Wichtig » estion for the Commodores. The 6-foot-4 Kyle

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Mariners have signed free agent lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski to a two-year contract.The Mariners also signed right-handed reliever Casey Fien on Saturday. Left-hander Dean Kiekhefer and righty Zach Lee were designated for assignment.The 31-year-old Rzepczynski was a combined 1-0 with a 2.64 ERA in 70 games for Oakland and Washington this season. He then pitched three times in the NL playoffs for the Nationals.Rzepczynski has made at least 70 appearances in each of the last three years. Hes also pitched for Toronto, St. Louis, Cleveland and San Diego in an eight-season career.The 33-year-old Fien was 1-1 with a 5.49 ERA in 39 games for Minnesota and the Los Angeles Dodgers.The 27-year-old Kiekhefer made his major league debut last season and pitched 26 times in relief for the Cardinals. Seattle claimed him off waivers from St. Louis last month.Jusuf Nurkic Blazers Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. C.J. McCollum Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. http://www.blazersteamofficial.com/Jusuf-Nurkic-Blazers-Jersey/ . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Anfernee Simons Blazers Jersey . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Clyde Drexler Blazers Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover.NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Vanderbilt Commodores and coach Derek Mason know only too well just how big an opportunity they have in their season opener.The can kick off the year with a win at home, and against a Southeastern Conference opponent to boot.Its something theyve failed to do in each of the past two seasons under Mason, and now they get to try again Thursday night when they host South Carolina on national television.We need momentum, and I think thats what were talking about, Mason said. Were talking about a chance to see something we havent had an opportunity to do since Ive been here.Vanderbilt hasnt opened the season with a victory since 2011 against Elon. The Commodores bounced back nicely the last time they opened a season losing to an SEC team, going 9-4 in 2013 after losing to Mississippi. But Mason, whos revamped his coaching staff almost entirely since arriving on campus in 2014, is just 7-17 and is expecting to build on last years 4-8 record.Were a team thats got to earn respect, Mason said. That drives this team.South Carolina has won seven straight in this series and even got its lone SEC win against Vandy last season after Steve Spurrier stepped down. Now Will Muschamp is in charge trying to turn around the Gamecocks after a 3-9 record that was the leagues worst. It doesnt help that the schedule has the Gamecocks on the road for their first three SEC games to kick off the season, making this opener even more crucial.As all first ball games, you go in expecting anything and making sure your players are able to adjust to all the different things that pop up throughout the game, Muschamp said. There are going to be some new things and youve got to be able to adjust as the games goes. Thats going to be really important, especially for us.---Here are some things to watch Thursday night:QB SHUFFLE: Muschamp has held off on naming a quarterback starter until game-time with nobody rising up to grab the job, and the coach says the Gamecocks could use at least two quarterbacks against the Commodores.dddddddddddd Senior Perry Orth has the most experience, starting eight games a year ago with a 78-yard TD pass helping beat Vandy 19-10 in Columbia. Freshman Brandon McIlwain enrolled in January, while freshman Jake Bentley arrived in June.VANDYS QB: For a change, quarterback is not a question for the Commodores. The 6-foot-4 Kyle Shurmur won the job after starting both of Vandys two SEC wins last season as a freshman.GROWING UP: Mason keeps calling this an older team, and he has eight juniors or seniors on offense with the age difference most noticeable on defense where all 11 starters are at least juniors. Thats in addition to eight returning starters on offense and as many as 11 who started multiple games on defense last season.YOUNG RECEIVERS: Needing to replace play-making receiver Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina is looking at its youngest wide-outs. Sophomore Deebo Samuel and freshman Bryan Edwards will both start against the Commodores. Backups include Chavis Dawkins, Korey Banks and Radrecous Davis, all freshmen. I think they are all talented guys and in different ways, Muschamp said. Edwards enters with the most hype, a 6-3 leaper who earned a game-breaking reputation in high school.DEFENSIVE VANDY: Mason is running the defense for a second straight season, and the Commodores expect to improve after ranking 28th in yards allowed in 2015. That was just a taste of what we can do defensively, linebacker and safety Oren Burks said. Weve gotten a taste of that, and were hungry for more.---Online:AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org and AP-Top 25 Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker ' ' '