replaced after 2011 and hired by Cleveland in 2013.

Sunderland striker Fabio Borini has confirmed the team are desperate to secure their top-flight status as soon as possible. The Black Cats require three points from their final two fixtures to maintain their place in the Premier League and send Norwich and rivals Newcastle down to the Championship with already-relegated Aston Villa.Victory over Everton on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports 1, would complete the task ahead of next Sundays trip to Watford. Sunderland go into the first fixture with confidence soaring following a 3-2 victory over Chelsea last Saturday, a game in which Borini netted his fifth goal of the campaign. Borini scored Sunderlands second goal in their 3-2 win over Chelsea on Saturday Were going to try and do it over 90 minutes because its better to do it obviously and not bring it to the end, the last breath, Borini said ahead of the clash with Everton.But its half done because we need to win another game. We need to work probably harder than what we did on Saturday, the same desire of winning the game and that will hopefully give us the result.Borini praised the Sunderland fans for their backing in recent weeks and for the way they lifted the team in the Chelsea match. Sam Allardyce looks ahead to Wednesdays match against Everton And the 25-year-old revealed his efforts to secure tickets for Sundays trip to Vicarage Road have proved fruitless as the match is already sold out.Borini said: Ive been trying to buy tickets myself for my friends in Watford, but it was sold out so I couldnt buy any, and that shows you how much following we have - even in a tense situation they help us a lot. Allardyce: Extraordinary win Sam Allardyce hailed an extraordinary comeback as Sunderland beat Chelsea 3-2 Like Saturday, I think the first to believe we could do it was the fans, and they transmitted that to us with the singing and the cheering, and thats unbelievable at this stage of the season.But a sell-out crowd is always good to play in front of.Sunderland boss Sam Allaryce revealed last week claimed he has been practising meditation to help relieve the stress of the relegation battle. Phil Thompson reflects on Sunderlands crucial win over Chelsea Borini insists he has not seen evidence of that, but is happy if Allardyce has found a way to cope with the situation.If he says it helps him, I cant say otherwise because I dont know that side obviously. I do my own job mentally and different stuff, but if it helps him to be calm then good for him, Borini said. Also See: Allardyce: Safety not assured Allardyce: Defoe for England Defoe in Power Rankings Sunderland 3-2 Chelsea Babe Ruth Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Jim Rice Red Sox Jersey . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. http://www.officialredsoxfanstore.com/authentic-carl-yastrzemski-red-sox-jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Jim Rice Jersey ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. Wade Boggs Red Sox Jersey . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. CLEVELAND -- Who wrecks the hex?Who can reverse the curse?The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will send their postseason aces into Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday with an eye toward winning their first championship in three generations ... or much, much longer.You know the history by now.Cleveland has not won a World Series since 1948. The Indians came up short in their three most recent appearances, the last in 1997, when Edgar Renterias walk-off single in the 11th inning of Game 7 gave the Florida Marlins the title.The Cubs have not been in the Series since 1945 and have not won it since 1908. Numerologists suggest this might be the year. There are 108 stitches on a baseball. Wrigley Field sits on Chicagos planned development lot 108. The Cubs win the Series in the movie Back to the Future II, which has a running length of 108 minutes.And on and on.Not that the teams are focused on the history.After youve actually done it, thats when you really dwell on that particular thought, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. In the meantime, I promise you, our guys are going to be in the present tense. I think we all have a tremendous amount of respect for history and whats happened before us or not happened before us. But, you know, you go in that room right now, theyre very young. Really not impacted by a lot of the lore, I dont think.Cubs left-hander Jon Lester and Cleveland right-hander Corey Kluber have been the two best starting pitchers in the postseason while lifting the Great Lakes neighbors this far. Each will make his fourth start of the postseason, his third in a Game 1.Lester is 2-0 with three quality starts, an 0.86 ERA and an 0.76 WHIP in 21 innings in the playoffs this year. He threw eight shutout innings in a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the first game of the National League Division Series, gave up one run in six innings of a no-decision in the 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of the NL Championship Series and gave up one run in seven innings in an 8-4 victory in Game 5 of the NLCS.You know, there will be nerves and there will be adrenaline and all that stuff when I go out there to throw the first pitch and kind of get the ball rolling, Lester said, but once you get into the game, I feel like then youre able to go back to your game plan.Klubers postseason ERA, 0.98, trails only Lester among pitchers who have made more than one playoff start this month. He won both of his previous Game 1 starts, throwing seven shutout iinnings in a 6-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series and 6 1/3 shutout innings in a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of the AL Championship Series.ddddddddddddIn Game 5 of the ALCS, he lost after allowing two runs in five innings.Obviously, youre in the World Series, and theres two teams left and all that kind of stuff, Kluber said. For me at least, its been all about getting prepared and being ready when it is time to throw that first pitch.The teams also have more than the usual familiarity.Cleveland manager Terry Francona led ghost-busting Boston to its first World Series title in 86 years in 2004, then to another crown in 2007, both times for general manager Theo Epstein, now the Cubs president.I know thats a really cool thing for fans to talk about and stuff, Francona said. It really doesnt enter into what were doing. I just think if you look too far back, you look too far forward, you miss whats right in front of you.Epstein interviewed Maddon for the Boston managerial job in 2004 before hiring Francona. Maddon said the other day the Red Sox made the right choice at the time.Our players are going to dictate who wins and loses on both sides, as it should be, but Theo had the guts to hire me up there when I didnt have a ton of resume and they were expected to win, and he believed in me, Francona said. We went eight years of a lot of good baseball.Lester won 65 games in his four full seasons as a starter under Francona, who was replaced after 2011 and hired by Cleveland in 2013. Lester is 8-6 with a 2.05 ERA in 19 playoff appearances, 17 starts, and he won four games in the Red Soxs run to the 2013 World Series title.I watch him pitch right now and when he takes the mound, extremely calm, Maddon said. Hes in the moment. There is something about that internal level of confidence and the ability to -- this is an overused term, but its true -- slow things down. I think some players have that ability better than others.The Cubs had 33 hits while winning the final three games of the NLCS against the Dodgers. Anthony Rizzo was 7-for-14 with two homers, Addison Russell 6-for-13 with two homers and Dexter Fowler 6-for-14 with two doubles.Clevelands staff, despite injuries to three start pitchers, has given only 15 runs in eight playoff games, sweeping Boston and taking out Toronto in five. ' ' '