eason, he guided modest Spanish side Sevilla to a third straight Europa League title, with an aggressive style based on hard pressing and rapid co

DETROIT -- Michael Fulmer has made pitching in the major leagues look easy. The Detroit Tigers rookie phenom can tie a franchise record on Sunday if his string of dominance continues.Fulmer has allowed one or no earned runs in each of his last nine starts. Thats the second longest such streak by a Tigers starter since at least 1913.He can tie Doug Fister, who posted 10 consecutive one-or-no earned run outings spanning the 2011 and 2012 seasons, in the finale of a three-game series against Kansas City.Every time I take the mound, my goal is to put up zeroes, said Fulmer, who is 9-2 with a 2.11 ERA. With the defense I have and the way the catchers have been calling the game, its been real easy, honestly. Im just trusting him and trusting my defense.Fulmer knows he cant keep this up over the long haul. Hes trying to avoid getting wrapped up in the overwhelmingly successful start to his MLB career.It all comes back to staying level-headed and staying humble, the 23-year-old right-hander said. This is a humbling game. This is a game of failure, it really is.One of his two losses came against the Royals, though he only gave up one run in that June outing. He did walk a season-high four batters in his 5 2/3-innings stint.Theyre the World Series champs for a reason, he said. Its a good lineup. I felt at times I had to pitch around a few guys.By adding a changeup to his fastball-slider combination, Fulmer has kept most hitters off-balance. He made his debut in late April after Shane Greene went to the disabled list with a blister issue and never looked back.My goal the first three, four or five starts was just to stay here, he said. I knew there was a possibility I could get sent down when Greeny came off the DL. I kind of took it as motivation to see how long I could stay up here.His mound opponent will be facing his favorite team, at least on paper. Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura has six of his 33 career victories against the Tigers. Hes 6-0 with a 3.27 ERA in eight outings against them, including seven starts.Ventura has lost his last three starts, though he only allowed three runs in seven innings to Seattle in his last appearance.Out of his last five outings, hes had four very encouraging outings, Royals manager Ned Yost said. We see signs of him starting to understand who he is a little bit and how to harness that powerful fastball that he has.The pitching staff got a boost on Saturday when premier closer Wade Davis was activated off the 15-day disabled list. Davis pitched a scoreless inning in the Royals 8-4 victory on Saturday night.Davis return provides more clarity to bullpen roles, with fill-in closer Kelvin Herrera returning to his eighth-inning duties and Luke Hochevar and Joakim Soria resuming sixth and seventh-inning duties.Hes one of the best relievers in the game, Yost said. We had to go a couple of weeks without that but we felt like we had it covered. It just gives us another quality arm we can put in the back of that pen. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Sale . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Online .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. https://www.customnikebaseballjerseys.com/201n-custom-nike-houston-astros-jerseys-baseball.html . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Outlet . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. Custom Nike Minnesota Twins Jerseys . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. PARIS -- Spanish coach Unai Emery was hired to turn Paris Saint-Germain into a European force, yet the team looks considerably weaker than last season.When PSG won a second straight French treble last season, coach Laurent Blanc was nevertheless fired for again failing to get past the quarterfinals of the Champions League.The clubs Qatari owners, eager to fast-track PSG into the top bracket of Europe alongside Barcelona and Bayern Munich, saw Emery as the coach to do it.Last season, he guided modest Spanish side Sevilla to a third straight Europa League title, with an aggressive style based on hard pressing and rapid counterattacks.Although there was nothing remarkable about his tactics, what stood out was a seemingly unbreakable bond between coach and players, a sense of sacrifice and teamwork chronically absent in PSG sides reliant on the individual brilliance of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Angel Di Maria.Shortly before Blanc was fired in late June, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi gave a newspaper interview where he spoke glowingly of Sevillas performance in the Europa League final against Liverpool. When he said changes were quickly needed, Blancs days were numbered.But Emery has struggled to make an impact, and his methods seem to be confusing his players, who are adapting to a rigid approach after years of playing attack-minded, expansive football under Blanc and his predecessor Carlo Ancelotti.Key players like midfielder Blaise Matuidi are playing below their best under Emery, whose summer signings have also yet to make an impact.Winger Hatem Ben Arfa, holding midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak, former Real Madrid forward Jese, and right back Thomas Meunier were on the bench against Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday, raising the question as to why Emery signed them.Krychowiak was one oof Emerys key players at Sevilla, while the fleet-footed Ben Arfa was outstanding for Nice last season, scoring 17 league goals.ddddddddddddConsidering PSG won the league by a record 31 points last season, domestic dominance was supposed to be a given for Emery. Even though Ibrahimovic left to join Manchester United, PSG retained the likes of Di Maria, striker Edinson Cavani, and Italy midfielder Marco Verratti.Plenty more talent than other teams in Ligue 1.But after two early league defeats -- as many as last season -- PSG is four points behind surprise leader Nice heading into Sundays showdown with bitter rival Marseille. Last weekend, PSG held on to win 2-1 at Nancy, a promoted team at the bottom the league.Add in some mediocre performances in the Champions League, and it looks so far that PSG is going backward rather than forward.Emery needs a good result and a strong performance on Sunday to reassure fans.PSGs 3-0 win against Basel looks a comfortable one given the result, but Basel missed four clear chances before PSGs first goal, and hit the post three times.PSGs passing was scrappy and the transition from midfield to attack stunted.The defense looked hugely vulnerable, despite featuring the vastly experienced Thiago Silva -- Brazils former captain -- and Marquinhos, who stood out for Brazil when it won the Olympic gold medal in August.The midfield was easily overrun at times by an average Basel which did nothing more than up the tempo of its passing.These are alarming defects, and there is a clear lack of identity in Emerys side.While it may not cost PSG a league title, the European success so craved by its impatient ownership seems a very long shot at best. ' ' '