| MESA http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-dustin-pedroia-jersey , Ariz. (AP) — Yu Darvish felt pressure after signing a $126 million, six-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.“At the time I didn’t say anything about that, but I was thinking I should do something for the Cubs. I should win 20 games,” he said Wednesday. “This year I want to be myself. I am feeling less pressure.”Darvish went 1-3 with 4.95 ERA in eight starts during 2018, the last coming on May 20. He was sidelined by triceps and elbow injuries, and his season ended in August when an MRI showed a stress reaction in his arm after one inning of a rehab start.The 32-year-old right-hander spoke in English, a sign he is feeling more comfortable, after his first bullpen session of spring training.“I am feeling I am family,” he said. “I feel good right now.”Darvish came to the major leagues from Japan before the 2012 season and became a four-time All-Star with the Texas Rangers. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in July 2017 and struggled in the World Series, losing Games 3 and 7 against Houston.Cubs manager Joe Maddon said the fact that Darvish opened up about last year’s struggles is a sign of him maturing.“It is always impressive when somebody exposes himself, especially on this level,” Maddon said. “It is a part of moving forward. Give him credit. I was getting to know about him last year Babe Ruth Jersey , so I didn’t know all of that about him.”Fellow starter Jon Lester added making the move to another organization can be difficult. After spending his first 8 1/2 years with Boston, Lester was traded to Oakland and then joined the Cubs.“That first year is a little tough,” Lester said. “Everybody handles it a different way. He’s unique coming from Japan and Texas and now here and going through with what he went through with the Dodgers. He had a lot on his plate and having to try and pitch through some things he wasn’t comfortable pitching through. You want to make a good impression with everybody, and that includes the fans. I’m sure it was tough on him.”Darvish reported at 230 pounds, down 10 from last year. He said he spent more time in a gym and ate better.“He looks huge, like jacked,” reliever Steve Cishek said. “It’s encouraging to see. Obviously, he was disappointed he couldn’t be out on the field last year. As a competitor you want to see your teammates fight through that stuff.”A healthy Darvish would mean more depth for an already strong rotation that helped the Cubs win 95 games last season.“If you slide him in there that makes our rotation that much deeper, which you need throughout the season,” Lester said. “It’s a huge boost for us if we get the Darvish we all know he can be. Hopefully everything is behind him as far as his arm. I’m sure it is a piece of mind for him to go out and worry just about pitching.” LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Sale stood in the back of the dugout as the World Series was slipping away and started screaming.“He’s got two pitches!” the Boston Red Sox ace hollered to his left among a stream of profanities, referring to Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rich Hill.Then he shouted to his right.And then straight ahead, pointing with his pitching hand and extending his ring and middle fingers for emphasis. Sale stepped down http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-david-ortiz-jersey , kept on shrieking and raised his right hand, his head bobbing up and down and a fire in his eyes like a Shakespearean king exhorting troops into battle.“It scared me a little bit,” Rafael Devers said through a translator, “because I had never seen him yell like that, and the words that he was saying, I had never heard that come from him before. But, you know, we came out sluggish and that moment helped us get motivated for the rest of the game.”Boston had just fallen behind by four runs in the sixth inning Saturday night, nine outs from finding itself tied 2-2 in a World Series that seemed to be a runaway just 27 hours earlier. The Red Sox had managed just one hit in six innings.“We felt that we had no energy, actually none whatsoever,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It had to do with Rich Hill, the way he was throwing the ball.”Sale did not respond with reassuring words like the ones delivered by David Ortiz in his dugout huddle in St. Louis after the fifth inning of Game 4 five years ago.This was more like Justin Verlander’s motivational message to the Houston Astros when he popped up the stairs in the very same dugout during Game 2 last October.“Chris Sale in his leadership kind of in the middle of the game said Bobby Doerr Jersey , ‘Hey, we got to get it going,’ and the guys responded,” hitting coach Tim Hyers would later explain. “We capitalized and struck quick and struck often at the end.”Boston rallied on Mitch Moreland’s three-run homer off Ryan Madson in the seventh and Steve Pearce’s solo shot against Kenley Jansen tied the score in the eighth, both homers coming from pinch hitters.Brock Holt doubled with one out in the ninth and scored on Devers’ pinch single off Dylan Floro, Pearce hit a three-run double against Kenta Maeda and Xander Bogaerts‘ RBI single built a five-run advantage. With a 9-6 victory, the Red Sox grabbed a 3-1 Series lead and kept rolling toward their fourth title in 15 seasons.“I was down the tunnel and I heard someone yelling,” Holt later recalled.Holt turned to Mookie Betts and asked: “Who’s yelling up there?”“He said, ‘Sale.’ Oh, my God. He was mad at us,” Holt said. “I think that kind of lit a fire under everybody. We didn’t want to see him mad anymore. So we decided to start swinging the bats a little bit.”Sale had been announced as Boston’s starter against Clayton Kershaw on Sunday, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced after the game he was switching to David Price and saving Sale for a possible sixth game at Fenway Park on Tuesday.Game 4 seemed like a test Boston had never had to face.A 17-2 start meant the Red Sox could coast to the playoffs en route to a team-record 108 wins.Other than an opening loss to Houston in the AL Championship Series that seemed like a bump http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-jimmie-foxx-jersey , the Red Sox have approached another title like a marathoner pacing along the course, noting mile markers and counting down to the finish line.Time to map the parade route.Design a 2018 ring to dazzle.After two nights of Fenway fun, the flight west seemed like the final stretch toward the inevitable.Then came an epic 18-inning stumble that left the pitchers’ arms frayed, bodies and minds exhausted. J.D. Martinez called it like getting “punched right in the face” but said players marveled at the experience.“That was pretty sick,” he said. “Everyone was like, dude, this is crazy.”Then came a run-scoring throwing error by catcher Christian Vazquez and Yasiel Puig’s three-run homer against Eduardo Rodriguez in a four-run sixth inning Saturday that seemed like a crusher.Sale was not going to let the Red Sox lose quietly.“Guys, dig a little deeper. Let’s keep moving forward. We’re a good team. Let’s not just roll over,” Hyers said was the message. “Chris Sale is a leader, and Chris Sale did it the way Chris Sale knows how to get the team moving. And so we have to give him a lot of credit. And it was that perfect timing.” |
