I chose a good day to go five and the offence

The Chicago Bulls recovered quickly after losing out on Carmelo Anthony in free agency, landing Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol to bolster the teams offence. Junior Fernandez . Gasol announced on his verified Twitter account on Saturday evening that he reached agreement with the Bulls. "It hasnt been easy," Gasol tweeted. "After meditating it a lot Ive chosen to play with the Chicago Bulls. Looking forward to this new chapter of my career." The Spaniard is one of the NBAs most offensively gifted and versatile big men, and he has long been one of Kobe Bryants favourite teammates with the Lakers. Gasol spent the last seven seasons in Los Angeles, teaming with Bryant to win two championships and reach another NBA Finals. The exact terms of his agreement with the Bulls were not immediately clear. The Bulls and Lakers had reportedly been discussing sign-and-trade options earlier in the day Saturday, but no official announcement from either team had been made. The 7-foot Gasol is a four-time All-Star and averaged 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in 60 games last season with Los Angeles, and he brings some sorely needed offensive punch to the Bulls frontcourt. Even with Derrick Rose expected to be ready to start next season after missing most of the last two years with knee injuries, the Bulls were still very much in the hunt for some offensive help for one of the most hard-nosed defensive teams in the league. With Rose out last season, Tom Thibodeaus group still managed to win 48 games and make the playoffs for the sixth straight season thanks largely to a defence led by Joakim Noah up front and Jimmy Butler on the perimeter. But scoring proved to be very difficult at times, and the Bulls lost to the Washington Wizards in five games of their first-round series. Thats why they were so hot after Anthony, perhaps the best pure scorer in the game. The Bulls felt he would be a perfect fit to be surrounded by a defensive-minded supporting cast. But as reports swirled that Anthony would remain with the Knicks, the Bulls didnt waste any time moving on. Now Gasol will team with Noah, a very good passer in the high post, in a formidable frontcourt tandem. Its also the end of an era for Gasol and the Lakers. His arrival in a trade from Memphis helped quell Bryants dissatisfaction with the direction of the franchise after owner Jerry Buss decided to move Shaquille ONeal and go forward with Bryant as the unquestioned face of the franchise. He arrived in the middle of the 2007-08 season and helped the Lakers reach the finals after a three-season absence. They lost to the Boston Celtics that time, but rebounded to win the next two championships. Gasol was the subject of trade rumours for much of his time in Los Angeles but always had the steadfast backing of Bryant. But Gasol just turned 34, battled foot injuries last season and clashed with coach Mike DAntoni several times. DAntoni is gone, but the Lakers are trying to preserve their long-term salary cap flexibility to make a run at another big star next summer, so bringing the aging big man back was not considered a high priority. Matt Wieters . Bayern winger Franck Ribery marked his league return after recovering from a cracked rib by scoring two goals and setting up two more as the league leaders inflicted the heaviest home defeat on Bremen in the Bundesliga. Mike Shannon .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/custom-matt-carpenter-jersey-large-1131q.html . His actions are much louder on the Fenway Park mound. De La Rosa had another strong home start, going seven solid innings to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Houston Astros got a good glimpse of what could happen if Chris Carter and George Springer are hitting well at the same time. Carter connected for two home runs, Springer set a rookie club record for homers in a month and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 Wednesday for their fifth straight win. The Astros have been waiting for Carter to take off after he hit 29 home runs last year. "This guy led our offence in home runs and RBIs last year. He had been hot and cold, but we all know when hes hot, he can carry a ballclub because weve seen him do it," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "We definitely would love to get him going. That would be an added boost to our team," he said. Carter, who had been benched the previous three games with a .192 batting average, homered to lead off the fifth. He hit a three-run homer in sixth off reliever Louis Coleman for his fourth career multihomer game and his first this season. "He sat for three days, worked extremely hard in the cage and watched a lot of video," Porter said. "He came in today with a good game plan and understanding the things in which hes worked on the last few days." "I always say this: Its good from a coaching standpoint you put in effort with a guy and the next time he gets in the lineup you see it pay off. Thats good for the player to see the immediate results of the work which hes putting in" he said. Springer homered off Danny Duffy (2-5) in the first for his ninth home run in May. Glenn Davis held the Astros rookie record with eight home runs in September 1985. Springer also walked twice and was hit by a pitch. "Our offence is better," Carter said. "Its been coming around really good. George has six home runs in six games. Im happy for him. I think we have something going here." The Astros, with the worst record in the AL, won three times in Kansas City for their first sweep of the season. Houstons winning streak is its longest since a siix-game string that ended last June 3. Rangel Ravelo. The Royals have lost four in a row. "Its just a bad series, unfortunately, it happened at home," Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. "Its a tough go right now." Carlos Corporan had three hits with a walk. He drove in a run as the Astros outscored the Royals 21-5 in the series. Jarred Cosart (4-4) gave up one earned run and four hits in five innings, but was pulled when his pitch count reached 95. "I chose a good day to go five and the offence scored nine runs," Cosart said. "I didnt have my best stuff. The offence came out scoring early. I felt pretty good out there. I had a couple of innings with high pitch counts. We have a five-game winning streak going. Weve got momentum. Were going back home to our own ballpark." Duffy allowed six runs on seven hits and five walks in four-plus innings. The first four Royals pitchers combined to walk 10, which was a season high. "He just didnt have anything going for him today," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "His fastball was down to 88-92 (mph) and we kept checking and asking if he was OK. He was fine, but he was going through a little dead arm. He was throwing hard, but it just wasnt coming out. We had to kind of ride it. We didnt have any bullpen help." Brett Hayes singled in the Kansas City fifth to snap an 0-for-27 skid to begin the season. He homered in the seventh, the Royals first home run in nine games. NOTES: Houston 2B Jose Altuve dropped Eric Hosmers popup to shallow right in the sixth inning for his first error of the season. That ended an Astros record of 88 errorless games by a second baseman. Altuve also had a single and tops the majors with 73 hits. ... Butler grounded out four times and is in a 2-for-22 funk, tumbling his average to .235 with one home run. ... Royals LF Alex Gordon batted third for the first time this season and extended his hitting streak to six games with a first-inning single. ' ' '