Die Macht » I think Finnish goalies are catchers more tha

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers mustered just one hit off Zack Greinke through three innings. Then their former teammate faltered and Los Angeles hammered the former Cy Young Award winner for five home runs.Joc Pederson joined the 20-plus home run club with a solo shot and Los Angeles beat Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-2 on Monday night in his first road start against his former team.Things were going bad and they were swinging good, Greinke said.The Dodgers increased their lead in the NL West to a season-high four games over San Francisco, which lost 6-0 at Colorado. They have won three straight and four of five.Theyre not going to quit, so you cant take your foot off the gas, Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager said.Kenta Maeda (14-8) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out eight and walked one to tie Kazuhisa Ishii and Hyun-Jin Ryu for the second-most wins by a Los Angeles rookie, trailing only Rick Sutcliffes 17 in 1979. The Japanese right-hander has won six of his last seven.He was staying out of the middle of the plate and he was getting strikes from both sides and hitting his spots, said Arizonas Paul Goldschmidt, who was 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. He really had command of all four pitches.Greinke (12-5) imploded in his return to Dodger Stadium for the first time since spurning the team as a free agent last December.He signed a $206.5 million, six-year deal in the desert after winning 51 games and compiling a 2.30 ERA from 2013-15 as part of a 1-2 punch with ace Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles.Greinke gave up eight runs -- second-most this season -- and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings and struck out six. The five homers -- four in the fifth inning -- were a career-worst. He hadnt allowed a homer in his last three starts.I felt real comfortable out there, just not a good game, he said. I felt like I was going to make pitches and get every guy out.Adrian Gonzalez broke open a scoreless game with a two-run shot in the fourth, a preview of what was to come.More times than not you are going to get him out with that pitch, Greinke said, but he is one of those guys that can actually get to it, so I wasnt completely shocked.After Howie Kendrick grounded out to open the fifth, Greinke gave up five consecutive hits. Pedersons homer was his sixth in as many games against Arizona. He, along with Justin Turner (25), Yasmani Grandal (24) and Seager (24) give the Dodgers four or more players with 20 or more homers for the seventh time in franchise history.Zack is one of the best pitchers in the game, Pederson said. We were really able to break it open and thats tough to do against a pitcher like him.Greinke called the 1-2 pitch to Pederson probably the worst pitch of the night.Two hitters later, Seager slammed a three-run homer into the pavilion in left field. Turner followed with a solo shot in nearly the same location as fans directed a derogatory chant at Greinke, who was booed heartily in his first at-bat.With two outs, Grandal homered for the third straight game to right field, making it 8-0. Arizona manager Chip Hale came out to pull Greinke, who walked off with his head down and boos ringing in his ears.Hes so strategic with everything he throws, Seager said. So its fun to kind of play with him. You know everything he does is with purpose.Last season, Greinke led the majors with a 1.66 ERA, won a career-high 19 games and was an NL All-Star while helping the Dodgers win a third straight division title. Now, they are in pursuit of a fourth, while the D-backs have failed to contend this season and are mired in next-to-last place.Jake Lambs RBI single and Chris Owings RBI double accounted for Arizonas runs.GONZO VS D-BACKSGonzalezs 35th career homer against the D-backs ties Todd Helton for second-most all-time against the franchise, trailing only Barry Bonds 39.GREINKE AT THE RAVINEUntil Monday, Greinke had been dominant at Chavez Ravine, winning his previous eight starts and compiling a 1.09 ERA dating to July 4, 2015. He was one of five pitchers to win eight-plus consecutive starts there, the longest active streak in the majors at a single ballpark. The right-hander had limited the opposition to two or fewer earned runs in 14 straight starts at the stadium. Greinke had beaten the Dodgers once this season, 3-2 on June 13 at Arizona.ONE TRIPLE AWAYSeager came up a triple short of hitting for the cycle. He singled in the first, doubled in the fourth and homered in the fifth before grounding out in his last two at-bats. He is hitting .342 with 12 doubles, five homers and 15 RBI in 19 career games against Arizona.ROOKIES ON THE MOUNDThe Dodgers had four straight rookie starters from Aug. 27-31, the teams first time doing so since Sept. 8-10, 1952. The franchise was in Brooklyn then and Ken Lehman, Billy Loes, Ray Moore and Johnny Rutherford took the mound. The Dodgers are doing it again this week. Jose De Leon won his major league debut Sunday, Maeda won Monday, Ross Stripling goes Tuesday and Brock Stewart pitches Wednesday.TRAINERS ROOMD-backs: LHP Andrew Chafin (shoulder, groin) will be activated Tuesday after pitching a scoreless inning last weekend for Triple-A Reno.Dodgers: RHP Brandon McCarthy (right hip stiffness) was to make his first rehab start Monday for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. He last pitched on Aug. 13. ... LHP Scott Kazmir (neck inflammation) will make a rehab start Wednesday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. ... LHP Alex Wood (posterior elbow impingement) will throw a bullpen session in a few days, followed by a simulated game. ... RHP Pedro Baez will rejoin the team on Tuesday now that Double-A Tulsas season has ended.UP NEXTD-backs: RHP Shelby Miller (2-10, 6.81 ERA) makes his second start in the majors since July 6. He allowed two runs in six innings of a loss at San Francisco on Aug. 31. He last faced the Dodgers on July 20, 2014, when he tossed a scoreless inning of relief as a member of the Cardinals.Dodgers: Stripling (3-6, 4.15) is 2-4 with a 4.84 ERA in nine games (seven starts) at home. The right-hander has struck out 30 and walked 13. He has a 3.72 ERA in two games (one start) against Arizona this season, limiting the opposition to a .229 average. Yeezy Boost 350 Suomi . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Ultra Boost Ale . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. http://www.yeezysuomi.com/suomi-yeezy-boost-350-v2.html . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Yeezy Halvalla . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Stan Smith Kengät Ale . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Last season, 92 goaltenders played in the NHL. Eleven of them (12 percent) were from Finland. That was up from nine in the previous season and tied the record from 2009.Over the years, 30 Finnish goalies have played 4,411 regular-season games in the NHL. But only five of them played in the league before 1999.So why has Finland -- with a population of 5.5 million, one-sixth that of Canada -- been producing so many world-class goalies in recent years? One of the reasons for Finlands steady production of high-quality goalies -- there are seven Finnish goalies in Russias KHL, too -- is their tradition tracing back to the 1960s and 70s.Urpo Ylonen, Jorma Valtonen, Hannu Kamppuri, Kari Takko and Jarmo Myllys were among the Finnish pioneers, helping pave the way for a new first wave of true NHL goalies, such as Miikka Kiprusoff, Pekka Rinne and Niklas Backstrom, who have either retired or are closing in on the end of their careers.?Finnish club Pori Assat Assat produced Takko, one of the NHLs four Finnish pioneers. When Takko was 10, the Assat goalie was Valtonen, who was named best goaltender at the 1972 world championships.And when Jaakko Rosendahl, the 33-year-old goaltending coach of Assat, was 12, Finland won its first world championship gold with Myllys, who played 39 games in the NHL. Then there was Ylonen, best goaltender at the 1970 tournament who later became a goaltending coach for Finnish League powerhouse Turku, with students such as Kiprusoff, Antero Niittymaki, Fredrik Norrena, Jani Hurme and Joni Ortio.Role models are important, said Rosendahl, who doubles as Team Italys goaltending coach, in Finnish. Im sure a lot of kids wanted to play goal thanks to Myllys, and when Finns finally made their NHL breakthrough, they gained self-confidence.Winning begets winning, and goaltending heroes beget goaltending heroes.Of course, Finland has built up a great coaching training system, and the federations nine districts each have a dedicated goaltending coach who makes club visits to spread the knowledge. Rosendahls Assat is a midsized club, with 12 junior teams and the Finnish League team. The club has 18 goalie coaches.Also, with a functioning goalie factory in their own country, the clubs often have two good Finnish goalies on their roster, which creates a healthy competition. Only three non-Finns have won the Urpo Ylonen Award which goes to the best goalie in the league, the latest being Tim Thomas?in 1998.So is there a Finnish style then? Something others could copy?Its hard to say, not really, said the Vancouver Canucks Jacob Markstrom, in Swedish. When I was growing up, there was Niittymaki and Kiprusoff, and they had a similar style, but I dont see a Finnish style.Kiprusoff and Niittymaki both came up through Ylonens goalie school.Id say, generally speaking, that Finnish goalies have good hands, and we try to control the puck, use our glove a lot, said Nashville Prredators No.dddddddddddd 1 Rinne, in Finnish. I believe I can spot a Finn, but Ill admit that the styles are pretty similar everywhere these days.Everybody has his own style, which I think is great. There was a time when everybody looked almost the same. But one detail that still separates the Finns is the active hands.Rinne credits his own hands to the game of pesapallo, a baseball-like sport that was developed in Finland in the early 1920s.When I was a kid, I wore the glove all the time, and I still like to catch the puck if I can, he said. I think it can be traced back to pesapallo, but its probably not the whole explanation. I dont know any other Finnish goalies who have played pesapallo.Tuukka Rask, a goalie for Finlands World Cup of Hockey team along with Rinne, liked the pesapallo theory, even if he hasnt played the game seriously.Only at school ... but I think it makes sense, Rask said, in Finnish. Finns are good with their hands, and just look at Rinne. I think Finnish goalies are catchers more than other nationalities.Even if their national sport wouldnt explain Finlands success with goalies, Rosendahl wouldnt mind if more kids played pesapallo.Its good practice for your hand-eye coordination because you need to read the balls trajectory quickly, he said. A goalie has 0.3 seconds to make a move when somebody shoots from the point. Theres no time to look where the pucks going. You have to know it.The fact that theres no particular Finnish style is a testament to the way coaches like to start with an individual goalies qualities and then build on them.No coach in Finland thinks that his goalies should play a certain way, Rosendahl said. In Sweden, they trust their blocking style and teach it to everybody, even small kids, even if they cant really block the whole net.A big part of our coaching has to do with a way of looking at life itself. How you should only focus on the things you can control, not look at skaters mistakes, how to work every day, how to enjoy the work every day.Finlands goalie coaches have to work hard to keep the factory going. Of the 11 Finns in the NHL last season, four could be considered No. 1s -- although Antti Niemi (43 starts) and Kari Lehtonen (39 starts) split the season pretty evenly for the Dallas Stars. Rinne played 66 games and Rask, 64. Four other Finnish goalies made double-digit starts, including Ortio, who has signed with a Swedish League team, and Karri Ramo, who suffered a torn ACL in February and is currently unsigned. In the 2016-17 season, Rinne will turn 34 and Rask 30.Meanwhile, Finland has a group of young forwards on their way up in Patrik Laine, Teuvo Teravainen, Aleksander Barkov and Jesse Puljujarvi. Could change be in the wind?Maybe its not cool to be a goalie anymore, Rosendahl said. ' ' '