Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils,

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CLEVELAND -- John Axford had other choices where he could pitch next season. Elfrid Payton Swingman Jersey . The Indians closed the deal. Axford, who had 46 saves for Milwaukee in 2011 but lost his closers job last season and was traded to St. Louis, finalized a $4.5 million, one-year contract Thursday and will close for Cleveland in 2014. The 30-year-old Axford had other teams interested in signing him, but he decided to join the Indians because of their turnaround in 2013, a strong clubhouse and manager Terry Francona, who sold Axford with his typical straightforward approach. "He was very, very up front with me about the team, the organization, the city," Axford said. "It just sounded to me like a situation I want to be a part of." Axford replaces two-time All-Star closer Chris Perez, who was released in October after Cleveland made its first playoff appearance since 2007. Axford agreed to the contract with Cleveland earlier this week, and completed the deal after taking a physical on Wednesday. The right-hander can earn another $1.75 million in performance bonuses based on games finished: $250,000 for 38 and $300,000 apiece for 43, 48, 53, 58 and 63. The Indians initially considered filling the closers role within the organization -- right-handers Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen were the top candidates -- and pursued several veteran free agents before working out a deal with Axford. The Indians werent scared off despite Axford struggles last season, when he started horribly and was demoted by the Brewers before eventually being traded to St. Louis in August. "We thought he was the right guy to take a chance on," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. "We feel like we added an experienced, power arm to the back of our bullpen." Antonetti said the team wasnt reluctant to give the job to Shaw or Allen, its just that Axford was a better option and the club feels he can "bounce back" and be an elite stopper again. Axford attributed some of his early problems last season to pitching in the World Baseball Classic. He was throwing hard from the get-go and went through a "dead arm" period when his velocity dropped following the WBC. But after making some adjustments, Axford settled in and posted a 2.92 ERA in his final 71 appearances with the Brewers and Cardinals. "I dont like to make excuses," Axford said. "I really enjoyed pitching for my country, but I really dont think my arm was ever ready for the start of the regular season. I had a dead arm and my velocity was down in those first few games of the regular season. But when you give up four home runs and have an ERA of 22 after four games, you cant be surprised that youre not the closer anymore." Axford has a 22-19 career record with a 3.29 ERA and 106 saves in 281 relief appearances. He said being a free agent "was fun, but it was difficult." Ultimately, he thought the Indians were the best fit for him because they provided a chance to close again and Cleveland is just a 4 1-2 hour drive from his home in Ontario. It also helped the Indians are on the rise after earning a wild-card spot in 2013. "There were certainly other teams in the mix," Axford said. "They had a great season last year. It seemed like a team I would want to pitch for." Victor Oladipo Jersey . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. Vince Carter Magic Jersey . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. http://www.magicjerseyofficial.com/Customized/ . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed.(SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of teams near the bottom of the NHL standings will meet Saturday afternoon in the City of Brotherly Love when the Philadelphia Flyers welcome the Edmonton Oilers to the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia is ranked 29th out of 30 NHL teams with just nine points this season on a 4-10-1 record. Edmonton has 10 points, but, at 4-11-2, the Oilers have played two more games than the Flyers. This is Edmontons first game in Philadelphia in over two years. The Oilers last visited the Wells Fargo Center on March 8, 2011 and dropped a 4-1 decision to halt a four-game road winning streak in this series. Edmonton is 7-1-0 with a tie in the past nine overall meetings against the Flyers. While in Philadelphia, Edmonton announced the signing of former Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, whose tumultuous tenure in the City of Brotherly Love ended this summer with a massive buyout. Bryzgalov, who has yet to play this season in the NHL, agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Oilers on Friday. According to reports, the 33-year-old Russian will spend time with the Oilers AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City for conditioning before joining the big club. Bryzgalov joined the Flyers in the summer of 2011, signing an 8-year, $51 million deal. However, perceptions of inconsistent play along with off-ice and locker-room behavior issues contributed to the buyout -- one which saved the current basement dwellers in the Metropolitan Division an estimated $6 million on the salary cap for the remaining six years of the deal. "We get a goaltender that has a history of being a high performer in parts of his career, and we get a guy thats very motivated and hes going to have a chance to be a good goalie," said Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish. Edmonton starting goaltender Devan Dubnyk has struggled to a 3-6-1 record, 3.80 GAA and .878 save percentage this season. Backups Richard Bachman and Jason LaBarbera have combined to go 1-5-1 in their nine appearances. The Flyers enter Saturday having lost two straight and four of their last five games. Philadelphia has scored a total of four goals over that five-game stretch and is dead last in the NHL with an average of 1.47 goals per game this season. Philadelphias most recent setback, a 3-0 home loss Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils, prompted a playerrs-only meeting to be called by team captain Claude Giroux, who is still without a goal in 15 games this season. Channing Frye Authentic Jersey. "Well, were definitely frustrated, but the bright side is we have a good group," said Flyers goaltender Ray Emery after Thursdays loss. "We have a lot of guys who really enjoy playing together." Emery was outdueled Thursday by Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who posted a 22-save shutout against the punchless Flyers. Adam Henrique, Cam Janssen and former Philadelphia forward Jaromir Jagr each scored a goal for New Jersey. The Devils had been shut out in their previous two games, including a 1-0 defeat to the Flyers last Saturday. Emery, who had blanked the Devils on Saturday, stopped 22 shots for the Flyers in Thursdays setback. Philadelphia went 0-for-3 on the power play against the Devils and has scored just once on 17 chances with the man advantage over the last four games. The Flyers are ranked 27th in the league with a 10-percent success rate on the power play this season. "On a consistent, nightly basis you have to outwork the penalty killing of the other team and you have to create momentum for your team, and they did not do that tonight," said Flyers head coach Craig Berube. Edmonton enters Saturday as the bottom team in the Western Conference standings and has dropped six of its last seven games. The Oilers, who are making the third stop on a four-game road trip this afternoon, last played on Thursday in Tampa and lost a 4-2 decision to the Lightning. Steven Stamkos victimized Edmonton for two goals, as the Oilers fell to 3-6-2 as the visiting team this season. "We made three mistakes tonight and two of them went to the wrong player," Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins said, referring to Stamkos. Edmonton did manage to fire 40 shots on net Thursday, but Ben Bishop turned aside 38 of those attempts to frustrate the Oilers offense time and again. "Its one of those nights where I loved the way we played. We played with passion," Eakins added. Taylor Hall returned from a knee injury to register one of Edmontons two tallies, with Taylor Fedun accounting for the other. Dubnyk stopped 22- of-25 shots in the loss. The Oilers are set to close their four-game swing Sunday in Chicago. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '