BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter wanted to make sure that his unusual confrontation with New York Yankees counterpart Joe Girardi didnt overshadow Chris Tillmans gem. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Christian-Jones-Draft-Jersey/ . Girardi didnt seem interested in shedding any light on the first-inning fracas that had Showalter angry and emptied both dugouts. Tillman took a three-hitter into the eighth inning and the Orioles beat the Yankees 4-2 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series with ramifications in the AL wild card race. "They are all big this time of year, and I take the approach every game Im pitching," said Tillman (16-5), who became the Orioles first 16-game winner since Mike Mussina won 18 in 1999. "You only get to go out there once every fifth day, so for me they are all big." With the victory, the Orioles remained tied with Cleveland and moved within 1 1-2 games of idle Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card. The Yankees fell three games behind Tampa Bay. Tillman allowed two runs and four hits in seven-plus innings. He walked none and struck out nine, matching his career high. "I was able to get in sync and kind of felt my way through the first couple innings," Tillman said. "I found it later in the game and I think (catcher Matt Wieters) gets a lot of the credit for that. He made some calls deep in the counts. And it was fun." But his performance almost became an afterthought after the skirmish between Showalter and Girardi. Following the game, Showalter patiently answered inquiries about the clash before asking reporters to change their line of questioning. "Guys, we had a great pitched game tonight," he said. "I understand youve got to ask the questions and everything. Id rather have the focus be on Chris Tillman, some of the things we did on the field. ... I know how drama usually plays this time of the year. Im just glad were playing games that mean this much to everybody, including our fans." Both dugouts emptied briefly after the first inning, when Showalter angrily exchanged words with Girardi after the Yankees manager yelled at Baltimore third base coach Bobby Dickerson, accusing him of stealing signs. Showalter had to be restrained by home plate umpire Ed Hickox as he charged onto the field. Girardi refused to go into specifics about what set him off, saying only, "The one thing that Ive done, the whole time that Im here, and everywhere Ive been, is Im going to protect our players at all lengths. Thats what Im going to do, and there was something that I saw and Im just going to leave it at that." Dickerson, who said he had never been berated like that by an opposing manager, said he heard Girardi chirping from the dugout from the start of bottom of the first. Girardi had moved from the end of the bench close to the plate to the end of the dugout nearest third base by the time the inning had ended. "Immediately, like right when I got to third base," Dickerson said. "I didnt hear him at first. I heard something and as I looked at the dugout, he was right there yelling at me from the far end. And I was running off the field, something else was said. And after that it was over." But not before a red-faced Showalter bolted from the first-base dugout, gesturing angrily and shouting at Girardi before being held at bay by Hickox. Girardi followed from the third-base dugout in calmer fashion as players from both teams spilled onto the field. "It strikes a chord in me and I stand accused," Showalter said. Once order was restored -- and both benches were issued a warning about any retaliatory measures -- television cameras showed Showalter shaking his head and glaring at Girardi from the Orioles dugout. "Two competitive good teams and were fighting for the same thing, so theres a small margin for error. ... But Bobbys not giving pitches," Showalter said. Alex Rodriguez and Lyle Overbay hit home runs for the Yankees. Rodriguezs first-inning blast to right-centre was the 652nd of his career, leaving him eight short of tying Willie Mays for fourth place all-time. CC Sabathia (13-12), who came into the game with an 18-5 career record against the Orioles, yielded four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits over 7 1-3 innings. He walked two and struck out six. Tommy Hunter relieved Tillman and struck out the side in the eighth. Jim Johnson got the last three outs for his AL-leading 43rd save. The Orioles were 2 for 29 with runners in scoring position in their last two games, and their percentage improved in the opener of the critical series, as they went 2 for 8 in such situations. Still, Baltimore had to manufacture two runs, which scored on sacrifice flies. "I mean, it"s that time of the year, you know, and thats what those situations call for," Sabathia said. "Youre trying to get the runner in from third and get runners over and just get runs however you can. So they did a good job of that." The Orioles tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Nick Markakis led off with a ground-rule double to centre, went to third on Manny Machados sacrifice and scored on Adam Jones sacrifice fly. Baltimore went ahead in the fifth when J.J. Hardy doubled into the left-field corner and advanced to third by beating the relay from first base on Michael Morses third-to-first groundout. Wieters sacrifice fly scored Hardy. Alexi Casilla followed with a single past Rodriguez at third, stole second and came home on Markakis single. In the seventh, the Orioles added an insurance run when Machados 49th double, a two-out poke off the scoreboard in right, scored Wieters from third. Overbays homer leading off the eighth chased Tillman. NOTES: Yankees SS Derek Jeter, sidelined with a sore left ankle, took Monday off from baseball activities and will be re-evaluated Tuesday, said Girardi. ... Rodriguez batted second, his first time in that position in the batting order since Aug. 26, 2006. ... The Yankees reinstated OF Zoilo Almonte (sprained left ankle) from the 15-day DL. He missed 45 games. ... The Orioles sent IF Alex Liddi outright to Triple-A Norfolk after he cleared waivers. Liddi was designated for assignment Sept. 6. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Sam-Martin-Draft-Jersey/ . Orlandos Glen Davis tried to get in the way, only to be driven back into the padding under the basket as the Pelicans forward slammed home a windmill jam. Luke Willson Jersey . Felton pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. He admitted he knowingly had a large-capacity ammunition magazine and a semi-automatic pistol without a license. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Ameer-Abdullah-Draft-Jersey/ .com) - The Vancouver Canucks hope an upcoming stretch of home games will be enough to get the club into the postseason.CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Braden Calvert’s Manitoba team won’t have much time to savour its second straight men’s gold medal at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships. The mad dash back to Winnipeg will begin at approximately 2:15 a.m. local time in Corner Brook Monday as the team catches the bus to the airport in Deer Lake — approximately three hours after finishing off its 8-6 gold-medal game victory over Saskatchewan’s Jacob Hersikorn at the Corner Brook Civic Centre. Two flights later, the team is scheduled to land in Winnipeg to an undoubtedly memorable airport reception with friends, family and local media. And then, Tuesday, it’s off to Brandon for practice day at the Manitoba men’s championship in preparation for Wednesday’s first-round game against East St. Paul’s Evan Martin. So much for a week-long celebration. “I’m in a little bit of shock right now,” marvelled Calvert, a 19-year-old University of Manitoba student. “We’re just overwhelmed and super-excited about winning the national championship, and I’m sure it’ll sink in a little bit more tomorrow.” Sunday’s win — marking Manitoba’s third straight M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors men’s gold medal, after Calvert’s victory last year in Liverpool, N.S., and Matt Dunstone’s win the year before in Fort McMurray, Alta. — capped a brilliant week for Dunstone, third Kyle Kurz, second Lucas Van Den Bosch, lead Brendan Wilson and coach Tom Clasper. After losing their opener to Quebec’s Félix Asselin, the Manitobans rattled off 10 straight victories en route to gold. In the final, Manitoba never trailed, taking single points in the first two ends, one more in the third and a beautiful chap-and-lie deuce in the sixth to go up 5-2. “It wasn’t an easy shot, and definitely wasn’t easy to look at from tthe hack,” said an admiring Kurz of the sixth-end masterpiece. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Anthony-Zettel-Draft-Jersey/. “You couldn’t see the inside of it, and if it’s heavy at all, it’s hanging outside and we’re not getting our deuce. But I had full confidence in him making that shot; he makes those left, right and centre.” Saskatchewan would bounce back with deuces in the seventh and ninth ends, sandwiched around a Manitoba single to tie the game. In the 10th, though, Hersikorn’s last-rock draw attempt came up short and Calvert didn’t need to throw his last rock. “I think being here once and doing it once definitely helped us focus on what we had to do and helped us handle the nerves a bit better,” said Calvert. “I thought we were a lot more comfortable this year.” It was an all-around good week for the team; back at the Calvert family cattle ranch in Carberry, it was calving season. Braden’s older brother Trevor handled one of those births, and immediately named the newborn Tommy in honour of the team coach. While that aspiring bull is taking its first tottering steps, the Calvert team will have aspirations of its own at the Manitoba men’s championship. “It’s pretty neat to go to an event where you have Jeff Stoughton, Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers at it, guys you’ve watched on TV and idolized for years,” he said. “It’s amazing to know that we’ll have a chance to play them. We’ll have a lot of fun at that event.” Once the Manitoba championship is done, Calvert will turn his attention to wearing the Maple Leaf at the 2015 World Junior Championships, beginning Feb. 28 in Tallinn, Estonia. Last year in Flims, Switzerland, the Canadian team lost the bronze-medal game to Norway. “We can’t await to put the Maple Leaf on and try to do Camada proud, and hopefully do a little bit better than last year. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '