Chat-World » 3-year-old is already at 94.1 inning

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Giles Barnes scored twice and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Portland Timbers 4-1 on Sunday to eliminate the defending MLS Cup champions from the playoffs.Both of Barnes goals came in the first half at BC Place and the Timbers couldnt catch up. The Whitecaps (10-15-9) had already been eliminated from the playoffs but they claimed the Pacific Northwests Cascadia Cup on goal differential with the victory.Portland (12-14-8) finished the season without a win on the road.When I look at the overall performance, I didnt think we were good, Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. I didnt think we defended well, and I thought we had some surprisingly poor performances out of our keys guys.Barnes first goal came in the 13th minute, and he slotted his second in the 32nd. The goals were his first with Vancouver after being traded from Houston in late July.Pedro Morales scored in the 54th minute for his ninth goal of the season. He doffed his jersey in celebration following the goal and was handed a yellow card.Nicolas Mezquida followed with a goal a minute later as the Timbers playoff hopes nosedived. Diego Valeri scored on a penalty kick in the 71st minute to avoid the shutout.This performance absolutely drives me mad, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson said. I know we have the players to do it, but we havent done it on a consistent basis. Why? I dont know. Im going to get to bottom of it because I dont want to be sitting here next year saying the same things to you like a broken record. We finished on a high today, but Im not fooled.Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted stopped what appeared to be an easy goal for Portlands Lucas Melano in the 18th minute. Melano was subbed out for the second half.The Timbers, one of four teams vying for three open playoff spots in the Western Conference at the start of the day, did not have starters Liam Ridgewell and Diego Chara for the match against the Whitecaps because of yellow card accumulation.There has to be some long, hard discussions and reflexion on what went wrong, Porter said. Its a combination of things, but for me there were holes in the team all year long.The Cascadia Cup goes to the winner of the three-way competition between the Whitecaps, Timbers and Seattle Sounders. The award was created by supporters of the three teams back in 2004. Seattle claimed the Cascadia Cup last season and fans from the Emerald City Supporters brought the trophy to BC Place.I cant fault any of my players today, Robinson said. I thought we played with an energy and an enthusiasm and a will and a desire, but we havent done that too many times this year, which is why we are where we are.The Timbers were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night when they played to a 1-1 draw with Costa Ricas Deportivo Saprissa at Portlands Providence Park.It was the final match for Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury, who has played for 14 MLS seasons with his final six in Portland. Traveling fans at BC Place canted Captain Jack! in his honor after the game.Its been unbelievable, Jewsbury said after Sundays match. I never knew what I was getting into when I came to this team in 2011. Chris Paul Clippers Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Patrick Beverley Jersey . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. http://www.clippersnbateamshop.info/montrezl-harrell-clippers-jersey/ . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Jerome Robinson Jersey . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Louis Williams Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers are neck and neck in the American League playoff chase. With the teams facing off this weekend, beat writers Eddie Matz (Os) and Katie Strang (Tigers) debate which one has the edge.Read their conversation -- then vote below.Matz: The Orioles are like the evil villain in a B horror movie. Just when you think theyre toast, they rise from the ashes to wreak havoc on a group of unsuspecting teenagers with a habit of hanging out in abnormally dark places where cellphone range is oddly limited.Substitute the Tigers for the stupid teens, and voila -- youve got your 2016 Os. They limped out of August having lost 10 of 16, not to mention their grip on the second AL wild-card spot. But since the calendar flipped to September, theyve won four of six and suddenly have the look of a dangerous squad. Heck, the way their rotation is rounding into form (better late than never!), a division title isnt out of the question.Thats more than Los Tigres can say.Strang: Funny you should employ such imagery, Eddie. Normally, I think any team would be quick to take offense to any surly teen comparisons, but the Tigers influx of youth has actually been a big reason Detroit remains in the thick of the playoff race.Michael Fulmer has been a revelation for the Tigers -- at this point, the 23-year-old righty is the front-runner for the AL Rookie of the Year award -- but young lefties such as?Matt Boyd and Daniel Norris have also stepped up to stabilize what has at times been an erratic and injury-ravaged rotation. Combine that youthful exuberance with the steady presence of resident ace Justin Verlander?--?who could pitch himself into the AL Cy Young conversation with a strong September -- and the heavy lumber of proven veterans such as?Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and a suddenly resurgent Justin Upton, and you have a well-rounded, experienced team in Detroit still smarting from the sting of missing out on last seasons playoffs.This is a club playing with confidence and swagger, and it is not even close to full strength. Once they get third baseman Nick Castellanos, who was hitting .286 with 18 homers when he went down with a hand injury last month, and No. 2 starter Jordan Zimmermann, who had a phenomenal first half of the season, back, we might see a Tigers team reminiscent of the ones that dominated the AL Central from 2011 to 14.Matz: No matter how filthy Verlander is in September, theres no way he wins the Cy Young because (exaggeration alert) Ubaldo Jimenez already has it locked up.After being baseballs worst starter in the first half, he was banished to the bullpen. But when ace Chris Tillman hit the shelf with a bum shoulder, skipper Buck Showalter broke the in-case-of-emergency glass and summoned Jimenez to take Tillmans spot. Since then, the 32-year-old righty is partying like its 2010: He has a 2.91 ERA in three starts and, in his last outing, tossed the Os first complete game in two years. Combine that with Dylan Bundys arrival, Kevin Gausmans maturity, and Tillmans return this Sunday (versus Verlander in a huge game thats not the ESPN Sunday Nighter because ... why exactly?), and suddenly the Birds biggest weakness is -- dare I say it -- a strength (-ish).Strang: OK, were going to have to table the whole Ubaldo Jimenez debate for another day, since that is a weird and unpredictable saga that deserves discussion in its own right -- consider me skeptical he can sustain his recent success -- but I feel I should at least point this out about youngster Dylan Bundy.dddddddddddd. Like Tigers rookie (and fellow Oklahoma native) Michael Fulmer, it has been great for the Orioles to get such contributions from the former fourth overall draft pick.However, workload has to be an area of concern for the organization; the 23-year-old is already at 94.1 innings -- more than any of his previous three seasons combined. For a promising young arm just three years removed from Tommy John surgery, Bundys long-term health would trump the teams short-term needs, one would think. It will be interesting to see how the Orioles manage his innings while trying to make a playoff push, but I digress ...Lets get down to brass tacks here and state an obvious advantage for the Tigers: strength of schedule (or lack thereof). The Tigers, with 23 games remaining in the season, have the easiest path of any of the top five teams in the American League wild-card race, with an average opponents winning percentage of .479. The toughest test will be the final two series of the season against the division-leading Cleveland Indians, against whom they are a putrid 1-11 in 2016. But you have to figure that, eventually, the law of averages might win out and the Tigers could make up some critical ground against the Tribe.Beyond that, Detroit has a few cupcakes on the remaining schedule, including a pair of sets against the Minnesota Twins and a season-ending three-game series against the bottom-dwelling Braves.Hows that for a favorable few weeks?Matz: I see what you did there, Katie. Kicked it off with an astute observation about how Fulmer and Bundy are practically twins, then bookended it with more Twins talk. You cant teach that.But you can teach hitting. And the way the Birds are starting to swing the bats, it doesnt matter who they play. Well, it kinda does. But the truth is, the speed bumps in Detroits road to the postseason (seven games versus Cleveland, three versus K.C.) arent all that different from the bumps in Baltimores (seven versus Boston, three versus Toronto).But back to those bats: After a deep midsummer slumber, the Os artillery, led by MVP candidate Manny Machado and a recently resurgent Chris Davis, is heating up at just the right time. Since the beginning of August, the Birds have bashed 65 bombs, which is 10 more than the next closest American League squad. Hows that for a favorable few weeks?Strang: Touché, Eddie, touché. But while the Orioles bats are admittedly crushing the ball, leading the league with a whopping 219 home runs, Im more comfortable with Detroits total offensive production over the course of the entire season.Entering Fridays game, the Tigers rank third overall in the majors and second in the American League (second only to the high-octane Boston Red Sox) with an impressive .267 batting average. And while their bullpen has regressed from the first half of the season, their rotation is still holding its own and being stingy when it counts. Since Aug. 20, Detroits starting pitchers have allowed three earned runs or fewer in 16 of 17 games, tops in the American League.Combine the returns of Castellanos and Zimmermann with the fact that the teams big boppers Cabrera, Upton and J.D. Martinez?are swinging their bats well, and I like this teams chances.Matz: I also like the Tigers chances ... of watching the postseason from the comfort of their respective homes. ' ' '