Thomas Godoj Thread » arts at Fenway. He took a hard-luck loss

VAL DISERE, France -- It was another great day for Norway in the first mens speed race of the season, with Kjetil Jansrud and Aksel Lund Svindal finishing 1-2 in a World Cup super-G on Friday.Svindal, back racing 10 months after sustaining a serious knee injury, was 0.17 seconds slower than Jansrud, the Olympic champion in super-G. Jansrud won in 1 minute, 21.66 seconds.Im very surprised, said Svindal, who has had only three weeks of top-level training since rupturing his right ACL in a downhill at Kitzbuehel, Austria. I was fairly nervous, but what can you do? Just try your best, right.Svindal punched the air with both fists when he posted the fastest time as the fifth starter. Jansrud went down two racers later and topped it.To pull off a double victory is quite extraordinary, said Jansrud, the favorite for the marquee downhill Saturday. It was a pretty emotional day for both of us.Dominik Paris of Italy was third, 0.41 behind Jansrud, on a course setting that suited downhill specialists. They had ideal racing conditions until the sun dipped behind the mountains.A stellar Norway mens team earned 19 wins last season and got its first this season in the third race.The team has dominated in super-G with three Norwegians -- Svindal, Jansrud and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde -- combining to win the past five seasonlong titles in the discipline.Svindal said their high standards in training helped him return at such a high level.I have the best teammates in the world, the two-time overall World Cup winner said. Without my team, I would have no chance.Still, the 33-year-old Svindal has defied serious injury throughout his career to return just as strong and fast.After sustaining multiple injuries in a wipeout in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in November 2007, Svindal came back the next season to win his second overall title.He did not race in the 2014-15 World Cup because of an Achilles injury yet returned to dominate last season by winning four of five downhills. Svindal led the overall standings when he crashed in the classic Kitzbuehel race.I think a lot of it is mental strength, Svindal said. A lot of it is being relaxed about it. What happens, happens. Just make the best of the situation.The mens circuit made an early return to Europe after losing two weekends in North America -- in Beaver Creek and Lake Louise, Canada -- because of a lack of snow.Val dIsere stepped in to take the super-G, downhill and giant slalom races scheduled for Beaver Creek.Two American racers posted impressive results despite starting after the sunshine mostly disappeared. Travis Ganong, wearing No. 27, placed seventh, 0.75 behind Jansrud. Starting 61st, Ryan Cochran-Siegle took a career-best 15th place, 1.24 back.Cochran-Siegle had not raced a World Cup super-G since the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria. There, the Vermont native suffered a serious knee injury.That was an amazing performance, United States coach Sasha Rearick said of Cochran-Siegles return. He has had many operations, major operations. Im super proud of him.The powerful Austria team struggled, with 10th-place Max Franz its best finisher.Austrian officials had pushed for a new way of deciding the starting order in speed races, and it was used for the first time Friday.The 10 best-ranked super-G racers chose their bib number in order among the odd numbers 1 through 19. The next 10 ranked picked from the even numbers.Kilde, the defending World Cup super-G champion, picked No. 3, Jansrud chose No. 7, and Svindal took No. 5.They proved smart choices as the top five finishers all came between Nos. 4 and 11.Custom Arizona Cardinals Jerseys .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Custom Jerseys From China .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. http://www.jerseyscustom.us/ . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Wholesale Custom Jerseys Authentic . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Fake Custom Jerseys . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery.BOSTON -- The Detroit Tigers earned a hard-fought victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.Then again, every victory for the Tigers has been hard-fought in the eyes of manager Brad Ausmus -- and he expects more of the same Tuesday night.I dont think its ever easy, or rarely easy, Ausmus said Monday after Detroits 4-2 victory over Boston.Justin Verlander pitched six one-run innings and Jose Iglesias burned his former team with his first career homer at Fenway as Detroit (52-48) bounced back from a rough day Sunday.The Tigers lost a pair of one-run contests Sunday to the White Sox in Chicago -- 4-3 in the completion of a suspended game from Saturday, then 5-4 in the regularly scheduled contest.The Monday victory brought Detroit within 5 1/2 games of the American League Central-leading Cleveland Indians and within four games of the second AL wild-card spot.Boston, meanwhile, fell 2 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles.The Red Sox (55-42) still have a half-ame lead for the first wild card thanks to a 13-6 July record.Detroit looks to clinch the series in Boston when it sends out Mike Pelfrey (3-9, 4.78 ERA) for a Tuesday start.The right-hander has permitted exactly one run in three of his past four starts, with the outlier being a five-run defeat July 16 against the Kansas City Royals.Last Thursday, Pelfrey limited the White Sox to one run on eight hits and a walk with one strikeout in 5 1/3 innings. He got the win as the Tigers held on for a 2-1 decision.Pelfrey is 1-1 with a 1.71 ERA in three starts lifetimme against the Red Sox, but 0-1 with a 1.dddddddddddd93 mark in two starts at Fenway. He took a hard-luck loss June 2, 2015, in Boston, holding the Red Sox to one run on five hits in a 1-0 defeat.Red Sox utility man Michael Martinez, who faced Pelfrey as a member of AL Central-rival Cleveland, is 3-for-7 (.429) with a home run and four RBI against him.Hanley Ramirez hasnt been as lucky, going 10-for-53 (.189) with a homer, three RBI and eight strikeouts vs. Pelfrey.Boston will turn to Steven Wright (12-5, 2.67 ERA) to be the stopper for a team that has lost three of four.The knuckleballer has been one of two aces -- the other being Rick Porcello -- on a Boston staff that hasnt gotten much from highly paid lefty David Price.Wright has pitched especially well this season at Fenway, going 7-1 with a 3.20 ERA in 10 home starts.He picked up a victory there Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, throwing eight innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out a career-high-tying nine.My goal is just to go as deep as I can until they tell me Im done, Wright said Thursday.Wright has made one career start against the Tigers, surrendering four runs on five hits in a 4 1/3-inning loss last July 25. Nick Castellanos (1-for-2 versus Wright) had a two-run double against him in that game.Iglesias is also 1-for-2 with a double, Victor Martinez is 1-for-1 with a walk and James McCann is 0-for-2, but he has an RBI against Wright. ' ' '