Steckbrief » season after tearing the ACL and lateral meniscus in h

Its possible that by the time the Jon Lester takes the mound to start tonights game that five of the six division champs will have been crowned, including all of the National League titles. However, with a three-teams-for-two-spots wild-card race in the NL in progress, tonights match-up of NL Central rivals is far from meaningless.While their wild-card foes, the Mets and the Giants, spent the weekend facing opponents that may lose 90-plus games this year, the Cardinals were tasked with traveling to Wrigley Field to play the best team in baseball. Through two games of the series, though, the Cardinals havent lost any ground as all three teams split their Friday and Saturday contests. St. Louis will send its best pitcher this year, and presumed starter of the NL wild-card game should they get there, Carlos Martinez to the mound. Thanks to a rotation otherwise full of starters with ERAs well above 4.00, the Cardinals have to feel confident with Martinez and his 3.16 ERA manning the bump, but their enthusiasm must be tempered by the realization theyll be facing the Cubs ace, Jon Lester. Since joining the Cubs as a free-agent signing before the 2015 season, Lester has pitched 45 1/3 innings against St. Louis and has a 2.18 ERA.With this marking the end of Sunday Night Baseball telecasts, it means our Chalk handicappers will be gearing up for the postseason as well, and for the second year in a row, our team of handicappers will enter October as net winners over the course of the regular season. Tonight we get divergent side plays from Joe Peta (11-8, +5.08 units on the season) and Andrew Lange (6-8, -2.08 units). Diamondbacks Jerseys 2019 . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Arizona Diamondbacks Pro Shop . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/ . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. Arizona Diamondbacks Gear . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Arizona Diamondbacks Shirts . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Injuries to starting quarterbacks are creeping up in the Big 12, highlighting the need for backups to be prepared for significant playing time.Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said Monday that the status of FBS total offense leader Patrick Mahomes is day-to-day. Mahomes left last weeks game against Kansas after going down hard on his right (throwing) shoulder and he didnt return.If Mahomes isnt ready, junior Nic Shimonek would get his first career start Saturday for Texas Tech (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) at Kansas State (2-2, 0-1).Oklahomas Baker Mayfield tweaked his right ankle when he was sacked by TCUs Josh Carraway and fumbled in the second quarter Saturday. Mayfields ankle was heavily taped at halftime and he returned to the field. Coach Bob Stoops said Mayfield is a little bit sore but hell be ready to go when the 20th-ranked Sooners (2-2, 1-0) play Texas (2-2, 0-1) in their annual rivalry game Saturday in Dallas.The injuries are a wakeup call not only for the need to having reserves ready, but for opposing teams to prepare to face them.Just in case, Oklahoma has freshman Austin Kendall, who threw two touchdown passes against Louisiana-Monroe earlier this season. And Shimonek completed 15 of 21 passes with four TDs in the 55-19 win Saturday over Kansas State. He also got extensive work in Texas Techs season opener against Stephen F. Austin.I was excited to see him get his opportunity, Kingsbury said. It was fun for me to get to see him do it out under the lights and I thought he handled himself very well.Kingsbury said Shimonek just showed up at Texas Tech two summers ago as a walk-on transfer from Iowa. He had to work his way up the depth chart, playing behind Mahomes and Davis Webb in 2015.We could tell he could throw pretty well, we didnt know what we had on our hands, Kingsbury said. What jumped out to me was his work ethic. He made himself the player that he is. Ive got to give him all the credit.Kansas State coach Bill Snyder was impressed by Shimoneks accuracy and confidence.It didnt look to me like there was any drrop off from Mahomes, Snyder said.dddddddddddd Obviously Texas Tech is doing it the right way because that youngster came in and played so very well.Teams like Texas, Iowa State and Kansas use their backup quarterbacks regularly. For other teams that dont, youve got to keep them sharp, give them reps, continue to remind them that theyre one play away, said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.West Virginia got a scare in its season opener when Skyler Howard hurt his ribs against Missouri and sat out a few series. Two backups had turnovers during brief stints, and Holgorsen said that was an eye opener for them.Our backup quarterbacks werent ready to go in there, Holgorsen said. Since that game, I thought theyve been more engaged and practiced better to the point to where if that happens again, theyre going to be more ready to play.Other news from the Big 12 coaches teleconference:-No. 13 Baylor (5-0, 2-0) hasnt allowed a point in the fourth quarter all season, and interim coach Jim Grobe attributes that in part to conditioning and becoming familiar with the opponents offense. But after a nail-biting 45-42 win over Iowa State, Grobe said his team needs to correct its mistakes during a bye week, particularly on defense.Weve got to get back to being a better fundamental football team, Grobe said.-TCU coach Gary Patterson said he doesnt believe the winner of the Big 12 race will come out unscathed in league play. Baylor, No. 22 West Virginia, Texas Tech and Oklahoma are the remaining teams that havent lost in Big 12 games.Theres a chance, because where everybody has to go to, that the winner of this league may have two losses. It could be one, Patterson said. For me theres a lot of parity in it.-After Texas got three extra points blocked at Oklahoma State, one of which was returned for two points, Longhorns coach Charlie Strong promised that the problem will be fixed.We didnt do a good job of reacting to it, he said. ' ' '