"Thats a good, aggressive defensive play. Then unfort

SAO PAULO - Landon Donovan says the United States will head to the World Cup with its most experienced group of players, giving the Americans a "real chance" to do well at this years tournament. As the U.S. finishes a week-and-a-half training camp in the host country, Donovan said American players have enough confidence and experience to confront more traditional World Cup teams heading into a first round that includes matches against Germany, Portugal and Ghana. "I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and thats a nice feeling going into a World Cup." The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. The Americans will be playing in their seventh straight World Cup, and Donovan is heading to his fourth. "Theres never been competition for places like there is in our team now," the midfielder said during a news conference. "You can really make a case for probably 35 or 40 guys to be a part of a 23-man roster, and thats never been the case. Its really up for grabs in a lot of positions, and that in itself obviously creates competition, which makes the team better." Donovan, who turns 32 in March, said the U.S. team is more respected by opponents. "The reason its the group of death is because we are in it," he said. "In the past, it would have been a relatively easier group for Germany or Ghana or Portugal because they had us in it. But now, because we are in it, it makes it one of the most difficult groups in the tournament." Donovan said the first goal remains to reach the knockout stage of the 32-nation tournament. "Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he said. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at." German coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought 26 players to this training camp get acclimated to the teams World Cup base in South Americas biggest city. The team, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, will play an exhibition against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif. "Weve been very lucky to have two weeks here in Sao Paulo," Donovan said. "Its been very nice to have a couple of weeks to adapt to what its going to be like this summer. When we come back we have a comfort level. We know the people, the club, the training facilities. It makes it a lot easier. You get a feeling for what its like here, and it helps a lot." Klinsmann is expected to visit the Arena da Amazonia on Friday in the jungle city of Manaus, where the U.S. will play Portugal. Randy Dobnak Twins Jersey . has left the San Jose Sharks to become the Boston Bruins director of player personnel. Joe Mauer Jersey .com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. https://www.cheaptwins.com/112t-harmon-killebrew-jersey-twins.html . Jannero Pargo scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Charlotte Bobcats erase a 21-point deficit and rally for an 83-76 preseason victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. Nelson Cruz Jersey . The two teams will play through the completion of the game starting at 5pm ct on Wednesday. The regularly scheduled Wednesday night matchup will follow that and will now be seven innings. Bert Blyleven Jersey .C. -- Jackson Whistle made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Kelowna Rockets blanked the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-0 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.BOSTON -- Jason Kipnis delivered three singles for the Cleveland Indians, and then he helped them out with his glove. The Indians second baseman snagged a hard-hit grounder from Red Sox slugger David Ortiz to start an eighth-inning double play. Instead of facing a late Boston rally, the Indians held on for a 3-2 victory on Saturday that snapped a four-game losing streak. "He hit it pretty hard," Kipnis said. "You guys know as well as I do: Youve got some time with him going down the line. All he has to do is jog, with most of his hits." Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley each had a pair of hits for Cleveland, which had lost eight of its past nine games at Fenway Park. The Indians scored two runs in the seventh to take the lead on an error by catcher A.J. Pierzynski and a bases-loaded walk. "Were going to have to win some games like that," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona, whose team stranded 13 base runners and went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. John Axford (2-3) earned the win with one scoreless inning in relief of T.J. House, and Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his seventh save. Craig Breslow (2-2) took the loss, allowing two unearned runs and two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning. Boston starter Jake Peavy left with a 2-1 lead but remains winless in his past nine starts. "You just try to do what you can do to win," said Peavy, who entered the game with the second-lowest run support in the AL. "Obviously, its been tough to score on my day, thats something Im not going to shy away from. Im not blaming anyone. I have to be better. Guys have to find a way to be better on my day to win. Its frustrating, no doubt. At the end of the day its frustrating to lose." The Red Sox ledd 2-1 when Breslow relieved Peavy to start the seventh.dddddddddddd Cabrera hit a grounder behind second base that shortstop Jonathan Herrera grabbed with a diving stop, but his throw to first short-hopped Mike Napoli and popped off the heel of his glove. Michael Brantley singled to right, then second baseman Dustin Pedroia tried to come home on Kipnis grounder but Pierzynski couldnt come up with the ball. Home plate umpire Sean Barber initially signalled out, but changed the call when he saw the ball rolling in the dirt. "You cant second-guess that," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Thats a good, aggressive defensive play. Then unfortunately we started to nitpick a little bit on the outside of the strike zone." Two outs later, David Murphy walked to load the bases and, after Junichi Tazawa relieved Breslow, Carlos Santana walked in the go-ahead run to make it 3-2. Jonny Gomes and Brock Holt had two hits apiece for the Red Sox, who scored a season-high 10 runs on Friday night. Boston had won seven in a row at home. Ortiz doubled in a run in the first inning for Boston. It was his 422nd career double in a Red Sox uniform, tying Wade Boggs for fourth on the teams all-time list. NOTES: Peavy is 0-4 with a 5.46 ERA in his past nine starts. ... Red Sox SS Stephen Drew missed his sixth straight game with a right side muscle injury. Farrell said he will be available on Sunday. ... RHP Clay Buchholz (right knee) OF Shane Victorino (right hamstring) and 3B Will Middlebrooks (right index finger) all made rehab appearances for Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Francona, who led the Red Sox to the 2004 and 07 World Series titles, got a big cheer when he came out to check on Michael Bourn after his third-inning single. ' ' '