ising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each

PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates have hired Jeff Branson as hitting coach and added Jeff Livesey to the major league coaching staff. Branson replaces Jay Bell, who left the organization last week to take a job with the Cincinnati Reds. Branson worked with Bell last season to implement the teams hitting program. The Pirates won 94 games to make the playoffs for the first time in 21 years but struggled offensively. Pittsburgh hit just .245 on the season and finished in the bottom half of the NL in several offensive categories. Branson played nine seasons in the majors between Cincinnati, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Dodgers before retiring in 2001. Livesey spent the last three years as Pittsburghs minor league hitting co-ordinator. . Clay Buchholz Blue Jays Jersey . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Eric Sogard Jersey . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-bud-norris-jersey/. Olsen, who is 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, can play either centre or guard. The 25-year-old Olsen played 16 games and made four starts in 2012 with the New Orleans Saints. Dave Winfield Jersey .com) - Oregon wasnt going to let Arizona ruin its national title dreams for a second straight season. Roy Halladay Jersey . Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals.Tempe, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - The eighth-ranked team in the nation hits the road on Thursday, as the Runnin Utes of Utah challenge the Arizona State Sun Devils in Pac-12 Conference action at Wells Fargo Arena. Since losing to 10th-ranked Kansas by just three points a little over a month ago, the Runnin Utes have rattled off six consecutive victories. Eight days ago, the Utes posted a commanding 74-49 win over Colorado at the Huntsman Center, moving the program to 3-0 in conference play. Thanks to suffering just two defeats, the other coming against nationally- ranked and former Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State, the Utes find themselves with their highest ranking since finishing the 1998-99 campaign as the sixth-best team in the country. Over on the other side, the Sun Devils have managed to break even after 16 games, but there have been some unexpected bumps in the road. When it comes to conference play, ASU is still waiting to break through, having lost all three Pac-12 decisions. The latest setback took place last Saturday as the team bowed to Oregon, 59-56, in the last of a three-game conference road trip. Utah leads the overall series by a count of 28-20, but is just 9-13 in true road dates versus the Sun Devils. The most recent meeting took place last February with the Utes crushing ASU by a score of 86-63. Somehow Colorado managed to move out to a four-point lead in the first few minutes against the Utes last week, but that was only a temporary setback for thhe hosts as they surged ahead by double figures at the break, and then crushed the Buffs in the second half of the 25-point decision.dddddddddddd Brandon Taylor led three players in double figures with 14 points, followed by Delon Wright with 13, to go along with six assists and four steals. Off the bench, Dakarai Tucker checked in with 11 points for a squad that forced 18 turnovers and held Colorado to only 39.5 percent shooting from the floor. Wright, who was recently named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25, leads the Utes in scoring with 14.9 ppg, stemming from his impressive 56.9 percent shooting from the floor overall, and not so much his 28.6 percent effort out on the perimeter. But more than just a shooter, Wright is also keen on getting his teammates involved at the offensive end, and his 85 assists are proof of that. He is also responsible for 4.7 rpg and 36 steals, which shows that he is willing to do whatever it takes to make Utah successful. In a game that featured 12 ties and a staggering 18 lead changes, the Sun Devils didnt do themselves any favors by converting only eight field goals in the first half during the three-point setback at Oregon over the weekend. The visitors also made just 3-of-17 tries from 3-point range and turned the ball over 15 times, although leading scorer Shaquielle McKissc (18 points) was one of only two players not saddled with a miscue. Eric Jacobsen accounted for 13 points as he converted all six of his field goal tries. ' ' '