this time, its important for him to back his skills and know what

NEW YORK -- Bryan Mitchell was on the verge of making the New York Yankees out of spring training. Then he spent the next four months working his way back from toe surgery.The culmination of his recovery is pitching in a playoff race.Mitchell will be on the mound Monday night when Yankees open a three-game interleague series with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.Mitchell injured the toe during the final week of spring training, costing him a spot on the opening day roster. He finally returned to the Yankees on Wednesday and allowed four hits in five-plus scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.Mitchell became the third Yankee since 2010 to throw at least five scoreless innings in a season debut but the first since Dave Eiland in 1990 to do so in a season debut that took place in September.It feels weird coming back at this point in the season, Mitchell said. Were in this chase right now. Every game is important. Once I finally got out of the game, it was pretty rewarding looking back on the season. It feels really good.While Eiland did it as the 67-95 Yankees were playing out the string and finishing with the worst record in baseball, Mitchell did it in the midst of New Yorks attempt to get back to the playoffs. Mitchells performance helped the Yankees to a fourth straight win in what ultimately became a seven-game winning streak.The streak ended with a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. Luis Cessa gave up three home runs and the Yankees offense consisted of Chase Headleys 14th home run and Brett Gardners RBI single.While losing for the fifth time in 18 games might be shrugged off, every defeat gets magnified this time of year. The Yankees are four game behind Boston in the AL East and two behind Baltimore in the wild-card race and those teams are facing each other at Fenway Park.Every loss hurts just because its a day that you dont make up any ground or you lose ground, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Every loss stings just because of how few games are left.The Dodgers have been in first place every day since Aug. 21, have won 13 of their last 20 games and lead the San Francisco Giants by three games in the National League West.Los Angeles had an interesting weekend in Miami as Clayton Kershaw returned from the disabled on Friday, Rich Hill was pulled after seven perfect innings on Saturday and the offense did not get its first hit until the fifth inning against Jose Urena.The Dodgers have played interleague games in Toronto and Tampa Bay this season. Manager Dave Roberts has used five players at designated hitter but hinted Justin Turner and Andre Ethier could get starts there.Turner did not play Sunday, but he is batting .302 with 22 home runs and 59 RBI in his last 75 games since June 10. Ethier was activated from the disabled list and was 0-for-3 in his season debut.Los Angeles has used 13 different starting pitchers this year and Jose DeLeon makes his second career start. DeLeon won his major league debut on Sept. 4 against San Diego, allowing four runs (three earned) and five hits in six innings. He had nine strikeouts, the second most by a Dodger in his debut only behind the 10 Kazuhisa Ishii had in 2002 and Pedro Astacio had in 1992.Im happy for him, said Los Angeles catcher Austin Barnes, who also caught De Leon at Triple-A Oklahoma City this year. Hes fun to catch. He was pounding his fastball early in the count and hes got a great change-up.Before joining the Dodgers, DeLeon was 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 16 starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.The teams have met in the World Series in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952 1953, 1955 and 1956 when the Dodgers were based in Brooklyn. The Yankees won each of those except for 1955 when Johnny Podres pitched a shutout in Game 7 in original Yankee Stadium.Since moving from Brooklyn, the Dodgers and Yankees met in the 1963, 1977, 1978 and 1981 World Series. The Yankees won in 1977 and 1978, and the Dodgers won in 1963 and 1981.In the regular season, the teams have split 10 meetings, with eight taking place at Dodger Stadium. The only time Los Angeles visited Yankee Stadium was June 18, 2013, when Yasiel Puig went 4-for-9 and hit home run off Adam Warren in the second game of a doubleheader. Michael Brantley Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. George Springer Jersey . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/jose-cruz-jr-astros-jersey/ . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Roy Oswalt Astros Jersey .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. Brad Peacock Astros Jersey . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, has kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the teams composition for the second Test against India, which starts at Sabina Park on Saturday. He said the pitch looked full of moisture on the eve of the Test, but would wait till the morning of the match before taking a final decision.We will take the final decision tomorrow morning, see how the pitch looks, he said. Yesterday it looked a bit green and this morning there was a lot of moisture.Despite the look of the pitch, Holder felt it was difficult to predict how it would behave.The last game we played here against Australia there was not this amount of grass on the pitch, he said. Previously there was grass, but the pitch still ends up being on the slower side. To be fair, as I said, probably its difficult really to predict how the pitch will play here in Jamaica. Going into this game tomorrow morning, I just need to take a final decision.West Indies went into the first Test in Antigua with only one genuine quick bowler, in Shannon Gabriel, with allrounders Holder and Carlos Brathwaite playing a holding role with their seam-up. Holder did not reveal if either Alzarri Joseph or Miguel Cummins would come into the team for the second Test, but had words of encouragement for Joseph, the uncapped 19-year-old fast bowler, when asked if he was ready for Test cricket.To be fair, I have never played against Alzarri, never seen him play cricket live, Holder said. But I have seen him play cricket on TV. And there iis obviously a lot of talk going behind him.dddddddddddd He has talent, he has the ability, he has pace. I support him fully. He has done what is done to get here.We just need to get behind him if he is making his debut tomorrow. If he plays in the near future, we just need to give him support. Support is all we can give. At this time, its important for him to back his skills and know what got him here. He got here by hard work, he got here by performances. He will just continue doing what he has been doing before and if given the opportunity, I wish him all the best.In a West Indies line-up that struggled in both innings of the first Test in Antigua, Jermaine Blackwood perhaps struggled the most, falling for ducks in both innings. Since scoring 92 against Sri Lanka in Galle last year, Blackwood has made 78 runs in nine Test innings at an average of 8.67. Holder did not specify if Blackwood would retain his place at Sabina Park, his home ground, but said the middle-order batsman had his full support.I havent picked the team as yet, Holder said. Jermaine has done well for us in the last few seasons. But I support him, I back him 100%. If he is given a chance to continue, I hope he will go and put out a good performance. He has got a Test century and has done well against some of the best bowling attacks. Everybody goes through a rough patch. Its just about him turning it around. ' ' '