Schwarzesbrett » Gomez had reached after getting hit by a pitch

PITTSBURGH -- Forget the 0-4 start. Forget the remarkable finish, the one that kept the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoff picture until the final minutes of the regular season. Theres no such thing as partial credit in the NFL. "We were an 8-8 team," safety Troy Polamalu said. One that will spend January at home for a second straight year. LeVeon Bell ran for 90 yards and a touchdown as the Steelers drubbed the lifeless Browns 20-7 on Sunday, though Pittsburghs bid to become the second team in NFL history to go winless in September and make the playoffs ended when San Diego edged Kansas City 27-24 in overtime. "We are going to build on this," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "I think we have put together a good foundation." One that went 6-2 over the final eight weeks, recovering from a potentially franchise-altering 55-31 loss to New England on Nov. 3 to play perhaps the best football in the AFC by someone not named Denver over the second half. Or, the exact opposite of what happened in Cleveland, which fired first-year coach Rob Chudzinski hours after the game. The Browns (4-12) lost their final seven games and 10 of their last 11. Not exactly the step forward new owner Jimmy Haslam was looking for with a roster littered with five Pro Bowl players. "We needed to see progress with this football team," the Browns said in a statement after firing Chudzinski. "We needed to see development and improvement as the season evolved and, unfortunately, we took a concerning step backward in the second half of the year. "Our fans deserve to see a consistently competitive team. We have high standards, and theres an urgency for success. When we believed we were not positioned to achieve significant progress in 2014, we knew we had to admit that a change was needed, and move forward." Chudzinskis players did something after the game they failed to do during it: rally around their coach. "Its just absurd to me that a report would be out like that, about a good coach like that," Browns linebacker DQwell Jackson said. "Its crazy, and that (ticked) me off when I heard that." Cleveland didnt exactly play angry while letting the Steelers roll to victory for the 26th time in 31 meetings since the Browns were revived in 1999. Roethlisberger passed for 179 yards and a touchdown against two interceptions as Pittsburgh won its third straight to avoid the franchises first losing season since 2003. "Guys just kept fighting," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. "Wasnt anything glorious or something beautiful, we just came out of nowhere." Jason Campbell completed 23 of 41 passes for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Josh Gordon caught seven passes for 82 yards to finish with an NFL-high 1,646 yards receiving, a first for the franchise. It proved little solace on a wet, miserable day at Heinz Field in which Cleveland looked very much like the same old Browns. Cleveland was largely noncompetitive over the seasons final three months, with seven losses by a touchdown or more, including two to the Steelers by a combined 47-18. There is no sense of panic in Pittsburgh. A season that appeared teetering on embarrassment after the record-setting loss to the Patriots ended up with a decidedly rosier finish. The Steelers scored on the opening drive, a 9-yard strike from Roethlisberger to Jerricho Cotchery, and it was more than enough. Whenever the Browns threatened, they found a way to botch it. Twice they failed on fourth-down attempts in Pittsburgh territory and didnt reach the end zone until Campbell found Fozzy Whitaker on a 35-yard pass with 2:46 remaining. By then most of the attention had turned to the scoreboard, where the biggest roars were saved for scores by the Bengals and Jets, who then won to boost Pittsburghs playoff chances. Kansas City nearly did the same, but Ryan Succop missed a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in regulation and San Diego survived. Still, the Steelers remain convinced better days lay ahead, thanks in part to Bells rapid development. He broke Hall of Famer Franco Harris team record for total yards from scrimmage by a rookie by combining for 96 yards in the muck at Heinz Field. Bell finished with 1,259 total yards in just 13 games, 24 more than the mark of 1,235 Harris set in 1972. Bells 5-yard touchdown burst in the second quarter, which included a nifty spin move in the backfield, gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead at the break. It capped an 87-yard drive in which he touched the ball 10 times in 14 plays. That was plenty for a rejuvenated defence that sacked Campbell three times, including a strip fumble by defensive end Brett Keisel, likely playing his final regular-season game of his 12-year career with Pittsburgh. Despite