1 » Madrid weathered each buildup before surging forward

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers several questions each week. This week topics include the surging Blue Jays, falling MLB giants, domestic violence in pro sports and remembering September 11. 1. With the Toronto Blue Jays having won 9 of their last 11 games, is it safe to say the team is back in the race for the final American League Wild Card spot or, with 17 games left in the season, is a 3.5-game deficit simply too big to overcome? The Jays have shown real character this season. They have dealt with adversity, injuries and disappointment. There was a point when I and others thought they were dead and that they would fade away. Give the players and John Gibbons and his staff a ton of credit. A 3.5 game deficit doesnt sound that overwhelming, especially when the Jays trail the second wild card team, the Tigers, by just three games in the loss column. The Seattle Mariners stand between the Jays and Tigers for that last wild card spot. They are three games ahead of Toronto in the loss column as well. The challenge for the Jays is that there are only 17 games left to make up ground. The Tigers have a winning percentage of .548. That means in their final 16 games if they play like they have all season long they would go 9-7 and finish with 89 wins. If they Jays get to 89 wins it will be because they go 13-4 in their final 17 games. Obviously to get to 90 wins they would have to go 14-3. That means the Jays will finish the season on a 23-5 run. Is it possible? Absolutely Is it probable? Absolutely not. Now the good news is that the Tigers are not playing at a .548 clip in the recent games. In fact, they are just 27-28 after the All Star game. So maybe this will allow the Jays more margin for error. The other good news is that the Oakland As are in freefall right now. They are 15-23 since Aug. 1 so it may actually open up another wild card spot. The Jays cant worry about anyone but themselves. They cant focus on winning 13 games or even one game. Their focus should be on winning on this pitch in this inning in this game. Then refocus for the next pitch and the next pitch. The Jays are in it. Just barely, but they are in it. Wouldnt it make for an amazing October if they shock the world? 2. The Oakland Athletics are 15-23 since acquiring Jon Lester from the Boston Red Sox. David Price is 2-3 in seven starts with the Detroit Tigers and has an ERA almost a full run higher than what he had as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this season. Is this a case of a pair of contending teams unable to cope with changed expectations? Baseball is an amazing game. Just when we think we have it figured out we are made fools. We all had the American League figured out. After the trade deadline the As and Tigers were going to square off against each other for the AL pennant. We were comparing the depth and quality of their starting rotations. We wondered aloud if they could be among the best ever. What were we thinking? The game is not played on paper. The game is not played by stats; it is played by people. And as much as I think I know how people are going to act or perform I have been proven wrong over and over. People have feelings and emotions and thoughts all affect how they react and perform. The As certainly improved their pitching staff with the John Lester deal. They did it at the expense of their offence. Billy Beane, As GM, made a calculation that he could give up Yeonis Cespedes production and still score enough runs to improve support the improved pitching staff. I get why he made that evaluation since at the time of the deal he had the highest scoring offence in baseball. Unfortunately what he didnt count on was how the other hitters in the lineup would be affected mentally and emotionally. Josh Reddick and Brandon Moss couldnt handle the pressure of having to deliver more in Cespedes absence. Beane couldnt have predicted that Josh Donaldson and CoCo Crisp would suffer injuries and miss time. As the As started losing games because they were scoring less it put more pressure on the hitters to produce because everyone was talking about the lack of offence. With the obvious lack of offence the pitchers started trying to be perfect and this led them to their own struggles. One fed the other. Somehow they need to start to believe in themselves offensively again and it will improve the pitching. The Tigers struggles were a bit different. Offensively they have been Jekyl and Hyde for a couple of years. They seem to go hot and cold from inning to inning and game to game. When they added David Price everyone starting talking about the unhittable staff that they had. The players started looking at each other and saying, "Ok, go out there and be Davis Price. Be Max Scherzer. Be Justin Verlander." The players subconsciously expected perfection from their pitchers so they just effectively stood and watched. They played poor defence and their offence became even more inconsistent. Throw in health struggles by Miguel Cabrera and it really compounded the problem. The Tigers seem to be rebounding a bit while the As are still struggling. The irony is now that we could have John Lester vs David Price in the Wild Card game instead of in Game 7 of the ALCS. Not what we expected but it could still be a great matchup. 3. In light of the perceived mishandling of the Ray Rice affair by the NFL and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, are you confident that a similar scenario would be dealt with in a more expedient matter in Major League Baseball or do you see an inability to deal with domestic violence as a systemic issue with professional sports on the whole? What a week it has been. The Ray Rice story has dominated the football landscape in what should have been a celebration of the start of the 2014 season. It has taken over in a baseball-like fashion. It seemed like baseball controversies always seemed to pop up at the most inopportune time. It must be contagious. The NFL clearly has behavior problems. Thirty-one players/executives have been arrested since the Super Bowl in February. Thats right thirty-one. There have been 56 domestic violence arrests in Roger Goodells tenure as commissioner and those players have served a total of only 13 games in suspensions. Football is a game in which the players are driven to perform by their anger. History shows that at times the players cant turn that anger off. This is not a problem exclusive to football. It exists in every other sport, business and class of society. A number of years back Bret Meyers of the Phillies was arrested in Boston for a physical altercation with his wife on a street corner. Charges were dropped and the case was not pursued. Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox was arrested back in 1995 for simple battery in a domestic dispute with his wife. There have been a number of other baseball related domestic violence cases over the years. Baseballs track record of punishing offenders is not strong either. When I was minor league director for the Mets, I chose to educate our players about domestic violence. We talked about anger and relationships and the need to get help if they couldnt control themselves. I hope it helped but I really dont know. It is so hard to predict what people would do if they faced similar circumstances today. I would like to believe that baseball would handle it better than football. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell botched this right from the start. He is in hot water now about either not having pursued the in-elevator video of Rice and his then fiancé aggressively enough or of lying about having attained it. His credibility has been severely damaged. One thing I do know is that baseball would have pursued the video and gotten it before TMZ did. If the Biogenesis story proved anything it showed that major league baseball will vigorously pursue evidence from any and all sources to get to the truth. Roger Goodell said he would only pursue evidence from credible reputable sources, namely, law enforcement. Heck even the police make deals with scumbags to get information. Why does the NFL have to be so particular? The criminal justice system certainly seemed to fail in New Jersey. How is it possible that the punch in the face that Ray Rice gave his fiancé is only worthy of participation in an intervention program? My initial inclination was that Rice was given preferential treatment. But it appears he was treated like most first time offenders. That being said I dont think that the NFL or any other professional league needs to be bound to how the judicial system rules. Roger Goodell and any commissioner in sports should hand down penalties that they believe are appropriate. They dont need to compare it to what the prosecutors do in a case. They dont have to worry about preceding penalties for other infractions. If a player does something wrong then give him the punishment he deserves. Who cares if the Unions appeal the ruling? I would have loved to hear the NFLPA argue that Ray Rice knocking his fiancé out in the elevator really wasnt so bad. Roger Goodell struck out. I would hope that every other league will not only learn from this but will institute clear and concise policies regarding domestic violence. I also hope that education is increased jointly between the leagues and players associations. Where there is a crisis there is an opportunity. I hope we all are more aware now than we were previously and demand more from professional sports leagues to better protect women from abuse. By the way October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 4. It is September 11. I was the general manger of the Mets on that fateful day in 2001. I was on my way into the stadium when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center. I saw the smoke from the burning towers as I drove over the Whitestone Bridge heading from the Bronx to Queens. I was in my office at Shea Stadium when the towers collapsed. I was so scared as it became clear that it was a terrorist attack. I wondered what could happen next. I sent everyone home from the offices and raced back to Connecticut to get my kids out of school. I just wanted to hold them. On the ride home I learned of the plane crashing into the Pentagon and another crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA. I was so afraid. In the days and months after the attack people around the country rallied around New Yorkers. When sports teams from the Big Apple traveled they were met with cheers and not the normal boos. Fans believed the best way to share their appreciation for those souls lost and the police and firemen who so bravely rushed into the towers and not away, was to celebrate those of us who represented New York. It was an amazing feeling that despite the fear, a sense of community and connection prevailed. On every September 11, I am reminded of the emotions of that day and the aftermath. I can picture the way the sun was shining that morning. I can remember the cool air on the field at Shea Stadium when firemen from Tennessee were out taking batting practice after a shift at Ground Zero. I remember the looks on peoples faces walking the streets of New York as they glanced to the sky every so often. I remember the funeral that I attended for a husband and father of a friend in my town. I remember the first game back in New York. Mostly, I remember how much I was grateful for and the connection I felt with neighbors that I didnt even know. As time has gone by and we have moved further away from the horrific pain of that time so much has changed. I guess you could say things have returned to normal. I just wish that "normal" was different. I want to hold on to that feeling of gratitude everyday. I want to think good feelings about the people around me. I want the frustrations of day-to-day life to always be in perspective as they were then. So every September 11th it brings me back. I for one am making a commitment to be more grateful. I commit to being a better citizen and neighbor. I want to understand that today is a great day and that I have so much to be thankful for in my life. I guess you can call it my September 11 Resolutions. Nike Vapormax Wholesale .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills will head into the regular season short on experience at quarterback after trimming the roster on Friday. Wholesale Vapormax Australia . It was well worth the wait. Manning and the Denver Broncos waited eight long months, then another 33 minutes to get the season started because of a lightning storm. http://www.wholesalevapormaxaustralia.com/ . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third. Nike Vapormax Plus Wholesale . The England international raised his middle finger toward Manchester City supporters during Saturdays game at Etihad Stadium, which Arsenal lost 6-3. The incident was not seen by match officials at the time but the FA charged Wilshere retrospectively after a study of video footage. Cheap Nike Vapormax Womens .Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova.MADRID, Spain -- Karim Benzemas goal gave Real Madrid a 1-0 first-leg victory over title holder Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but the nine-time champions may live to regret the missed chances in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal. Madrid endured plenty of pressure in the first leg match, but scored from a 19th-minute counter-attack. Cristiano Ronaldo found Fabio Coentrao speeding down the left flank and Benzema steered his low cross past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Ronaldo returned from a left leg injury but missed a number of scoring opportunities before eventually giving way to Gareth Bale, who had started on the bench after battling with flu. Bayern pressed for an equalizer in the closing stages, forcing Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas to deny Mario Goetze in the 84th minute while fellow substitute Thomas Mueller had no better luck with his late effort from inside the area. But Madrid should have extended its lead ahead of Tuesdays return leg in Germany, as the team bids to end a three-season semifinal losing streak and reach the final for the first time since winning in 2002. "If you want to do damage, you have to go for the victory -- because 1-0 is not definitive," Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said as he looked ahead to a tough second leg match. "But its a good result to take to Munich." Atletico Madrid or Chelsea await in the May 24 final in Lisbon, with the pair playing to a scoreless draw in their first-leg match on Tuesday. Pep Guardiola endured his first loss at the Bernabeu as coach after seven previous visits with Barcelona, and at times the encounter took on the appearance of a "clasico" with Madrid looking to capitalize on the break while the visitors controlled play. "Madrid thrives off the counter attack, Madrid is the best team in the world on the counter," Guardiola said. "They get back as fast as they go forward, theyre athletes." Madrids defence did well to contain Bayern in its area and then break quickly, but the Spanish club squandered its other chances after Benzema broke the ddeadlock.dddddddddddd. Ronaldo, who looked uncomfortable at times despite passing a late fitness test, followed up a sharp header at Neuer with a first-time shot from Luka Modrics perfect pass in the 26th minute -- only for his effort to fly high over the top with just the Germany keeper to beat. Madrid dug in and did well to clear many of Bayerns best opportunities as it controlled three-quarters of possession in the first half. The German champions found space between the lines and combined some swift passing movements, with Franck Ribery picking out Arjen Robben inside the area in the 39th. But Madrid weathered each buildup before surging forward, with Angel Di Maria gathering a loose ball at the right post only to wildly shoot over Neuer before halftime. After the break, Neuer had to dive low to keep out Ronaldos angled shot after a Bayern defensive mix-up. Ronaldo forced Neuer into another low save before giving way to Bale, who energized Madrids attack with his pace. The Welshman was playing for the first time since his stunning winner in Madrids 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. "Its been 20 days Cristiano hasnt been 100 per cent, so it was a sacrifice for him. It couldnt have been easy for Cristiano tonight," said Ancelotti, who remained unbeaten against Bayern with his fifth win in seven meetings. "But Cristiano and Bale will be 100 per cent" for the return, the Italian coach added. Guardiola brought on Mueller and Goetze for the final quarter and Mueller nearly equalized with a rising shot in the 81st. A chance then fell to Goetze in the Madrid area but Casillas reacted well to stop the Germans powerful volley. "They had chances to score more goals, definitely," said Guardiola. "We probably should have created a few more scoring chances. (But) they have a very good defence." Bayern had gone 29 matches without scoring coming into the 20th meeting between the storied European rivals, and will still rate its chances of reaching a third straight final with the return leg at home. ' ' '