Pirate Galaxy » its something so small thats costing us, especially the

MINNEAPOLIS -- King Felix is no longer the only ace in Seattle. Start by dazzling start, Hisashi Iwakuma is now right there with him. Iwakuma struck out five in 7 2-3 innings and Kendrys Morales homered to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. Iwakuma (6-1) gave up seven hits and walked two to drop his ERA to 2.13, and Jesus Sucre added two hits and an RBI for the Mariners, who snapped Minnesotas four-game winning streak. Tom Wilhelmsen picked up his 12th save. "With what hes done in the past, I think were coming to expect this from him," Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan said. "Whether thats fair or not, its just a tribute to how good and how nasty he is." Mike Pelfrey (3-6) gave up three runs on six hits in 5 1-3 innings for the Twins. Pedro Florimon had three hits and Chris Parmelee had two, but the rest of the lineup went 2 for 27 with six strikeouts. Morales eighth homer of the season was a two-run shot off Pelfrey to dead centre field that started Seattles three-run third inning. And that was all Iwakuma needed. "He knows how to dig deep when he needs to and he understands the game, and great heartbeat, like weve talked about so much," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Hes able to slow the game down when he needs to slow it down and when he gets on a roll he gets in that nice tempo, which weve seen a lot of that this year." After a 10-game losing streak earlier in the month, the Twins came into the opener against the struggling Mariners on a nice little roll. They had won five of their previous six games following that miserable skid and appeared to have their fortunes turning thanks to a soft spot in the schedule -- they took four straight from the free-falling Brewers this week -- and some luck in not getting Mariners ace Felix Hernandez this weekend. But Iwakuma is no picnic either. Like many of his Japanese brethren who have come before him, Iwakuma has an almost hypnotic, unconventional delivery that plays with a hitters eye level. His right leg flares out on the follow-through that has the potential to distract as his splitter reaches the plate. He went 9-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 16 starts last season, but the American League hasnt shown any signs of figuring him out in his second year. The crafty right-hander entered the game with a 2.35 ERA, the third best in the American League and just ahead of Hernandez (2.38). His only loss of the season came in a 2-1 defeat at Houston on April 23 when he struck out 11 in five innings. He didnt miss as many bats on Friday night, but he was just as effective. He got Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit twice and also induced three comebackers to the mound as the Twins flailed away. "He can spot that fastball at the knees and I dont know how you want to describe it, but its downhill and then it kind of flattens out," Ryan said. "It looks like its going to be a ball down and it stays at the knees for a strike. Then he throws a splitter off that. What are you supposed to do? I mean at that point youre almost having to guess." The Twins had a chance to get on the board in the third inning with runners at the corners and one out. But a drawn-in Brendan Ryan made a nifty stab at shortstop on a hot shot from Jamey Carroll and made a sharp throw off one foot to get Parmelee at home plate. "He pretty much shut us down," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Iwakuma caught a break in the fifth when Florimons double down the left field line bounced into the seats for a ground-rule double, which prevented Parmelee from scoring. Carroll grounded out to end the inning. "I didnt have a very good bullpen today," Iwakuma said through a translator. "I thought my balance wasnt right, but then I was able to make my adjustment during the game." NOTES: The Mariners have won four of six following and eight-game losing streak. ... Twins RHP Anthony Swarzak had a throwing error in the seventh inning, snapping the teams 11-game errorless streak one game shy of the franchise record. ... Twins GM Terry Ryan said the team would not activate OF Wilkin Ramirez when he is eligible to come off the seven-day disabled list on Sunday. ... RHP Aaron Harang (2-5, 6.51) will go for the Mariners on Saturday against RHP Kevin Correia (5-4, 3.96.). Odell Beckham Jr Browns Jersey . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Baker Mayfield Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.com/Youth-Bernie-Kosar-Elite-Jersey/ . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Baker Mayfield Womens Jersey . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Sheldrick Redwine Womens Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Lance Berkman was actually more relaxed with the Texas Rangers on the verge of squandering a great scoring chance in a tie game. Berkman hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning after an odd double play erased the potential go-ahead run at third base, and the Rangers beat Cleveland 6-3 Monday night to hand the Indians their eighth straight loss. The Rangers had runners at first and third with no outs when David Murphy hit a grounder that the Indians turned into two outs by throwing behind Jurickson Profar at third. Berkman suddenly needed a hit instead of a simple sacrifice fly to put Texas ahead. He responded with a shot down the left-field line for his first homer since May 24 and a 5-3 lead over the Indians, who have a 12-game road losing streak thats their longest since a 16-game skid carried over from 2009 into the second away game of 2010. "A lot of times you feel much more relaxed and you have a better at-bat when you need a base hit as opposed to when you just need a fly ball," said Berkman, who was 2 for 25 with eight strikeouts coming in. "I wasnt thinking, weve just blown this. I was thinking, just try to get a good pitch to hit and try to hit it hard." Robbie Ross (3-1) got the win after striking out the side following a leadoff walk in the seventh. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save. Scott Kazmir (3-4) ended up with the loss even though he was in the dugout when the switch-hitting Berkman homered off left-hander Nick Hagadone. Carlos Santana had a three-run double in the third inning, but the Indians didnt get another hit and remained a season-high 5 1/2 games behind Detroit just 18 days after they were in first place in the AL Central. "Work hard and grind because there isnt a magic potion," Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. "There might be, but you can go to jail. Were going to find out a lot about ourselves right now." Jeff Baker had a tying homer for Texas in the fourth, his ninth of the season and fourth in the past six games. After Berkmans home run, Nelson Cruz added an RBI double in the seventh. "Hes too good not to find his swing," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Berkman. "It would be nice if he got going and we could start doing things we know were capable of doing. For now weve just got to keep fighting, and hes one of them whos been fighting and tonight he got us a big blow." Kazmir fell behind 1-0 in the second on an RBI single by Craig Gentry but avoided further trouble by striking out Elvis Andrus with the bases loaded after third baseman Mark Reynolds misplayed a grounder with two outs.dddddddddddd. Josh Lindblom, making his second career start with Texas this season after 101 relief appearances in the big leagues, retired the final 10 batters he faced after Santanas three-run double put Cleveland up 3-1 in the third. Lindblom, filling in for injured starter Alexi Ogando, allowed five hits while striking out six and walking one. Four of his six innings were perfect. The Indians had just two baserunners over the last six innings -- Jason Giambi on a walk and Jason Kipnis on an error by Andrus at shortstop. "Theres nothing I can do to change the double that he hit, so Ive got to worry about the next pitch," said Lindblom, who was knocked out in the fifth inning of his other start after a flurry of Oakland doubles. "You make the next pitch and the next pitch and the next thing you know youre in the fifth or sixth inning." The Rangers tied the score quickly in the fourth. A.J. Pierzynski led off with his second single and scored four pitches later on Bakers homer down the left-field line. Kazmir allowed eight hits and four runs with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings. "Its just little things that cost us the game," Kazmir said. "It could be a pitch, it could be defensively, offensively. It seems like its something so small thats costing us, especially the last couple of games." Mike Aviles started Clevelands three-run third by beating Andrus throw on a grounder up the middle. Kipnis singled and Nick Swisher walked with one out, and after Michael Brantley popped out, Santana sent a ball to the gap in right-centre, just out of Cruzs reach. The defensive play of the game ended up as a single for Berkman after Reynolds dove into foul territory to stop a one-hop grounder and threw to first. Berkman would have been out, but Santana came off the bag early to throw back to Reynolds, who tagged out Murphy trying to go from first to third on the play. Berkman was awarded a hit. NOTES: The Indians acquired INF John McDonald from Pittsburgh for a player to be named or cash. The 38-year-old McDonald spent his first six seasons with Cleveland starting in 1999. To make room for him, the Indians moved RHP Brett Myers (right elbow) to the 60-day DL. ... Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler has resumed baseball activities and hopes to return during an 11-game homestand that ends June 20. Hes been out since May 18 with a rib injury. ... Andrus has at least one hit in all 33 career games against the Indians. ' ' '