kind of inside and knew it was a possibility of happening. He can deal with the pain, but its getting something like that to clo

It wasnt so long ago that record-keeping in tennis consisted mainly of random, yellowing draw sheets tucked away in filing cabinets at various tennis clubs or tennis federation offices. As the pro game matured, those who run it have done their best to emulate companion spectator sports by creating a massive body of statistical knowledge.Stats in tennis -- as in all sports -- ought to come with a warning label: Do not extrapolate too much from these simple numbers. Its often said that statistics dont lie. Thats certainly true, but theyre pretty good at fibbing. Thats also part of what makes them fascinating. Stats raise as many puzzling questions as they answer -- and sometimes force us to re-examine our preconceptions.Here are half a dozen examples:Queen Sara of the ServeSara Errani put 85.5 percent of her first serves into play. Some will shrug and say, Big deal; her serve is a puffball, and she just makes sure to get the first one into play taking no risk. Fair enough, but consider this: The second best current percentage belongs to No. 64 Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey, and shes more than a full 12 percentage points behind. Thats a startling difference.No. 3 Annika Beck is just a hair over one percentage point behind Buyukakcay, and the women behind her are equally closely stacked. Thats typical of percentage-based stats, in both the mens and womens game, and in most departments. That makes Erranis enormous differential that much more impressive. Most players couldnt hit that percentage if they served underhand. Efficient as Errani is, she is ranked only No. 35 on tour.?That and a buck will get you a donutIts often said that second-serve return points won is one of the most crucial statistics, and theres significant evidence for that. Among players with 500 career matches or more, only one won more than 10,000 second-serve return points -- yet never won a Grand Slam title: The Little Beast, David Ferrer.Ferrer is one of 10 players tied for second place among crack returners, with a 55 percent career winning rate. That right behind seven-time Grand Slam champion and acknowledged return genius Andre Agassi. Among Ferrers equals: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Michael Chang.Moreover, Ferrer is the all-time leader in the sheer number of second-serve return points won with a whopping 17,015. All that, but never a major title.Sveta in the clutchSvetlana Kuznetsova is back in the top 10, at age 31. A two-time Grand Slam champion, ever-popular Sveta had to fight for every inch of her rankings progress. The only title she won this season was at Sydney in just her second tournament of the year. The key to her success: scraping through down-to-the-wire matches. Kuznetsova is 16-6 in three-setters this season -- more wins than any other WTA player. Did she make the most of her labors? Second on the list: Angelique Kerber, at 15-5, who won two Grand Slam titles and is presently ranked No. 1.Hall of ShameIn examining stats, we tend to look for top numbers -- leaders rather than laggards. But have you ever wondered who the worst second-serve returner is? Or the worst ace-producer? We are here to help.When it comes to break points saved, highly touted Borna Coric clearly has some work to do: He ranks No. 62, at 54 percent. Thats a full 20 percentage points behind the tour leader and fellow Croatian countryman Ivo Karlovic. The ATP stops keeping track beyond Coric. The good news for Coric fans: Hes just 19 years old and has time to work on it.John Isner holds 94 percent of his service games. No surprise there. Guess which big-serving lefty wins just 73 percent of his service games, and thus ranks a lowly No. 59 on the tour in that department? Brazils Thomaz Bellucci.Oh, and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur has quietly snuck into second place (behind Jelena Ostapenko) as the most prolific double-faulter (218 compared to Ostapenkos 235) on the WTA Tour.How soon they forgetWas any recent No. 1 better than Rafael Nadal at his best? Its an interesting question that will never be satisfactorily answered by statistics. The ATP has a relatively new Under Pressure rating, which is calculated by adding the percentage of break points converted and saved, percentage of tie-breaks won and percentage of deciding sets won.The ATP applied that formula to every year-end No. 1 since 1991 in an effort to quantify who had the most impressive year. Nadal scored 281.5 for his performance in 2013. Thats just better than the 275.2 Roger Federer tallied in 2006, but loads better than the 223.5 earned by vintage Pete Sampras, in 1995. Oddly enough, top-ranked Djokovics epic 2011 rated only a 251.7.Roger Clemens Red Sox Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Hanley Ramirez Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. https://www.cheapredsox.com/1381z-steve-pearce-jersey-red-sox.html . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Clay Buchholz Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Dustin Pedroia Jersey . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.TORONTO -- Before the Cleveland Indians could even consider giving the ball to Andrew Miller, their bullpen faced a daunting task in the very first inning.After Trevor Bauers bloody exit , these remarkable relievers had to stitch together almost an entire game against the Toronto Blue Jays.Four outs apiece for Dan Otero and Jeff Manship. Three for Zach McAllister. Five each for winner Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen.After all that, Cleveland finally turned to Miller, who was overpowering again in closing out a 4-2 victory that moved the Indians within one win of their first pennant since 1997.If anybody has a hiccup, we probably lose, manager Terry Francona said Monday night after his team took a 3-0 lead in the AL Championship Series. They all made pitches against some really good hitters.Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli homered for the Indians, unbeaten in six playoff games this year. They can complete their second consecutive series sweep on Tuesday.In the bullpens most impressive feat yet this October, six relievers combined for 25 outs and 128 pitches while limiting Toronto to two runs and seven hits. Miller got four outs for the save.The bullpen was unbelievable, Bauer said. Co-MVP to everybody.Indians ace Corey Kluber is scheduled to start Game 4 on short rest after Bauers drone-related finger injury created more upheaval in a rotation thats been short-handed all postseason. Bauer faced four batters before getting pulled when his stitched-up right pinkie began dripping blood.Enter those stingy relievers, who pitched the Indians to a Division Series sweep over Boston and have them on the verge of another. Cleveland is one win from its sixth World Series appearance.The hard-hitting Blue Jays have mustered only three runs in the series and have never led.We felt like we had an opportunity with some of their lower-leverage guys coming out of the bullpen, but theyve got good arms, Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar said. It makes it tough when youre facing a different guy every inning, every at-bat.Kipnis led off the sixth with a home run to right-center field for a 3-2 edge, and Jose Ramirez added an RBI single. Suddenly, the Indians were just a few outs from being able to turn the game over to Allen and Miller.They appeared in that order, yet another instance in which Francona maneuvered his bullpen unencumbered by rigid roles.It was all hands on deck, Miller said.Allen, who usually closes, entered in the seventh with a runner on and nobody out. A two-out walk to Jose Bautista put the potential tying run on, but Josh Donaldsons liner to left field stayed up long enough for Coco Crisp to make a sliding catch .Miller fanned three of five batters, giving him 20 strikeouts in nine playoff innings this year. The lanky left-hander has allowed five hits over 17 1/3 scoreless innings in his postseasoon career.ddddddddddddTito did a masterful job running that bullpen today, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. They shut us down.Cleveland has won nine straight dating to the regular season.Napoli entered 2 for 18 this postseason and in an 0-for-25 slump against right-handers dating to the regular season. He opened the scoring with an RBI double off righty Marcus Stroman in the first -- Napolis long fly popped out of Bautistas glove before both the ball and Bautista bounced off the right-field wall.Bauer made it through only 21 pitches. Hed been pushed back two days to Game 3 after cutting his finger last week repairing one of the drones he enjoys flying as a hobby. He received 10 stitches and tried to pitch, but couldnt make it far without blood dripping from his hand.Trevor got a little leak, Kipnis said. A couple of us had seen the wound kind of inside and knew it was a possibility of happening. He can deal with the pain, but its getting something like that to close up. Its hard to do in a short amount of time.Its yet another injury problem for a Cleveland team that couldnt include ailing starting pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar on its ALCS roster.Even with the Indians up 3-0, their rotation for the rest of this series isnt a sure thing. Kluber is set to come back for Game 4 (and presumably a potential Game 7) on short rest, and lightly used rookie Ryan Merritt is lined up for Game 5.Michael Saunders homered early for Toronto. Ezequiel Carrera tripled leading off the fifth and scored on Ryan Goins grounder to tie it 2-all.Kipnis answered with a home run, his first hit of the series.Stroman took the loss after allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings.Weve still got one more to get there, and its going to be tough, Kipnis said. We know these guys. Just kind of like the Boston series -- we dont want to wait around for them to figure it out. We want to get to them now.BLOOD WORKFrancona was Curt Schillings manager with Boston during the famous bloody-sock game against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.TRAINERS ROOMFrancona said Salazar (forearm) was progressing well after throwing to hitters Sunday night.MILLER TIMEMiller has struck out 20 of 33 batters in these playoffs and 30 of 60 in his postseason career.EXTRA EFFORTCleveland relievers have pitched at least 7 1/3 innings five times since Aug. 18, with the Indians winning four of those games.UP NEXTKluber has never started on three days rest in his major league career, but Francona said before Mondays game that was the plan for Game 4 if Bauer had problems with his finger. Toronto will start AL ERA leader Aaron Sanchez, who allowed six runs in 5 2/3 innings against Texas in Game 3 of the ALDS. ' ' '