PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks took on the big boys of Major League Baseball in the competition to land Japanese pitching sensation Masahiro Tanaka only to see him sign, hardly to anyones surprise, with the New York Yankees. Cubs Kyle Schwarber Jersey . Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers, speaking to a handful of reporters in a conference call on Wednesday, thanked the teams ownership for allowing him, for what he said was the first time, to "sit at the table in a high stakes poker game for one of the elite free agents." Towers said the Diamondbacks made "a very competitive offer." But not competitive enough. The 25-year-old right-handers deal with the Yankees pays him $155 million over seven years, in addition to the $20 million due as a posting fee to his Japanese club. Now Towers moves on in search, via free agency or a trade, of help for the Diamondbacks rotation, seeking either a No. 1 starter or a strong No. 2. And, he said, those are hard to find. The Diamondbacks contingent of managing partner Ken Kendrick, Towers, manager Kirk Gibson and star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt met with Tanaka and his entourage about three weeks ago. "All you can do is put your best foot forward, which is what we did," Towers said. The Diamondbacks emphasized their family atmosphere, the weather, the fact that the team trains in Arizona. Tanaka would have been the unquestioned No. 1 pitcher on the staff. That and what undoubtedly was a substantial money offer, certainly by Diamondbacks standards, wasnt enough. There is no large Japanese community in Phoenix. Towers said international players often are lured by the "Yankee pinstripes." He noted the Yankees have two veteran Japanese pitchers who can ease Tanaka into his new life. The Diamondbacks will continue to see what the possibilities are for landing a pitcher. "It doesnt stop just because we didnt get Tanaka," Towers said. But the Diamondbacks dont want to sign any pitcher to a contract longer than three years, Tanaka being an obvious exception. Unsigned free agent starters include Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jimenez. Towers insisted that if Arizona does not acquire another starter, hes comfortable with the returning staff, specifically mentioning the possibility of talented young flame-thrower Archie Bradley competing for a spot in the rotation this spring. Because of their early-season trip to Australia to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Diamondbacks will be the first team to gather for spring training. Pitchers and catchers report Feb. 6 with the full squad due on Feb. 11. Cubs Carlos Zambrano Jersey . Ribery terrorized the Schalke defence throughout and put the home side ahead in the 36th minute when he chipped the goalkeeper before stroking the ball into the empty net. The French winger struck again after the interval, combining with Thomas Mueller on the left before firing a deflected shot beyond the helpless Timo Hildebrand in the 55th, as Bayern bounced back from Wednesdays 1-0 loss at FC Basel in the Champions League. Cubs Drew Smyly Jersey . Reimer is winless (0-2-1) since returning from a six-week absence due to concussion-like symptoms. The Maple Leafs dropped a 4-2 decision to the hosting Washington Capitals on Friday. http://www.cheapcubsauthenticjerseys.com/?tag=cubs-andre-dawson-jersey . How foolishly wrong I was. Forget the now inherent corruption and back handed favours that plague the beautiful game. Goal Line Technology? Youre having a laugh. As for them penalty cheating bandits, footballs lawmakers upend them by awarding the penalty to the opponent each time a player attempts to con the referee into awarding ghost penalties.MONTREAL -- Old rivals Montreal and Boston are going to a decisive seventh game once again. The Canadiens kept up a furious pace and produced their best effort of the playoffs as Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist and Carey Price made 26 saves in a 4-0 victory over the Bruins that staved off elimination on Monday night. The NHL Eastern Conference second-round series is tied 3-3 going into Game 7 on Wednesday night in Boston, where the Bruins will no doubt be looking for the same boost from their fans that the singing, chanting and generally deafening 21,273 at the Bell Centre gave the Canadiens. "Its sudden death now," said Pacioretty. "Everything in the past will be forgotten once Game 7 rolls around. "They like playing in their building. We have to find a way to come out the same. Were a frustrating team when everyones skating like that and everyones on board. We have to find a way to do that again." Pacioretty, who had only one assist in the first five games, scored and set up Thomas Vaneks goal in the second period. Lars Eller scored in the first for Montreal and Vanek added his second of the game into an empty net with 3:56 left in regulation time. "I was just waiting for my time to pitch in offensively," said Pacioretty. "Obviously you wanted it to happen more often in the playoffs. But I feel confident. You want to feel youre helping the team win and I think I did that." It is the same scenario as the last time the teams met in the post-season in 2011, when the Canadiens won at home to force a Game 7. That year, they lost the decisive first-round game in overtime. It is the 34th time overall the teams have faced each other in the playoffs. The game turned in the second period after the Canadiens, leading 1-0, held off a ferocious Boston attack through a five minute 11 second stretch without a whistle. It included killing a minor penalty to P.K. Subban and was highlighted by a Price stop at the doorstep on Milan Lucic. Defencemen Mike Weaver and Josh Gorges shared a nearly three-minute shift in the midst of it. "Youre just buying time," said Weaver. "I think guys at that point, youve just got to be positionally sound. You cant be chasing all over the ice." Not long after, rookie Nathan Beaulieu threw a pass up the middle that Pacioretty chased down and went in alone to score. Boston coach Claude Julien felt that stretch was his teams best chance to make a game of it. "The second goal probably hurt us the most because we were spending a lot of time in their end and we had some great chances to tie the game, but that kind of turned the tide around," said Julien. "I didnt like the way they got their goals tonight. "But we had more lines going than weve had this whole series. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone, but if you hit posts and miss open nets. . . Youve got to bury those chances. Tonight they came back to haunt us." Asked what he expects from game 7, Julien said: "I expect us to win." When Montreal coach Michel Therrien was asked the same question, he said: "Anything can happen in a Game 7. Thats the beauty of it." The TD Garden crowd in Boston is especially hostile to Subban, but the flashy Canadiens defenceman denied feeding off it even if he has had some big moments in that rink, including a late goal in a 4-2 loss in Game 5 on Saturday. Cubs Brandon Morrow Jersey. . "I dont give them that credit," he said. "I go and play the game. "I play to win, I dont care whos there. I dont care if theres nobody in the stands. Im going there to win. Its irrelevant to me. I hope that its a hostile environment. It makes it all better." Montreals big move was to bring 21-year-old Beaulieu in to replace the slow-footed Douglas Murray on the third defence pair. The teams 2011 first-round draft pick responded to his first-career NHL playoff start with an assist and a plus-2 performance in only 9:36 of ice time. "I never played at a pace like that before," he said. "It was incredible. It was good to get the first period under my belt and I felt I settled down after that." Montreal busted out of the gate after a rousing pre-game show and the teams played at a frantic pace through the first two periods. Despite having the best of the play in the opening 20 minutes, the Canadiens needed a freak play for the only goal. Kevan Miller lost the puck off his stick behind the Boston net and then inadvertently tripped goalie Tuukka Rask as he tried to smother it, leaving Eller free to score unassisted 2:11 into the game. Beaulieu flipped the puck up the centre of the ice and saw it go off Loui Eriksson to Pacioretty, who won a race with Zdeno Chara and beat Rask between the pads at 15:24. Pacioretty kept a puck alive with his feet amidst a crowd in front of Rask during a power play and saw the puck slide to Vanek for a shot into an open side at 17:39. The Bruins came close at 11:05 of the third when a Chara shot went off Price and dropped behind him, but with Jarome Iginla digging in the crease David Desharnais was on his knees to stop the puck with his stick just as it had almost crossed the goal-line. The no-goal call stood up to video review. There were some nasty moments near the end, including a clash that saw Montreals Andrei Markov jab his stick between Charas legs. Chara, Iginla and Weaver were assessed penalties when the skirmish ended. In Game 5, Bostons Shawn Thornton got fined for squirting water from the bench at Subban. Julien said it wasnt all his teams fault this time. "Were perceived as the bad guys and theyre the good guys," he said. "When Markov trips Chara and then puts his stick between his legs and nothings going to be called, eventually somebodys going to react. "Whether its right or wrong. Zdeno reacted and then everything else started. There was a slew foot before, Desharnais on (Brad) Marchand. A slew foot. Those are things we keep talking about that are dangerous in our game. "Its a rivalry and theres some things going on on both sides. Im not portraying ourselves as innocent here. Im just saying it takes two teams to tangle and thats what happened." Notes: Daniel Briere returned to the lineup for Travis Moen. . . Eller scored during Beaulieus first career NHL playoff shift, making him plus-1 only 2:11 into the game. . . Boston made no changes. . . Shawn Thornton played his 100th career playoff game. 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