Links » The unit was 68th in the nation in yards allowed (401.0 ypg) a

NEW YORK -- Atlanta Braves pitchers have always had a knack for being good at the plate, as well as on the mound. Mike Minor is the newest member of the club as he showed off his arm and his bat Thursday night in a 6-1 win over the New York Mets. "It was fun to have a night like this hitting and pitching," he said. Minor (6-8) had an RBI single in the second for the games first run. He doubled and scored in the eighth, then took a two-hit shutout into the bottom half. "At one point of the game he was everything," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He pitched well, drove in a run, (had) a double. He was not only pitching well, he was our offence for six innings." Minor was perfect for four innings before Lucas Duda led off the fifth with a single that just barely touched the glove of leaping shortstop Andrelton Simmons. "Today I thought his curveball was probably his best pitch, other than commanding his fastball," Gonzalez said. "He had a nice mix going and good for him. Young man earlier in the year had some tough luck and I think hes progressing in the right direction." In his previous start, Minor took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning against Cincinnati. Before that, Minor had given up three earned runs or more in nine of his previous eleven starts. "Any day you face the Braves youre going to face a pretty good pitcher," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "He threw a lot of fastballs -- some were straight, some cut and some sank. His fastball command was excellent." Wright was 0 for 4 in his return to the lineup after missing two games with a muscle spasm on the right side of his neck. Minor gave up four hits, struck out five and walked none. The Mets did not have a runner in scoring position until Travis dArnaud opened the eighth with a double. Eric Campbell followed with an RBI single, ending Minors night. Jonathon Niese (7-10) only allowed one run until Minor and the Citi Field wind helped Atlanta score twice in the eighth. Minor led off the eighth with his fifth career double, a ball that the wind carried over the head of right fielder Curtis Granderson. Emilio Bonifacio hit a triple to centre field that was also helped by the wind, and scored on Freddie Freemans single. Pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit had a two-run, wind-aided, homer onto the bridge beyond the wall in right-centre field in a three-run ninth. Doumit connected off Daisuke Matsuzaka, who came off the disabled list before the game. Bonifacio also had a run-scoring single for his fourth hit. He drove in two runs and stole a base. Wayne Simmonds Jersey . - For a general manager who preaches building through the draft, Reggie McKenzie has struggled to find impact players his first two years in Oakland. Eric Lindros Jersey . The Incheon-based tea, of the Korea Baseball Organization said the deal for the 35-year-old Scott included a $50,000 signing bonus. Scott reached the major leagues with Houston in 2005 and hit 23 homers or more for Baltimore each year from 2008-10. http://www.nhlflyersproauthentic.com/bill-barber-hockey-jersey/ . The Marlies centre set up three goals, including the game-winner, as Toronto cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in American Hockey League action. Bobby Clarke Jersey .com) - His team lost in the round of 16 of the FCS playoffs, yet Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says his team has made a strong case to be voted to the top 5 in the final rankings. Bernie Parent Jersey . - Joao Plata scored twice in the final 24 minutes, including the winner in stoppage time, to help Real Salt Lake remain unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over the winless Chicago Fire on Saturday night.San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - A couple of nationally-ranked teams trying to bounce back from defeat in their last outings get together in the Alamo Bowl, as the 11th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats battle the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins on Friday. The Bruins opened the 2014 campaign with four straight wins before hosting Utah and Oregon in early October and bowing to both Pac-12 Conference foes. However, UCLA rebounded by stringing together five consecutive victories in league play, but ended up falling to Stanford in the regular-season finale, 31-10. UCLA wound up in a three-way tie for second place in the South Division of the Pac-12 at 6-3. It is an honor to be a participant in the Valero Alamo Bowl, said UCLA head football coach Jim Mora. Our players know that when you play in a bowl of this magnitude, the nation is watching. When you consider that the Valero Alamo Bowl has produced a number of the most-watched Non-BCS Bowl Games in its broadcast partners history, we cant wait to get on the field at the Alamodome, compete every down against a tremendous Kansas State team and fight for our second consecutive 10-win season. As for the Wildcats, they too had a strong start to the campaign with seven wins in the first eight outings, the lone setback being a 20-14 decision against Auburn in the middle of September. However, there were a couple of stumbling blocks down the stretch as the program bowed to both TCU (41-20) and Baylor (38-27), although both opponents were nationally-ranked at the time. With the two defeats in the last four games, KSU was left with a 7-2 mark against the rest of the Big 12 Conference. Kansas State does not have an extensive history in the postseason as the team enters its 18th bowl contest. The squad is 7-10 in such efforts dating back to a 14-3 loss to Wisconsin in the 1982 Independence Bowl. Last season, the program managed to halt a five-game slide with a 31-14 triumph over Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. The bowl history for the Bruins reaches back to a 9-0 loss to Georgia in the 1943 Rose Bowl. Since winning eight straight bowls between 1983-1991, UCLA has been unable to register back-to-back bowl victories in the last 15 appearances, although the team will have a chance to make it happen this time around after having defeated Virginia Tech, 42-12, in last years Sun Bowl. Overall, the Bruins have a record of 15-17-1 in bowl games. The teams have split two previous meetings, the most recent coming in 2010 when Kansas State opened the campaign with a 31-22 home victory over the Bruins. Kansas State leaned quite a bit on quarterback Jake Waters this season, as he completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 3,163 yards and 20 touchdowns against only six interceptions. His efficiency rating was 157.8 and thanks to the contributions of Joe Hubener in his six limited appearances, the Wildcats rank eighth in the nation in pass efficiency (158.67). Tyler Lockett blazed a trail through opposing defenses with his 93 catches for 1,351 yards and nine touchdowns. Lockett, the first player in school history to earn All-America recognition in all four years, is also a two-time winner of the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year award as he averaged 19.0 per punt return and 21.2 yards per kickoff return thiis season.dddddddddddd Lockett ended up as one of the nations leaders in all-purpose yards in 2014 with 2,047 (170.6 ypg). Other credible offensive threats for Kansas State are running backs Charles Jones and Waters, who combined to produce just under 1,000 yards and a total of 21 TDs on the ground. From a defensive standpoint, the Wildcats ranked 26th in the country in points allowed (21.8 ppg), and the red zone defense was 28th as it limited opponents to only 77.1 percent success. Jonathan Truman topped the tackles list with an impressive 114 stops, his 74 solo tackles alone being enough to pace the program. However, Truman was short on impact plays as he failed to record a single stop behind the line of scrimmage and had only one fumble recovery. Among the top eight tacklers on the roster, there were just two sacks, far short of the 5.5 sacks logged by Ryan Mueller who had just 33 total stops to his credit. Then again, Dante Barnett (73 tackles) and Randall Evans (61) did handle the pass defense rather well with a combined seven interceptions and 24 passes defended. Going up against the KSU defense will be the highly-touted Brett Hundley for the Bruins. Listed as probable for the contest with a finger injury, there is little doubt that Hundley will have a say in the outcome of this meeting after completing a sizzling 70.4 percent of his pass attempts for 3,019 yards and 21 touchdowns, against only five interceptions. His efficiency alone (155.4) compared favorably to the Wildcats as a whole. More than just a passer Hundley, who was named a finalist for the Manning Award, also made himself into a threat with his legs as he finished second on the team with 548 yards on 148 attempts, culminating in a team-best eight touchdowns. Paul Perkins, a starter in 10 games at running back, took most of the beating on the ground with his 1,381 yards, averaging 6.0 ypc as he reached the end zone seven times. As for options down the field, Hundleys favorite targets are Jordan Payton and Devin Fuller, the former catching 63 balls for 896 yards and seven touchdowns, while the latter turned his 57 grabs into a modest 428 yards and a single score. Thomas Duarte was a significant contributor with 27 receptions for 521 yards and four touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, the Bruins were rather mediocre from a statistical standpoint. The unit was 68th in the nation in yards allowed (401.0 ypg) and 74th in points surrendered (27.5 ppg), and yet Eric Kendricks still played the game with reckless abandon. The 2014 Butkus Award winner and the recipient of the Lott IMPACT Trophy, Kendricks averaged close to 12 tackles per game, notched 8.5 TFL, two sacks and three interceptions on his way to being named an All-American. Also having an impact for the UCLA defense were Owa Odighizuwa with 9.5 TFL and five sacks, as well as Deon Hollins who needed just 27 total takedowns to reach seven TFL and a team-best six sacks. Their defense is very good - the safeties and the corners, KSUs Lockett said of his competition. They are physical and they are really good at high pointing the ball as well. We have to work on high pointing the ball and not waiting for the ball to come to us. We just have to be able to beat them in and out of our routes. ' ' '