SAN DIEGO -- It was no surprise to see San Diego Padres All-Star Tyson Ross shut down the New York Mets.
[b]Fake Air Max 270[/b] . The run support he received from his teammates was quite out of character. Ross threw seven shutout innings Saturday night, and the light-hitting Padres hit three homers in a 6-0 victory that snapped New Yorks four-game winning streak. "Weve talked about the maturity, the development of Tyson the last month or so," Padres manager Bud Black said. "About what it means to be one of those guys at the front end of the rotation, to stop losing streaks and put zeroes on the board, to really throw great games, to really shut down opponents. "He is starting to do that." Ross (8-10) allowed only four hits in his first start following his first All-Star appearance. He struck out six and issued three walks. Three relievers pitched the final two innings to seal the Padres seventh shutout. Yasmani Grandal, Will Venable and Seth Smith homered as San Diego won for the third time in 11 games. The Mets had won nine of 11. That the Padres became offensive when Ross was pitching was the news. In his previous eight starts, the Padres scored more than one run only once, in a 3-0 win on July 2 against the Reds. Overall, they had scored only five runs in that span. "Its always a little bit easier pitching with a lead," Ross said. "Its more comfortable and you dont have to worry about making mistakes and being down. "Yasmani came up with a big homer early, and the guys followed through from there. It was a good team win." New Yorks Dillon Gee (4-2) worked five innings, allowing four runs and five hits in his second start since missing two months with a strained right lat. Gee struck out eight with no walks. Ross didnt surrender a hit in the first four innings. His bid to throw the first no-hitter in Padres history was derailed by Travis dArnauds four-hopper that ricocheted off third base for an infield single. The Mets were stymied by Ross mid-90s fastball, tight sinker and a biting slider. "He had great stuff," New York manager Terry Collins said. "That is why he is on the All-Star team." The Mets didnt have a runner reach scoring position until the seventh when Lucas Duda singled, Kirk Nieuwenhuis walked and Juan Lagares singled to load the bases. But Ruben Tejada struck out to end the threat. Gee was stranded on first after a two-out walk in the second inning, and dArnaud was erased at second on a double play after his single in the fifth. Pinch-hitter Eric Young Jr. walked with one out in the sixth inning, but was thrown out by Grandal when he tried to steal second. Curtis Granderson followed with the Mets second hit, but Daniel Murphy grounded out to Ross. Smiths homer in the sixth pushed the Padres ahead 5-0. Venable hit his first home run since June 10 in the fourth inning, extending the Padres lead to 4-0. "It was a little weird. Just a bad night," Gee said. San Diego took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, thanks to a big hit by Headley and a bad throw by Nieuwenhuis. Headleys one-out single scored Ross, and when Nieuwenhuis relay to third base landed in the Mets dugout, Alexi Amarista, who had singled, scored, as well. Grandal staked Ross to a 1-0 edge in the second inning with his eighth homer, a 440-foot blast to right-centre. "I didnt see the swing but I heard it," Ross said. "It was loud." NOTES: After Fridays trade of RHP Huston Street to the Angels, RHP Joaquin Benoit will become the Padres closer. RHP Kevin Quackenbush is the top candidate to work the eighth inning. ... RHP Andrew Cashner, who is on the DL, threw on Saturday as he tested his sore right shoulder and neck. ... SS Everth Cabrera (strained left hamstring) has resumed running and could play in a minor league game next week. ... Mets RHP Jon Niese (left shoulder strain) is expected to start on Monday at Seattle. RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka is working out of the bullpen with the expectation that Niese will rejoin the rotation. ... Mets RHP Zack Wheeler (5-8, 3.90) faces Padres RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (2-1, 1.35) in Sundays series finale.
[b]Nike Cortez Store[/b] . Gomes drove in all three runs, including a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Cleveland rallied for a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
[b]Fake Vapormax[/b] . For Sweed, a second round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008, this will be his second go around in the CFL after previously having spent time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.This week, I flew out to Saint John, New Brunswick to speak at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association mens soccer championships. There are eight teams from across the country contesting the nationals, with games taking place from Wednesday to Saturday. You can watch the action live by clicking this link. While I was in Saint John, I also had the chance to speak to coaches and volunteers from the Fundy Soccer Association. We often focus our attention on the top of the pyramid in Canadian soccer - professional teams in MLS or our mens and womens national teams. While many fans are keen to follow the stories at the highest level of the game, there are also some great stories to tell about the people who are the real lifeblood of the game in Canada - the volunteers who run grassroots clubs. The Fundy Soccer Association is a great example. Their organization is full of volunteer administrators, referees and coaches, all trying their hardest to give the kids in their community a great experience with the game of soccer. It isnt about developing professional or national team players for them (although doing so would be icing on the cake); it is about ensuring that every child that comes into their club falls in love with the game, has fun, and stays involved in soccer for the rest of their life. It is about teaching them life lessons through the game of soccer. They are implementing the principles of long-term player development (LTPD) at their club because they understand the reasoning and research behind it. It isnt always an easy sell - there are parents that reject small-sided games and age-appropriate competition because it "doesnt look like real soccer" - but they continue to preach the gospel of LTPD in the hopes that it will soon become the norm. What organizations like Fundy need more than anything, is support. There are two major areas where that support would make a major difference - the first being coach education. When a club is reliant upon volunteer coaches (the vast majority of non-profit grassroots clubs in Canada would not exist if not for volunteer coaches), attracting aand retaining coaches is paramount.
[b]Nike Basketball Shoes Store[/b]. . That is very difficult to do when the cost of training and certifying those coaches is taken into consideration. It is one thing to ask a parent or volunteer to give up their time for their club. It is quite another to then ask them to pay for the privilege. While many clubs across the country pick up the cost of coach education (which they offset through higher registration fees or hard-earned sponsorship money that needs to be generated year after year), many of them cannot. In those situations, the cost of coach education is passed on to the volunteer coach - making it even more difficult to attract and retain coaches. Ive said it before (and Im sure Ill be saying it again in the future) but our governing bodies need to find revenue sources that completely offset the cost of coach education. Making coach education free to volunteer coaches across the country removes a massive barrier to grassroots coach education, making it far easier for organizations like Fundy to develop coaches. The second area that requires support is curriculum. Volunteer coaches often find themselves rushing home from work, collecting their kids and dashing off to practice. They keep a bag of balls, their boots and assorted coaching equipment in their cars, because they are out on the field three or sometimes four nights a week. They simply dont have time to sit down on their computers after work to look for training ideas on the internet. Shouldnt it be easier than that? Shouldnt those volunteer coaches have a document that they can use, a blueprint for the development of young soccer players they can refer to when stretched for time? Of course they should. And thats where a national curriculum comes into play. That we dont have one is a problem that the CSA needs to rectify immediately. Work is being done on that right now, but until such time as we have our own national curriculum, volunteer coaches across the country will be left to fend for themselves. The Fundy Soccer Association and those like it that exist across the country deserve better than that. ' ' '
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