12, not even close.But they still have Belichick, and a system of

MILWAUKEE -- The Pittsburgh Pirates are red hot heading to Chicago. But their postseason aspirations could hinge on medical examinations off the field over the coming days.Ivan Nova threw six sharp innings before leaving early because of a hurting left hamstring and the Pirates hit three solo homers to rally past the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 on Sunday for their eighth straight road victory.Were going to leave here in a good place but weve got to show up in Chicago, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. I dont think you could ask for much more here at the end of August. We get to play meaningful games. It should be fun.Pittsburgh is in the thick of the NL Wild Card race, but Novas injury is the latest issue in a road that gets much tougher for the Pirates.I was trying not to think about it, said Nova, who was pulled as a precaution. It was my first time experiencing something like that. I decided to tell the manager.Ace Gerrit Cole will not start Monday, instead heading to get an outside opinion on his ailing right elbow and missing at least one scheduled start.We will talk more about Gerrit and his situation when he comes back from the doctor, general manager Neal Huntington said.John Jaso and Gregory Polanco each homered in the sixth off Brewers starter Chase Anderson (7-11) to complete Pittsburghs first sweep at Miller Park since 2004. Starling Marte added a solo shot in the eighth.Nova (4-0) retired 10 of his final 11 batters after allowing Jonathan Villars solo homer in the third. He scattered three hits and struck out four before being pinch hit for in the seventh. Tony Watson converted his 10th save in 13 opportunities.Nova is pitching like a staff ace so far in Pittsburgh before he hits free agency this winter. Hes struck out 22 and walked just four in 31 1/3 innings with a 2.87 ERA over his first five starts since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Yankees.Itd be pretty silly for the manager to push him out there for one more inning and he blows his hamstring, Hurdle said. We were very pleased with that effort.ANDERSON STRUGGLESAnderson again failed to get out of the sixth inning for Milwaukee -- for the 11th time in his last 12 starts.He worked his way out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the fourth, but grooved a pair of pitches in the sixth and was pulled after Polancos shot put Pittsburgh ahead for good.The command was there for me today for the most part, just got away from me in the sixth inning, Anderson said.PIRATES MOVEPirates 3B Adam Frazier was optioned to Single-A Bristol before the game and RHP A.J. Schugel was recalled. Frazier started at third base in Saturdays 9-6 win.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: With Cole out, Hurdle says his rotation plan in Chicago will be Steven Brault on Monday followed by Chad Kuhl and Ryan Vogelsong.Brewers: Brewers RHP Junior Guerra (right elbow) is expected to return to the rotation at some point after Thursdays day off. He threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in his previous rehab start at Triple-A Colorado Springs.UP NEXTPirates: Brault (0-1, 3.60 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. The left-hander will make his third career start.Brewers: Zach Davies (10-6, 4.06) takes the hill in the opener of a series against St. Louis.Nike Free Sale Australia .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Nike Free Shoes Australia . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. http://www.nikefreeaustralia.com/ . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Nike Free Clearance Australia . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Nike Free Cheap Australia . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday.As they stood together during training camp, dressed in their handle-with-care red jerseys, Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo reminded you why one quarterback received a scholarship from Michigan, the other from Eastern Illinois. The 6-foot-4 Brady seemed to tower over a replacement listed only two inches shorter, and yet their physical presence, side by side, projected a varsity-JV vibe.Maybe thats why the New England Patriots struggled to divorce themselves from a perfectly healthy Brady, who wont suit up for the teams first four games because of what the NFL said was his role in Deflategate. Coach Bill Belichick used his franchise player for the entire first half of the fourth preseason game, normally an occupational hazard too dangerous for high-end talent. The team slapped Bradys oversize image on its Gillette Stadium lighthouse. And Julian Edelman likened the quarterbacks forced departure to one of your buddies going to jail.Whens the last time a Patriot gave you a quote like that?But the good New England news is that Belichick confronted this challenge once before, on the fly, when Brady wrecked his left knee in the first game of the 2008 season. Belichick was forced to turn to Matt Cassel, who had thrown 39 passes in his first three seasons in the NFL and a mere 33 in his four seasons at USC. Cassel led the Patriots to an 11-5 season, and in one of the greatest pro football injustices of them all, still didnt do enough to earn a place in the playoffs.Now a backup for the Tennessee Titans, Cassel told ESPN.com during training camp that observing Brady for three years definitely benefited me when I took over for him. ... It was his leadership and how he didnt just speak to be heard. When he spoke there was a purpose to it. Some guys hed pull over to the side in the locker room, other guys hed get after on the field to make sure hed push them that way.Tom really understood the different