Javier Mascherano said. Atletico from zgr123's blog
SAN FRANCISCO -- As awful as the San Francisco Giants have played for most of the last month, they are back in an enviable position: first place in the NL West. Andrew Benintendi Red Sox Jersey . Beating their Bay Area rivals to get back there was a nice bonus, too. Hunter Pence homered and drove in two runs, Matt Cain tossed six strong innings and the Giants spoiled Jason Hammels debut for Oakland with a 5-2 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday night. San Francisco, which had lost 20 of 27, moved percentage points ahead of the Dodgers in the division. "If you look at how things have gone, you find that amazing," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Its all from the good work that happened earlier. Weve got to get back on track." For one night, they did. Cain (2-7) allowed two runs and five hits for his first win since May 15 against Miami. He struck out four and walked two to help the Giants snap major league-leading Oaklands six-game winning streak. "Felt really good," Cain said. "Guys came up with some big, clutch hits when we needed them. Guys kept putting pressure on those guys, which is always nice." Santiago Casilla got three quick outs for his fourth save. Hammel, acquired by the As along with fellow right-hander Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs last week for three top prospects, had anything but a clean opener with Oakland. He pitched with runners on base for most of the night, and his left thumb on his glove hand cramped up and looked disjointed at one point. He left after giving up six hits and three runs -- two earned -- in five innings, striking out three and walking three. Hammel said his thumb was fine afterward and he was bothered more by his performance. "Tonight was a grind and they grinded me pretty good," he said. Stephen Vogt homered and Jed Lowrie had an RBI single for Oakland. The As shut down the Giants 5-0 and 6-1 in the first two games of the Bay Bridge Series in Oakland and looked every bit like a team with the best record in baseball while doing it. Back in the comforts of glitzy AT&T Park, though, the Giants offence finally showed signs of life. San Francisco finished with 10 hits and took advantage of most of its scoring opportunities. With one out in the second inning, Yoenis Cespedes bobbled Joe Paniks single in left field for an error. By the time the strong-armed Cespedes corralled the ball and threw home, Gregor Blanco had crossed the plate. Buster Poseys RBI single gave the Giants a 2-0 lead in the third. Vogt homered leading off the fourth, sending a slider from Cain over the stands in right and onto the walkway outside the ballpark for his third long ball this season. Pence came back with his own long ball in the fourth to put the Giants up 3-1. It was Pences 12th home run and first since June 21 at Arizona. "It was a pretty clean game," Posey said. While the Giants finally got the bats going, Cain kept finding ways to minimize the As rallies. The right-hander got Coco Crisp to ground out with two runners on in the fifth, which came after he misfired to second base on a potential double-play ball earlier in the inning. And after Lowries two-out single sliced San Franciscos lead to 3-2 in the sixth, Cain got Derek Norris to ground out, stranding two runners. Oakland got a brief scare in the fifth when Hammels left thumb somehow bent awkwardly in the middle of Blancos at-bat. An As trainer worked on the thumb for several minutes, then the pitcher got Blanco to ground out. Pence hit an RBI single in the sixth before lefty Eric OFlahertys wild pitch helped the Giants score another run to go ahead 5-2. Oaklands offence was kept quiet the rest of the way. Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Casilla each pitched one perfect inning of relief. NOTES: The Giants optioned OF Juan Perez to Triple-A Fresno after the game. INF Ehire Adrianza will be activated from the disabled list Thursday. ... Giants 2B Marco Scutaro, who has been out all season with a strained lower back, is scheduled to play nine innings for Fresno on Thursday before rejoining San Francisco on Friday or Saturday. ... Vogt extended his hitting streak to a career-high nine games. ... Left-hander Scott Kazmir (10-3, 2.53 ERA) starts for the As against RHP Tim Hudson (7-5, 2.53 ERA) in Thursdays series finale. Blake Swihart Jersey . Jesus Navas bookended yet another huge home win for City by scoring after 14 seconds and again in second-half stoppage time, with Sergio Aguero also netting in each half to add to an own goal by Sandro and a brilliant strike by Alvaro Negredo. Carl Yastrzemski Red Sox Jersey .com) - Maria Sharapova rallied for a three- set win over Ana Ivanovic on Saturday to capture the season-opening Brisbane International tennis tournament.MADRID, Spain -- Atletico Madrid and Barcelona set up a winner-takes-all decider for the Spanish league title after both teams drew on Sunday, while Real Madrid lost to see its slim title hopes end. Little-used defender Tobias Alderweireld headed home a corner kick for Atletico in the 74th minute to cancel out Samuel Garcias opener. Though Malaga finished with 10 men, Atletico failed to score a winner that would have secured a first league title in 18 years after Elche held Barcelona 0-0. Instead, Atletico travels to the Camp Nou next weekend for a dramatic finale to decide the champion. Atletico leads with 89 points, three better than Barcelona, which means a draw will be enough to pry the championship away from the defending champion, which must win to retain its title. "We still believe in this team. Were Atletico and were going to go there to win," Atletico captain Gabi Fernandez said. "Were used to playing in finals." Madrid, which has 84 points, limped out of the league race following a poor showing in Vigo, where a pair of turnovers allowed Charles to score both goals in a 2-0 win. Madrid faces Atletico in the Champions League final and played as if it was already looking ahead to Lisbon as defensive mistakes by Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso allowed Charles to net easily in each half. Cristiano Ronaldo was sidelined with an injury and Gareth Bale was on the bench, while Sami Khedira and Alvaro Arbeloa returned from long injuries to play. Atleticos attack looked disjointed early on without leading scorer Diego Costa, with replacement David Villa unable to finish three good scoring opportunities -- including early on when the Spain striker found the crossbar. Raul Garcia headed well wide with only Willy Caballero to beat, and the Malaga keeper made key stops from Villa and substitute Diego Ribas after the break. Thibaut Courtois rushed out to cut off Roque Santa Cruzs solo effort on the hour mark, but the Atletico goalkeepers mix-up with defender Miranda allowed Samuel Garcia to get free to head home the opener. WWith nerves starting to creep in, Alderweireld -- filling in for the suspended Diego Godin -- leapt high to head home a corner that allowed home fans to exhale. Jimmie Foxx Red Sox Jersey. Marcos Angeleris second yellow card left Malaga with 10 men from the 88th, and Atletico pushed forward as Jose Sosas free kick narrowly missed the target before Caballero made a leaping finger-tip stop to Adrian Lopezs curling shot. "Its going to be an important game for the club," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. "Weve reached the last round three points above Barcelona -- nobody would have believed we had a chance to win, but here we are, alive still." Barcelona, which counted itself out of the title race only eight days ago, came out at Elche with intention but eventually seemed to settle for its result when word of Malagas first goal arrived. Andres Iniesta volleyed a shot off the crossbar early on before goalkeeper Manu Herrera got a touch to Lionel Messis effort in the 38th to tip it around the far post. Herrera denied Messi again after the restart, but the defending champions barely threatened again. "Its going to be a great week ahead and for some of us it could be our last game with Barca so it would be a nice way to go out," Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano said. Atletico hasnt lost to Barcelona this season, drawing in four matches before finally beating the Catalans in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Two teams will join Real Betis in being relegated to the second division on the last day after Almeria and Getafe secured victories to improve their chances of staying up. Real Valladolid allowed Betis to rally back three times before eventually losing 4-3 to the last-place club. Almeria, which won 2-0 at Granada, and Getafe -- a 1-0 winner over Sevilla -- share 39 points. Granada has 38 points ahead of its finale at Valladolid, which is tied on 36 points with Osasuna in the final two drop places. Osasuna drew 1-1 at Espanyol. Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad drew 1-1 in a Basque derby. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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