Charros Overpower Hermosillo 11-2

The Naranjeros de Hermosillo hosted the Charros de Jalisco in the first game of a three game series on Tuesday night in Hermosillo, and came up on the losing end of an 11-2 ball game.

Jalisco scored first in the top of the 4th. Leo Heras hit a solo home run to give the Charros a 1-0 lead over Hermosillo. In the bottom of the 4th, with two outs, Matt Padgett singled and Yunesky Sanchez followed with a single to left. Sebastian Elisade singled to score Padgett and the score was tied at 1.

Marquez Smith hit a home run to lead off the 5th for Jalisco. With one out, Gabriel Gutierrez was hit by a pitch and went to third on a single by Jesus Lopez. Eduardo Arredondo then placed a perfect squeeze bunt between the pitcher and first that scored Gutierrez. The Charros led 3-1.

In the top of the 6th, with one out, Cory Vaughn singled and Marquez Smith walked. Jesus Cota singled to score Vaughn and Gabriel Gutierrez doubled to score Smith as the Charros upped their lead to 5-1.

The Naranjeros scored a run in the bottom of the 6th on a sac fly by Yunesky Sanchez to narrow the lead to 5-2 Charros.

The Charros scored three times in the top of the 7th on singles by Eduardo Arredondo and Manny Rodriguez and Leo Heras' three run home run to give jalisco an 8-2 lead.

Leo Heras hit a solo home run in the top of the 9th, his third of the game and the 7th of the season, to give Jalisco a 9-2 lead. Japhrt Amador followed the home run with a single and Cory Vaughn doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Jesus Cota singled to score Amador and Vaughn and the Charros lead was 11-2.

Hermosillo went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and Graham Godfrey had posted his fourth win of the season for Jalisco. Roy Corcoran took the loss for the Maranjeros to fall to 2-2 on the year.

Leo Heras was 3 for 4 with 3 home runs, 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Japhet Amador, Cory Vaughn and Jesus Cota all went 2 for 5 on the night.

Graham Godfrey went 6 innings giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 his, one walk and 2 strike outs. His ERA dropped to 1.55 on the year.

Two more games with Hermosillo before the weekend matchup with the Tomateras de Culiacan in Zapopan.

Showalter and Williams Named Managers of the Year in MLB

Buck Showalter won his third Manager of the Year award for the job he did with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014. Showalter polled 25 first place ballots  from the Basaball Writers Association to beat out Mike Sciosia of the LA Angels and Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals for the award.

Matt Williams was named the National League Manager of the Yar on 18 ballots after he led the Nationals to a 96 win season in 2014. Williams, a rookie manager for the Nationals beat out Clint Hurdle of the Pirates for the Award.

Shakeup in CFP Rankings

Mississippi State held on to the #1 position in the CFP rankings for the NCAA college football playoffs this week.

Oregon jumped FSU for the second position and TCU Horned Frogged, I mean leap frogged Alabama for #4 in the rankings. I feel Mississippi State should have been punished more for scheduling UT-Martin this late in the season but facing Alabama may be their comeupance later this month. But I also feel FSU has played poorly against opponents they should have beaten handily and should not be in the top 4.

Oregon has dominated the Pac 12 this year and will face an Arizona team in the Championship game that will either solidify their position or remove them from contention. Florida State, with a close win over Notre Dame and a lackluster performance over Louisville, doesn't deserve a top four ranking but is one of two teams that remain undefeated this year. Alabama should be in the top 4 with FSU about 5 or 6.

TCU must win out to remain in the 4th spot. Alabama, with games against Auburn and Mississippi State and the SEC championship game could well be a top 4 team while Mississippi State could drop out of the top four.

Read the ESPN article here and let me know what you think.

Football Rankings Change After Saturday's Game

The football rankings have changed pretty dramatically following this week's games. Mississippi State took on UT-Martin in a gimme game and Florida State had no trouble in their game against Virginia as they beat the Cavaliers 34-20. FSU's biggest test may come against a resurgent Florida team on the 29th of Nvember.

