Tutorials » throw line after the teams were tied at 106

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The two teams are a combined three games over .500, so to say the remaining three games of the series are crucial might be a bit of a stretch.The Seattle Mariners (43-43) and the Kansas City Royals (44-41) have three games remaining in a four-game series that will conclude the unofficial first half of the season. Both teams still feel there is plenty of time to get back into their respective division races.We have some good players, Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano said after his team gave up a three-run lead in the last two innings Thursday and lost 4-3 to the Royals. We will keep playing.You lose as a team and you win as a team. We dont want to blame anybody here.The Mariners and Royals are two of eight teams within 4 1/2 games of the American League wild-card lead. Just a few games past the midway point in the schedule is no time to put extra pressure on this series, according to Kansas City manager Ned Yost.Then again, Yost says he doesnt do that for any series.I dont know how many times I have to go over this, he said before the game. I dont feel (extra) urgency. The reason for that is that we feel urgency every day. We dont treat these situations with more urgency than any other situation. In a major league season, every game is important. Your mindset has to be that this is the most important game of the year. Tomorrow, thats going to be your mindset.Royals rookie second baseman Whit Merrifield added, I wouldnt say theres urgency, but its always important to put together good games and try to take the series. Going into the All-Star break it would be good to finish strong and build momentum. But I wouldnt say that its any more urgent than any other series.I dont know about it still being early, but theres a lot of baseball left. A lot of stuff can happen between now and September or October. There are lot of games to be played and a lot of ups and downs to come.Seattle has experienced ups and downs on the road. The Mariners started the season with a 19-8 road record, but they have now lost 15 of their last 17 away contests, including nine straight. Seattle is hitting the ball -- it has 129 home runs, the second-highest total in the majors. They Mariners also are pitching well, as they own the fourth-best ERA in the American League (3.94).Their defense has let them down. Seattle is tied with the Minnesota Twins for the worst fielding percentage in the league.The Royals problems are almost opposite. Kansas City is one of the better defensive teams, but it ranks last in the American League in home runs and RBI. The starting pitching also is struggling. Danny Duffys strong outing Thursday was just the teams 32nd quality start in 85 games.The Royals will throw inconsistent Yordano Ventura (6-6, 5.26 ERA) on Friday night. When hes on, hes on. When hes not, hes not.Recent back-to-back starts against the Tigers and the Cardinals showed his good and bad form. He went 6 1/3 scoreless innings vs. Detroit on June 17, giving up six hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He followed that outing by going 5 1/3 innings and allowing seven runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts against St. Louis.Ventura is running into much of his troubles early in games. He has a 7.31 ERA in the first two innings but a 4.07 ERA from the third inning on.He will be looking for his first career win over the Mariners, as he is 0-3 with a 4.34 ERA in five starts. Ventura took a 6-0 loss at Seattle on April 30, when he allowed five runs in four-plus innings.The Mariners will counter with Hisashi Iwakuma, who has been improving as the season progresses. Iwakuma (8-6, 4.43 ERA) is 7-2 in his past nine starts. His ERA is still 4.47 in that span, but he has been able to keep his team in games.Iwakuma owns impressive career numbers against Kansas City: 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA four starts, though he hasnt faced the Royals this year. Cheap Mariners Jerseys . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. Wholesale Custom Mariners Shirts .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. http://www.custommarinersjersey.com/custom-edgar-martinez-jersey-large-70p.html .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Custom Mariners T-shirts . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Edgar Martinez Jersey Large . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. HOUSTON -- James Harden had his sixth triple-double of the season and the Houston Rockets made an NBA-record 24 3-pointers in a 122-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.Harden had 29 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his 15th career triple-double, passing Hakeem Olajuwon for the most in franchise history.Ryan Anderson made Houstons 24th 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining, and the crowd roared in celebration of the record.In picking up their ninth straight win, the Rockets attempted 61 3s -- making 39.3 percent -- to shatter their own record of 50 tries set earlier this season. They broke the NBA record for 3s made in a game, shared by Houston in 2013 and Orlando in 2009.Eric Gordon added 29 points on 7-for-12 shooting from 3 for the Rockets.Anthony