Die Jäger des Schicksals » Despite Balentiens home run, the Yakult

TOKYO -- Former major leaguer Wladimir Balentien hit his 55th home run on Wednesday, tying Japanese baseballs single-season record. Balentien matched the mark set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and equaled by ex-major leaguers Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002. He has 21 regular-season games left to break the record. Balentien hit a solo homer in the sixth inning at Jingu Stadium and was presented with a bouquet of flowers after reaching home plate. Despite Balentiens home run, the Yakult Swallows lost 6-2 to the Hiroshima Carp. "Its an honour to be tied with such great players," Balentien said. "Im relieved and happy I was able to do it here in front of our home fans." Balentien, who is from Curacao, played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before signing with the Swallows in 2011. He hit 31 homers in each of his first two seasons in Japan. Rhodes and Cabrera tied Ohs record with several games left but were then walked more and were unable to break it. Oh is a legend in Japan. His 868 career home runs, which surpassed Hank Aarons then major league record of 755, made him a national hero. The single-season home run record is also highly regarded, and former New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui wore No. 55 in recognition of it. The closest Matsui got to breaking Ohs record was 50 homers in 2002, when he played for the Yomiuri Giants. The 29-year-old Balentien missed the first 12 games of this season because of a leg injury sustained while playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Balentiens challenge of Ohs record comes in a season in which there is controversy over a new, livelier baseball. In June, Japanese baseball officials admitted they introduced the new official ball this season without notifying players. The new ball has resulted in a dramatic increase in home runs. Juuse Saros Jersey . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Dan Hamhuis Jersey . -- Colin Kaepernick insists he just happened to pull on a pair of socks with dollar bill prints all over them Wednesday morning -- before he learned he had struck a new fortune with the San Francisco 49ers. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Colton-sissons-predators-jersey/ . Helwani said that Weidman has been dealing with recurring swelling and pain in his knees related to torn meniscus he suffered as a teenager and the problems came to a head last week when he suffered prolonged swelling and pain in his left knee, resulting in the decision to undergo an arthroscopic scope procedure to clean up the tear in both knees. Roman Josi Jersey . The 27-year-old hit .209 in 86 at-bats last year after missing the 2010 season following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Mattias Ekholm Jersey . A strong fastball. A big, bending curveball that can buckle hitters at the knees. Against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Elias put the entire package together against one of the leagues strongest lineups.ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Terrelle Pryor will start at quarterback for the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, replacing Matt McGloin for the final regular-season game against the Denver Broncos. Coach Dennis Allen made the announcement at the end of his news conference Monday, saying it was "part of the plan" that apparently took shape when Pryor recovered from an injury to his right knee in late November. "Its been a while since weve gotten an opportunity to see Terrelle in a game and I want to get him in the game and get another opportunity to evaluate him," Allen said. "We all get frustrated when were not playing, but (Pryor has) done a good job with that and hes going to get another opportunity." Pryor was the leading rusher among quarterbacks in the NFL when he suffered a knee sprain in early November. However, he has thrown only five touchdowns with 11 interceptions and has a passer rating of just 66.0. When asked why he was making the move now, Allen emphasized that he was not benching McGloin and that it is simply another chance for the Raiders (4-11) to take another look at Pryor. Whether the decision was Allens or whether it came at the urging from owner Mark Davis remains unclear. Allen has been a strong supporter of McGloins since early in training camp and has repeatedly talked glowingly about the former Penn State star. Even after making the switch back to Pryor, Allen made it clear he believes McGloin will be in the mix for the job next season. McGloin has thrown more touchdowns (eight) and fewer interceptions (eight) than Pryor but has also completed a lower percentage of passes than his counterpart. "I liked a lot of things that I saw in Matt," Allen said. "He wasnt quite as sharp as he had been earlier in a couple of the earlier games, but Ive been pleased with what Ive seen out of (McGloin) from the first moment he walked on campus here. I think we have a guy that can be in our plans for the future and Im glad hes on this football team." Its been a tricky road back into thee starting lineup for Pryor.dddddddddddd He was hurt during Oaklands 49-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 3 then aggravated the injury the following week against the New York Giants. After that game, Pryor told reporters his knee had been bothering him -- a statement he later regretted making because, in his words, it sounded like an excuse. That opened the door for McGloin, who threw three touchdowns without an interception in his first NFL start against the Houston Texans on No. 17. Oaklands offence has made only modest improvements since then and the team has lost its past five games with McGloin as the starter. In the past two games, the undrafted rookie quarterback threw six interceptions and lost two fumbles. McGloin passed for just 206 yards and committed two turnovers during Sundays 26-13 loss to the San Diego Chargers. Allen, however, declined to say whether Pryor will play the entire game against the Denver Broncos or if McGloin will be rotated in. That was the pattern the Raiders used against the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, only in reverse with McGloin starting and Pryor coming off the bench. "Well see," Allen said. "Hes going to be the starter. I informed both of those guys this morning and well go from there. We want to get another opportunity to see, and weve said for a while now that we want to be able to evaluate Terrelle so heres an opportunity to go in and do that." Oakland went 3-5 in the eight games Pryor started before getting hurt. He has made only a few cameo appearances since then, but did not play against San Diego on Sunday. Allen gave players the day off Monday, so neither Pryor nor McGloin could be reached for comment. Two weeks ago, however, Pryor said he wasnt going to get caught up in a quarterback controversy. "The only thing I can do is control what I can control and just keep getting better," he said on Dec. 10, two days after a 37-27 loss to the Jets. "At the end of the day thats all I can control. Thats where were at." 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