Auburn dropped to 9th after their loss to Texas A&M. TCU climbed to #6 with their win over Kansas State, Arizona State moves up to 7th with their decisive victory over Notre Dame and Ohio State climbed to #8 with a convincing win over Michigan State.

Read the AP article here.

Packers Manhandle Bears 55-14

In seven years as the Green Bay Packers starter, Aaron Rogers has faced the Chicago Bears 13 times. The University of California, Berkely star with a Wonderlic score of 35 has owned the Bears. Rogers, drafted 24th behind #1 pick Alex Smith, has dominated the NFC North. On Sunday night the 2010 Super Bowl MVP had little trouble with the Bears.

The Chicago Bears should be familiar with the Packers schemes and the Packers players. Even the coach of the Packers, Mike McCarthy, has been there the entire 7 years. On Sunday night the Bears lost to the Packers 55-14. The Bears looked as if each formation they saw was from another team, in a different year. Aaron Rogers, the quarterback they have faced for 7 1/2 years, threw for 315 yards and 6 touchdowns - in the 1st half.

The Packers rushed for 132 yards on 32 carries against a team that prides itself on defense. Jordy Nelson caught 6 balls for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. Randell Cobb, Eddie Lacy, Andrew Quarless and Brandon Bostick each caught a touchdown pass from Rogers.

The vaunted Bears defense recorded no sacks while the Packers got to Jay Cutler 4 times, had 8 tackles for losses and 6 QB hits.

The Pack are now 6-3 and in command of the NFC North while the Bears fall to 3-6 and look forward to the 2015 draft and rebuilding for the 2015 season.

Abreu and deGrom Named Rookies of the Year in MLB

American League rookie sensation Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox, has been named, unanimously, as the American League Rookie of the Year. Abreu hit .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBIs.

Jacob deGrom, pitcher for the NY Mets, was chosen as the National League Rookie of the Year. He was 9-6 for the Mets with a 2.69 ERA and 144 strikeouts with just 44 walks on the year.

Read the Dave Schoenfield article here.

Mexicali Overpowers Charros 8-1 to Take Series 3 Games to 2

The Aguilas de Mexicali overpowered the Charros 8-1 in the third game of the three game series behind the strong pitching of Javier Solano and four relievers. Solano gave up just 1 hit in six innings with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Reliever Adrian Garza gave up the only Charros run in the top of the 9th. Ben Koslowski took the loss for Jalisco, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits in five innings.

The Aguilas scored a run in the bottom of the 3rd on a lead off double by Gil Velazquez and a single by Chris Roberson for the 1-0 Mexicali lead.

The Aguilas would score two more in the bottom of the 5th. Walter Ibarra singled and went to second on a walk to Dave Sappelt. Mike Jacobs singled to score Ibarra and Sappelt scored on a ground out to short by Luis Juarez. The Aguilas had a 3-0 lead.

Gil Velazquez led off the 6th for Mexicali by drawing a walk. Chris Roberson also waited out a walk and Mexicali had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Ken Sigman replaced Kozlowski on the mound for Jalisco and walked Walter Ibarra to load the bases. Dave Sappelt singled to score Valezquez and Roberson. After Carlos Vazquez replaced Sigman, Luis Juarez hit a ground ball to third  that scored Ibarra. Xorge Carrillo doubled to score Juarez and the Aguilas led 7-0.

Mexicali scored again in the bottom of the 7th when Gil Velazquez doubled and scored on a ground out to second by Walter Ibarra for the 8th run in the game for Mexicali.

The Charros threatened in the top of the 9th. Leo Heras walked and after Japhet Amador popped up to the catcher, Cory Vaughn walked. Marquez Smith singled to load the bases with one out. Jose Felix singled to score Heras but Jesus Lopez struck out and Amadeo Zazueta grounded out to the pitcher to end the game

Jets Upset Steelers 20-13

The upset of the early games, and probably every game this weekend was the 1-8 NY Jets, behind the arm and legs of Michael Vick, winning handily over the 6-3 Pittsburgh Steelers 20-13. The Jets jumped out to a 17-0 lead after the 1st quarter and held on to win.

Following a Nick Folk field goal early in the quarter, Michael Vick threw a 67 yard TD strike to T.J. Graham with 3:20 to go and followed that up with a 5 yard TD toss to Jace Amaro with 19 seconds to go in the quarter.

Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 12 TDs in his previous games, did not have a TD pass until he connected with Martavis Bryant on an 80 yard pass play with 1:16 to go in the game.

Roethlisberger was 30 of 43 passing for 343 yards and a touchdown but he threw 2 INTs. Michael Vick attempted only 18 passes but completed 10 of those for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions.

The Steelers ran 17 running plays but were held to just 36 yards on the ground while the Jets gained 150 yards on 30 carries.

T.J. Graham had the 1 catch for 67 yards and a touchdown fo the Jets and Jace Amaro caught 2 balls for 6 yards and a TD.

Antonio Brown fumbled the ball twice for the Steelers. The 1st Brown fumble was recovered by the Jets on the Steeler's 20 and led to the 5 yard touchdown by Vick that gave the Jets the 17-0 lead. Jaiquawn Jarrett picked off both of Roethlisberger's 2 interceptions

'Bama Tops LSU in OT 20-13

Alabama escaped "Death Valley" with a 20-13 overtime win over LSU on Saturday.

It looked like the Tigers would win the game in regulation when they recovered a fumble by Alabama's T.J. Yeldon on the Alabama 6 yard line with 1:13 on the clock. LSU should have had 4 plays to punch it in from 6 yards out but offensive guard Vadal Alexander was called for unsportsmanlike conduct that moved the ball to the 21. LSU used up only 23 seconds of time before settling for a field goal and the 13-10 lead.

The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds giving Alabama the ball on their 35 yard line with 50 seconds to play in regulation. The Tide drove 55 yards in 47 seconds where Adam Griffith nailed a 27 yard field goal to tie the game.

Alabama took the ball 1st in overtime and scored on a 6 yard pass from Blake Sims to DeAndrew White. LSU threw 4 incomplete passes with their possession and Alabama had the 20-13 victory.

LSU falls to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC West while Alabama is now 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC West.

With the Auburn loss to Texas A&M, Alabama should take the fourth spot in the CFP playoff with Oregon moving up to #3. Alabama has a game with Mississippi State coming up.

How does LSU get called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the opposing team's 6 yard line, after recovering a fumble, with 1:13 to go? How can LSU use up just 23 seconds with four plays to run? How can a Tiger defense that had held the Tide in Check all game give up 55 yards in 47 seconds? Why would LSU attempt 4 straight passes in OT when their quarterback was not having a good game? How does an LSU kickoff go out of bounds with just 50 seconds on the clock putting Alabama just 35 yards from field goal range?

These are some of the questions Les Miles will have to answer and Nick Saban should be thanking his lucky stars for.

Charros Take Game 2 From Aguilas 4-3

The Charros de Jalisco took game two of the three game series with Mexicali by a 4-3 score. Hugo Castallenos got the win to improve to 1-1 on the year. Brian Broderick pitched the final 1 ⅓ innings to pick up his 8th save of the year and lower his ERA to 0.69.

In the top of the 1st, with one out, Manny Rodriguez singled and went to second on a single by Leo Heras. After Japhet Amador popped out to first, Cory Vaughn walked to load the bases. Marquez Smith drew a 5 pitch walk to force in Rodriguez for the 1-0 Jalisco lead.

Luis Juarez doubled to lead off the bottom of the 2nd for the Aguilas. Juarez moved to third on a ground out by Xorge Carrillo. Jon Del Camp doubled to score Juarez. With Gil Velazquez up, Del Camp moved to third on a wild pitch. Velazquez then singled to plate Del Camp and Mexicali had taken the 2-1 lead.

The Aguilas would score again in the 3rd. Walter Ibarra waited out a walk. Dave Sappelt drew a four pitch walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs. Mike Jacobs grounded out 1-3 to move the runners up. Luis Juarez then grounded out to third to score Ibarra for the 3-1 Aguilas lead.

Eduardo Arredondo led off the top of the 5th for the Charros with a single. With two outs, Japhet Amador doubled to drive in Arredondo. Cory Vaughn followed with a double to left that scored Amador and the game was tied at 3.

The Charros would score what would be the winning run in the top of the 7th. Manny Rodriguez singled to lead off the inning and stole second. After the Aguilas pitcher, Mario Meza, caught Leo Heras looking at strike three for out number 1 and Japhet Amador to fly out to center, Cory Vaughn hit the 8th pitch he saw from Meza for a single that scored Rodriguez with the game winning run.

Manny Rodriguez went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored, raising his batting average to .371 on the year. Cory Vaughn was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Japhet Amador was 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Marquez Smith was 0 for 3 but had an RBI.

The Jalisco manager, Juan Navarrete, used 7 pitchers in the win. Murphy Smith started the game and went 3 innings, giving up all three runs on 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2. His ERA on the year stands at 11.25. Luis Rodriguez pitched 2 innings giving up 1 hit. Hugo Castallenos got the win with 1 inning pitched, striking out 2 of the three batters he faced and holding the Aguillas scoreless. Ivan Salas, Adrian Ramirez and Antonio Garzon were all credited with holds and Brian Broderick got the save, setting down the 4 batters he faced, striking out 2.

The Charros improved to 15-10 on the year. The Yaquis de Obregon lost to drop to 14-10, one half game behind the league leading Charros. With the loss to Jalisco, the Aguilas record is 13-12, two full games behind Jalisco.

The team that was leading the league on Tuesday morning, the Venados de Mazatlan, have lost 6 in a row and fall to 12-12 and 5th place in the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico.

Jalisco and Mexicali play the rubber match of the series on Sunday night before the Charros travel to Hermosillo for three games beginning Tuesday the 11th of November.

#3 Auburn Loses to Texas A&M 41-38

The Auburn Tigers hurt their chances for a CFP berth when they lost to an unranked Texas A&M team on Saturday, at home, 41-38. Auburn still muast play Alabama so thier season is not nescessarily over but this loss at home is not good.

Kyle Allen, the A&M quarterback who replace Kenny Hill, threw for 277 yards and 4 touchdowns with an interception.

Nick Marshall, for Auburn, was 15 for 21, good for 219 yards and 1 touchdown.

Auburn rushed for 363 yards behind Cameron Artis-Payne's 221 yards on 30 carries with 2 touchdowns. Auburn QB Nick Marshall ran for 69 yards on 11 carries and 2 TDs.

Josh Reynolds, A&M, caught 6 passes for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns. Malcome Kennedy had 118 yards receiving and a touchdown whiile Ricky Seals-Jones had a TD on 6 receptions for 46 yards.

Auburn had a Field Goal attempt blocked and returned for a touchdown early in the game and fumbled inside the Aggie 5 yard line with 2:45 to go. Texas A&M was forced to put from their 1 yard line after the Auburn fumble and the Tigers took over on the Aggie 42 yard line with just over 2 minutes to play. Auburn fumbled again and the Aggies were able to run out the clock to preserve the win.

Read the ESPN recap here.

#12 Baylor Bears Crush #15 Oklahoma 48-14

The #12 Baylor Bears, with a chance of making the CFP 4 team playoff, faced off with #15 Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday and came away with a 48-14 victory.

Behind 14-3 after the 1st quarter, the Bears came roaring back with 45 straight points to lead 48-14 with 7:37 to play in the game. The Baylor defense held the Sooners scoreless for three quarters while Baylor's quarterback, Bryce Petty was completing 32 of 42 passes for 387 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions.

Trevor Knight, pressured all day by a swarming Bears defense threw for 148 yards on 12 of 27 passing for 2 TDs and a crucial INT.

Five Baylor runners recorded 160 yards on the ground and scored 5 touchdowns. Shock Linwood ran for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns while Devin Chafin ran for 2 TDs carrying the ball 11 times for 35 yards. Corey Coleman ran for a touchdown for Baylor and caught the lone TD pass from Petty

Oklahoma got touchdown receptions from Michiah Quick and Durron Neal for the lone Sooner scores. Oklahoma rushed for 172 yards on 33 carries but failed to score on the ground.

Baylor plays unranked Oklahoma State at home and unranked Texas Tech in Lubbock to finish their season while #9 Kansas State plays #6 TCU today.

Read the ESPN recap article here.

Mexicali Tops Charros 6-5

The Charros de Jalisco traveled to Mexicali to take on the Aguilas for three games. The Charros entered the series 1/2 game behind the Yaquis de Obregon for the lead in the Liga de Mexicana del Pacifico. Jalisco lost to Mexicali 6-5 while Obregon was shutout by Hermosillo 3-0.

In the Charros game, Mexicali started the scoring in the 1st. Walter Ibarra led off with a triple and scored on a single by Dave Sappelt to take an early 1-0 lead.

Jalisco answered in the top of the 2nd. Japhet Amador led off the inning with his league leading 9th home run of the year to tie the score. Marquez Smith, who reached on a fielder's choice moved to second on a single by Gabriel Gutierrez. With two outs, Jose Felix walked to load the bases. Eduardo Arredondo walked to force in Smith and the Charros took the lead 2-1.

The Charros scored twice more in the 3rd on a Cory Vaughn home run that scored Leo Heras, who had led off the inning with a double, and Jalisco led 4-1.

The Aguilas struck back in the 4th. With two outs, Jon Del Campo singled to center and stole second. Ricardo Serrano doubled to score Del Campo. Ramon Urias followed with a single to score Serrano and the Mexicali team had pulled to within one at 4-3.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Aguilas lead off batter, Xorge Carrillo, doubled to left. Jon Del Campo reached on a ball hit back to the pitcher, Carlos Vazquez, who went to third in an attempt to get the lead runner but Carrillo made it back to second and the Aguilas had runners on first and second with no outs. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Ricardo Serrano. Ken Sigman replaced Vazquez on the mound for Jalisco and got Ramon Urias to ground out to second. Jalisco manager, Juan Navarette, then brought in Antonio Garzon who gave up a 3 run home run to Chris Roberson and Mexicali had taken a 6-4 lead.

Jalisco threatened in the top of the 9th. Manny Rodriguez led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch on a walk to Leo Heras by Aguilas' reliever, Francisco Rodriguez. Japhet Amador popped out to second and Cory Vaughn struck out swinging. Leo Heras stole second. With two outs, Marquez Smith hit a ground ball to third that scored Rodriguez. Heras, with the ball on the ground in front of him, decided to try and reach third. Heras was tagged out to end the game.

Manny Rodriguez was 2 for 5 with his league leading 12th double and a run scored while raising his batting average to .370, the best in the league. Japhet Amador went 1 for 4 with a home run while Cory Vaughn hit a home run with 2 RBIs, 2 walks and a run scored on a 1 for 3 night at the plate. Jesus Lopez went 1 for 3 and quietly raised his season's batting average to .329, 5th in the league.

Orlando Lara started the game for Jalisco and went 5 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 runs while striking out 3. His ERA increased to 2.50 on the year. Carlos Vazquez took the loss giving up 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning in the 6th. Antonio Garzon had a blown hold in the 6th allowing a home run to Chris Roberson. Manuel Flores pitched the 7th and 8th innings givng up just 1 hit to keep the Charros in the game.

The Charros record is now 14-10. With the loss to Hermosillo, Obregon falls to 14-9, 1/2 game in front of Jalisco for the league lead. Mexicali climbs to 13-11, a full game behind Jalisco and in third place in the league. The series between Jalisco and Mexicali continues tonight and Sunday before the Charros travel to Hermosillo to take on the Naranjeros for 3 games.

NFL Picks This Week

Here are my NFL picks for this week. I did fine last week until the last three games where I totally screwed up.

Browns @ Bengals  -  Browns 24-3     Just Kidding!!
Chiefs @ Bills  -  Chiefs 27-17     Alex Smith controls the game. Bills have no RBs
Cowboys v Jaguar  -  Cowboys 35-13     A shame Londoners have to see the Jaguars
49ers @ Saints  -  Saints 28-27     Saints don't lose in the dome
Titans @ Ravens  -  Ravens 30-13     Raven's defense is too much for Titans offense
Steelers @ Jets  -  Steelers 28-6     Big Ben held to just 4 TD passes this week
Falcons @ Buccaneers  -  Falcons 24-14     Buc's say wait'll next year
Broncos @ Raiders  -  Broncos 28-10      Oakland's defense is better but Manning is Manning
Rams @ Cardinals  -  Cardinals 24-10     No trick plays here and no Ram offense
Giants @ Seahawks  -  Seahawks 27-13     After all Eli is Eli
Bears @ Packers  -  Packers 30-20     Rogers is still saying "relax"
Panthers @ Eagles  -  Eagles 17-14     Cowboys win so Eagles must, please no butt fumbles

If you don't believe me, read what Phil Sheridan and David Newton of ESPN.com have to say and see if my picks aren't better.

Silver Slugger Awards Announced

The Silver Slugger award is given annually to the best offensive player in each league. Baseball's coaches and managers determine who receives the award. Batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage are some of the categories used to determine a winner of the award.

Coaches and managers are prohibited from voting for a member of their team. The National League gives an award to the best hitting pitcher while the American League rewards the best DH in the league.

Barry Bonds has won the Silver Slugger award 12 times. Mike Piazza and Alex Rodrigues have won the award 10 times each. Rodriguez won 7 awards at SS and 3 times as a 3rd baseman. Barry Larkin won the award 9 times as a shortstop.

Here are the league award winners for 2014:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
1B: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox, (.317, 36 HR, 107 RBI)
2B: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros (.341, 7 HR, 59 RBI, 56 SB)
3B: Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers (.324, 19 HR, 77 RBI)
SS: Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Sox (.273, 15 HR, 74 RBI, 21 SB)
OF: Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays (.286, 35 HR, 103 RBI, 104 BB)
OF: Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians (.327, 20 HR, 97 RBI, 23 SB)
OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (.287, 36 HR, 111 RBI, 83 BB)
C: Yan Gomes, Indians (.278, 21 HR, 74 RBI)
DH: Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers (.335, 32, HR, 103 RBI, 70 BB)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers (.276, 27 HR, 116 RBI)
2B: Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates (.271, 23 HR, 76 RBI)
3B: Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals (.287, 21 HR, 83 RBI)
SS: Ian Desmond, Nationals (.255, 24 HR, 91 RBI, 24 SB)
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates (.314, 25 HR, 83 RBI, 84 BB)
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins (.288, 37 HR, 105 RBI, 94 BB)
OF: Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves (.270, 29 HR, 102 RBI)
C: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants (.311, 22 HR, 89 RBI)
P: Madison Bumgarner, Giants (.258, 4 HR, 15 RBI, .286 OBP)

Browns Smother Bengals in 24-3 Win

The Cleveland Browns are tied for 1st in the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both have a 6-3 record. Only the Arizona Cardinals (7-1) and the New England Patriots (7-2) have a better record than the Browns at this point in the season.

Last night in Cincinnati, the Browns used great defense and a good ground game to beat the Bengals 24-3.

The wind played havoc with both quarterbacks but Andy Dalton, when not under pressure, seemed unsure of his throws. Dalton completed just 10 of 33 pass attempts for 86 yards while throwing 3 INTs. His 33% completion rate was outdone only by his QBR of 2.0.

Brian Hoyer, facing the same gusty winds as Dalton, went 15 of 23 for 198 yards. Although he didn't have a touchdown pass, he didn't have an interception either. The Browns used the pass to set up their run game. Cleveland's three running backs ran for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns on the night. Ben Tate got the Browns on the board early in the 1st quarter with a 4 yard TD run after the Browns had intercepted Dalton and returned the ball to the Bengal's 18 yard line. Isiah Crowell scored on a 2 yard run on the Browns first possession of the 2nd half and Terrance West ran in from the one for the last touchdown with 4:46 left in the 4th quarter to seal the win for Cleveland.

The Bengals were held to 86 yards rushing on 27 carries by a defense that sacked Dalton twice and kept the Bengals off balance all night.

After rushing for 154 yards on 24 carries against the Jaguars last week, Jeremy Hill of the Bengals was held to just 55 yards on 12 carries last night.

Although his team had just been beaten 24-3 and manhandled by the Browns' defense, Hill had these comments about the Browns following the game. These quotes come courtesy of Coley Harvey at ESPN.com.

Asked whether the Browns were better than he previously thought, Hill said, "Oh no, not at all. They're probably worse than I thought, to be honest with you."

"They didn't do anything special to me," Hill continued. "I mean, respect to them, they won the game. But that's all I'll give them."

"Those guys, they're not that good," he said. "It was on us [Thursday]. We gave them the game, in my opinion. They didn't do anything special. We just gave them the game. They just sat back with coverage the whole day."

Read the ESPN article here and decide for yourself if the Browns are "good enough" to lead the AFC North,

Charros Sweep Mazatlan with 16-0 Win

The Charros de Jalisco welcomed the Venados de Mazatlan to Zapopan on Tuesday for a three game series and "swept" them out of town on Thursday with a 16-0 victory. The shutout was the third win in a row and they held Mazatlan scoreless for 22 consecutive innings in the series.

Marco Tovar won the game for his third victory of the season. Tovar tossed 7 innings of 3 hit ball, walking 1 and striking out 3 and lowered his ERA to 1.67. Mario Mendoza  pitched a perfect 8th inning in relief and Luis Rodriguez worked the 9th, giving up a single before getting Olmo Rosario to strike out swinging to end the game. Alejandro Martinez took the loss for Mazatlan and dropped to 0-3 on the year.

The Charros scored 27 runs on 38 hits during the series. It was the second series sweep of the year for Jalisco and the 2nd time in 3 games that the Charros hit 4 home runs.

The game was a scoreless pitcher's duel until the bottom of the 3rd when Gabriel Gutierrez led off with a single. Jesus Lopez followed with a single and both runners scored on a home run by Manny Rodriguez. The next batter, Leo Heras, homered to right for the 4-0 lead and the rout was on.

Marquez Smith led off the 4th with a double and moved to third on a ground out to second by Jesus Cota. Smith would score on a Gabriel Gutierrez sac fly to increase the lead to 5-0.

Cory Vaughn reached on a fielder's choice in the 5th and scored in front of Marquez Smith's 5th home run of the year to increase the Charros lead to 7-0.

The Venados brought in Miguel Aguilar to pitch the 6th but he found the going just as rough as the first two hurlers. With one out, Jesus Lopez drew a walk and went to second on a single by Eduardo Arredondo. Manny Rodriguez singled to score Lopez. Aguilar then threw a wild pitch to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Leo Heras followed with a single to score Arredondo and Rodriguez. Japhet Amador followed with a 2 run home run to bring the lead to 12-0 Charros.

The 7th inning saw Jalisco score four more times. With two outs, Eduardo Arredondo drew a walk. Edson Garcia, pinch hitting for Manny Rodriguez, tripled to center to score Arredondo. Amadeo Zazueta, hitting for Leo Heras, walked to put runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs. Japhet Amador hit his second home run of the night, and 8th of the year, and his 3rd, 4th and 5th RBIs of the game for the 16-0 lead and the final score.

Marquez Smith was 3 for 4 with a home run, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Jesus Lopez also went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Japhet Amador was 3 for 5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Leo Heras was 2 for 4 with a home run, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Manny Rodriguez, the leading hitter in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico was 2 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. His average stands at .368 on the season. Eduardo Arredondo, the lead off hitter for the Charros, went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Tonight was a special offensive show for the Charros and the series was a display of power the league has not seen from Jalisco thus far. The offense was backed up by excellent pitching for three games with the effort by Tovar tonight the best by a Jalisco starting pitcher this season.

The win moves the Charros to 14-9 on the year while the Venados de Mazatlan fell to 12-10, a full game behind the Charros.

Raul Ibanez to Manage the Rays?

The Tampa Bay Rays have 8 potential managerial candidates, so far, to take over for Joe Maddon in 2015. Raul Ibanez is one of them.

Other possible managers include Dave Martinez, Rays bench coach for the last eight years, Manny Acta, former Indians and Nationals manager, Craig Counsell, Charlie Montoyo, currently a minor league manager, Ron Wotus, former Seattle Mariner manager Don Wakamatsu and Kevin Cash.

Rays President of Baseball Operations, Matt Silverman, has said the list will grow as the process continues.

When one looks at the experience possessed by most of the candidates, it is hard to imagine Raul Ibanez being picked to lead a major league team when he has no prior managerial experience and has only been out of baseball for a little over a month.

But as the saying goes, stranger things have happened!

Alabama/LSU Preview with my Prediction

The Crimson Tide of Alabama take on the LSU Tigers this weekend in a game with playoff implications for Alabama.

Alabama comes into the game at 7-1, their only loss to a very good Ole Miss team, 23-17, on October 4th. Since then the Tide narrowly beat Arkansas 14-13, pummeled Texas A&M 59-0 and beat a resurgent Tennessee team 34-20.

LSU on the other hand is 7-2 with losses to #1 Mississippi State 34-29 and two weeks later to then #5 Auburn 41-7. Last week LSU beat then #3 Ole Miss 10-7 that took a goal line interception to preserve the win.

Currently, Alabama sits at #5 with LSU at #16. Alabama is just outside the CFP (College Football Poll) ranking of the top 4 teams that will compete for the National Championship in the first ever college football playoffs.

Mississippi State and FSU are the only undefeated teams in the CFP rankings and are #1 and #2 respectfully. Auburn is #3 at 7-1 and Oregon is 8-1 and #4 in the rankings.

A solid win by Alabama in this game would go far toward cracking the top four in the CFP rankings just as a loss could seriously damage Alabama from consideration. Mississippi State plays UT-Martin this week but travels to Alabama on November 15th for a crucial game. FSU plays the University of Miami this week but could face a challange on the 29th of November when they face a tough test against Florida. Oregon plays #17 Utah on Saturday but shouldn't have a tough test until playing Arizona for the Pac-12 title.

In the Alabama/LSU game, Alabama enters the contest second in the nation allowing just 14 points per game while they are 19th in scoring at 36.5 points a game. They average 219 yards rushing and 291 yards passing every game.

LSU is 4th in the land allowing just 15.9 points per game but they are 101st against the pass, giving up an average of 189 yards through the air per game. LSU does score 33 points per game. These two teams are pretty evenly matched.

An intangible for the Tigers may be "Death Valley" where, Coach Les Miles says "...team's dreams come to die".

Nick Saban wants more than anything to be a part of the 1st College Football Playoff. His defense is strong and he has a resurgent offense under Offensive Coordinator, Lane Kiffen.

Against good teams, Les Miles is 2-2. He opened the season with a 28-24 win in Wisconsin, lost to Mississippi State by 5, Lost to Auburn 41-7 and beat Ole Miss by 3, 10-7.

My prediction is this, Alabama will win the game 20-10 and with some good luck over the next three weeks the Tide will roll into the playoffs with a very good chance of winning it all.

Phillies Trying to Dump Big Salaries?

Craig Calcaterra, writing for hardballtalk.com, has posted a tweet by Howard Eskin, Sports Director for WTFX in Philadelphia, in which Eskin calls Marlon Byrd, Jonathan papalbin and Cliff Lee bad locker room guys. Eskin opines that for this reason, the Phillies want to get rid of these, and other players. Calcaterra's contention is that the Phillies are really about setting low expectations for the fans when Philly gets low return on any deals.

I agree with Craig. the Phillies are old, overpaid and under performing. Ruben Amaro Jr. has not used a forward thinking mindset when signing players to long term deals or trading for older players. The result is that Philadelphia has given up young talent for a projected short term gain that has not materialized.

Read Calcaterra's short article here.