Allgemeines » Its all about matchups late in the ballgame

WASHINGTON -- Yes, that was Bryce Harper, not a mirage, in the Washington Nationals clubhouse, ready to return from the disabled list. Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys . Manager Davey Johnson wanted to be sure. "I went in there and said, Is that really you? Are you OK? Are you ready to go?" Johnson said. "He shook my hand and said Im ready. It seemed like I hadnt seen him in half a year. It seems that long." The 20-year-old sparkplug of a slugger was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list Monday, following his recovery from a knee injury that stemmed from a collision with the Dodger Stadium fence. Harper missed 31 games with bursitis, diagnosed after he reinjured the left knee several times after he kept trying to play for two weeks following the mishap in Los Angeles on May 13. He pronounced himself fit after going 4 for 11 with a double, a triple and a home run during a four-game rehab assignment last week with Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. "A little swelling, but not much," Harper said. "Nothing to be cautious about. I feel good, and its to the point where I want to play." Harper said he will wear padding to protect the knee. He was in the starting lineup, batting third and playing left field for the homestand opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Nationals were 25-19 when Harper played, 16-21 when he didnt. That added up to a middling 41-40 mark at the halfway point for a consensus preseason pick to repeat as NL East champions. He was batting .287 with 12 homers and 23 RBIs when he went on the DL. "Not only his bat, but I think the energy he brings, he takes a lot of the focus and hes a competitor," Johnson said. "Just to have that 20-year-old energy running around 100 per cent, Im sure hes still probably going to run into the wall, Im sure hes going to dive headfirst. ... I dont want to put a damper on that. Thats who he is, and thats how he plays the game, and thats great." The return of Harper was the last thing the struggling Brewers needed. Milwaukee arrived in Washington on a five-game losing streak. "Well see after the series how bad of a break it is. ... What it does is it adds a guy who can drive the ball out of the ballpark," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He can hit any pitch, and you have to be really careful with how you pitch him." Harpers return puts Johnson closer to the lineup envisioned at the start of the year, except that Anthony Rendon has replaced the demoted Danny Espinosa at second base. All thats left is for catcher Wilson Ramos to return from a left hamstring injury. Ramos was scheduled to catch seven innings at Potomac on Monday and could return to the major league club as early as Thursday. Johnson moved Rendon from second to seventh in the batting order to create a left-right-left-right-left top of the order consisting of Denard Span, Jayson Werth, Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche. "Its all about matchups late in the ballgame that you want to create," Johnson said. NOTES: Johnson said LHP Ross Detwiler had a good bullpen session Monday and is on pace to start Wednesday as scheduled. Detwiler had stiffness in his lower back after his last start. ... The Nationals optioned RHP Erik Davis to Triple-A Syracuse to make room for Harper. Kevin Ritz Jersey .com) - Driphus Jackson had three touchdown passes, including two in a 19-second span in the opening quarter, to guide Rice to a 30-6 rout of Fresno State at the Hawaii Bowl. Rockies Jerseys 2020 . New York then missed its next six shots and scored only two points the rest of the night. The Los Angeles Clippers defence and the Knicks general ineptitude both played a role in the unsurprising finish to a meeting of two teams headed in opposite directions. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/354t-david-nied-jersey-rockies.html . The Stampeders announced the move on Wednesday. Bell spent his first two CFL seasons with the B.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Virginia has spent the entire season punishing opponents by locking down on them defensively or forcing them to guard their steady-paced offence until deep in the shot clock. Mistakes add up, the frustration builds and the Cavaliers capitalize -- a withering formula that now has Tony Bennetts club following its Atlantic Coast Conference championship with its deepest NCAA tournament push in two decades. Joe Harris scored 16 points and top-seeded Virginia shot 56 per cent to beat Memphis 78-60 on Sunday night, earning its first trip to the round of 16 since 1995. Anthony Gill added 13 points for the Cavaliers (30-6), who turned in a dominating performance while controlling the tempo and shutting down the eighth-seeded Tigers (24-10) at nearly every turn. "Of course we try to come out and impose our will from the beginning," said sophomore Malcolm Brogdon, one of five Cavaliers in double figures. "But if that doesnt happen and we dont break them right off the bat, were going to keep going and keep playing our type of defence and offence. "And at some point, were going to wear them down and break their back." Virginia led by 15 at halftime and pushed that to 27 points late, picking up right where it left off in its strong finish to Fridays win against Coastal Carolina. Its already been the programs most successful season in decades, from winning the programs first ACC tournament title since 1976 to tying the school single-season record for victories Sunday night. Now Virginia has another milestone: its first regional semifinal appearance since making it to a regional final in 1995. And the Cavaliers, carrying a No. 1 seed for the first time since the days of Ralph Sampson, look ready to go even farther. Next up is a trip to New York to face fourth-seeded Michigan State (28-8) on Friday night in the East Regional semifinals at Madison Square Garden. "To get to the Sweet 16, thats the rarefied air of college basketball, and youre going to have to play," Bennett said. "We know whos waiting, we know how good they are, and it will be us trying to test our game against one of the teams thats playing its best basketball right now." On top of that, its Virginia -- not traditional powers Duke and North Carolina or league newcomer Syracuse -- that stands as the only ACC team still alive in the round of 16. The reassons were all on display against a Memphis team eager to speed up the Cavaliers and score in transition to avoid Virginias stingy set defence. Colorado Rockies Gear. Instead, the Cavaliers checked nearly everything off their to-do list, steadily overpowering the Tigers with confident efficiency. They knocked down open looks. They played tough in the paint to contest Tigers drives. They patiently ran their offence and snatched down every loose rebound when the Tigers missed chances to cut into the deficit. "This is just the way we play," Harris said. "If people are not familiar with watching us, we love to just grind it out. We love the long defensive possessions. We love just making teams work when theyre defending us. Its just kind of what Virginia basketball is all about." There was no sign of the Virginia team that looked out of sorts while falling behind by 10 in the first half against the 16th-seeded Chanticleers. Only the one that put Coastal Carolina away in the final 9 minutes. While Harris led the offensive effort, Virginia also had a 40-28 rebounding advantage while backed by a loud crowd filled with Cavs fans who made the drive one state south for the start of the tournament push. Austin Nichols scored 15 points to lead the Tigers, who shot 41 per cent -- including 3 of 13 from 3-point range -- and scored 17 points fewer than their season average. Leading scorer Joe Jackson, who was averaging 14.3 points, finished with seven on 3-for-6 shooting. "Theyve got to be the best defensive team Ive ever played against in college," Jackson said. "They never lose sight of the basketball, and they just help each other out on every possession. You will never get an easy layup on them." Memphis was looking for its first trip to the round of 16 since 2009, John Caliparis final year as coach before Josh Pastner took over. Senior Geron Johnson promised shortly after the American Athletic Conference tournament that this year would be different and the Tigers would get two NCAA wins. Instead, their season ended on the tournaments opening weekend for the fourth straight year. "Virginia came out, played Virginia basketball: out-toughed us, out-aggressived us," Johnson said. "They made shots. Every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it with a bucket. Theres no excuses. They beat us fair and square." ' ' '