Bla Bla » le for the Canucks to put him on their third pairing ne

MINNEAPOLIS -- From the moment Yasiel Puig broke into the big leagues, its been go, go, go for the 23-year-old Cuban outfielder. Now that Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly is seeing his electrifying, and sometimes maddening, player start to slow things down on the diamond, theres no telling how far his talents can take him. Puig tied a career high with four hits and drove in two runs and Dan Haren struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings to help the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader on Thursday. "His whole game seems to be calming down, base-running, defence," Mattingly said. "At the plate were seeing him be more patient. The sky is the limit for Yasiel Puig. "If he continues down this path, then he changes everything with how you pitch him, what you can do to him, because hes going to force you to throw the ball over the plate." Haren (4-0) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and six hits with three walks and Juan Uribe also tied a career-high with four hits and two RBIs for the Dodgers. Chris Perez pitched 1 2-3 innings for his first save. Mike Pelfrey (0-3) gave up five runs and seven hits and walked three in four innings for the Twins. Brian Dozier had two hits and two RBIs for Minnesota. The Dodgers looked uncomfortable in the 40-degree weather in the first inning, when throwing errors by Carl Crawford in left field and catcher Miguel Olivo on the same play allowed Trevor Plouffe to score from first base on a bloop single by Jason Kubel to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. But Pelfrey, who has not won a game at Target Field since April 16, 2013, gave the lead right back when his walk to Olivo loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning. Puigs two-run double made it 3-2 and the Dodgers scored two more on a double from Matt Kemp and a single from Uribe in the third to take control. "Weve got to do something about it, we have to fix it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Pelfrey. "Were trying to get him on the right path." Puig also had singles in the first, fourth and sixth innings and walked in the eighth, the third time hes had four hits in a game. He is batting .400 (16 for 40) with three doubles and 12 RBIs in his past 10 games to raise his average to .308 for the season and said hes worked with hitting coach Mark McGwire on his approach at the plate. "Hes helped me not get too anxious at the plate," Puig said through an interpreter. "And its helped me just connect with pitches that would normally give me trouble." The Twins seemed poised for a big inning in the fifth when Doziers single drove in two runs and a walk to Joe Mauer gave them runners on first and second with nobody out. Mattingly then challenged a close play at second base, when Hanley Ramirez stabbed a line drive from Plouffe and, in one motion, flipped the ball from his glove to second baseman Dee Gordon to try and double up Dozier. Umpires ruled Dozier safe on the play, but after a two-minute replay, officials overturned the call and ruled Dozier out. Jason Kubel grounded out in the next at-bat to end the inning and Haren escaped with a 5-4 lead. "That fifth inning was close to falling apart," Haren said. "Id be lying if I told you I didnt catch a break there, Hanley making a good play and getting the double play. ... Besides that I felt really good. I had a good rhythm the whole game." Gardenhire had a challenge of his own in the eighth inning when Kubel was called out on a play at second base. Gordon dropped the throw from Ramirez on the play, and replay officials quickly overturned the play to call Kubel safe. NOTES: Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, on the disabled list since after his first start of the season with strained shoulder, threw 86 pitches and allowed two runs in five innings in a start for Double-A Chattanooga on Wednesday night and appears in line to rejoin the rotation early next week. ... Red Patterson will make his MLB debut in the nightcap for the Dodgers against Twins LHP Kris Johnson. Both were called up to start the game under a provision that allows rosters to expand to 26 for a doubleheader. Reggie Wayne Jersey .com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. Pat McAfee Jersey . Ho-Sang is a highly regarded prospect, as seen in TSNs Midseason Rankings. This was Game 3 of their playoff series and that wasnt the only strange incident in Londons 10-2 win over Windsor. http://www.coltsfansshop.com/Colts-Le-Ra...Draft-Jersey/.J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil. Peyton Manning Jersey .com) - The Oakland Athletics needed to rely on a lot of young pitchers to win an American League West title this season. Matt Slauson Jersey . Felton was in court as the Manhattan district attorneys office outlined the agreement, which would resolve a gun case that arose amid the breakup of his marriage. Hes expected to admit June 30 to at least one charge, attempted criminal possession of a weapon -- he wont have to come to court to do so -- and get a $5,000 fine and 500 hours of community service.The Vancouver Canucks unloaded an unhappy veteran centre, acquiring three assets in return as new GM Jim Benning starts off his tenure with a major trade. Numbers Game examines the Anaheim Ducks acquiring Ryan Kesler. The Ducks Get: C Ryan Kesler and a third-round pick in 2015. Kesler, 29, has been a very good two-way centre for most of the past seven seasons, scoring at least 20 goals in all six full seasons while missing 31 games during the lockout-shortened 2013 season. He scored 25 goals last season while playing a career-high 21:49 per game, and while Kesler didnt match the outstanding possession numbers he had from 2009 through 2012, he still had positive possession numbers despite facing high quality opposition and starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone, qualities that put him with a sound group of two-way forwards. Holding a no-trade clause, Kesler had control over the situation and that limited Vancouvers options. In Anaheim, Kesler slides into the second-line spot, behind Ryan Getzlaf, and Keslers presence may even free-up Getzlaf a little bit more -- as Getzlaf typically faces a high calibre of opposition with more defensive zone starts. If Kesler takes some of that responsibility, it may allow Getzlaf to get more favourable offensive matchups. While Kesler is a pretty effective shooter, 9.9% or above every year since 2006-2007, his on-ice shooting percentage (which includes the shooting of all others on the ice with him at 5on-5) was his lowest in that span last season, when he played primarily with Chris Higgins on left wing and then a rotating cast of right wingers. The positive of that is that, statistically, hes likely to have better luck next year, in terms of other players shooting percentage, so there may be room for a boost in Keslers production. The Ducks have a variety of young wingers that will be bucking for playing time and a couple of Patrick Maroon, Jakob Silfverberg, Kyle Palmieri, Matt Beleskey, Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly should have a shot to play on Keslers wings. Anticipating some boost in Keslers production operates on the assumption that he will be getting first-unit power play time because Bonino held that spot with the Ducks last season. For as much as Keslers reputation is built on being a two-way player who can check the oppositions best forwards, hes also been a productive triggerman on the Vancouver power play, ranking among the leaders in power play goals per minute of 5-on-4 play over the past five seasons. Kesler, in addition to being a valuable two-way forward, also comes at a reasonable cost for a veteran player. He has two years remaining on his contract, with a $5-million cap hit. If he plays well over the next couple seasons, there may be a decent chance to get him extended or re-signed, considering that Kesler virtually hand-picked his trade destination. The third-round pick offers about a 30% of chance of netting an NHLer, with maybe a six or seven percent chance of yielding a top-six forward, top-four defenceman or starting goaltender. The Canucks Get: C Nick Bonino, D Luca Sbisa, a first-round and third-round pick.. Bonino is a 26-year-old centre coming off a careerr year, in the first full season that hes played in the NHL.dddddddddddd Boninos 22 goals and 49 points were solid showings, tied for 75th and 72nd, respectively and he scored 20 points on the power play. Bonino has not typically faced tough opposition and has always started more shifts in the offensive zone, yet his possession numbers havent been very good. He was just below break-even last season for the Ducks, but was productive, in part, because he had a high on-ice shooting percentage, which makes Bonino something of a mirror image of Kesler, more likely to see his production fall. Hes not as good, but there was no chance the Ducks were getting a better centre in exchange for a player with a no-trade clause that wanted to be moved out of town. That said, Bonino is an okay option as a second or third-line centre for the Canucks. An inexpensive option for a rebuilding team, signed for three more years at a total cost of $5.7-million, a very reasonable $1.9-million cap hit. Sbisa, 24, was well on his way to a signficant role before he was bypassed on the Ducks depth chart this season. In the previous two years, he had played all but nine games and was up to a career-high 19:50 average time on ice per game last season. The first-round pick of the Flyers in 2008 appeared to be making progress, but then he sprained his ankle in training camp, and later tore tendon in his hand. Those two injuries cost him 41 games and the Ducks had new defencemen -- Ben Lovejoy, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen -- pull ahead of Sbisa on the depth chart. So, while Sbisa hasnt really established that he can handle a big role, its not unreasonable for the Canucks to put him on their third pairing next year to see if he can get back on track. Sbisa is under contract for one more season, at a cap hit of $2.175-million, after which he will be a restricted free agent. The 24th pick in the draft has typically yielded an NHL player 70% of the time, with a top-six forward, top-four defenceman or starting goaltender 25% of the time. The third-round pick was subsequently moved to the New York Rangers, to acquire veteran winger Derek Dorsett. Dorsett is a 27-year-old who is a willing scrapper, but has also played some tough minutes in a checking role over the past three seasons, with a lot of defensive zone starts. Dorsett is in the final year of a deal that brings a cap hit of $1.633-million. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Will the Canucks be just as good without Ryan Kesler? Not likely. Does this move put them in a decent position going forward, in terms of having assets that they can use to re-shape the team? For sure. Big changes have begun in Vancouver and the first steps may be back before they are in position to move ahead. For the Ducks, theyve raised exectations with the addition of Kesler. They lost in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champs and, justifiably, made a move to improve their odds next season by getting a player that they tried to acquire before the trade deadline last season. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Blackhawks Jerseys Store Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Penguins Jerseys Store Capitals Jerseys For Sale Blues Jerseys Store Cheap Kings Jerseys Adidas Lightning Jerseys Stars Jerseys For Sale Cheap Predators Jerseys Ducks Store Sharks Jerseys For Sale Cheap Sabres Jerseys Rangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '