Dein erstes Forum » the one night in baseball when pitch counts meant no

(SportsNetwork.com) - Washington Wizards guard John Wall played with a heavy heart the last time out in leading his team to victory and looks to keep the trend going Wednesday on the road against the Orlando Magic. Wall befriended a young cancer patient, Miyah Telemaque-Nelson, last March and the 6-year-old succumbed to the disease. Walls emotional night produced 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, a career-high 17 assists and seven rebounds of Mondays 133-132 double-overtime win versus the Boston Celtics. Wall scored Washingtons last 10 points in the second overtime. John Wall is a superstar in this league. Hes grown up before our eyes, former Celtic and current Wizards Paul Pierce said. Pierce scored a season-best 28 points and Marcin Gortat finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, winners in five of the last six games. Kris Humphries and Bradley Beal netted 17 and 14 points, respectively. Wall is second in the NBA with 10.4 assists per game and has at least 12 in each of the previous five games. He is the first player in franchise lore to hand out that many assists in five straight games. The Wizards are currently tied with Atlanta atop the Southeast standings and are 4-4 away from home this season. They are 11-0 this season when holding teams under 100 points. After their trip to the Magic Kingdom, the Wizards will return home for three games versus the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves. Orlando is back home after going 3-3 on a recent road trip. It won for the second straight time with Saturdays 105-96 triumph over the Sacramento Kings, as Tobias Harris led the way with 27 points and Victor Oladipo added 16. I just focus on winning, said Harris, who is averaging 18.9 points and has scored 20 or more three times in the last five games. For me, its all about helping my team win. Evan Fournier and Kyle OQuinn scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Magic, who shot 50.6 percent and took advantage of a Kings squad without the services of double-double machine DeMarcus Cousins (virus). Magic center, leading scorer and top rebounder Nikola Vucevic missed his fourth straight game because of back spasms and is questionable Wednesday. He is amassing an average of 18.6 points and 11.7 rebounds. Vucevic still leads the NBA with 13 double-doubles. The Magic are 2-5 at home and have lost three in a row there. They will play a home-and-home series with the Hawks next. Orlando has lost the first two meetings with Washington this season and will visit the Wizards on Feb. 9. The Wizards have won six in a row in this series and are 9-2 in the past 11 encounters between the Southeast inhabitants. Marcus Foligno Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings (3) - Early goal against was on the power play. Greg Pateryn Wild Jersey . Thats 14 consecutive losses to the two-time defending champs, and most of them were over before they even began. Result notwithstanding, Sundays game had a very different feel to it. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Zach-parise-wild-jersey/ . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest. Joel Eriksson Ek Wild Jersey . -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Luke Kunin Wild Jersey . Less than 24 hours later, in the same arena, he tried to recreate the magic of his all-time favourite player. Hilliard scored a career-high 26 points and No.The easiest decision Bruce Bochy had all night was when to put Madison Bumgarner in the game.The hardest thing was supposed to be deciding when to take him out.Actually it wasnt that tough. You dont win three World Series in five years without knowing that sometimes the best buttons are the ones not pushed.The hottest pitcher on the planet wanted the ball in the one game that mattered most. Once he got it, the unassuming man just starting to get some credit as one of the great managers of his era stayed out of his way.Our horse was out there and we rode him, Bochy said. He was throwing so well there was no way I was taking him out.A World Series that struggled to get noticed will now likely be long remembered, thanks to a laconic lefty who won it almost by himself. Bumgarner took the ball on two days of rest in the fifth inning and never came close to giving it up, even when a misplayed single to centre put the tying run on third base with two outs in the ninth.A lot of managers would have gone for their closer by sheer habit by then. Bochy merely stood and watched as Bumgarner got Salvador Perez to foul out to third baseman Pablo Sandoval to cap a World Series performance that brought back memories of pitchers from the past with names like Koufax and Gibson.I think the best word that comes to mind is legendary, first baseman Brandon Belt said. Im just glad he brought me along for the ride.Give Bumgarner credit — and plenty of it — for rising to the occasion in a 3-2 win in a World Series that went all the way to the final out of Game 7 before being decided. He won two games, saved the final, and was virtually unhittable each time he took the mound.But give Bochy credit, too, for refusing to bow to pressure and start his ace in Game 4, a game the Giants desperately needed in San Francisco. Give him credit also for opting not to start Bumgarner in Game 7, even when he knew an aging Tim Hudson probably didnt have what it took to last many innings against the Kansas City Royals.Finally, give him a third World Series ring for bringing Bumgarner in to start the fifth and letting his ace do the rest.I was trying to think along with Boch and was thinking maybe three (innings) out of him, catcher Buster Posey said. But he just kkept rolling.dddddddddddd It was unbelievable.The same might be said of the most improbable of the Giants three World Series runs with a team that returned only Posey as a position player from the 2010 World Series. It was just a month ago at Dodger Stadium where the Dodgers paused long enough in celebrating their division win to glance over at the Giants dugout and see Bochy and his coaches tipping their caps to them.After going through the wild card game to win a third title, maybe its time others start tipping their caps to a manager who just seems to find ways to put his players in a position to win.He always has faith in us and he shows it, Belt said. We pick up on it and it makes us play better.The Giants rewarded Bochys faith in them when it counted most, less than 24 hours after getting blown out 10-0 in Game 6. They scratched out a couple of runs early, got the go ahead run in the fourth, then sat back and watched as Bumgarner retired batter after batter in despite throwing 117 pitches on Sunday in San Francisco.Setup man Sergio Romo watched what was happening and didnt even bother to stretch. He knew he wouldnt be needed on the one night in baseball when pitch counts meant nothing.In the dugout there was no discussion about when Bumgarner might come out. Bochy simply let his star pitcher do his thing, and five innings of two-hit ball later the Giants were world champions.Afterward, the talk was about dynasties and with three titles in five years the Giants certainly qualify, even if few outside the Bay Area can figure out how they do it. Great pitching helps, of course, but the sum of this team seems to always be better than the players you see on the field.Thats the mark of a good general manager in Brian Sabean, and a man who is in his 20th year of managing in the big leagues seems to have the job down pat.They know what kind of guys to bring in here, Bumgarner said. Theyre winners, they got it in their DNA.That includes the pitcher whose name will be in the record books among the World Series greats.But dont forget the manager. Hes not too shabby, either.___Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '