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SAN FRANCISCO -- Two key players are finding their way for the San Francisco Giants. Buccaneers #31 Jersey . Pablo Sandoval homered for the first time in more than a month and Ryan Vogelsong won for just the second time in nine starts, leading the San Francisco Giants past the Miami Marlins 4-1 on Sunday to salvage a split of their four-game series. Manager Bruce Bochy never doubted these two would get on track. "Theyre two guys we need to have success," Bochy said, "Vogey being a starter and Pablo hitting in the heart of the order." Buster Posey returned from a day off to hit a sacrifice fly, while Tyler Colvin and Brandon Hicks each hit RBI singles in a stretch of four straight base hits with two outs in the first against Jacob Turner. Staked to an early lead, Vogelsong (2-2) struck out six in seven innings as the Giants concluded a season-long stretch with 17 games in as many days. San Francisco avoided its first three-game home losing streak. Turner (0-2) is still searching for his first road win, falling to 0-11 in 18 career road starts. "All I can do is go out and give it everything I have," he said. "Wins, losses, those are things I cant control." Sandoval connected for his third home run with two outs in the fifth, his first since April 13 against the Rockies. He has struggled so far in a contract year. Christian Yelichs RBI groundout off Jeremy Affeldt in the eighth accounted for Miamis run. Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 15th save. A day after San Francisco was shut out 5-0 -- its second shutout in five games -- and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine, the Giants jumped on Turner right away. The right-hander hit Gregor Blanco to begin the bottom of the first and Blanco stole second, then Poseys sacrifice fly two batters later put the Giants on the board. Eight of San Franciscos 15 runs in the series came with two outs. Vogelsong did his part, and got some help from the defence with a double play and caught stealing. The pitcher also had his third hit of the year with a second-inning single. Vogelsong allowed five hits, struck out at least six for the third time in four May outings, and walked one for his second win of the season. His other victory came May 3 at Atlanta -- and the right-hander stayed optimistic. "You have to believe that youre going to turn it around and get it going," Vogelsong said. "Thats what my hope was. You have to believe that. If you dont, youre behind the 8-ball to begin with. ... Ive read some of the stuff he was saying about Pablo and other people and a lot of it was mental, and its true. "First of all, you have to stop digging a hole, to get out of it. Second of all you have to believe that you can do it. When they believe in you, too, that goes a long way. That helps a lot." Sandoval has raised his batting average to .220 by hitting .389 during a nine-game hitting streak. Both teams ended grueling May stretches, and Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton didnt play until late. The Marlins wrapped up their season-long 11-game road trip out West with just their third loss in the past 15 meetings at AT&T Park, where Miami has its best road record since 2011. The club heads home to put its 17-5 record at Marlins Park on the line against the Phillies. Giants centre fielder Angel Pagan had an MRI on his bruised left shoulder that showed a sprained AC joint, which he hurt trying for a diving catch Saturday. The hope is after sitting out Sunday coupled with Mondays day off he could be ready to play Tuesday at Colorado. "Im not really concerned," Pagan said. "Two days off will be good for me." Injured Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro will have a platelet-rich plasma injection Monday in Miami. NOTES: San Francisco RHP Tim Hudson threw at a higher intensity off flat ground as he nurses a strained left hip that forced him to miss his Friday start. He will have a bullpen session Tuesday ahead of his scheduled start Thursday at Coors Field. ... Giants RF Hunter Pence became the active leader in games played when Texas slugger Prince Fielder sat out Saturday to have his streak end at 547. Pence has appeared in 351 straight games with 216 consecutive starts. He leads the majors in innings played with 409 2-3. Michael Johnson Buccaneers Jersey . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Buccaneers #83 Jersey . Price pitched a five-hitter for his third complete game of the season, Wil Myers had a two-run single, and the surging Tampa Bay Rays won for the 19th time in 22 games by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Wednesday night.PHILADELPHIA -- The San Jose Sharks made a simple change to rally for a comeback victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. They started shooting the puck. Joe Pavelski had a hat trick to move into a tie for second in the NHL in goals and the Sharks beat Philadelphia 7-3 Thursday night in the first game for both teams following the Olympic break. Raffi Torres and Logan Couture each scored twice in their return to San Joses lineup following injuries. The Sharks trailed 2-1 after getting outshot 10-4 in the first period. San Jose made a pointed effort to shoot the puck in the second period and it paid off in a big way, resulting in five second-period goals on 16 shots. "We started to finally shoot the puck," Couture said. "The first period we werent shooting. We were playing in their end, but we werent shooting. Thats more the way we play, the way we need to play. A lot of our goals were off rebounds, and thats the way you score in this league." Pavelski, one of the Sharks four Olympians, scored all three of his goals in the dominating second period. Torres, who was making his 2013-14 debut after injuring his knee in the preseason, capped the second-period spree with his second goal of the game with 2.2 seconds left. Couture, who missed the previous 16 games due to hand surgery, netted his 15th goal of the season in the period. "We didnt have a lot of purpose in our game in the first period, especially in their zone," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "Kind of skating around waiting for something to happen. We got our forecheck going in the second (and) a lot more pucks to the goaltender, which created second and third chances. We had to start thinking about throwing the puck from bad angles and creating second (chances) that way." Andrej Meszaros had a highlight-reel tally and Matt Read and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Flyers, who had won four straight before the Olympic break. Flyers coach Craig Berube wasnt pleased with his teams effort, particularly the play in front of their own goal. "Not competing around our net, thats basically what it boils down to," Berube said. "Not getting sticks, not boxing people out, not being hard on people. We didnt compete hard enough to win the hockey game. Nobody. "Were all embarrassed tonight." The Flyers netted a pair of goals within a 22-second span midway through the first period to take a 2-1 lead. Meszaros, one of five Flyers who participated in the Olympics, opened the Philadelphia scoring with 9:24 remaining in the opening period. Alex Stalock, San Joses backup goalie who started in place of Olympian Antti Niemi, saved Meszaros initial shot from the point, but Steve Downie pushed the rebound to Meszaros, who shot the puck between his own legs and past Stalock from close range. Schenn put Philadelphia ahead 2-1 when he backhanded the puck from behind the net off the skate of Jason Demers and past Stalock with 9:02 remaining in the first period. Buccaneers #50 Jersey. But it was all San Jose in the second period. Pavelski scored from close range on the power play 4:23 into the period and then gave San Jose the lead for good with 9:48 remaining in the period when he deflected Marc-Edouard Vlasics shot from the point past Steve Mason that made it 3-2. Mason was lifted 35 seconds later when Couture tallied on a rebound after the Flyers goalie dropped a shot that he initially gloved. Mason gave up four goals on his first 13 shots. His replacement, Ray Emery, didnt fare much better, as Pavelski scored on a turnaround from in front of the crease with 5:50 left in the period for his 32nd goal of the season, tying him with Torontos Phil Kessel for second-most in the league. Torres finished the second-period scoring by just beating the intermission buzzer with a close-range goal. "We had some good luck throughout the team," Pavelski said. "They were just going in tonight. Life is good. Hopefully they keep coming." The sellout crowd loudly booed the Flyers as they exited the ice following the period. "We lost a lot of battles the last two-thirds of the game," Philadelphias Scott Hartnell said. "Simple penalties, turnovers that led to odd-man rushes and we were soft in front of our net. Thats what you get when you dont play tough, you dont play strong and you dont play good defence. It couldve been 10-3." It didnt get any better in the third period for Philadelphia as Couture netted a short-handed goal 4:50 in on a backhander in front of Emery. In a rare move, Emery was lifted and Mason was re-inserted into the game with 9:11 left in the third period. Emery requested to be removed from the game due to an undisclosed injury that neither he nor Berube would identify. Besides Meszaros, Flyers Michael Raffi, Jakub Voracek, Kimmo Timonen and Mark Streit also participated in the Olympics. Timonen, who helped Finland to the bronze medal, was a healthy scratch to allow him to rest. In addition to Niemi and Pavelski, San Joses Patrick Marleau and Vlasic competed in Sochi. Niemi, who entered second in the NHL in wins (29), didnt see any action Thursday. Demers, Andrew Desjardins and Marleau each had a pair of assists for the Sharks. NOTES: Before the Olympics, Niemi was 7-3 with a 2.12 GAA in his previous 10 starts. However, one of those losses was a 5-2 home defeat to the Flyers on Feb. 3, a game in which he gave up four goals before being pulled. ... San Jose won its sixth straight game in Philadelphia. The Flyers last home win over the Sharks came on Dec. 21, 2000. ... San Jose came within two of its season-high for goals, set in a 9-2 win over the Rangers on Oct. 8. ... The seven goals allowed matched a season-worst for Philadelphia, which lost 7-0 to Washington on Nov. 1 and 7-2 at Chicago on Dec. 11. ' ' ' |
