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MINNEAPOLIS -- After another strong start by Dallas Keuchel and an impressive home run from George Springer, it was Dexter Fowler who saved the game for the Houston Astros with a diving catch. wholesale jerseys . Keuchel didnt allow a run over six innings, Springer hit his 11th home run and the Astros held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-4 on Friday night. The Twins could have tied the game in the eighth inning if not for Fowlers spectacular, diving grab that robbed Trevor Plouffe of a leadoff extra-base hit. "That play by Dexter Fowler may have been the play of the game," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Thats a leadoff double, if not a triple, if he ends up diving and not getting the ball." Marwin Gonzalez and Matt Dominguez also homered off Phil Hughes (6-2), who lost for the first time in nine starts. The Astros have won six straight road games and 10 of their last 13 overall. Danny Santana hit his first career home run, a two-run shot in the seventh inning off reliever Tony Sipp as the Twins tried to rally late. After the start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 21 minutes by a storm that never arrived, Keuchel (7-3) struck out six and won for the fifth time in his last six starts. Springer drove a pitch from Hughes that was down and away and off the plate an estimated 402 feet to the opposite field in the sixth to give Houston a 5-0 lead. "That there is what you call power to all fields," Porter said with a big smile on his face. It was Springers first homer in June after he hit 10 in May and was selected the American League rookie of the month. Since May 11, Houston is 16-9 and on track to avoid 100-plus losses for the first time since 2010. Gonzalez pulled back on a drag bunt attempt in the third, then lined the next pitch over the wall in right field to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. Dominguez drove a high fastball from Hughes to straightaway centre in the fourth, hitting it just far enough to get it over the glove of a leaping Aaron Hicks. It was the first time Hughes allowed multiple homers since his first start of the season on April 3. Coming into the game, Hughes had allowed only four home runs all season and just one in his last 48 innings. "Just the mistakes over the plate really," Hughes said. "I didnt have my best fastball tonight and just wasnt making adjustments the way I had before." Chad Qualls pitched around a two-out throwing error by Dominguez in the ninth to earn his seventh save in eight chances. Eduardo Escobar had three hits including an RBI double that made it 5-4 with two outs in the eighth. Escobars double would have tied the game if Fowler didnt sprint over to the left-centre gap and rob Plouffe, sliding a long way on the grass after securing the catch. "When it was hit, I was like, I got to go a long way for that," Fowler said. "So I just put my head down and ran and I picked it up. The only way I could catch it was if I dive for it." Oswaldo Arcia, who homered in his previous two games but didnt start because of a sprained ankle, pinch-hit and flied out on the first pitch from lefty Darin Downs. But it was the Astros defence, including a diving play for the first out in the ninth by second baseman Jose Altuve that saved this one. "They made play after play," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We hit some balls pretty good and they kept making diving plays all over the place, which actually saved the ballgame for them because we put some decent swings out there and had plenty of chances." About 10 minutes before the first pitch, the Target Field grounds crew rolled out the infield tarp in anticipation of a storm that was approaching the area. It never rained during the delay, but light rain did fall in the early innings. NOTES: Leroy "Bud" Miller, a World War II veteran who was part of the landing force at Normandy Beach 70 years ago, raised the American flag before the game. ... Injured Astros SS Jonathan Villar missed his third straight game after getting hit in the right elbow Tuesday. ... Plouffe hit his 22nd double in the fourth inning, tying a career high. ... Minnesota has drafted eight college pitchers in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft. nfl jerseys china . The Blue Jackets entered this series against the Metropolitan Division champions as heavy underdogs, but they sit tied with the Penguins at two wins apiece. Columbus has arrived at this point with a pair of overtime victories, including a 4-3 triumph in Wednesdays Game 4 clash at Nationwide Arena that gave the franchise its first home playoff win. cheap nfl jerseys . Westbrook had a triple-double in 21 minutes to win the matchup of talented point guards and help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the woeful Philadelphia 76ers 125-92 on Tuesday night.The United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) has today ordered that six Redskins trademark registrations be cancelled on the basis that they are "disparaging to Native Americans". Five Native Americans initiated the cancellation proceeding pursuant to the U.S. Trademarks Act, which "prohibits registration of marks that may disparage persons or bring them into contempt or disrepute." There has been some talk that the registrations have been cancelled, that the Redskins have lost all their trademark protection and that anyone can now go out and start selling Redskins merchandise without the permission of the team. All that is wrong. The trademark registrations have not been cancelled as of yet. The ruling was to cancel the registrations, but they remain in good standing, and will for some time. Challenging the decision will buy the Redskins time. The team will appeal the decision, and in the meantime, the trademark registrations will remain active. The Redskins can appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. They may also start a court action in District Court for the District of Columbia. They may also request reconsideration of the decision with the USPTO. Expect the Redskins to take its case to District Court since that will give them the opportunity to introduce new evidence. At the Court of Appeals level, they cant submit new evidence; rather the court is stuck with the record from the original hearing. On to the big issue: does the cancellation mean that the Redskins lose their trademark rights? The ruling to cancel the trademark registrations does NOT strip the team of its trademark rights or its ability to stop unauthorized parties froom using the Redskins marks. wholesale nfl jerseys. The Redskins have acquired what are called common law trademark rights. These are trademark rights that arise by virtue of the use of the mark in the marketplace. By "use", I mean things like jersey sales and the mark appearing in TV broadcasts and online. And heres the key: common law trademark rights are enforceable and the Redskins could rely on them to stop a third party from making unauthorized use of its marks. This means that the team does not need a trademark registration to stop someone from making unauthorized use of its marks. Common law rights can be relied upon to do just that. While there are important differences between registered and common law trademarks as far as scope of protection, the fame of the Redskins mark together with national sales and use place the Redskins in a good position to stop others from using their marks. So if some guy in Wisconsin starts selling product with the Redskins trademark on it without the permission of the team, he should expect to receive a cease and desist letter from the team, and failing his agreement to stop, he could face a lawsuit. Apart from trademarks, the Redskins could also sue for copyright infringement if someone makes unauthorized use of their logo or stylized word mark. The decision of the USPTO relates only to trademarks and has nothing to do with copyright. While the potential cancellation is not fatal to the ability of the Redskins to enforce their rights, this is yet another blow to the Redskins team name. The pressure on the team and league to change its name continues to mount with no end in sight. Indeed, the question may not be if the team changes its name, but when.wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
