Basisphilosophie » ts. Unlike the Oilers, the Sharks are gaini

ST. LOUIS - Matt Adams could barely contain his enthusiasm and he didnt really try, either. He thrust both arms in the air while still in the batters box and added a couple of big hops to his home run trot as he approached first base.A stunned Clayton Kershaw, bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees, watched from the mound as the long drive off Big Citys bat propelled St. Louis to a fourth straight NL Championship Series.Some people are calling it the Big City Leap, Adams said. I was just super-excited, I didnt know what I was doing ... I knew I was jumping for joy.The Cardinals tagged Kershaw in the seventh inning for the second straight time, riding Adams go-ahead, three-run homer to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday for a 3-1 win in the best-of-five Division Series.I dont think I touched the ground the whole way around the bases, Adams said. Definitely the highlight of my career. ... I will never, ever forget this.Neither will Kershaw.The Cardinals sent the Dodgers home for the second post-season in a row with a win over Kershaw. Last year it was in Game 6 of the NLCS.The season ended and I was a big part of the reason why, Kershaw said. I cant really put it into words, Just bad deja vu all over again.The NLCS starts Saturday in St. Louis, with the Cardinals hosting San Francisco in a rematch of 2012 won by the Giants.Trevor Rosenthal allowed two runners in the ninth before getting Carl Crawford on a grounder for a game-ending forceout for his third save of the series. At AT&T Park in San Francisco, fans cheered when the rival Dodgers were eliminated.It was awesome, everything we did throughout that game, starter Shelby Miller said. It was a heck of a game and a lot of fun, I know that.An overwhelming favourite to win his third NL Cy Young Award in four years, Kershaws October resume is a wreck.Kershaw dropped to 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in 11 post-season games, including three relief appearances early in his career. He has lost four straight starts to St. Louis over the past two postseasons.Ive had success against them, too, Kershaw said. It just seems like one inning gets me every time. And obviously thats not success.While the steady Cardinals advanced to their ninth NLCS in 15 years, the defeat was a huge disappointment for the NL West champion Dodgers, who finished the regular season with a $256 million payroll that was $40 million higher than any other team.Los Angeles remains without a pennant since winning the 1988 World Series.Its awful, catcher A.J. Ellis said. Its devastating. It just kind of rehashes those old memories.Manager Don Mattingly wasnt about to second-guess leaving Kershaw in the game, especially with a bullpen thats foundered. He wanted the lefty to get three more outs.It goes back to the same question: Is there anybody better, even on short rest, and even where he was at that point? Mattingly said.Kershaw started on three days rest for the second time in his post-season career. He was dominant into the seventh, as he was in Game 1, but again started the inning with three straight hits.The third hit Tuesday came when Adams, the burly bopper know as Big City, drove a curveball on Kershaws 102nd pitch into the right-centre bullpen to put St. Louis up 3-2.I had a pretty good idea that it was gone, Adams said.The red-clad crowd roared and twirled white towels as Kershaw made a slow slog back to the Dodgers dugout.Kershaw allowed one homer to left-handed batters while going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA in the regular season. He gave up two to the Cardinals, with Matt Carpenter connecting in the opener. The left-handed ace is 0-3 with a 9.72 ERA in his last three post-season appearances.Reliever Marco Gonzales earned his second victory of the series, after getting treated for a nosebleed. The rookie lefty got Adrian Gonzalez on a groundout to end the seventh and strand two runners.Pat Neshek worked a perfect eighth for the second straight game and Rosenthal pitched the ninth for a second straight day, receiving two visits to the mound from catcher Yadier Molina and one from the pitching coach after a shaky start to the inning.Kershaw had yielded only one hit through six innings and struck out nine, including three in a row in the sixth.But Matt Holliday opened the seventh with a sharp single up the middle off second baseman Dee Gordons glove, and Jhonny Peralta lined another single before Adams homered off a left-hander for the first time since July 7.The Cardinals had an NL-low 105 homers this season and left-hander batters had only eight homers against lefty pitching. But lefties hit five off Dodgers southpaws in four playoff games.Miller matched Kershaw into the sixth, when the Dodgers started the inning with two hits. They scored a run on Matt Kemps double-play grounder and added another on Juan Uribes RBI single against Seth Maness.But Los Angeles wasted a chance to add on when Andre Ethier, playing in place of Yasiel Puig, was picked off third by Molina a call overturned by video review.Miller went 5 2-3 innings in his first post-season start.UP NEXTCardinals: Adam Wainwright gets extra rest after a Game 1 dud when he was charged with six runs in 4 1-3 innings at Dodger Stadium. He was 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA in September with two complete games, one of them a shutout.FIRST PITCHScott Rolen, who earned three of his seven Gold Gloves at third base and was a key member of two World Series teams, threw out the first pitch. Superstar Schuhe Günstig . Fans in the Jets viewing region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 5:30pm ct and listeners can tune in to TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg. Adidas Superstar Online Kaufen Schweiz .5 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, a deal that covers his final two arbitration seasons. http://www.yeezyschweizkaufen.com/ .com) - Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall left Saturdays game against the Senators in the second period with a left knee injury. Stan Smith Schuhe Günstig .S. President Barack Obama saluted the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks at the White House on Monday -- a rare moment for a president hungry to see more victorious teams from his hometown. Yeezy Boost Online Kaufen . Quarterback Drew Willy appeared to injure his throwing hand on the third last play of practice Thursday.The Edmonton Oilers are in disarray, but general manager Craig MacTavish isnt deviating from his long-term plan. Matching the longest home losing streak in team history certainly isnt part of that strategy. The Oilers go for a rare win over the San Jose Sharks in the opener of this home-and-home set Sunday night, trying to avoid moving within one loss of their franchise-record slide. Edmonton (6-15-5) hasnt reached the playoffs since 2006, and theres little hope of ending that drought as it owns the fewest points in the NHL. The Oilers eight-game home losing streak (0-7-1) is one shy of the team record set from Oct. 16-Nov. 24, 1993. Theyre also mired in an 11-game overall skid (0-7-4) as they approach the longest in club history - 13 games from Dec. 31, 2009-Jan. 30, 2010. The pressure is mounting on MacTavish and second-year coach Dallas Eakins as the foundering franchise has failed to find success despite a roster full of high draft picks and promising talent. The Oilers fell short again Wednesday, losing 3-2 at Winnipeg after Ben Scrivens gave up a goal 17 seconds into overtime. MacTavish called a press conference Friday, but announced no organizational changes or a switch in philosophy during a testy exchange with the media. The accountability of the players to execute has to improve, MacTavish said. There isnt any tangible evidence of any of that improvement, and thats whats so difficult for everybody to swallow. Thats still not enough for him to make changes to a team thats 0-12-4 against the Western Conference. As painful as this process is, we feel that its a necessary step to get us to the next level, he said. Ive switched out 14 or 15 playerss in the 18 months that Ive been on the job, and what I think I have now is a group that is capable of growth.dddddddddddd The Oilers are 29th in the league with an average of 3.42 goals against, and theyve surrendered 32 while going 1-6-2 in their last nine meetings with the Sharks (13-10-4). That includes a 5-2 defeat in the most recent meeting at Rexall Place on March 25. Taylor Hall has been a rare bright spot against San Jose, collecting three goals and six assists in three games. The left wing, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 draft, has four assists over the past three games and is tied with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - whom the Oilers selected first overall in 2011 - for the team lead with 17 points. Unlike the Oilers, the Sharks are gaining steam - totaling 18 goals during a season-high four-game winning streak. Thats a dramatic improvement after they were held to six while losing the previous four contests. San Jose continued to put that stretch behind it Saturday, winning 3-2 at Calgary as Patrick Marleau scored the go-ahead goal with 10:42 to play. Were finding a way to win and thats great to see, Marleau said according to the teams official Twitter account. Joe Pavelski leads the Sharks with 12 goals, scoring three times in four games. The center had five goals and four assists while San Jose won four of five meetings with the Oilers last season. He matched his career high with four points - netting a hat trick - in the most recent visit to Edmonton. Marleau has 26 points in his last 22 meetings with the Oilers, scoring four goals and setting up two more against them last season. The teams play again in San Jose on Tuesday. ' ' '