Kellermann-Strauss Forum » ernoon. "This team has been up

DENVER -- Juan Nicasio bounced back nicely from his first loss of the season. Carlos Gonzalez homered before leaving with a finger injury, Nicasio pitched seven scoreless innings and drove in three runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the New York Mets 7-4 on Thursday night. "All my breaking balls worked today and I had good command of my fastball, too," said Nicasio, who was dinged for a couple of home runs by the Los Angeles Dodgers while struggling with his location last time out during a 4 1-3 inning outing. "Thats why I was good today," Nicasio said. "I threw a lot of sliders for strikes, my fastball was down in the zone. When Im pitching good, I have command of my fastball, and keeping the ball down. I lost my command (last time out)." New York manager Terry Collins said Nicasio kept Mets batters guessing. "He moved the ball in and out," Collins said. "He threw strikes." Corey Dickerson added three hits, including an RBI triple and Nolan Arenado singled leading off the third to extend the majors longest active streak to 21 games. Hes tied for the fourth-longest hitting streak in Rockies team history. Gonzalez connected for his sixth home run of the season in the first inning, driving a 3-2 offering from Bartolo Colon (2-4) off the right-centre field facing just below the second deck. He was lifted in the fourth inning, replaced by pinch hitter Brandon Barnes, because of a bruised left index finger. His playing status was listed as day to day. "I dont think hes going to miss a lot of time," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It was encouraging that the swelling was going down already." Colon allowed seven runs on 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. He walked one and struck out three. "Bartolo left pitches over the plate. And we ran into a hot team," said Travis dArnaud, who homered in the ninth off reliever Chad Bettis. But Nicasio (3-1) was effective at the plate and on the mound. After allowing a one-out single in the second to Chris Young, Nicasio retired 12 batters in a row before issuing his lone walk in the sixth inning. The only extra base hit he allowed was a double leading off the game to Juan Lagares. He was activated prior to the game after spending the previous two weeks on the disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. "Its a good step for him," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Weve seen Juan real good in the past, saw him good early and hopefully he gets on a roll." Nicasio also was a central figure in the Rockies offence. "We preach a lot to our pitchers if they can execute the game offensively theres probably a few Ws in there for them," Weiss said. Dickerson and Charlie Culberson hit successive two-out singles in the second and, running on the pitch, they both scored when Nicasio followed with a single that rolled to the right field corner. He added a sacrifice fly in the Rockies three-run fourth. Arenado also had a sacrifice fly and Charlie Blackmon an RBI single in the inning. Dickersons two-out triple in the fifth scored Justin Morneau, who was aboard with a single. The Mets avoided their third shutout of the season when Lagares, doubling for the second time in the game, hit a drive off Bettis in the eighth to the right centerfield gap to score pinch hitter Bobby Abreu from first. Bettis surrendered a two-out, three-run homer to dArnaud in the ninth before retiring Ruben Tejada on a fly ball to right. NOTES: Four of the seven home runs Colon has given up this season have come in the first inning. ... Colons four-pitch walk to Wilin Rosario leading off the fourth represented his first walk in 14 innings. ... Arenados 21-game hitting streak is the longest in the majors this season. ... Nicasios last multi-RBI game was June 14 against Philadelphia. ... The Mets Daniel Murphy went 0 for 4, snapping a 10-game hitting streak. ... Rockies catcher Rosario was back in the lineup after missing the previous four games with a left hand injury. Stan Smith Cheap Online . The Calgary skip fell 10-8 to Swedens Oskar Eriksson in semifinal action Saturday and will face Switzerlands Peter de Cruz for the bronze medal (Saturday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2). Cheap Stan Smith Wholesale .Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been neck and neck all season, with 17 points separating the rivals and double points on offer for the race.Tensions between them have spilled over during the campaign and the pairs fragile relationship was evident during Thursdays pre-race news conference, when Rosberg goaded Hamilton by advising him to race cleanly. http://www.discountstansmithuk.com/.C. -- Authorities say the brother of Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White has been shot and killed outside a South Carolina nightclub. Stan Smith Sale Uk .com) - The Chicago White Sox have officially announced that the club has agreed to terms with utilityman Emilio Bonifacio on a one-year, $4 million contract that includes a team option for the 2016 season. Cheap Stan Smith Online . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros.The Washington Wizards will try to win a playoff series for the first time in almost 10 years Tuesday night when they visit the Chicago Bulls for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round matchup. Watch the game live on TSN2 and TSN GO at 8pm et/5pm pt. The Wizards last won a postseason round in 2005 when they dispatched the Bulls, 4-2. A win on Tuesday in Chicago, where they took Games 1 and 2, will end the series and give them their second successful playoff series since 1982. "Weve reached the point where we need one more and thats going to be the hardest one," Washington coach Randy Wittman said after practice Monday. "I think they get that. Its all going to be ramped up." The Wizards inched within a game of advancing thanks to a 98-89 home win on Sunday afternoon. Trevor Ariza poured in a playoff career-high 30 points and hit six of Washingtons eight 3-pointers in the triumph. John Wall tallied 15 points with 10 assists, while Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat scored 18 and 17 points, respectively. "I think we just did a great job putting pressure on them defensively," said Wall. "Trevor did a great job of getting himself going, making shots early on." The Wizards led by as many as 23 points and never trailed. If Washington didnt have enough confidence, it gets veteran big man Nene back from suspension. He was banned from Game 4 after an altercation with Chicagos Jimmy Butler in Game 3.dddddddddddd Taj Gibsons 32 points on 13-of-16 shooting werent enough for Chicago in Game 4. Joakim Noah scored 10 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the setback, while Butler scored 16. The Bulls are in serious trouble, although their coach still believes. "Ive been around our team," coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice on Monday afternoon. "This team has been up against it for two years. All were thinking about is tomorrow. Win the game. Take it step by step. Dont get wrapped up in doomsday or any of that stuff. Just think about what we have to do to win." One positive for the Bulls is that starting small forward Mike Dunleavy has been declared ready to go by Thibodeau. Dunleavy suffered a bruised left thumb in Sundays loss. Offense has been a major problem for the Bulls, not just in this series, but all season long, especially when former MVP Derrick Rose went down for the season again with a knee injury. Through four games of this quarterfinal matchup, the Bulls have scored 100 points once and averaged 95.25 ppg, which is actually slightly up for Chicago. Defense has been the real thorn in the Bulls paw. They led the NBA in opponents scoring during the regular season at 91.8 ppg, but during their series with the Wizards, Washington is averaging 99.5 ppg. Game 6, if necessary, will be Thursday night in Washington. ' ' '