injury.Verdasco is up against second-ran

OXON HILL, Md. -- Even before landing Chris Sale, the Boston Red Sox got the man they wanted -- a setup man, in fact.The AL East champions locked down their eighth-inning spot Tuesday, acquiring right-hander Tyler Thornburg from the Milwaukee Brewers in a package that included infielder Travis Shaw.Relief pitchers have been a main focus across the majors this offseason, and Thornburg was the centerpiece in the first trade at baseballs winter meetings.Hes what we were looking to try to find, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said.He is somebody we like a great deal, he said. Projects to be a quality eighth-inning individual for us.The 28-year-old Thornburg will set up for closer Craig Kimbrel. Thornburg was 8-5 with 13 saves and a 2.15 ERA in 67 games for the Brewers, striking out 90 in 67 innings.Kind of a breakout year, Boston manager John Farrell said.Milwaukee also got minor league infielder Mauricio Dubon, minor league right-hander Josh Pennington and a player to be named or $100.The 26-year-old Shaw hit .242 with 16 home runs and 71 RBI last season. He mostly played third base, and also saw time at first.Its always challenging to trade major league players, especially major league players who have been as productive as Tyler was for us this past season, Brewers general manager David Stearns said, but were real excited about the players were getting, including one who we expect to impact the major league team immediately.The 22-year-old Dubon hit a combined .323 and scored 101 runs between the Single-A and Double-A levels. The 21-year-old Pennington was 5-3 with a 2.86 ERA in Class A.Thornburg took over as the Brewers closer for the last two months after Jeremy Jeffress was traded to Texas, and was equally effective against lefty and righty hitters. He held left-handers to a .130 batting average last season, and at one point retired 26 hitters in a row overall.Thornburg features a firm fastball and a curve that improved when he tinkered with his mechanics. He made barely over the major league minimum salary last season and is now under Bostons control for three years.After beginning his pro career as a starter, Thornburg became a reliever after having elbow trouble in 2014. Hes been healthy since the middle of 2015 and his arrival comes at the absolute right time, Farrell said.Thornburg said on a conference call with reporters shortly after the deal was announced that his arm settled down once his role did.I never really had a role. I ended up bouncing back and forth between starting and relieving, he said. Going into this season, the thing that makes you feel pretty good about that is I didnt have any flare-ups last year.Thornburg will join right-handers Joe Kelly, Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes and lefty Robbie Ross Jr. in the Red Sox relief corps. When Kimbrel needs a day off, Thornburg can close.Not looking to make any more additions to our bullpen, Dombrowski said.Red Sox relievers Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa and Brad Ziegler became free agents after the season.Dombrowski said the Red Sox asked about Thornburg last season and the Brewers didnt want to deal him. Last month, Stearns said Milwaukee was interested in Shaw, and trade talks increased during the last week.Dombrowski said he felt comfortable trading Shaw because third baseman Pablo Sandoval has recovered well from shoulder surgery that sidelined him for most of last season.Shaw hit 34 doubles last year in his first full season in the majors. He made 99 starts at third base.Dubon stole 30 bases and had 69 RBI for Class A Salem and Double-A Portland. Drafted in 2013, he is a career .306 hitter in the minors.Dubon is a promising prospect, but Boston already has All-Star Xander Bogaerts at shortstop.Were excited to be able to add him to what is a continually improving farm system, and Pennington is a nice low-level, high-velocity reliever, Stearns said.The Brewers went 73-89 this year. Earlier in the offseason, they signed free agent Eric Thames, who played two years in the majors and has spent the last three seasons in South Korea.NFL Jerseys Wholesale . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. https://www.nfljerseys2020.com/ . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Discount NFL Jerseys 2020 . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Wholesale NFL Jerseys 2020 .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again.PARIS -- Gilles Simon rallied to beat Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an all-French match in the first round of the Paris Masters on Monday.In their ninth career meeting dating back to 2007, Simon cracked Benneteaus resistance in a tense first game of the deciding set and won the next three to go 4-0 up.Juliens a very good player and you always have to be wary of him, Simon said. It was a tough match and Im glad I reacted well to get through.Benneteau had won three of their past four meetings, but Simon is now 5-4 ahead.He saved seven of eight break points and broke Benneteau three times -- twice in the deciding set.The 23rd-ranked Simon has reached the Shanghai Masters semifinals and the Miami Masters quarterfinals this season.Im trying to finish the season strongly, the 31-year-old Simon said. Its always good to finish well to get things going for next year.He next faces 10th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut and leads the Spaniard 3-1 overall.Bautista Agut is one of seven players in Paris vying for the two remaining spots at the season-ending ATP finals in London.Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic, who won the Swiss Indoors on Sunday, had the last two places heading to Paris.Tomas Berdych, David Goffin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lucas Pouille and Bautista Agut are the other contenders and are also playing here.Berdych, who won the 2005 Paris Masters, must reach the semifinals to qualify. He faces Portugals Joao Sousa on Tuesday and could then face Bautista Agut in the third round.Tsonga faces Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who downed 36-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-1, 6-4 in Mondays last match.Earlier, Frenchman Benoit Paires 14 aces were not enough as Italian Paolo Lorenzi won 6-4, 7-6 (4).Lorenzi took his only chance on Paires serve in the first set and saved the one break point he faced iin the second.dddddddddddd He plays 16th-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain downed Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 and faces fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, who is feeling the effects of an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw ahead of his China Open semifinal three weeks ago.Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, an Australian Open finalist 10 years ago, won 6-2, 6-4 against Paul-Henri Mathieu and faces 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.American Steve Johnson had eight aces in a 6-4, 7-5 win against Guido Pella of Argentina, setting up a match against 12th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.Sousa saved all six chances on his serve as he beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4, while German Jan-Lennard Struff did not concede a single chance on serve in a 6-1, 6-1 win against Illya Marchenko.Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was up 6-2, 3-2 against Robin Haase when the Dutchman retired with a left hip injury.Verdasco is up against second-ranked Andy Murray, who will move top of the world rankings if he wins the tournament and Novak Djokovic does not reach the final.Djokovic, whose 66 career titles include a record 30 in Masters tournaments, is chasing his fourth straight title in Paris and fifth overall.The Serb opens against either Nicolas Almagro of Spain or Gilles Muller, who play their first-round match late on Tuesday.Djokovic leads Almagro 4-0 and Muller 3-0 in career meetings, while Murray is 11-1 against Verdasco.There are two other American players in Tuesdays remaining first-round action.Big-serving John Inser takes on Mischa Zverev -- seven years after their other meeting -- and Jack Sock plays Philipp Kohlschreiber for the first time. 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