other level, myself included, said running back Justin Davis.Said Helton:

CLEVELAND -- There wasnt a bench-clearing brawl.That is about the only thing that didnt happen during seven tense, theatric and highly entertaining regular-season games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Indians, who will renew acquaintances when the AL Championship Series opens on Friday night at Progressive Field.If Octobers drama is anything close to what it was like between the clubs in July and August, buckle up.Their previous matchups included a 19-inning marathon on July 1 in Toronto and a walk-off Indians win on Aug. 19 on back-to-back homers in the ninth inning, the second an inside-the-park shot that turned rookie Tyler Naquin into a local legend.I was watching on TV, said Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who was rehabbing a sprained left knee in Florida and missed Torontos series in Cleveland. There were some games that were obviously close that had some quirky plays in them.The Indians, who swept Boston in the AL Division Series after a season filled with injuries, start Corey Kluber in Game 1 against Torontos Marco Estrada.Kluber was magnificent in his postseason debut, holding the Red Sox to three hits in seven shutout innings in Game 2 of the ALDS. The right-hander, who injured a quadriceps late in the season, will have to be on his game against the Blue Jays, who hit eight home runs in their sweep of Texas and feature a lineup with danger from top to bottom.Theyre a solid lineup, one through nine, said Kluber, tagged for five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings against Toronto on July 3. Its not just two, three, four guys that can hurt you. Everybody in that lineup can hurt you. They have a lot of power, but theyre also patient. You have to go out there and execute pitches. Theres not really a magic formula. Just like what we asked about with Boston, its not a magic formula, theyre just a really good offense. We all have our work cut out for us.That was the case on Canada Day, when the Indians and Blue Jays slugged it out in Rogers Centre for more than six hours before Cleveland escaped with a 2-1 win.Indians manager Terry Francona, whose bullpen touch was on display against the Red Sox, brought in starter Trevor Bauer, who was scheduled to pitch the following day, and the rubber-armed right-hander responded with five shutout innings.The victory capped a franchise-record, 14-game winning streak for the Indians, and although it may have sapped them physically, the win had a positive effect.Anytime youre in a game like that, you always want to win a game from the first inning, said closer Cody Allen. But when youre playing extra ball, youre like, `Lets figure out a way to win. And when we did it was like, `Man, if we can figure out a way to win that game, we can win any game.Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said the game was a test of endurance.I felt like I was out there at shortstop forever, he said. We were using position players to pitch. That game stands out because it shows how evenly matched we are. Every game was close. They walked us off and you remember that because youre walking into the dugout saying, `Man, we had that one. And you hear the Indians people saying theyve been doing that all year, so theres a lot of story lines for this series. Its the two best teams to me.The Blue Jays have been in playoff mode for weeks. They battled their way to a wild-card berth and beat Baltimore in the one-game playoff, riding a sonic wave from their rambunctious home crowd and three-run homer from Edwin Encarnacion into a matchup with the Rangers, the team they traded punches with earlier in the season and knocked out with a flurry of long balls to advance to the ALCS.Now, theyll square off with the Indians, a team that may lack marquee names but not confidence.They have their strengths and weaknesses, Bautista said. And so do we. As long as everybody executes and excels at what theyre good at, its going to be a tough series for either opponent to come out on top. Well see what happens. Theyre a speed-and-base-hit club and were a walk-and-home-run club. Its going to be a pretty good series, I believe.If the first seven games were any indication, believe.LIRIANO SET: Blue Jays reliever Francisco Liriano has recovered from the concussion he received when he was struck on the back of the head by a comebacker in the ALDS.Hes expected to be cleared from the concussion protocol on Friday in time for Game 1.Hes got a chance to be a valuable guy to us if hes healthy, manager John Gibbons said.PRIZE POSSESSION: Several of the Indians players posed in the clubhouse for pictures with the Larry OBrien Trophy, won by the NBAs Cleveland Cavaliers in June. The championship was the first for a Cleveland team since 1964 and the Indians are trying to end a World Series drought dating to 1948.Air Max 95 Saldi . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Air Max 95 Scontate . 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. http://www.airmax95outlet.it/ .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Nike Air Max 95 Vendita Online . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Air Max 95 Italia . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5.The seventh-ranked Stanford Cardinal have excelled in the role as the hunter the last four years, winning three Pac-12 championship games. But now the Cardinal begin conference play as the hunted when they host the University of Southern California at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., on Saturday night.Stanford (1-0) was the preseason favorite to repeat as Pac-12 champs, the first time the Cardinal have been favored under David Shaw. A big reason for that is the return of running back Christian McCaffrey, a Heisman Trophy finalist who set an NCAA FBS record with 3,864 all-purpose yards as a sophomore.The Cardinal opened their season in their signature old-school way: a run-heavy, relatively low-scoring contest. McCaffrey had 22 carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-13 win over Kansas State on Sept. 2 at Stanford Stadium. Stanford also got a big game from first-year starting quarterback Ryan Burns who completed over 75 percent of his passes.He started off very fast, was in great rhythm, Shaw said of Burns. He made great decisions. We got great protection.Stanford jumped to a 17-point lead before struggling to hold on. The Cardinal amassed just 30 second half yards before McCaffrey broke off a 41-yard TD jaunt.Not clean, not pretty in the second half, but we played hard, Shaw said. We showed heart at the end.USC (1-1), meanwhile, recovered from an ugly 52-6 opening loss to No. 1 Alabama by thumping Utah State 45-7 on Saturday at the Coliseum. Like the Cardinal, the Trojans feature a new starting quarterback in junior Max Browne, and freshman Sam Darnold has seen time as well, adding two touchdown passes.We needed that, Trojans wide receiver Darreus Rogers. Its big to build our confidence back up.Stanford is beginning a brutal three-week stretch that includes playing at UCLA on Sept. 24 and then trekking to No. 8 Washington on Sept. 29.The Cardinal wont get any sympathy from the Trojans when it comes to tough schedules, though.After opening the season with the embarrassing 46-point loss to the Crimson Tide in Arlington, Texas, the Trojans righted he ship with a 45-7 win over Utah State last Saturday, giving coach Clay Helton his first victory in four tries since the interim label was dropped from his title late last season.dddddddddddd Following the Pac-12 title game rematch with Stanford, USC hits the road again for a game at Utah on Sept. 23. Those are probably the two biggest physical tests you can get in the Pac-12.USC played Stanford twice last season, losing 41-31 at home early in the regular season and 41-22 in the Pac-12 Championship Game. The Cardinal outrushed the Trojans by a combined 457-325.Were going to have to take it up to a whole other level, myself included, said running back Justin Davis.Said Helton: They are the Pac-12 champs. We have a huge challenge.Helton has often talked about USC being less Hollywood. Less flash and more substance, especially when it comes to establishing a running game and being physical. Basically, he wants USC to be more like Stanford.The matchup doesnt lack for flash, though. USC has wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, running backs Ronald Jones II and Justin Davis, and cornerback/returner Adoree Jackson. Those are special, flashy talents.The Cardinal, of course, have McCaffrey. The junior had a staggering 461 all-purpose yards in the Pac-12 Championship game -- 207 rushing, 105 receiving, 120 on kick returns and 29 on punt returns. He had only 249 all-purpose yards in the regular-season meeting against USC.So far this season, the Trojans have had two extremes -- the loss to Alabama and a dominating performance against Utah State. Did either result tell the truth about the real state of USC?Theres a lot of cleaning up to do before we play Stanford, Helton said. I understand that as a coach.USC leads the all-time series 60-31-3, but Stanford has won six of the last eight meetings including 41-22 in the 2015 Pac-12 Championship Game. The Trojans vacated a 2015 victory due to an NCAA penalty. ' ' '