2006). Considering that Johnson was selected after playing

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Garrett Richards felt he was getting squeezed on balls and strikes, and he saw nothing special about his stuff. He still led the Los Angeles Angels to yet another victory in his breakout season. Richards pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning to win his fourth straight decision, Kole Calhoun had a two-run double and the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 Wednesday night for their fifth straight win. Richards (8-2) surrendered his third homer of the year, but recovered for his fourth victory in a dominant June. He issued five walks in his 100th big league appearance, but the right-hander stranded two Twins in the third and again in the seventh. "I did a lot of things I wasnt happy with, but I kept us in the game," Richards said. "I felt like I was getting squeezed a little bit, but that stuff is going to happen. Youve got to move on." Richards moved on splendidly to another impressive start that left him with a 1.06 ERA in June. He has yielded just four runs and 20 hits in 34 1-3 innings over his last five starts. "Hes got pretty good stuff," Twins catcher Eric Fryer said. "Its a pretty easy 96, 97 (mph) coming out of his hand and a sharp breaking ball, and it seemed like he was throwing that for strikes a little bit more often than what weve seen on the video." Minnesota got two more runners on with one out in the eighth to chase Richards, and Kevin Jepsen yielded Kendrys Morales RBI single before Albert Pujols alertly snagged Eduardo Escobars high-bouncing grounder to end the inning. Howie Kendrick had an RBI single, and Erick Aybar got two hits and stole two bases as Los Angeles won for the 14th time in 16 games at Angel Stadium, moving to a season-high 10 games over .500 at 43-33. The Angels are unbeaten on their homestand, matching their longest winning streak of the year. Manager Mike Scioscia jokingly credited the Angels 14 runs in their last two games against Minnesota to hitting coach Don Baylor, who returned to the dugout after breaking his leg while catching a ceremonial first pitch on opening day. "Our record and the standings are irrelevant right now," Scioscia said. "We need to continue to evolve as a team. ... It really has no bearing where youre playing or who youre playing, but how youre playing." Aybar, Grant Green and C.J. Cron each drove in a run for Los Angeles. Pujols had two hits and scored, while Mike Trout went 1 for 3 with a walk. Josh Hamilton, who hasnt homered since June 3, doubled and drove two balls to the centre-field wall. Oswaldo Arcia homered for the Twins, who have lost seven straight road games for the first time since September 2011. Minnesotas Yohan Pino (0-1) got through just three innings in his second major league appearance, yielding seven hits and five runs. "Our kid didnt really have an easy inning out there," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They fought off an awful lot of pitches, fouled off a lot of pitches, and gave him some fits out there. Thats a good hitting team with some veterans who know how to do some things." Arcia snapped a 0-for-31 skid with his fifth homer in the second inning. Richards hadnt given up a homer in June, allowing just two in his first 95 innings this season. The Angels tied it in the bottom half when Aybar doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Green. Calhoun then drove in Cron and Chris Iannetta with a two-strike, two-out double down the right-field line. Minnesota rookie Danny Santana left in the third inning after feeling soreness his left knee while running out a double. The promising shortstop and leadoff hitter, who pulled up sharply while running into second, has a hit in 27 of his first 37 major league games. NOTES: Anthony Swarzak pitched three perfect innings in relief of Pino. ... Richards had never started against the Twins. ... Minnesota activated OF Aaron Hicks from the disabled list and optioned him to Double-A New Britain. Hicks strained his shoulder while diving for a ball June 7 in Houston. ... As part of a Halfway to Christmas promotional night, the Angels handed out more than 35,000 Santa hats while festooning the Big A with wreaths, garlands, fake snow and real reindeer. The crowd set the Guinness world record for the most people wearing the holiday headgear in the same place during the fifth inning. Wholesale Seahawks Jerseys . Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the Houston Texans No. 1 pick in the draft, was on the field Tuesday for the first time with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J. Cheap Seahawks Jerseys Authentic .Y. - Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs didnt flinch in the face of adversity. http://www.cheapseahawksjerseyselite.com/ . As each game passes (each has played close with the exception of last night) it becomes clearer just how evenly matched these two teams are and how one mistake, or one bad inning, is likely to sway the result. Cheap Seahawks Jerseys . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors. Cheap Seahawks Jerseys China .com) - Carmelo Anthony tallied 31 points to help the New York Knicks continue their improved play of late with a 100-92 victory over a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder squad.With the 2014 CFL Draft set to take place next Tuesday in Toronto, CFL on TSN analyst Duane Forde breaks down the top prospects. Today, he looks at the defensive line. 1. Evan Gill (DT, Manitoba) You Should Know: He has grown up around the Bisons program, as his grandfather, Pat Gill, was the team manager for forty years and his mother, Denise, is the current manager.The Good: He had a tremendous season, earning one of two CIS invitations to the prestigious East West Shrine Game in Florida.The Bad: Expected to shine, his on-field performance at the CFL Combine was underwhelming. He had added muscle to his frame but seemed to lack his usual explosion. 2. Dylan Ainsworth (DE, Western) The Good: He is remarkably athletic for a defensive lineman, with his scores on the movement tests actually stacking up well against the top linebacker prospects. This should allow him to contribute immediately on special teams.The Bad: Hes a little light for a defensive end but currently lacks the experience playing in space to be a linebacker. Keep in mind, however, that theres plenty of time for development, as hes one of the youngest players in the entire draft class. 3. Quinn Smith (DT, Concordia) The Good: He turned in the breakout performance of CFL Combine weekend, running a 4.82 40-yard dash at 300 lbs., and completely dominating the one-on-one session.The Bad: A failed drug test at the Combine for the banned substance Stanozolol casts doubt on much of what he achieved that weekend. 4. David Ménard (DE/DT, Montreal) The Good: The 2010 RSEQ Rookie of the Year was third among draft eligible players in the 2013 CIS sack race (8 sacks in 8 games) and won the bench press competition at the CFL Combine (33 reps).The Bad: Although he posted solid numbers last season, his most productive college season was his first, raising the question of whether he is already approaching his ceiling. 5. Nigel Romick (DE, Saint Marys) The Good: Hes 65", 240 lbs. and moves very wellThe Bad: He may be the ultimate "tweener", with the body type of a defensive end, skill set of a tackle, and many scouts projecting him as a linebacker. Other Contenders:• Mathieu Girard (DT, Montreal) – 64", 290 lbs.; among national leaders with 16.5 sacks over last two seasons; missed CFL Combine due to injury; also a highly regarded long snapper• Dylan Roper (DE, Simon Fraser) – high motor; 6 sacks in 2013; 27 bench press reps at CFL Combine• Derek Wiggan (DE, Queens) – 61", 250; smart, technically sound player is a three-time OUA All-Star• Kirby Fletcher (DT, Acadia) – 63", 300 lbs.; two-time AUS All-Star• James Tuck (DE, York) – at 511", 225, a shift to LB is likely; athleticism and effort make him a strong special teams candidate Also on the Radar (alphabetically): Sanmi Adereti (St. Francis Xavier), Shaquille Armstrong (Concordia), Ranji Atwal (Manitoba), Michael Dadzie (Regina), Vincent Desloges (Laval), Adam Dickson (McMaster), Jeffery Finley (Guelph), Jean-Christophe Gagnon (Sherbrooke), Steven Giang (Alberta), Pacome Matulu (Manitoba), Stephon Miller (Windsor), Ryan Northfield (Western), Martin Pesek (Acadia), Ben Rush (Saskatchewan) Analysis: When news of Quinn Smiths positive drug test broke, the immediate question that arose was "How will this affect his draft stock?" The Concordia Stingers defensive tackle will likely be negatively impacted for two reasons – trust and doubt. In pre-draft interviews, teams frequently ask questions along the lines of "Would you ever use an illegal substance if you knew it would help you make the team?" or "Whats the biggest secret youve ever kept about yourself?" If Smith was, in faact, asked those questions, he likely didnt respond by saying, "Yes," and "I took Stanozolol," - a perceived deception that might lead to a lack of trust from some teams.dddddddddddd The second, and I believe far stronger, reason why this incident will hurt his stock is simply the doubt now cast upon a Combine performance that directly led to Smith replacing Gill as the top defensive line prospect in the Canadian Scouting Bureaus most recent rankings. Rest assured that all nine CFL scouting staffs have already asked themselves whether Stanozolol or hard work was the biggest contributor in Quinn Smith shaving three-tenths of a second off his 40-yard dash time and adding five reps to his bench press performance since last Mays East West Bowl. As for the question of how much his stock drops, I anticipate that teams will downplay the trust factor but will be left with no choice but to eliminate his CFL Combine performance from their evaluation of him. The net result would have Smiths stock landing right back where it was pre-Combine, which is as one of the top three defensive tackles on most boards. I dont envision him being "penalized" beyond that by a community of general managers who have historically welcomed players who have committed far worse transgressions. Another, less controversial discussion surrounding the D-Line group revolves around the difference between drafting tackles and ends in the CFL. The simplified explanation of this is that non-import tackles have a role on every teams defence, whether as starters or backups, and any potential to contribute on special teams is viewed more as a bonus than an expectation. In terms of projecting how a tackle prospect will fit into the CFL, there are always plenty of "comparables" among current or recently retired CFLers at that position to make the process easier. For Canadian defensive ends, like Dylan Ainsworth, however, things are a little more complicated. The main issue is that only a handful of CIS-trained defensive ends ever get the opportunity to play that position regularly in the CFL. There are, of course, exceptions but the concern is that typically, upon reaching the CFL, the top pass rushing ends in Canadian university football are considered either (a) not explosive/athletic enough to play end but too small to move inside to tackle or (b) too small to play end but not athletic enough to play in space as a linebacker. In fact, over the last 25 years, the only non-import draftees who have emerged as consistent impact players at defensive end are Leroy Blugh (7th overall, 1989 Draft), Brent Johnson (20th, 2000 as a redshirt junior), and Ricky Foley (4th, 2006). Considering that Johnson was selected after playing four years at Ohio State and Blugh was actually drafted as a linebacker and later moved to end, that makes Foley the lone CIS-trained defensive end to excel at the same position in the CFL. Revisiting the 06 Draft, part of Foleys value to the B.C. Lions, who selected him, was that they already had an established non-import starting end in Johnson. His backup, Nautyn McKay-Loescher was entering the option year of his contract so B.C. needed depth at the position. Other teams may have been less likely to pick him that early. In terms of size and athleticism coming out of the CIS, Ainsworth comes as close to Foley as any defensive end prospect in recent years and his draft stock will vary from team to team, like Foleys did, depending upon whether they project him as a future starting DE, a backup DE and full-time special teamer, or as a linebacker. In a draft where there are few certainties, I would anticipate Ainsworth being chosen in the Top 10 and given an opportunity to compete and develop as an end. ' ' '