NEW YORK -- Get a grip. wholesale nfl jerseys . Using a suspicious substance for a better hold of the baseball on cool days is not such a sticky situation. Whether its the Yankees Michael Pineda with a mysterious brown goo on his hand, Bostons Jon Lester with a green smudge in his glove or Houstons Josh Zeid spraying something on his forearm before entering a recent game, most major leaguers dont care whether pitchers get a little help -- even though its against the Official Baseball Rules. To some, its preferable. "Its an unwritten rule in the game. Im sure a lot of pitchers do it," Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino said Friday before Boston played the Yankees. "As a hitter, do what you got to do from letting that ball go astray and hitting me in the head. Im fine with that." Ever since pitchers started throwing to batters in the 1800s, theyve looked for an edge -- and it has continued long after doctoring the baseball was banned in 1920. Television cameras caught Pineda with what looked like sticky pine tar on his hand early in the Yankees 4-1 victory over Boston on a cool Thursday night, when the ball could be slick. Red Sox manager John Farrell didnt see a photograph of Pinedas hand until the fourth inning. By the time Pineda came out to warm up for the fifth, his hand was clean and Farrell didnt complain to umpires. "In conditions like last night, its not uncommon for pitchers to try and get a grip in some way," Farrell said. "Were more focused on what we need to do offensively to kind of get going rather than taking anything away from his abilities." Joe Torre, Major League Baseballs executive vice-president of baseball operations, said in a statement Friday that Pineda would not be suspended. "The umpires did not observe an application of a foreign substance during the game and the issue was not raised by the Red Sox," Torre said. "Given those circumstances, there are no plans to issue a suspension, but we intend to talk to the Yankees regarding what occurred." Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman spoke with Torre and said the issue was resolved. Pineda said hadnt spoken with any Yankees management as of early afternoon. Perhaps Farrell didnt say anything because his pitchers have been accused of using something extra. Toronto Blue Jays broadcasters last season thought they caught Clay Buchholz -- who faced Pineda Thursday -- using an illegal substance. During the 2013 World Series opener, Lester was seen on TV with something in his glove. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has never questioned his own pitchers, but he knows what goes on. "I dont talk to pitchers about that: Do you use or dont you use? This is not a recreational drug. I dont talk to people about that," Girardi said. "Im aware. Ive been on teams where Ive seen it. Im 99 per cent sure that I know of other guys on other teams that use it." Rule 8.02 says a pitcher may not apply a "foreign substance" to the ball, and section B of the rule says a pitcher may not have any "foreign substance" in his possession on the mound. The penalty if caught is automatic ejection and suspension. The rule has been applied, perhaps most famously when Twins pitcher Joe Niekro was caught with an emery board and sandpaper in the back pocket of his uniform pants in 1987. He was banned for 10 days. But Victorino agreed, doctoring the ball this way is different than improving ones grip. Dodgers reliever Jay Howell was suspended three days (later reduced to two) for pine tar on his glove in Game 3 of the 1988 NL championship series. For a player to be ejected, he has to be caught. Umpires are obligated to take action if they see a violation or if one is reported to them. Not so easily done. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Victorino each said they have never gone up to the plate and noticed whether a pitcher had something on his hand or uniform. But as camera resolution increases, spotlight has increased on all players. Unlike golf, which has a self-policing policy that allows fans watching at home to point out rules violations, theres no such mechanism in baseball. Challenging the use of an illegal substance is not among the reviewable plays under MLBs new replay system. Baseball executives plan to examine the rules and make changes for 2015, perhaps a path that would allow for a change. For most, though, the problem for Pineda was he was too blatant. "Be discreet," Victorino said. nfl jerseys china .ca MLB Power Rankings. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been battling the St .Louis Cardinals for the top spot in the National League Central and after winning four of five against the Cardinals (as well as the Cardinals losing catcher Yadier Molina to a knee injury), the Pirates finally captured the prime ranking position. wholesale jerseys . But Kobe Bryant borrows a term from former coach Phil Jackson to describe anybody who doubts what the Lakers veteran point guard can do in the clutch. "Thats inherently idiotic," he said.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. On Sunday, in the blur of an 80-yard touchdown run, he showed them what they missed. The sixth-round draft pick from Clemson, starting because Rashard Mendenhall was out with an injured toe, rushed for 154 yards on 15 carries and the Arizona Cardinals intercepted four of Matt Ryans passes in a 27-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Ellingtons big run, tied for third-longest in Cardinals history, was part of a 21-point second quarter that put Arizona (4-4) in control for good. "I was able to have a little speed burst out there," he said. Blocks from wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd cleared the way. "And with his speed, no ones going to catch him," Arizona coach Bruce Arians said. Fitzgerald caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, in the process becoming the youngest player -- at 30 years, 57 days -- in NFL history to reach 800 career receptions. Ryan had thrown three interceptions total in the first six games of the season for the Falcons (2-5). Rashad Johnson had two of Arizonas interceptions. "I think we definitely had him confused," said Cardinals rookie Tyrann Mathieu, who had one of the interceptions. "Watching film, he has a tendency when he gets pressure to just throw the ball up there." The Cardinals picked off Ryan five times when the teams played last season. The Falcons were without wide receiver Roddy White for the second week in a row with ankle and hamstring issues. Atlanta also didnt have starting left tackle Sam Baker with a knee injury. Arians traced his teams performance to Mondays practice, an extra workout that followed a Thursday night loss to Seattle. "This game was won on Monday when I asked the team to come out in pads and we had a training camp practice," he said. "A lot of teams would balk at that, but our leadership and our veterans, we had the best practice we had all year and it set the tempo for this game and I think set the tempo for the rest of the season." After throwing his 14th interception of the season, Carson Palmer had two TD passes, 10 yards to Fitzgerald and 15 yards to Floyd. Steven Jackson, back for the first time since being sidelined with a hamstring injury in Week 2, managed just 6 yards on 11 carries. In all, the Cardinals gained 201 yards on the ground to Atlantas 27. With no running game, it was up to Ryan, who completed 34 of a sseason-high 61 attempts for 301 yards and a touchdown. cheap jerseys. He was sacked four times. Harry Douglas had 12 catches for 121 yards. Asante Samuels 51st career interception set up Matt Bryants 24-yard field goal that put Atlanta up 3-0. The Cardinals took the kickoff and Palmer threw 51 yards to Teddy Williams, a speedster who had signed with Arizona on Tuesday. Williams, who didnt play college football, played in seven games for Indianapolis last season on special teams and as a defensive back. That set up Palmers 10-yard TD pass to Fitzgerald on the first play of the second quarter and Arizona led 7-3. Atlanta used up 7:17 on a 15-play drive but had to settle for Bryants 30-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-6. The Falcons inability to get to the end zone on those two drives proved costly. "Those things come back to haunt you," Ryan said, "and they certainly came back to haunt us today." On the first play after Atlantas second field goal, Ellington followed blockers through the left side of the line, then burst outside and raced the length of the field for the touchdown, putting Arizona up 14-6 with 7:25 left in the half. "We had an opportunity to hit the guy in the backfield, and then it popped out," Atlanta coach Larry Smith said. "Once we lost leverage, we werent going to catch that guy. We said that he was going to be a potential game-wrecker going into this ball game." Atlanta went three-and-out on its next possession, and the Cardinals moved downfield again. Palmer threw 20 yards to Fitzgerald and Desmond Trufant was called for a facemask, moving the ball to the 35. Stepfan Taylor broke a pair of tackles on a 15-yard run to the 17. Two plays later, Palmer threw 15 yards to Floyd for the touchdown and Arizona led 21-6 with 1:52 left in the half. Arizona led 27-6 before Ryans 4-yard touchdown pass to Drew Davis with 4:37 left. Notes: In Cardinals history, the only runs longer than Ellingtons 80-yarder were 83 yards by John David Crow in 1958 and Elmer Angsman in 1949. ... A black cat ran across the field just before kickoff. During the national anthem, security personnel corralled the cat and a guard carefully carried it off the field. ... Ex-Falcon John Abraham, who had a sack, left the game in the second half after a blow to the head but said after the game he thought he was all right. ... The previous youngest player to reach 800 catches was Jason Witten at 30 years, 238 days. cheap jerseys ' ' '
