Galerie » baseman ignored the conversation Wednesday -

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Canadian John Axford is out as the Cleveland Indians closer. Indians manager Terry Francona announced the move before Saturday nights game against Tampa Bay. He met with the Simcoe, Ont. native prior to batting practice. Axford is 1-3 with nine saves and a 4.91 ERA in 17 games in his first season with the Indians. He has really struggled in the last week, and was pulled in the ninth inning of Clevelands 6-3 win on Friday night. "We told him, for now, were going to kind of get you out of that role and try to get you in some situations where we can get him on a roll again," Francona said. "I told him numerous times, because I mean it, the goal is to get him back as our closer, and I think he understands that. I dont want him to do it in like two days because I dont want some Band-Aid. I want him when he gets it, to take it and stay there," he said. A group of four relievers that includes Cody Allen, Scott Atchison, Marc Rzepczynski and Bryan Shaw could all get opportunities to fill the role. "The one thing I assured them is that when we get to the ninth, whoevers pitching, were not going to have four guys warming up because we think youre good," Francona said. Axford was signed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract as a free agent in December after pitching for Milwaukee and St. Louis last season. The one-time Brewers closer had 105 saves from 2010-12, and converted 49 straight save chances during a stretch. The Brewers traded an ineffective Axford to St. Louis in late August. Axford became a reliable reliever for the Cardinals down the stretch and pitched for them in the World Series. The Indians hoped the 31-year-old righty would do well replacing former All-Star closer Chris Perez, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But Axfords rough patch started last Sunday, when he gave up a three-run homer to Dayan Viciedo in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox. The next day, Eduardo Escobar homered in the 10th off Axford and lifted Minnesota to a 1-0 win. Axfords latest tough outing came Friday night. He entered in the ninth with a 6-2 lead, but gave up David DeJesus RBI double with two outs and then walked Ben Zobrist to load the bases. Allen replaced Axford and got a fly ball from James Loney on a 3-2 pitch for his first save. Brandon Allen Jersey . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own. Sam Shields Jersey . Team officials did not indicate the extent of the injury Saturday, simply listing Rose with "left knee soreness." Rose has played two preseason games without any sign of problems. The first NBA game in South America now will be missing its biggest star. http://www.footballramsshop.us/authentic-john-franklin-myers-rams-jersey/ . Boston is making its first appearance in the ALCS since 2008. For Detroit, its a third straight trip to the ALCS and its fourth in eight years. John Kelly Jersey . Both of Padakins goals came in the second period while Zane Jones added a single in the first period for Calgary (13-6-4). Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger finished with 30 saves for the shutout. Custom Los Angeles Rams Jerseys . -- Theres been so much talk about Mike Moustakas at the plate that the third baseman ignored the conversation Wednesday -- even after doing something positive.The Toronto Maple Leafs were feeling good about a season-best six-game winning streak, but that ended with back-to-back losses against Carolina and Philadelphia this week. The task doesnt get any easier with a visit to Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. What we need to realize in that streak where we were winning, we were working for the full 60 minutes, said center Peter Holland, who scored after having an assist in each of his previous two games. It wasnt just happening by fluke. The Leafs now prepare to hit the road, where theyve lost three of four. Were not far removed from playing some really good hockey, Holland said. We dropped two games in a row, thats going to happen over the course of a season. We just need to make sure that were ready to respond and play solid road games. Holland scored the winner 2:21 into the third period of a 3-2 home victory over Chicago on Nov. 1. Toronto has won the last two meetings after dropping eight in a row. James Reimer made 45 saves against the Blackhawks last month, and he could be in net again after coming on Saturday for 10-plus minutes in relief of Jonathan Bernier, who has started the last three games. Corey Crawford returned Saturday with 17 saves after missing Chicagos previous eight with an ankle injury suffered when he fell at a concert. Crawford stopped 24 shots in the first meeting with Toronto, and Quenneville could elect to start his No. 1 goaltender on back-to-back nightts due to the amount of time hes had off.dddddddddddd Antti Raanta has won his last four starts with a 2.00 goals-against average and would get the nod if Crawford doesnt start. Jonathan Toews and the Blackhawks have come a long way since their early struggles, putting together a hot stretch that has lasted over a month. Chicago seeks its eighth consecutive home victory Sunday night against a Toronto club that has lost two straight heading into a seven-game trip. The Blackhawks (22-9-2) werent pleased with their 6-5-1 start as they struggled to find their scoring touch with each defeat coming by a single goal. Theyve bounced back nicely and ran off a season-best eight straight victories while winning 10 of 11 before falling 3-2 in a shootout at Columbus on Saturday. Chicago dominated a good portion of that contest, though, and outshot the Blue Jackets 41-19. I thought we did everything but win that game, coach Joel Quenneville said. We played well in all areas of the game and did a lot of good things. Toews called the loss unfortunate, but wasnt upset with the effort - something he couldnt always say early on. Only two of their defeats have come by more than one goal. We believe were a good team (and) we should be in every game, Toews said. Its the sign of a mature team, something we didnt do enough of early in the year. We know we have some firepower and when its a close game, more often than not we can find a way to win. 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