Thomas Godoj Thread » gnd team where work ethic is one of their stronges

HOUSTON -- A pair of Red Sox from Texas sure made things tough on the Houston Astros in their return to the Lone Star state. Clay Buchholz allowed three hits and struck out a career-high 12 in his fifth career shutout in Bostons 11-0 win over Houston on Sunday. Brock Holt had a career-best five hits, including a leadoff homer, to help the Red Sox to their fourth victory in five games heading into the All-Star break. Buchholz went to high school 90 minutes from Houston in Lumberton, Texas, and Holt grew up in Stephenville, which is about 80 miles from Fort Worth. "I definitely had a lot of people out here to watch the game, so that makes it even better," Buchholz said. "Obviously, a win to end the first half is a good thing, too." All of the hits Buchholz (4-5) allowed were singles, and he didnt walk a batter in his first shutout since June 2, 2013, against the Yankees. Chris Carter extended his career-high hitting streak to nine games with a single with one out in the fourth. Buchholz sailed through the rest of the game, retiring his last 17 batters. "The change-up was best that it has been all year," Buchholz said. "The cutter had good bite to it. Whenever youve got four or five pitches working, its hard for a hitter to sit on any one of them." Holt, who played at Rice, launched a 92 mph fastball from Brad Peacock (3-6) into the seats in right field to give Boston an early lead. Hes the first Boston player to collect five hits in a nine-inning game since Victor Martinez on June 1, 2010. Holt smiled when told that a television shot of his mother showed her tearing up after his homer. "You dont expect to have weekends like this, so for all the family and friends to be in to see it was pretty special," Holt said. "It doesnt surprise me that (mom) was crying. Shes probably about to cry right now when I say goodbye." Peacock couldnt locate his pitches and was done after getting just one out, forcing Houston to use five relievers to finish the game. Peacock was unhappy about being pulled so early, but manager Bo Porter wanted to make a change before things got out of hand. "Its not like he had command of the strike zone," Porter said. "At that point, you say to yourself: Are you going to wait until it is 4 or 5 to nothing or are you going to try to give us a chance? I felt like we had a better chance to get another guy in there at that point." Rookie Christian Vazquez had two hits and two RBIs to help the Red Sox score a season-high 11 runs. Holt hit Bostons first leadoff homer of this season. Dustin Pedroia singled before David Ortiz drew a walk. Porter had seen enough and pulled Peacock after he plunked Daniel Nava on his 27th pitch. Xander Bogaerts walked to start the second and advanced to second on a passed ball. Stephen Drews single sent Bogaerts to third and he scored when Vazquez grounded into a double play to make it 2-0. Holt and Pedroia then hit back-to-back singles, but Anthony Bass retired Ortiz to limit the damage. Mike Napoli singled with no outs in the third before Nava reached on an error by first baseman Jon Singleton. An RBI single to centre field by Jackie Bradley Jr. pushed the lead to 3-0 before a sacrifice fly by Bogaerts scored another run. The bases were loaded with two outs in the fifth when Josh Zeid replaced Darin Downs and was greeted with an RBI single by Vazquez. A throwing error by Jose Altuve on the play allowed a second run to score and extend the lead to 6-0. An error and a single by Drew left runners at the corners with one out in the seventh. The Red Sox made it 7-0 on a sacrifice fly by Vazquez. Holt singled before Pedroia walked, and Ortiz drew a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to eight runs. Boston tacked on three more in the ninth inning. NOTES: Carter, who is normally the designated hitter, played left field for the first time since last season. That allowed George Springer to be the designated hitter because of soreness in his right knee. ... The Astros 40 wins at the break are the most they have had in the first half since winning 44 in 2009. Cheap Curry Shoes China . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Cheap Curry Shoes . 1 and reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki was among Thursdays third-round winners, while second- seeded Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the draw at the $4. http://www.discountcurryshoes.com/. The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. Cheap Curry Shoes Clearance . Zdeno Chara scored with 13 seconds left in regulation after David Krejci tied it late, lifting the Bruins to a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night in a game that saw Orpik taken from the ice on a stretcher. Stephen Curry Shoes Clearance .com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.MINSK, Belarus -- Ben Scrivens will start in goal for Team Canada against Finland today in the quarterfinals of the world hockey championship. You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 12:45pm et/9:45am pt. Scrivens beat out James Reimer for the No. 1 goaltender job after they split games during the preliminary round. "Tight decision, both of them played well," coach Dave Tippett said Thursday. "Just hes the guy we decided on." Scrivens won all three of his starts at his first international tournament for Canada, putting up a 1.31 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage, second only to Kevin Lalande of Belarus, an Ottawa native. Reimer lost the opener to France in a shootout, won his next three starts and had a 2.20 GAA and .911 save percentage. Tippett hinted earlier in the week at Scrivens being the likely choice after Reimer started against Norway. Canadas coach mentioned the difficult schedule of four games in six days, and Scrivens not facing Norway gave him a chance to be fresh for Finland. Scrivens is now the man, barring injury or a rough outing against Finland that doesnt end Canadas tournament. Tippett said Tuesday that his quarter-final starter would likely continue in that role as long as he won. Canadas challenge, from Scrivens on out, is a Finnish team that has only six players back from the Sochi Olympics but plays a similar style. "Theyre what youd classify as a typical Finland team where work ethic is one of their strongest points," Tippett said. "(They) play well as a team, (have) good structure, dont have a lot of NHL players on it but still players that are committed to play the way Finlands identity is. Its a structured, hard, one-on-one game." Finlands three NHL players are goaltender Pekka Rinne, captain Olli Jokinen and forward Erik Haula, who was a late addition after the Minnesota Wild were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. One player back from Sochi is Petri Kontiola, who has beeen Finlands leading scorer and arguably its best player.dddddddddddd. But Canadas biggest concern against Finland is Rinne, whos now healthy after being out from late October until early March with a hip infection. Nashville Predators teammate Ryan Ellis said he and his Canadian teammates are more worried about keeping the puck away from Rinne behind the net and in the corners than figuring out how to score on him. Rinnes strong play (1.65 GAA, .929 save percentage) has helped a turnover-prone Finnish defence. Still, thats something Canada might be able to exploit with an aggressive forecheck. "Your whole game has got to be built on it," Tippett said. "It doesnt matter who you play, were going to play two things that we think are the strengths of our game and certainly we think forechecking is one of the strengths of our game. "The ability to play in the offensive zone, come up with loose pucks, hold pucks and play in the offensive zone is one of the traits of good, Canadian-style hockey. Whether its Finland or whoever its against, we think thats one of the strengths of our game." Canada will have its full roster for the first time in almost a week as Alex Burrows returns from a two-game absence with a leg injury. Given Jonathan Huberdeaus success on a line with Brayden Schenn and Nathan MacKinnon, Burrows is expected to be the 13th forward. "Hes a good, veteran player," Tippett said of Burrows. "We talk about hes going to see a lot of different situations. Hes played on the penalty kill for us, hes played on the power play and hes played a regular shift, so hell jump in there, hell give us a spark." Defenceman Tyler Myers, who missed Wednesdays practice with the flu, took part in Thursdays optional skate and Tippett said hes feeling much better and will play. The United States plays the Czech Republic in the early game at Chizhovka-Arena for a spot in Saturdays semifinals against the winner of Canada-Finland. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '