Plauderecke » player start to slow things down

MINNEAPOLIS -- From the moment Yasiel Puig broke into the big leagues, its been go, go, go for the 23-year-old Cuban outfielder. Now that Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly is seeing his electrifying, and sometimes maddening, player start to slow things down on the diamond, theres no telling how far his talents can take him. Puig tied a career high with four hits and drove in two runs and Dan Haren struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings to help the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader on Thursday. "His whole game seems to be calming down, base-running, defence," Mattingly said. "At the plate were seeing him be more patient. The sky is the limit for Yasiel Puig. "If he continues down this path, then he changes everything with how you pitch him, what you can do to him, because hes going to force you to throw the ball over the plate." Haren (4-0) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and six hits with three walks and Juan Uribe also tied a career-high with four hits and two RBIs for the Dodgers. Chris Perez pitched 1 2-3 innings for his first save. Mike Pelfrey (0-3) gave up five runs and seven hits and walked three in four innings for the Twins. Brian Dozier had two hits and two RBIs for Minnesota. The Dodgers looked uncomfortable in the 40-degree weather in the first inning, when throwing errors by Carl Crawford in left field and catcher Miguel Olivo on the same play allowed Trevor Plouffe to score from first base on a bloop single by Jason Kubel to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. But Pelfrey, who has not won a game at Target Field since April 16, 2013, gave the lead right back when his walk to Olivo loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning. Puigs two-run double made it 3-2 and the Dodgers scored two more on a double from Matt Kemp and a single from Uribe in the third to take control. "Weve got to do something about it, we have to fix it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Pelfrey. "Were trying to get him on the right path." Puig also had singles in the first, fourth and sixth innings and walked in the eighth, the third time hes had four hits in a game. He is batting .400 (16 for 40) with three doubles and 12 RBIs in his past 10 games to raise his average to .308 for the season and said hes worked with hitting coach Mark McGwire on his approach at the plate. "Hes helped me not get too anxious at the plate," Puig said through an interpreter. "And its helped me just connect with pitches that would normally give me trouble." The Twins seemed poised for a big inning in the fifth when Doziers single drove in two runs and a walk to Joe Mauer gave them runners on first and second with nobody out. Mattingly then challenged a close play at second base, when Hanley Ramirez stabbed a line drive from Plouffe and, in one motion, flipped the ball from his glove to second baseman Dee Gordon to try and double up Dozier. Umpires ruled Dozier safe on the play, but after a two-minute replay, officials overturned the call and ruled Dozier out. Jason Kubel grounded out in the next at-bat to end the inning and Haren escaped with a 5-4 lead. "That fifth inning was close to falling apart," Haren said. "Id be lying if I told you I didnt catch a break there, Hanley making a good play and getting the double play. ... Besides that I felt really good. I had a good rhythm the whole game." Gardenhire had a challenge of his own in the eighth inning when Kubel was called out on a play at second base. Gordon dropped the throw from Ramirez on the play, and replay officials quickly overturned the play to call Kubel safe. NOTES: Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, on the disabled list since after his first start of the season with strained shoulder, threw 86 pitches and allowed two runs in five innings in a start for Double-A Chattanooga on Wednesday night and appears in line to rejoin the rotation early next week. ... Red Patterson will make his MLB debut in the nightcap for the Dodgers against Twins LHP Kris Johnson. Both were called up to start the game under a provision that allows rosters to expand to 26 for a doubleheader. Kalen Ballage Jersey . -- Hee Young Park topped the leaderboard at 8 under Friday in the suspended second round of the Kingsmill Championship. Danny Amendola Dolphins Jersey .Jeff Green, playing in his second preseason game after missing the first four because of a calf strain, had 18 points. The Celtics (3-3) shot 47.2 per cent from the floor and made 15 of 37 3-point attempts. http://www.officialauthenticdolphinsshop...ore-jersey.html. The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Germanys Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Sony Open in just 89 minutes. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey . He will play 10th-seeded Feliciano Lopez in Sundays final, after the Spanish left-hander defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7), 6-4. Miami Dolphins Jerseys . -- Jonathan Diaz is easy to spot in the Blue Jays clubhouse.Kansas City, MO - Perry Ellis scored 14 points, the last two on a tie-breaking basket with 2:01 remaining, and 10th-ranked Kansas survived a stern challenge from No. 13 Utah to earn a 63-60 victory. The Jayhawks squandered a 21-point lead early in the second half, but came up clutch down the stretch to record their seventh straight win since a blowout loss to top-ranked Kentucky in Indianapolis in mid-November. Well, if youre going to blow a 21-point lead, I guess I like the way we responded, said Kansas coach Bill Self. Tale of two halves. They played much better than us obviously in the second half. It had to be 15, 16 minutes where we scored about nine points; just awful. And then we made some plays late. We actually did play well down the stretch, the last four minutes we were pretty good. Ellis big basket snapped a 55-55 tie, while Brannen Greene hit four critical free throws in the final seconds to enable Kansas (8-1) to hold on. Delon Wright led the Utes near-comeback by netting 12 of his 23 points in the second half, but Utah (7-2) failed to score on five straight possessions after claiming a 55-53 edge on Jakob Poeltls layup with 4:36 left to play. Kansas built a seemingly comfortable 39-21 halftime lead on the strength of a 60 percent shooting rate from the field, but it was a different story for both teams after the break. The Utes, who struggled mightily to put up points over the initial 20 minutes, suddenly found their stroke to get back in it. Utah knocked down 7-of-9 shot attempts during a six-minute stretch in which it outscored Kansas by a 21-6 margin, reducing a 21-point deficit down to six when two Dallin Bachynski free throws cut the margin to 48-42 with 10:15 left. Kansas, on the other hand, went 6-of-23 from the floor after intermission, with those shooting woes enabling the Utes to creep closer. Wright put up six straight points to pull Utah evven at 53-53 with just under five minutes left, and Poeltl scored on the Utes next possession to send them ahead for the first time since midway through the first half.dddddddddddd Kansas then tightened up its defense, holding Utah without a point over the next four-plus minutes. Two Frank Mason free throws squared the game at 55-55, and Ellis hit a floater in the lane after Wright had a 3-point try blocked to put the Jayhawks back on top. After Jamari Traylor made two from the line following another unsuccessful trip down the court for the Utes to extend the lead to four, Dakarai Tucker sank a three-pointer with 23.5 seconds showing to pull Utah within 59-58. Greene calmly sank both foul shots on the other end, however, then two more after Wrights layup to keep KU in front at 63-60. Poeltl then missed badly on a corner 3-point shot as time expired. The Jayhawks seized control of the first half by embarking on a 23-2 tear that turned a one-point deficit midway through the period into a commanding 39-19 lead. Wayne Selden began the huge run with five consecutive points, with Mason and Kelly Oubre Jr. draining back-to-back triples later on to further the margin. Utah missed 11-of-12 shot attempts during the sequence, going more than six minutes without a point before Wright finally ended the dry spell with a dunk with 36 seconds to go in the half. Game Notes Kansas finished with a 41.9 percent field goal percentage, with Utah hitting on just 38.9 percent ... The Jayhawks were 21-of-23 from the foul line for the game ... The Utes were facing a top-10 opponent for the first time while ranked in the top 15 since the 1998 National Championship Game against Kentucky ... Kansas won the only previous meeting between the schools, a 79-68 decision in November of 1995 that also took place in Kansas City ... The Jayhawks improved to 13-4 against Pac-12 teams under Self. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '