Pirate Galaxy » seventh after allowing a double by Torii Hunter, an

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It took less than four laps for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to feel back at home in his race car. His test this week at Darlington Raceway was the final hurdle for NASCARs most popular driver to earn clearance to compete next season.The test ended months of speculation -- should Earnhardt retire? Was the risk of suffering yet another concussion too great? -- and a detailed medical plan helped get him back on the track when many thought he should just step away for good.When you get something taken away from you, you certainly realize what its worth, Earnhardt said Friday. Im feeling recharged and energized about coming back ready to race. Ive got a lot left in the tank.And he wants to make something perfectly clear: Earnhardt would not be climbing back into the No. 88 Chevrolet if his doctors had not assured him that hes healthy and his past concussion history hasnt put him at a heightened risk of permanent injury.I have a personal responsibility to myself. My health is number one. I am not going to take any unnecessary risks with my health, he said. I wouldnt be coming back to the seat and being excited to drive if there was any additional risk, other than the typical risk that every driver faces. I feel confident in what my doctors are telling me ... in me being able to withstand the normal wear and tear and getting into that unfortunate accident from time to time.Earnhardts lengthy history with concussions flared again this year after a crash at Michigan in June. He missed the final 18 races of the season and spent that time in intensive therapy meant to first help him control vision, balance and nausea. That lengthy process completed, his doctors focused on getting him ready to drive a car again, and it happened Wednesday at the South Carolina track considered one of the most demanding in NASCAR.He admitted to a sleepless night before the test, and an anxiousness to get inside his beloved Chevrolet the moment his feet touched the ground at Darlington. With neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty on site, the Hendrick Motorsports team eased into the session.Earnhardt started with 15-lap runs, then climbed from the car to be assessed by Petty. As the day went on, his vision and balance were not only checking out fine, but improving after every run. Soon he was up to 30 laps at a time, he felt up to speed -- and he felt ready to race.Felt like an old shoe by the end of the day, he said. I felt really, really confident that by the end of the day, I was 100 percent ready to get back in the car.His clearance came as a boost to Hendrick Motorsports, which is already riding high after Jimmie Johnsons record-tying seventh championship. Hendrick made it through the second half of the season with a combination lineup of Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman, and he insisted the sponsors who pay millions of dollars for Earnhardt to be in the car were concerned only with the driver getting healthy.Although Earnhardt will test again before the season begins at Phoenix -- and hes got a wedding to his longtime girlfriend on Dec. 31 -- he wont actually race until the events leading into Februarys season-opening Daytona 500. He will skip the exhibition race that kicks off Speedweeks at Daytona, not as a health precaution, he said, but because Bowman earned the right to race the car by winning the pole at Phoenix in November.Its owed to Alex, Earnhardt said.Earnhardt has worked closely the last few years with Dr. Micky Collins from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program. Its been Collins who first got Earnhardt healthy, then helped him get back into competitive condition.Collins has deemed Earnhardt healthy and ready to go, but Earnhardt will continue to work on many of the exercises hes received from the doctor for the sake of strengthening himself.This is from my doctors mouth -- I had to work really hard to be a human being again, to be normal again. The distance between just being myself and just being a race car driver, that was going to be another handful of exercises, he said. His advice was if I wanted to continue the exercises, it would only continue to strengthen the system. Hell, maybe this is something I could have been doing all along.---More AP auto racing: www.racing.ap.orgNorman Powell Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Chris Bosh Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. https://www.cheapraptors.com/423a-jorge-garbajosa-jersey-raptors.html . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Dell Curry Jersey . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Toronto Raptors Store . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. DETROIT -- It was hard to tell who was happier when Joshua Phegleys sixth-inning grand slam cleared the fence -- Phegley himself, or the pitcher who would benefit from those four runs. Phegleys drive gave Chris Sale some long-awaited offensive support, and Chicago went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on Thursday in a game that included a bench-clearing altercation shortly after the White Sox took the lead. Sale was 0-6 in his previous seven starts despite an ERA of 3.10 over that span. With one swing, Phegley helped the left-hander end his unfortunate winless stretch. "That was awesome," Sale said. "Being in that situation and watching that ball go over the fence, that was very satisfying to say the least. What a game. We didnt put our heads down, didnt quit." Chicago trailed 3-1 when Phegley cleared the bases with a homer off Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez (7-6). Luke Putkonen came on and got one out before throwing a pitch behind Alexei Ramirez, who started toward the mound before being restrained. Benches and bullpens emptied, but the situation didnt escalate into any sort of fight. Putkonen was ejected, and Detroit manager Jim Leyland argued with umpires at length and was also tossed from the game. "I wasnt trying to hit anybody," Putkonen said. "Just threw a fastball inside, and it got away from me." Ramirez felt otherwise. "Obviously, that wasnt a pitch that was intended to go in the zone," he said through a translator. Sale (6-8) allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings. Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances. Detroits Miguel Cabrera hit his 30th homer of the year, a solo shot in the fifth that gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Prince Fielder was up next, and Sale threw a pitch high and inside to the Detroit slugger. Sale said he didnt mean to come close to hitting Fielder. "Just trying to rare back and throw it as hard as I can. Ive said it before -- theres a time and a place for that, and that wasnt the time or the place," Sale said. "Im not even trying to send a message. I wasnt even trying to back him off the plate, honestly. Ive got a lot of respect for Prince, the Detroit Tigers and the game of baseball." The White Sox rallied off Sanchez to take the lead, and then Putkonens pitch nearly hit Ramirez. Leyland looked fired up during the brouhaha that followed, and he twice came back out to argue with umpires. Leyland did not speak to reporters after the game. Plate umpire Chad Fairchild explained the decision to eject Putkonen. "He threw behind him and I deemed it intenttional," Fairchild said.dddddddddddd Fairchild did not view Sales pitch to Fielder the same way. "There was no reaction from Fielder. He said nothing. There was no reaction from anyone else," Fairchild said. "The only reaction I saw was from Sale, who made a motion like, Damn, it got away." Sale sounded upset with himself afterward. "Even when I threw it on the mound, I was kind of like, Ohhhhh, thats not good. So from the outside looking in, it doesnt look good at all. Like I said, I swear on everything I love, it was unintentional," he said. "Any time your teammates have something like that happen because of something you did, thats not fun. "Obviously, I wont sit here and say (Putkonens pitch) was intentional -- maybe it got away from him as well -- but you see something like that, and you kind of feel like an even bigger idiot, knowing that could have hurt him and done whatever, and that was because of me." With the crowd booing, Ramirez hit a single to right field and then left the game himself because of cramping in his right leg. Detroit centre fielder Austin Jackson couldnt come up with Jeff Keppingers sinking liner to start the sixth and was charged with an error. After a walk and a strikeout, Gordon Beckham singled and the 25-year-old Phegley followed with a grand slam in his 18th major league at-bat. "Especially for Sale, we needed to get him a win," Phegley said. "He threw well and he deserved it." Phegley is 4 for 20 now -- with three homers. Sale allowed 10 hits, walked two and struck out eight. He left in the seventh after allowing a double by Torii Hunter, and Matt Lindstrom came on and got Cabrera on a flyout. Alejandro De Aza made it 6-3 with a homer in the eighth off Phil Coke. De Aza also hit a single and a double. Ramirez opened the scoring in the first with an RBI double, but Matt Tuiasosopo put the Tigers ahead with a two-run homer in the second. Cabreras solo shot increased his RBI total to 94. Hes the first player to reach 30 homers and 90 RBIs before the All-Star break, according to STATS. A pair of Cincinnati Reds -- Tony Perez in 1970 and George Foster in 1977 -- made it to 29 and 90. NOTES: ... Chicago RHP Jake Peavy (fractured left rib) is scheduled for a rehab game Sunday with Double-A Birmingham at Huntsville. ... Detroit hosts Texas on Friday night, with RHP Doug Fister (6-5) taking the mound against RHP Justin Grimm (7-6) of the Rangers. The White Sox play at Philadelphia. Chicago LHP John Danks (2-5) takes on Philadelphia RHP Jonathan Pettibone (5-3). ' ' '