CLEVELAND - As Michael Brantley headed toward the clubhouse door and off-season carrying his belongings in a blue duffel bag, Clevelands All-Star outfielder didnt look up at a TV showing Detroits champagne-soaked celebration of another AL Central title. Uchenna Nwosu Jersey .This wasnt the way Brantley or the Indians thought it would end a€” shy of October.Failing to build off their wild-card appearance in 2013, the Indians completed an unfulfilling season with a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.Cleveland was done in by too many errors, injuries, an inconsistent offence and sub-par years from Nick Swisher and Jason Kipnis, two highly paid players that were counted on.We came in with high expectations, outfielder David Murphy said. I joined a team that went to the playoffs last year. We had every expectation of doing that again and maybe win the division. Obviously, things didnt work out that way.Rookie Zach Walters and Carlos Santana each drove in two runs as the Indians finished 85-77, a seven-win drop from a year ago.For manager Terry Francona, the finality of his second season in Cleveland brought mixed emotions. There was disappointment tinged with some jealousy toward the teams moving on.You go 100 miles an hour, and youre with this group all day, every day, and then all of a sudden it comes to a crashing halt, and you go home, he said. I thought they did a really good job of playing right up until the end.Walters and Murphy hit solo second-inning homers off Alex Cobb (10-9) for the Indians, who failed to build on last season when they hosted Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card game.T.J. House (5-3), whose consistency gives Cleveland hope for the future, gave up Sean Rodriguezs leadoff homer in the second, but otherwise kept the ALs lowest-scoring team off the board. The Indians went 7-0 in his home starts.Despite their many issues, the Indians stayed alive in the playoff race until Friday. They may have fallen short of goals, but the Indians have posted consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2000-01 and with a core of young players and a pitching staff anchored by Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber, theres plenty of reason for optimism.We did about what we could do, Francona said. All things considered, I think we said from the first day, you play the game the way you can and you look up at the end and you take where you are at. Thats probably where we deserve to be.Francona rested most of his starters, including Brantley, who made a late MVP push. Brantley is the first player in Cleveland history with 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 homers and 20 steals in a season, joining Jacoby Ellsbury as the only players to hit those plateaus in the past seven years.While Brantley emerged as one of the leagues rising stars, Kipnis flattened out.After signing a $52.5 million, six-year deal before the home opener, Kipnis batted just .240 with six homers and 41 RBIs. Its a shocking drop off for the 27-year-old, an All-Star last season when he hit .284 with 17 homers and 84 RBIs.Following the game, Kipnis gave away bats as souvenirs to fans sitting behind the Indians dugout.He wasnt nearly as giving with the media.Not from me, he said, waving off reporters afterward. Nope.Murphy and Walters connected in the second to make it 2-1 against Cobb, who was the winning pitcher against Cleveland in last years wild-card game.Rodriquez gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the second, crushing Houses first pitch for his 12th homer.TERRIFIC TWOSOMEWith Brantley getting 200 hits and Kluber striking out 269, the Indians are the first team to have a 200-hit player and pitcher with more than 250 strikeouts since Arizona (Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson) in 1999.EMPTY FEELINGThe Indians drew 1,437,393 fans, the second fewest since Progressive Field opened in 1994.LAST LICKS?Indians DH Jason Giambi hasnt decided whether to continue his playing career, which began with Oakland in 1995. The 43-year-old plans to go home and enjoy his family before making his next move. He said its strange to have an uncertain future.Who knows? he said. Maybe somebodys looking for a broken down 44-year-old to take a few extra hacks.(K)OUNTINGClevelands pitchers struck out eight, raising their season record to 1,450. Tampa Bay, which also passed the previous mark set by Detroit last season, finished with 1,437 strikeouts. Kyzir White Jersey . Striker Dario Mandzukic scored the opener in the 22nd minute but was given a red card nine minutes later for a reckless tackle and left Croatia with 10 men for the remainder of the match. Caleb Sturgis Jersey . Fielder ended 4-for-5 with a solo homer, while Avila was 4-for-4 with two runs scored for the Tigers, who put the brakes on a three-game skid and rebounded from a loss in Mondays opener. Victor Martinez and Austin Jackson both contributed two hits, an RBI and a run scored as Detroit maintained its healthy lead atop the AL Central. http://www.prochargersteamstore.com/Youth-Derwin-James-Elite-Jersey/ .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16.TORONTO -- Just two games into the 2014 MLS season, Toronto FC is experiencing new heights. England star Jermain Defoe is scoring goals as befitting his monster salary. American international Michael Bradley is pulling the strings in midfield. And everyone else is playing their part. Its early days yet but Toronto, once the MLS doormat, is off to its best start ever at 2-0-0 and drawing a crowd on and off the pitch. On Saturday, the TFC dressing room was crammed with reporters eager to tell the story of Torontos 1-0 win over D.C. United in the home opener before an announced -- and enthusiastic -- sellout crowd of 22,591 at BMO Field. Defoe emerged from the shower in a towel and flip-flops to find a mass of humanity in front of his stall. "Id forgotten about this," he said with a smile. The 31-year-old forward, used to reporter-free dressing rooms in England, must have felt like he was starring in "Magic Mike" as he dressed in front of some three dozen members of the media. Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio, who dresses two stalls down, had to scale his locker like he was climbing Everest just to get to his gear. Toronto loves a winner. Its just never seen one wearing Toronto FC gear. Still manager Ryan Nelsen is preaching caution at this early stage of the franchises eighth season. "I dont think were a top team right now," he said. "Were very well organized but I dont think weve seen the best of us. And you wont see the best of us because were still new." "I think we still have a long way to go as a team," he added. "Well play better than that probably and lose games." Toronto started six players Saturday who werent with the club last year. Defoe, who scored twice in his MLS debut last week in Seattle, could have had four goals Saturday before he finally scored in the 60th minute after Brazilian strike partner Gilberto was sent in alone by a beautiful through ball from Bradley. Goalie Bill Hamid made the save but the ball was cleared only as far as Defoe, who got the ball out from under his feet and hammered home a right-footed shot. The goal, which featured all three of TFCs designated players, was a model of efficiency. Brazilian international goalie Julio Cesar started the play, booting the ball up field. A D.C. United player headed it back towards the Toronto end but TFC captain Steven Caldwell nipped in and sent it to Osorio. The 21-year-old Canadian quickly gave it to Bradley, who lofted a pass over the defence to Gilberto. The day offered thin gruel for D.C. United (0-2-0), which has yet to score this season after being beaten 3-0 by the Columbus Crew in its season opener two weeks ago. "I dont think D.C. broke us down very often at all," said Nelsen. "And you look at our chances we had to score." Defoes three goals in two games would have tied him for third overall in Toronto FC scoring over the entire 2013 season.. Virgil Green Chargers Jersey. After a brutal winter that included one last snowfall overnight, the ravaged grass at BMO Field made for a choppy game. It might as well have been played on a cowpatch. "The field was not conducive to playing any sport of football," Nelsen said by way of understatement. "But thats no fault of the groundskeeper," he added with a smile. "I blame God for that at the moment for the winter hes given Toronto." In addition to having a predator up front, Toronto is also looking a lot harder this season. Caldwell has added to the spine of the club since his arrival last season but the presence of Bradley has helped. The American literally ran over referee Silviu Petrescu in the first half, knocking the official down as he steamed towards the visitors penalty box. And he kept playing after a nasty clash of heads in the second half knocked Davy Arnaud out of the game. The shaven-headed Bradley, who returned to the fray with a bandage, was sporting an ugly array of staples to close the head wound after the game. "You can see now theres a bit of hardness to us, to tell you the truth," said Nelsen, who was tough as nails himself as a player. "That, no disrespect to the past, I dont think weve had." D.C. United coach Ben Olsen, while noting both teams had to play on the surface, called the pitch "as bad as Ive ever seen in the MLS." Be it artificial turf (last week in Seattle) or just bad turf, Toronto is winning. Just two games into the 2014 schedule, TFC has already one-third of the victories it collected last season when the team went 6-17-11. Torontos previous best opening was a 1-0-1 start in 2009. In 2012, it took the team 14 games to record two victories. Nelsens team will no doubt face a stiffer test next weekend at Real Salt Lake (1-0-2). While the overnight snowfall had dissipated by kickoff, fans had to contend with a partial shutdown of the subway system as well as an AHL game and the National Home Show on the Exhibition grounds Saturday. The crowd was announced as a sellout, but there were some empty seats. Defoe called the atmosphere "unbelievable." "From Minute One, the stadium was rocking." It was two degrees at kickoff although a stiff wind did little to make it a pleasant afternoon. Neither did the pitch, which started cutting up in the first half. Torontos Brazilian midfielder Jackson received a yellow card in the 50th minute for what looked like an elbow off the ball. "It looked pretty bad," D.C. defender Bobby Boswell said. Said Nelsen: "I think the referee saw it and he gave him a yellow card. So its been dealt with, isnt it?" D.C. United was the worst team in the league last season at 3-24-7 but made wholesale changes during the off-season. "Its a loss but I think when I look back, I think we will see that we really took some steps forward." said Olsen. Wholesale Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 Discount Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Throwback Jerseys ' ' '