LOS ANGELES -- The Pittsburgh Pirates had a long plane ride to digest their dreadful series at the New York Mets, and the exploits of batterymates
Gerrit Cole and Russell Martin made for a pleasant series opener against the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
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China . Martin and Pedro Alvarez homered, Josh Harrisons second RBI single
triggered a three-run seventh inning, and the Pirates beat Los Angeles 6-3 on
Thursday night for only their third victory in their last 20 games at Dodger
Stadium. "I think its just staying in the moment and not carrying any excess
baggage," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It was a 5-hour, 40 minute flight, and
were here in L.A. So Its time to get something done. Cole gave us the big start
with his energy. He had a great pace and rhythm tonight, and the best speed
variance hes had in quite some time. His fastball, changeup and curveball played
extremely well for him, and everybody fed off of it." Cole (5-3) allowed three
runs and six hits over 6 1-3 innings in his first career appearance at Chavez
Ravine. The former UCLA right-hander helped set up two runs with sacrifice bunts
in the opener of a four-game series against the defending NL West champions.
"The key was making quality pitches early," Cole said. "Some at-bats they were
patient and some they were really aggressive. But we just stuck with our
approach and just made quality pitches. I thought we played Pirates baseball to
a T. We passed the baton at the plate, swarmed them on defence, threw a lot of
strikes and took some punches." Cole was lifted after walking pinch-hitter
Chone Figgins with his 88th pitch, but Tony Watson retired speedster Dee Gordon
on a double-play grounder with his first delivery. "Cole was outstanding. He was
very aggressive, had all his pitches working," Martin said. "The pitch that
really helped him was the changeup. He even threw them righty-on-righty. So to
have a pitch that has the same spin as a fastball, I think, made the hitters
uncomfortable. Hes got that mentality to just go out there and compete and
execute pitches." Mark Melancon worked a perfect eighth and Jason Grilli got
three outs for his sixth save. Grilli officially got his closer role back on
Thursday, seven days after coming off the disabled list and six days after
getting a save in his first game back. Melancon converted 10 of 12 save
opportunities while Grilli was sidelined 4 1-2 weeks with a left oblique strain.
Starling Marte drew a leadoff walk in the seventh from Brandon League (1-2) and
appeared to have stolen second -- at least to umpire Eric Cooper, who called him
safe. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenged the ruling, which was overturned
by a video review. But Clint Barmes followed with his third straight single,
advanced on Coles bunt and scored on Harrisons single up the middle. Harrison
continued to second on the throw to the plate and came home on Neil Walkers
single. Former Pirates starter Paul Maholm replaced League and gave up an RBI
double to pinch-hitter Gabby Sanchez on his second pitch. The three runs charged
to League ended a stretch of 16 appearances and 22 innings in which the
right-hander did not allow an earned run. "I know its been a while since
anything like this has happened," League said. "Its not discouraging. It just
stinks having your name next to the L. As a reliever, you go day to day and
youre taught to forget quickly. Its nice to know your manager keeps running you
out there regardless of the results, but in the end, youve still got to get the
job done." Dodgers starter Don Haren allowed three runs and eight hits in six
innings with two strikeouts and no walks. Martin, who spent his first five big
league seasons with the Dodgers and left as a free agent after the 2010 campaign
to sign with the Yankees, hit his third homer of the season halfway up the left
field pavilion with two outs in the sixth to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead. It
also ended a string of nine consecutive games at Dodger Stadium in which
Pittsburgh scored no more than two runs. Yasiel Puig, who reached base safely
for the 30th consecutive game, led off the bottom of the sixth with his second
double of the game and scored on a single by Hanley Ramirez. Andre Ethier lined
an 0-1 pitch inside first base with one out in the first for his second triple
in seven at-bats, after getting only four in his previous 2,180 at-bats since
the start of the 2010 season. Puig drove him in with a bloop double to right
field. Alvarez tied it in the second with a two-out drive to right field for his
10th homer, tying Walker for the team lead. Gordon regained the lead for the
Dodgers in the bottom half with a two-out RBI single, but Harrison got the
Pirates even again in the fifth with a two-out RBI single. NOTES: LHP
Chad Billingsley, who hasnt pitched for the Dodgers since April 15, 2013, and is
recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw 30 pitches in a two-inning simulated
game. ... In his four starts with Tim Federowicz behind the plate, Haren has a
3.04 ERA and has given up 28 hits in 23 2-3 innings. ... Mattingly said that it
would be "overly hopeful" to expect 3B Juan Uribe (right hamstring strain) to be
reinstated from the 15-day DL when he is eligible to come off on June 5. ...
Gordon stole second and third in the second inning, increasing his major
league-leading total to 32. ... Coles only other outing against the Dodgers was
June 16, 2013, when he won a 6-3 decision over Zack Greinke.
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Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were left fretting over an MRI on the
stars left knee. Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and the
Pacers used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out the Cavaliers 91-76 on Tuesday
The Pacers (25-5) have won eight in a row over Cleveland, their longest active
streak against any opponent.
Authentic NFL Jerseys Cheap . Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also
connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night.
http://www.chinafootballjerseyscheap.us/ . The All Blacks played their best rugby of recent years when they beat South
Africa 38-27 in Johannesburg two weeks ago, clinching the Rugby Championships in
a match which has been hailed as one of the best ever played.LOS ANGELES -- Zach
Randolph and Marc Gasol were just too much for the injury-riddled Los Angeles
Lakers to overcome in the fourth quarter of an ugly loss to the Memphis
Grizzlies. Randolph scored 14 of his 28 points in the final period and grabbed
11 rebounds, Gasol had 18 points, eight boards and eight assists, and the
Grizzlies eked out an 89-86 victory Friday night for their first road victory of
the season. "Everybody knows that we go as Zach goes. Thats our horse, him and
Marc. And we need them to continue that throughout the year," guard Tony Allen
said. "Everybody came here with their antennas up, and everybody just wanted to
get this win more than the other team. And it showed. We played hard for 48
minutes." Mike Conley had 11 points and seven assists for the Grizzlies in the
opener of a four-game California trip. Last season they finished with a winning
road record for the first time at 24-17, third-best in the NBA. "It felt good,
especially being our first road win of the season," Randolph said. "We had been
up and down and inconsistent, so it was just good to get a win and build from
here." Reserve shooting guard Jodie Meeks had 25 points for the Lakers (4-7),
who have lost four of their last five games without their injured starting
backcourt of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. They are off to their worst start
through 11 games since 2002-03, when they began 3-8 following their third
straight championship. "Kobes not out there to bail us out, but we have good
players on this team and everyone is confident in one another," Meeks said. "I
feel like we had a chance to win, but we couldnt for whatever reason. Its
frustrating, but were not panicking. There are 71 more games left." Lakers
centre Pau Gasol had 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds
playing against his younger brother, who was the NBAs defensive player of the
year last season. "We have to score more points and we have to make bigger
plays," coach Mike DAntoni said after the Lakers were held under 90 for the
third time. "I felt that it was better tonight that we showed up at the rim
more. But when you put everything together, we had some turnoverss and some
sloppy plays that led to fast breaks.
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Shawne Williams, one of seven new players on the Lakers roster, hit back-to-back
3-pointers 39 seconds apart to give Los Angeles a 75-73 lead with 7:19
remaining. But Randolph responded with eight points during a 3:06 span, capping
it on a fadeaway baseline jumper over Jordan Hill to give Memphis an 83-81 lead
they would not relinquish. "I was just trying to let it come to me and try to be
aggressive," Randolph said. Randolph added a spinning layup and two free throws
in the final 17 seconds after Lakers guard Steve Blake missed a 20-footer and a
3-point attempt at the other end. Hill, who averaged 19.5 points in his first
two starts of the season, put the Lakers in a bind after picking up two fouls 40
seconds apart and went to the bench with 8:12 left in the first quarter. Chris
Kaman replaced him and missed his first five shots, including a layup that was
blocked by Tayshaun Prince. "It was real important to get Hill out of the game
early," Randolph said. "Like I told the kid, hes having a helluva season." Nick
Young provided a much-needed spark off the bench for the lethargic Lakers in the
second quarter with 12 points, including a pair of jumpers in the final minute
of the half to help them leave the court tied at 40-all after they trailed by as
many as 10. NOTES: Kobe Bryant, sidelined indefinitely after surgery on his torn
Achilles tendon in April, walked onto the court to a standing ovation at the end
of the first quarter -- in his Lakers warm-ups -- and presented a $150,000 check
from the club to representatives of the Philippine Red Cross following last
weeks deadly Typhoon. ... The Lakers, whose streak of 320 consecutive home
sellouts (including playoffs) ended Tuesday night when they came up 571 short of
capacity in their win over New Orleans, announced a packed house of 18,997 for
this one. ... Memphis is 7-10 against Los Angeles when the Gasols have played
against each other. In the 16 previous head-to-head battles between them, Pau
averaged 15.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 47.9 per cent from the field -- while
Marc averaged 10.6 points, 8.9 boards and 42.4 per cent shooting.
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