Dein erstes Forum » revived rival South Carolina at Death Valley

BOSTON -- Say this for the Boston Red Sox: Theyre going for it in David Ortizs final season.With the finish line in sight for their retiring franchise icon, the Red Sox didnt wait for the Aug. 1 trade deadline to get help for an inadequate rotation. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didnt spare all of the organizations top prospects either, acquiring All-Star left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres for touted 18-year-old right-hander Anderson Espinoza on Thursday night in an old-fashioned, one-for-one trade between clubs with vastly different timelines for contending.The Red Sox, who return from the All-Star break in a three-way fight for the American League East crown, get a pitcher who appears to be coming into his own at age 27 but has already reached his big league career high in innings pitched this season at 102. Meanwhile, the 38-51 Padres get an elite prospect who has been compared to a young Pedro Martinez but probably wont sniff the big leagues until at least 2019.Id rather trade three [lesser]-type guys than Anderson, but that wasnt appealing to San Diego, Dombrowski said. They really wanted more of the focus of the premium guy. Theres always risk with pitchers, no matter how old they are. We know that Drew hasnt thrown this many innings. We think he can handle it. We also know theres a risk in Anderson, a young pitcher that we like a great deal.Dombrowski said Pomeranz is scheduled to make his Red Sox debut Wednesday at Fenway Park against the San Francisco Giants.To make room for Pomeranz on the 40-man roster, infielder Josh Rutledge, who is out with an injured left knee, was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.Espinoza, ranked No. 14 on ESPN Insider Keith Laws midseason top 50 prospects list, was one of the most gifted arms in a Boston farm system that hasnt produced a homegrown starter since Clay Buchholz in 2007. But with the demand for pitching far outweighing the supply of available starters -- and the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers,?fellow AL contenders, equally desperate for pitching -- the cost was always going to be exorbitant. Dombrowski had little choice but to act quickly and pay a steep price.Sometimes if you have more supply than demand, youre in a position; if you wait [until the trade deadline], sometimes it can be beneficial, Dombrowski said during a conference call. But in a case where the demand exceeds the supply, which is definitely the case in this situation, Im not sure you dont take a greater risk by waiting, because demand continues to build. I dont think theres a lot more guys becoming available. We had a pretty good pulse of that.Pomeranzs value has been built almost entirely over the past three months. A first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2010, he earned his first All-Star selection this season after posting a 2.47 ERA and allowing 67 hits and 41 walks in a career-high 102 innings over 17 starts for the Padres. He ranks second in the majors in both opponents batting average (.184) and opponents OPS (.555).Before this season, though, Pomeranz bounced between the rotation and the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies and the Oakland Athletics, posting a 4.60 ERA and allowing 240 hits and 106 walks in 228? innings as a starter. The lefty has now been traded four times.But the Red Sox are betting on Pomeranz being a late bloomer because he has started throwing a cutter this season. They believe Pomeranzs cutter has made his fastball more effective because he doesnt have to throw it as frequently. In the past, he was primarily a fastball-curveball pitcher.Pomeranz will join a rotation that includes ace lefty David Price, upstart knuckleballer Steven Wright and right-hander Rick Porcello. Red Sox starters have posted a 4.72 ERA in the first half, which ranks 19th in the majors.The final two spots in the rotation have been a black hole, with six pitchers combining for a 7.22 ERA. The Red Sox are hoping lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, 23, has corrected mechanical flaws that contributed to an 8.59 ERA in six starts since he came off the disabled list in late May, but they also cant bank on a significant improvement from him.We have four guys, and were hopeful Eduardo steps up at this point when he pitches on Saturday [in New York against the Yankees], Dombrowski said. And well see what else happens beyond that.Hired in August with a win-now mandate from owner John Henry, Dombrowski has lived up to his reputation as an aggressive wheeler-dealer. In November, he acquired closer Craig Kimbrel from the Padres for four minor leaguers, including touted outfielder Manuel Margot and infielder Javier Guerra. He also signed Price and veteran outfielder Chris Young?and traded for reliever Carson Smith in a span of about three weeks during the offseason. Within the past week, he has made four trades, acquiring veteran infielder Aaron Hill, utility man Michael Martinez, reliever Brad Ziegler and now Pomeranz.Espinoza was widely regarded as the Red Soxs top pitching prospect and third-best prospect overall, behind second baseman Yoan Moncada and center fielder Andrew Benintendi, both of whom are playing at the Double-A level and could reach the big leagues later this season before Ortiz exits the stage.Espinoza is still years away from the majors. And after dominating the rookie-level Gulf Coast League with a 0.68 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 40 innings last season, he has struggled against older competition in the low-Class A South Atlantic League. In 17 starts for Greenville, he has notched a 4.38 ERA and given up 77 hits and 27 walks in 76 innings.The Padres were able to pry away Espinoza because Pomeranz isnt eligible for free agency until after the 2018 season. Pomeranz is making only $1.35 million this season, his first year of arbitration eligibility.Dombrowski noted the comfort of knowing Price, Wright, Porcello and Pomeranz would be locked up beyond this season.We found we were being asked for the same people no matter what the amount of service time left was, Dombrowski said. Even though somebody was in the last year [until] free agency versus somebody that had a couple of years to go, the same names that kept coming up, the players that we were being asked to trade.Trading Espinoza was also slightly more palatable for the Red Sox because of the re-emergence of right-hander Michael Kopech, who has returned from last years drug suspension and a broken hand in spring training. One Red Sox official said last week that Kopech has the best arm Ive ever seen, and in a start for Class A Salem on Wednesday night, Kopech threw a pitch that was clocked at 105 mph.The Red Sox were also on the verge Thursday night of signing first-round draft pick Jason Groome, a touted high school left-hander who figures to take Espinozas place as a prized pitching prospect. Puma Shoes From China . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Cheap Puma Shoes Factroy Outlet . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. http://www.discountpuma.com/ . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Cheap Authentic Puma Shoes . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. Discount Puma Shoes Sale . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. CLEMSON, S.C. -- James Conners smile said it all -- Pittsburgh was happy to once again shuffle up the national championship picture.Hey, sorry to do that. But we wanted this one bad, said Conner, who had two touchdowns and ran for 132 yards in the Panthers 43-42 stunner over No. 2 Clemson on Saturday.Conners 20-yard TD run with 5:17 left inched the Panthers into striking range and Chris Blewitt -- after a kiss on the cheek from coach Pat Narduzzi -- struck a perfect, 48-yard field goal with six seconds left for the winning points.Well remember this one forever, Conner said.So, too, will Clemson (9-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 3 AP) which saw its run at perfection halted after escaping so many other jams this season. A fourth-down stop a yard shy saved the Tigers 42-36 win over Louisville on Oct. 1. North Carolina States missed field goal at the end of regulation boosted Clemson to a 24-17 overtime win.This time, it was the Panthers (6-4, 3-3) who made the critical plays.When Clemson was driving for a touchdown already up 42-34, linebacker Saleem Brightwell picked off quarterback Deshaun Watson -- his third interception -- and returned it 70 yards to set up a 20-yard TD by Conner that drew Pitt within 42-40.When Clemson attempted to run out the clock, the Panthers defense (despite allowing 630 yards) stuffed Wayne Gallman a yard short on third and fourth downs to take over near midfield with 58 seconds left.We had a chance to put the game away and they stopped us, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. We had been making those kinds of plays this year.Nathan Peterman moved Pitt to the Clemson 30 and Blewitt steadily knocked through.It was Pitts highest-ranked win since defeating Backyard Brawl rival, No. 2 West Virginia, 13-9 in 2007 and spoiling the Mountaineers chances at playing for the national title.Our team had a lot of guts tonight, Narduzzi said.And a whole lot of playmakers to topple the defending ACC champs.Peterman had a career-best five TD passes and 308 yards. Conner rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown. He also caught one of Petermans scoring throws.Blewitt, who had a kick blocked at the end of the opening half, was steely eyed and ready. Narduzzi gave his senior a kiss on the cheek and sent him out for the winning kick.As soon as I saw the kick go up, I knew it was going in, Scott Orndoff said. It was jubilation.Clemson had its offense going.dddddddddddd Watson threw for an ACC record 580 yards and three touchdowns. Gallman ran for three TDs and Mike Williams had 15 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown.In the end, it was Clemsons first loss to an unranked opponent in five seasons, a span of 46 games.Come Monday, well start over because its a long season, Watson said. Get ready for Wake Forest. Hopefully, we can clinch the ACC (Atlantic) and punch our ticket for the championship game next week.THE TAKEAWAYPittsburgh: The Panthers showed that Narduzzis program is taking hold. Peterman stayed calm in the face of Clemsons strong pass rush and Conner was able to avoid the Tigers middle duo of Carlos Watkins and Dexter Lawrence to keep Pitt moving.Clemson: Many non-Tiger fans will say this team had it coming after escaping with close wins at home against No. 5 Louisville (42-36 on Oct. 1) and North Carolina State (24-17 in overtime on Oct. 15) after the Wolfpack missed the potential game-winning kick to end regulation. Clemsons path is still clear -- win out and hope its one-loss season is better than most others.POLL IMPLICATIONSExpect a rankings fall for Clemson, certainly from the top five. And theres not that much time left to make up for a loss. After Wake Forest, the Tigers face revived rival South Carolina at Death Valley before potentially heading to Orlando, Florida, for the ACC championship game.RECORD DAYWatsons passing yards broke the 21-year-old mark of Wake Forests Rusty LaRue, who passed for 545 yards against North Carolina State on Nov. 18, 1995. Watson said the record doesnt console him after the loss. Id rather go 0-for-30 with no yards and get the W, he said.SAYING GOODBYEThis wasnt the farewell Clemsons offense wanted. Watson, Gallman, Williams and receiver Artavis Scott are all juniors who were honored with Clemsons seniors Saturday after Swinney said they would all be leaving the program for the NFL after this season. Watson acknowledged wild emotions. Still, Im going to keep a smile on my face, he said.UP NEXTPittsburgh closes the year with two games at home, starting with Duke next week.Clemson will try to earn the ACC Atlantic Division title with a win at Wake Forest next Saturday.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '