Hard und Software » Hes got one of the best fastballs in the draft.

CHICAGO -- The postseason might be just about out of reach, but the Chicago White Sox believe they could still be pretty effective spoilers.Chicago (68-73) hopes to further torpedo the Kansas City Royals playoff hopes as it sends left-handed ace Chris Sale (15-7, 3.07 ERA) against Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy (10-9, 3.76) in Sundays series finale.I havent been the spoiler too often in my career, said White Sox right-hander James Shields, who had no decision in Saturdays 6-5 Chicago loss to the Royals.We want to finish strong as a team, in general. We want to be that team that finishes strong and has a good thought process going into the offseason, no matter what happens down the road here. But were going to try and win the series tomorrow.The defending World Series champions (73-68) are nine games behind Cleveland in the American League Central and four games out of the second AL wild-card spot with 21 games to play.The White Sox beat the Royals 7-2 on Friday as right-hander Carlos Rodon extended his winning streak to five games after allowing two runs (one earned) and six hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings.The best the White Sox can shoot for is a .500 or better record in the seasons final three weeks. And thats achievable for a team that had won three straight entering Saturday and is 5-3 in its last eight.The Royals, meanwhile, are now 4-6 in their last 10 games and 8-8 in their last 16 and have gone 15-7 in the last 22 games vs. the AL Central.Sale makes his 28th start of the season and 13th at home. He picked up the win in his lone start of the season against the Royals on June 10 -- a 7-5 decision. Sale is 5-4 with a 2.88 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 15 career games (10 starts) against Kansas City.Hes coming off a no-decision in his last start on Sept. 5 against the Detroit Tigers, allowing two runs and six hit with no walks and eight strikeouts in six innings.But individual accolades mean little to Sale, whod rather be competing for the postseason than playing out the string.Its hard to look at stuff like that when youre going through what weve been going through, Sale recently told reporters. I dont really look too far into personal stats. If somebodys got really bad stats on a winning team, Ill trade it with him.Off again/on-again Royals right fielder Lorenzo Cain was out of the lineup on Saturday and one report suggested he could be finished for the season.Cain, suffering from a left wrist injury, played in his first game since Aug. 30 on Friday, going 1-for-3. He was hitting .287 with nine home runs and 56 RBI in 103 games this year. Cain also missed much of July with a hamstring injury.Royals manager Ned Yost said hed like to have the valuable veteran in the lineup as much as possibleEvery day that he can be, Yost said. (The wrist) is going to bother him a little bit, but he still finds away to produce through all that. Fake Blackhawks Jerseys . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Chicago Blackhawks Store . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. https://www.cheapblackhawks.com/ . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Wholesale Blackhawks Jerseys . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Stitched Blackhawks Jerseys .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. SECAUCUS, N.J. -- The Toronto Blue Jays drafted a tall, athletic pitcher with their first pick of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. Sound familiar? The Blue Jays selected right-hander Phil Bickford with the 10th overall pick Thursday. The 17-year-old right-hander from Oaks Christian High School in California is six-foot-four, 200 pounds, and can throw a 96 m.p.h. fastball that Torontos director of amateur scouting, Brian Parker, says is polished. Bickford led his high school club to its division championship, where he struck out 18 batters in the final, including 11 in a row. Bickford finished his senior season with a 1.72 earned-runs average, allowing 44 hits and recording 159 strikeouts in 99.1 innings. "Were very excited about this kid," Parker said on a conference call. "Hes got one of the best fastballs in the draft. Hes an athletic kid and were all very excited to get this guy going." Blue Jays scouts seem to have an eye for rangy pitchers of late. Toronto has drafted 11 pitchers measuring six-foot-four or taller since 2007. "I think its something we look for," Parker said. "I think athleticism is something we focus oon with pitchers, especially high school kids.dddddddddddd Those are the types of frames and athletes were looking to get into our rotation." Parker said that Bickfords fastball is good enough for professional baseball right now, but the other pitches in his repertoire need development. "We think the secondary stuff is developing," Parker said. "We think the changeup is the better (secondary) pitch right now, but we think he has the chance to have a pretty good breaking ball." Bickford has a commitment to NCAA Division I school Cal State Fullerton, but Parker doesnt see that as an obstacle to getting him signed. "Almost every high school kid out there has a college commitment," he said. "Thats kind of the territory that we have when we take high school guys." It hasnt always worked out for Toronto, however. The Blue Jays drafted six-foot-four right-hander Tyler Beede out of high school in the first round of the 2011 draft even though Beede had a commitment to Vanderbilt University. The Blue Jays and Beede couldnt bridge a sizable gulf in negotiations over a signing bonus, and Beede elected not to sign. ' ' '