nd final pitch.ADIOS PAPIThe Angels paid an entertaining tribut

MINNEAPOLIS -- When the season began, the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings were expected to be among the top teams in the NFC.The two teams had Super Bowl aspirations with talented rosters coming off last years playoff appearances. Minnesota started the year 5-0, while Arizona was 1/3 a month into the season.Since their undefeated start, the Vikings have lost four games in a row. The Cardinals (4-4-1) have used two wins against the San Francisco 49ers to jumpstart the second half of the season.Despite the differing paths, there is still a road to playoff contention as they meet Sunday in Minnesota.Weve been fortunate with some of the other things that have happened in the league that were still in a good place, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. We can go out and win. I know everybody thinks Im crazy, but my goal is to win the division. So, go out and get some wins and get going again. Thats all.The last two ball games have been (close and), honestly, could go either way. We didnt win them, so we just need to get a couple of these either-way games and win. Thats kind of what happened at the beginning of the season. So, its a seven-game season now.Minnesota is tied for the NFC North lead with the Detroit Lions at 5-4. Arizona is two games behind Seattle in the NFC West but still in prime wild-card position.Both teams have dealt with plenty of injuries, which will also impact Sundays game.The Vikings lost left tackle Jake Long for the rest of the season when he injured his Achilles in last weeks 26-20 loss at Washington. Long, signed as a street free agent in October, had already been an injury replacement at left tackle after starter Matt Kalil was lost after two games.Zimmer hasnt revealed his plans for his battered offensive line on Sunday. Jeremiah Sirles could join the starting lineup. Minnesota, which has also lost right tackle Andre Smith for the season, has T.J. Clemmings at the other tackle.Weve definitely been a little bit unfortunate as far as some of the injuries that weve had up front, quarterback Sam Bradford said. But like weve done in the past, we just have to keep moving forward. Obviously, Sirles and T.J., they started a couple of games together so we feel confident in them because theyve been out there, theyve done it before. Theyve played a lot of football. As bad as this is to continue to lose guys youve just got to try to stay positive and just keep moving forward.Arizonas injuries have hit hardest in the secondary.Safety Deone Bucannon missed Wednesdays practice with an ankle injury. Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu was limited in Wednesdays practice with a shoulder injury. Mathieu missed last weeks game with the injury. Both are questionable for the game.My shoulder feels fine, its stable for the moment, Mathieu told the Arizona Republic. Ill continue to put it to work during practice and see where Im at, at the end of the week.Cardinals coach Bruce Arians and Zimmer know each other well dating back to their time as coordinators in the AFC North. Arians was the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator facing Zimmers defenses for the Cincinnati Bengals.Ive always respected Zim as one of the most sound, aggressive defensive coaches that Ive ever gone against ... They dont beat themselves, Arians said via conference call. I think our defense, our defensive line is playing at a very high level right now. I think both offensive lines have their work cut out for them.Arizona owns the leagues second-ranked defense in terms of yardage, one spot ahead of Zimmers Minnesota crew. The Cardinals are allowing 295.2 yards per game compared to the Vikings 308.8 yards per game. But Minnesota is giving a league-low 16.9 points per game. Arizona is tied for third, giving up 17.8 points per game.I think this is going to be one of our biggest challenges of the year, Bradford said. Probably the best group that weve faced. So, I think its important that we have a great week of practice and get ourselves ready to go.Both teams also made significant special teams changes this week. The Cardinals brought back punter Drew Butler after Ryan Quigley didnt prove to be an upgrade the past six games. Quigley had the leagues lowest qualifying gross punting average at 41.6 yards per punt.Minnesota parted with embattled kicker Blair Walsh and signed Kai Forbath. Walsh had only made 75 percent of his field-goal attempts and hit just 78.9 percent of his extra-point attempts.It was just something we felt like we needed to do, kind of move forward, Zimmer said. Were all accountable for the things we have to get done, and I think we gave him a lot of opportunities. Although, Blairs a great kid, and it was hard to do. Its just part of the business.Business this week, for both teams, will be trying to stay in the playoff race. Miles Sanders Youth Jersey . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. Fletcher Cox Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Wes-Hopkins-Jersey/ .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Shareef Miller Womens Jersey . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Winchester, who was not penalized for the hit, appeared to make contact with Kellys head early in the first period of Thursdays game in Boston. JJ Arcega-Whiteside Jersey . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Hanley Ramirez fielded the grounder to first and saw Mike Trout steamrolling toward home. Ramirez rushed his throw just enough to send it sailing -- and to hand a victory to the Los Angeles Angels.Ramirezs throwing error to the plate on Daniel Navas bases-loaded grounder allowed two runs to score, and the Angels walked off with a stunning 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.The Angels rallied in the ninth against Boston closer Brad Ziegler (2-5), loading the bases with one out on singles by Trout, Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons.Pinch-hitter Nava then poked a potential game-ending grounder to first, but Ramirezs throw went flying past catcher Sandy Leon to the backstop, allowing Trout and pinch-runner Ji-Man Choi to end Bostons season-high fourth straight loss.We just gave ourselves a chance at the end of the game, Trout said. (Nava) put the ball in play, and he made the defense make a play.Or not, in the case of Ramirez, who grimly accepted responsibility.That cant happen, Ramirez said. I know better, and I know when Ive got Trout on third and a ground ball, but still Ive got to make that one. I kind of threw it and started running before I threw it.Ramirezs years of defensive misadventures are the stuff of nightmares for fans of the nearby Dodgers and the Red Sox.Thats a routine play that Hanley has made many times over, Boston manager John Farrell said. Unfortunately, we didnt execute defensively tonight as a club. ... Knowing the speed of Trout, he burned his throw at first base, and that was that.Ramirezs woes were set up by another shaky ninth from Ziegler, who lost for the second straight day and blew his third save of the season. The closer gave up a ninth-inning homer by Detroits Miguel Cabrera on Wednesday.It didnt work out, but theres a lot of other things you can point to that went wrong, Ziegler said.Ziegler and Ramirez wasted eight innings of seven-hit ball from David Price. The $217 million left-hander outdueled Jered Weaver, who pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, but was resigned to another hard-luck loss.I kept battling against a guy that was doing his thing, Weaver said. Hee made some good pitches, but the boys never stopped.dddddddddddd. They kept grinding, and we were able to pull it out there in the ninth. It was awesome.David Ortiz reached base three times as the Red Sox opened an 11-game West Coast road trip with another heartbreaker for their sixth loss in seven games.Cam Bedrosian (2-0) pitched the ninth for Los Angeles.Boston scored in the third when Leon singled, scampered to third on Brock Holts single and came home on Mookie Betts fly to left.THE DAVID IS RIGHTPrice has been inconsistent over the past six weeks, mixing a handful of strong starts with rocky outings. He followed up eight shutout innings against Tampa Bay before the All-Star break by allowing 22 hits in 11 1/3 innings over his past two starts.He was back in form against the struggling Angels, limiting them to seven singles and one walk while striking out six. With the tying run on first in the eighth, Price struck out Kole Calhoun with a 94-mph fastball on his 109th and final pitch.ADIOS PAPIThe Angels paid an entertaining tribute to the retiring Ortiz before the game. A few Los Angeles players and coaches wore sunglasses, gold chains and backward caps while presenting Ortiz with a painting of himself. Ortiz and Pujols shared a long hug and then stood together in center field for the national anthem.TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox: Ortiz will get a rest day this weekend against one of the Angels two left-handed starters, Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs.Angels: Manager Mike Scioscia believes infielder Cliff Pennington will be ready to come off the disabled list Sunday as scheduled. He has played only three games since May 12 while struggling with a hamstring injury.UP NEXTRed Sox: Rick Porcello (13-2, 3.57 ERA) is in outstanding form with five consecutive winning starts as he tries to become the fourth 14-game winner in the majors.Angels: Tim Lincecum (2-4, 8.70 ERA) is still struggling mightily in his comeback season. He gave up eight runs and seven hits while getting just four outs against Houston last weekend. ' ' '