Clan-Members » hanged had Bengal won? Deepak Hooda has made a big doub

TORONTO -- The Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays are familiar foes.As American League East rivals, they played 19 times this season, with the Blue Jays winning 10 of them.The slim advantage is the reason the American League wild-card game is being played Tuesday at Rogers Centre after Toronto and Baltimore finished in a tie in the standings at 89-73.We know everything about them, they know everything about us, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. Youre playing a team from your division, theres no secrets. It really comes down to who executes better, or who gets the big hit or whatnot.The teams met just last week at Rogers Centre with the Orioles winning two of the three games to force a tie for the first wild-card spot. The tie could not be resolved on the weekend as Baltimore won two of three against the Yankees in New York while the Blue Jays won two of three from the Red Sox in Boston.Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA) will start for Baltimore against Torontos Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.We had probably three options, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, and Chris was one of those good options.Showalter said that in a one-game playoff, the other candidates to start also could play a big role in the game as relievers.These games usually have a lot go on in them, Showalter said. So everybody gets a chance to play a big part in it if its a competitive game.Stroman has not won since Aug. 14. He took the loss against the Orioles on Thursday when he allowed four runs, nine hits and two walks while striking out three in seven-plus innings.Despite going 0-5 in six September starts, Stroman had a respectable 3.41 ERA in those outings.Stroman was chosen over left-hander Francisco Liriano, who struck out 10 in 6 1/3 scoreless innings Wednesday in a no-decision against Tillman.It wasnt easy, Gibbons said. I think Stros the perfect guy. Big game. Weve seen him do it before. He did that a couple of times for us last year. Hell throw strikes.Liriano will be available from the bullpen, as will right-hander Marco Estrada.Tillman went 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in four starts against Toronto this year, posting a 2.38 ERA in two starts at Rogers Centre. Last Wednesday, he gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits in 5 2/3 innings during a no-decision. He walked three and struck out two.I know what theyre going to do, they knew what Im going to do, Tillman said. The same goes the other way with Stro. Weve seen him plenty. Hes seen us plenty. So I dont think there are any secrets here. I think itll be the same kind of game that you always see.Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, who defeated the Blue Jays on Thursday, and righty Dylan Bundy were the two other candidates to start and will be available from the bullpen.Jimenez, who has a 2.45 ERA in his past seven starts, pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings Thursday in Toronto.In 24 career starts against the Blue Jays, Tillman is 5-10 with a 5.44 ERA, and he is 2-6 with a 7.01 ERA in 13 starts in Toronto. Last season, Tillman was 0-4 with a 11.72 ERA in four starts vs. the Jays.Stroman is 2/3 with a 5.07 ERA in seven career games (six starts) against the Orioles. He is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in three starts against Baltimore this season.There are no pitches you can take off, Stroman said of the Orioles lineup. Each pitch you have has to be executed. You make a mistake, and they make you pay. So thats the mentality going into it.Stroman was 1/3 with a 7.76 ERA in five starts in June, then made adjustments.I definitely had an up-and-down year and battled a lot of adversity, Stroman said. I think Ive done a pretty decent job at making adjustments throughout the year that were key for me and able to pay off down the stretch. Im at a point now where I feel great, mechanics feel great, body feels great. Im actually feeling at my strongest now. So Im excited.The Blue Jays had the scoring advantage over the Orioles head-to-head this season, 97-81, and they went 6-4 vs. Baltimore at home. Toronto also had a 29-28 edge in home runs.The winner goes to Texas to play the AL West champion Rangers in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Thursday.The Blue Jays won their two regular-season games in October after going 11-16 in September. They have averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs per game in their 29 games in September-October.Because both teams did not clinch their wild-card spots until the final game of the season, the term battle-tested is being uttered by each side.It wasnt easy, but you know, maybe this is a better way to head into the playoffs -- battle-tested, Gibbons said.Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said the same about his own team: This team is battle-tested. Were ready for whatever gets thrown at us. Pittsburgh Pirates Shirts . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Wholesale Pirates Jerseys . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. 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Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal captain, has called for surfaces of the kind that hosted the India-England Tests in Rajkot and Visakhapatnam to be prepared for the Ranji Trophy. His assessment comes after the seasons first two-day finish, Barodas 21-run win against Bengal in a Group A fixture in Lahli, where the fast bowlers claimed 38 of the 40 wickets to fall.As many as 23 wickets fell on the opening day, the most in a day so far this season, with neither side managing to pass 100 in their first innings. The remaining 17 fell on day two. That Tiwarys fourth-innings 39 was the highest score of the match indicated how tough batting was at a venue that has traditionally been regarded as a seamers paradise.I think we should be playing on surfaces close to what the Indian team plays on in the current season so that those who perform and are picked immediately dont have to make drastic adjustments, Tiwary told ESPNcricinfo. I said it even yesterday, when we had a chance of winning despite conceding a lead, that on these kind of surfaces you cant be chasing more than 120. Not really ideal, isnt it?It would be good to play on surfaces that bring not just the fast bowlers but spinners into the picture too. Its disappointing to lose, we played some bad shots too, but surfaces of this kind take skills out of the picture. Its understandable if its a greentop with consistent bounce, but here it wasnt. Lahli is probably the toughest surface in the country, but unfortunately this was simply very very tough. Having said that, credit to Baroda. The wicket was same for both sides. Tiwary pointed to damp patches at both ends as the cause of the inconsistent bounce. There were green patches at drive-able lengths.dddddddddddd Even fast bowlers werent sure which way the ball would move if it pitched there. Every time you pitched the ball in certain areas, there were indentations. After a few overs, it was reduced to a guessing game. Some balls reared up, some balls kept low. This contributed to the dismissals no doubt, but it wasnt ideal to be playing on this kind of surface.Would his assessment have changed had Bengal won? Deepak Hooda has made a big double-century just two matches ago. He made centuries in his first two games. Sure, you can have a bad game, but on this surface, he too was struggling. In one game you cant be that bad, Tiwary said. It would be nice to play on surfaces that at least offer consistent bounce.As a side we are disappointed, no doubt. But without making excuses, Ill say it was tough. As a state captain, I will highlight these observations to Dada (Sourav Ganguly, head of the BCCIs technical committee that proposed neutral venues in the Ranji Trophy). The think-tank can then decide. If you ask me, the surface that we played on in Bilaspur [against Punjab] earlier this season was the most ideal, where there was a little bit of everything for everyone.Tiwary said Bengals bowling after they sent Baroda in was the decisive his sides defeat - surprisingly, considering Baroda only made 97, with Ashok Dinda picking up six wickets. We shouldnt have allowed them to get that much, Tiwary said. We shouldnt have conceded more than 60. That made the difference especially with our second-innings scores being identical. ' ' '