CHICAGO -- For the fourth time in their seven games this postseason, Clayton Kershaw takes the ball for the Dodgers, while Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks is merely glad to be back on the mound.Kershaw won Game 1 of the National League Division Series, then started Game 4 on short rest and came in to close Game 5, earning one win and a save against the Washington Nationals.Three nights after the seven-pitch, series-clinching save at Washington, Kershaw gets the call Sunday night after the Cubs rode a Miguel Montero grand slam to a 8-4 win in Game 1 of the NLCS the night before.I feel good, Kershaw said, Im excited. Its been a little bit since we got to do this, and Wrigley Field, its going to be pretty exciting.Hendricks, 26, has shown no ill effects since a comeback line drive clocked off the bat of Giants outfielder Angel Pagan at 94 mph drilled the lanky 180-pounder in the right forearm in Game 2 of the NLDS, forcing him to exit in the fourth inning. He led the NL with a 2.13 ERA and was second in walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) to Max Scherzer of the Nationals.Anytime something happens to your arm, your throwing arm, its not ideal, Hendricks said. Once X-rays were negative, I felt a lot better about it. I knew it was going to be a bad bruise type of thing, get through a couple days and it wouldnt be a problem.While the recent use sounds taxing, Kershaw argues hes relatively fresh. He pitched 149 innings in the regular season and didnt start a game between June 26 and September 9, when he returned from a layoff prompted by a herniated disk in his back to face the Miami Marlins. Kershaw was 12-4 with a 1.69 ERA in the regular season and gave up more than three runs just twice in 21 starts.However, he allowed 15 hits and eight earned runs as Washington hit .294 against him in the NLDS. In his last seven playoff games, which omits a four-inning, seven-run outing in Game 6 of the 2013 NLCS at St. Louis, Kershaw is 2/3 with a 5.35 ERA (23 runs allowed in 38 2/3 innings).In Washington last week, the Dodgers felt Kershaws fastball velocity was good enough but his slider wasnt where it has been and the curveball wasnt as good as Ive seen it, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Kershaw himself said he wasnt awesome.Against Chicagos offense, Kershaw will need to be closer to it. The Cubs were 89-17 this season when scoring at least four runs, and even with a lineup loaded with lefties, Hendricks has not been easily chased. He modified his release point and consistently generates soft contact from opposing hitters with a heavy sinker.Hendricks said he would fall back on routine Sunday afternoon when he arrives before Game 2. The Southern California native said he grew up a fan of the Angels -- not the Dodgers -- because his favorite player was first baseman J.T. Snow. Cubs manager Joe Maddon described Hendricks, who is expected to be in the running for the National League Cy Young Award, as California cool, carrying an identical even demeanor no matter the circumstances.He got the nod for Game 2 over Jake Arrieta, who starts Game 3 on Tuesday in California and spun a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium in August 2015.Twenty of Hendricks 31 regular-season starts were quality starts and he posted a 16-8 record. The Dodgers havent seen Hendricks since June 2, his only outing against the team this season. Hendricks cruised eight innings, allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts.Theres one really obvious factor to me, and its the word confidence, Maddon said of Hendricks development this season. Hes much more confident. ... I think hes added a couple new wrinkles to what hes doing out there, successfully, and with that hes pitched some complete games, too. And we all do better when were confident regardless of what were doing. He has just earned it.The Dodgers went to Kershaw before setting their NLCS rotation and, after a very brief conversation, knew he was good to go Sunday.Its not complicated in the sense of, if he feels good, then its a no-brainer, Roberts said. Its just more of just getting assurance that he feels good physically, which he does, and so its one of those things. When you get chance for Clayton to pitch games 2 and potentially 6, thats a good thing for us.Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez have home runs against Hendricks in previous seasons.Cubs centerfielder Dexter Fowler, who led off Game 1 with a single, has a .409 career average (18-for-44, two doubles) against Kershaw, but the middle of the Chicago order has not done much damage in their career facing L.A.s ace. First baseman Anthony Rizzo is 3-for-11 with a home run and Kris Bryant is 1-for-5 with four strikeouts.The Cubs lineup is pretty solid, obviously, Kershaw said. They got some guys in there that had some pretty amazing seasons, and theyre the best team in baseball for a reason.Nike Air Max Plus China . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Under Armour China Wholesale . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. http://www.cheapairmaxchinawholesale.com/jordan-1-outlet.html . PAUL, Minn. Air Max 97 Gold Fake . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Yeezy Boost 350 China Wholesale . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings.Ken Higgs, observed an admirer, was a wonderful fast-medium bowler with great stamina, an instantly recognisable curved run and an arse that crossed two postcodes. He played in 15 Tests for England, and, especially in Lancashire, many will profess he should have played more. With his passing, at 79, one of the Red Rose countys cricketing legends has been lost.Higgs was a heart-of-oak bowler, who took pride in his remorseless accuracy and his ability to find swing and cut when conditions offered the slightest encouragement. Few bowlers of his pace - early 80s perhaps - have jarred the bat with such regularity.His England record was a fine one: 71 wickets in 15 Tests at 20.74 each and with an economy rate of only 2.14 runs an over. Better economy for England than Brian Statham, Lancashires prince of parsimony, and at Old Trafford there was no higher accolade than that.Born in Kidsgrove, in Staffordshire, on January 14, 1937, he lived there throughout his Lancashire career. He did not drive and would commute daily to Old Trafford by bus and train. This