Anmeldung neuer User » Toronto was coming off a Tuesday night victory

PITTSBURGH -- There used to be a time -- any year really between 1993-2012 -- when reaching 81 wins would be cause for celebration for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Off White x Air Max 90 White . Not anymore. These days the certainty of a non-losing season is nothing more than a speed bump on Pittsburghs resilient quest for a playoff berth. Gregory Polanco, Neil Walker and Ike Davis all homered and the Pirates beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1 on Wednesday night to maintain their grip on the second National League wild card spot. Polanco and Walker hit solo shots off Boston starter Clay Buchholz (8-9) and Davis drilled a three-run blast to centre off reliever Steven Wright. The Pirates have won 10 of 12 and improved to a season-high 11 games over .500 (81-70). Pittsburgh moved 2.5 games clear of Milwaukee in its race for a second straight post-season bid after the Brewers fell to St. Louis. "We got some good pitches to hit and didnt miss them," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Fun to watch those guys work in the box." Francisco Liriano (6-10) won his third straight decision, allowing one run in six innings. The left-hander worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and has now given up two runs or less in 11 of his 12 starts since the All-Star break, looking like the pitcher who won 16 games in 2013 than the one that struggled with his command and his health during a rocky first half to 2014. "It was a battle for me today, just trying to execute pitches, make good pitches," Liriano said. "I got a couple little plays and just a tough night location-wise but Ill take it." Boston rookie centerfielder Rusney Castillo went 1 for 4 in his major league debut. The Cuban defector signed a seven-year, $72.5 million deal with the Red Sox last month. Boston has lost three of four. "Obviously Id like a better outcome in terms of winning the game," Castillo said. "But I was pretty satisfied with my overall approach and the way I stepped in today." Castillos arrival in the Red Sox clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon ended a quick tour of the teams minor league system. He made stops at three different levels before coming up to Boston to stay. While manager John Farrell stressed the final games of an otherwise lost season are simply a chance for Castillo to "get acclimated" to life in the big leagues, the 27-year-old believes it wont take long for him to get up to speed. He provided a brief glimpse of whats to come in the fourth when he ripped a sharp grounder to second that Walker couldnt handle for his first major league hit. "Ill sign it and keep it in my house somewhere," Castillo said with a smile. While Castillo is a part of Bostons long-term future, the present belongs to the Pirates. Polanco wasted little time drumming Buchholz, who hadnt given up a homer in his last 36 innings. There was no chance to make it 37 after Polanco drilled a Buchholz fastball into the seats in right for his seventh homer of the season and first since Aug. 10. The lead ballooned to 4-0 in the second behind a two-run double by Clint Barmes. Walker golfed a Buchholz pitch into the first row of seats in right for his 21st homer of the season in the third, extending his record for most home runs in a season by a Pittsburgh second baseman. TRAINERS ROOM Red Sox: 2B Brock Holt, out with a concussion since Aug. 25, is scheduled to meet with concussion specialist Micky Collins on Thursday. Farrell said Holt is doing daily vision exercises and running on a treadmill but has not started baseball related activities. Pirates: RHP Charlie Morton reported no issues a day after pitching five shutout innings in his first start in a month due to a hernia issue. Manager Clint Hurdle said hes still hasnt made a decision on who will start when Mortons turn in the rotation comes up again on Sunday against Milwaukee. UP NEXT Red Sox: Brandon Workman (1-9) will try to end a nine-game losing streak when he makes his 15th start of the season. Workmans only victory of the season came on June 10 against Baltimore. His ERA is a season-high 5.27 after giving up five earned runs in three innings of a 10-6 loss to Baltimore last week. Pirates: Gerrit Cole (9-5) goes for his third straight victory. The 24-year-old struck out six and walked one while working six innings in a 7-3 victory over Chicago in his previous start. Cheap Air Max 90 China . Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. Air Max 90 2019 Wholesale . - The New York Rangers have momentum, a unified locker room and Henrik Lundqvist. http://www.outletairmax90cheap.com/outlet-air-max-90-ultra-2-0-essential-triple-black-cheap.html . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years.TORONTO - The Toronto Raptors turned good defence into torrid offence Wednesday night as they lit up the slumping Sacramento Kings 119-102.Greivis Vasquez and Jonas Valanciunas combined for 21 points in a red-hot third quarter and the Raptors won their fourth straight while handing the Kings their seventh straight loss.Toronto (31-15) connected on 17 of 34 three-pointers, erasing the season high of 15. The franchise mark is 21, set in 2005 against Philadelphia.Tied 54-54 at the half, the Raptors outscored Sacramento 39-22 in the third when they converted eight of 10 three-pointers. Vasquez and Valanciunas had four points apiece in the first half before coming alive in the third.Toronto coach Dwane Casey pointed to the defensive efforts of Valanciunas and Chuck Hayes on Sacramento big man DeMarcus Cousins in the third.I thought the defence set the tempo for our offence, said Casey. We started being more aggressive offensively. Physicality. It was almost like we were afraid to touch them in the first half. And once we got into them physically, started putting our hands on them, touching them, starting blitzing Rudy (Gay) a little bit more — I think he only had five points in the second half — thats when our offence got clicking and got going in transition.Our best offence was our defence, added Vasquez, who finished with 17 points.Sacramento (16-28) has lost eight of its last 10.Neither team was really playing good defence, said Cousins. It was preached, it was said that whichever team decided to be the first team to play defence was going to win the game and they decided to play defence first. Thats the story.Cousins finished with 13 points and nine turnovers.Lou Williams had 27 points off the bench and Valanciunas finished with 15 as seven Raptors finished in double figures.Theyre playing with a lot of confidence and theyre talented guys, said Sacramento coach Tyrone Corbin, who finished his playing career as a Raptor.Ex-Raptor Gay, booed all night, led the Kings with 22 points. The rude reception was criticized by Toronto star DeMar DeRozan.He didnt do nothing. Quote me on that, stop booing Rudy, said DeRozan who had 12 points on the night.Canadian rookie guard Nik Stauskas, a first-round draft choice from Mississauga, Ont., making his pro debut inn Toronto, finished with eight points from 17 minutes. Discount Air Max 90. Cousins ran into foul trouble in the third quarter, picking up three fouls in short order. Toronto went on an 11-2 run with Valanciunas and Vasquez accounting for all the points as the Raptors led 73-66.Toronto reeled off another 10-0 run to pad the lead to 90-72 and went into the fourth leading 93-76. Vasquez was good on all four three-pointers he attempted in the third.The message of the night was Toronto is headed in the right direction.Were in a good place, weve got to keep growing and getting better, said Casey. Were not there yet but lets keep that positive vibe of getting better and doing it as a team and be proud of this team.Obviously we want to continue this winning streak and then continue to get better, added Vasquez. Were not far behind where we want to be but we cant be too happy. We still havent done anything. Were beating teams that were supposed to beat. Weve got to remain humble and hungry and understand we do have to prove ourselves.The Raptors wore their camo uniforms, complete with short sleeves, in honour of Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night. More than 400 military and their families were in attendance. Toronto was coming off a Tuesday night victory in Indiana that saw the team reach the 30-win plateau for the first time before the all-star break.Casey said his team played the first half like a team on the wrong end of back-to-back games. We played like a winning team in the second half, said Casey. A team that is on a mission, going somewhere with a focus. Sacramento was well rested, having not played since last Friday with Mondays game in New York postponed due to the expected blizzard.The Kings were coming off a 126-101 loss to Golden State on Friday that saw Klay Thompson score 52 points while setting NBA records for points (37) and three-pointers (9) in a quarter.Sacramento is 5-15 since Michael Malone was fired in mid-December with the team at 11-13.NOTES: Toronto is 72-37 since the seven-player trade with Sacramento on Dec. 9, 2013 ... The Raptors won 117-109 when the teams met Dec. 2 in Sacramento ... Olympian Clara Hughes was in attendance to publicize the Bell Lets Talk mental health initiative.___Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' '