Clan-Members » C-USA champs since East Carolina in 2

LOS ANGELES -- One potential All-Star seeks to recover from his worst performance of the season while another looks to continue his recent offensive success when the Baltimore Orioles meet the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.Right-hander Chris Tillman, who permitted four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings Thursday night in the Orioles 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners, hopes to return to the form that enabled him to win nine successive decisions before that defeat.Tillman (10-2, 3.72 ERA) shares third place in the American League in wins, and he is on pace to exceed his career-high victory total. The 28-year-old from nearby Orange County earned 16 wins in 2013, when he made the American League All-Star team for the first time in his first full season with the Orioles.After going 29-13 in 2013 and 2014, Tillman fell to 11-11 in 2015. Last winter, Tillman tinkered with his delivery and produced an effective change-up that complements his fastball.I experimented with some new stuff, Tillman said. Last year, I wasnt able to throw my off-speed pitches for strikes. The hitters were a little more comfortable when they were aware of just one pitch. In the offseason, we did some mechanical stuff, just some minor stuff that helped in a big way.Tillman will be facing the Dodgers for the first time in his eight-year major league career.As he tries to stop the Orioles five-game losing streak by ending the Dodgers five-game winning streak, Tillman will have to defuse one of the National Leagues most potent young threats.Los Angeles shortstop Corey Seager enters Tuesday nights contest with a 17-game hitting streak, a career high and the National Leagues longest this year. During his streak, Seager is batting .414 (29-for-70) with eight doubles, two triples, two home runs and five RBI.For the season, Seager leads the Dodgers with 17 homers, 20 doubles, 100 hits, 57 runs, a .305 batting average and a .540 slugging percentage. The 22-year-old rookie also has 41 RBI to share the team lead with Justin Turner.Theres really nothing he cant do on a baseball field, and hes really continued to get better, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said of Seager. Its scary to think how much hes grown and become a very, very good major league player at this stage of his career, and hes only 22.Even with the presence of left-hander Clayton Kershaw, arguably baseballs best pitcher, Roberts paid Seager perhaps the ultimate compliment.Not to take away from anybody else on the club, Roberts said, but with what he does on the offensive and defensive side, yeah, hes our best player.Seager and his offensive teammates will look for help Tuesday from right-hander Kenta Maeda, who will face Baltimore for the first time in his rookie season.Maeda (7-5, 2.82 ERA) has not allowed more than four runs in any of his 16 starts for Los Angeles. In his past seven starts, the a 28-year-old from Japan is 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA. His last time out, Maeda held the Brewers to one run on three hits in six innings during an 8-1 win Thursday.Dodger Stadium hasnt been as kind to Maeda as road venues, as he is just 2-4 with a 3.00 ERA over eight outings in Los Angeles. Cheap Lions Jerseys . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Cheap Authentic Lions Jerseys . The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. http://www.cheapdetroitlionsjerseysauthentic.com/ Cheap Detroit Lions Jerseys . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Lions Jerseys China . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. The trophies could be the only prizes for the winners in several games during championship weekend.This is not the NCAA basketball tournament. Those titles dont automatically come with playoff spots, and in some cases, the wrong winner could ruin things for a conference.No more so than the Atlantic Coast Conference, where No. 19 Virginia Tech can only play spoiler to No. 3 Clemson. Not only would a victory by the Hokies likely cost Clemson and the ACC a chance to win the national championship, but it could also cost the conference $2 million.The College Football Playoff revenue distribution plan pays each conference $6 million for each team placed in the semifinals. The net loss would only be $2 million because Virginia Tech would be guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl as ACC champion (worth $4 million) and Clemson would be a good bet to be ranked high enough to end up in the Cotton Bowl and earn another $4 million for the conference.A rundown of what is on the line beyond playoff spots this weekend:SEC -- Florida would earn a Sugar Bowl bid by beating Alabama.Pac-12 -- If the winner of No. 4 Washington and No. 9 Colorado does not get into the playoff, it goes to the Rose Bowl. And if the winner does get into the playoff, the loser could very well end up in the Rose Bowl as the next highest ranked Pac-12 team in the last selection committee rankings.Big Ten -- Worst-case scenario for the winner of No. 8 Penn State vs. No. 6 Wisconsin is the Rose Bowl.Big 12 -- No. 11 Oklahoma State is at No. 7 Oklahoma in a de facto conference title game. The winner gets a Sugar Bowl bid and can hold out some very long shot playoff hopes.PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONSFRIDAYNo. 4 Washington (minus 7) vs. No. 9 Colorado, Pac-12 championship at Santa Clara, CaliforniaThe Huskies are tied for tops in the country in turnover margin at plus-18; the Buffaloes are plus-10 ... WASHINGTON 31-21.SATURDAYNo. 1 Alabama (minus 24) vs. No. 15 Florida, SEC championship at AtlantaYes, the Crimson Tide can lose and still make the playoff. Just dont tell Nick Saban ... ALABAMA 38-10.No. 3 Clemson (minus 10) vs. No. 119 Virginia Tech, ACC championship at Orlando, FloridaThe Tigers (8.dddddddddddd67 per game) and Hokies (8.17) both rank in the top six in the country in tackles for loss ... CLEMSON 32-24.No. 6 Wisconsin (minus 2+) vs. No. 8 Penn State, Big Ten championship at IndianapolisThe Nittany Lions have become a big-play, quick strike team; Badger-ball is slow and steady and tops in the country in time of possession (35:14 per game) ... PENN STATE 27-21.NEW YEARS SIX IMPLICATIONSFRIDAYNo. 13 Western Michigan (minus 19) vs. Ohio, MAC championship at DetroitIf the undefeated Broncos get to the Cotton Bowl, will P.J. Fleck still be their coach? ... WESTERN MICHIGAN 35-17.SATURDAYNo. 11 Oklahoma State (plus 11) at No. 7 OklahomaThe folks in Stillwater are still seething about that Central Michigan loss and if the Cowboys do win this game, expect that to elevate to full-on screaming ... OKLAHOMA 48-35.Temple (plus 3) at No. 20 Navy, AAC championshipIf Western Michigan does lose, the winner here is likely to get that Cotton Bowl bid, though the selection committee would have to wait until Navy plays Army to make its final decision ... NAVY 28-24.CHAMPIONSHIP GAMESSATURDAYLouisiana Tech (plus 10) at Western Kentucky, Conference USA championshipThe Hilltoppers are trying to become the first repeat C-USA champs since East Carolina in 2008 and 09 ... WESTERN KENTUCKY 42-35.San Diego State (minus 7) at Wyoming, Mountain West Conference championshipAztecs star Donnel Pumphrey is 92 yards away from 2,000 on the season and 218 from breaking Ron Daynes FBS career record (6,397) ... SAN DIEGO STATE 28-23.LEFTOVERSBaylor (plus 17+) at No. 14 West VirginiaBears are trying to avoid a six-game losing streak after a 6-0 start ... WEST VIRGINIA 38-17.---Record: Last week 13-8 straight; 6-14 vs. points.Season: 192-85; 120-151-3.Upset specials: 4-9.Best bets: 4-9.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '