2012 » Michael Carrick Michael Carrick is England

CLEVELAND -- Corey Kluber stayed stone-faced, maintaining the same stoic look in the clubhouse that he had for nine innings on the mound. Only when prodded by an Indians teammate did Kluber crack. "Did you smile after the game?" pitcher Justin Masterson yelled to Kluber. "I did," he said. "Only when I saw you." Kluber had everyone in Clevelands clubhouse smiling after he struck out a career-high 11 and pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game, leading the Indians to a 5-1 win over the Royals on Thursday. Kluber (2-2) didnt walk a batter, and his rare outing allowed Cleveland manager Terry Francona to give some needed rest to his bullpen. "That was really fun to watch," Francona said. "He had everything working. His fastball was going both ways, change-up, location. He worked ahead and he threw a ton of strikes. That was really impressive." Kluber is the first Cleveland pitcher to throw a complete game while recording 11 strikeouts, no walks or earned runs since Len Barkers perfect game in 1981. "It was nice," said Kluber, who couldnt remember the last time he pitched nine innings. "I really wasnt trying to make a bigger deal out of it than going out there and getting three more outs. Maybe thats why it worked out." David Murphy and Asdrubal Cabrera drove in two runs apiece in the Indians five-run fifth off Bruce Chen (1-2), who controlled Clevelands lineup for four innings. The Indians have won four of five to get back to .500. The Royals scored an unearned run off Kluber in the seventh when Omar Infante singled and scored when Indians first baseman Nick Swisher made a half-hearted attempt at Mike Moustakas grounder, which got by him for an error and rolled all the way into the right-field corner. Other than that, Kansas Citys hitters were unable to do much against Kluber, whose previous long outing was 8 2-3 innings last July against the White Sox. Hes 3-0 in four career starts against the Royals. "He put it to us," said Alex Gordon, who went 0-for-4 and struck out to the end the game. "Give him credit. You look at our offence today and say we stunk. Thats how it was." Chen coasted through four innings, dominating the Indians with a mix of off-speed pitches before they touched him for five runs and chased him in the fifth. The left-hander retired 11 straight before Carlos Santana led off with a double, snapping an 0-for-16 slide with just his third hit in 48 at-bats. Michael Brantley followed with a single to centre for his team-leading 19th RBI, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead. The Indians didnt stop there as Murphy slapped a two-run single to left, and Cabrera made it 5-0 with his double down the left-field line to end Chens outing. The 28-year-old Kluber doesnt come across as fiery, but Francona said his low-key demeanour is deceiving. "Hes not the loudest guy in the clubhouse, but theres a fire there, man," Francona said. "He competes. He wants to be really good. He goes at it the right way. For a kid that doesnt have a ton of time in the major leagues, hes a good pro." Kansas City managed just one hit off Kluber in the first four innings, and then the Royals ran their way out of a scoring chance in the fifth when Alcides Escobar hesitated rounding second on Jarrod Dysons base hit, and Brantley threw him out from centre. The Royals turned a nifty double play to end the first. With a Cabrera at third, first baseman Eric Hosmer fielded Jason Kipnis hard grounder, stepped on first and threw home. Catcher Brett Hayes made a sweeping tag on Cabrera, who was called out. Crew chief Bill Miller called for a review to see if Hayes had blocked the plate, but the call was confirmed. NOTES: Kluber threw 101 pitches, 75 for strikes. ... Klubers complete game was the first for the Indians since Justin Mastersons on June 30 last season. ... The Indians and Cincinnati Reds entered the day as the only teams yet to play in an extra-inning game this season. ... The Indians will open a three-game interleague series in San Francisco on Friday. ... Brantley is 11 for 22 in his career against Chen. Air Max 2 Uptempo España .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have finalized their agreed-upon trade that sends former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins to the West Coast for a pair of minor league pitching prospects. Comprar Air Max Baratas .Y. -- Sore nose and all, Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to help Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 5-3 on Friday night, snapping the Penguins mini-slump and slowing the Sabres late-season surge. http://www.tiendasairmaxbaratas.com/zapatillas-air-max-270.html . He made the comment at a media availability Saturday prior to Game 2 of the Boston-Montreal playoff series when a Quebec reporter said there is sentiment in Quebec that the NHL looks more favourably on Seattle than Quebec City when it comes to future expansion. Nike Air Max 97 Rebajas . Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. Air Max 270 España . Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist as Phoenix held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.As I pour through all the film each week from the previous games, I always write down any interesting formations or plays that I think are good to attack defences. It gave me the idea to talk about what formations are used in the CFL and some of the reasons why they are used. Formation is defined as a structure or arrangement of something. In the case of football, it is eligible Receivers in relation to the football field. Most teams usually communicate some basic terms for formations based on the wide side of the field. For example, if there are three Receivers to the field and two Receivers to the boundary that is called a 3x2 set, 3 Field and 2 Boundary. 2x3 is two Receivers to the field and three Receivers to the boundary. 4x1 has four Receivers to the field and one to the boundary. If the numbers used equal five, the back is assumed to be in the backfield. If the numbers equal six the back is part of the spread formation. For example, 3x3 and 4x2 has the back as one of the Receivers in the formation. Lets talk about some of the formations used in the CFL, and how they are utilized. 3x2 set This is the most common formation seen in the CFL, with three Receivers spread to the wide side of the field. The three Receivers are put to the field to use the width to their advantage. The width forces the defenders to cover the whole width of the field. From the Boundary Hash to the sideline there are 41 yards to be covered by defenders. The three Receivers try to spread the field horizontally and vertically to attack the zones that are played by defenders. Many times there are only four defenders to cover the 41 yards both vertically and horizontally, so there are spaces in the zones. That is why teams must also employ man-to-man coverage where there arent holes in the defence because each man is covered. The two Receivers into the boundary and its 24 yards are usually covered by three defenders. Many teams employ the two Receivers into the boundary because they can run simple concepts where the QB can read one defender and throw off of him. The CFL has a lot of two-man Pattern combinations and they are often employed into the boundary because they are shorter throws for the Quarterback. 2x3 set Another formation often used is two Receivers to the field and three Receivers to the boundary. Teams employ this formation often for two reasons. First it forces the defenders to decide what to do with their Sam or strong side Linebacker. Does the Sam stay to the field to cover the wide side or will he adjust to the boundary to help cover the extra receiver into the boundary? That is one of the first things you teach the QB to look for in this formation, where is the Sam? If he stays to the field, we have an offensive advantage to the boundary go there. If he goes to the boundary, we can now attack the width of the field with the two offensive players. Many of the same Pattern concepts that you run into the boundary can now be employed to the wide side of the field. 4x1 set Four Receivers to the field is often used to make the defence make a decision on how to space their defenders again.dddddddddddd This time it is the boundary halfback who is the adjuster. He can either move to cover the width of the field and the additional Receiver to the wide side or he can stay backside and help the boundary cornerback with the single Receiver. A lot of offences at times will throw away from this defender. If the Halfback goes to the field you can put the Single Receiver in a 1-on-1 situation against the boundary corner. Quarterbacks often times will take the 1-on-1 throw into the boundary. If the Defence is concerned about the 1-on-1 on the backside they can leave the halfback on the backside hash mark to help the boundary cornerback. If that happens, then the offence should have an advantage to the wide side of the field with the four Receivers and the width of the field. 3x3 set Once you empty the backfield by removing the back the defence must remove a linebacker to cover the tailback in the formation or they must move the FS out of the middle of the field to cover the Receiver. Most teams will like to keep the FS in the middle of the field to have a deep defender so the weakside linebacker will usually move out to cover the back. Many teams will now try to get the linebacker in a coverage mismatch against the tailback in space, especially when they play man coverage. The other advantage offences have is that there are only five defenders in the box area (the area around the OL) and it creates an advantage for QB runs and draws. This is because there are five blockers for five defenders so there should be a chance to run. The defence has an advantage if they want to blitz because there are not a lot of protectors for the QB and there is a short edge on both sides to the QB. Short edge means a short distance to hit the QB. The last two basic formations to talk about are the ones with two backs in the backfield. Another back allows for another blocker in the run game, another pass protector to lengthen the edge and another possible ball carrier. 2x2 set This is a balanced formation with two Receivers field and two boundary and also two backs in the backfield. This puts the Sam linebacker into the box area and usually puts two defenders to the field and the boundary. This allows you to run two-man pass concepts on either side of the field. Offences like this formation because it allows for seven pass protectors, gives you six blockers in the run game and simplifies coverage because the Sam has to stay in the box area. 3x1 Set The 3x1 formation is similar to the 4x1 set because it forces the boundary halfback to decide to come to the field or whether or not to help the backside cornerback. A lot of teams will either work the boundary 1-on-1, or will max protect and work the wide side of the field. Coaches spend a lot of time watching video that is sorted by formations to be able to see how their opponents defend them. They will watch every 4x1 set video clip and decide on how to attack it based on the alignments they see on the film. Next week we can talk about exotic formations and motions! ' ' '