Allgemeines » Florida is the best defensive team in the countr

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish came oh, so close again. The Japanese ace fell one out shy of a no-hitter for the second time Friday night, giving up a ninth-inning single to David Ortiz in the Texas Rangers 8-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox. "This is the second time I experienced this, but if I keep pitching like this, someday Ill get it," Darvish said through his translator. "Someday, Ill just keep doing what Im doing and Ill probably have another record of almost a no-hitter." Rookie second baseman Rougned Odour, positioned in shallow right field, made a diving attempt at Ortizs hit but the ball was out of his reach. If the Rangers had not shifted their infield toward the right side of the diamond -- a standard practice against the pull-happy Ortiz -- it probably would have been a routine grounder to second. Darvish lost a perfect-game bid with two outs in the ninth inning last season against Houston. This time, he bent his knees and put his glove on his hips after the base hit. Texas manager Ron Washington then made a slow walk to the mound, with the 45,392 in attendance cheering and chanting "Yuuuuuu!" Darvish (3-1) struck out 12 and walked two while throwing 126 pitches. "He was on his game early," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. " That combination of being powerful and the secondary pitches and the assortment of them ends up being a night like tonight." The 20-year-old Odour, playing his second major league game, and Ortiz were also involved in the play that ended Darvishs try for a perfect game. Darvish struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced and retired 20 in a row until Ortiz hit a high popup to right field with two outs in the seventh. Odor was also shifted into shallow right then and drifted back for the ball while right fielder Alex Rios came in before suddenly stopping. Odor lunged with his glove extended above his head but the ball dropped between them. "As soon as he hit it, I thought it was going to be a hit," Darvish said. "Obviously I was a little bit disappointed, but I was already ready to give up a hit, so it didnt really matter." An error was charged to Rios after official scorer Steve Weller looked at replays and conferred with several others because of the significance of the play. "I should have taken control of that ball," Rios said. "We were camped under the ball, so it can be called an error." Weller, in his 20th season as a scorer, told a pool reporter after the game that it was a judgment call and "I felt like the second baseman or right fielder under normal effort couldve clearly caught the ball." Asked if he had spoken to Darvish, Rios said, "I just told him that I should have caught it. Thats the only thing I said." Darvish crouched down when the ball hit the ground. Former Rangers catcher Mike Napoli then drew a walk before Grady Sizemores inning-ending flyout. Once Ortiz got his hit in the ninth, he thought he should have been credited with a hit in the seventh as well. "Guys throwing a no-hitter. We all understand that. But when it comes down to the rules in the game, thats a hit," Ortiz said. "Thats the rule that we all know, and thats the rule that the game (has had) for more than 100 years. The ball in the outfield drops in between infield and outfield, nobody touched it. ... So I guess its going to be two (hits) now." Ortiz said he would have been OK with the error "if the guys throwing a no-hitter." Darvish walked another batter in the eighth but went into the ninth looking for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. Dustin Pedroia grounded out and Shane Victorino struck out before Ortiz stepped to the plate. "He had great stuff. He was locating everything," Pedroia said. "When a guy like that with that kind of stuff is on his game, it makes it a tough night." Darvish was within one out of a perfect game during his first start of 2013 in Houston when Marwin Gonzalez singled through the pitchers legs. Darvish then lost a no-hit bid with one out in the eighth against the Astros last August. Elvis Andrus had four hits and scored three times for the Rangers. Andrus was back in his normal No. 2 spot in the batting order for the first time in six games. Washington had moved his shortstop down in the lineup after a 2-for-34 slide that dropped him to a season-low .217, but moved him back to split up the five left-handers in his lineup against Clay Buchholz (2-3). Buchholz allowed six runs and 10 hits over 4 1-3 innings. He struck out three and walked two while throwing 96 pitches. It was Darvishs 21st career game with at least 10 strikeouts, the most in the majors since his debut in 2012. Detroits Max Scherzer is next on the list with 14 in that span. Darvish was winless in his previous nine home starts, despite a 2.83 ERA in those games. He had not won at home since last Aug. 1 against Arizona. Texas went ahead to stay when Andrus had a one-out single in the first and scored on a double by Adrian Beltre. NOTES: The last no-hitter for the Rangers was Kenny Rogers perfect game against the California Angels on July 28, 1994. ... Boston last went without a hit on April 22, 1993, against Seattles Chris Bosio. ... Andrus had the first four-hit game by a Texas player this season. ... Odour, the youngest player to appear in a major league game this season, got his first hit with a single in the fourth. Dennis Johnson Jersey . Cavaliers shooting guard Craig Ehlo makes a solid play on the ball, but still Jordan hits the amazing shot. Jayson Tatum Jersey . The third-seeded Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open. She took the opening set before the unseeded American came back for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. http://www.authenticcelticsproshop.com/Paul-Pierce-Jersey/ . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Walter Brown Jersey . The eighth-year point guard played in his 500th career game on Sunday, a 98-93 win over the Orlando Magic. Does he feel like hes played in that many games? "No," he said initially, before reconsidering. John Havlicek Jersey . Follow all the action live on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, TSN Radio 690 in Montreal, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton and TEAM 1410 on Friday at 3pm et/Noon pt.Way back at the start of the season, amid all the whistles and fouls, the defensive-minded teams appeared to be in trouble, a seemingly dying breed hamstrung by the NCAAs new hands-free rules. As the season progressed, the top coaches and teams adjusted to the changes and found ways around the impediments. Now, after the all increases in scoring and shooting percentages and offensive flow, the season has come down to a Final Four of teams held together by one common thread: shutdown defences. "In general, its like most sports: Defence wins championships," said Bill Frieder, a longtime coach and TV/radio analyst. "You still need to score, but basically when it gets right down to it, you have to make stops. The teams that can make a stop or two back to back are the teams that advance." The Final Four teams in this wild ride of an NCAA tournament earned a trip to North Texas this weekend because they can do just that. Florida is the best defensive team in the country, allowing just 88.5 points per 100 possessions, according to the analytics of KenPom.com. The Gators can be downright dominating on the defensive end, swarming ballhandlers and luring shooters into a fall sense of security before rising up to swat shots back in their faces. Defence has been a cornerstone for Bo Ryan since he won four national championships at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville and its been the calling card -- along with that ultra-patient offence -- since he arrived at Madison. The Badgers are fundamental and fierce, allowing about 56 points per game to NCAA opponents -- nearly eight less than before the tournament. For all the flash of Kentuckys fabulous freshmen, these young Cats can get after you on D. Kentuckys latest one-and-done lineup is filled with long, athletic players who can harass on the perimeter and guard the rim -- 10th nationally with 6.1 blocked shots per game -- like few teams in college basketball. And for all the hype heaped on Connecticuts Shabazz Napier, the Huskies are pretty husky when it comes to defence. Ryan Boatright has become a point-guard stopper -- he had four steals and helped limit Michigan States Keith Appling to two points in the East Regional final -- and UConn seems to have an entire roster of rim protectors, ranking 16th nationally with 5.8 blocked shots per game. "We are predators out there," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. In most years, the high-scoring teams often get the attention, whether it was Florida Gulf Coasts Dunk City a year ago or backk to Houstons Phi Slamma Jamma of the early 1980s.dddddddddddd What usually happens at the finish? The best defensive teams end up with the hardware. Louisville rode its swarming, chaos-inducing defence to a title last season. The year before that, Anthony Davis and Kentuckys shot-swatting young Cats set an NCAA record with 335 blocked shots on their way to the national championship. In 2011: Connecticut 53, Butler 41. Great defensive teams litter the list of national champions throughout history, too. UNLV ran its wrecking crew through the bracket in 1990. North Carolina State and Georgetown let the air out of Phi Slamma Jamma in consecutive title games. Indiana played superb team defence during the last perfect season in 1976. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton anchored the UCLA teams that ran off 10 titles in 12 years. Go all the way back to the 1950s and the San Francisco teams that won consecutive championships had a young Bill Russell dominating the middle before he went on to do the same thing for the Boston Celtics. "In the NBA, its always seems to come down to the teams that play the best defence and its no different in college basketball," Arizona State associate head coach Eric Musselman said. "At the end of the day, no matter how well you score, youve got to be able stop people." The Final Four teams have proven they can do it so far in the tournament. Wisconsin opened the NCAA tournament by holding American to 35 points and reached the Final Four by preventing Arizona from getting off a potential game-winning shot before the buzzer sounded in overtime. Kentucky held Kansas State to 49 points in its NCAA opener and held Michigan scoreless for nearly 4 1-2 minutes of a three-point Midwest Regional final win that sent the Wildcats to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons. UConn went toe-to-toe with one of the nations best defensive teams in the East Regional final, holding Michigan State to 39 per cent shooting and two field goals -- one at the buzzer after the game was decided -- over the final 5 minutes. Florida is the third team in NCAA tournament history to win four games by double digits and hold opponents under 70 points per game en route to the Final Four, limiting teams to an average of 55 points per game. "We just take so much pride into being able to disrupt the team and being able to lock down guys," Florida forward Patric Young said. So do the other three teams, a big reason why theyre all together in North Texas. Cheap Twins Jerseys Wholesale Royals Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Authentic Indians Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Discount Blue Jays Jerseys Wholesale Rays Jerseys Cheap Yankees Jerseys Discount Red Sox Jerseys Discount Orioles Jerseys Discount Astros Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Athletics Jerseys Cheap Mariners Jerseys Rangers Jerseys From China Braves Jerseys Outlet Cheap Marlins Jerseys Wholesale Mets Jerseys Wholesale Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cubs Jerseys From China Reds Jerseys From China Cheap Brewers Jerseys Wholesale Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Authentic Rockies Jerseys Dodgers Jerseys From China Wholesale Padres Jerseys Giants Jerseys From China ' ' '