Dein erstes Forum » The shot selection in Hamilton

CHICAGO -- The St. Louis Cardinals are further down than usual in the NL Central standings. Still, they may see the major league-leading Chicago Cubs in October, and theyre coming out of a four-game series at Wrigley Field with some extra confidence.Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer, Brandon Moss followed with a solo shot one out later and the Cardinals used a five-run eighth inning to beat the Cubs 6-4 on Sunday night.Piscotty hit his 17th homer off setup man Hector Rondon (2-3), who entered with a 3-1 lead in his first appearance since Aug. 2 because of a triceps injury. After pinch-hitter Kolten Wong and Greg Garcia singled, Piscotty lofted a shot to deep left-center field that put the Cardinals ahead 4-3 in front of 41,019 silenced fans.Moss added his 21st homer, then Randal Grichuk doubled in a run off Travis Wood.Any time youre playing a good team like that late in the game, its just more dramatic, Piscotty said. A great way to bounce back.We kind of know what our role is going forward, he added. Were fighting for that wild-card spot. Hopefully, this gives us some momentum.The Cardinals split a four-game series with Chicago, which dropped its second straight following an 11-game winning streak. St. Louis trails Chicago by 12 games in the division but also has a half-game lead on Miami for the second wild-card spot, keeping the Cards in line for a sixth straight playoff appearance.Weve been down quite a few times early, and guys just keep playing the game and thats something Im extremely proud about this club, manager Mike Matheny said.Cubs starter John Lackey allowed only one unearned run and four hits before leaving with two outs in the seventh with muscle stiffness. Chicago doesnt consider the injury serious.Believe me, Ive been through a lot worse, the 37-year-old Lackey said. I dont know, maybe an (its an) old thing.Rondon said he felt really good. He just didnt have his normal command.I know I missed the location and they got me, he said.Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 4 with a solo homer and three RBI, and Ben Zobrist knocked in a run with a sac fly.Lackey was sailing along and struck out five in his fourth straight solid start. But the right-hander grimaced in pain after throwing a pitch to Grichuk, walked off the field and was replaced by Justin Grimm. The reliever then struck out Grichuk.Were in a fortunate situation with the kind of (division) lead we have, Lackey said. We kind of have the leeway to do some things. Were just checking games off the schedule.Matt Bowman (2-4) got three outs in the seventh -- and got out of a bases-load jam -- in relief of Mike Leake for the win. Leake allowed three runs on six hits in six innings and retired 16 in a row over one stretch despite entering with a 9.00 ERA in his previous four starts.Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh got the final five outs, including three strikeouts in the ninth, for his 11th save in 12 chances.Leake settled into a pitchers duel with Lackey with a little help from his defense.St. Louis third baseman Jhonny Peralta made a diving stop, rolled and threw to first in one motion on Addison Russells sharp grounder in the fourth.Kris Bryant ended Leakes run with a triple to right-center with one out in the sixth. He scored on Rizzos second RBI single to make it 3-1.After the Cardinals took a 6-3 lead in the eighth, Rizzo hit his 25th homer in the bottom half.LETS PLAY TWOCubs manager Joe Maddon says hed have no problem with MLB shortening the season by adding more doubleheaders, but not drawn-out day-night twinbills. Maddon would be for second games starting 30 minutes after the end of the first, and for teams adding two players to their rosters.I think the fans would dig it, too, said Maddon, while noting he understands the economics of day-night doubleheaders with separate admissions. If you have to put a premium on the price tag, I dont know.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: OF Matt Holliday (broken right thumb) is expected to be re-examined by the teams hand specialist on Monday. ... St. Louis LHP Kevin Siegrist left after striking out Zobrist in the eight with an apparent injury and was replaced by Oh. Kevins had a lot of work and that was precautionary more than anything else, Matheny said.Cubs: Rondon said before the game he was 100 percent ready, but allowed four runs in 1/3 of an inning.UP NEXTCardinals: Following a day off Monday, LHP Jaime Garcia (9-8, 3.93) opens a two-game set in Houston against LHP Dallas Keuchel (7-11, 4.56). St. Louis also has Thursday off, but Matheny plans no changes to his strained rotation.Cubs: Chicago also has Monday off, then hosts Milwaukee in a day-night doubleheader Tuesday. RHP Trevor Cahill (1-3, 3.07) is expected to come off the DL (right knee tendinitis) and start in the opener against Brewers RHP Matt Garza (4-4, 4.83). Chicagos Jason Hammel (12-5, 2.90) is 5-0 with a 1.16 ERA since the All-Star break and will take the mound in the nightcap against RHP Chase Anderson (7-10, 4.93). Frank Clark Super Bowl Jersey . JOHNS, N. Tanoh Kpassagnon Super Bowl Jersey . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. http://www.officialkcchiefspro.com/Daniel-sorensen-chiefs-jersey/ . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Larry Johnson Super Bowl Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Anthony Hitchens Super Bowl Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Visit a Pakistanis home and he will offer you tea; give a Pakistani a melody and she will make a beautiful song out of it; ask some Pakistanis to bat and theyll eventually collapse.The collapse is the great tragicomedy of cricket, and in recent years has become quite a recurring event, even for once-mighty sides. But like Michael Jackson with pop, Pakistan have the ability to transcend the collapse beyond its genre, producing works that are instantly unique and yet timeless.The simplified narrative about Misbah-ul-Haqs team and the discipline it espouses leads one to believe that this side is immune to collapses, but that is not at all the case. Each year of Misbahs six as leader has seen some ridiculous implosions, though what distinguishes his side is their ability to fight back afterwards. However, even for this Pakistan team, which held the No. 1 position in Tests for a while, 2016 has been a remarkable year for collapses.At least part of the problem resides in the origin story of #TeamMisbah. In its first couple of years, the team distinguished themselves by their grit, holding their own in tough rearguard situations.Defeat in Galle in 2014, courtesy another collapse, suggested that the once-successful strategy of batting slowly to take time out of the game was becoming a problem. The following year, Pakistan embarked on a golden run in which they batted heavily and more quickly on their way to a number of wins.By 2016, the change was quite apparent. Of the four wins this year, only in the second innings at Lords did Pakistan score below 3.18 runs per over. In the five losses, they didnt cross 3.31 per over; in six of those innings in matches lost, they scored under three an over. In Christchurch, Hamilton, Sharjah, Edgbaston and Old Trafford, these efforts came in the midst of stunning collapses.The only exception was Dubai, where Pakistan collapsed while scoring faster than they have in any innings this year. But what Dubai had in common with the collapses in Christchurch and Sharjah, in particular, was a peculiarly Pakistani tradition - the abject surrender to an otherwise limited bowler. The successes of Devendra Bishoo, Jason Holder and Colin de Grandhomme were not surprising, given that over the years, Pakistani batsmen have made heroes out of the likes of Murphy Sua, Paul Harris, Imran Tahir, Marcus North, Nick Cook and Neil Mallender among others.The collapses of 2016 also show some more general trends that are not specific to Pakistan per se. For example, the team repeatedly displayed the modern trait of largely batting in one gear in Test cricket. Unlike most teams, though, Pakistans preferred gear is neutral. In Hamilton and Dubai, they struggled to impose themselves when the situation demanded it and collapsed when aggression was required. More worryingly, at Edgbaston and in Sharjah, Pakistan struggled in closing out the game - a skill that used to be this teams forte.Like in every collapse, there were many poor shots in Pakistans various failures, but once again it was a case of almost always only poor shots, with few good deliveries to be seen. Forty-five wickets fell in the six collapses discussed below, and even applying the most lax of standards, at least 35 fell to totally avoidable and largely brainless shots.Edgbaston, 8 for 72 The key to any good collapse is panic, and there can be no panic greater than knowing you are about to lose a match in which you held a 100-run lead. On this site, Jarrod Kimber described the collapse as going the full Hafeez. The hapless opener had indeed got out to (yet another) loose shot, but he wasnt part of the eventual collapse. Pakistan stabilised before throwing it all away. Both Misbah and Younis Khan fell to good balls on the fifth stump that drew a shot, and Yasir Shah received a very good lifter. The other seven batsmen fell to more ordinary ddeliveries, almost always playing shots they didnt need to.ddddddddddddld Trafford, 5 for 33 This collapse en route to a crushing defeat wasnt quite as wondrous as the others, but did include a charmingly Pakistani brain fade. Seeking to bat out the day in reply to a mammoth first-innings total by England, both Azhar Ali and Younis fell to needless shots. At this point Pakistan decided to send easily the worst batsman of their fragile tail as nightwatchman. Rahat Ali was soon bounced out, and the next morning Shan Masood offered a simple catch to slip. Asad Shafiq then rounded off the slide by playing a truly terrible drive straight to backward point.Dubai, 8 for 46 This innings unfolded a bit like a shy adult being asked to mind a bratty child. It appears to be a simple task and yet the adult finds himself unable to deal with the brat kicking his shins and calling him names. Pakistan were extremely uncomfortable walking out to score quickly in a match they had dominated until then. Bishoo played the role of the impish prodigy, taking a remarkable eight wickets. No Pakistan batsman was a victim of a good ball: they slogged, dragged on and played against the turn to almost throw away the match.Sharjah, 4 for 11 The annals of cricket history are filled with the romantic exploits of Caribbean fast bowlers bouncing out terrified batsmen, but none of them can quite compare to Holders heist in Sharjah. Bowling a little quicker than gentle, he managed to bounce out Pakistans top order, who used leaden feet and wild swishes to help him to his career-best first-class figures (5 for 30). The tail put up more of a fight, but it was undone by a truly marvellous run-out. Mohammad Amir had spent several minutes admiring a shot he thought was going to be a six, and had started to walk towards the non-striker, Wahab Riaz, when he suddenly realised that the ball was live and was being thrown back in. He ran back without his bat in a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to make his ground.Christchurch, 10 for 102 Most teams would struggle if sent in to bat on a rain-affected pitch greener than jade. Pakistans situation was made worse by the fact that their tour games had been washed out, leaving this their first bat of the trip. But like Radiohead after OK Computer, Pakistani batsmen were unwilling to do what was expected of them. After seeing off the dangerous opening pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, they proceeded to collapse to the dibbly-dobbly charms of de Grandhomme, who went on to set a record for the best figures by a New Zealand bowler on debut. Almost none of his deliveries were truly lethal. Sticking to a fourth-to-fifth-stump line, he picked up Babar Azam, Younis and Shafiq thanks to some terrible shots. Hamilton, 10 for 99 The final release in an awe-inspiring collection, Hamilton was the Ozymandias moment of Pakistani collapses - Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. How many sides can imagine batting out two whole sessions in serenity before losing nine wickets in the last session of the match? As always, Pakistan took it a step further by making this the third time in their history that they lost ten wickets for less than 100 runs after putting together a century-plus opening stand. Indeed, such opening stands seem to be the kiss of death for Pakistan, who were once 101 for 0 before losing all ten wickets to Anil Kumble. The shot selection in Hamilton was ludicrous as only Amir and Wahab fell to decent deliveries. More than the context, it was the concept itself that merited admiration here. Any magician knows that every great trick requires a great distraction, and by batting out 59.5 overs for no wicket, Pakistan unveiled their most magical collapse of the year. ' ' '