kie Betts isn't just good at knocking the ball out of the park.He's also pretty good at knocking down the pins.The Boston Red Sox outfielder andPBA'sTommy Jones captured the2019 CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational on Sunday.The duo earned a101-86 victory over Pete Weber and Terrell Owens Carlos Ruiz Jersey , who won the 2017 event hosted by Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul."I finally got one," Betts said. "Now I'm going to enjoy it and get ready for baseball."Betts had finished second in each of his first two tries at winning the Celebrity Invitational. The avid bowler has also made appearances on the PBAWorld Series of Bowling, including bowling a 300 game in 2017."The charity is first and foremost, but the competition is fun too, and seeing guys from other sports, different backgrounds and other professions, all coming together to play one sport is definitely fun. But I don't like to lose; you never like to lose, so I'm glad we won this time," Betts said.The tournament benefits the Chris Paul Foundation and is hosted every year on Super Bowl Sunday. This was the 10th anniversary of the event."This is totally different than any bowling I do during the summer or with my friends and teammates," Paul said. "The pressure is different, there are a lot of people here, the lights are bright http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , but I'll make sure I do enough to win. It's amazing that it's been 10 years. I'm so grateful to the PBA and the bowlers, I can't say thank you enough."Betts and the remainder of his Boston Red Sox teammates are set to report to spring training later this month and defend their 2018 championship. PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Yusei Kikuchi felt the nerves Monday that would normally accompany taking the mound in front of tens of thousands of fans in a major ballpark, not the few thousand who showed up for a spring training game in the desert.“I’ve been pitching in Japan for the last nine years and I wanted to test what I was doing in Japan against major league hitters and I wanted to see how they reacted,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter. “So I was really kind of excited and also nervous about that.”Kikuchi made his debut for the Seattle Mariners throwing two innings against the Cincinnati Reds in a start that featured a little bit of everything, from moments of dominance to Kikuchi working out of a jam.The Mariners were pleased with what they saw.“He had a little nerves, no doubt about it, but fastball was really good, he was up to 95 (mph), the breaking pitches we know are outstanding. Thought he handled it really, really well,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He’s going to take a little time to get his routine. You saw him throwing outside the dugout before http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , there’s a few adjustments there, but really happy for him getting that first outing under his belt.”Kikuchi’s most notable at-bat was his lone strikeout, when he tied up Joey Votto on a deceptive 2-2 curveball that left the veteran slugger waving unsuccessfully. While Kikuchi has a fastball in the mid-90s, his breaking pitches and the ability to hide the ball in his windup add to the challenges of facing the lefty.“It’s spring training and I’m sure he’s tuning up his swing as well but to strike out someone the caliber of Joey Votto, a hitter of that caliber, I’m really happy about the result of today,” Kikuchi said.The rest of the outing forced Kikuchi to do a little bit of everything. He had to scamper off the mound to cover first base on a groundout by Yasiel Puig. He faced the challenge of traffic on the bases after a rough second inning that featured a leadoff walk, two errors and giving up two runs — although both were unearned.Kikuchi threw 29 pitches with 19 strikes, the first step in a transitional season.“Obviously, when you’re up on the mound you want to shut them down one, two, three when you’re up there but after I let some guys on today I think I was able to keep my pitch count low and get some double play balls so I’m happy with what I did Jay Buhner Jersey ,” Kikuchi said.One of the biggest adjustments will be Kikuchi’s pregame routine. Servais noted Kikuchi was on the field nearly an hour before first pitch and still figuring out the timing led to Kikuchi playing catch in front of the dugout several minutes before the team took the field.“What we wanted to do is let him go through his normal routine,” Servais said. “He was out here probably 50, 55 minutes before the game started. That’s what he normally does and over time, that’s why we’ve got the four, five outings through spring to tighten up that routine and as the season goes on it will be a learning curve for him as well.”The first outing for Kikuchi was documented from all angles by Asian photographers following his every move, from his warmup in the bullpen to the scrum after his outing with dozens of reporters.Seattle wants to limit Kikuchi’s innings during the regular season and make the first-year transition from pitching in Japan less arduous. But the Mariners also need to build up Kikuchi so he is ready to take on a starter’s load when his innings won’t be limited.Kikuchi said he hadn’t been told what comes next, but he’s likely to get his second start sometime this weekend.“It’s my first start and I felt really good throwing the ball. Going into the game I was a little nervous, obviously, but it ended up well,” Kikuchi said.
