NEW YORK -- A first-time All-Star at age 31, Steven Wright traveled across the country and never got to pitch.That gave the AL ERA leader an early start to the second half, and the knuckleballer pitched the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees 5-3 Friday night.Wright originally was slated to pitch Saturday, but Red Sox manager John Farrell called him at 3 p.m. Thursday and asked him to start the second-half opener.I wasnt expecting it, but I had a feeling there could be a good chance because I didnt throw in the All-Star Game, Wright said.Pitching on eight days rest, Wright (11-5) won for the eighth time in nine decisions. Ryan Hanigan, Travis Shaw and Xander Bogaerts homered off Michael Pineda (3-9) as Boston won its fifth straight.When Wright arrived in San Diego, AL manager Ned Yost informed the pitcher he likely would not appear.Its definitely a bummer, Wright said. I was going to be the emergency, because they didnt want to end in a tie, and I was the only guy that was capable of going multiple innings. And I was like, fine.He needed just 39 pitches to get through four innings against the Yankees and retired his first 14 batters before Alex Rodriguez hit a slow hopper the pitcher couldnt come up with on a bare-hand try about 45 feet from the plate on the third base side.There was quite a bit of violence to the knuckleball, Farrell said.New York closed the gap with a three-run sixth, when Wright hit Chase Headley on the thigh with a pitch and loaded the bases with a walk to Jacoby Ellsbury. Carlos Beltran had a two-run single on a ball that zipped past first baseman Hanley Ramirez and down the right-field line, and Brian McCann hit an RBI grounder as Ramirez bounced his throw to second, eliminating the possibility of an inning-ending double play.I gave up one hard-hit ball the entire night. It just happened to be with the bases loaded, Wright said.He improved to 4-1 against the Yankees, allowing three runs and three hits in six innings as his ERA rose from 2.68 to 2.78.Hanigans third-inning homer was his first since last Aug. 19 off Clevelands Corey Kluber, and the ball was caught by reliever Robbie Ross Jr., who stuck out his cap to snag it in the visitors bullpen in left field.When that ball was hit, I was like, that balls going out, Im going right for it. I got 4 1/2, Ross said of his season total. The half was the one where Brock (Holt) hit it off the top of the fence and I caught it.Shaw hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and Bogaerts made it 5-0 with a two-run drive in the sixth.It kind of looked like we needed a time through the order to get back in sync after the break, Farrell said.Brad Ziegler and Ross followed Wright with an inning apiece, and Koji Uehara finished the four-hitter for his fifth save, his third since closer Craig Kimbrel hurt a knee.Pineda (3-9) gave up five runs and five hits in five-plus innings, leaving him with a 5.56 ERA and 18 home runs allowed in 18 starts this season. New York (44-45) is under .500 after the All-Star break for the first time since 1995.Its one game, guys, Beltran said. We have to focus on winning series, especially against teams that are in our division.IN THE SEATSIndiana Gov. Mike Pence, announced by Donald Trump as his pick for Republican vice presidential nominee, was in the crowd of 47,459, the Yankees fourth home sellout this season.WHAT, ME WORRY?David Ortiz laughed at the notion his comments this week that Boston should sign Edwin Encarnacion to replace him next season could be construed as improper.Tampering? I dont write no paycheck, Ortiz said. I can say whatever I want. Im not a GM or a team owner. If I say tomorrow that I want to play with LeBron James, am I tampering, too?TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox reliever Junichi Tazawa, on the disabled list with a right shoulder impingement, threw a 25-pitch bullpen. He has another session scheduled for Sunday and likely will be activated when he becomes eligible Tuesday. ... RHP Joe Kelly allowed a hit in two innings and struck out three for Triple-A Pawtucket against Charlotte. ... Ramirez and Holt played for the first time since July 8 against Tampa Bay, when Ramirez fouled a ball off his left shin and Holt sprained his left ankle.UP NEXTLHP CC Sabathia (5-6) is scheduled to start Saturday for New York, and LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3) for Boston following his recall from the minors on Friday. Rodriguez is 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees. Cheap Texans Jerseys . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Pink Texans Jerseys . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. http://www.officialtexansnflauthenticshop.com/ . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Justin Reid Stitched Jersey . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Jordan Thomas Stitched Jersey . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. When Oklahoma president and Big 12 board chair David Boren reeled off the five criteria the league would use to evaluate expansion candidates, athletic competitiveness, fan base, media market and overall reputation were all self-explanatory.The fifth category Boren listed, however, seemed less so.After all, what do academics have to do with athletic affiliation?According to a pair of Big 12 professors, quite a bit.You have to bring something more to the table beyond academics -- but academics do matter, said Keith Gaddie, a professor of political science at Oklahoma.Youre judged by the company you keep, and you want to marry up rather than marry down.Its a nuanced thing. But its an important thing.Indeed, ever since schools began associating for athletic purposes, academics have played a part.Just before the turn of the 20th century, the Big Ten was formed as a public institution answer -- athletically and academically -- to the prestigious private schools on the East Coast such as Harvard and Yale. While athletic guidelines were implemented at the outset of what would later be called the Big Ten, the presidents from Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as from Northwestern and Chicago, put academic standards into place such as restricting eligibility to full-time students who were not delinquent in their studies. Those have served as the bedrock of the Big Ten to this day.Even in recent years, the Big Ten has only admitted schools that are also members of the renowned American Association of Universities, a collection of leading research institutions that maintain a strong system of academic research and education. The only Big Ten school thats not one of the associations 62 schools, Nebraska, was one when it joined the Big Ten in 2011 but has since lost that status.Theres little tangible effect to sharing a conference with strong academic partners. Directly, it doesnt lead to more federal grants or extra research dollars. But according to Timothy Day, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical sciences at Iowa State, the intangible impact is significant.Big picture, the academic perception at the conference level is important in the way we think of ourselves and the way others think of us, Day said.Gaddie calls this the halo effect.If youve got several programs perceived to be academically strong in your conference, that halo washes over you, he said. Youre going to be judged by things around you.Gaddie points to what academic powerhouses Stanford and Cal have done for the academic reputation of the rest of the Pac-12. When Oklahoma was considering a jump to the Pac-12 six years ago along with Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, Gaddie said he compared the SAT and ACT scores of Oklahoma with other Pac-12 members.Except for Cal and Stanford and probably Washington, OUs average ACT and SAT scores were [comparable to] most of the existing Pac-12, Gaddie recalled.dddddddddddd But you look at that peer group, the Pac-12 gets this halo effect from Stanford and Cal, even though the programs are not that dissimilar from those in the Big 12.Its not difficult to understand why academics this time around could especially play a key part in the event the Big 12 elects to expand.The Big 12s academic reputation was gutted when Colorado, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri all left the conference from 2010 to 2012. All four were American Association of Universities?members at the time. As a result, the Big 12 has just three American Association of Universities members remaining in Texas, Kansas and Iowa State.That isnt all.Of the Power 5 leagues, the Big 12 also has the fewest number of schools classified as Carnegie Tier 1, which is based on research activity. Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas State joined Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa State as Carnegie Tier 1 institutions this year, nearly doubling the leagues tally from the year before. Yet by comparison, 12 of the SECs 14 schools achieved Carnegie I, as well.This is the prism through which the Big 12s presidents and chancellors will be evaluating expansion. Its why academics figure to loom large as the league seeks to bolster the way prospective students and faculty might view the conference and its members academically.As you look around, you want to bring someone in that can lift things up, rather than pull things down, Gaddie said. You want them to match or enhance the existing reputation of your university.Along with Rice and Buffalo, Tulane is the only American Association of Universities school out there that competes at the FBS level yet doesnt also have a home in a Power 5 conference.But Gaddie, who previously taught at Tulane, notes there are other universities the Big 12 is considering that could match or enhance league academically that have superior athletic programs to Tulane.As Gaddie points out, UConn is a state university with Carnegie Tier 1 status.U.S. News & World Report ranks another Big 12 expansion candidate, Brigham Young, as the No. 66 national university, just behind Georgia and just ahead of Texas A&M. It also ranks the U.S. Air Force Academy 30th in the liberal arts category.Cincinnati and Houston, also candidates, are also both Carnegie Tier 1 schools, and the same goes for Colorado State and Central and South Florida.Above all, these candidates are being measured by the football they play, the markets they bring and the fan bases that follow them.But when it finally comes time to deciding on members, academics will matter, too.Were hoping for dynamic members that add value, Day said. All the way around. Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China ' ' '