Shoutbox » the expectations of what happens to a man for four

CHICAGO -- Trevor Plouffe is certain that even though his Minnesota Twins are stuck in last place in the AL Central, theyve stayed mentally tough. Thats why the third baseman wasnt surprised to see his team rally an inning after losing a late lead and beat the Chicago White Sox 8-6 Saturday night. "Weve kind of been resilient all year," Plouffe said. "Well take the blow and get back up and start fighting again." Plouffe got four hits and the Twins stopped Jose Abreu, rallying to end a three-game skid. Abreus hitting streak ended at 21 games, longest in the AL this season. He went 0 for 3 with two walks, one of them intentional. The Cuban rookie, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, had reached base in 10 straight plate appearances before he popped up in the first inning. "Thank God," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said when asked about the hitting streak. "We pitched around him a couple times in situations. You know what, the guy is a great hitter and when a guy is swinging the bat as good as hes swinging and youve got to pitch around him a little bit, youve got to try to get him to chase." Plouffe doubled twice, drove in two runs and started the three-run eighth-inning rally with a one-out single. Oswaldo Arcia was credited with a two-run double in the eighth, giving the Twins a 7-6 lead, when his liner glanced off the glove of left fielder Alejandro De Aza. Adam Eaton hit three doubles and a single for Chicago, but was thrown out at second by left fielder Eduardo Nunez trying to stretch a single to end the bottom of the eighth. "It was stupid. Stupid. Stupid on my part," Eaton said. "I need to pick up the ball better. I saw it go off his glove and kind of thought it bounced a different direction. I thought it went toward more the warning track. Thats ignorant on my part. Thats stupid, unbelievable how dumb that was." Ryan Pressly (1-0) won and Glen Perkins pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances. Ronald Belisario (4-8) took the loss. In the opener of the series Friday, Chicago scored four runs in the eighth for a 10-8 win. This time, the Twins got three in the eighth and Danny Santana added a solo homer in the ninth. Alexei Ramirez homered for the White Sox. Chicago took a 6-4 lead in the seventh with four runs. Eaton hit a two-run double, Gordon Beckham had an RBI double and Ramirez singled home a run. Kurt Suzuki hit a single off Belisario in the eighth, and the White Sox then brought in closer Jake Petricka with runners on first and second. After a groundout, Arcia hit a liner that got De Aza turned around. CANT WATCH White Sox manager Robin Ventura is one of the few people who really knows what Paul George is going through right now. The Indiana Pacers forward broke his lower left leg in a gruesome accident Friday when his foot hit the basket stanchion and his leg snapped. Ventura suffered his own awful injury in 1997 when he broke and dislocated his right ankle on a slide into home plate. "I havent seen it," Ventura said. "I dont ... Im not going watch it. I dont need to watch any of that. You feel sorry for him. Its a freak accident, but I dont want to see it. Ive had enough." ON DECK In the finale of the three-game series Sunday, Minnesota starts right-hander Kyle Gibson (9-8, 3.94) vs. left-hander Jose Quintana (6-7, 3.15). Trevon Duval Rockets Jersey . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies. Isaiah Hartenstein Jersey .Y. -- Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire will have less time to remain eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot under changes made Saturday. https://www.rocketsrookiesshop.com/Michael-Carter-Williams-City-Edition-Jersey/ .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. Michael Frazier Rockets Jersey . -- The Val-dOr Foreurs made it to the Memorial Cup semifinal thanks to their workhorse goaltender and their ability to hang around like a bad cold. Tyson Chandler Jersey . "Canada," Bolland said with a smile. "Is that a question?" One day earlier, though, fellow Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri wasnt so sure his home and native land could pull off the win against the United States in the semi-finals of the Olympic hockey tournament.We dont look at birth certificates around here That was Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice responding to a question about the big per-game minutes Mark Scheifele (21) and Jacob Trouba (20) will play this season. Despite both being in only their second full NHL seasons, they will be relied upon to be contributors, or players that can help us win, as Coach Maurice puts it. And that is totally fine with both players. Scheifele, along with many other NHL players, spent the summer working out under the guidance of former long-time NHLer Gary Roberts. I dont think I took a day off in the summer. I made huge gains. I ate the right food, drank the right water and did everything I could to put the best things into my body and make myself the strongest and fastest I can be. Upon their return to the NHL the Jets made Scheifele their first pick in the 2011 Draft. Following an excellent pre-season he played seven regular season games, scored his first NHL goal in Toronto, and was then sent back to the Barrie Colts of the OHL. After his junior season was done, he joined the IceCaps for their playoffs. What would have been his second training camp was wiped out by the lockout. Because he was a first round pick he was able to leave his junior team and join the Jets for a very short camp. He played four regular season games before going back to the OHL where he became a dominant player, putting up big time numbers in both the regular season and playoffs. But many viewed his return to junior as the Jets made a bad selection. He will not be the player they thought he would be. That is all history now following a 13-21-34 output in 63 games last season. And he was playing the best hockey of the season when he went down with a knee injury and was done for the year. He recorded 29 points, including 12 goals in his final 39 games. In his first 16 games under Coach Maurice he went 6-5-11. But it may very well have been a late November six-game road trip where it became clear that he was an NHL player. He scored the first goal of the trip in New Jersey and the final goal of the trip – an overtime winner in Tampa. And coincidence or not, the Jets were on an 11-3-1 run when he got hurt and as other injuries piled up, won only seven of the remaining 19. What turned out to be a huge positive for Scheifele was Maurice being named to the coaching staff of Team Canada for the World Championship in Belarus. It was a big help to my mental state to play in the Worlds after my knee injury. I didnt have to worry about the knee coming into camp. Plus I learned a lot. By the end of the tournament Scheifele became one of the teams best face-off men. Over the summer Maurice toyed with what his lines may look like to start the season. The combination that drew a lot of discussion, and anticipation, was Scheifele between Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane. Three players will skill, size and speed. Unfortunately early in Game 1 Kane suffered a lower body injury, so that experiiment has been put on hold.dddddddddddd Jacob Trouba was the Jets top pick in the 2012 Draft, number nine overall. He joined the team the following spring but did not play. After a very good training camp, he made the team for the 2013-14 season. His rookie year was probably WAY more than anyone expected. He played 25:02 in his NHL debut, a road game in Edmonton. He was a plus-2 and scored his first NHL goal. To Trouba, the big minutes were no big deal. He always played big minutes, so why not at this level? All went well until an injury in the eighth game of the year put him out for 17 games. When all was said and done he set a franchise record for goals scored by a rookie defenceman with 10 (including a short-handed goal and an overtime goal), led all rookies in per-game average ice time at 22:26 including a career high of 27:43 in a home game in March against Vancouver, and 21 times led the Jets in per-game ice time as he played in all situations. Like Scheifele his hockey season too ended with a trip to the World Championship, as he was part of Team USA. An injury brought him home early, but did not keep him from a hard summer of preparation. Going into his second season Trouba knows his role will be expanded. Coach has made that very clear, and that is fine with him. Trouba feels hes gotten off to a slow start. There are areas I need to be better at and I will work on that. Need to move the puck a little quicker for one. Both players know it will not be easier in year two. They perhaps flew under the radar for a bit of last season, but that will not be the case this season. Although opposition teams did try and expose the two youngsters last season, without a whole lot of success. When asked about the two, this from Coach Maurice. The sophomore jinx is not on the player, its on the expectations of what happens to a man for four months, five months, in the summer. They are five months older, not five-year vets. So my expectations are that Im hoping for both those guys to be a bit better than they were last year and that would be a good curve. We wont do it statistically, whether Scheif scores 12, it wont be looked at as a down year, its about development, getting on the ice, playing harder roles probably first, giving them tougher assignments. But I didnt look at those two guys names on the board and expect them to go from five months older to being a lot better than the rest of the guys in the league. That being said, in our structure and on our team, weve got them in really important positions. Positions that sometimes take players years to get to. So they are going to have some times where they look like theyve really come on and well be excited about that, and there is going to be times both struggle a bit with their role. Weve asked them to do a big job. Yes, the NHL has become a young league, and Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba are two great examples. But both are ready for the challenge that lies ahead. ' ' '