Allgemeines » r the QB as a running back have emerged the past few

MIAMI -- As soon as Chris Young connected on a deep fly ball to left field in the ninth inning, the New York Mets thought they had tied the game on a sacrifice fly. But they misjudged the strength of Marcell Ozunas arm. Ozuna threw out Kirk Nieuwenhuis at the plate to end the game to help the Miami Marlins beat the Mets 3-2 on Friday night. "Its pretty surprising. Hats off to Ozuna," Nieuwenhuis said. "He made a great throw. Theres no other way to put it." Even Ozuna thought the Mets had tied the game. "I didnt think I had a chance to get him out, but I was going to throw it no matter what," Ozuna said. Ozuna also threw out David Wright to end the eighth after the Mets cut the deficit to 3-2. "I cant remember seeing a game decided by two great throws from a left fielder and two great tags from the catcher to end the game," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Thats pretty amazing." Henderson Alvarez (4-3) pitched 6 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits without a walk, and struck out five. In his past six starts, he is 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA, which leads the majors since May 22. "It was a good start for myself. All my pitches were working. Now its about keeping going forward," Alvarez said. Steve Cishek allowed a double to Nieuwenhuis to open the ninth, but earned his 17th save in 18 chances when Ozunas throw landed in catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchias glove for his fourth assist of the season. "He started at the Clevelander, so I didnt think he had a shot, but he started running in," Saltalamacchia said. "Once he got closer I knew he had a chance, but thats a tough throw, big moment like that. You tend to do too much. He made a perfect throw." Mets starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-1) allowed one run and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out four. "I felt good today, and just going off our last time off of Alvarez, I knew it was going to be a close game -- a one or two-run game -- so I knew I couldnt give up too many runs," Matsuzaka said. "One run ended up making a difference." Adeiny Hechavarria drove in two runs, and Saltalamacchia hit two doubles for the Marlins, who won their major league-best 17th one-run game of the season despite going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. "It was nice to win that one," Redmond said. "We needed to win that one." Six of the eight games between these clubs this season have been decided by one run New York had a two-game winning streak snapped. With the Mets trailing 3-0 in the eighth, Wright hit an RBI single off Kevin Gregg. Two batters later, with Mike Dunn pitching, pinch-hitter Eric Campbell singled to left field to make it 3-2. Wright was thrown out at the plate as he tried to score on the hit. "I got thrown out by about 10 feet, so it wasnt a real close play," Wright said, "but at the same time we kind of thought that he was blocking (the plate) and apparently they thought he wasnt." Mets manager Terry Collins challenged the play, taking up the argument that Wright was blocked from getting to the plate. "When you saw replays, his foot had pretty much that whole side blocked," Collins said. "The over-the-top view, I dont know. You dont ever get an explanation. All they say is the play stands. "You dont ever get an explanation or why they ruled it, and the umpires are as confused as anybody." Rafael Furcal led off of the game for the Marlins with a triple off the right-field fence and scored on a groundout by Hechavarria. It was Furcals first extra-base hit of the season in 30 at-bats and first leadoff triple since June 11, 2010, against the Angels when he played for the Dodgers. "I knew that was the only run I could give up the rest of my outing," Matsuzaka said. After Jake Marisnick stole second base in the seventh, he swiped third with Wright not in position to cover the bag. He then scored when catcher Anthony Reckers throw to third went into left field. "It surprised them a little bit that he took off there with a left-hand hitter," Redmond said. "He was being aggressive and took advantage of a bad throw. That was a huge run for us." The Marlins extended their lead to 3-0 later in the inning when Wright attempted to bare-hand a grounder hit by Hechavarria, but the ball bounced past him, allowing Justin Bour to score. Wright was originally charged with an error, but it was later changed to a hit. NOTES: Mets SS Ruben Tejada took a base hit away from Casey McGehee in the eighth inning when he made a diving stop to his left, spun on the ground, and threw to first from his knees. ... Wright has a 10-game hitting streak at Marlins Park. ... Miami will send RHP Tom Koehler (5-5, 3.84) to the mound on Saturday. 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Adam Foote Jersey .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway.I was asked this question a few weeks ago, and this person was talking about the absence of a running back having dominated the league in rushing yards. This became very apparent when Jon Cornish missed at least six games and is still within 200 yards of the rushing leader with his 587 yards to date. Lets talk about some of the factors involved and what has changed. I believe there are three reasons for the change; four designated imports on the roster, talented non-import running backs and running QBs. Lets state the obvious, in every level of football, you must be able to run the football to have a balanced, efficient offense that can handle all the situations that you face throughout the football season. I have coached or coordinated four rushing leaders in the CFL and I believe in running the football. Michael Jenkins (2001), Charles Roberts (2003), Troy Davis (2004) and Fred Reid (2011) all were talented backs who were able to make the most of their opportunities. As