Clan-Members » -Wilfried Tsonga on the first Saturday

Kris Bryant wasnt quite in the Bryce Harper tier of prodigies. He didnt play professionally straight out of high school but instead spent three years at the University of San Diego. He had an excellent career there but was not the first player taken in the 2013 draft, instead going second after Mark Appel went to the Astros. Bryant had incredible raw power, but he was not a five-tool player the way Harper was. Bryant is nearly a full year older than Harper, even though Harper is in his fifth season in the majors, while Bryant is in his second.But by the time he made his debut in 2015, expectations were high for Bryant -- and he exceeded them from Day 1. According to FanGraphs, Bryant produced 6.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in his rookie season, which was the 10th most among all hitters and fifth most among NL hitters. Bryant showed off his power, hitting 26 home runs in his rookie season, but he also contributed in a number of other areas, including his .275 batting average. Those diverse contributions were surprising, and based on some of his peripheral numbers, they were unsustainable. In particular, Bryant had a top-10 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) of .378 and a top-10 strikeout rate of 30.6 percent among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances. Those are two characteristics that rarely coexist, which suggested that Bryant should see a marked decline in his batting average in future seasons.Bill Russell Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Robert Williams Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-red-auerbach-celtics-jersey/ . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Jayson Tatum Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Reggie Lewis Celtics Jersey . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.LONDON -- The last flickering hopes of U.S. men at 2016 Wimbledon were doused Wednesday in a slow and steady shower of unreturnable Milos Raonic serves and volleys.Raonic ended Sam Querreys impressive trip to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in an artful display of throwback tennis, serving and volleying his way to a 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 win in two and a half hours.I knew he had a big serve, Querrey said afterward. But I was really impressed with his net game. He really didnt miss a volley today. He kept coming forward, kept the pressure on me, and I felt it. Kudos to him for playing a very good, clean match.Call it the McEnroe Effect. Raonic recently began working with tennis icon turned commentator John McEnroe, the most electric serve-and-volley player of his storied era. McEnroe has remained an evangelist for attacking tennis, and he has advocated for his latest understudy to attack more opportunistically and to be more assertive on the court. If this match is an indication of things to come, Roger Federer could have more hard work ahead of himself in Fridays semifinal meeting with the 6-foot-5 Canadian.One of the first things we focused on when we were spending a week of training [before the Queens tournament] was really about not passing up any opportunities to come forward, Raonic said. Just to always keep the pressure on my opponents, keep them guessing, making them feel uncomfortable, trying to make them play unbalanced as much as possible.Querrey certainly felt unbalanced. He allowed later that the constant pressure ate at him and corroded his game.All of a sudden its 30-all, and youve got a forehand in the middle of the court, and youre kind of like, I havent hit one of these in 30 minutes, Querrey said.The match stats tell a fascinating and, for this era, unfamiliar story. Raonic hit a modest 13 aces, but he made serve-and-volley approaches on nearly half his opportunities (42-of-105). Thats unheard of in this era of baseline walloping.More striking, Raonic won 79 percent of those approaches -- a remarkable number, given the oft-repeated refrain that its no longer possible to play old-school serve-and-volley tennis. And thanks to his volley, he was also able to win 71 percent of his second-serve points.American men on the whole had an excellent Wimbledon in light of their recent struggles. Quuerrey was the first Grand Slam quarterfinalist for the U.ddddddddddddS. in nearly five years -- since the 2011 US Open. Other players from the U.S. also did some good racket work. It all started on a positive note when Donald Young knocked off Argentinas Leonardo Mayer in the first round.More highlights for the U.S. during Wimbledon:Querreys stunning upset of Novak Djokovic in the third round was the most significant stunner of the fortnight. Querrey led by two sets to none when the match was called because of rain. He ultimately held his nerve the following day to win in five sets.Unseeded Steve Johnson defeated former Wimbledon semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov in five sets. The third-round win vaulted Johnson into a match with Roger Federer, who ended the Americans run. Johnson also won the first ATP Tour title of his career, in Nottingham, shortly before Wimbledon.John Isner failed to reach the fourth round for the third year running. The master of the marathon Wimbledon match, Isner won the first two sets from No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on the first Saturday of play. Tsonga won the third-set tiebreaker in waning light and the match was suspended until Peoples Sunday.The people were treated to a lengthy conclusion. Tsonga won the fourth set 6-2, and the fifth set evoked echoes of Isners 70-68 fifth-set Wimbledon epic against Nicolas Mahut in 2010. Isner and Tsonga swapped service holds until the Frenchman finally punched through to win it 19-17.Jack Sock, seeded No. 27, had a good win against a resurgent Ernests Gulbis in Round 1 and fought his way into the third round. Raonic proved too much for Sock at that stage, serving his way to a straight-sets win.I think its been a great two weeks for the mens side, Querrey said before leaving Wimbledon for his final grass event this year, in Newport. Steve Johnson had a great run and also got his first title. Even though John and Jack lost in the third round, they lost to tough players. To have two guys in the third round, a guy in the fourth round, a guy in the quarters, we dont do that too often. It was nice.And with the hard-court season coming up (this year, it includes the Olympic Games in Rio), things could get even nicer. ' ' '