was an era in which all but a few high-profile batsmen habitually walked for a dismissal if they had edged the ball. Higgs was incensed one day at Old Trafford when David Steele stood his ground after the bowler believed he had found the edge. They were due to return to Staffordshire on the same train from Manchester Piccadilly after the match, but Higgs was resentful enough to catch the next one.He had suggested no particular aptitude for cricket as a schoolboy. He was more taken by football and as a centre half attracted the attention of Port Vale junior sides and was selected for an FA youth tour of Germany in the winter of 1953-54. But military service intervened and gradually his interests shifted to cricket, encouraged in part by watching his brother, Roy, play in the Staffordshire League. When his military service was over, it was not long before he broke into Staffordshires Minor Counties side. The Lancashire coach, Stan Worthington, a former Derbyshire and England allrounder, recommended him to the county, suggesting that he might develop into another Alec Bedser.Higgs quickly proved himself to be Stathams most faithful new-ball partner at Lancashire after making his debut against Hampshire in 1958, taking seven wickets in the second innings. He took 67 wickets that year and 113 in his second, the first of five years in which he was to take more than 100 first-class wickets in a summer. He was not averse to a scathing quip or two if he felt that luck was against him.These were difficult times for Lancashire. They were runners-up to Yorkshire in 1960 but finished no higher than 11th for the next seven seasons. Job insecurity did not help Higgs cricket and there was some talk of his release, until a dramatic recovery of form that led to an England Test debut alongside Statham against South Africa in 1965. It was to be Stathams last Test, but Lancashires pace attack now briefly served country as well as county.Higgs was summoned for the 1965-66 Ashes tour but illness and injury prevented him following up a useful first outing in Brisbane. A subsequent tour to New Zealand brought more fortune, with 17 wickets in three Tests.His best series came against a powerful West Indies in 1966, when his 24 wickets were not only the most by an England bowler but were heavy with top-order wickets: Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher to the fore. His 6 for 91 in a drawn Test at Lords remained his best Test figures. A grand effort, Wisden recorded. As many as 23 players represented England as the selectors rang the changes to no avail in a losing series, but Higgs was the only ever-present.But it was an unexpected batting feat that gained most attention that summer as England won the fourth Test, at The Oval - Brian Closes first as captain - by an innings.dddddddddddd Higgs shared a last-wicket stand of 128 with John Snow to take England to 527. When Higgs gave a return catch to the spinner, David Holford, the pair were only two runs short of the record last-wicket stand in Tests at the time, one that had stood since 1903. They were entirely oblivious of the fact. Afterwards the newspapers showed them celebrating their feat on the balcony, sipping tea. As Snow was to record in Cricket Rebel, they had intended to pose for the photo with a pint of beer - their chosen reward for thirsty work - only to be informed that it did not set the right tone.Higgs retired after the 1969 season, at 32, with 1033 first-class wickets at 22.90, his departure influenced to some degree by the belief that Lancashire were not paying him his due compared to Farokh Engineer and Clive Lloyd, two of the overseas players who brought a much needed shot in the arm to the county game in the late 1960s. Suitably, for family fallouts, the Old Trafford flags flew at half mast on news of his death, nearly half a century later.He played two seasons for Rishton in the Lancashire League, but county cricket retained a pull for him and he was persuaded to make a return by Leicestershires chief executive, Mike Turner, and made such a success of it that he took his first-class tally past 1500. He took 4 for 10, including a hat-trick, in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup final, and a few years later scored 98 batting a No. 11, during what remains a club record partnership of 228 with Ray Illingworth. As ever, Higgs sweep shot, which he doted upon for his entire career, was to the fore.Illingworth, whose captaincy was to transform Leicestershire after he cut his ties with Yorkshire, wrote later: He was just the type we needed - as strong as a bull, and he never turned it in. He was a bit temperamental at times, because he needed to blow up about twice a season, and then you had to handle him a bit diplomatically, but he has a big heart, and was always willing to put everything into the game with you.After his retirement Higgs became Leicestershires bowling coach, but after four years in retirement, a spate of injuries pressed him into an emergency return against Yorkshire in 1986. Conditions were perfect for swing and seam, and possessed of a statelier heft than ever, he came on second change and returned 5 for 22 in 11 overs at the age of 49, passing the outside edge at will. He was proud of the coaching clinic he had just enacted. I knew hed do that to us, bemoaned Yorkshires wicketkeeper, David Bairstow.Higgs partner for much of that spell was a player at the extreme opposite end of his career. Phil DeFreitas, then aged 20 and in the second season of his first-class career, took four of the remaining five Yorkshire wickets to enhance a reputation that would later that year earn him his first England call-up for Mike Gattings tour of Australia. DeFreitas was one of many who praised Higgs mentoring abilities upon hearing of his death. He taught me so much about the game, he said.Higgs could be a gruff soul, not much given to small talk, and he was no fan of authority, especially when it came with limited knowledge. But former team-mates often spoke warmly of his willingness to offer advice and guidance, and of his strong, uncomplicated team ethic. He just got on with his job, operating around 80mph, but getting enough life from the pitch to jar a batsmans hands and make batting a demanding task. After his retirement he ran a guest house in Blackpool, where further wisdom was offered over the fried breakfasts. ' ' '
