DieBruderschaft.com

By scoring 8-1 and 5-1 wins over the Milwaukee Brewers in their last two games before the All-Star break, the St. Louis Cardinals gained some much-needed confidence, according to manager Mike Matheny.We won the series and (now) we can just build off that, he said.St. Louis will try to construct more success Friday night when the Miami Marlins visit to start a three-game series matching playoff contenders.At 47-41, Miami enters the seasons unofficial second half tied with the New York Mets for the National Leagues second wild-card spot, six games behind the first-place Washington Nationals in the NL East with two games in hand.The Cardinals (46-42) are a game back of the Marlins and Mets and seven games back of the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. At stake for St. Louis in the seasons homestretch: Extending their playoff streak to five straight years.To do that, the Cardinals will have to make Busch Stadium a homefield advantage again. After going 55-26 at home last year, when they became baseballs first 100-win team since 2011, St. Louis went a miserable 19-26 before the break, including 4-5 on a nine-game homestand before winning two of three in Milwaukee.This series opener kicks off a 10-game homestand for the Cardinals, which also entertain the San Diego Padres for four games and the Los Angeles Dodgers next weekend for three.The good news for St. Louis is that help is on the way. Their bloated disabled list is about to shrink in membership as Kevin Siegrist (mono) could be available as soon as Saturday night.Whats more, Trevor Rosenthal (hamstring) and Matt Holliday (ankle) should be available Friday night, and it might not be much longer before 1B/OF Brandon Moss (ankle) returns from a stint on the 15-day disabled list.You cant allow yourself to go down that road of feeling sorry for yourself or saying too much about it, Matheny said about the injuries. You just have to keep playing. We have very good players who can jump in and make it happen.About the only aspect of the Cardinals that hasnt suffered from injuries is the starting rotation. That includes lefty Jaime Garcia (6-6, 4.01), who will make the start Friday night, perhaps based on his two dominant wins last year over the Marlins.This Miami team might be a bit tougher than the one he owned last summer. The Marlins boast five .300 hitters, more than any team in baseball, none of them named Giancarlo Stanton.However, Stanton bumped his average up 40 points in the last 3 ? weeks before the break, then went out to San Diego and belted a record 61 homers in winning the Home Run Derby.Miami will counter Garcia with a lefty of its own, Wei-Yin Chen (5-3, 4.83), whos coming off a 5-2 win July 5 at the Mets. Chen hasnt faced St. Louis in his career.The Marlins havent made the playoffs since 2003, when they won the World Series. Ace pitcher Jose Fernandez, who wont pitch in this series after working 1 1/3 innings in the All-Star Game, says the team is excited about being in contention.I believe in this team and how its playing, he said. Were good enough to go really far this year. Hopefully, we can get a lot better in the second half. Yeezy 700 Sale .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Air Max 95 Sale . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/air-jordan-sale/ . 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. Balenciaga Shoes Sale .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. NMD Sale .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. It can be hard to measure your play when it comes to tennis. Yes, you can keep score in a match and go by that, or you can consider the points youve kept in play and any winners youve hit. But how do your strokes look? Are you hitting flat? How much spin are you putting on the ball? Are you working your forehand as much and as well as your backhand?Im always looking to better my game, so I was excited to learn about the Babolat POP, a wristband that tracks your stats.How it worksFor me, the best technology is easy to use and doesnt have a long, drawn-out setup, which is the case with Babolat POP. You download the app on your phone, sign up and charge the sensor. Youll create a profile on the app too, where you can add personal info and a photo if you want (this will come into play if you challenge friends). Then place the sensor into the bracelet, put the bracelet on your dominant wrist and go play.What I likedThe POP is not distracting at all while youre playing. The bracelet is made of a cloth material that comfortably fits on any size wrist, and it records everything in the background (read: you dont have to hit a button every time you want a shot recorded).After you complete a session, it takes just a couple minutes to sync the data to your phone -- and Ive never had the sync freeze on me mid-transfer, which is lovely. You also can say where you played (indoors versus outdoors) and on what type of surface (hard court versus clay), if you like keeping track of that kind of data.The POP has the ability to record each forehand, backhand, overhead, smash, volley and serve, and it totals the amount for you. The sensor breaks it down further, classifying how many shots were flat versus slices, as well as your topspin. I found this really insightful, especially in a game when I knew I was more dominantly hitting backhands but no real winners -- it was because a lot of my shots were flat. Knowing that, the next time I stepped on the court, I made a point to work on hitting my backhand with a bit more topspin, so I could win more points with that shot.The POP also provides what they call a PIQScore, or a score based on a combination of your style, speed and spin. Style? Although it isnt able to record how beautiful you look while hitting a cross-court forehand, the sensor picks up on the fluidity of your strokes, which is where this number comes from. At first, I didnt think I was all too interested in a made up score the company came up with, but after using the POP bracelet for a bit, I found myself comparing my PIQScore from session to session. Its basically a quick overview if you had to sum up your session with one score, which became more appealing when looking at improvement over time.ddddddddddddhe POP also records activity, which is based on the length and intensity of your session. This made it easy for me to identify which of my sessions were actual games versus just casual rallying with a friend. It also tells you after each session what your top hitting speed was and the amount of shots in your lengthiest rally. Again, this data I just found interesting, and I even surprised myself a few times with a top speed I didnt know I was able to hit.Then theres the challenge aspect of the Babolat POP -- because what tracking device doesnt allow you to compete with others these days, right? First, you have the ability to find your friends who have POP and add them to your network by following them. I wasnt looking to use the device to compete, but rather to up my own game. Still, you have the option to create a challenge: forehands, backhands or serves and the number of shots taken. Each shot gets a PIQScore, which is averaged and then used to determine the winner of the challenge. Its a fun way to add a little competition to the mix, if youre looking for that.What I didnt likeAlthough the POP generally recorded pretty accurately, I found that it sometimes had issues differentiating between types of shots. For instance, in a match in which I hit a couple overhead shots, they were recorded as serves. It wasnt a huge deal to me, but I didnt get much feedback on my overhead shots, which I would have liked.I know this would be taking the device capabilities to the next level, but I wished it knew how many shots were in. I found it really helpful to break down my shots, top spin and speed, but what if my fastest shots were all going out (at one point, they were)? From glancing at my stats on the app, youd think these were the best shots, when in fact, I probably needed to take a little speed off to keep the ball in play and not lose the point.Worth it?Im the type of person who always likes to improve -- whether its tennis or snowboarding or public speaking. I like that the Babolat POP can give me some specific feedback and stats on my tennis game that I otherwise would have needed to figure out on my own or with the help of an instructor or coach, which can be costly.Although it wasnt 100 percent accurate, this gave me more insight into my game than I had previously. At $90, the Babolat POP isnt cheap, but for someone like me, Id say its worth it. ' ' '