Pirate Galaxy » ted from offseason surgery on a torn labr

PHILADELPHIA -- Whether the motivation came from within or from a challenge from his manager, Tommy Joseph certainly has responded.Joseph homered, doubled and drove in three runs Wednesday night, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the Chicago White Sox 8-3.Earlier this month, Joseph was struggling and found himself on the bench. Since then, hes hit .480 in his last seven games.Josephs homer off White Sox ace Chris Sale was his 21st of the season, third-best among big league rookies.Manager Pete Mackanin had stated Joseph needed to be better at the plate. Joseph said a self-assessment is what helped him break out.The challenge came from within myself, Joseph said. When it comes from Pete, it gets out there publicly.Joseph hit an RBI double in the first inning. He connected for a two-run homer off Sale (16-9) in the third.I was just trying to attack strikes, Joseph said. Hes a good enough pitcher where if he gets ahead of you, hes going to make you pay. So that was our collective game plan as a team, to capitalize on his mistake early in the count.Cameron Rupp, Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez all had two-hit games for the Phillies. Hernandez hit his 10th triple of the season, tied for second best in the majors, and has reached base safely in 26 consecutive games.Philadelphia has won four of five. The White Sox have lost five in a row.It was the second-shortest outing of the season for Sale, and it snapped his run of six consecutive starts of at least eight innings. In four starts this season against NL teams, Sale is 0-4 with an 8.72 ERA.Jerad Eickhoff (11-13) pitched seven innings and gave up six hits, including three solo home runs, while striking out six.Eickhoff was relieved to get some offense from his teammates as he entered the game with the third-worst run support in the NL.To get that run support is huge off a guy like Sale, Eickhoff said. Its just awesome. These guys are battling, fighting their way through each at-bat. We just found ways to put runners on base and get guys home.Adam Eaton led off the game with a home run Todd Frazier hit his 38th in the seventh and Alex Avila followed with a drive in the seventh.Phillies outfielder Tyler Goeddel had to leave the game in the sixth after being hit in the head by reliever Chris Beck.Goeddel was the fourth Philadelphia player to be hit in the game, tying a franchise record that last occurred in 1960. Sale hit three batters.Everyone is entitled to have a bad night and tonight was mine, unfortunately. It would have been nice to sneak out of here with a win but I was just awful tonight, Sale said.ODDITYEickhoff has allowed seven home runs in his last two starts, but only six earned runs. Six of the seven homers have been solo shots. The seventh was a three-run homer, but all three runs were unearned because of an earlier error. Eickhoff has given up 29 homers this season, tying Brandon Finnegan of Cincinnati for the most in the NL.THIS AND THATEatons homer led off the game. It was the fifth time hes done that this season and ninth time in his career. ... Phillies OF Roman Quinn reached base four times without a hit (two walks, twice hit by a pitch).UP NEXTWhite Sox: RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-7, 3.83) faces Indians RHP Trevor Bauer (11-8, 4.24) in the opener of a three-game series in Cleveland on Friday night.Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (2-10, 5.49) take on Mets RHP Seth Lugo (4-2, 2.35) in the opener of a four-game series in New York on Thursday night. Nike Free UK Shoes Outlet .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Nike Free UK Online . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. http://www.nikefreecheapuk.com/ . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Wholesale Nike Free UK .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Cheap Nike Free UK From China . 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. NEW YORK -- Michael Grabner wasnt being greedy. He and linemates Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller were just dominant.Grabner scored three goals, Miller had a goal and two assists, and Hayes added three assists to lead the New York Rangers to a 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night.We had a a lot of chances as a line and could, maybe, have had a couple more, Grabner said.Theyre great players, Grabner said of his linemates. They have a lot of skill so I just tried to open up some room for them. Use my speed and it just worked tonight.Rick Nash and Jimmy Vesey also scored to help the Rangers win for the fourth time in five games. Antti Raanta stopped 31 shots.I felt good, Raanta said. I felt like I was seeing the puck (the) whole time and I was in the right position.Nash, Grabner and Vesey scored in a span of 2 minutes, 19 seconds midway through the second period to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. Miller scored late in the second and Grabner added two more in the third to make it 6-0 with his third career hat trick.We kept coming in waves, Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi said. Line after line, `D pair after `D pair, just kept doing the same thing.Steven Stamkos spoiled Raantas shutout bid with about 3 1/2 minutes remaining, and Ben Bishop finished with 31 saves as the Lightning lost their third straight.Were concerned with the way were playing right now, Bishop said. Its not something we cant fix. Its just about watching the tape and getting better from it; fixing it now. You dont want to stay in this rut.After a scoreless first period in which New York outshot Tampa Bay 16-10, the Rangers scored in a flurry in the second.Nash broke through at 4:45 with his fourth of the season. Nash was sprung for a semi-breakaway by Nick Holdens pass up the middle to start the sequence, and the New York winger snapped a shot which beat Bishop glove side.Grabner increased the lead with a one-timer off Brady Skjeis cross-ice feed as Miller screened Bishop at 6:42. On the play, Miller collided with with Bishop, which prompted Lightning coach Jon Cooper to use his coachs challenge in order to see if there was goaltender interference.ddddddddddddHowever, the video review showed Miller was bumped into Bishop by Valtteri Filppula.I thought the puck was pretty much already in the net by the time he pushed me, Miller said. I didnt think the goalie was going to be able to get over there.Just 22 seconds later, Vesey scored his team-leading fifth of the season to push the advantage to 3-0.Miller extended the Rangers lead with a tap-in with 1:50 left in the period.We put a few away in the second, New York coach Alain Vigneault said. Theres no doubt the speed and the pace was a factor.Grabners breakaway goal midway through the third increased the lead to 5-0, and his tap-in off a pass from Hayes with 5:13 left capped his first hat trick since signing with the Rangers in the offseason. It was also his first since Feb. 13, 2011, while with the Islanders.Breakaway after breakaway after 2-on-1, Cooper said. Not even the best goalies in the world are going to bail you out of that.All of New Yorks goals came at even strength. The Rangers were 0 for 5 on the power play, and Tampa Bay went 1 for 4.Game notes Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan made his season debut. Callahan, a former Ranger, had missed the Lightnings first eight games as he recuperated from offseason surgery on a torn labral in his right hip. ... Nikita Kucherov also played after missing Tampa Bays last game, a 3-1 loss to New Jersey on Saturday night, with an upper body injury sustained in the first period of the Lightnings 3-1 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal Thursday night. ... Prior to the game, Tampa Bay announced C Cory Conacher had been sent down to AHL Syracuse. Conacher had played in one NHL game this season, Saturdays loss at the Devils. ... The Lightning scratched D Matt Taormina and RW J.T. Brown. . Rangers LW Chris Kreider missed his fourth straight game with neck spasms. . New York scratched D Adam Clendening.UP NEXTLightning: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.Rangers: Host St. Louis on Tuesday night. ' ' '