a fifth-place finish in 2011-12. The club was only 10th after 15 matches that season, but it improved significantly after Simeone took over in December 2011. Atletico was third at the end of the following season and won the league in 2013-14 to end a drought of nearly two decades.Atletico was third again the last two seasons, and now it has some work to do just to secure a Champions League spot.Obviously we have to improve if we want to fight for the spots atop the standings, Atletico captain Gabi Fernandez said.The letdown comes as a surprise as Atletico entered the season with high expectations. Thanks to a significant increase in income from television rights, Simeone was able to add important pieces to the squad and fans expected Atletico to move even closer to the perennial powerhouses of Barcelona and Madrid.But Simeone started experimenting with different formations and the team struggled with inconsistency. The squads offense got a boost but the usually stout defense lost some of its strength. Atletico conceded 11 goals in its last seven league games, and 14 in 15 games, only four goals less than the 18 it conceded in all 38 games in the league last season.We have to improve and stop allowing so many goals, Fernandez said.To make things worse for Simeone, he may be without goalkeeper Jan Oblak for a long period because he dislocated his left shoulder in the game against Villarreal, having to be substituted in the 40th minute at El Madrigal Stadium. Defensive midfielder Tiago Mendes also left the game before halftime because of a discomfort in his right knee.Atleticos next game is Saturday against 10th-place Las Palmas at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.There is still a lot of league ahead of us, Atletico defender Stefan Savic said. Its not all lost. Last year Barcelona was 12 points in front and we got to within two at one stage. We are going through a difficult moment but we will rebound.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: twitter.com/tazzoni Tamba Hali Jersey . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Larry Johnson Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. www.chiefsauthenticofficialstore.com/authentic-tanoh-kpassagnon-jersey.html . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. DETROIT -- Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez might have hoped that giving David Ortiz a present would keep him from beating them yet again.It didnt work.The Tigers honored David Ortiz with a pregame ceremony Saturday night that included two of his closest friends in baseball. Five innings later, his two-run homer in the fifth inning turned out to be the difference in Bostons 3-2 victory over the slumping Tigers.Hes one of those guys who you never want to let beat you, said Tigers catcher James McCann. Daniel (Norris) just made one mistake.Hours earlier, Tigers general manager Al Avila had joined with Cabrera and Martinez for a tribute to Ortizs career. After all three talked about Ortizs impact in pre-recorded videos, they presented him with a large framed photograph from his appearance in the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit.That meant a lot to me, because those two guys are brothers to me -- they are family, Ortiz said. To hear what they said about me was great. They will stay with me forever.The Tigers nearly sent the game to extra innings in the early moments of Sunday morning.With two out in the ninth, Justin Upton drove a pitch from Craig Kimbrel to deep center field and started celebrating the game-tying homer, but it hit inches from the top of the fence, 420 feet away.I hit that ball about as good as I can hit it, Upton said. I was obviously shocked, but at the same time you know what park you are playing in. Its a big yard out there.Upton ended up on second, and Casey McGehee struck out to end the game at 12:17 am.We were a couple inches from tying the game, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. Were just in one of those funks offensively where runs dont come.The start of the game was delayed 80 minutes by storms that moved into the area during the afternoon, and another heavy downpour interrupted the game for about 71 minutes after the fifth inning.That was a long night, but we never lost our focus, Red Sox manager John Farrell said. Luckily, David got a high fastball and put it out. We needed that.Drew Pomeranz (2-2) gave up one run and four hits in five innings. He struck out three, but did not walk a batter. Kimbrel got the last four outs for his 22nd save.McCann and J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers, who have lost 10 of 13.We cant worry about that -- we have another game tomorrow, Ausmus said before looking at the clock. Well, we actually have another game later today.Norris (1-2) took the loss, giving up three runs and eighht hits in his five innings. Patrick Mahomes II Jersey. He walked two and struck out four while escaping multiple jams.I thought he looked good, McCann said. We attacked with his fastball and had success, but unfortunately the rain cut his outing short.Boston took the lead in the third, but could have had a much bigger inning. Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts and Ortiz started it with singles to load the bases, but Mookie Betts hit into a double play.Pedroia scored and Norris walked Hanley Ramirez before retiring Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the inning.McCann then tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.Ortiz, though, broke the tie in the fifth with his second homer in two nights. The two-run shot gave him 1,500 RBI with the Red Sox.The Tigers put their first two runners on in the bottom of the fifth, but McCann hit into a double play and Andrew Romine grounded out. Moments later, the second storm hit, resulting in a 71-minute delay.Martinez pulled the Tigers to 3-2 with a long homer to left in the seventh. Matt Barnes walked two batters in the eighth, but Erick Aybar popped out on the first pitch he saw for the second out.That brought Kimbrel in to face Cabrera for the first time in their careers. Cabrera lined out to left field on an 0-1 pitch.I thought that Craig getting out of that on two pitches was huge, Farrell said. That set him up to get able to get through the ninth.TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox: OF Chris Young (hamstring) has played in six rehab games with Triple-A Pawtucket, and is hitting .211 (4-for-19) with two doubles. He has also played three games in left field.Tigers: OF Cameron Maybin (wrist) took batting practice with the team in the indoor cages under the stands. The Tigers hope to have him back in about a week.THANKING BIG PAPIDuring his speech, Avila joked about Detroit also always remembering the damage Ortiz has done -- a reference to his series-changing grand slam in the 2013 ALCS -- while Cabrera, speaking in Spanish, pleaded with him to play one more season.UP NEXTThe teams finish the four-game series Sunday afternoon with Detroit ace Justin Verlander (12-7, 3.44) facing Bostons Henry Owens, who is replacing scheduled starter Eduardo Rodriguez (hamstring). The Red Sox are one of the few teams with a positive record against Verlander, who is 4-5 with a 3.05 ERA in 14 starts against them. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Jerseys NFL China Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Discount NFL Jerseys ' ' ' 



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