ove blocked shots, she said. ... The Cardinal are 15-4 at home against top-10 teams over the last 10-plus seasons and 139-7 at Maples since 2007-08.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns host H

DETROIT -- What Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona calls an inconvenience could be part of a major travel nightmare for the Detroit Tigers.Detroits game with Cleveland on Thursday was called off after more than six inches of rain fell on Comerica Park in less than 24 hours.The two teams, in concert with the umpires and Major League Baseball, waited 4 hours, 13 minutes before postponing the game.It will be made up Monday afternoon, if necessary.It will be necessary if an American League wild card berth is at stake for Detroit or if Cleveland can claim the top seed in the league to get home-field advantage throughout the post-season.We havent figured out a way to control the weather and the umpires were very good about communicating with us, Francona said.He and Detroit manager Brad Ausmus toured the field with umpires right around the time of the scheduled 1:10 p.m. scheduled start, part of about a two-hour period where the rain was light or non-existent.We walked the field once, Francona said, and I think we all knew the situation, so put your seatbelt on and either play cards or watch TV.I think this is one of those days where youre glad youre not 20 games out as opposed to being in it. Because all it is is an inconvenience. We can live with that.It couldnt have taken any more water, at all. At that point we were a little iffy. It was soft. With the forecast coming. It was going to be tough.Theres other things. I know theyre expecting rain on the East Coast. You start getting backed up, it leads to other problems. So for us to be inconvenienced for four hours isnt the end of the world. And I understand why. And like I say, the communication was good.The same rain system that truncated Detroits 6-3 victory over Cleveland after five innings Wednesday night was still in place Thursday and was slated to stick around through Saturday.Detroit travels to Atlanta to close its regular season schedule with an inter-league series against the suddenly hot Braves, who are playing their last games at Turner Field. The Tigers will have to play all three games without designated hitter Victor Martinez, who bats cleanup, in their starting lineup.Ausmus said he would push lefty Daniel Norris, scheduled to start Thursday, back to Friday and have Jordan Zimmermann, who has made just two starts and three appearances since June 30 move back one day to Saturday.Ace Justin Verlander will pitch Sunday if the game has a bearing on Detroits chances for a wild card spot.The Tigers could play five games in five cities in five day. They will close the regular season Sunday in Atlanta and if theres a chance they could make one of the wild card berths (or Cleveland could qualify for best record in the league) they would return to Detroit to play the Indians in the makeup game.There could be a wild card tie-breaker Tuesday, the wild card playoff game Wednesday and the first divisional game on Thursday.Im aware of it, Ausmus said, but one thing at a time. If thats the scenario, then thats a good thing. Thats a good problem to have.Cleveland goes to Kansas City for a series it will primarily regard as a chance to get its rotation and bullpen set up for the start of the divisional playoff round. The Indians will play their regulars all three games to get them playoff-ready.Francona said lefty Ryan Merritt will start Friday with right-hander Adam Plutko getting squeezed out.Plutko threw the other day in relief, Francona said. We wanted to see Merritt get a start and today was his day. So...Francona also said Josh Tomlin will pitch Sunday as planned.When players began trickling in late Thursday morning, the dirt surface surrounding the playing field was half-covered with standing water, both dugouts had water spilling down into the runways and Clevelands batting cage under the stands had three inches of water on the floor.Players from both teams were delayed as much as 90 minutes on their way to Comerica Park due to flooded freeways and surface streets as rain alternated between downpours and sprinkles.The Indians second team bus had to be canceled because it couldnt navigate the traffic and the players brought from their hotel in suburban Detroit to the park by taxis.We dont have any (input), Ausmus said on whether the game would be played or not. Its in MLBs hands. We dont have any call whatsoever. We can tell them what we think, but ultimately its their call.The rain stopped close to the scheduled start time of 1:10 PM and the infield tarp was brought off (for a second time) to clear water. The grounds crew then began to work on the infield dirt, pitchers mound and batters boxes -- but neither team sent its starting pitcher out to warm up.Ausmus and Francona toured the outfield with umpires, retreated to their respective clubhouses and the infield was covered again. There was no rain falling at that time but both managers had said earlier in the series that Major League Baseball wanted to avoid starting a game that would have to be interrupted by rain for an hour or more, causing both teams to lose their starting pitchers.I think umpires are very cognizant of not wanting to burn a teams -- or both teams -- starting pitcher, Ausmus said, because they know how important that is. So they dont want to start if they think, in 45 minutes were going to have to put on the tarp for an hour and now both starting pitchers are burned.Francona also did not regard a return visit to Detroit for a Monday game as an irritation. His team has already qualified to play the divisional round by winning its division.I dont think its that bad, he said. For us, it doesnt matter. Wed have three days off (without playing Monday), wed have two instead. I think itll be a fun game to play, actually. Either way, well be okay. Its not that big a deal. New Balance Running Shoes Outlet . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Discount New Balance Shoes . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.cheapnewbalance.com/ . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. New Balance Shoes From China .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. New Balance Shoes Store . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. STANFORD, Calif. -- Even in November, Tara VanDerveer prepares her team for March by scheduling tough games and treating them like NCAA Tournament matchups.Crisp ball movement and balance carried Stanford.Brittany McPhee scored a career-high 28 points, Erica McCall added 17 points and six blocked shots, and No. 11 Stanford avenged a home loss against Texas from two years ago by beating the eighth-ranked Longhorns 71-59 on Monday night.McPhee shot 11 for 15 and had seven rebounds, while McCall had five boards and blocked five of her shots in the first half as Stanford (2-0) shot 54.9 percent to overcome 20 turnovers and spoil Texas season opener.Our team really focused. This was like an NCAA Tournament week. It was awesome, VanDerveer said. Im really proud of how people worked and Im really excited for the good things that we did and well go right back to work and get ready for Gonzaga and clean up some of those rebounds, some of those turnovers.VanDerveer, the Hall of Fame coach beginning her 31st season at the school and 38th as a college coach, moved 18 victories away from joining the late Pat Summitt as the only womens coaches to reach 1,000 career wins.After the Longhorns cut Stanfords lead to 52-47 on Joyner Holmes layin with 3:10 left in the third quarter, McCall quickly answered on the other end and Alanna Smith scored the next time down as the Cardinal capitalized on Atkins turnover.Smith, a sophomore from Australia, had her family in the stands visiting. Her father, Darren, was asked during one timeout what insight he had for the team -- and his response was a good one.Get Brittany McPhee the ball, he said, smiling.Brooke McCarty, the leading returning scorer for Texas after she averaged 11.8 points last season, had 20 points and Ariel Atkins had 14.It was an eye opener today, McCarty said. We kind of have to take that and roll with it. We just got outplayed and we got beat.A junior guard with 11 career starts over her first two college seasons, McPhee is taking on a bigger role for VanDerveers young team. And Texas, which beat Stanford the past two seasons, didnt have an answer for her accuracy.The Longhorns ended the Cardinals 28-game home winning streak with an 87-81 overtime win at Maples Pavilion on Nov.dddddddddddd 20, 2014, when Stanford was ranked sixth and Texas No. 10 -- the programs first win over a top-10 team in almost six years. It marked the first meeting when both teams were in the top-10.That year, Stanford couldnt make it two in a row after beating No. 1 Connecticut 88-86 in overtime three nights earlier to snap the Huskies 47-game winning streak.Then Texas won again last season in Austin, 77-69.Stanford was too much this time.When you get beat sometimes all you do is talk about what your team wasnt good at but I would say that midway through the second quarter they really broke our defense down, Texas coach Karen Aston said. Were young and a little bit immature and I thought that we started panicking a little bit. We missed some free throws and our confidence got rattled a little bit at the end of the first half and we werent able to recover from that.BIG PICTURETexas: The Longhorns held a 38-32 rebounding edge but were just 6 for 14 at the free throw line. They lost a season opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Aston (4-1). ... Aston coached her 300th career game. She is now 190-110 starting her 10th season as a college coach and 89-47 in her fifth season leading the Longhorns. ... Texas started the season on the road for only the second time in the past 13 years.Stanford: McCall was one off her career high in blocks. She had three blocks in a season-opening win against Cal Poly on Friday and now has nine through two games. I love blocked shots, she said. ... The Cardinal are 15-4 at home against top-10 teams over the last 10-plus seasons and 139-7 at Maples since 2007-08.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns host Houston Baptist on Wednesday morning in their home opener, an 11 a.m. local time tipoff for the programs annual 40 Acres Field Trip game for middle-school students from around Texas and a day that includes educational activities.Stanford: The Cardinal have another tough opponent Friday at home against West Coast Conference power Gonzaga, winner of 11 of the last 12 WCC regular-season titles and picked to do so again. 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