Dein erstes Forum » bout those type of discussions.Ultima

NEW YORK -- Gary Sanchezs at-bats are becoming must-see events.The 23-year old rookie homered for the eighth time in nine games and drove in four runs as the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 14-4 Friday night in the opener of their weekend series.Guys are excited to watch, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Its as good as Ive seen to start a career.Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley also went deep for the surging Yankees, who moved five games over .500 for the first time this season and are 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card.Sanchez, who had three hits, singled with two outs in the bottom of the first. Teixeira followed with a towering shot into the right-field bleachers off Yovani Gallardo to give New York a 2-1 lead.The Yankees broke the game open against Gallardo (4-6) with a six-run second. The right-hander was charged with eight runs over 1 1/3 innings, the shortest start of his 10-year career.Luis Cessa (4-0) gave up three runs and five hits over six innings in his second big-league start.Manny Machado homered twice for the Orioles, giving him 31 for the season. Along with Mark Trumbo (38) and Chris Davis (30), it marks the first time in franchise history the Orioles have three players with 30 homers before September.Headley singled and Aaron Judge walked to start the second inning. Ronald Torreyes lifted a fly ball to left-center field but a charging Nolan Reimold could not glove the ball cleanly, loading the bases. Reimold had just replaced star center fielder Adam Jones, who exited with a left hamstring strain.I just didnt like the way he was moving around. Decided not to take a chance with him, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said about Jones early departure. See where we are tomorrow. Its not a DL thing. I think were still in pretty good shape.Brett Gardner followed with a single to left that drove in Headley and a sliding Judge to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. Jacoby Ellsbury singled to right, scoring Torreyes for New Yorks fifth run.Sanchez, hitting .541 with eight homers and 14 RBI over his last 10 games, chased Gallardo with a two-run double to right that made it 7-1.Im trying to just put a good swing on the ball, Sanchez said through a translator. Thats the mindset that I have and good things are happening.Teixiera capped the scoring in the big inning with an RBI single off reliever Vance Worley for his third RBI of the game.Headleys two-run homer in the fourth pushed the Yankees lead to 10-1, and Sanchez clubbed a two-run shot in the next inning for his 10th homer in 20 games this season.Anytime somebodys hot you want to watch their at-bats, Gardner said. Hes as hot as it gets right now so were all having a good time watching him.Machado, who gave the Orioles the lead in the first, hit his second of the game into the right-field seats in the sixth to make it 12-3 with his ninth career multi-homer game.Torreyes and Gardner both had RBI hits in the seventh.Yankees right-hander Ben Heller pitched a scoreless eighth in his major league debut.RAREFIED AIRSanchez became only the third player in major league history to hit 10 homers in his first 22 career games, also achieved by Colorados Trevor Story this year and Bostons George Scott in 1966.The 20 RBI across his first 22 games are the third-most in Yankees history behind Joe DiMaggio and Hideki Matsui.MILESTONE FOR MARKTeixeiras home run was his 202nd as a Yankee, tying Bill Dickey for 16th place on the franchises all-time list.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: Jones was in the starting lineup despite leaving Thursday nights game with hamstring cramps. He hustled down the line but was thrown out on a soft grounder to third in his only at-bat. ... RHP Chris Tillman (right shoulder bursitis) is scheduled to throw on flat ground Tuesday.Yankees: C Brian McCann was not with the team due to the death of his grandmother. ... RHP Bryan Mitchell (toe tear on left foot), reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday, could pitch for the Yankees this season. I think its a distinct possibility, Girardi said.UP NEXTOrioles: Rookie RHP Dylan Bundy (7-4, 3.33 ERA) attempts to win for the fifth time this month.Yankees: RHP Chad Green (2-3, 3.66 ERA) has struck out 16 batters in 12 innings over his last two starts, allowing just one run over that span.Jujhar Khaira Oilers Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Ryan Smyth Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. http://www.hockeyoilersshop.com/wayne-gretzky-jersey/ . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. Matt Benning Oilers Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Bill Ranford Jersey . 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.RIO DE JANEIRO -- The light was just right Tuesday morning at the Olympic Golf Course, and the man who designed the layout figured it was a good time to try to take some photos.Gil Hanse spotted two-time major champion Martin Kaymer playing down the first fairway and thought, Wow, were actually here. Theyre actually playing our golf course.Im not sure if that is the point where it really hit me, but I think that is the point where the pride really started to flow.Hanse, 53, was the surprise choice for the Olympic Golf Course project, his Gil Hanse Golf Design company beating out industry heavyweights such as Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Martin Hawtree, Robert Trent Jones Jr., Peter Thomson and Tom Doak.And there is no way he could have known back in March 2012, when the contract was awarded, what was ahead.Environmental issues. A land dispute. Construction delays. As much as all of the Olympic Games in Brazil have been affected by various problems and negativity, so, too, was the golf course.Had the 2016 Olympics been awarded to, say, Chicago, there would have been numerous choices to stage the Olympic tournament. Not so here, where just two courses existed in Rio; neither is public or suitable for a major golf competition.The new course was built in the Barra da Tijuca section of Rio within a natural reserve on sandy-based terrain that provides excellent drainage and a links-like feel. There are virtually no trees on the property, so wind will be a factor. Only a lagoon separates the course from the Atlantic Ocean.What struck me was how little dirt he really moved, Ty Votaw, an executive with the PGA Tour who is also vice president of the International Golf Federation, told ESPN.com. He really built a golf course that rolled with the terrain he was presented with. Because of this location, seaside, it has a links feel to it. But he designed something that fit really well into the landscape and topography.Players such as Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler both noted its Australia-like qualities, especially the sand belt region near Melbourne, where the courses are known for the links-like, sandy-based terrain.We talked to Gil earlier today and told him how much we appreciated what he did here, said Bubba Watson, the top-ranked American in the field. Its beautiful. The layout is unbelievable. Couldnt ask for anything more.For the mens tournament that begins Thursday, the course will measure 7,128 yards (6,245 yards for the womens event, which starts Aug. 17) and play to par-71. It has four par-5s and five par-3s.The finishing holes offer the chance for drama with a drivable par-4 at the 16th, the par-3 17th, and then a reachable par-5 18th.One of the reasons Hanse was selected for the job was he was willing to relocate to Rio from his home in Malvern, Pennsylvania. All of the applicants were offered a set fee of $300,000, well below market value; Hanses design group could easily expect to earn double that and likely triple now that hes had the exposure that comes with the Olympic project. Designers such as Nicklaus and Norman routinely command seven-figure design fees. (Nicklaus later offered to waive the design fee, believing the Olympic project was so important to the game.)Hanse had also been awarded the task of revamping the Blue Monster course at Doral, owned by Donald Trump. He also designed Castle Stuart, where the Scottish Open was played last month; did an overhaul of Los Angeles Country Club; made alterations at TPC Bostonn, site of the Deutsche Bank Championship.dddddddddddd And he recently completed a third course at Streamsong Resort in Florida.But seven months into a planned yearlong stay in Brazil -- with his wife and a daughter who was close to college age -- Hanse realized the process was going to take much longer.He moved back home, then took numerous trips to Brazil, spending 10 to 14 days at a time, overseeing the construction. Delays became worrisome because a test event was supposed to be played a year ago (the course was not ready) and a new course needs time to grown in and soften.I was really delighted how quickly the course matured once it was grassed, said Peter Dawson, the IGF president and former long-time CEO of the R&A who along with Votaw served on a four-person committee that picked Hanse for the job. If it had been going on in the U.K., it wouldnt yet be ready. But down here it went quickly.I think he produced a masterpiece, frankly. And hes been a delight to work with. The players Ive spoken to have been very positive. I think theyre all surprised how good it was. I dont think they were sure what they were coming to.Several of the design applicants brought on a woman partner to help strengthen their bid, which is why Nicklaus pitch seemed so formidable when he enlisted Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, who dabbles in course design.Not only that, Nicklaus and Sorenstam had been prominent campaigners for golfs inclusion in the Olympics when the sport was awarded a spot in 2009. Norman had Lorena Ochoa on his team, and Thomson worked with another Australian icon, Karrie Webb.Hanse brought on Amy Alcott as a consultant and could not have been happier with her role.Her being in the room I think gave us more credibility having a womens golf Hall of Famer up there, Hanse said. She talked wonderfully about how she got into the game and how much this golf course could provide an opportunity going forward.She also gave Hanse feedback on landing areas, a tricky aspect to the design because the course needed to be championship caliber for both men and women. If the idea is to have a hole play as a driver, 7-iron, for instance, then the tees need to be moved up for the women to hit a 7-iron to the green -- and the landing area also will be in place close to the hole.There are different ways to provide risk-reward without piling hazard after hazard out there, Hanse said. Amy was really good about those type of discussions.Ultimately, having a great competition and tournaments that are remembered and appreciated by Brazilians will be the most important aspect in forming a legacy, Hanse said. Getting them to come here to play the course and embrace golf will be the next great challenge after the Games are complete.For now, Hanse can only watch, his design and all that went into it ready when for so long there were doubts about this day ever arriving.As a designer, you have a certain intuition as to what youve built and how its going to play, he said. I feel really good about what we built and I think knowing that the conditioning is where it is ... looking at the weather, the wind is going to blow, well get wind from different directions ... I think the golf course will be shown off in its best light. And thats good.But dont get me wrong; on Thursday morning Ill be shaking like a leaf, nervous and excited at the same time. ' ' '