Gallardo assumed sole

Chester, PA (SportsNetwork. Air Max 270 Offerta .com) - The Philadelphia Union will face a must-win situation on Saturday when the club hosts the Columbus Crew at PPL Park. The Union enter the match in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 39 points, four behind the Crew for the fifth and final playoff spot, but it is an uphill climb for Jim Curtins team, which needs to win each of its remaining three matches and hope for some help along the way. Philadelphia had a golden opportunity to draw closer to the playoff places last week with a home clash against the Chicago Fire, but they produced little in the way of scoring chances until the 88th minute when midfielder Amobi Okugo followed the play well and fired home to give the hosts the lead. It appeared that would be the winning goal, but as the match crept into stoppage time, goalkeeper Rais MBohli squandered an easy clearance and hit it right to the feet of Fire forward Robert Earnshaw, who chipped it over the head of MBohli into the bottom right corner of the net. The draw severely dents the Unions playoff hopes, but they are still alive and will need to put in a three-point effort if they want to keep their chances alive. This one, again, we had it in our hands, Union interim manager Curtin said. We let it slip away. Im going to be upset about it for a long time. Columbus, meanwhile, is coming off a narrow 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Revs midfielder Lee Nguyen broke the deadlock in the 20th minute of Saturdays clash after collecting a failed clearance from the Crew defense and slotting a cool finish into the side-netting. The lead, however, lasted just five minutes as Ethan Finlay brought Columbus level moments later. The Crew attacker took a pass from Tony Tchani and eased past Jose Goncalves with a brilliant first touch before slipping a shot past Bobby Shuttleworth. The two sides remained level until the 67th minute when Chris Tierneys free kick from the left flank was met by Jermaine Jones, who nodded the delivery into the back of the net for the winning goal. I think if you look at the manner of how we approached the game in terms of wanting to come here, wanting to win no matter how good New England is at home, and creating a number of 100 percent goal chances - that you can take from the game, said Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter. The Crew will also be shorthanded on Saturday, missing key forward Federico Higuain and defender Waylon Francis. Air Max 270 Outlet . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15. Air Max 270 Outlet Italia . Lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Blake Comeau – The Penguins winger had a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win against Toronto.MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Braun stepped into the batters box, admittedly a bit anxious. The sellout crowd at Miller Park quickly put him at ease, showering him with a standing ovation. First day back on the job after a drug suspension was already a day to remember for the Brewers slugger. Then he added another unique footnote to his career. Braun went 1 for 4 and stole a base that helped set up a two-run inning, and later was ruled out in the first call overturned under baseballs expanded replay system as Milwaukee beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 on Monday in a season opener. The former MVP was returning from suspension for the final 65 games last year in the Biogenesis doping scandal. Played his first game as a right fielder, too. What a way to start the season. "It was special. It was an emotional moment for me," Braun said. Braun said the ovation affected him. He flied out to left. "Swung at some pitches that I typically dont swing at, but its something that Im very thankful for and very appreciative," Braun said. Among the 45,691 people in attendance was Commissioner Bud Selig. Two years ago, Braun became the first MLB player to get a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs overturned. Originally banned for 50 games, he filed a grievance and won. "Fans are fans. Thats the way its supposed to be. Hes their hometown player and it was a wonderful reaction. I wish everybody well," Selig said. Later, Braun had his infield single to lead off the sixth overturned to out after the call was challenged by Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez under Major League Baseballs new replay format. The review took 58 seconds. "I had a pretty good idea that I was out," Braun said, drawing laughs. "For all of us, we just hope they get it right, and they did get it right." Yovani Gallardo (1-0) tossed six shutout innings for the win. He allowed just four hits in becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to make five straight opening day starts. A Braves lineup being relied on to help overcome the adversity to the injury-plagued pitching staff was silenced. Andrelton Simmons finished with two hits. "You go up there, your third at-bat and (Gallardo) will throw you something completely different," said cleanup hitter Chris Johnson, who went 1 for 4 with a double. "Where did that come from?? . Air Max 270 Prezzo Basso. .. Hes one of the tougher guys in the league." In a bit of a surprise, Francisco Rodriguez struck out two in the ninth for his 305th career save. The veteran righty looked fine about two weeks after accidentally stepping on a cactus during spring training. Manager Ron Roenicke said he turned to Rodriguez because Jim Henderson, who had 28 saves last season, was having a little trouble of late with his stuff. He hoped a couple outings outside the ninth would help Henderson get straightened out. With injuries to pitchers including Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy, Atlanta started Julio Teheran (0-1) after a nice spring. He allowed seven hits in six innings. "For his first start, for his first opening day, I thought he did a terrific job," Gonzalez said. But all eyes in Miller Park were on Braun to start after the 2011 NL MVP played his first game since July 21. He was banned the next day. It seemed like all was forgiven for most in attendance. Brauns hit and steal set up a two-run double by Aramis Ramirez in the fourth. "Its special, we all know what he went through last year," Ramirez said. "For the fans to do that, it was very special." Braun and Ramirez also missed time last season because of injuries. With their third- and fourth-place hitters back, the Brewers like their chances with an offence that also features the speedy Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura at the top of the order. If the rest of the starting rotation throws like Gallardo, Milwaukee could challenge St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in the NL Central. NOTES: A trio of Wisconsin-born Olympians from the 2014 Winter Games in Russia threw out the ceremonial first pitches: Brianna Decker and Jessica Vetter were each members of the U.S. womens hockey team that won silver, while Matt Antoine won the bronze in the skeleton competition. ... Injured RHP Gavin Floyd and LHP Mike Minor are on the same rehab program in the minors for the Braves. Both are scheduled to throw Thursday and then go every fifth day barring any setbacks. The Braves plan to shuffle them between Triple-A Gwinnett and Double-A Mississippi. ... With four strikeouts, Gallardo assumed sole possession of second place on the teams career strikeout list with 1,084. Ben Sheets is first with 1,206 strikeouts. ' ' '