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52
Sports
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Monstrous KC bullpen cuts down SF
Royals hold off Giants to take World Series lead
Kansas City Royal’s Mike Moustakas hits a single during the first inning of
Game 3 of baseball’s World Series against the San Francisco Giants on Oct 24,
in San Francisco. (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 25, (RTRS):
The Kansas City Royals followed their
formula for success to perfection turning
a tight game over to their “monstrous”
bullpen to beat the San Francisco Giants
on Friday and seize the upper hand in the
World Series.
After each team claimed a lopsided
win in the first two games of the best-ofseven, Game Three was a 3-2 nailbiter
that gave the visitors a 2-1 lead in the
series. The pivotal victory was preserved
by four hitless innings thrown by Royals
relievers.
“Monstrous,” Royals manager Ned
Yost said in describing the firepower he
is able to call on in the late innings.
“The key factor in all of this for us is
timely hitting, great defense, really solid
starting pitching, but dynamic back of
the bullpen.”
Of the previous 56 times a Fall
Classic has been tied 1-1, the team that
has won Game Three has gone on to win
the Major League Baseball championship two-thirds of the time.
Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie
pitched five shutout innings before wobbling in the sixth and turning the game
over to the bullpen brigade.
Unbeaten through the post-season
until they lost the first game of the World
Series at home on Tuesday, the upstart
Royals have produced back-to-back
wins and could take command of the
series in Saturday’s Game Four in San
Francisco.
Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and
BASEBALL
Hosmer each drove in a run for the
Royals, in the playoffs for the first time
in 29 years, while closer Greg Holland
wrapped up the win in the ninth for his
seventh save of the postseason.
“We’re just trying to get leads and
hand off to our bullpen,” said Hosmer,
whose single to center in a battling, 11pitch at-bat against lefty reliever Javier
Lopez gave Kansas City their third run.
“This is a huge win for us and hats off
to the bullpen for holding it down for
us.” The Giants found themselves in an
early hole when 39-year-old starter Tim
Hudson received a rude welcome when
Alcides Escobar stroked his first pitch
for a double to left and eventually scored
on Lorenzo Cain’s ground out.
“It was high and probably outside corner or outer third (of the plate),” said
Hudson. “He was just swinging. He had
his mind made up. Give him credit, he
hit it.”
Hudson settled down after that and
retired 12 successive batters until
Escobar collected his second hit with a
single in the sixth. That was quickly followed by an RBI-double from Gordon
that bumped Royals’ lead to 2-0.
With two out and a man on second
Giants manager Bruce Bochy replaced
Hudson with Javier Lopez but the
Royals scored one more run when a
determined Hosmer spoiled several
good pitches before delivering a single
to score Gordon.
The Giants answered right back in the
bottom half with two runs as pinch-hitter
Michael Morse sparked the rally with an
RBI-double down the left-field line.
Buster Posey drove in another run on a
grounder to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Royals bullpen did the rest with
Kelvin Herrera, rookie Brandon
Finnegan and Wade Davis setting the
stage for Holland.
Holland clinched the win by retiring
the heart of the San Francisco lineup —
Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval and
Buster Posey — in order.
Yost broke up his usual starting lineup
as a concession to the spacious AT&T
Park outfield.
Starting in center was Jarrod Dyson
with Lorenzo Cain shifting to right
instead of usual starter Nori Aoki.
“Because it’s a unique park... we’re
going to put our best defensive outfield
out there,” said Yost. “They just cover
all kinds of ground out there.”
The change also moved Gordon up in
the order into Aoki’s usual number two
slot in the lineup.
“I was really glad to see Gordy get the
big hit,” said Yost, who pushed all the
right buttons in another Royals win.
Real spoil Suarez Barca debut
CR7 on target
MADRID, Oct 25, (AFP):
Luis Suarez’s Barcelona
debut ended in defeat as Real
Madrid cut the gap on the La
Liga leaders to just a point as
they came from behind to
win El Clasico 3-1 on
Saturday thanks to goals
from Cristiano Ronaldo,
Pepe and Karim Benzema.
Playing for the first time in a competitive game since
being handed a fourmonth ban for biting
Giorgio Chiellini at
the World Cup,
Suarez’s
Barca
career had got off to
a flying start as he set
up Neymar to slide
home the opening
Ronaldo goal after just three
minutes.
However, Real responded like
European champions as Ronaldo levelled
from the penalty spot before second-half
goals from Pepe and Benzema handed
them a deserved ninth consecutive victory in all competitions.
“I am very happy to return to playing,
it is a great relief to have this time behind
me,” said Suarez, who was substituted
after 68 minutes.
“The feeling is bittersweet because of
the result but this team has lifted itself
Valencia vs Elche beIN SPORTS 14, 16HD
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Sevilla vs Villareal beIN SPORTS 2HD,
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Getafe vs Atletico beIN SPORTS 2HD, 14HD,
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many times before.”
Barca boss Luis Enrique insisted he
didn’t regret his decision to start the
Uruguayan.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti,
meanwhile, lauded his side’s reaction to
conceding early on.
Suarez proved his worth within three
minutes as his cross-field pass was taken
down by Neymar who skipped inside
Dani Carvajal and Pepe before sliding the
ball into the far corner for his 11th goal in
as many games this season.
The goal sparked Madrid into life as
Benzema failed to find the target from a
narrow angle as he was pressured by
Claudio Bravo before the Frenchman
crashed a header off the bar from
Ronaldo’s cross.
Both Messi and Neymar were booked
for late challenges on Toni Kroos and
Carvajal as the hosts upped the pressure
in search of an equaliser.
However, they were thankful to captain Iker Casillas midway through the
half as he spread himself to stop Lionel
Messi becoming the joint top goalscorer
in La Liga history from a tempting cross
from Suarez.
Just when Barca had appeared to have
taken the sting out of Madrid’s pressing,
though, they gifted the hosts a route back
into the game as Marcelo’s low cross was
blatantly handled inside the area by
Gerard Pique.
Ronaldo stepped up and confidently
buried the resulting spot-kick to become
the first man to score against Barcelona
in nine league games this season.
Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (bottom), vies with Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric during the Spanish league ‘Clasico’ football match Real Madrid CF vs FC Barcelona at the
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on Oct 25. (AFP)
The home side could even have gone
in at half-time in front as James
Rodriguez’s header drifted just wide from
another Marcelo cross.
It took Ancelotti’s men just five minutes to go in front after the break as
Kroos’s out-swinging corner was powered past Bravo by Pepe.
Barca came close to opening up the
Madrid defence a couple of times as
Suarez slipped after turning Sergio
Ramos in the box before Ramos made a
last-ditch tackle to prevent Messi turning
home Neymar’s cut-back.
Casillas then produced another stunning save to prevent Jeremy Mathieu’s
rising drive finding the top corner.
Standings
P W D C GF GA Pts
Barcelona
9 7 1 1 23
3 22
Real Madrid
9 7 0 2 33 10 21
Sevilla
8 6 1 1 15
8 19
Valencia
8 5 2 1 17
7 17
Atletico
8 5 2 1 14
7 17
Celta Vigo
9 4 4 1 16 11 16
Villarreal
8 4 2 2 12
7 14
Malaga
8 3 3 2
7
8 12
Rayo Vallecano 8 3 2 3 11 12 11
Getafe
8 3 1 4
6 12 10
Espanyol
8 2 3 3
9 10
9
Eibar
8 2 3 3
8 10
9
Almeria
9 2 3 4
7 10
9
Bilbao
9 2 2 5
6 12
8
Granada
8 2 2 4
5 12
8
Deportivo
8 2 1 5 11 19
7
Real Sociedad 8 1 2 5
9 13
5
Elche
8 1 2 5
7 18
5
Levante
9 1 2 6
4 23
5
Cordoba
8 0 4 4
5 13
4
Standings read as played, won, drawn,
lost, goals for, goals against and points.
Citizens miss out on chance to increase pressure on Chelsea
Sakho the hero as West Ham upset city
LONDON, Oct 25, (AFP): Diafra Sakho
struck for a sixth successive Premier
League game to secure West Ham’s shock
2-1 victory over Manchester City as the
champions missed out on the chance to
increase the pressure on leaders Chelsea on
Saturday.
Senegal striker Sakho, signed during the
close season for ¬£4.5 million ($7.2 million) from Metz, headed West Ham’s crucial second goal in the 75th minute after
Morgan Amalfitano had given the home
side a first-half lead at Upton Park.
City were desperate to close the fivepoint gap on Chelsea, 24 hours before Jose
Mourinho’s side face Manchester United at
Old Trafford.
But while David Silva halved the deficit
in the 77th minute, Manuel Pellegrini’s
men were unable to conjure an equaliser
against a West Ham side who surprisingly
cemented their position in the top four.
City were also anxious to move on from
yet another midweek Champions League
disappointment following the 2-2 draw at
CSKA Moscow.
Pellegrini admitted his side paid the
price for failing to close out that game after
taking a two-goal half-time lead.
With the future of their European campaign now in doubt, Pellegrini was looking
for an immediate response as they resumed
their defence of their Premier League title.
The meetings between these two sides
last season were an embarrassing mismatch with City winning each of the four
meetings including the two-legged League
Burnley vs Everton beIN SPORT 8HD
16:30 Local
Spurs vs Newcastle beIN SPORT 1HD, 11HD
16:30 Local
Man Utd vs Chelsea beIN SPORT 1HD,
11HD
119:00 Local
QPR vs Villa beIN SPORT 1HD, 11HD
23:00 Local (Monday)
West Ham’s Carl Jenkinson (left),
competes for the ball with Man City’s
Sergio Aguero, on Oct 25. (AP)
THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT
Editor-in-Chief
AHMED AL JARALLAH
Cup semi-final, running up an aggregate
score of 14-1. But West Ham are a different proposition this season following the
arrival of Enner Valencia, Sakho,
Amalfitano and Alex Song.
City started brightly, with Sergio Aguero
immediately punching a hole in the home
defence with a powerful run from halfway
before seeing a deflected shot scrambled
away by Hammers keeper Adrian.
Silva then sent a free-kick on to the roof
of the net and Vincent Kompany headed
over as the visitors threatened to overrun
Sam Allardyce’s side.
But for all the early pressure they exert-
ed, City’s play lacked fluency and West
Ham gained a foothold in the game when
they were able to service Sakho and
Valencia, who showed they had the ability
to stretch the visiting back-line.
The combination of the front pair almost
brought an opening goal when Sakho’s
headed flick almost released his forward
partner behind Kompany. That proved to
be only a temporary let-off for City, who
were undone in the 22nd minute when
Song’s excellent through ball released
Valencia whose low cross was turned home
by Amalfitano from close range.
It was clear City were rattled and they
diminished as an attacking force the longer
the first half went on while West Ham grew
in confidence with Stewart Downing coming close to heading a second.
Downing was guilty of spurning an even
better opportunity early in the second half
when he met Song’s cross with a volley
from 10 yards out, only to send his effort
wide.
There was a growing sense that those
misses could prove costly as City injected
more urgency into their play.
Results/Standings – Page 51
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