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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. David Alaba Shirt . -- The Minnesota Vikings have reinstated cornerback Chris Cook to the active roster, ending his without-pay suspension after two weeks. But Cook wont be playing, practicing or even at the teams facility while he deals with a felony charge of domestic assault. "We really think its best for him to focus on the legal matters and not be a part of what were doing right now," coach Leslie Frazier said Monday after the decision was announced. The Vikings agreed on the course of action with Cook and his agent, Hadley Engelhard, so the 24-year-old Cook can focus on his off-the-field situation. "We want him to put his energy and efforts into that case," Frazier said, sounding as if Cook has already played his last snap of the 2011 season. "Its hard to say that were going to see him again considering what hes facing, but well see what happens." Cook has a Nov. 22 court hearing regarding the allegation he strangled his girlfriend after becoming angry that she spoke with a former boyfriend. Frazier, however, stopped short of ruling Cook out of the teams future plans. "Its so tough to say today as we stand here in November, considering the situation and not knowing how its going to play out," the coach said. "Its hard to look into the future." For the present, the Vikings will play one short on their 53-man roster -- without their best cover man. Veteran cornerback Antoine Winfield is the stalwart of the secondary, but he plays primarily against inside receivers and his strength is stopping the run. Cook could face discipline from the NFL under the leagues personal conduct policy. Spokesman Greg Aiello said Cooks situation remains "under review." Engelhard hasnt returned messages seeking comment since his clients arrest more than two weeks ago. The Vikings could have kept Cook on the reserve/suspended list for two more weeks, but Frazier indicated he didnt want the team to deal with that distraction. He said hes simply hoping for the best for Cook, the Vikings second-round draft pick out of Virginia last year. "Hopefully the allegations arent true. Hopefully he gets things turned around," Frazier said. Bastian Schweinsteiger Jersey . Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, president of the EOM (Municipal Olympic Company), will be leaving her post but will remain as an advisor, a city hall statement said Tuesday. Thomas Muller fc bayern munich jersey . "It is my feeling the club is at a stage that is critical to our on-field expectations and this move was necessary," Hervey told a news gathering hours after he informed Reed he was gone after three years as head coach. ATLANTA -- Give Clayton Kershaw a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning, and theres not much chance hell mess things up. The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to quite a start in the NL division series. Kershaw struck out 12 during seven dominant innings, Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6-1 in Game 1 on Thursday night. The big-money Dodgers havent won a World Series championship since 1988 -- by far their longest dry spell since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Southern California in 1958. In an interesting twist, Kershaw was born the same year as that most recent title. If the ace left-hander keeps pitching the way he did in his first post-season win, the Dodgers might have a chance to go all the way again. "This one definitely has special meaning to me," Kershaw said. For the bumbling Braves, it was another dose of October misery. "When you have an opposing pitcher on the mound who is as good as Kershaw, theres not a lot of room for error," said Atlanta starter Kris Medlen, knocked out in the fifth. "I had a lot of error tonight." Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Friday night in Atlanta, with Zack Greinke (15-4) starting for the Dodgers against Mike Minor (13-9). Kershaw, who had a 1.83 ERA during the regular season, limited the Braves to Chris Johnsons run-scoring single with two outs in the fourth. That just seemed to make the pitcher mad -- he struck out Andrelton Simmons to end Atlantas only serious threat, and the next five Braves hitters for good measure. Appropriately, Kershaw finished up by striking out the side in the seventh, matching his season high for Ks. He allowed just three hits. "Hes the best pitcher in baseball," Gonzalez said, "and he showed it tonight." Atlanta struck out 15 times in all. Even though slugger Matt Kemp is out for the playoffs and Andre Ethier is hobbling with an injured ankle, the Dodgers had no trouble piling up runs against Medlen, who came into the playoffs riding a five-game winning streak. He gave up nine hits and five runs in four-plus innings, finally getting the hook when he plunked Yasiel Puig with a pitch right between the shoulder blades. Of course, Medlen wouldve fared better if hed gotten any help from the guys behind him. The Braves played some truly atrocious defence, though they were not charged with an error. In the second, rookie left fielder Evan Gattis flopped to the ground in an attempt to catch a sinking liner, only to look very much like the converted catcher he is. The ball hit by A.J. Ellis rolled all the way to the wall for an RBI double, putting the Dodgers ahead 2-0 on a play that an outfielder with even a modest amount of experience probably wouldve grabbed fairly easily. "I thought there was a couple plays that we could have made," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I think that the guys were just a little amped up." Adrian Gonzalez began to put it out of reach in the third, driving a pitch over the centre-field wall for his first post-season homer, a two-run shot that made it 4-0 as a sense of doom fell over a Turner Field crowd that had been soo raucous in the first when Medlen struck out the side. David Alaba Jersey. Not that Atlanta fans havent seen this all before. The Braves are perhaps best known for winning only one World Series ring during a historic run of 14 straight division titles. Now, theyre already in the hole as they try to snap a streak of losing seven straight post-season series since 2001. At least theyre not done yet. After losing to St. Louis in a one-and-done wild-card game last season, which was marred by a disputed infield-fly call, the Braves have a chance to bounce back this time. In addition to Gattis stumbling attempt at a catch, second baseman Elliot Johnson bobbled Carl Crawfords grounder leading off the third, a play that was generously ruled a hit by the official scorer. Medlen retired the next two hitters, but Gonzalez drove the next pitch over the wall, with Jason Heyward making a futile leap that left him hanging from the top. Heyward, who was moved from right field to centre as part of an outfield reshuffling, had his own problems. Twice, he overthrew the cutoff man on throws to the plate, allowing runners to advance. Just to add to Atlantas outfield woes, Justin Upton wasnt even close on a sliding attempt when Ellis doubled down the right-field line in the fourth. He wound up scoring on Mark Ellis two-out single, stretching the lead to 5-0. Kershaw struggled with command of his fastball, but worked more off his breaking pitches and made it look easy against the free-swinging Braves. "Strikeouts just kind of happen," he said. "Its not something Im trying to do. Im just trying to get outs as fast as possible." Gattis, one of Atlantas most pleasant surprises during the regular season, had a miserable night in his post-season debut. He ended the second by somehow getting doubled off first on a lazy fly to short right field. Dan Uggla watched it all from the dugout. The three-time All-Star was left off the Braves playoff roster after a dismal season in which he batted just .179 with a franchise-record 171 strikeouts. Uggla wasnt the only big-money flop for the Braves, who had to juggle their outfield because of B.J. Uptons season-long slump. After signing a five-year, $75.25 million deal during the off-season, he batted just .184 and was finally benched late in the year. Merely a backup in the playoffs, he took a called third strike as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and walked slowly toward the dugout to a chorus of boos. "It just got away from us," Braves catcher Brian McCann said. NOTES: The Dodgers put Ethier on their 25-man roster even though he can likely only be used as a pinch-hitter because of an ankle injury. He came up in that role in the eighth, batting for Kershaw and grounding out to first base. ... After Medlen struck out the first three hitters of the game, Los Angeles didnt have another 1-2-3 inning until the seventh against Braves rookie Alex Wood. ... Skip Schumaker started in centre field for the Dodgers and drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly in the second. ... Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen finished up with one scoreless inning apiece. Jansen struck out the side in the ninth. ' ' ' |
