celebrate him.Before Saturdays game, Ortiz was jo

NORTON, Mass. -- One week into the Ryder Cup auditions for the captains picks, Davis Love III should have no trouble identifying the hot player.Trouble is, Rory McIlroy plays for the other team.The Deutsche Bank Championship, where McIlroy rediscovered his putting stroke, was the first of two big tournaments that essentially allow Love and the Americans to buy time so they can decide how to use three captains picks that will be announced Monday.Love will get a fourth pick after the FedEx Cup ends on Sept. 25, presumably before the boarding door closes on the flight to Hazeltine.But is this really an audition?Not according to Phil Mickelson, the senior member of the U.S. team who serves on the Ryder Cup Task Force.I think the picks are fairly obvious, Mickelson said before the first shot was struck at the TPC Boston. If theyre not, or if we get a guy like Billy Horschel who just gets a hot hand and we need that hot hand to give us the best chance to win, then we have that option. For the most part, I think its fairly obvious who the picks would be without even naming them.Maybe its obvious to Mickelson, and perhaps to Love.But not to everyone.I cant name them, either, said Steve Stricker, an assistant captain and task force member. I dont know who they are, I swear. I could put five guys down that are obvious. I dont think I could do three.Matt Kuchar would seem logical. He finished 12th in the standings, has the right game for match play because he is rarely out of position, and he likely played his way onto the team with that 63 on the final day to win the bronze medal at the Olympics.Rickie Fowler makes sense, even though he has never won a match in two Ryder Cup appearances. Fowler is well-liked, he paired nicely with PGA champion Jimmy Walker at Gleneagles and tied for seventh at The Barclays in the final qualifying event. Then again, he squandered a chance to play his way onto the team at Bethpage Black by making a mess of the last four holes. He wound up 11th in points.After that, the obvious becomes opinions.Bubba Watson finished at No. 9 in the standings and he is No. 7 in the world. However, the two-time Masters champion hasnt had a top 10 on the PGA Tour in six months. Jim Furyk is under consideration, mainly because he finished at No. 15 in the standings despite missing four months at the start of the year to recover from wrist surgery. He also shot 58. But he didnt make it beyond the second stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs.J.B. Holmes was No. 10 in the standings. Holmes is a power player and one of the few active Americans to have never been on a losing Ryder Cup team. His only appearance was in 2008 at Valhalla. He went 2-0-1.Thats five options, and there might be more.But lets say the initial three captains picks really are obvious.Why wait?Europe filled out its team with three captains picks last Tuesday, two days after qualifying ended. Too soon? It might look that way with Alex Noren winning in Switzerland and moving up to No. 27 in the world. At least it has a team of 12 for a month leading to the opening shot on Sept. 30.The Americans wont have a full team until they arrive at Hazeltine.They were giddy about their trip to Gillette Stadium last week, even though only two-thirds of the team was there. It led to one awkward moment when someone asked Kuchar how he liked the home of the New England Patriots and the speech from 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey captain Mike Eruzione. Kuchar wasnt there. Neither was Fowler. Or the other obvious pick.As for the final pick, Love is thrilled with the idea that someone could get hot and reach the Tour Championship and have a shot at winning the FedEx Cup and I get to pick him on Sunday night.That sounds great, as long as its the right guy who wins.Of the 70 players moving on to Indiana for the third playoff event, eight are Americans who have never won a PGA Tour event and, according to Love, still on his radar.Love asked a question in New York last week that he couldnt answer, and neither can anyone else.Is it easier for that guy to stay hot -- or for that other guy to get hot? he said.The Americans are looking for any edge they can find. Its hard to blame them since they have only won the Ryder Cup twice since 1995. But would it take anything away from the Ryder Cup if both teams had the same qualifying system? Start it one year out, take 11 players and give the captains one wild-card pick.And then go play.Because golf is supposed to be a sport that rewards a good score, not a good relationship.Nike Jerseys .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. NHL Jerseys .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Wholesale Jerseys . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Cheap Jerseys . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No.BOSTON -- The Blue Jays almost balked away a pivotal game in their postseason chase.With Toronto leading in the eighth inning thanks to another strong start from 20-game winner J.A. Happ, Roberto Osuna balked in the tying run. But Ezequiel Carrera delivered a sacrifice fly in the ninth, and Toronto beat Boston 4-3 on Saturday night to move into a tie with Baltimore for the top spot in the AL wild-card race.We had the lead and the tying run scores on balk. I was worried about the baseball gods, said manager John Gibbons, whose team is tied with the Orioles at 88 wins with one game to play. We want to enjoy this one. Theyre hard to come by.Toronto owns the tie-breaker with Baltimore and would host the wild-card game if it wins the season finale Sunday. Detroit is also still in the wild-card hunt but would require losses by the Jays or Orioles to get in.With the loss, Boston fell one-half game behind Cleveland in the race for home-field advantage when their AL Division Series begins on Thursday.Obviously, we would like the home-field advantage, Boston utilityman Brock Holt said. Well come ready to go tomorrow. Hopefully well play that first game here.One night after the Blue Jays blew a 3-1 lead and gave up the winning homer to the soon-to-be-retired David Ortiz, Happ seemed poised to pick up his 21st win. But with Toronto leading 3-2 in the eighth, Mookie Betts doubled, took third on Holts hard-hit double-play ball and then scored to tie it when the Blue Jays closer Osuna stopped his motion after starting to get into the stretch.That was a pretty obvious one, said Betts, who had two hits and scored twice for Boston.Osuna got Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the inning.With Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel (2-6) pitching in the ninth, Michael Saunders drew a leadoff walk, and then pinch-runner Dalton Pompey took second on a sacrifice bunt, third on a wild pitch and scored on Carreras fly to left.We grinded out at-bats, said Torontos Kevin Pillar, who drove in three runss on a pair of RBI singles.dddddddddddd We know what the alternative is: going home. You dont put this much work in to fold up shop and go home.Kimbrel has losses in two of his last three appearances, issuing six walks while completing two innings. Since Sept. 22, his ERA has risen from 2.52 to 3.40.The 21-year-old Osuna (4-3) retired the Red Sox in order in the ninth to recover from his sixth blown save of the season.FOR STARTERSHapp pitched 6 1/3 innings of four-hit ball, allowing allowed two runs while walking five and striking out one.Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed three runs -- all on RBI singles by Pillar -- three hits and five walks, striking out nine.FAREWELL PAPIOrtiz walked and singled in three plate appearances before he was replaced in the fifth inning by a pinch-runner. The Red Sox designated hitter tipped his batting helmet to the crowd that stood and chanted Papi! for the second consecutive night.Ortiz, 40, has announced this season will be his last. The Red Sox already extended his career by winning the AL East, but they are using his final regular season series to celebrate him.Before Saturdays game, Ortiz was joined on the field by other Boston sports stars, including Bruins legend Bobby Orr, NFL Hall of Famer Andre Tippett and the entire current Celtics roster. Several of the players asked Ortiz to sign their jerseys and pose for selfies with them.UP NEXTBlue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (14-2, 3.06 ERA) goes in the regular season finale Sunday. Hes allowed one run over six innings in each of his last two starts after extended rest for a blister.Red Sox: Former Blue Jays left-hander David Price (17-9, 4.04) will start for Boston on Sunday. He took the loss in his previous start Tuesday against the Yankees, giving up six runs and 12 hits in 6 1/3 innings, halting his career-best, eight-game winning streak. ' ' '