worry, its that Bumgarner struggled a bit down the stretch, unlike in 2014, when he was red hot. In his final nine starts this season, he posted a 4.66 ERA and allowed eight home runs. -- David Schoen

Star West Coast midfielder Andrew Gaff has re-signed for a further two years, tying him to the AFL club until the end of 2018.Gaff would have been hot property on the open market after winning an All-Australian berth last season, as well as the Eagles best and fairest award.But the Victorian says he always wanted to stay at the tight-knit Eagles, with the clubs premiership potential proving to be a big incentive.Its an exciting time for the club, Gaff said.There are a lot of guys around my age, as well as some senior players who are playing some great football, so were in pretty good shape.The club has really looked after me since I arrived as an 18-year-old, and I have really enjoyed it here.Gaff has played 125 games since being snared with pick No.4 in the 2010 national draft.The 24-year-old holds the club record for consecutive games at West Coast with 113.The streak would have been even longer had he not been knocked unconscious at the hands of Ports Tom Jonas earlier this season.Jonas was suspended for six weeks over the incident, with Gaff sitting out the following week.Gaffs output was noticeably lower for a few weeks following his return and the 24-year-old said it took him some time to get back into the groove.I just felt perhaps a little bit more rushed than I did at times, Gaff said.I think when you come back from something like that, you feel like youre under a bit more pressure whenever you have the ball and youre pretty quick to bomb it away or handball it to someone else.Its just that composure that probably went away for a couple of weeks.It was something that was frustrating for a couple of weeks, but I feel like Ive got over that and Im starting to play some decent football.West Coast will start as hot favourites when they host Melbourne at Domain Stadium on Saturday. Wholesale Nike Air Max 2018 . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Red Nike Air Max 2018 .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. http://www.cheapairmaxshoessale.com/ . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Womens Nike Air Max 2018 . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Cheap Nike Air Max 2018 . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Nobody does postseasons better than Madison Bumgarner, but Mets ace Noah Syndergaard is certainly no slouch. With two of the premier pitchers in baseball dueling, Wednesdays NL wild-card showdown (8 p.m. ET on ESPN/Watch ESPN) could be one for the ages.Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Wednesday nights game, then vote on which team will win at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen Bumgarner?is on the mound:?One thing we know about Bumgarner is that hell be unflappable on the mound at Citi Field. He owns a 0.60 ERA on the road in his postseason career while appearing in seven games. Remarkably, the Giants won all seven of those games.Bumgarner is essentially the same pitcher he was back when he dominated the 2014 postseason. He throws his four-seamer up in the zone, usually middle-in to right-handed batters, though it wasnt quite as effective this year as in the past. Back in 2014, batters had a .275 wOBA against it; this year, it was .323, with a swing-and-miss rate that dropped from 27.6 percent in 2014 to 22.4 percent in 2016. Bumgarners average velocity on the pitch dropped from 92.0 mph to 90.8.His cutter/slider -- Bumgarner calls it a cutter -- remains a deadly weapon, as batters hit .221 against it and have trouble elevating it. What makes it so effective in part is that Bumgarner manipulates the speed on it, throwing it from 85 to 89 mph. Bumgarners third pitch is a curveball that he throws about 15 percent of the time, about equally to lefties and righties, often with two strikes, and hell bury it at the knees or below. Batters hit just .130 against it, with a strikeout rate of 51.6 percent.If theres one worry, its that Bumgarner struggled a bit down the stretch, unlike in 2014, when he was red hot. In his final nine starts this season, he posted a 4.66 ERA and allowed eight home runs. -- David SchoenfieldWhen Syndergaard?is on the mound: Syndergaard stormed out of the gate in April, allowing two runs in his first three starts, and his ERA remained under 1.00 as late as mid-June. Terry Collins was pretty conservative in his usage of Syndergaard, who pitched more than seven innings just three times and 43 fewer innings than Bumgarner.Syndergaards game revolves around his high-octane fastball, which averaged 97.9 mph, the highest velocity by any starter in the majors (1.9 mph faster than Yordano Venturas). He throws it about 60 percent of the time with command, on the outer half of the plate to left-handers and the outer half of the plate to righties. The fastball itself isnt all that unhittable -- batters hit .283/.327/.411 against it, and Bumgarner had a higher swing-and-miss rate with his fastball -- but it helps set up Syndergaards slider. That pitch had the third-highest swing-and-miss rate of any starters slider (behind only those of Jose Fernandez and Max Scherzer), and batters hit .167 against it with one home run in 180 at-bats ending with the pitch (Corey Seager was the hitter).Syndergaard throws the slider about 21 percent of the time ((he threw it only 2 percent of the time last year) while also mixing in a curveball and a changeup, which he throws primarily to lefties.dddddddddddd. Syndergaard had a small platoon split, with lefties hitting .262/.324/.389 against him versus .228/.258/.322, and the Giants can roll out a lineup with six left-handed batters. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightAsdrubal Cabrera has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors since his return from the DL on Aug. 21, hitting .343/.410/.650 with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs. Almost all of that damage came against right-handed pitchers, however, as the switch-hitter had just 18 PAs against southpaws in that stretch. With much of the Mets power coming from the left side (Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda), Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes might be relied upon to do the damage.?-- SchoenfieldWhat will decide the game?How the Mets handle MadBums best stuff:?Bumgarner is well known for his nasty fastball/slider combo. He throws those two pitches 81 percent of the time to right-handed hitters. That plays into the hands of two of the Mets most prominent hitters, who had great numbers against those two pitches from lefties -- Asdrubal Cabrera (.375 BA, five doubles, two HR in 80 at-bats ending with those pitches) and Yoenis Cespedes (.370 BA, five doubles, five HR in 54 at-bats). Cespedes had the fourth-highest OPS (1.081) of anyone with at least 100 plate appearances against lefties this season. -- Mark Simon,?ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win?Sure, the Mets have a challenge facing Bumgarner. But they have a tested answer in Syndergaard, who finished the regular season with a better ERA than Bumgarners (2.60 vs. 2.74) and earned the Mets lone win in last years World Series. And lets not forget the decided advantage the Mets have in their bullpen if they can get Bumgarners pitch count up. Mets closer Jeurys Familia set a franchise record with 51 regular-season saves, while the Giants nearly had that number of blown saves. Whats more, the Mets enter the postseason as one of MLBs hottest teams. Their 27-13 record is the best in the majors since Aug. 20. -- Adam RubinI wont even resort to the even-year argument. Lets stick with the more tangible facts, such as Bumgarners 2.14 ERA in almost 90 postseason innings. The Giants offense is built for contact, which should help against Syndergaard. The Giants bullpen isnt as bad as it appeared. It was left exposed because of a September batting slump. That ends now.?-- Mark SaxonWhere the series standsUnlike last year, the Mets have one ace to ride this postseason, and theyre rolling him out here. You know what Bruce Bochy is hoping for: a complete game, similar to the one Bumgarner delivered in the 2014 wild-card game against the Pirates. After a rough finish for the Giants bullpen, you get the feeling Bochy will live or die with Bumgarner in this one. --?Schoenfield Nike NFL Jerseys China China NFL Hoodies Wholesale NFL T-shirts Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL Hoodies NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale China Jerseys Stitched Jerseys Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Stitched Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys ' ' '