week to take a job with the Cincinnati Reds

PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates have hired Jeff Branson as hitting coach and added Jeff Livesey to the major league coaching staff. Branson replaces Jay Bell, who left the organization last week to take a job with the Cincinnati Reds. Branson worked with Bell last season to implement the teams hitting program. The Pirates won 94 games to make the playoffs for the first time in 21 years but struggled offensively. Pittsburgh hit just .245 on the season and finished in the bottom half of the NL in several offensive categories. Branson played nine seasons in the majors between Cincinnati, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Dodgers before retiring in 2001. Livesey spent the last three years as Pittsburghs minor league hitting co-ordinator. . Jachai Polite Jersey . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. Wholesale Jets Jerseys . Better still, its in the same team and there are 13 races left for it to develop. http://www.cheapnewyorkjetsjerseysauthen...omlinson-jersey. Kuper, a fifth-round pick in Denvers 2006 draft, started 79 games at guard over eight seasons. He dislocated his left ankle in the last game of the 2011 regular season, and though he started another seven games after that, he never returned to his previous level. Quinnen Williams Jersey . Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. Trevon Wesco Jersey .com) - The Winnipeg Jets got over one hurdle by snapping their longest losing streak of the season. STRASBOURG, France -- Third-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and fifth-seeded Elena Vesnina of Russia both lost in the first round of the Strasbourg International on Monday. The 96th-ranked Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan upset Wimbledon semifinalist Flipkens 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3, while Casey Dellacqua of Australia stunned Vesnina 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Dellacqua broke serve seven times as Vesnina made nine double-faults. American trio Madison Keys, Vania King and Alison Riske moved into the second round. The eighth-seeded Riske beat Teliana Pereira of Brazil 6-3, 6-3, and Keyys won the last four games to defeat Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-2.dddddddddddd King outlasted Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. A semifinalist in Bogota last month, King took a 4-0 lead in the second set and won the last five games in the decider. French wild-card entry Claire Feuerstein and Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia also won their first-round m