Dein erstes Forum » England having a considerably long batting line-up

CHICAGO -- There it was, another big at-bat staring at Addison Russell. And once again, the young star delivered.Russell hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, and three relievers combined for five perfect innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night.Hes growing up, manager Joe Maddon said. As a major league baseball player, his confidence could not be higher.The Cubs spoiled a shaky Jeff Samardzijas return to Wrigley Field and started September on a winning note after going 22-6 to match the 1932 team for the best August in franchise history.The major league leaders also moved a season-high 39 games over .500 and a jaw-dropping 15 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central -- their largest lead in the standings since the 1907 team finished 17 games ahead of Pittsburgh, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Russells bloop single off Cory Gearrin gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead. Dexter Fowler had two singles and scored two runs.Kris Bryant added an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, matching a career high. And the Cubs rallied behind a dominant bullpen and another big hit by Russell.I kind of embrace those situations, he said. In that situation, I didnt try to do too much. I just wanted to see a pitch, really, and just try to go about my approach the same way.The 22-year-old Russells 88 RBI are tops among National League shortstops. He is 8 for 18 and has driven in 23 runs with the bases loaded. On top of that, he is playing a Gold Glove-level defense.His go-ahead hit wiped out a 4-3 deficit and capped a rally that began when Hunter Strickland (3-2) gave up a leadoff single to Fowler and walked Bryant after two close pitches were called balls.Will Smith walked Ben Zobrist with one out to load the bases before retiring Jason Heyward on a pop fly. But Russell then drove in Fowler and Bryant with a bloop single to left.It obviously felt like I had a good game plan, Gearrin said. Made two good pitches and broke his bat and he just found a hole. Its just frustrating because you want to get the result no matter what. At the same time as a pitcher, you can only do so much.That made a winner of Joe Smith (2-4), who worked two innings after returning from a strained left hamstring.Carl Edwards Jr. worked the ninth for his first career save with Aroldis Chapman getting the night off after pitching in the previous three games. And the Cubs came away with the win on a cool and windy night in which both starting pitchers lasted just four innings.SHAKY STARTSSamardzija gave up three runs and five hits, walked three and threw 87 pitches in his second start against Chicago and first as a visitor at Wrigley Field. The right-hander played for the Cubs from 2008 until he was traded to Oakland during the 2014 season in the deal for Russell.Chicagos Mike Montgomery gave up four runs -- three earned -- and three hits, including a long two-run homer to Hunter Pence in the first.TRANSACTIONSThe Giants reinstated LHP Josh Osich and OF Mac Williamson from the DL and recalled LHP Ty Blach, LHP Matt Reynolds, LHP Steven Okert and INF Kelby Tomlinson from Triple-A.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: RHP Matt Cain (lower back strain) is expected to come off the DL and head to the bullpen rather than the rotation. Manager Bruce Bochy said the three-time All-Star, who has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, was all for the assignment. RHP Albert Suarez will start Friday.Cubs: RHP John Lackey (strained right shoulder) will likely return to the rotation this weekend. Thursdays throwing session went well, and assuming no setbacks, the veteran will start Sunday. ... RHP Hector Rondon (strained right triceps) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Saturday and likely make another appearance for the minor league club before returning. ... Pedro Strop (torn meniscus in left knee) tweaked his right groin in a workout on Wednesday. The Cubs expect him to miss about six weeks after initially projecting him to be out four to six following his injury on Aug. 10.UP NEXTThe Cubs send LHP Jon Lester (14-4, 2.70 ERA), unbeaten in his past six starts, to the mound while Suarez (3-2, 4.35) makes his eighth start for San Francisco. Adidas NMD Human Race Sale . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Wholesale NMD . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/wholesale-pharrell-adidas-nmd-hu-china.html . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Cheap Mens Adidas NMD Shoes .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Adidas NMD Womens Pink . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Batsmen get punked in the subcontinent. Big time. England, for example, spent the best part of two days watching India pile on the runs but when it was their turn, the ball began keeping low, it started turning. It caused problems even when it did nothing and went straight.Indias total of 455 seemed like a garish example of excess. Picture a solid gold super car. So why get stingy with the close catchers? Ajinkya Rahane at slip was a constant. So was a short leg. Occasionally there was a gully or a leg slip. The rest were protecting singles and boundaries.Consider the five wickets that India took in Visakhapatnam. Alastair Cook was conned by Mohammed Shami. The proud seam of a brand new SG ball was pointing towards the left of the keeper. It should have moved away. It did not. It came in off the pitch and broke the off stump in two. Englands captain would be within his rights to find the nearest coaching manual and yell, you filthy little liar. Haseeb Hameed was run-out. Ben Duckett wrapped himself up with a neat little bow for R Ashwin. Joe Root played a bad shot. And Moeen Ali was done in by less spin than he expected.All but one of those bear the mark of batsmen making mistakes and they happened because India did not give away easy runs. Only 14 balls out of Ashwins 13 overs were scored off. If thats put down to his experience and ranking as the Worlds No. 1 bowler, what explains Jayant Yadav allowing England to profit from only seven of his balls in seven overs? He is a Test debutant.Tactics, perhaps? The men India had saving singles were alert, and well placed. The bowlers were accurate enough to make the job a bit easier. And without the rotation of strike, the pressure on a batsman can seem starker than it is. Even to someone batting past a half-century, as it turned out.Roots down-the-track mow into the leg side that ended up caught off a leading edge looked quite awful. But India allowed him only nine runs in 33 balls since his mix-up with Hameed led England off course. There were other close calls as well, including an offbreak that breached his bat-pad gap. India sensed something. They brought mid-on up, and had Umesh Yadav, a goodd athlete and a fine catcher, about 20 yards from the mid-off boundary.dddddddddddd Upon seeing the miscue, he backtracked smoothly to his left and did the needful.Ashwin, the bowler, punched the air and let out a roar. He doesnt usually celebrate like that - unless it was the culmination of a plan. Its a very very different pitch to what we saw in Rajkot. Its not one of those easy-paced wickets, he said at the post-match press conference. He [Root] jabbed at one, one went through the gate. and he nicked one, almost, to short leg. So we were expecting a shot like that, and thats why we put the mid-on.It wasnt the first time Root had been starved out either. Misbah-ul-Haq had done him the same way at Lords earlier this summer.Still, where was the harm to have a few more men catching? At least, it would show the batsman who was on top. Yes, but what if Virat Kohli thought it might show something else as well? Gaps, which could be exploited to release the pressure he wanted built. Runs which would mean his spinners cannot get their rhythm right. And a momentum shift with England having a considerably long batting line-up. So, instead, he forced the opposition to take sizeable risks for singles and twos.The ploy isnt foolproof. It may not have yielded such dramatic results either had a few of the visiting batsmen shown a bit more patience. But there was a certain merit to it. Close-in fielders are most useful when the pitch is turning alarmingly and affording extra bounce. In such cases, a captain cant quite decide where inside and outside edges would go so he has to cover his bases. Things havent quite reached that stage yet in Visakhapatnam. Ashwin was beating right-handers with drift more often than he did with turn. Besides, isnt cricket notorious for fielders being put into places after edges fly through them? Not much of that happened here. Natural variation and the ball keeping low were the major problems and by tying a batsman down at one end, India made them play on Englands mind and seem considerably larger. ' ' '