Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - As it turns out, Petr

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Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - As it turns out, Petra Kvitova isnt the only Czech stud on the womens tour. Enter big-serving Karolina Pliskova. Both the two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova (4th) and Lucie Safarova (16th) are two Czech women who are currently ranked higher than Pliskova, with Safarova as one who will need to watch out. The Louny, Czech Republic, native Pliskova is a 22-year-old riser who quietly reached five, count em five, WTA finals in 2014. She reached her first final of the year (and second of her career) in Pattaya City, Thailand. And en route to her second final of 14, in Nurnberg, Germany, Pliskova notched a career-best victory over world No. 9 German star Angelique Kerber. But her season really took off during the fall Asian swing, highlighted by a runner-up finish in Hong Kong (where she topped another rising star, Monica Puig, in the second round) and satisfying championships in Seoul, Korea, and in Linz, Austria (which, of course, is not in Asia). Pliskova was actually match point down before fighting back to beat Italys Camila Giorgi in the Linz final. And her big win in that marathon match marked her 16th victory in 19 tries. She was hot. Pliskova is also a 10-time champion at the ITF level (the next tour down) and was the 2010 girls champ at the Aussie Open. She can play. Pliskova also enjoyed some Grand Slam success this year, as her victory over another world No. 9, and former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, at the U.S. Open not only matched her career-best victory, but moved her into the third round of a major for the first time in her blossoming career. She captured at least one match win at all four of the Slams this year and went 5-4 at those biggest of tourneys. After appearing as an alternate at the WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria, in October, Pliskova finished a year-end/career-best No. 23, or 44 places better than where she started 2014. There are always things to improve, she said. My movement isnt that great. And my serve can be up and down sometimes, so well have to practice that a little bit more. Ill have to do some strength conditioning and running, too. Im looking forward to it. You might say that the tattooed one is being hard on herself regarding work on her serve, considering she fired 435 aces, which trailed only Serena Williams (452) on tour this year. Pliskova has some tribal pattern tattoos on her left arm and thigh, not something you see very often on the womens tour. The Top 20 would appear to be a certain landing spot for the 6-foot-1 slugger, whose lefty twin sister Kristyna also plays on the WTA circuit. Karolina Pliskova will crank it back up, like everyone else, in a few weeks. Expect her to continue her climb then. lex Reyes Jersey . - Rookie Tesho Akindele scored three goals and Fabian Castillo added two in FC Dallas 5-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night. Michael Wacha Jersey .J. Hardy to avoid a three-game sweep after blowing a big early lead. Odour had a leadoff single in the seventh and scored the tiebreaking run with the help of two errors by Hardy as the Rangers went on to beat the Orioles 8-6 on Thursday night. http://www.cardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Stan-Musial-Kids-Jersey/. The defending champions’ roller coaster season included trading offensive star Percy Harvin in the midst of the team’s 3-3 start. That move that reportedly irked several Seahawk players, but one management saw necessary to save the team’s chemistry. Trevor Rosenthal Jersey . Canada will host Japan in a World Group first-round match in 2015. It will be a rematch of their first-round clash last year when Japan defeated Canada 4-1 to reach the World Group quarter-finals for the first time in its history. Chris Carpenter Jersey . -- Wichita State is all alone in the record book.CHICAGO -- All Masahiro Tanaka could do was put this one behind him and look forward to his next start. Hell be hard-pressed to match an unbeaten streak like this, though. Tanaka had his unbeaten regular-season run snapped at 42 starts, allowing a career-high four runs in six innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Yankees 6-1 on Tuesday night. The Cubs honoured the retiring Derek Jeter before the game, then handed Tanaka his first loss in nine major league starts. It was a surprising turn, considering Chicago came in with the majors worst record and the right-hander from Japan had been sensational. Tanaka (6-1) had been 34-0 in Japan and North America the last two seasons. He did drop Game 6 of the Japan Series last year before earning the save in Game 7. But post-season aside, he hadnt lost since the Seibu Lions beat the Rakuten Golden Eagles on Aug. 19, 2012. And yes, he was definitely proud of that streak. "I think I was able to get the streak going because I had support from my teammates," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "Im a little bit disappointed because I think a lot of the fans were looking for me to keep on winning. Next time out, Ill try to get a win again and get it going again." Luis Valbuena had three hits with two doubles and scored two runs for Chicago. John Baker had two hits, scored a run and drove in one. Mike Olt drove in three. Jason Hammel (5-2) pitched solid ball into the sixth and Hector Rondon retired Jeter on a grounder with the bases loaded in the ninth, preserving the win on a hot and rainy night with thunder and lightning. Tanaka had his worst outing, allowing eight hits to match a career high. He struck out seven and walked one but didnt really have his usual command. Manager Joe Girardi noticed some splitters up in the zone. Tanaka said there were issues with all his pitches, and Chicagos Starlin Castro thought there was a dip in velocity from last months meeting in New York, when he threw eight scoreless innings. Some Cubs players thought familiarity this time around helped, although Girardi dismissed that idea. "If he has his good splitterr tonight I think he gives a much better performance," he said.dddddddddddd "Since its the first time that he saw a team twice and they scored four runs, people are probably going to make a big deal out of it, but I think hes given up four runs before in a start. So I wouldnt make too much of it." Coming off his first major-league shutout against the Mets last week, Tanaka gave up RBI singles to Emilio Bonifacio in the third and to Olt in the fourth to make it 2-0. The Cubs added to their lead with two in the sixth on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Olt and Baker after Mark Teixeira singled in a run in the top half for New York. That was enough for Hammel, who allowed one run and four hits in 5 2-3 innings while striking out six and walking one. The righty took a hard one-hopper to his pitching hand while deflecting Brett Gardners single to start the game, then threw his first warmup pitch to the backstop after that. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch in the inning but settled down after despite some mounting soreness. "It got a little worse as the game was going on," he said. The Cubs saluted Jeter before the game, with Castro presenting him a number 2 from the famed Wrigley Field scoreboard at home plate as the crowd cheered. And there was a loud ovation when the Yankees captain batted in the first. Former Cub Soriano also got a warm welcome in his first game at Wrigley Field since the Cubs traded him to New York last July. He was 0 for 4. NOTES: Asked if theres any chance hell play after this season, Soriano said, "Yeah, I feel good." He plans to keep playing if he feels this way at the end of the season. Hes in the final year of an eight-year deal he signed with Chicago before the 2007 season. ... The Yankees wont have to leave town after this two-game series wraps up, with a four-game set at the White Sox opening Thursday. ... Cubs manager Rick Renteria said OF Justin Ruggiano is close to returning from a strained left hamstring but didnt give a specific date. He also said reliever Pedro Strop is "coming along" as he recovers from a strained left groin. 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