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HOUSTON -- IndyCar fined Marco Andretti $2,500 on Sunday for failing to heed to an order from race control during the Grand Prix of Houston. wholesale jerseys . Andretti ignored a blue flag during Saturdays first race to give way to leader Takuma Sato as Andretti tried to stay on the lead lap. Race control could have perceived that Andretti was holding up Sato to allow Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe to catch the leader. Because Andretti ignored the blue flag, he was given a black flag and a drive-thru penalty. In addition to the fine, IndyCar placed Andretti on probation for three races beginning with Sundays race. Andretti Autosport was also fined $2,500. Andretti vehemently disagreed with the penalty following Sundays qualifying session. "My question was, what would have happened if James was leading?" he said. "Its the 20th lap of the race and the facts are I finished ahead of Sato. Because you have to fight. Its early in the race. If its late in the race, I would have moved over, they wouldnt have had to tell me to move over." Andretti had been spun by teammate Carlos Munoz earlier in the race to put him in position to be lapped by Sato. But his car was not damaged, and he went on to an eighth-place finish. Sato was involved in a later accident and finished 22nd. "I wasnt off the pace," Andretti said, arguing he was only in position to be lapped "because I got spun. If (the leaders) caught me by a whole lap, then they have a point. But I was one of the top three fastest cars out there."cheap jerseys from china . Johnson, 34, appeared in three games for the Baltimore Orioles last season after being acquired from the New York Yankees organization on Aug. 30. The six-foot-two, 210-pound native of Coon Rapids, Minn. cheap nfl jerseys .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres are shuffling their roster by promoting forward Phil Varone from their AHL affiliate in Rochester.NEW ORLEANS -- The stern message from Sean Payton and Drew Brees left little doubt about the post-season aspirations of the New Orleans Saints. There are few other ways to interpret how critical they were of themselves after Brees struck for five touchdown passes in a 35-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. "Its good when you can not play your best and make certain mistakes and still win like we did," Brees said, referring to a handful of pre-snap penalties, a pair of missed scoring chances and two instances when only 10 Saints were on the field. "If we continue to repeat these mistakes they will get us beat," Brees continued. "Thats not good enough for us. Weve set the bar high. We have a high standard. We want to be as perfect as we can out there." Brees finished 26 of 34 for 332 yards, completing passes to 10 targets. Saints tight end Jimmy Graham played after missing practice most of the week with a left foot injury and scored on 13- and 15-yard passes over the middle, powering through tackles at the goal line both times. Rookie Saints receiver Kenny Stills had touchdowns of 69 and 42 yards and Lance Moore snagged a 15-yard scoring pass in his return from a hand injury that sidelined him three games. Payton generally praised his players effort and acknowledged he was pleased with winning, but otherwise spoke in gruff tones. "When you have eight penalties ... and you cant get the right amount of people on the field, then those are things that certainly go against saying you have your swagger," Payton said. "Those are things that are troubling. "It cost Minnesota in an NFC championship game against us," Payton added, referring to a Vikings penalty for 12 players in the huddle late in that 2010 game. Thad Lewis was sacked four times, intercepted once by Keenan Lewis, lost two fumbles and appeared shaken up at times. Still, he stayed in the game, finishing with 234 yards passing and one touchdown. "Were a resilient team, but being resilient is not good enough," Lewis said. Bills coach Doug Marrone, a former top offensive assistant under Payton in New Orleans, said he expected his young quarterback to be blitzed often, but added that the Saints both disguised and executed their pressure packages well. "That is a playoff team that we played,&quuot; Marrone said. cheap jerseys. Grahams second touchdown, which he scored after the catch by muscling through Jairus Byrds tackle, gave the Saints (6-1) a 28-10 lead in the third quarter. Buffalo (3-5) closed to 28-17 on Fred Jacksons 1-yard TD run, set up by a pair of roughing-the-passer penalties called on reserve defensive back Corey White. But Brees responded by rolling right and lofting a 42-yard pass into the end zone, where Stills outmanoeuvred rookie defensive back Nickell Robey to make the catch. Stills finished with three catches for 129 yards against Buffalo. Graham had three catches for 37 yards. Graham said hes been told he might have pain in his foot throughout the season and will have to play through it. "Everyone plays with something going on, so this is no different," Graham said. "Ive been preparing myself this week to play, so to get that call was awesome." Tight end Scott Chandler and receiver Stevie Johnson each had 72 yards receiving for Buffalo. Johnson also had a 13-yard touchdown catch but appeared to be labouring through leg pain in the second half. Lewis, making his third start for Buffalo after being called up from the practice squad, took a hard helmet shot to his torso from linebacker David Hawthorne and fumbled on his first play from scrimmage. Although Buffalos defence forced a missed 47-yard field goal try, there were more tough moments ahead for Lewis, who was sacked by Cam Jordan and fumbled again on his third series. "We got to him early and often," said Jordan, who also recovered on the Bills 21. Brees found Moore a few plays later for a 7-0 lead. New Orleans took the lead for good when Brees spotted Stills, his fastest receiver, in a coverage mismatch with linebacker Jerry Hughes. Stills had several steps on Hughes when he caught a deep pass down the right sideline and sped away for his long score to make it 14-10. Grahams first touchdown, on which he bowled over DaNorris Searcy at the goal line, made it 21-10 in the last minute of the half. Notes: Buffalo sacked Brees four times, with defensive end Mario Williams getting his 11th sack of the season, and former LSU standout Kyle Williams was in on two sacks. ... The Saints defence, last in the league a year ago, has held six of seven opponents under 20 points. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
