the playoffs

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HOUSTON — Houston Astros veteran catcher Brian McCann pledged on Friday that he will return before the regular season concludes despite undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee earlier in the week.

McCann was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday. There is no timetable for his return.

McCann had dealt with recurring knee pain since last year. After posting a 108 OPS in his first campaign with the Astros in 2017 Packers Cheap Jerseys , McCann was down to a 73 OPS this season, slashing .206/.283/.323 with five home runs and 17 RBIs over 50 games. McCann has played in 1,657 games since making his debut on June 10, 2005, catching 12,733 innings with the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Astros during the regular season.

“He’s got a little bit of mileage on him when it comes to catching games,” said Astros manager A.J. Hinch, a former catcher. “His knees have held up fine and he can play through a lot of pain. I think that’s what I appreciate the most in learning and knowing how much pain he played through. He tried, and he did a lot of things to post for our pitching staff. I think that’s one of the reasons he’s one of the most respected guys in there is what he’s willing to do to contribute.

“As his play declined, his comfort declined and what it took for him to play every day Authentic Allen Craig Jersey , we needed to get it taken care of.”

Right-hander Charlie Morton (10-2, 2.55 ERA) will get the start for the Astros on Saturday. Morton has faced the White Sox once previously, working seven shutout innings while allowing four hits and one walk with three strikeouts in a 3-0 victory with the Pirates on June 16, 2015.

Morton is 24-9 with a 3.18 ERA and 296 strikeouts over 249 innings with the Astros.

In his past two starts, Morton has dominated in a win against Toronto and a loss to Tampa. In a 7-0 win against the Blue Jays he struck out 13 in seven innings. The Rays touched him up for two runs, but that was enough for a 3-2 Tampa Bay win. Morton struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings.

Right-hander James Shields (3-9, 4.12 ERA) will start for the White Sox (30-58) on Saturday. He is 1-4 with a 5.17 ERA on the road this season and 2-3 with a 3.19 ERA over seven career starts against the Astros. In his only start against Houston this season, Shields gave up seven runs in 5 1/3 innings and took the loss in a 10-0 defeat on April 20.

In 76 games (75 starts) against the American League West, Shields is 26-26 with a 3.83 ERA.

With right-hander Reynaldo Lopez working just 4 2/3 innings, the Chicago bullpen was forced to shoulder a heavy load again on Friday. Right-hander Chris Volstad, and lefties Luis Avilan and Hector Santiago combined to allow eight runs on seven hits and one walk over 3 1/3 innings in Chicago’s 11-4 loss, marking the 10th consecutive game the White Sox bullpen has surrendered a run.

Chicago relievers have pitched 303 2/3 innings this season Vontaze Burfict Youth Jersey , eighth-most in the American League.

“Obviously, (Lopez) didn’t give us the outing we were looking for,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “Worked through quite a bit of traffic, some deep counts, pitch count ran up there a bit. Had to give it to the relief corps again, which is strained.”

WASHINGTON — With their first Stanley Cup playoff berth since 2012 safely in hand, the New Jersey Devils have one game left to see if they can improve their position when they visit the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

The Devils (44-28-9) clinched a playoff spot by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Thursday night at the Prudential Center.

“We did it. We didn’t rely on anyone. It’s a sense of accomplishment,” Devils forward Brian Boyle told nhl.com. “The battling for playoff positioning and trying to clinch, it’s all part of the fun of it. Emotions rise, tensions rise, you work hard and you get rewarded. We did it together.”

The Devils will finish with at least 97 points — 99 if they defeat the Capitals — far above the 70 points by last season’s club that finished at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.

With one game remaining, the Devils are in position to clinch the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They can finish as high as third in the Metropolitan Division or as low as the second wild-card spot.

Against the Leafs P.J. Hall Jersey Elite , New Jersey fell behind 1-0 in the first period, but Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood scored in the second period. Keith Kincaid finished with 31 saves, including 12 in the third period.

The Devils also earned this spot, going 10-2-1 in their past 13 games.

“It’s a credit to a lot of guys in here for just coming up big when the pressure is on,” forward Taylor Hall told nhl.com. “That’s what I’m proud of, how we’ve played through the stretch here.”

Washington’s playoff position is set, though their opponent is not. The Metropolitan Division winner will draw the top wild-card team, which may not be decided until Sunday when the Florida Panthers face the Boston Bruins.

The Capitals (48-26-7), the two-time defending Presidents’ Trophy winners, watched the Nashville Predators secure this season’s trophy with a 4-3 win over the Capitals on Thursday night at Capital One Arena.

“But I like the way we’re playing,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz told The Washington Post after the Capitals lost for just the second time since March 20. “We’re playing with lots of speed, we’re playing with lots of pace Zack Martin Cowboys Jersey , and that was a good test.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice for Washington and Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 47th goal, meaning he will need a hat trick Saturday night to reach 50 goals for the eighth time.

“Right now, our focus is not on 50, our focus is on the playoffs,” Ovechkin told nhl.com. “And being in shape. We didn’t get hurt. That’s the most important thing.”

Kuznetsov, who added an assist, posted his 82nd point of the season and became the 16th player in franchise history to reach 80 and the first player other than Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom to do it since Alexander Semin in the 2009-10 season.

Kuznetsov’s 27 goals this season are a personal season high.

Phillip Grubauer made 25 saves for Washington. Braden Holtby will likely start against the Devils, and the wait will begin for Trotz to reveal his playoff goaltending plans.

In Holtby’s last three starts, he is 2-1-0 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.

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