Öffentlicher Bereich » top-10 finishes on the European Tour this ye

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Detroit Tigers had seen enough from their shaky bullpen to know something had to be done. So the AL Central leaders acquired right-hander Joakim Soria. "Obviously, Im excited to have Joakim on the team," manager Brad Ausmus said Thursday before the Tigers began a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels. "Anytime you can get help of his calibre, especially at the back end of the bullpen, I dont think there would be a manager who wouldnt be excited about it." Detroit dealt pitching prospects Corey Knebel and Jake Thompson to the Texas Rangers to get the 30-year-old Soria on Wednesday night. "We gave up a lot, guys that we valued," Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers general manager said. "But it was a necessity." The Tigers have been working on improving their bullpen for weeks because closer Joe Nathan has been inconsistent and Joel Hanrahan apparently will not be able to pitch this year. Setup man Joba Chamberlain has been their only reliable reliever. Soria was 1-3 with a 2.70 ERA, saving 17 games in 19 chances this year with the Rangers. He is 15-18 with a 2.51 and 177 saves in 199 chances over five years with the Kansas City Royals and two in Texas. The Rangers signed Soria to an $8 million, two-year contract before last season as he was recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. His contract includes a $7 million club option for 2015 with a $500,000 buyout, making him even more attractive to the Tigers. Soria sounded as if he will be happy with whatever role the Tigers give him. He is joining a franchise aiming for its first World Series championship since 1984 and leaving a last-place team that has had high hopes dashed by a slew of injuries. "This is a good feeling," the Mexican-born Soria said at his locker in Angel Stadium while accepting welcoming handshakes from several of his new teammates. "Im grateful to Texas, because they picked me up when I was hurt. So I wish all the best for them. But now Im in a different family, its a different feeling. Im willing to do whatever they want me to do and do whatever it takes to help this team win as many games as we can. My goal is to win the World Series." Ausmus said that Nathan, a six-time All-Star, will remain as the closer with Soria starting out as the seventh-inning reliever and Chamberlain staying in his current setup role. "Id probably leave Joba in the eighth inning because hes pitched so well there," Ausmus said. "I talked to Joakim about pitching in the eighth if Joba wasnt available, and in the ninth of Joe wasnt available. So he was open to help any way he can. Hes pitched in all those roles before, so having someone with Joakims experience in the ninth if Joe cant go is enormous." Ausmus is grateful for the chance to have two closers with All-Star credentials at his disposal, but insisted that Nathan is his guy right now -- although he wouldnt use him more than three days in a row. "I never saw (Soria) as a threat as a teammate," Nathan said. "Hes another great arm that we brought over here. Hes a gamer. Hes a winner. He wants the baseball and he just loves to compete." Nathan has struggled at times this season, but not enough to give Ausmus a reason to take him out of the closer role. "Even though Ive done quite a bit in this game, one of those things Ive also done is pull myself out of the closer role when I dont feel as if Im helping the club," Nathan said. "But right now is not one of those instances. Im definitely throwing the ball with more consistency and getting a lot more swings and misses, which is always a good sign. But with that said, this is Brads decision." When the Tigers were considering making a move to add Soria, they asked Nathan and Ian Kinsler about him. "Both of them were effusive in their praise of him as a player and a pitcher and as far as his makeup on the team," Dombrowski recalled. "One of the comments was, Why dont we have him yet? It was a real plus for us to know we can have another quality pitcher for next year." To help this season, Detroit signed Hanrahan to a $1 million, one-year deal in May -- a year after he had elbow surgery -- to pitch out of the bullpen. Dombrowski, though, said it is "highly unlikely," that Hanrahan will pitch this season. "Were not counting on him at all," Dombrowski said. Stan Smith Clearance . 25 against Miami. Hillis left Browns Stadium about two hours before kickoff, a decision that has led to speculation he was upset over ongoing negotiations with the club on a contract extension. Stan Smith Wholesale China . Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were second with 77.01 points, just behind Olympic bronze medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. The four-time world champs lead at 79. http://www.wholesalestansmith.com/ . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season. Cheap Stan Smith Online . The CFL club is making the move after holding its camp and regular-season practices at the University of Toronto campus in Mississauga, Ont. Wholesale Stan Smith . According to a report from CSN Bay Area, the 49ers are bracing for 6-8 game suspension for their outside linebacker.Shanghai, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. McDowells last victory on the European Tour came at the Alstom Open de France earlier this year, while his latest PGA Tour win was at the 2013 RBC Heritage. Obviously the course played fairly difficult today, said McDowell. The wind direction had switched completely from practice, some of the game plan had switched a little bit and some of the holes were playing pretty long. A big key to this golf course is driving the ball well and I drove it very well today. I think I missed only one fairway, which is very important. The greens are in fantastic shape and I actually putted very well U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker, Chris Kirk, Tim Clark and Tommy Fleetwood are tied for second at 3-under 69 at Sheshan International Golf Club. Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, Hyung-sung Kim, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, JB Holmes, Henrik Stenson, Jaco Van Zyl and Dawie Van Der Walt are all deadlocked at 2-under 70. McDowell, beginning his first round on the back nine, stormed out of the gate to grab the early lead and he never let go despite a couple miscues down the stretch. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland quickly got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 first. Following a pair of pars on 11 and 12, McDowell drained four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 13, with a par coming on 15. After making the turn at 5-under with a par on 18, McDowell kept going strong with another par on one followed by a pair of gains on two and three. At 7- under through 12 holes, McDowell finally began to slow down as he dropped his first shot on the par-4 fourth. After a trio of pars from No. 5, McDowell bogeyed his second hole at eight, dropping him back to minus-5. He finished with a par at No. 9 to end there. Seven-under par through 12 holes was a beautiful start, and alghouth I dropped a couple coming in, all in all Im very, very pleased with 5-under par on what I thought was a reasonably tricky day, McDowell said.dddddddddddd This is as tough off the tee as I think Ive ever seen this golf course. Kaymer, also playing the back nine first, made the turn at minus-1 after making birdies on 13 and 16 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kaymers second bogey on one dropped him back to even par, but birdies on two and five had him back in red numbers. Kaymer made his third bogey on six, but a pair of birdies on seven and eight got Kaymer to minus-3. He rounded out his day with a par on No. 9. Fowler started off with two straight pars on 10 and 11 followed by another gain on 14. Fowler traded a bogey on 17 for a birdie on 18 to make the turn at minus-3. Birdies on two and eight were canceled out by bogeys on four and seven as Fowler finished his day tied for second at 3-under. Snedeker had a solid front nine with birdies on two and seven. He dropped two shots on the back nine at 12 and 15, but gains on 14, 16 and 18 were good enough to put Snedeker at minus-3 through one round. Kirk made his move up the leaderboard on his first nine with birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 18 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kirk played his final nine at even par with a gain on six and a bogey on five. Fleetwood made the turn at minus-1 following birdies on two and five along with a bogey on six. Fleetwood fell back to even par after a bogey on 10, but he finished strong with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 13. Clark started off hot with three straight birdies from two, but bogeys on five and seven gave two of those shots back. Another birdie on nine was canceled out by a bogey on 10. Clark then made three birdies in four holes from 13. He also bogeyed 15. NOTES: Of the 80 players to tee off on Thursday, only 27 of them finished the first round under par ... McDowell has 10 top-10 finishes on the European Tour this year, including his win at the Open de France ... McDowells only other victory in Asia came at The Championship at Laguna National in 2008 ... 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