Pirate Galaxy » ager Dusty Baker is asking the home fan

Technical boss Paddy Lowe admits there is tension at Mercedes ahead of this weekends title showdown in Abu Dhabi, but remains confident the team can deliver perfect reliability to both cars.Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will go head to head for the title in Abu Dhabi, with Rosberg able to secure his first world championship with a podium finish on Sunday. Rosbergs 12-point advantage ahead of the final round can partly be traced to reliability issues on Hamiltons car earlier in the year, but Lowe is confident there will not be a repeat at the weekend.This is the first time weve had a 21st race in any Formula One season and its fitting that such a record-breaking year should conclude with the drivers championship being fought right to the very end, he said. Its great for fans of the sport. Of course, it also means significant tension within our particular camp -- but the team has shown itself highly adept at managing this type of situation over the past few years.We will approach this weekend as we would any other, with the primary objective of ensuring that the title is decided on track in a fair fight. While there have been occasional issues over the course of the year, 2016 has actually seen the strongest reliability record in the history of this team -- both technically and operationally -- giving us good faith in the underlying progress that weve made. The drivers too are in great shape, so were looking forward to a close and hard-fought competition.Pirellis decision to bring softer tyre compounds to the majority of races this season has seen a number of qualifying lap records broken over the course of the year. Lowe expects the same this weekend with Pirellis fastest compound -- the purple-striped ultra-soft -- on offer for the first time.Pirelli have included the ultra-soft compound tyre for this weekend, so we could well see Qualifying times faster than ever before at this circuit. All in all, were hoping for a spectacular finale under the magical setting of those Marina lights, giving everyone something to remember as we cap off an incredible year. Custom Atlanta Braves Nike Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Custom St. Louis Cardinals Nike Jerseys . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. https://www.custombaseballnikejerseys.com/?tag=custom-detroit-tigers-nike-jerseys . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Custom Chicago Cubs Nike Jerseys Custom Authentic Baseball Jerseys . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. WASHINGTON -- The Milwaukee Brewers didnt get the sweep they were shooting for, yet they derived a huge sense of satisfaction from their holiday visit to the nations capital.Matt Garza yielded three home runs, and the Brewers fell to the Washington Nationals 7-4 on Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series.Milwaukee won the first two from the NL East leaders, including a 1-0 thriller against Max Scherzer on July 4. So as they packed their bags to head home, the Brewers felt pretty good about what they had accomplished.Builds our confidence, knowing you can play with the best, said Scooter Gennett, who drove in two runs and stole home.A three-run homer by Bryce Harper in the first inning and a solo shot by Jose Lobaton put Milwaukee in a 4-0 hole in the second inning.The Brewers came back with a four-run third against Tanner Roark that featured five singles and Gennett scoring on the front end of a double steal.After that, however, the Nationals pulled away.You come on the road and play a first-place team and win two out of three, for sure thats a good series, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. But after you tie it up you feel like you left something out there.Garza (1-2) gave up seven runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 with a 7.69 ERA in 10 career starts against Washington.Behind in a lot of counts today and I had to pitch from behind and thats what happens, Garza said. You just put it in the back of your mind and get through it and get to the next one.The right-hander ran into difficulty almost immediately, giving up singles to Ben Revere and Jayson Werth before Harper hit his 18th home run, an opposite-field poke to left.After Milwaukee drew even, Stephen Drew hit a two-out RBI double in the bottom half for a 5-4 lead.Ryan Zimmerman chased Garza with a two-run drive in the fifth foor a 7-4 lead.ddddddddddddRoark (8-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings. The right-hander beat the Brewers on June 26 to help Washington dodge a three-game sweep.He pounded the strike zone, Harper said. When he goes out there, its usually a quick game and a lot of fun.Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.MAKE SOME NOISENationals manager Dusty Baker is asking the home fans to crank up the volume in the second half of the season. Some of the guys on the team wish our fans were more boisterous and crazy, like we see at different stadiums on the road, he said. Taking into account the transient nature of Washington, Baker added, We realize a lot of fans are new. Were trying to win everybody over to us. We need their energy, big time.CLOSE CALLAccording to Major League Baseball, the 88-vote margin by which Chicago Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist defeated Washingtons Daniel Murphy to start in the All-Star Game (3,013,407 to 3,013,319) was the closest margin since 1982, when Manny Trillo defeated Steve Sax for NL 2B by 1,625 votes.WIN AND OUTBrewers: RHP Zach Davies, who started and won Tuesdays game, was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs. 1B Andy Wilkins was recalled from the same club.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Joe Ross (right shoulder inflammation) has been inactive since being placed on the DL on Sunday. Hes shut down right now. Were trying to get the inflammation out of there, Baker said.UP NEXTBrewers: After taking Thursday off, the Brewers welcome St. Louis for a three-game series leading up to the All-Star break.Nationals: The Nationals send rookie Lucas Giolito to the mound Thursday night. He pitched four scoreless innings in his debut. ' ' '