personalities on the team, and that there were different ways to lead them. Tom would also meticulously pick out plays and ask the right questions about them, up until right before the game, and I think his preparation helped me through my entire career. ... It was amazing to see that. When I first got in the league I had no idea about his level of preparation. He doesnt leave any stone unturned.Starting Sunday night in Arizona, where the Patriots open against the Arizona Cardinals?without the injured Rob Gronkowski, well begin to find out if Garoppolo has been the same kind of honor student in Bradys classroom. Garoppolo is already on record saying that practice has been a smoother operation with Brady no longer hovering about. The kid clearly felt he needed every practice rep he could get.So what to expect? Cassel said that during the 2008 season, Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels did a great job tapering back [the game plan] and then adding things as we moved forward in the season when they became more comfortable with me and discovered what I was as a player.So Id tell Jimmy, Dont try to be Tom. Obviously take things from Tom and incorporate some of the things youve learned by watching him, but understand theres only one Tom Brady, and youve got to be yourself. Jimmys got great coaches around him, and theyll put him in a great position. I remember Bill as being very consistent through my four years. We had bad injuries to key players, and throughout it all he stayed consistent and coached the same and wasnt a different personality one way or another if a certain guy went down. Hes a coach who will tell you what you need to do to be successful.More than anything, Belichick is a coach who will neutralize your strengths, and cover his weaknesses, better than anyone in the league. If its unclear whether Garoppolo represents a weakness -- he looked pretty good, not great, during the preseason -- this much is certain: He is a weakness when measured against thhe alternative, Brady, who now fades to black.ddddddddddddGaroppolo isnt going to Wally Pipp Brady the way Brady Wally Pipped Drew Bledsoe in 2001. But for these four games, the evidence suggests Belichick will simultaneously protect and elevate his backup-turned-starter enough to hand Brady a 3-1 record in Cleveland on Oct. 9, when Brady will surely make it 4-1 and start the Patriots rolling in an AFC East that for 15 years hasnt produced a long-term quarterback who could challenge him. Thirty-eight different men have started at least one game for the Dolphins, Jets and Bills since Brady took over for an injured Bledsoe in 2001, and 37 of them failed to help their teams win a division title (Chad Pennington won for the 2002 Jets and 2008 Dolphins).Brady is one of the divisions two indomitable forces, and its on the other one, Belichick, until he makes it back. Yeah, that could be a pretty good thing. What Ive always admired about Bill and the Patriot coaches is they have an answer for everything, and if they dont have the answer that day theyll have it the next day, said Stephen Neal, the former Patriots lineman who now works as alumni relations coordinator in the wrestling program for Cal State Bakersfield, where he was an All-American wrestler and NCAA champion who defeated, among others, Brock Lesnar. Neal never played a down of college football, and yet Belichick developed him into a Super Bowl champ who started 81 regular-season games over eight years.Football is a game of chess with live pieces, Neal said, and if you have your pieces do what youre telling them to do, youre going to win the game. It doesnt matter if the pieces are the best. It matters if the pieces obey the coaches, and the Patriots have the best coach.Belichick has had quite a chess-board run with personnel over the years, and Neals story stands among his personal favorites. The Patriots coach used a fourth-round pick to replace an all-time great kicker (Adam Vinatieri) with someone who turned out to be just as good (Stephen Gostkowski). He molded a running college quarterback, Edelman, into a star NFL receiver, and, when injuries made it necessary, converted Edelman and Troy Brown into temporary defensive backs.Hes not asking Garoppolo to do anything of the sort here. In fact, Belichick is merely asking his quarterback to do something he has done his entire football life; Garoppolo did break Tony Romos records at Eastern Illinois and did become a second-round pick in 2014. He knows what hes doing, and so do his coaches. Given Belichicks history with Cassel, and McDaniels comments on how the Patriots wont overextend their new first-stringer, the Patriots might start out with an approach as conservative as Ann Coulter.Will it work, especially without a healthy Gronk? Hey, life would be so much easier with Brady under center rather than under suspension. Though the Patriots believe that they can replace his leadership by committee, and that Garoppolo has the requisite toughness to survive and even thrive in his first career starts, they know No. 10 wont match up with No. 12, not even close.But they still have Belichick, and a system of crisis management that seems to weather all storms. The Patriots were 18-1 and Super Bowl runners-up in their Spygate season, and they are 14-5 with a Super Bowl championship and AFC title game appearance since the dawn of Deflategate.If youre looking for a read on what the Patriots will do in the first quarter of 2016, heres another place to look: Belichick started 3-1 without Brady in 2008, when the quarterback wasnt coming back. The best bet says New England will lose in Arizona on Sunday night, beat the Dolphins, Texans and Bills at home, and then hand the ball to the tall, dimpled guy who knows how to take it from there. ' ' '