the league evolves, you can see one-tailback offenses start to evolve also to spread the wealth, per se. Obviously, injuries can be a factor for a lack of productivity in running backs as they tend to have injuries at times and will have to miss games. As noted earlier, Jon Cornish has missed a great deal of this season and it has affected his rushing totals. But the biggest reason that I believe rushing numbers are down for the backs are the roster and specifically, how many designated imports are on rosters this year. A Designated Import is an International (Import) that can play freely on all special teams and can replace only another International (Import). Long story short is that for teams starting seven Non Imports, the DIs can replace another import but not a non-import. This year, the DIs has increased by one for a total of four on the roster. So you have four players that can play all special teams and also replace other Imports that are on the roster. When I first came into the League in the early 2000s, there was only one DI. It eventually went to a second and finally up to a third until the fourth DI this season. When you had only two DIs, one was usually a kick returner and one was a defensive player. It was difficult to carry a backup running back that was an import unless he was the returner. That is how many running backs earned their roster spots originally. In 2001, Hall of Famer Charles Roberts was on the roster as a DI who returned kick-offs and punts and spelled the starter Eric Blount. The rosters did not allow for a very talented import running back to be on the roster just as a backup. Cut to this year, where with four DIs, you can have two back-ups on offence and defence. One of those usually is also a returner and backup as in Brandon Banks in Hamilton, and the other three can be utilized on the roster as a backup and in situational packages. One of the most important things to understand with this roster size now is that you have the ability to plan and practice expecting to have the DI available to you if you are a coordinator because of the four spots. In previous years with less DIs, often the DI would be decided depending on the health status of your roster. For example, you may have to dress an Import DI receiver because one of your starting import receivers is banged up and may not play the whole game. If you normally used a DI running back, you would have to make the switch and take the DI running back off the roster and reeplace him with DI wide receiver.dddddddddddd Nowadays, you can have both on the roster and still be able to gameplan for the roster spot as a DI running back. So how does all that relate to running back rushing yards? Teams are allowed to break up the rushing job to more than one back and are able to build packages with two tailbacks in the game at the same time. Edmonton has utilized this by having Kendial Lawrence and Tyler Thomas on the roster. They can split carries as well as be in the game at the same time and have plays designed for each other. Lawrence is 11th in rushing and Thomas is 16th. Add their rushing yards together and they would lead the CFL in rushing. Edmonton also has Jon White, who has also rushed for 334 yards this season but is on the six-game injured list. Saskatchewan also has had success with using multiple import running backs on the roster. Anthony Allen leads the Riders with 593 yards which puts him third in rushing in the CFL. Will Ford is sixth in rushing with 425 yards and is able to be part of a 1-2 punch that the Riders rushing attack will hit defences with. Toronto has utilized several different backfield combinations this season but normally carry two import running backs. Curtis Steele is eighth in rushing with 437 yards and a healthy Steve Slaton is starting to come on with 224 yards so far. Montreal is fun to watch with Brandon Whitaker, who leads the CFL with 695 yards and they can also line up with Tyrell Sutton in the backfield. Sutton gets the opportunity to prove his worth and not have to wait for an injury to the starter to be on the roster. Talented non-imports are another reason for individual rushing numbers being down. I dont care what nationality you are, if you are talented, you will touch the football. Jerome Messam is part of the three-headed monster of the Riders run game and he has 326 yards this season. He is a bruising runner and a great change up for the Riders. Matt Walter has had some opportunities to play this year, allowing Calgary not to have to disrupt their roster when Cornish was hurt. Andrew Harris status as a non-import starter allows depth at other spots and can allow for a running back to be an import on the roster. Rushing QBs and packages designed for the QB as a running back have emerged the past few seasons to create extra packages and schemes that the defence must work on. Pat White in Edmonton has 26 rushes for 113 yards and his offensive package forces defences to take valuable time from practice to prepare for his package. Hamilton also has utilized a package for QB Dan Lefevour the past two seasons. These QB packages create problems for defences as the quarterback is the ball carrier and the defences are not used to the quarterback being a ball carrier and also there is a numbers advantage when the QB is the primary ball carrier. It is important that these QB packages have throws built in to make sure it is not 100 per cent run or else the defence will load the box to stop the run. The QB running game packages will take away reps for the starting tailback because many times the QB carries the ball in these packages. Although rushing numbers may be down, it is a great thing to be able to have more players on the roster to create excitement and be able to have multiple rushing football players. The years of the 2,000-yard backs may be over, but the ability to keep more players involved is certainly fun to watch. ' ' '