this is the thing that has united us as a family

HOUSTON -- Already eliminated from playoff contention, the Los Angeles Angels quite enjoy playing spoiler.Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer and pinch-hitter Rafael Ortega had three RBI during a six-run ninth inning, lifting the Angels over the Houston Astros 10-6 on Friday night.The loss dropped Houston to 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers for the second AL wild card, a tough blow after clawing back with a five-run sixth inning to make it 6-3 prior to the late-game collapse.We want to play spoiler, C.J. Cron said. Were not just going to push over and let them take the series. I think you saw that fight in us toward the end of the game today.Houston led 6-4 when Escobar sent a slider from Ken Giles (2-5) into the seats in left field to start the ninth. Giles walked Mike Trout with one out before intentionally walking Albert Pujols. Cron followed with a bloop single to score Trout and put the Angels on top.Giles was replaced by Michael Feliz after loading the bases with a walk. Ortega cleared the bases with his two-out double, which deflected off shortstop Carlos Correas glove, to extend the lead.Toughest inning of the year, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. For a lot of reasons.Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia was impressed with his teams comeback.You want to play the game the right way, he said. You want to play hard, you want to play well but that sometimes doesnt add up to a win. Tonight we overcame some of our own miscues, rallied and got some big hits on the offensive side.Nick Buss had two RBI for Los Angeles and Cron had an RBI double in the first. The Angels have won three in a row.Its the fifth blown save for Giles, who allowed three hits and six runs in 1/3 inning.I didnt do my job, Giles said. I put us in a hard position right now, and ... Im going to make up for it.Marwin Gonzalez hit a two-run single in the sixth that tied it before pinch-hitter Tyler White laced an RBI single to center field to make it 4-3. Jason Castro hit a third straight single to send home another run. Mike Morin took over and Houston got another run home on a passed ball to extend the lead.Buss drove home a run with a groundout in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-4.Houston starter Doug Fister allowed five hits and two runs in five innings.Los Angeles starter Alex Meyer yielded four hits and four runs with three walks in 5 1/3 innings in his seventh major league appearance. Cody Ege (1-0) got the last two outs of the eighth inning for his first major league win.Pujols doubled to start the second and Cron followed with his double to make it 1-0. A third double, this one by Buss with one out, scored Cron to push the lead to 2-0.THEY SAID ITIm not going to let Pujols be engaged in that inning. Ive seen enough of him over the years, as has this organization, Hinch on why he chose to intentionally walk him in the ninth inning.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: RHP Garrett Richards, who has been out since May after having Tommy John surgery, felt good on Friday after throwing a bullpen session a day before. He feels great ... the ball is really coming out hot, Scioscia said. Hes turning it loose and its exciting to see him healthy. Scioscia added that the next step will be to send him to pitch in their instructional league.Astros: Correa left the game after hitting the ground hard trying to make a catch in the ninth inning. There was no immediate word on his injury. ... Houston RHP Lance McCullers, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 3 with an elbow strain, will throw another bullpen in a couple of days after feeling good following his first once since the injury on Thursday. There still isnt a timetable for his return.UP NEXTAngels: Jhoulys Chacin (4-6 5.26) will pitch for Los Angeles on Saturday. Chacin allowed six hits and one earned run in five innings in his last start on Monday against Texas but did not factor in the decision.Astros: Brad Peacock (0-0, 2.86) will make his fourth start for Houston on Saturday. Peacock allowed three hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings in his last start but did not factor in the decision in a 4-2 win over Oakland. New York Mets Pro Shop . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. New York Mets Gear .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Fake Mets Jerseys . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Mets Jerseys 2019 . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. At first, Jesus Serrano gave his wife a hip fake worthy of Leroy Kelly or Greg Pruitt.When we were sweethearts, I asked him, Are you into any sports? Edna Serrano recalled. And he was like, No, not really.It wasnt until they were married that Edna discovered her husbands idea of heaven was a weekend in Cleveland. Hes a Browns fan to the core, a connoisseur of Bernie Kosar, Ozzie Newsome, Frank Minnifield and Hanford Dixon. He still feels the pain of Brian Sipes playoff interception and Earnest Byners fumble in the 660s and Art Modells treachery in the 90s.None of that would be unusual if Jesus had grown up in Canton or Cuyahoga Falls, but he grew up some 2,300 miles southwest of old Cleveland Municipal Stadium -- in Mexico City. While his friends were playing and talking futbol, Serrano was following American football.Almost four decades after first adopting the team, Serrano, 45, is more immersed in the Browns and Cleveland than ever. Hes in his third year as a season-ticket holder and takes his entire family -- Edna, 12-year-old son Juan Pablo and 8-year-old daughter Valantina -- to multiple games a year at FirstEnergy Stadium. He has been to 35 Browns games in all, including road stops in Pittsburgh, Dallas and New Jersey, and has had the thrill of meeting Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown.This year, with the Browns even more hapless than usual -- flirting with 0-16 -- the Serranos have continued to keep the faith and flown to five games. Theyre sad they had to miss this past Sundays game vs. the Bengals and will miss the Christmas Eve game against the Chargers because of Juan Pablos test schedule and a long-planned holiday family vacation. But no matter where the Serranos are during the final three contests of the season, theyll be watching. Even Browns exhibition games are must-see TV for the family.Jesus Serrano admits it isnt easy being a Browns fan. Hes still waiting for their first Super Bowl, this is their ninth consecutive losing season and they havent been in the playoffs since 2002. Their carousel of coaches, quarterbacks and failed No. 1 picks keeps spinning to a circus tune.I wont lie to you if I tell you its been hard, he said. But I guess whenever you are a fan for a team, you become part of that team, and thats what happened to me.How it all beganOne room of the Serranos home in León, about 250 miles northwest of Mexico City, is dedicated to the Browns. The walls are covered with autographed jerseys, pennants, photos and Dawg Pound signs. Shelves are filled with footballs and other collectibles, along with items from the Indians and Cavaliers, the familys other adopted Cleveland teams.The next thing going up will be a jersey autographed by Pruitt, the big-play running back and kick returner who was a four-time Pro Bowler for the Browns in the 1970s. The Serranos met him at their most recent game in Cleveland, Nov. 27 against the Giants.It was because of Pruitt -- in a roundabout way -- that a 7-year-old kid in Mexico City became a Browns fan.Serranos father returned from a business trip with a souvenir for his son: a Pruitt-autographed football. His father wasnt a sports fan and knew nothing about the Browns. But he had seen his boy latch onto the NFL, so he brought him the ball. It was a random gift with a profound impact.I was talking to my father, and I was telling him, Do you realize all the things you created just with a football? Serrano said of a recent conversation. Thats the beautiful and the strange part of everything, right?Just like that, the Browns were his team.By the time he was 10, Serrano got a taste of what was in store. In a divisional playoff game in Cleveland against Oakland in January 61, the Browns trailed 14-12 with less than a minute remaining but had reached the Raiders 13-yard line. The Browns could have run the ball to set up a game-winning field goal. Instead, Sipe, who was the NFL MVP that season, threw a pass toward Newsome that was intercepted in the end zone. Game over. The Raiders not only wwon the game, they went on to win the Super Bowl.dddddddddddd.I remember myself crying, Serrano said.He also recalls the crushing losses to the Denver Broncos in the 1980s (The Drive spearheaded by John Elway) and (The Fumble by Byner) AFC Championship Games.Since the Cleveland franchise was reborn in 1999 after Modell took his team to Baltimore to become the Ravens in 1996, the Browns have had fewer of those heart-crushing losses, simply because theyve been consistently bad, making the playoffs just once.Serrano said he gave up on the NFL in the years Cleveland was without a team, and he was joyful when the Browns returned.It had always been a long-distance romance until eight years ago, when Serrano finally flew to Cleveland for his first game, against the Steelers.I was in tears that day, he said.After that, he tried to get to two to three games a year until he bought season tickets three years ago. (The Browns said he is one of only three season-ticket holders who live outside the U.S. and Canada.) The seats are good: Section 334 in the Club Level, near midfield.Now, several weekends a year, the family packs up and heads to the airport on Friday, flies to Cleveland -- usually with a layover in Dallas, Houston or Atlanta and a trip through customs -- and spends Friday night and Saturday seeing the sights. Theyll go to an Indians or Cavs game, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the zoo or other attractions and find new restaurants and return to favorites. Sunday is game day, with everyone wearing Browns jerseys and hats, and the flight home is Monday.Serrano has his own accounting firm in Mexico City (he commutes there from León, too, at least once a week), so he can control his schedule.Yet its an enormous investment of time and money. He estimates its an $8,000-$9,000 bill each trip to Cleveland. And for what? This isnt the Patriots; its the Browns. Is it worth it?Yes, its worth it 100 percent, because this is the thing that has united us as a family, Serrano said.Added Edna: Its not only to attend the game, but its the time to share with family, doing things together, talk. Every time I go there, I like to think we are celebrating life.Edna, who once was so surprised to have learned shed married an NFL fan, said shes now a partner in crime to her husbands Browns addiction.The most fervent fan in the family, however, might be Juan Pablo. He admitted it can be frustrating to travel eight or more hours just to see his team lose, but he cant get enough of being at FirstEnergy Stadium. He tries to get autographs and savor the atmosphere before, during and after games.Its incredible, Juan Pablo said. All the people are shouting. Its a great experience.By now, the Serranos feel at home in Cleveland. Theyve become friends with fans near their seats and know the people at hotels and restaurants.The city has embraced us in a wonderful way, Jesus said.I bleed brown and orangeWhile soccer is king in Mexico, American football has a growing fan base there. The NFL estimates it has more than 20 million fans in Mexico. Several games per week are televised in the country, and fans such as the Serranos can buy DirecTVs Sunday Ticket package to watch the teams of their choice.Serrano has many friends who are NFL fans and said about 40 percent of his sons schoolmates follow the league, too.Like any fan, Serrano questions some of the moves the Browns make, and he suffers as he watches them lose, in person or on TV. But he believes the Browns will one day win a Super Bowl. Even now, with an 0-13 record, he thinks the team is just one or two players away from turning things around.We have all the patience in the world, he said.Does he ever wish his dad had brought him a ball signed by a Cowboy, a Steeler or a Packer, just so he could have enjoyed a championship now and then?No. I have to tell you that, he said. I bleed brown and orange. ' ' '