WASHINGTON - The San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals both missed the post-season last year. [url=http://www.patriotsfa

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WASHINGTON - The San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals both missed the post-season last year. Tom Brady Jersey . Thats pretty much where the similarities end heading into Fridays NL Division Series opener.Bruce Bochy has managed the Giants to two of the past four World Series championships. Nationals skipper Matt Williams is about to lead a team in the playoffs for the first time.The Giants have won eight consecutive post-season games, including an 8-0 wild-card victory at Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.The NL East champion Nationals, most of whom have never won a playoff series, spent Wednesday at their home ballpark playing an intrasquad scrimmage between groups they dubbed The Face-Eaters a€” a reference to Jayson Werths 2013 comment about showing up for a game ready to eat somebodys face a€” and Team Alpha.It was dressed up to look and sound like the real thing: Fake crowd noise was piped in; videos were shown on the scoreboard; the game-day PA announcer introduced players; rookie reliever Aaron Barrett even sang the national anthem.All in all, it was good camaraderie and good competition and got the juices flowing a little bit, which is what was needed, reliever Tyler Clippard said, referring to the four-day break the Nationals will have had between Sundays regular-season finale and the series start. It was a game situation. We in this clubhouse are very competitive people, and want to beat each other just as bad as we want to beat everybody else.First baseman Adam LaRoche joked the Giants confidence is up because of their win against the Pirates, but we just had a big intrasquad yesterday, so our confidence is up, too.Both teams worked out at Nationals Park on Thursday, and both managers announced their starting pitchers for Games 1-3.Fridays matchup between Washingtons Stephen Strasburg and San Franciscos Jake Peavy a€” pals who sometimes work out together in San Diego a€” gives one indication of the gap in experience the series represents. Strasburg, held out of the 2012 post-season to protect his surgically repaired elbow, will be making his playoff debut; Peavy will be making his sixth October start, including as a member of last seasons World Series champion Boston Red Sox.Their catchers are also illustrate the difference between the teams: Strasburg will be throwing to Wilson Ramos, who was injured in 2012 and never has participated in a playoff game; Peavy will work with Buster Posey, a member of the Giants 2010 and 2012 title teams, along with the 2012 NL MVP winner.Game 2 will feature Jordan Zimmermann against Tim Hudson, and Game 3 will have Doug Fister against Madison Bumgarner, who threw a four-hit shutout against Pittsburgh in San Franciscos seventh consecutive victory in an elimination game.Once we get to the post-season, its like a new season for us, said Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, who hit a grand slam Wednesday. We have plenty of ups and downs during the regular season, but now its kind of a new slate for us.The Giants finished second in the NL West at 88-74 after going only 41-40 in the second half. Washington went 53-28 in that span, and a majors-best 21-9 in its last 30, to finish 96-66, the NLs best record.We may not match up with a lot of people on paper, Hudson said. But I think once you get out there and play, the guts and the heart that this team has ... gets this team over the hump a lot of times.What the Nationals insisted Thursday is that their trip to the playoffs in 2012 a€” which ended with a gut-punch loss in Game 5 of their NLDS against St. Louis a€” provided plenty of know-how.We kind of know what to expect a little bit more now, said Ryan Zimmerman, whose injured right leg seemed fine Thursday as he put in work in left field. We went into 12 not really knowing what to expect and thinking that everything would be the same. And its not the same. ... Every pitch is so much more intense. Its just a different feel.Something the Giants know well.They have a similar-type club that we have. ... Guys not necessarily that are the best players, but they play well together, which is good. We do the same exact thing, Clippard said, and I think, you know, were the better club.___Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Cyrus Jones Jersey . Sizemore, who turned 29 on Jan. 4, has been limited to six games over the past two seasons because of an injured left knee that twice required surgery. He originally got hurt on Feb. 25, 2012, during a fielding drill in Oaklands first full-squad spring training workout and had surgery that March 21 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. LaAdrian Waddle Jersey . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. http://www.patriotsfanaticstores.com/authentic-sebastian-vollmer-patriots-jersey/ . This has become the Raptors mantra as they embark on a new era with a new regime and, in the not-so-distant future, a new image. The Swedish mens hockey team capitalized on a quick start and some shaky opposing goaltending to skate to a 4-2 win over the Czech Republic in their opening game of the Olympic tournament at the Bolshoy Ice Dome on Wednesday. Ottawa Senators star defenceman Erik Karlsson scored two goals while his defensive partner Oliver Ekman-Larsson added two assists. Henrik Zetterberg and Patrik Berglund had the other two goals for the Swedes, who jumped to an early 3-0 lead thanks to some suspect goaltending by Czech starter Jakub Kovar. Head coach Alois Hadamczik made the surprising decision to not even dress the teams only NHL goaltender for the teams stiffest test of the preliminary round. Winnipegs Ondrej Pavelec was scratched in favour of KHL goalies Alexander Salak and Jakub Kovar. Kovar got the start, which backfired horribly when he let in three questionable goals before being pulled early in the second and replaced by Salak, who let in the Swedes fourth goal before the Czechs got on the board. Salak settled down after that and kept the Czech Republic in the game, and Marek Zidlicky and Jaromir Jagr scored two quick goals midway through the second period to spark the Czechs. But the Czech Republic couldnt put any more past Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who kept the lead intact while the Czechs outshot the SSwedes 15-5 in the third. Official New England Patriots Jersey. . Lundqvist made 23 saves for the win, while Kovar and Salak combined for 25 stops in the loss. Swedens next game in Group C is against Switzerland, while the Czech Republic faces Latvia, both on Friday. Quick start from Swedes Sweden carried the play for most of the first period, capitalizing on a couple miscues by Kovar to go ahead 2-0 after 20 minutes. Karlsson scored the opening goal of the Olympic tournament from the point on a delayed penalty halfway through the period, as Kovar struggled to deal with the traffic in front of his net and saw the Swedes shot go through his glove. Berglund made Kovars opening 20 minutes worse by scoring Swedens second goal from a bad angle at 13:17, firing a shot right through the Czech goaltender from outside the left faceoff dot. It didnt get any better for Kovar in the second. Zetterberg scored on another shot that went through the Czech goalie only 51 seconds in. That goal ended Kovars night after Salak came in to replace him. But the switch didnt matter. Karlsson scored his second of the game with a laser from the point with little over three minutes after Salak made his debut. The Czechs clawed their way back into the contest with goals from Zidlicky and Jagr two minutes apart midway through the second, and pushed the Swedes hard for the remainder of the period. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '