what he did after not thinking he was going to pitch tonight was pre

SAO PAULO - Traditional Brazilian club Palmeiras was held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Paranaense but escaped relegation thanks to Vitorias 1-0 loss to Santos in the final round of the Brazilian league.The eight-time national champion needed to win the home game to guarantee its spot in the top flight without depending on other results, but the draw was enough after Vitoria failed to win its match in Salvador.Bahia also had a chance to escape demotion but lost 3-2 at Coritiba. Criciuma and traditional Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo had already been relegated.Palmeiras finished with 40 points, two ahead of Vitoria and three in front of Bahia. Botafogo ended with 34 points and Criciuma with 32.Cruzeiro, which clinched its second consecutive league title two rounds in advance, ended the tournament with a 2-1 home win over Fluminense with one of the goals coming from a remarkable side-volley by Bolivia striker Marcelo Moreno.The victory gave Cruzeiro 80 points, the most since the tournament began being played with all teams facing each other twice, at home and away. Cruzeiro also broke the record for most victories with 24 from 38 matches. The four-time national champion led from the sixth round and finished 10 points ahead of second-place Sao Paulo, which lost 1-0 at Sport on Sunday.Atletico Paranaense opened the scoring in Sao Paulo with a header by Ricardo Silva in the 10th minute, and Palmeiras equalized with a penalty converted by striker Henrique in the 20th. Henrique ended as the tournaments second-best scorer with 16 goals, two less than Fluminenses Fred.Palmeiras, the Brazilian team with the most national titles, had lost five straight coming into the final round. Celebrating its centennial, the team was trying to avoid being relegated for the second time in three years. The club played in the second division in 2003 and 2013.It was only the second match at Palmeiras new stadium, a 43,000-capacity arena in the heart of Sao Paulo. Local authorities had tried to move the decisive match to a different stadium because of security concerns. The new Allianz Parque was built by World Cup standards, without fences between the stands and the pitch, which ignited fears of a mass invasion had Palmeiras failed to remain in the first division.Vitoria would have stayed in the top flight had it beaten Santos at home, but it lost after conceding a goal in second-half injury time.The tournaments final round marked the retirement of Coritiba playmaker Alex, the former Brazil midfielder who thrived with Turkeys Fenerbahce and also with Palmeiras and Cruzeiro. He was crucial when Cruzeiro won the 2003 Brazilian league title.The 37-year-old player cried after he was substituted and met with his wife and his children on the sidelines at the Couto Pereira Stadium in Curitiba.On Saturday, Internacional beat Figueirense 2-1 in Florianopolis with an injury time winner to secure third place and an automatic spot in the group stage of next years Copa Libertadores. The teams first goal was scored in the 90th after Figueirense had gone ahead in the 49th.The result hurt Corinthians, which finished fourth despite a 2-1 win over Criciuma at the Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo. The popular club will have to play a playoff to get into the group stage of Latin Americas most important competition.After the match, Corinthians made official that it wont keep former Brazil coach Mano Menezes next season. His replacement has not been announced.___Follow Tales Azzoni at http://www.twitter.com/tazzoni Custom Baseball Jerseys . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Online . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins (3) - Surrendered a tough first goal against on a deflection through the body short side. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/ . "Last year didnt go the way we wanted it to, but we need to look at what went well and what didnt go so well. Hopefully this year we will be better," Brendan Gallagher said after practice. This year, the Canadiens have a little more depth to work with by adding players like Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and arguably, the biggest addition to this playoff roster, Thomas Vanek, who the Canadiens were able to land at the trade deadline. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Authentic . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Wholesale . In the second game of their day/night doubleheader at Minneapolis, three Blue Jays pitchers, Steve Delabar, Sergio Santos and J.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Toronto Blue Jays are struggling so badly, even when they get a huge break, they cant capitalize on it. Their first six batters went down in order against Jered Weaver, who had to leave after 24 pitches because of stiffness in his lower back. But the Jays got only two harmless singles over the final four innings against five relievers and lost their fifth straight, 5-2 to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. "We thought we finally caught a break when Weaver left, but they shut us down," manager John Gibbons said. "Weavers different than he used to be and has a different style, but hes still one of the toughest guys around, so you feel good when he comes out of the game." Juan Francisco hit his 14th home run for the Blue Jays, who slipped three games behind AL East-leading Baltimore. J.A. Happ (7-5) was charged with five runs, seven hits and three walks in 4 1-3 innings. "Weve seen him do that before," Gibbons said. "Thats where he gets into trouble, when he loses the strike zone. Every now and then hell go through those stretches where it deserts him. Hes still got to throw it over the plate and take his chances and let them hit a ball at somebody." The Angels grabbed a 5-2 lead in the fifth. Chris Iannetta, who scored their first run in the third on Mike Trouts groundout, started the four-run rally with a leadoff double that a fan touched near the top of the 18-foot wall in right-centre field. Manager Mike Scioscia asked second base umpire Jim Wolf for a video review, hoping for a home run call he didnt get. Happ walked his next two batters before Albert Pujols hit a bloop single to right-centre that tied the score. It was his second bases-loaded hit in two days, after starting the season 0 for 13 in those situations. Josh Hamilton followed with a sacrifice fly, Howie Kendrick chased Happ with an RBI single through the box, and Erick Aybar greeted Chad Jenkins with an RBI double on the right-handers first pitch.dddddddddddd "We know he likes to throw fastballs, so we wanted to make him throw strikes," Hamilton said. "Hes got really good stuff, so youve got to make him throw strikes. And if he doesnt then he gets into a bad count and have to throw a strike. Then you can do some damage with it." The winning pitcher was Matt Shoemaker (7-2), who made 61 pitches in his emergency stint while allowing two runs and five hits through 3 2-3 innings. The rookie right-hander had thrown 102 pitches last Thursday in a win over Houston. "It was unbelievable. You talk about trying to earn respect points, and Shoemaker definitely did that -- going on three days rest," Weaver said. "That goes a long way. I mean, for him to step up and do what he did after not thinking he was going to pitch tonight was pretty spectacular. That was an awesome job by him, mentally, and you saw the way the rest of the bullpen came in and shut the door against a pretty good lineup." The Angels recently acquired veteran duo of Joe Thatcher and Jason Grilli helped piece it together with Kevin Jepsen and Joe Smith, who got three outs for his 11th save. The Angels extended their home winning streak to 11 games, one shy of the franchise record set in 1967 -- their second season in Anaheim. They are 16 games over .500 for the first time since ending the 2012 season at 89-73, and remain 3 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Oakland. NOTES: Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista made his second straight start at 1B because of Edwin Encarnacions strained right quadriceps, which landed the second-time All-Star on the 15-day disabled list Monday. Nolan Reimould was added to the major league roster and made his Blue Jays debut starting in CF and going 0 for 3 a day after he was claimed off waivers from Baltimore. ' ' '