Vorschau » right field is no longer an option for Snider --

PITTSBURGH -- Travis Snider is no longer a regular in the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup. The arrival of Gregory Polanco in June means right field is no longer an option for Snider -- or anybody else -- for the next six years. Relegated to part-time status, Snider isnt sulking. Hes thriving. Sniders major league-leading 11th pinch hit of the season, a sinking liner off Matt Belisle, in the eighth scored Neil Walker and sparked the Pirates to a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. "When you dont see (reserves) on the bench, were not hanging out eating sunflower seeds, were actually doing something," Snider said. "We really just try to feed off each other in that sense and have a routine you can stick with it." Coming through is becoming routine for Snider, who is 11 for 39 (.282) as a pinch hitter. "One of the things we continue to talk about with all the pinch hitters is ... theres no downside," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "Youre trying to perform one of the toughest acts in the game and hes gotten to a good place with it." All-Star reliever Tony Watson (6-1) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth inning. Mark Melancon got Troy Tulowitzki, representing the tying run, to ground out to third to end it for his 17th save. Starling Marte tripled and drove in two runs before leaving late in the game shortly after taking a fastball to the head. Hurdle called the decision to remove Marte "precautionary" and he will be re-evaluated on Saturday. Charlie Culberson and Corey Dickerson had two hits apiece for the Rockies but Colorados bullpen couldnt give starter Jorge De La Rosa his fifth consecutive victory. The Rockies left 11 runners on base while losing their third straight. "We couldnt put it away," manager Walt Weiss said. "We got a few big outs there but the final analysis is we werent able to put that game away." Walker singled to lead off the bottom of the eighth and moved to third on Gaby Sanchezs single to centre. Snider followed with a hard drive that Gonzalez couldnt track down, the low point on a night the slugger also struck out five times. Pittsburgh starter Francisco Liriano worked five innings as he tries to bounce back from a difficult first half in which he managed just one win in 15 starts and spent a month on the disabled list with a back injury. The left-hander returned in four shaky innings last weekend against Cincinnati, but Hurdle threw Liriano right back out there on Friday hoping to get him into a comfortable rhythm. The early signs were encouraging. Liriano laboured through the first two innings -- needing 27 pitches to get out of bases-loaded jam in the first -- but got better as the game wore on. Colorado managed only an RBI fielders choice by Dickerson in the second against him as he retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. Liriano allowed one run on three hits, walking three and striking out eight. "When I started hitting my spot with my fastball in, things started to get better," Liriano said. De La Rosa was just as effective while keeping the Pirates off balance for six innings. Poor decision making by Marte helped. The left fielder tripled to left with two outs in the fifth, scoring Polanco all the way from first. Marte then ran through third baseman Nick Leyvas stop sign and was out by a good 15 feet trying for an inside the park homer. Colorado went back in front in the seventh when Pedro Alvarezs throwing error with two outs snowballed into an RBI single by Drew Stubbs. Pittsburgh evened it in the seventh after loading the bases off Rex Brothers. Adam Ottavino came in and got ahead of Marte 0-2 before hitting the outfielder in the helmet with a 93 mph fastball. "It was a bad pitch, I wish it didnt happen," Ottavino said. "It got away from me." NOTES: Pittsburgh RHP Gerrit Cole threw 30 pitches on Thursday without incident as he recovers from a sore back. Cole was eligible to come off the disabled list on Friday but the team remains uncertain on when he will return. ... Colorado RHP Tyler Chatwood will have undergo reconstructive elbow surgery for the second time in his career. Chatwood hasnt pitched since going on the 60-day disabled list on April 30. The 24-year-old is 20-22 with a 4.34 ERA in 70 major league games. He is expected to miss 12-18 months. ... The series continues on Saturday when Pittsburghs Charlie Morton (5-9, 3.32 ERA) faces Colorados Brett Anderson (0-3, 4.95). Jakub Voracek Jersey . Carcillo was a little of both for New York in Game 3. Derek Stepan, Martin St. Louis, Dan Girardi and Carcillo scored goals, leading the Rangers to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. Jaromir Jagr Flyers Jersey . JOHNS, N. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/ron-hextall-jersey/ . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) – He had good saves on Giroux, Akeson, and Hartnell tonight. Michael Raffl Flyers Jersey . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. Michael Raffl Jersey . In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager.BRECLAV, Czech Republic -- Canada defeated the Czech Republic 6-2 on Saturday to win gold at the under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup for the seventh consecutive year. Lawson Crouse scored two goals for the Canadians, who won all five games at the tournament and outscored the opposition 32-10. Dylan Strome opened the scoring at 3:34 and Crouse made it a 2-0 game a few minutes later. Mitchell Marner and Travis Konecny added goals later in the first period to silence the crowd at Alcaplast Arena. "We knew we had to have a really good start against (the Czechs) because they were playing really well," said head coach Jody Hull. "Our guys just bought into the process. Its an amazing group." The Czechs got on the board early in the second period when Radek Koblizek beat netminder Zach Sawchenko. Nicolas Roy restored Canadas four-goal cushion before Lukas Jasek scored for the Czechs late in the frame. Crouse added an insurance goal in the third period. "AAfter our first goal, we just kept rolling," Marner said.dddddddddddd "Were a hard team to stop when we play as one and I think we did that very well in this tournament and in the gold medal game." Canada finished first in Group B in preliminary round play with a 3-0 record and dumped the United States 11-5 in the semifinal on Friday. The Czechs were tops in Group A at 3-0 and defeated Sweden 4-3 to reach the final. "We tried to keep things simple yet hard enough for other teams to play against us," Hull said. "Im just proud that every guy bought in to what we were doing as a hockey club." Sawchenko made 17 saves for the victory. Alex Stezka and Daniel Vladar split goaltending duties for the Czechs, stopping 18 of 24 shots. The Americans beat Sweden 5-4 to take the bronze medal. Dennis Yan scored the winning goal in the final minute of overtime. Canada has won the tournament on 19 of 24 occasions since it began in 1991. ' ' '