Dein erstes Forum » in his Lakers warm-ups

WASHINGTON -- Denard Spans approach with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning proves math pays off. Facing a five-man infield, Span hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth and the Washington Nationals, with Bryce Harper back in the lineup and stealing his first base of the season, rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Sunday. The Nationals loaded the bases against Seth Maness (0-1) when Danny Espinosa singled through third baseman Matt Carpenters legs with one out for his third hit, Jose Lobaton singled through the right side of the infield and pinch hitter Nate McLouth walked. In his second game since being activated from the seven-day disabled list following a concussion, Span lofted a fly to left field. Espinosa easily beat the throw from Jon Jay, who shifted over from right field as St. Louis brought in an extra infielder. "I counted: one, two, three, four, five," Span said. "Right there I told myself a groundball probably not going to do it. Try to get the ball in the air somehow." After Espinosa crossed home, the Nationals mobbed Span, who suddenly had something else on his mind. "I was screaming so loud, so into the moment, but at the same time Im thinking dont hit me upside the head too hard because I just came off the DL," said the smiling centre fielder, who grounded out with the bases full in the sixth before delivering the game-winner. The Nationals split the four-game series. They had lost eight of the previous nine meetings with the Cardinals going into the series wrap-up. "Thats a play Im expecting to make and a play that I expect myself to make and I didnt make it," Carpenter said of his ninth-inning whiff. "It ended up costing us." Harper started in left field and went 1 for 4. The two-time All-Star was pulled from the game a day earlier for what manager Matt Williams called a "lack of hustle" after he failed to run out a comebacker to the mound. The two spoke before Sundays game. "I sat with him for a couple of minutes in his locker and told him Im confident in him and Im proud of him and he was going to have impact today, which he did," Williams said. Harper had a somewhat different take on the conversation with Williams, as far as length goes. "He just said, Go get em. Thats the three words he said," Harper said. "Its good to get back out there and play and be part of a win." Harper was left stranded at second base as the possible go-ahead run as Anthony Rendon struck out against Pat Neshek in the eighth. Rafael Soriano (1-0) pitched one inning for the win. The Cardinals took an early edge against Stephen Strasburg and led 2-0 going into the seventh. Washington tied the game with four straight singles off reliever Carlos Martinez, including RBI hits from Ian Desmond and Espinosa. Strasburg struck out nine in six innings. Shelby Miller left with the lead after pitching 5 1-3 innings for the Cardinals. He also hit a two-out, RBI double off Strasburg in the fourth. St. Louis starting pitchers recorded an RBI in three of the four games versus Washington. Miller allowed four hits, striking out seven and walking five. Matt Adams doubled twice and scored for the Cardinals. "I was pretty happy we were able to put a couple together and obviously a big hit by Shelby," manager Mike Matheny said. "That gives you a little bit of room and then we get the ball into the hands of guys we like to give the ball to. Good offences are going to put together tough at-bats on tough pitching, and today they got us." True, though it took some doing. Washington left 17 runners on base and went 2 of 12 with runners in scoring position. "Talk about those opportunities and giving ourselves that multiple times in the game, you like your chances, certainly," Williams said. "Especially against a good team like that we want to create those. I dont know how many guys we had on base today but it felt like a lot." NOTES: Cardinals OF Matt Holiday didnt play. It was a day of rest, Matheny said. ...St. Louis will recall LHP Tyler Lyons from Triple-A Memphis to start at the New York Mets and send RHP Jorge Rondon to Memphis before Monday nights series opener. Last season Lyons finished 2-4 with a 4.75 ERA in 12 appearances, including eight starts for the Cardinals. He replaces RHP Joe Kelly (strained left hamstring), who was put on the disabled list Thursday. ... The Nationals open a three-game home series with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night with Washington RHP Tanner Roark (1-1, 5.29) facing RHP Garrett Richards (2-0, 2.84). Air Max 90 China Wholesale . The Missouri Tigers Defensive End and SEC Defensive player of the year is eligible for the upcoming NFL draft in May. Cheap Vapormax China . Terrance Broadway threw for 227 yards and Hunter Stover kicked three field goals as the Ragin Cajuns won an unprecedented fourth straight New Orleans Bowl with a 16-3 triumph over Nevada. http://www.fakeyeezyscheap.com/wholesale-vans-shoes.html . While coach Doc Rivers high-fived fans and pumped his fist at the crowd, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul quietly congratulated each other. Balenciaga Triple s Wholesale . -- Houstons All-Star tandem of James Harden and Dwight Howard refused to let the Rockets give in to fatigue. Balenciaga Triple s Fake . A broadcast source said the deal is for five years. The agreement calls for a minimum of 17 regular-season games as well as the East and West Division finals being broadcast annually on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS.LOS ANGELES -- Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were just too much for the injury-riddled Los Angeles Lakers to overcome in the fourth quarter of an ugly loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Randolph scored 14 of his 28 points in the final period and grabbed 11 rebounds, Gasol had 18 points, eight boards and eight assists, and the Grizzlies eked out an 89-86 victory Friday night for their first road victory of the season. "Everybody knows that we go as Zach goes. Thats our horse, him and Marc. And we need them to continue that throughout the year," guard Tony Allen said. "Everybody came here with their antennas up, and everybody just wanted to get this win more than the other team. And it showed. We played hard for 48 minutes." Mike Conley had 11 points and seven assists for the Grizzlies in the opener of a four-game California trip. Last season they finished with a winning road record for the first time at 24-17, third-best in the NBA. "It felt good, especially being our first road win of the season," Randolph said. "We had been up and down and inconsistent, so it was just good to get a win and build from here." Reserve shooting guard Jodie Meeks had 25 points for the Lakers (4-7), who have lost four of their last five games without their injured starting backcourt of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. They are off to their worst start through 11 games since 2002-03, when they began 3-8 following their third straight championship. "Kobes not out there to bail us out, but we have good players on this team and everyone is confident in one another," Meeks said. "I feel like we had a chance to win, but we couldnt for whatever reason. Its frustrating, but were not panicking. There are 71 more games left." Lakers centre Pau Gasol had 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds playing against his younger brother, who was the NBAs defensive player of the year last season. "We have to score more points and we have to make bigger plays," coach Mike DAntoni said after the Lakers were held under 90 for the third time. "I felt that it was better tonight that we showed up at the rim more. But when you put everything together, we had some turnoverss and some sloppy plays that led to fast breaks.dddddddddddd" Forward Shawne Williams, one of seven new players on the Lakers roster, hit back-to-back 3-pointers 39 seconds apart to give Los Angeles a 75-73 lead with 7:19 remaining. But Randolph responded with eight points during a 3:06 span, capping it on a fadeaway baseline jumper over Jordan Hill to give Memphis an 83-81 lead they would not relinquish. "I was just trying to let it come to me and try to be aggressive," Randolph said. Randolph added a spinning layup and two free throws in the final 17 seconds after Lakers guard Steve Blake missed a 20-footer and a 3-point attempt at the other end. Hill, who averaged 19.5 points in his first two starts of the season, put the Lakers in a bind after picking up two fouls 40 seconds apart and went to the bench with 8:12 left in the first quarter. Chris Kaman replaced him and missed his first five shots, including a layup that was blocked by Tayshaun Prince. "It was real important to get Hill out of the game early," Randolph said. "Like I told the kid, hes having a helluva season." Nick Young provided a much-needed spark off the bench for the lethargic Lakers in the second quarter with 12 points, including a pair of jumpers in the final minute of the half to help them leave the court tied at 40-all after they trailed by as many as 10. NOTES: Kobe Bryant, sidelined indefinitely after surgery on his torn Achilles tendon in April, walked onto the court to a standing ovation at the end of the first quarter -- in his Lakers warm-ups -- and presented a $150,000 check from the club to representatives of the Philippine Red Cross following last weeks deadly Typhoon. ... The Lakers, whose streak of 320 consecutive home sellouts (including playoffs) ended Tuesday night when they came up 571 short of capacity in their win over New Orleans, announced a packed house of 18,997 for this one. ... Memphis is 7-10 against Los Angeles when the Gasols have played against each other. In the 16 previous head-to-head battles between them, Pau averaged 15.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 47.9 per cent from the field -- while Marc averaged 10.6 points, 8.9 boards and 42.4 per cent shooting. ' ' '