miaowang123: Upton went 2 for 4 and is hitting.307 with 10

Upton went 2 for 4 and is hitting.307 with 10

12 Dec 2019 at 03:44

BRISTOL, Tenn. Felton Spencer Jersey . - Kevin Harvick has become the best qualifier in NASCARs top series, at least for this season. The veteran driver won the pole position for Saturday nights Sprint Cup Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night. Its his series-high fifth top starting spot of the season, and just the 11th in 490 starts in his career. The secret? "Faster cars," Harvick said with a wide grin. "Thats it." Harvick, in his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing, set a track record with a lap at 131.362 mph that knocked Jeff Gordon from the top spot. Gordon, the series points leader, will start second at 131.290. "Any time you beat the 24 right now, things are going ok," Harvick said. Gordon was equally pleased. "I thought I had a really good laps that first run out," he said. "I came on the radio and I said, That is all I got. When you go do that and the car is well balanced and you get a good lap, you know that its up to somebody else to just take a little more risk and maybe get it, and Kevin did that." Carl Edwards, who won here in the spring, will start third, with Kyle Busch fourth. Busch has won five times in his career on the 0.533-mile oval, but said hes concerned the lone groove around the top of the track could be problematic. "I think the race is going to be frustrating — not a lot of passing," he said. "I think a lot of guys are going to be up around the top. Everybody is going to be up around the top." Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson are in the third row, with Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle in the fourth. Biffle is the only one of the top eight qualifiers who has not sealed a spot in the championship. He will start the race 16th in points, but with three drivers trailing him by 24 points or fewer as they try to climb into the top 16. "Well keep working on it," he said. "Bristol is hard to judge, but our car is driving good and I can run pretty consistent laps, so I feel like weve got a solid top 10 car." Tony Campbell Jersey . -- Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew practiced in a limited capacity Friday, a positive sign he might be able to play against the Tennessee Titans. Zach LaVine Jersey . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex.ATLANTA -- Justin Upton is having quite a month. Upton homered and had three RBIs, Jason Heyward drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Friday night for their third straight win. With 28 RBIs in 25 games since Aug. 1, Upton considers this to be the best month of his eight-year career. Its helped give him a career-high 91 RBIs this season, three more than he had in 2011 with Arizona. "Yeah, the guys on front of me have been getting on base, and Ive been fortunate to get some hits," Upton said. "As far as run producing, its probably been the best." The Braves, winners in 10 of 14, began the night 1 1/2 games back in the NL wild-card standings, but are just 19-21 since the All-Star break. Andrelton Simmons led off the seventh against Chris Hatcher (0-2) with a bunt single and advanced to third on pinch-hitter Ramiro Penas single. Simmons scored on Heywards RBI single off Mike ;Dunn to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Uptons RBI single off Sam ;Dyson drove in Heyward from second and Emilio Bonifacio also scored to make it 5-2 when centre fielder Marcell Ozuna misplayed the ball. It was a good example of the Braves trying to manufacture a run instead of taking their usual free-swinging, strikeout-prone approach. "Were going to have to do that if were going to win," Upton said. "Every nights not going to be a three-run homer. Were going to have to find ways to scratch runs across. We did that tonight." Jordany Valdespin tied it at 2-all in the Miami seventh with a pinch-hit homer, the seventh of his career, off reliever David Carpenter (5-3). Braves starter Ervin Santana allowed one run, five hits, four walks and struck out seven in six innings. Marlins starter Tom Koehler walked Freddie Freeman to begin the sixth and gave up Uptons 26th homer, a long shot deep into the seats in left-centre, for a 2-1 Atlanta lead. "I just got a good pitch to hit," Upton said. "In that situation I was just trying to get on base behind Freddie and squared it up." Kooehler gave up two runs and four hits with three walks and six strikeouts in six innings. Ryan Gomes Jersey. . The Marlins have dropped three straight and five of six. Santana needed 32 pitches to finish the first inning, walking three straight batters to load the bases, but escaped the jam by striking out Garrett Jones on three pitches and retiring Marcell Ozuna on a flyout. In the sixth, Ozuna doubled into the right-field corner off Santana, scoring Casey McGehee from second to make it 1-0, but Garrett Jones was thrown out at the plate on second baseman Tommy La Stellas relay throw to catcher Evan Gattis. "When you talk about winning games this time of year, youve got to make plays," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "The team that makes plays and gets big hits wins ball games." TRAINERS ROOM Marlins: Redmond said that RHP Dan Jennings, out since Aug. 8 with a concussion, was making a rehab start Friday and could rejoin the team soon. Braves: LHP Jonny Venters, who last pitched in 2012, said that he will undergo elbow ligament replacement surgery for the third time and added that "it never crossed my mind" to retire. UP NEXT Marlins RHP Jarred Cosart (11-8) beat the Braves 6-1 on June 26 while pitching for Houston. Braves RHP Aaron Harang (10-8) is winless with a 5.18 ERA in four starts this year and 5-5 with a 5.99 in 17 career starts against the Marlins. STAYING HOT Closer Craig Kimbrel, the fourth Atlanta pitcher, earned his 40th save in 44 chances after facing the minimum in the ninth. ... Upton went 2 for 4 and is hitting.307 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs in his 52 games since the start of July. ... The Braves improved to 69-44 dating back to last season with Heyward batting leadoff. STILL COLD Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman went 0 for 3 and his hitting .056 in 54 at-bats against the Marlins this season. ... Jones dropped to 1 for 12 with the bases loaded this year. ... Braves CF B.J. Upton was out of the lineup for the fourth time in seven games. After hitting a modest .255 in 98 at-bats in July, hes hitting .115 in August. ' ' '



Share

Add comment

Guests are not allowed to Add blog comments. Please sign in.

Rate

Your rate: 0
Total: 0 (0 votes)

Tags

No Tags