Davis scored 19 points in 22 minutes for New Orleans.HAWKS 125, RAPTORS 121TORONTO -- Dwight Howard had 27 points and 15 rebounds, Dennis Schroder scored 24 points and Atlanta snapped Torontos four-game win streak.Kyle Korver had a season-high 19 points, including a season-best six 3-pointers, for Atlanta. Howards double-double was his 17th of the season.DeMar DeRozan had 34 points for the Raptors, while Kyle Lowry added 27.Down 113-97 with 7:10 to go, the Raptors went on a 14-4 run to get within six points on DeRozans dunk with 3:47 to play. The teams then exchanged the next six baskets. Schroder converted a free throw with 6.7 seconds left to re-establish a four-point Atlanta edge, and Lowrys miss on a 3 with 1.9 seconds left ended Torontos comeback effort.WIZARDS 122, PISTONS 108WASHINGTON -- John Wall had 29 points and 11 assists, leading a Washington offense that committed a season-low five turnovers against Detroit.Bradley Beal added 25 points and Marcin Gortat had 12 to go with 14 rebounds for Washington, which also set a season high for points in its fourth win in five games.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 24 points to lead the Pistons. Andre Drummond added 13 points and 12 rebounds on a night when the teams combined for 11 players in double figuresThe Pistons began the day as the leagues leader in fewest turnovers per game and only had nine against the Wizards. But the leagues second-best defensive team trailed most of the evening and by double digits for almost all of the second half.BUCKS 95, BULLS 69CHICAGO -- Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, and Milwaukee routed Chicago for a sweep of their home-and-home series.Greg Monroe added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and fellow reserve Mirza Teletovic finished with 13 points. The Bucks (13-12) had dropped four of five before the pair of wins against the Bulls.Chicago (13-13) shot 30 percent and lost for the sixth time in eight games in the opener of a three-game homestand. Nikola Mirotic did not play for the second straight night after he missed the pregame walkthrough, and Taj Gibson exited in the third quarter with a bruised hip.Dwyane Wade scored 12 points for the Bulls, booed off the floor as the final seconds ticked off..dddddddddddd Jimmy Butler was held to seven on 3-for-14 shooting.LAKERS 100, 76ERS 89PHILADELPHIA -- Julius Randle scored nine of his 25 points in a dominant first quarter and Los Angeles snapped an eight-game losing streak with a victory over Philadelphia.Lou Williams added 18 points, and DAngelo Russell and Nick Young had 15 apiece for the Lakers. They were playing the third game of a seven-game, 12-day trip -- their longest of the season.Joel Embiid scored 15 points for the 76ers. They have dropped eight straight at home to fall to an NBA-worst 6-20.CLIPPERS 102, HEAT 98MIAMI -- Blake Griffin scored 20 points, Chris Paul and J.J. Redick each added 17 and Los Angeles held off Miami for its fourth consecutive win.DeAndre Jordan had an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and scored the clinching basket with 7.7 seconds left for the Clippers, finishing off his 12-point, 19-rebound night.Goran Dragic had 21 points and 11 assists, Justise Winslow scored 15 and Wayne Ellington added 13 points before leaving injured for the Heat. Hassan Whiteside had 11 points and 17 rebounds.CELTICS 96, HORNETS 88BOSTON -- Isaiah Thomas scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half and Al Horford had 18 points and five blocked shots as Boston beat Charlotte to stop a three-game slide.Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder added 12 points apiece for the Celtics, who held the Hornets to 13 field goals in the second half.Charlotte played without leading scorer Kemba Walker, who did not travel with the team due to personal reasons, and lost its fourth straight.Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 22 points and 10 rebounds.MAGIC 118, NETS 111ORLANDO, Fla. -- Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return to the lineup, Evan Fournier also scored 21 and Orlando beat Brooklyn to snap a six-game home losing streak.Fournier scored 11 straight points in the final 2:26, going 8 for 8 from the free throw line after the teams were tied at 106.Serge Ibaka had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and D.J. Augustin scored 17 for the Magic.Brook Lopez had 22 points and five blocked shots for the Nets before fouling out with 20.1 seconds to play. Brooklyn has lost eight straight on the road.KINGS 96, GRIZZLIES 92MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- DeMarcus Cousins scored 22 points, Kosta Koufos had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Sacramento weathered a late Memphis rally.Garrett Temple added 17 points and Darren Collison had 11 for the Kings in coach Dave Joergers return to Memphis, where he coached the Grizzlies until they fired him last spring.Marc Gasol led Memphis with 20 points.The Kings led by 11 with 4 minutes left, but Tony Allen scored two baskets and Troy Daniels converted a pair of 3-pointers, the last one with 55 seconds left to trim Sacramentos lead to 95-92.The Grizzlies had a chance to tie, but Mike Conley -- just back from injury -- missed a leaning 3-point attempt with 3.9 seconds remaining. ' ' '