Hilfestellungen » preseason hype as fellow Buffalo transfer E

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Seattle Mariners will seek to continue their recent surge at the expense of a reeling divisional opponent when they meet the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night to begin a four-game series at Angel Stadium.The Mariners enter the series with 10 victories in their past 12 games to move into second place in the American League West. Seattle trails the first-place Texas Rangers by 5 1/2 games in the divisional race and the Boston Red Sox by two games in the competition for the final wild-card spot.We are playing loose and we have nothing to lose, Mariners manager Scott Servais told the Seattle Times. Thats how we need to play and thats how were going to go about it.The Angels, however, own a 10-game losing streak, the teams worst since 1999 and the longest in manager Mike Sciocias 17-year tenure. A four-game weekend sweep in Cleveland proved especially painful. The Indians out-scored Los Angeles 37-12 and stole eight bases in a 13-3 rout Friday night.Nine of the Angels 10 losses came on their just-completed road trip, which became the teams worst since 1969 and which began when the Mariners swept Los Angeles on Aug. 5-7.Seattle will send right-hander Felix Hernandez to the mound after he recorded one of his best performances of the season Wednesday night.The American Leagues Cy Young Award winner in 2010 permitted just one run and three hits in seven innings against the Detroit Tigers, collected eight strikeouts and issued four walks while throwing a season-high 117 pitches. The Mariners scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn a 3-1 victory.It may have been one of the better outings hes had all year, Servais told the Seattle Times. He located and kept the ball down. He does not give in late in the game. Hes not going to beat himself and hes going to continue to make pitches. Thats why hes Felix.In his past two starts, Hernandez conceded only five runs, six hits and seven walks in 15 innings while amassing 14 strikeouts. The right-hander, who missed seven weeks because of a strained right calf, has 22 strikeouts in his past 20 innings.Opposing Hernandez is right-hander Ricky Nolasco, making his second start since coming from the Minnesota Twins for left-hander Hector Santiago in a four-player trade Aug. 1.Nolasco has not won since July 9 but in his last start Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs, he allowed just two runs and one walk in six innings while conceding six hits and striking out six in a 3-1 loss.That was a very encouraging start, Scioscia said afterward. For the most part, he had command of his sinker. He really spun the ball with a couple of different breaking balls, and thats when hes at his best.Another member of the Angels rotation will have a more important test Monday. Right-hander Garrett Richards, who went on the disabled list May 2 with an injured ulnar collateral ligament, will have his elbow examined. Richards hopes to avoid Tommy John surgery by relying on stem-cell therapy to regenerate tissue.I literally feel like my arm is just refreshed, Richards told the Orange County Register. Everything feels great. My shoulder feels nice and loose. I feel zero discomfort in my arm, nothing even close to what I was feeling when I was put on the DL.After an MRI on Aug. 3 showed continued progress, Richards started intensifying his limited rehabilitation program.Im just continuing to do my internal rotational stuff, staying on my lifting and doing more exercises that simulate more throwing motions, Richards told MLB.com. Im doing a lot of weighted-ball stuff in a throwing motion, so thats added stress more than a normal baseball would. Everything feels completely normal. Im hopeful that this works. Bismack Biyombo Hornets Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Nicolas Batum Hornets Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. http://www.hornetsteamproshop.com/Cheap-Marvin-Williams-Hornets-Jersey/ . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Dell Curry Hornets Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Custom Charlotte Hornets Jerseys . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. TEMPE, Ariz. -- Torian Graham entered the game and started hitting shots right away, pouring in 3-pointers, flying in for a dunk in transition.Two years removed from his last game, it was like he never left.Graham scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half and Tra Holder added 23 points, helping Arizona State open its second season under Bobby Hurley with an 88-70 win over Portland State Friday night.I prepared very well this week, all the weeks and years before this, Graham said. I was ready for it.Shannon Evans added 19 points, Holder had four assists and Arizona State shot 50 percent to run past the Vikings after a slow start.The Sun Devils also had a 47-33 advantage in rebounds, led by Obinna Olekas 13.Braxton Tucker had 19 points and Bryce Canda 12 for Portland State, which went 6 for 27 from 3-point range.They can score in bunches and watching those two guards, theyre good, Portland State coach Tyler Geving said. And then Torian Graham is probably playing the best of their team right now.The Sun Devils were shaky early, missing their first five shots -- all at the rim -- and turning it over twice before scoring their first baskets 3 minutes in.Arizona State shook off those early jitters behind Graham.The 6-foot-4 senior played at Chipola Junior College in Florida, transferred to Houston, then Buffalo. He did not play at either school.Graham came off the bench in his first Division I game and immediately started making shots. He hit consecutive 3-pointers and had a dunk in transition , scoring 13 points in his first eight minutes to help the Sun Devils build a 10-point lead.Graham hit 7 of 8 shots and Holder had 12 points to put the Sun Devils up 44-30 at halftime.He does that every day in practice, Evans said. You guys are like, wow, but we see that every day.Arizona State scored thhe first seven points of the second half and was never challenged, though the Vikings managed to keep the Sun Devils from running away with it.dddddddddddd.I told the kids after, they competed, Geving said. They had a chance to maybe blow it open, but we fought back.BIG PICTUREThe Vikings showed grit at times, starting strong and rallying after a couple of Arizona State runs in the second half. A lopsided loss, but the kind of game that should help them once the Big Sky season rolls around.The Sun Devils picked up a nice, easy win to open the season and got a good look at Graham, who didnt get quite the same preseason hype as fellow Buffalo transfer Evans.CUNLIFFES DEBUTGuard Sam Cunliffe is Arizona States highest-rated freshman since James Harden in 2007, but was unable to make a big splash in his debut due to foul trouble. The 6-foot-7 guard was limited to 14 minutes, scoring 3 points on 1-of-3 shooting.BIG BLOCKArizona State freshman Jethro Tshisumpa is still a bit raw, but at 6-10 with long arms, he can sure send shots back, just like this one .DIFFICULT STARTPortland State opens the season with a difficult road trip, with a trip to Cal State-Fullerton next. Geving would like to get a split in the two games, but the real benefit could be down the line, once the Big Sky Conference season starts.We competed, so theres a lot of positives out of it and some of the things we didnt do well, at least weve got it on film and we can improve on it, he said.UP NEXTPortland State plays at Cal State-Fullerton on Sunday.Arizona State hosts Cal Poly on Sunday before heading to Orlando for the Tire Pros Invitational.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '