Dein erstes Forum » moments but the Cubs will take Game 1. -

BALTIMORE -- Donald Trump is partaking in one of the nations most storied football rivalries, saluting U.S. troops at the annual Army-Navy game on Saturday as he prepares to enter the White House.The future commander in chief attended the 117th game between the military academies at West Point and Annapolis, which is being held on relatively neutral ground, in Baltimore, Maryland.Trump tweeted on Saturday morning that he was going to the game as a show of support for our Armed Forces. He planned to spend the first half of the game in the box of David Urban, a West Point graduate and Republican adviser and the second half in the box of retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a graduate of Annapolis.A Trump transition official said Trump would not formally switch sides at halftime in the traditional symbol of commander in chief neutrality because he is not the sitting president. The team member spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president-elects plans. Trump is a 1964 graduate of the New York Military Academy near West Point.Before the game, Trump met with Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, a leading contender for secretary of state. Trumps pick to lead the State Department is among his most significant decisions and the deliberations have become a source of tension within his transition team, with chief of staff Reince Priebus said to be backing Mitt Romney while other advisers oppose the idea of selecting the 2012 GOP nominee, given his fierce criticism of Trump during the campaign.Tillerson, who has led Exxon Mobil since 2006, and also met Trump earlier in the week.In addition to Romney, Trump has also been considering Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.Trump announced Friday that Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who was an early favorite, was no longer under consideration.Trumps appearance at the football game was capping off a week of rolling out Cabinet picks, holding thank you rallies in North Carolina, Iowa and Michigan, and trying to cement his incoming Senate majority with Saturdays runoff election in Louisiana.The incoming president appeared jovial and relaxed as he plunged back into electoral politics on Friday, a full month after he won the presidency. He held large-scale events in Louisiana and in Michigan, where he regaled supporters in Grand Rapids by reciting his victories in battleground states.Trump is the first Republican to win Michigan since George H.W. Bush in 1988. He attributed his feat to failures by Democrats.In private, people close to Trump said he was expected to name yet another Goldman Sachs executive to his White House team. The president-elects National Economic Council is to be led by Gary Cohn, president and chief operating officer of the Wall Street bank, which Trump repeatedly complained during the election campaign would control Hillary Clinton if she won.---Associated Press writers Lisa Lerer, Julie Pace, Julie Bykowicz and Lolita Baldor in Washington and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa contributed.---Reach Thomas on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KThomasDC Jerry Rice Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Kwon Alexander 49ers Jersey . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Solomon-Thomas-49ers-Jersey/ . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Deebo Samuel Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Deebo Samuel Womens Jersey . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. The best team in baseball meets the squad that does even years better than anyone. Who has the edge as Jon Lester and the Cubs host Johnny Cueto and the Giants in Game 1?Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Fridays game, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen?Cueto is on the mound:??Few pitchers are as fun to watch as Cueto, with the twists and turns in his delivery and his five-pitch arsenal. One of the few big-ticket free agents from last winter who delivered on his contract, Cueto went 18-5 with a 2.79 ERA and ranked third in the NL in innings pitched.Of his pitches -- four-seamer, two-seamer, changeup, cutter, slider -- the changeup is the one that rates as a big strikeout pitch, with a 35 percent K rate. He throws it only 23 percent of the time with two strikes, however, while throwing one of his fastballs 50 percent. He does get a high rate of grounders with both his four-seamer and two-seamer, preferring to throw inside to righties while painting the outside corner against lefties. With all the Cubs left-handed and switch-hitters, I wonder if well see the changeup a little more often, especially deep in the count -- and the Cubs love to work deep counts.Another key pitch has been his cutter, a pitch that Cueto seemed to lose the feel for when he struggled with the Royals last season. He throws it over 20 percent of the time and while it doesnt have a lot of movement, it has late movement, making it more of a weak contact pitch than a swing-and-miss offering. -- David SchoenfieldWhen?Lester is on the mound: Lesters late surge made him a strong Cy Young contender, as he went 9-1 with 1.46 ERA over his final 12 starts. He gave up two runs or fewer in 24 of his 32 starts, although one of his bad outings came against the Giants in May when he gave up five runs in 2.2 innings.Lester has made a notable change in his approach, throwing his fastball more than ever. He threw it 60 percent of the time, when he was under 50 percent two years ago. Lester has maintained his velocity pretty well through the year and at 32 still averaged 92 mph with his fastball, still above-average for a left-hander. The feeling was Lester had fallen in love too much with his cutter, although it has remained an effective pitch as batters hit just .212/.268/.302 against it. He still throws it about 20 percent of the time.His curveball has become a two-strikeout wipeout pitch, with a K rate above 50 percent, and batters hit .092 against it in 96 plate appearances ending with the pitch. He doesnt throw it a lot -- about 10 per game -- but look for him to use it with two strikes against right-handers. Like all Cubs pitchers, Lester certainly benefited from the teams excellent defense. He also led all qualified starters in strand rate at 84.9 percent as batters hit .173 against him with RISP. He allowed 28 stolen bases but had 13 caught stealings, a negligible rate for baserunners. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightKris Bryant. The likely NL MVP aftter hitting .dddddddddddd.292/.385/.554 with 39 home runs 102 RBIs and a league-leading 121 runs, Bryant has settled nicely into the No. 2 spot in the order in front of Anthony Rizzo. Bryant hit two home runs in last years playoffs but also hit .179 with 12 strikeouts in nine games. He needs to get on base in front of Rizzo if hes not mashing it over the fence.?-- SchoenfieldWhat will decide tonights gameBatters have just a .554 OPS against Cuetos changeup this season, which is third-best among NL pitchers with at least 500 thrown. Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo could challenge Cueto on that pitch. He hit .367 on changeups this season, the third-best batting average against the pitch in the NL. His 1.065 OPS also ranked third in the NL. Rizzo was 1-for-3 against Cueto this season, with that only hit coming on one of two changeups he saw from Cueto (the other was the first pitch of that same plate appearance).?--?ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win?Even though Jon Lester has averaged more pitches per start in September than Giants starter Johnny Cueto, theres little debate he has thrown less stressful pitches. The Giants used every ounce of energy just to make it to Chicago, but that balloon will burst Friday, at least for one night. Lester will repeat the success from his early September performance against the Giants where he no-hit them into the seventh inning while the Cubs squeak one more run across than their opponents for a close victory. -- Jesse RogersIt really hasnt been that long since the Cubs have played meaningful baseball, but it sure feels like a long time. The Cubs have to slam the accelerator from the first pitch because with Madison Bumgarner looming in Game 3, there can be no re-acclimation period. But in Jon Lester, theyve got the right postseason veteran on the mound. There will be some tenuous moments but the Cubs will take Game 1. -- Bradford DoolittleThe Cubs real advantage in pitching wont start to emerge until we get to Game 2, because Johnny Cueto has the credentials to neutralize Jon Lester. He might not have the deep history of success in October that Lester or Madison Bumgarner do, but he dominated the New York Mets in Game 2 of the last World Series, so hell have that to draw on. Plus, the Cubs have been sitting idle while the Giants will come in with momentum and, as tough as Lester is, his stuff will look pedestrian compared to the 99-mph fastballs they faced from Noah Syndergaard. The Giants will grab this one and put mega-pressure on the Cubs.?-- Mark SaxonWhere the series standsThe Cubs won 16 more games than the Giants. In the wild-card era, teams with 15 or more than wins than their opponent is 9-1 -- with only the 116-win Mariners of 2001 losing to the 95-win Yankees. The Cubs are the heavy World Series favorites, but if they split these first two games, Madison Bumgarner looms in the distance for Game 3. ?--?Schoenfield ' ' '