Allgemein » werent baffled by anything in the fourth. "The fir

GUELPH, Ont. -- The Guelph Storm drew first blood in the Ontario Hockey League final, but head coach Scott Walker looked as if his team had just dropped the opener. Jason Dickinsons goal 57 seconds into overtime gave the Storm a 3-2 win over the North Bay Battalion on Thursday for a 1-0 series lead. But Walker was far from happy with his teams performance. "To be honest with you, we have to play better," Walker said. "We have to focus on winning our battles, skating more and we cant take for granted that were here. They (the Battalion) earned their spot and we earned our spot. We have to start skating and start playing. "We did it in the first and then it was like we werent satisfied. There was something more out there, something better. There isnt anything better than what we were doing in the first." The first period was all Guelph, as they outshot the Battalion 16-6 and beat them to pucks right from the opening faceoff. Holding the leagues most potent offence scoreless in the first period seemed to give North Bay more confidence as the game went on. Battalion head coach Stan Butler was happy with the way his team matched up against the heavily favoured Storm. "I thought we played hard and it was a pretty even game. Once you get in overtime, one shot and its done," Butler said. "They have a great team and thats the style we have to play. We have to play hard, we have to check up ice, track the puck hard and not give them time and space. "If we sit back and watch like we did in the first period and allow them time and space, theyll do serious damage." The Battalion benefited from the scoreless opening 20 minutes by taking it to the Storm in the second. They were rewarded early when Ben Thomson, on a power play, snapped a fat rebound past goalie Justin Nichols, who made 32 saves on the night, for a 1-0 lead at 3:06. But Guelphs Brock McGinn evened the scored a minute later. North Bay continued to play a tough defensive game, holding the Storm to just seven shots in the second period. The Battalion regained the lead 3:35 into the third, as Jamie Lewis wrist shot from the faceoff circle found the top corner past Nichols. But Guelph made the most of the few scoring chances it had, and came back to tie the game once again on its second shot of the third period. Robby Fabbri found Mitchell cruising over the blue-line and he ripped a wrist shot over Smith for his 11th goal of the playoffs at 12:23. With the goal, Mitchell moved ahead of teammate Kerby Rychel, into first place in playoff points with 24. Guelph ended the game on its first shot of the extra period, with Dickinson wristing a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle over Smiths glove for his sixth goal of the playoffs. Smith made 27 saves. Guelph finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play, while North Bay was 1-for-2 with the man advantage. North Bay captain Barclay Goodrow said the Battalion are looking forward to stepping back on the ice in less than 24 hours for a chance at evening the series before heading home for Game 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. "I think the advantage of playing back-to-back is you can get right back at it and you dont lose too much of the momentum you gained from the game before. Hopefully, we come out tomorrow and forget what happened tonight and keep on going." Royals Jerseys China . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. Stitched Royals Jerseys .com) - The Golden State Warriors have started another winning streak and theyll try to pad it Tuesday night when they head to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . -- Phil Mickelson came to the St. Kansas City Royals Pro Shop .com) - Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-pointers, as Memphis took control in the third quarter and fended off a Mavericks rally en route to a 114-105 win in a Southwest Division showdown. Royals Jerseys 2019 . -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history.CHICAGO -- Some hitters arent comfortable swinging at 3-0 pitches. Alexei Ramirez and Jose Abreu arent among them. Ramirez hit a grand slam to fuel Chicagos seven-run fourth inning and Jose Abreu hit his major league-leading 13th homer and drove in two runs -- both homers came on 3-0 pitches -- to lead the White Sox to a 9-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Ramirezs blast was his sixth career grand slam and broke open a 2-2 tie. "I was looking for a good pitch to connect, something that was over the plate," he said through a translator. "Thats what I did and I was able to hit it." Abreu was the designated hitter because of a nagging left ankle injury. He went 3 for 4 and leads the AL with 37 RBIs. His blast to straight away centre was estimated at 442-feet. "You dont see balls hit like that very much," said White Sox bench coach Mark Parent, who filled in for manager Robin Ventura in the postgame news conference although Ventura managed. "Well probably do the same thing tomorrow, DH him and try to get him a couple of days off on the road." Tyler Flowers also homered for the White Sox, who pounded out 15 hits. Andre Rienzo (3-0) allowed three runs on four hits in 5 2-3 innings and the bullpen pitched 3 1-3 scoreless innings. Brandon McCarthy (1-6) allowed nine hits and seven runs -- all in the fourth inning. "I have no idea what happened; I really dont know," McCarthy said. "I dont know if they changed their approach or just got super aggressive. I was throwing a lot of strikes, they just started jumping on everything." Arizona went up 2-0 on Gerardo Parras two-run homer in the third inning. The lead appeared secure because McCarthy was cruising, retiring all nine batters he faced in the first three innings on a total of 33 pitches. Things quickly turned in the bottom of the fourth. Alejandro De Aza broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff double and scored on a single by the next batter, Gordon Beckham. Following Connor Gillaspies single, Abreu drove in Beckham with a single to tie the score at 2 and make it four straight hits.dddddddddddd Things were just getting started. Following a strikeout by Adam Dunn for the first out, Dayan Viciedo singled to load the bases and Ramirez broke the game open by sending a drive into the left-field bullpen. The White Sox werent done as the next three batters singled. McCarthy, who threw 31 pitches in the fourth inning, was knocked from the game on the last of those hits, a run-scoring single by De Aza, to make it 7-2. "Even looking back, theyre not terrible pitches, theyre not anything different than what I was doing the first three innings," McCarthy said. "Its just I dont know, I dont know how you get 9 hits out of 10 hitters, when I felt like I was doing the things I needed to do. Im baffled at this point." The Chicago hitters werent baffled by anything in the fourth. "The first time around, he was able to throw his sinker, he was able to throw his curveball efficiently," Ramirez said. "The second time, I just kind of lay off of that stuff and thats how I was able to get a good pitch. I think thats what everybody else did." The Diamondbacks got a run back in the top of the fifth on a run-scoring single by A.J. Pollock. Abreu then homered in the seventh to make it 8-3. Flowers had a leadoff homer in the eighth to close out the scoring. NOTES: Chicago RHP Nate Jones, whos been sidelined all season with a mysterious back injury, had surgery Monday to repair a pinched nerve. "It is a relief," he said, "because after surgery Im not feeling any pain in my hip." Jones isnt expected to begin baseball-related activity for four weeks, but expects to pitch this season. ... Chicago manager Robin Ventura will miss Saturdays game to attend the graduation of his daughter, Rachel, at Oklahoma State. Bench coach Mark Parent will manage. ... LHP Wade Miley (2-3) faces Jose Quintana (1-2) in the second game of the series. ' ' '