DieBruderschaft.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants expect to have new infielder Eduardo Nunez in uniform and ready for action when they host the Washington Nationals in the second game of a four-game series Friday night.The Giants acquired the American League All-Star from the Minnesota Twins on Thursday during their 4-2 loss to the Nationals.San Francisco sent minor league pitcher Adalberto Mejia to the Twins in order to acquire the versatile infielder who was hitting .296 with 12 home runs for Minnesota this season.Nunez likely will start at third base Friday as the Giants continue to await the return of Matt Duffy from the disabled list. Duffy, who has missed 32 games with an Achilles strain, is tentatively scheduled to begin a rehab assignment in the minor leagues this weekend.Nunez, 29, went 0-for-4 in Minnesotas 6-2 win over Baltimore on Thursday night. He made his 49th start of the season at shortstop, but he also has received the call at third base 28 times and at second base on four occasions.Hell be used as we would use any utility infielder, Giants general manager Bobby Evans said of Nunez, who leads the AL with 27 stolen bases. Hell help with his speed and experience and bat, and it gives us some versatility and flexibility.Coincidentally, fill-in third baseman Conor Gillaspie was the Giants most productive offensive player Thursday. He went 2-for-3 on a night when the Giants got only five hits, and he drove in San Franciscos first run with an infield out.One day after they were held to four hits and one run over seven innings by Tanner Roark, the Giants will see Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer (10-6, 2.92 ERA).Scherzer has had more than his fair share of problems against the Giants in general and at AT&T Park in particular. He gotten bombed to the tune of an 0-2 record and 7.88 ERA during his career in San Francisco.He is 1-4 with a 6.85 ERA in five all-time starts against the Giants. That mark does not count Game 4 of the 2012 World Series in Detroit, when he pitched well for the Tigers (three runs in 6 1/3 innings), only to see San Francisco finish off its 4-0 sweep with a run in the ninth off the bullpen.The Giants will counter Scherzer with Jeff Samardzija (9-6, 4.22 ERA).Chances are the first batter Samardzija will see Friday night will be Trea Turner, who continued his recent hot run with two hits, a walk, a run, an RBI and a stolen base in Thursdays win.Nationals manager Dusty Baker indicated before the game that he would flip-flop Turner and Ben Revere in center field.Its not to say much, but youll take any edge that you can get, Baker said, according to the Washington Post. And tomorrow will be something different. Im hoping that I dont have to talk about my lineup every day and we can just go with it and see how it works. I mean, everything is about the odds and whos going good, who hits whom, whether the pitcher matches up better against right-handers or left-handers, if you need more speed. All that goes into my decision.Few Nationals are hotter right now than Turner, who has hits in nine of his 10 game appearances since the All-Star break and has reached base in all 10. Justin Smoak Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Troy Tulowitzki Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.officialbluejaysgearshop.com/Blue-Jays-Randal-Grichuk-Kids-Jersey/ .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Jesse Barfield Jersey . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Brett Anderson Jersey . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Match factsWednesday, 23 November Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT)Big PictureDespite West Indies big win in Harare, on paper, these are two well-matched teams with plenty to play for: the winner will be guaranteed their place in the tri-series final. The relative inexperience in both squads makes it hard to pick an out-and-out favourite, and conditions in Bulawayo should also be a leveller. West Indies tied game against Zimbabwe will at least have acclimatised them a little more to the pitch and conditions at Queens, as Sri Lankas first match was rained off.Sri Lanka also have some ground to make up against West Indies after their trouncing in Harare. Their middle order remains unproven, and if this series can be viewed as something of an audition for the upcoming tour of South Africa, there will be several young players hungry to state their case - particularly against the greater firepower of West Indies quicks.Youth and international inexperience are also in no short supply for West Indies at the moment. It is obviously very early days yet, but without a head coach, and with virtually all of West Indies established senior batsmen in the wilderness, young captain Jason Holder desperately needs his peers to gel into a new core for the side. Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaites promising form will give him something to build and bank on, while Carlos Brathwaites bowling has been fairly effective in Zimbabwe.Both for this team and for the immediate future of West Indies cricket, every win is an important one in these circumstances. Though still ninth in the ICC ODI rankings, they are just one point behind Pakistan, and a strong show in their remaining games will put them within touching distance of Bangladesh at No. 7. Between now and September 30, 2017, the cut-off date for direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup, West Indies currently have 11 ODIs scheduled (not including the final of this tri-series), but eight of those matches are against a resurgent England ODI side, and five of those are in England. Thats a tough assignment for what could still be a fairly inexperienced squad, and so West Indies have a lot more than a place in Sundays final to play for tomorrow.Form guide(Last five completed matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka: LWLLLWest Indies: TWLLLIn the spotlightShai Hopes good form will buoy West Indies, and make him a target for Sri Lanka, while Suranga Lakmal will have to be at his best behaviour after he was fined 50% of his match fee for aggressively throwing the ball towards Zimbabwe opener Chamu Chibhabha during Mondays wash-out. Yet, the spotlight might be focussed on what is happening above Queens, rather than on the ground.All three teams will have an eye on the weather on Wednesday. If there is another wash-out, Zimbabwe will effectively be out of the running, needing a massive bonus-point win to draw level and increase their net run-rate. The threat of rain also makes the toss important - inclement weather is more likely in the afternoon, meaning there could be Duckworth-Lewis permutations while chasing. Finally, the drainage issues at Queens mean that even relatively modest rain could rule a match out entirely.There are two main areas of concern on the outfield, should it rain again - on the northern side of the ground, and also near the sight screen at the Airport End.dddddddddddd Should there be any significant showers during this game, in the absence of a super sopper, drainage will be an issue, especially after the heavy rains of the last few days have saturated the soil.Teams newsSri Lankas XI barely got a look-in on Monday, and given that conditions are likely to be identical, there is no reason for Sri Lanka to fiddle with their line-up. The grip on this slow surface makes Dasun Shanaka a good pick.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dhananjaya de Silva, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Upul Tharanga (capt), 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Jeffrey VandersayWith two wickets in his last five games, and none in this series, the form of Sulieman Benn will be a worry for West Indies. Aside from Ashley Nurse, the other spin option in their squad is Devendra Bishoo, and given his gritty performance in the Tests against Pakistan last month, this change makes sense. Another player they might want to give a game to is Jason Mohammed, the hard-hitting middle-order batsman, though West Indies may want to secure their place in the final before tinkering with their top-six.West Indies (possible): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Evin Lewis, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder (c), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Devendra Bishoo, 11 Shannon Gabriel.Pitch and conditionsThe heavy downpours on Monday morning were followed by sunny and dry weather in the afternoon as well as the following day. Yet, the rainfall patterns at this time of the year are difficult to predict, and though the forecast suggests that Wednesday should be sunny and dry, some sort of precipitation is out of the question. Weather aside, there should be some early movement for the seamers who will be aided by cloud cover, as well as what appears to be a shade more green grass that has been left on the track for Wednesdays match. The track will probably still slow down to help the spinners later in the day.Stats and triviaWith 148 runs from two innings, Shai Hope is the leading run-scorer of the tri-series as well as the only century-maker.Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite and Nuwan Kulasekara top the wickets table with five each, although Kulasekara has played one more (albeit truncated) game than the two West Indians.West Indies have played six ODIs at Queens Sports Club, winning three.In eight ODIs against West Indies, Kulasekara has taken 12 wickets at 22.08.QuotesWe know were playing good cricket. We had a good win against Sri Lanka [in Harare]. These lads work very hard on their fitness, and we do a lot of fielding drills in the days leading up to these matches, and the combination of those two things is starting to pay dividends. Were looking like a good fielding side, and at this level of the game, every run you stop is a run you dont have to score. West Indies batting coach Toby Radford has been most pleased with the young batsmen on this tour, but he has also noticed improvements in the field. ' ' '