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22.04.2019 03:52
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CLEVELAND - A year after flourishing down the stretch and landing a playoff spot, the Cleveland Indians are trying to do it again. Manager Terry Franconas one-day-at-a-time approach last season paid off with a wild-card berth. The Indians went 21-6 in September, including a 10-game winning streak to end the season. Cleveland, which is five games out in both the AL Central and wild-card race, will need a similar finish this time. The Indians and Minnesota Twins will play a doubleheader Thursday after Wednesday nights game was postponed by rain. Francona realizes that every day is crucial with 19 games to play, but his philosophy is staying the same. "Changing your colours, changing your stripes doesnt help players play better," he said. "Thinking too far ahead doesnt help. The best way to put yourself in that position is to take care of your business at hand. I just think that makes sense." The Indians dropped the series opener 4-3 on Tuesday, a difficult loss to a team that has the second-worst record in the AL. "Screaming and yelling doesnt make guys swing the bat and doesnt make you score runs," Francona said. "This is a game of almost who can handle frustration the best because theres so much of it." Francona admits its not always easy to maintain that philosophy on a personal level. "I probably dont on the inside," he said. "I do the best I can on the outside. This games really hard. I know that better than anybody." The Indians won six of seven before dropping three of four in a crucial series to Detroit last week. Cleveland swept three games from the Chicago White Sox before losing Tuesday. "Weve got a good group," Francona said. "We show up and play as well as we can and see where it takes you. You get down to the last week and maybe be aware of your surroundings, but I dont know if you can start doing crazy stuff. That doesnt really work." Wednesdays game was called off about two hours before the scheduled first pitch. Strong storms were in the forecast into early Thursday morning. The day off will give the Twins some rest before they try to do more damage to Clevelands playoff hopes. "Weve got to hold on to that mentality, to be honest," said reliever Brian Duensing, one of five pitchers the Twins used in Tuesdays win. "I think we owe it to the game of baseball. If we were to just come out and shut it down and not really give 100 per cent, its not fair to the game. Weve got to try and play spoiler and make it as difficult as possible on people." Indians ace Corey Kluber (14-9) will start game one against right-hander Kyle Gibson (11-10). Left-hander T.J. House (2-3) will pitch game two for the Indians against Ricky Nolasco (5-10). Rod Brind Amour Jersey . Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds made his longshot request of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Bonds conviction in September. Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . TSN 1290s Jordan Cieciwa, Big Marv and Toby are here to give their predictions on who will leave with the belt and who will take some of the other key bouts on the card. Johny Hendricks vs. http://www.hockeyhurricanes.com/customized/. The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and $2.5 million in 2016-17. Justin Faulk Jersey .Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been neck and neck all season, with 17 points separating the rivals and double points on offer for the race.Tensions between them have spilled over during the campaign and the pairs fragile relationship was evident during Thursdays pre-race news conference, when Rosberg goaded Hamilton by advising him to race cleanly.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have given themselves room to manoeuvr while continuing whats become a weeklong shuffle of their quarterback-depleted roster. In releasing five players -- including newly acquired quarterback Thaddeus Lewis -- on Saturday, the Bills are three spots short of their 53-player roster limit entering the first week of the season. That opens the likelihood of Buffalo spending time scouring the waiver wire to add players to address its most pressing needs at quarterback and cornerback. The Bills also released veteran linebacker Bryan Scott and defensive linemen Torrell Troup, Jamie Blatnick and Izaan Cross. Lewis became the latest quarterback on the way out in Buffalo, a day after the team cut Matt Leinart and placed veteran Kevin Kolb on injured reserve because of a concussion. Lewis had spent less than a week in Buffalo, after being acquired in a trade that sent reserve linebacker Chris White to Detroit. Lewis went seven of 16 for 132 yards passing, including a 79-yard touchdown to Marcus Easley in taking over for Leinart in the second quarter of a 35-13 preseason finale loss to Detroit on Thursday. He also had a Bills-leading 51 yards rushing. Without Lewis, the Bills are left with two quarterbacks -- rookie first-round pick EJ Manuel and undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel-- on their roster in preparing to open the season against New England. Manuel has missed two weeks after hurting his left knee, and its unclear if hell be ready to play next weekend. Tuel is penciled in to start against the Patriots if Manuel is not ready. Bufffalo is also short on depth at cornerback with starter Stephon Gilmore to miss the first five to seven weeks with a broken wrist.dddddddddddd The Bills have been off since Thursdays game, and return to practice Sunday afternoon. Scott is a 10-year veteran, who spent the past six seasons playing several roles in Buffalo. The Bills were forced to cut Scott after they failed in a bid to trade him over the past two days. "Im still all smiles," Scott told The Associated Press by phone shortly after he was released. "Im so thankful to the organization for the opportunity." The move didnt entirely catch him by surprise, even though the Bills had re-signed Scott to a one-year contract before the start of free agency in March. "My only regret is we didnt get over that hump and get to the team to playoffs," said Scott, referring to Buffalos post-season drought which now stands at 13 seasons. "But Im very much in their corner." Scott, who can also play safety and special teams roles, intends to attempt to continue playing. "I know I still have a lot of gas in the tank, and still want to play," he said. Troup was Buffalos second-round pick in the 2010 draft. After appearing in 15 games, including three starts as a rookie, he played only six more in 2011 and then missed all of last season after having back surgery. Troup was finally healthy entering training camp this season, but was unable to crack a defensive front thats been improved by the off-season addition of veteran free-agent Alan Branch. 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