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(Sports Network) – The Blue Jays loss last night to the Nationals was a
frustrating one, but the bigger concern was the exit of starter Brandon Morrow
after just nine pitches. Rob Gronkowski Womens Jersey . While Toronto
awaits word on the condition of its most consistent hurler this season, the club
will look for Henderson Alvarez to go deep in tonights middle contest of a
three-game series with Washington after having to get 27 outs from its bullpen
on Monday. The Blue Jays would love for Alvarez to duplicate his most recent
outing, a seven-inning effort versus the White Sox on Thursday. It was the
right- handers longest outing since his last win on May 10 as he has gone 0-3
with a 5.58 earned run average in five starts since. Alvarez gave up three runs
on seven hits and a walk while not factoring into the decision of a 4-3 defeat.
Toronto has lost each game over the 22-year- olds winless drought. Alvarez is
3-5 with a 3.76 ERA in 12 starts this season and will face the Nationals for the
first time. The Blue Jays lost for the fourth time in five games with last
nights 6-3 defeat in which Morrow took the loss after getting charged with a
run. He gave up a leadoff double to Steve Lombardozzi before being forced to
exit with an injury on his left side. Chad Beck came into the game—one of
five relief pitchers used by Toronto on the night—and served up a run-scoring
single to Bryce Harper. Torontos offense failed to step up after losing Morrow
early, logging just five hits in the game. Two of those were homers, a solo shot
by Colby Rasmus and a pinch-hit two-run homer off the bat of Yan Gomes. Now the
Blue Jays will hold their collective breaths on the status of Morrow. “He felt
something in the left oblique area. Well get a better read on his condition
after further tests are done [Tuesday], but I think at this point, its safe to
say its probably substantial in terms of what hes dealing with right now,” said
manager John Farrell. “Any kind of time length, theres really no read on that
yet until we get the further testing, but its unfortunate given how well he has
been pitching and what he means to this rotation, this staff and, certainly,
this team.” Washington took advantage of Torontos bullpen and got homers from
Adam LaRoche and Rick Ankiel, while Harper went 3-for-4 and also scored a pair
of runs in the Nationals fourth straight win that increased their lead over the
second-place Braves in the National League East to three games. Edwin Jackson
allowed two runs over eight-plus innings in the victory, which moved Washington
a season-high 13 games over .500 (36-23) for the first time since July of 2005.
“He pitched one heck of a ball game,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of
his starter. “He was dominant. ... What a great effort.” Washington did lose
outfielder Roger Bernadina to a strained right hamstring suffered while going
from first to third on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. In just their fourth
trip to Canada since relocating from Montreal prior to the 2005 season,
Washington won for just the third time in its last 10 contests at Toronto. The
Nats try to secure a series victory tonight behind Chien-Ming Wang, who has lost
both starts this season after getting a win in relief in his season debut on May
25. The 32-year-old righty was making just his 13th start since 2010 due to a
series of injuries on Thursday versus the Mets and was in and out of trouble all
game. He managed to get out of bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings
without damage and only ended up allowing two runs over 5 1/3 frames despite
eight hits and three walks. Still, he took a 3-1 setback and is 1-2 with a 5.11
ERA on the season. “I liked his arm strength and everything,” Johnson said of
Wang. “Hes having a little problem, he gets to the side of the ball. He doesnt
stay on top of it. Sometimes he gets out of the slot that he needs to be in.
When he stays in that slot, his stuff is outstanding. Its just a consistency
thing with him.” Wang is 4-2 with a 4.82 ERA in 10 career outings versus the
Blue Jays. Vince Wilfork Womens Jersey . Danny Boyle,
the artistic director for the games July 27 opening ceremony, on Tuesday
unveiled a model of the set, which will transform the Olympic Stadium in gritty,
urban east London into a rural idyll. Vince Wilfork Jersey . Spains Rafael Nadal
reacts after beating Serbias Novak Djokovic during the final of the Artois
tennis Championships, Queens Club, London, Sunday June 15, 2008. [Agencies]  It
was the French Open champions third win in the last three tournaments over the
second-seeded Djokovic, following semifinal victories in Hamburg and at Roland
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. A Seahawks spokesman confirmed Saturday night that team CEO Tod Leiweke will
fly to Los Angeles on Sunday to interview Carroll for the coaching position and
that the talks could last into Monday morning. Wes Welker Womens Jersey . It still wasnt
enough to take down the sharpshooting Toronto Raptors. Andrea Bargnani scored a
season-high 25 points, Jermaine ONeal added 16 points and 17 rebounds, and the
Raptors were 8-for-8 on three-pointers in the second half to overcome Wades huge
effort and beat the Miami Heat 101-95 on Wednesday night. Rob Gronkowski Jersey . The Slovakian veteran
and 2004 Eastbourne runner-up Hantuchova humbled British wild card Anne
Keothavong 6-2, 6-3 at Devonshire Park. In some other first-round play on Day 1,
Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak defeated Kazakhstans Galina Voskoboeva, 6-3, 4-6,
7-6 (7-5), South African Chanelle Scheepers held off German Mona Barthel 6-1,
4-6, 6-1, and Austrian Tamira Paszek handled New Zealands Marina Erakovic 7-5,
6-1.SAN ANTONIO - Its a catchphrase likely coming soon to fan T-shirts, Internet
memes and the lexicon of the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future. “I want
some nasty!” Gregg Popovich didnt just coin it. He snarled it, and the way his
San Antonio Spurs obliged has the Western Conference finals off to a thrilling
start. Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row—
tying the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs—by
rallying in the fourth quarter on the orders of their furious coach to beat the
Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night. It was a tantalizing
near-upset for the young Thunder, who came as close as anybody to beating the
Spurs for the first time in 46 days. But a nine-point lead didnt last after the
famously mercurial 63-year-old Popovich—the NBAs Coach of the Year—huddled
his lagging team together in the fourth and told them to “get nasty.” “I said
that?” Popovich said afterward. A nationally television audience heard it. “The
heat of the game, stuff comes up,” Popovich said. “So I talked to them about
theyve got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more
fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot
it.” And when they did, the Thunder couldnt keep up. Kevin Durant led the
Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 17, and insisted he was OK after
taking a spill that was nasty in its own right—face first, bracing his fall
with his hands and sitting under the basket for more than a minute while the
entire Thunder bench walked across the court to check on their All-Star point
guard. “I shot good shots, made good passes,” Durant said. “Unfortunately, we
lost.” After being held to just 16 third-quarter points, San Antonio scored 39
in the fourth. Westbrook chalked it up to a defensive breakdown that “got out of
hand” but it still left the Thunder in search of the road win theyll need to in
this series to reach the NBA finals for the first time since the franchise moved
to Oklahoma City in 2009. Game 2 is Tuesday night. “How it happened is
irrelevant,” Thunder guard Derrick Fisher said of letting a lead slip away.
“Whether we lose by 20 or lose by one, we lost.” Thats something the Spurs
havent been able to say since April 11. They joined the 2001 Lakers as the only
other team to carry a winning streak this long in the playoffs—and that Los
Angeles team did so on its way to a championship. The Spurs matched the
fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and with one more will become just the
fourth team to surpass 20. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and
Tony Parker shook off a dismal start to finish with 18 points. And of getting
“nasty”? “Pops always trying to motivate us,” Parker said. But it was Ginobili
who steered the Spurs to strike first in a highly anticipated matchup of the
Wests top two teams for practically the entire regular season. In his first game
against the Thunder this year—he was sidelined by injury in the three
regular-season meetings—Ginobili put up a playoff high after sputtering
through the first two series. “It just happened,” Ginobili said. “I dont know
how exactly because I havent scored like thhis all season long, but it happened
and I am very happy about it. Aaron Hernandez Jersey. ” On the other end,
Oklahoma Citys own Big Three struggled to find its shot early before awakening
in the second half. Durant, Westbrook and James Harden at one point through the
second quarter were 5 of 21—a typically ominous stat line for a trio that had
been responsible for nearly 70 per cent of Oklahoma Citys points through the
playoffs so far. The Thunder were ousted in the Western Conference finals a year
ago and were in position for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs until
being overtaken by the Spurs in the final month of the season. But it was a
fittingly close opener for two franchises with so many similarities. That
includes Thunder general manager Sam Presti—the architect of the Thunders
rapid turnaround from a 23-win season to consecutive Western Conference finals
in just four years—getting his big break in the NBA as intern in San Antonio.
And the Thunder didnt even need their own Big Three to keep things close. They
leaned on none more so than Fisher, whose famous game-winner for the Lakers on
this same court in the 2004 playoffs has made “0.4 seconds” a phrase that needs
no further explanation to the Spurs. Eight years later, and the oldest player in
this series at 37, Fisher already met his playoff average at halftime and
finished with 13 points. Gary Neal added 12 points and was the only other Spurs
player in double figures. Harden lost in the first round of his matchup with
Ginobili, whos also a lefty and a former Sixth Man of the Year winner. Harden
finished with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting but started by missing nine of his
first dozen shots. Tipping off another conference finals couldnt happen soon
enough for Oklahoma City. With nothing to do but prepare for the Spurs all week
—and be asked about the Spurs—the Thunder grew weary of questions about
being perceived underdogs. About not having the same championship pedigree.
About how theyll possibly stop a team rolling through one of the 10 longest
winning streaks in NBA history. So repetitive were the questions that Durant,
visibly annoyed, suggested earlier this week that someone instead ask how the
Thunder are going “to come at” the Spurs. That didnt stop Oklahoma City from
facing more of the same at shootaround Sunday morning, when Thunder coach Scott
Brooks tried quashing again the idea his team was somehow intimidated. “Theyre
not going to be in awe. Theyre going to have respect for them,” Brooks said. “We
know we can beat them.” Theyve still got to prove it. Notes: Spurs C
DeJuan Blair has given the Thunder fits in his three NBA seasons, including 22
points on them in a March win. But San Antonios starting centre for practically
the entire season didnt play for the third consecutive playoff game. “The game
will tell us whats appropriate and whats not,” Popovich said before tipoff.
...Just because a Boston-Oklahoma City matchup in still possible in the NBA
finals doesnt mean centre Kendrick Perkins is hopeful about facing his old team.
“I really dont care,” Perkins said of the Celtics advancing. ...Gov. Rick Perry
took in his first Spurs game this year, sitting courtside next to Spurs owner
Peter Holt, a major donor to the former Republican presidential candidate. ’ ’ ’