Kritik und Anregungen » ccurate with quick, short passes

TORONTO - Munenori Kawasaki and Brett Lawrie shared the left side of the infield on this sun-drenched, cool spring Sunday. In the aftermath of a dramatic four-run ninth inning, which capped a thrilling 6-5 Blue Jays victory over the Orioles to ensure an important series split, it was clear that on this day their positional proximity was their only commonality. There stood Kawasaki post-game, the affable fill-in for the injured Jose Reyes who has achieved cult hero status in Toronto, basking in his finest moment in the major leagues. Hed just hit the two-out, two-run walk off double. Hed just tossed his helmet to the sky in delight as he rounded second base and saw the winning run, Mark DeRosa chugging all the way from first, cross home plate. There stood the ultimate underdog, the unlikely major leaguer, the guy who knows little English but communicates with a smile and a series of one-liners, hamming it up as he consulted a brochure of Japanese-to-English baseball clichés. "I did it," Kawasaki began. "Give me a hug," he jokingly followed. "Lets go," he bellowed to the assembled media. "What happened," was the first question, Kawasaki asked to describe his game-ending heroics. His response: "No ask. Japanese only, please. Im Japanese." Kawasaki, 31, is making the most of an unexpected opportunity. A slap hitter with no power – it seems his only shot at a home run would be of the inside-the-park variety – and a below-average throwing arm, he has exceeded expectations thanks to a tireless work ethic and a willingness to work pitchers. "When Reyes went down, we were scrambling, we didnt know what we were going to do," said manager John Gibbons. "We knew very little about him but hes come up here, hes done a tremendous job for us, he really has. Hes played just a good brand of baseball. You know one thing about the players who come from Japan, theyre fundamentally sound, they play the game the right way and things like that. Hes done a lot of good things for us. It couldnt happen to a better guy. It really couldnt." Juxtapose Kawasaki with Lawrie. There stood the Canadian face of Canadas only Major League baseball franchise, the 23-year-old for whom the world should be his oyster. There stood a highly intense young man who, less than two full years into his big league career, has had his share of brushes with baseballs written and unwritten laws. Lawrie was answering questions not about his role in the victory but about an incident of petulant behaviour earlier in that thrilling ninth inning. When Lawrie came to the plate as the fourth hitter of the ninth, the Jays had scored to cut the deficit to 5-3 and had runners on first and third with nobody out. Lawrie hit a first pitch fly ball to Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis. Adam Lind, the runner at third, smartly held his ground. Lawrie walked, didnt jog or run, up the first base line toward the Jays dugout. As he did so he glared at Lind and third base coach Luis Rivera. Steps from entering the dugout, he began to shout in their direction, miffed at why Lind didnt tag up and score. Moments later, Jose Bautista was trying to calm Lawrie down as he engaged in a heated discussion with Gibbons. Was Lawrie upset that Lind didnt attempt to score, denying him the sacrifice fly and run batted in? Doubtful, given the intensity of the moment its unlikely Lawrie processed such a selfish thought. Lawries out was the first of the inning and the tying run was at first base. More hits were required to square the game and Lind would score then. If Lind is thrown out at home by Markakis, who has a cannon for an arm, it likely derails the rally. Lind and Rivera were in the right. Is it possible this most basic strategy eluded Lawrie? If so, his heart was in the right place but his head wasnt. Lawrie was brief with his post-game explanation. "No not so much heated just kind of caught up in the moment of trying to score runs and come back against those guys was all," he said. Gibbons, a no-nonsense Texan, played the situation cool. "Brett plays to win, hes a very intense guy," said Gibbons. "Weve probably talked this year more than you guys will ever know. I dont want to say hes like my son, were not that tight, but we do talk a lot. He plays to win. Yeah he got a little heated, I got a little heated, what have you but thats over. Its no big deal, those things happen." The Blue Jays have a decision to make. The club could handle the matter internally, give Lawrie a stern talking to and a warning not to repeat the behaviour. The alternative is for the organization, for Gibbons, to take a stand. Lawrie should sit out Monday nights game against the Atlanta Braves. That way, if in the future a similar scenario unfolds, Lawrie may give a second thought to his approach. After all, in team sports, it should always be team and teammates first before all else.Fake Vans . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Fake Vans Website . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. https://www.vansfake.com/ . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Fake Vans Cheap . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Fake Vans 2020 .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA.DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford led another crucial drive late in the fourth quarter, and Matt Praters kicking again helped Detroit to a tight victory over Minnesota.For the second time this month, the Lions edged the Vikings. This time, they didnt need overtime.Praters 40-yard field goal on the final play gave Detroit a 16-13 victory Thursday, moving the Lions a game ahead of Minnesota atop the NFC North. Darius Slay intercepted Sam Bradfords pass with 30 seconds remaining to set up the winning kick.On Nov. 6 at Minnesota, Stafford led the Lions into range for Praters 58-yard field at the end of regulation, and Detroit went on to win 22-16 in overtime . Now the Lions (7-4) have sole possession of first place after Thursdays victory.Obviously, were in decent position, but they dont hand out trophies and things of that nature after a few wins like weve had, Detroit coach Jim Caldwell said. But were happy that we were able to find a way to pull them out, thats for sure.The Vikings (6-5) were facing third down in the final minute when Slay stepped up in coverage and intercepted Bradford. His return gave the Lions the ball at the Minnesota 20, and although there was some initial question about whether Slay fumbled at the end of the play, the call was upheld. Detroit ran the clock down, and Praters kick won it.The Vikings led 13-10 and had the Lions pinned back at their own 2 with 5:02 remaining, but Stafford made a 29-yard pass to Anquan Boldin on a crucial third down, and Detroit was able to work its way into position for Praters 48-yard field goal that tied it with 1:45 to play.The Lions have won six of their last seven, and Minnesota has dropped five of six since starting the season 5-0. Now the Vikings will have to rally to win a division that once looked like theirs for the taking.You just keep moving forward. Obviously, theres a lot of football left to play and theres still five games left, Bradford said. All we can do is worry about who we have next week and thats Dallas. Obviously, its a really big game for us.Here are a few things we learned from Detroits big Thanksgiving victory:STANDINGSThe Lions havent won a division title since 1993, and this is certainly a big opportunity for them. Not onlly are they one game ahead of the Vikings, but they also have the tiebreaker, having swept the season series against Minnesota.dddddddddddd And Green Bay (4-6) has fallen back with four straight losses.However, the Vikings could still be heard from down the stretch. Minnesota hosts Dallas next, but none of its final four opponents (Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Chicago) has a winning record at the moment.The Lions, meanwhile, still have road games against Dallas and the New York Giants.MOBILITYStafford is having a terrific season with his arm, but he also showed some effectiveness as a runner Thursday. He ended up with 30 yards on four carries, giving the offense a boost when little else was working.He always adds a couple in there for us. I do think hes a weapon in that regard, Caldwell said. Teams that play some man-to-man in those situations and turn their back on the ball, he finds a way to find a hole and skate through it. He makes good decisions in that regard and those runs are very, very important to us.NOT ENOUGHBradford is very accurate with quick, short passes , but thats not always enough to win. He went 31 of 37 but threw for only 224 yards, and the Vikings managed only one touchdown in the game.CLUTCHThe Lions can feel confident in their kicker in important spots. All 11 of Detroits games this season have been decided by seven points or fewer, and Prater has come up big.In his career, Prater has made 18 game-winning or game-tying field goals with under 4:00 to play in the fourth quarter or in overtime. Six of those kicks have come in 2016.The 40-yarder at the end Thursday was no problem.Its still a short enough kick where you should be making that kick 100 percent of the time, he said.TOUGH UP FRONTThe Vikings defense is still looking strong. After Detroit drove 75 yards for a touchdown on the games first possession, the Lions didnt reach the end zone again. Detroit managed only 90 yards in the second half.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '