miaowang123: change over time and the Blue Jackets arent likely to regret letting Nikitin go

miaowang123

NEW YORK -- David Price cant control the trade speculation. Mark Melancon Jersey . The opposing hitters, he can handle them just fine. Price came within one pitch of extending his remarkable strikeout streak, yet still did plenty to lead the resurgent Tampa Bay Rays over the New York Yankees 2-1 on a warm Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory. "Stay here, David," Rays manager Joe Maddon implored. James Loney hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning and the Rays matched their longest win string of the season. Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrigs team record for doubles as the Yankees equaled their worst skid this year with their fourth loss in a row. Price (7-7) struck out nine -- he fanned at least 10 in each of his previous five starts, and was trying to join Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers to accomplish the feat six straight times. "That wouldve been cool," Price said. The left-hander gave up four hits and was pulled after seven innings and 119 pitches. He fanned Francisco Cervelli for the second out in the bottom of the seventh, then got two strikes on both Yangervis Solarte and Brett Gardner, missed with a couple of close pitches and couldnt quite get strikeout No. 10. In 23 career starts against the Yankees, Price has never reached double digits in strikeouts. The Rays, who spent most of June with the worst record in the majors, have won six of seven. Their recent struggles had fueled talk that Tampa Bay might trade Price before the July 31 deadline. Price has said that the more the Rays win, the better chance he has of staying with his original club. "I just play ball," the 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner said. "Thats my job." Jake McGee pitched a perfect eighth and Grant Balfour worked around a pair of walks in the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances. Maddon has gone to a closer-by-committee approach. He said he picked Balfour this time because of a bit of "karma" -- the manager saw the reliever walking his grandmother into the team hotel lobby earlier in the day. "True," Maddon said. Balfour said his grandmom, in her mid-80s, came from the familys home in Australia to see one game at Yankee Stadium. "Im sure she was happy I was able to get in tonight," Balfour said. New York (41-41) has dropped eight of 10. "The guys we have, theyve got to get it done. Thats the bottom line," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "As I said, its not just a couple of guys going, its a number of guys." "No one is going to feel sorry for you," he said. "No one has a magic potion. You just have to grind it out." It was 1-all when Loney hit the first pitch of the sixth from Hiroki Kuroda (5-6) into the Yankees bullpen in right-centre field. His fifth home run of the season gave him 11 RBIs in 14 games. The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria opened with singles and, after Loney struck out, Logan Forsythe hit an RBI single. A wild throw on a rundown gave the Yankees a run in the bottom half. Jeter led off with his 534th career double and went to third on Jacoby Ellsburys single. Price trapped Ellsbury with a pickoff throw, but he was hit in the back by shortstop Ben Zobrists throw and Jeter scored. Zobrist is playing shortstop in place of regular starter Yunel Escobar, put on the disabled list before the game because of a sore right shoulder. NOTES: Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long was ejected in the sixth for arguing balls and strikes from the bench. ... Cervelli nearly tumbled over the dugout railing while catching Zobrists foul pop in the first. Maddon helped steady the backup catcher, who started in place of Brian McCann. In the ninth, McCann pinch hit and looked at strike three with a runner on first. After hitting just .221 with nine homers and 36 RBIs at the halfway mark, McCann said hes been "horrible" this season. An All-Star with Atlanta, he signed an $85 million, five-year deal with the Yankees. Girardi said it was just a regular day off for rest. "I believe hes going to hit," Girardi said. "At times, I think hes been a little anxious." ... Tampa Bay RF Kevin Kiermaier and a couple of Rays got into the World Cup spirit, dying their hair red, white and blue to support the U.S. soccer team. ... Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (3-7, 4.14 ERA) starts against LHP Vidal Nuno (2-4, 5.42) in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. ... Johnson remains the last pitcher to strike out at least 10 in six consecutive starts. He did it in 2002 with Arizona. The record is eight in a row by Martinez in 1999 with Boston. Mel Ott Jersey .5 million. University officials released the term sheet signed by Harsin Wednesday, the day the former Broncos walk-on player and Boise native was named the successor to Chris Petersen, who left for Washington last week. Deion Sanders Jersey . The senior threw for 319 yards and no interceptions in his final college game, leading No.The Edmonton Oilers traded for the rights to a free agent defenceman, and got him signed to a two-year deal, paying a premium for a shorter term contract. Numbers Game looks at the Oilers inking Nikita Nikitin. The Oilers Get: D Nikita Nikitin. Nikitin, 28, played a career-high 66 games last season, an indication that hes still trying to establish his place in the league. A couple of years ago, in 2011-2012, Nikitin contributed a career-best 32 points in 54 games for Columbus (after seven scoreless games with St. Louis to start the year), playing a career-high 23:12 per game for the season putting up strong relative possession numbers while facing high-quality opposition, while frequently paired with veteran Fedor Tyutin. Thats the Nikitin that the Oilers have to hope they are acquiring. In 2012-2013, Nikitins role was decreased somewhat, and while he still logged 21:12 per game, Nikitin was then surpassed on the depth chart last season by rookie Ryan Murray, leaving Nikitin to play 17:07 per game on the third pair. Playing on that third pair didnt bring ideal results, as Nikitin was a little below break-even in possession terms, but if there is reason to hold out hope for Nikitin, it may be that his with-or-without you numbers arent bad over the past three seasons. Among the 16 skaters with whom he played at least 300 5-on-5 minutes over those three seasons, Nikitin had better possession numbers apart than 11 of those skaters, but that relative effectiveness has decreased in the past two seasons, to the point that in 2013-2014, Nikitin had better possession stats apart from just three of the 13 skaters with whom he played more than 150 5-on-5 minutes. What this would seem to indicate is that Nikitin, who has good size, can skate and handle the puck a bit, isnt necessarily one to carry the play. He could be a useful complementary player and presumably Oilers Senior VP of Hockey Operations Scott Howson (who acquired Nikitin as GM in Columbus) is a fan, but there is risk in bringing in a player with falling possession numbers to a team that already ranked 28th in Fenwick Close (unblocked shot attempts during 5-on-5, score within one goal in first two periods and tied in third period). Its not aas though Nikitins play in the past couple seasons indicates that he would improve the results no matter with whom he is partnered and its reasonable to wonder if the Oilers have the right personnel to get positive results with Nikitin on the ice. Dave Dravecky Jersey. . If the Jeff Petry and Martin Marincin pairing goes ahead, then perhaps Nikitin gets a chance alongside Andrew Ference. Maybe that somehow works out and allows the Oilers some time to develop their young defencemen. Its entirely possible that it wont work out, though, and the short-term nature of the contract suggests that both sides recognize that risk. Signed to a two-year, $9-million deal, Nikitin will be well-compensated, particularly if he cant stick in the Oilers top four, but the downside of a two-year deal is limited compared to the longer term that will be available to other free agent defencemen. The Blue Jackets Get: A fifth-round pick. Since the Blue Jackets werent going to bring Nikitin back, getting any asset in return is a plus. The fifth-round pick, 137th overall, belonged to Columbus originally and was traded to Edmonton last season to acquire D Nick Schultz. A fifth-round pick doesnt bring a lot of value, but its something. From 1990 through 2009, just under 15% of the picks between 121 and 150 played at least 100 NHL games, so there is a little better than a one-in-seven chance of netting an NHL player. While its reasonable for the Oilers to have hope Nikitin can perform in a top-four role, it could be telling that the Blue Jackets would let Nikitin depart as a free agent. Mabye they simply didnt want to pay that kind of money to a third pair defenceman, when they have younger, cheaper options (David Savard, Dalton Prout, Tim Erixon) available and thats fair, but current Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen was the Blues Director of Scouting when St. Louis picked Nikitin in the fifth round in 2004. Lots can change over time and the Blue Jackets arent likely to regret letting Nikitin go, even if he works out well for the Oilers. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '