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ST. Clinton McDonald Youth Red Jersey Tampa Bay Buccaneers Elite Nike NFL Home . LOUIS -- Facing trouble, Michael Wacha did his best to slow down the game. He certainly frustrated New York Mets hitters who had him on the ropes. Wacha escaped a pair of jams with strikeouts, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped a fifth-inning tie en route to a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night. "I hadnt been doing that in my last three starts," Wacha said. "It was nice to be able to start making pitches and being able to execute." Daniel Murphy couldnt deal with the changeup when he struck out with runners on second and third to end the fifth inning. "I dont think I swung at a single strike the at-bat I struck out," Murphy said. "He threw the ball well to me, and I helped him out." Murphy wasnt alone. "I dont think there are too many right-handers with a better changeup," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "I think thats accepted league-wide." Yadier Molina hit his first homer since May 24 for the Cardinals, who have won eight of nine and will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday. They have won a season-best five in a row and are a season-best seven games above .500. David Wright hit his first homer since May 28, and Lucas Duda also connected for the Mets, who have lost 11 of 14. "Theres many sleepless nights," Wright said. "I wont lie and say its easy or it doesnt bother me, but you have to understand theres not too many players, if any, that can go through a whole season and ride that roller-coaster ride a little bit." Mets manager Terry Collins batted the pitcher eighth, with Eric Young Jr. hitting ninth, for the second straight game in an effort to stimulate the offence. During the 14-game slump, the Mets have scored two or fewer runs seven times. Daisuke Matsuzaka worked a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Mets starter Jonathon Niese (3-4). Matsuzaka left Sundays start against San Diego after one inning because of a severe upset stomach. Wacha (5-5) gave up a run and five hits in six innings. Fanning Murphy preserved a 1-all tie, and he struck out Ruben Tejada with two on to end the sixth when the Cardinals led 3-1. Wacha had a career-best 10 strikeouts on April 23 at New York but also had a career-worst five walks and lasted four innings in a loss. Jon Jays RBI triple with two outs in the fifth gave the Cardinals the lead, and Matt Holliday followed with an RBI double. Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong and Peter Bourjos added RBIs in the sixth, with both runs unearned after second baseman Murphy dropped Daniel Descalsos slicing, looping liner with a man on and two out. "I just misplayed it," Murphy said. Jay is batting .405 (15 for 37) in his last 12 games with four multi-hit games. It was his first RBI since May 30. "Hes on a real good run at the plate," Matheny said. "The way hes taking his at-bats ... weve seen this before. You just see him go, and its fun to watch him go." Niese allowed five runs, three earned, in six innings. The lefty has made 18 consecutive starts allowing three or fewer earned runs. It is the longest active streak in the majors, extending to last September, but he is just 5-5 during that span. Wright entered the game 3 for 43 in his last 13 games. He leads the Mets with 34 RBIs, but has just four this month. The home run was his first on the road this season. Duda hit his ninth homer of the season leading off the ninth against Jason Motte to make it 5-2, and Anthony Recker doubled, but Pat Neshek retired the next three for his second save in four chances. NOTES: Lance Lynn (7-4, 3.16) faces Bartolo Colon (6-5, 4.15) in the series finale on Wednesday. Lynn worked eight scoreless innings in his last start. ... The Cardinals are 20-2 at home against NL East opponents the last two seasons. ... The attendance of 42,209 was St. Louis 19th sellout in 35 home games. Nike Patrick Murray Tampa Bay Buccaneers Elite Alternate Jersey Youth Orange NFL . Kingsbury, from Deux-Montagnes, Que., won gold with a score of 26.93, while Bilodeau, from Montreal, took silver with 26.54. Japans Sho Endo (25.24) placed third. Nike Kadeem Edwards Tampa Bay Buccaneers Elite Alternate Jersey Mens Orange NFL . For Kyle Lowry, its become an accepted reality. He will be traded. The question is, when and where? The Raptors point guard is widely believed to be next on general manager Masai Ujiris chopping block after the first domino - Rudy Gay, Lowrys best friend - fell last week.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ben Lovejoy realized his newborn daughter would be watching him on television for the first time, and the Anaheim Ducks defenceman promptly had the first multigoal game of his career. Yep, the Ducks have spectacular timing in just about everything they do these days. Lovejoy scored two goals in the first period, Jonas Hiller made 16 saves in his 10th consecutive victory and the Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 Friday night for their 12th win in 13 games. Lovejoy had scored just five goals in his 170-game NHL career, and he had just one goal in 40 games this season before firing two slap shots past Ilya Bryzgalov 2:43 apart late in the first period. With perfect setups from Saku Koivu and Cam Fowler, Lovejoy tied the club record for the most goals scored by a defenceman in one period. "It has to be perfectly in my wheelhouse, and those guys were able to find it," Lovejoy said. "Its a very small sweet spot." After scoring the fastest two goals by a defenceman in franchise history, Lovejoy thought about the serendipity: His wife, Avery, and their new daughter, Lila, were at home watching for the first time since Lila was born on New Years Eve. "We may have to keep pumping them out if I can keep scoring two goals a night," Lovejoy said with a grin. Kyle Palmieri, Tim Jackman and Andrew Cogliano also scored for the Ducks, who improved to 16-0-2 at home this season and remained one point behind Chicago for the overall NHL lead. After giving up two early goals on broken plays, Hiller extended his franchise-record winning streak as the Ducks followed up their 11-1-1 December with their sixth consecutive win over the Oilers, who havent beaten Anaheim since April 2012. Even with little offensive help from superstars Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, who have combined for just one goal in the last five games, the Ducks keep steamrolling along. "They werent going as good as they normally do, and when theyre not going, you need people to pick up the slack," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You get help from everywhere. Thats why I think were a pretty good team." The Ducks have the NHLs second-longest points streak at home to open a season in the last quarter-century, trailing only San Joses 20-0-2 start five years ago. Nike Tampa Bay Buccaneers Authentic Font Long Sleeve NFL T-Shirt Dark Blue. Anaheim also won despite another awful effort by its power play, which went 0 for 8. The Ducks have just one man-advantage goal in the last 10 games, yet still rank third in the NHL in total goals. Boyd Gordon and Nail Yakupov scored in Edmontons fourth straight loss. Bryzgalov stopped 32 shots for the Oilers, who have lost 10 of 12 and are stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference. "We have been hanging around in games, but we always seem to find a way to blow a lead," Gordon said. "We cant sit around and hang our heads. We have to find a way to get the job done." The Oilers took the lead on their opening shift when Gordon flung a shot at the Ducks goal while getting checked facedown into the ice, and the puck deflected off Hillers stick 35 seconds in. Just 11 seconds later, Palmieri jumped on a turnover in the Edmonton crease and beat Bryzgalov. Edmonton capitalized on a mistake by Getzlaf, the Ducks captain, later in the period, with Yakupov getting goals in consecutive games for the first time all season. Lovejoy answered with his two goals, and Anaheim never trailed again. "Their second and third goals were almost identical," Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins said. "Same guy, same place. ... I thought we had pretty good coverage. We had five guys below the puck, but we were just a split-second late getting there." Jackman put the Ducks up 4-2 late in the second period, converting a pass from Nick Bonino in front. The workmanlike forward hadnt scored since joining Anaheim from Calgary in late November. Edmonton managed just eight shots in the final two periods. NOTES: Edmonton D Brad Hunt made his NHL debut, but the Oilers played without high-scoring RW Jordan Eberle, who apparently injured his knee a night earlier in San Jose. Mark Arcobello and Ryan Jones also returned from lengthy injury absences. ... D Bryan Allen and F Daniel Winnik were healthy scratches for Anaheim, with Winnik missing his first game of the season. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