the outcome, Keisel isnt closing the door on a return. "I still feel like I can play," Keisel said. "You know, well see." Just not until 2014. NOTES: Brown caught nine passes for 97 yards to finish with 110 receptions on the season, narrowly missing the club mark of 112 set by Hines Ward in 2012. ... Roethlisberger finished with 4,261 yards passing, the second-highest total in team history to his 4,328 in 2009. Wholesake Fake Air Jordan 1 . Some teams got significantly better, some teams divested themselves of talent and some teams had quiet afternoons, keeping the status quo. Fake Nike Shoes .Brothers B.J. and Justin Upton each homered and had an outfield assist, and the Braves held on for a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. https://www.fakeshoes.net/ .Y. - Geno Smith still thinks of himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback. Fake Shoes For Sale . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk. Fake Jordan . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. MILWAUKEE -- Stephen Strasburgs fastball was on, but the changeup was off. Minus one pitch in his arsenal, the Washington Nationals ace got shelled for one of the worst outings of his career. Scooter Gennett had a grand slam and five RBIs, Khris Davis added a solo shot and the Milwaukee Brewers roughed up Strasburg in a 9-2 victory Wednesday. Strasburg (6-6) was tagged for eight hits and seven runs in 4 2-3 innings. Strasburg also allowed seven earned runs in a two-inning start on July 12, 2013, in an 8-3 loss to Miami. Strasburg said he was having issues with his mechanics that were causing hitters "to see the ball a lot better. ... Still trying to figure that out. It just doesnt feel the same, it doesnt look the same." Manager Matt Williams said Strasburg was commanding his fastball, but the changeup threw him off. Thats not good news against the aggressive Brewers, even with top hitters Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Aramis Ramirez all getting a day off. "So he couldnt go to it, he was missing with that," Williams said. "And then he got behind in the count and they took advantage of it. This team swings at fastballs and they hit them. If you get behind, you can get in trouble." Homer-prone starter Marco Estrada (7-4) allowed just two hits and pitched effectively into the seventh for the Brewers, who bounced back a day after falling 4-2 in 16 innings to Washington. Estrada has given up a major league-high 24 homers, but didnt allow a homer Wednesday. Estradas only other outing without a homer was during a 6-1 loss to St. Louis on April 15. On Wednesday, fans showered him with a standing ovation after he got lifted in the seventh. "The way the game was going, Im sure everyone was really excited about it -- but to get some cheers in that game, it made me feel really good," Estrada said. Gennett turned on a 2-1 fastball for his first career grand slam and fifth homer of the season that landed on tthe concourse above right-centre field in the second for a 4-1 lead.dddddddddddd Davis opened the bottom of the fourth with a no doubt-about-it shot above the "Goodwill" sign in left-centre for his team-high 14th homer to make it 5-2. Davis swung at a first-pitch fastball. "A guy like Strasburg, you dont want to get to two strikes off him," Davis said. "You want be aggressive and get him early." The Brewers bats broke out after scoring just two runs in 25 innings in the first two games of a series between NL division leaders. Rookie Taylor Hill, making his major-league debut, allowed two runs and five hits in 3 1/3 innings of relief. The benches did empty briefly after Carlos Gomez slid through second base on second basemans Kevin Frandsens relay on a double play to end the eighth inning. Gomez had reached after getting hit by a pitch. Shortstop Ian Desmond took issue with the slide and exchanged words with Gomez. No punches were thrown and the teams returned to their dugouts. "I respect the way he plays the game, but I got no respect for that," Desmond said. "In a World Series game, you slide like that. In a seven-run differential game, theres no time for that. If youre going to defend that, Ive got no respect if you can defend that." Manager Ron Roenicke said it was a hard but clean slide. "You get hit with a ball, you get a little adrenaline going, and youre going to go in hard," the skipper said. NOTES: Nationals OF Bryce Harper (left thumb) has joined Class AA Harrisburg for the next phase of his rehab stint for a left thumb injury. ... Williams said C Wilson Ramos (right hamstring) could rejoin the team in time for the start of Thursdays four game series in Chicago against the Cubs. ... Doug Fister (6-5) will start the opener of the Cubs series for Washington. Milwaukee opens a four-game set on Thursday at Miller Park with Wily Peralta (8-5) taking the hill. ' ' '