Kellermann-Strauss Forum » ), (Nazr) Mohammed, Jo (Noah) or Booz (Bo

SAN FRANCISCO - Pablo Sandoval singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 victory over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night and into first place in the NL West. The struggling Sandoval came through after reliever J.P. Howell (1-1) intentionally walked Hunter Pence with two outs. Sandoval, who entered the game batting just .164, grounded into centre field to score Joaquin Arias from second. Jean Machi (3-0) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam earlier in the seventh for the win. Buster Posey broke an 0-for-13 skid with an RBI single in the third to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. Dee Gordons tying triple in the sixth accounted for the Dodgers lone run. Los Angeles at least dodged worse news. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez left in the seventh after getting hit by a pitch from Ryan Vogelsong on the top of his left hand. The team said X-rays on Ramirezs hand were negative. Sergio Romo pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save, striking out Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp to end the game. Vogelsong allowed the one run and four hits in six-plus innings to help the Giants win their third straight game. He struck out two and walked two to match Paul Maholm most of the way. Maholm gave up one run and five hits in six innings. He struck out two and walked three to rebound from a loss in his only other start this season on April 5, when he allowed five runs in 4 1-3 innings to the Giants. San Francisco improved to 4-1 against the Dodgers this season in a race that could remain tight through the summer. Both teams began the day with a 9-5 record. The starting pitchers kept the game moving at a far brisker pace than the nearly 5-hour contest Tuesday night that ended when Hector Sanchez singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning to give the Giants the win. The biggest blemish came when Vogelsong hit the top of Ramirezs left hand to open the seventh. Ramirez slammed his helmet to the ground and hopped around in pain before being replaced by Justin Turner. After the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out, Machi fielded a hard comebacker from Juan Uribe to start a home-to-first double play. The biggest hold up came from baseballs new replay system after Vogelsong pick of Kemp at first base in the second inning. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenge the play, which umpires upheld after a 4:25 video review that drew light boos from some fans during the wait. NOTES: Dodgers ace and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who is on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his back, threw breaking balls off flat ground. He is scheduled to throw off a mound Thursday. ... An MRI on Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley showed no ligament damage in his elbow, Mattingly said. Billingsley has some tendinitis that will delay his recovery. ... Giants SS Brandon Crawford sat out with tightness in his right hamstring but said he expects to play Thursday. ... The Giants activated lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt (sprained right knee) from the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Juan Perez to Triple-A Fresno. ... Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig entered in the seventh and grounded out in the eighth. ... Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-0, 3.31 ERA) takes the mound opposite Dodgers LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-1, 2.57 ERA) in Thursdays series finale. Steelers Jerseys China .com) - Thursday marks the official debut of a new dirt racing surface at Meydan Racecourse. Wholesale Steelers Jerseys . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. http://www.cheapsteelersjerseysauthentic.com/.Y. - Through three quarters, the Brooklyn Nets could not shake the NBAs worst team. SAN ANTONIO -- The Chicago Bulls took advantage of the injury-riddled San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Jimmy Butler had 19 points and Carlos Boozer added 16 points and 12 rebounds and the Bulls handed the Spurs their third straight loss, 96-86. "It was huge," Butler said. "Its big to come in here and get a win on the road." Tony Parker had 20 points and Tim Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, which hadnt lost back-to-back games until this current skid. The Spurs were without Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Tiago Splitter, who were all out due to injuries. Ginobili joined San Antonios growing injury list Tuesday night, straining his left hamstring against Houston after throwing down a one-handed dunk. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich dismissed any talk of fatigue. "I dont care, thats just an excuse," Popovich said. "Everybody tried as hard as they could. I dont know how to measure fatigue. Just go play. We try to watch peoples minutes and that kind of thing. "It doesnt matter whos hurt, or what your schedule is, or anything like that. You go play. Nobody cares. All that matters is the win or the loss. We lost or defensive consistency and they went up." The Bulls can certainly relate after losing All-Star point guard Derrick Rose to a season-ending knee injury. The Bulls have attempted to step up collectively since the injury and that depth led them to their 10th road victory of the season. Chicago had seven players score in double figures, with D.J. Augustin and Taj Gibson adding 15 points each and Joakim Noah had 10 points and 10 rebounds. "We have a roster full of NBA players just like everybody else," Butler said. "A lot of people sleep on us, but we have a really talented group of guys that do so many things well. When we play together and just as hard as we can, I think we can win a lot of games." With four players missing from their main rotation, the Spurs turned to their depth with less effectiveness. Nando De Colo and newly signed Othyus Jeffers, who both played in the D League, both started for the first time this season. Jeffers brought hustle and De Colo another distributor, but neither brought much offence. Jeffers failed to score, going 0 for 1 from the field, and De Colo had eight points. It led to a disjointed and inconsistent offence for San Antonio. The Spurs had 19 turnovers and only 16 assists on their 33 field goals. "Its tough to keep a rhythm," Duncan said. "With a lot of our guys out, our consistency just isnt there on both ends. We cant sustain for the periods of time that we need to.dddddddddddd "But at various points throughout the game were where we want to be. And then we go through lulls where defence or offence cant get it done." San Antonio went scoreless for nearly five minutes as part of Chicagos 12-5 run to close the first quarter. It could have been worse, but Patty Mills made a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining to keep the Spurs within 21-15. San Antonio responded with a 17-3 run to take a 27-24 lead. Chicago scored just seven points in 10 minutes bridging the first and second quarters, turning a 21-12 lead into a 36-28 deficit. But the second half belonged to the Bulls and Butler. "Its just tough right now," Parker said. "Back to back, it felt like we had no energy. We didnt make shots in the first half. We had some pretty good looks in the first half; open 3s. They just didnt go in and we just try to fight through it. We tried to get some energy in the second half, but they played better than us." Butler was 7 for 11 from the field as the Spurs had no answer for the athletic forward. "Jimmy was terrific," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "with his defence and then turned that defence into offence, which was a big plus for us." Not having to guard Ginobili, Leonard or Green on the wings allowed Butler to defend Parker and the other Spurs guards. Parker finished 8 for 17 with six assists in 34 minutes. "Its a challenge (defending Parker)," Butler said. "He can do so many things well, but whenever I was beat, I had Taj (Gibson), (Nazr) Mohammed, Jo (Noah) or Booz (Boozer) to alter his shot or make him go a different direction." NOTES: Green (fractured left index finger), Leonard (fractured right fourth metacarpal) and Splitter (sprained right shoulder) all sat behind the bench during the game, all wearing sport coats with no ties. Ginobili was not with the team. ... Noah (illness) and Kirk Hinrich (right hamstring) both played after being game-time decisions due to injury. ... Jeffers endeared himself to the fans and Spurs quickly, diving onto court twice on the same possession for a loose ball, earning a jump ball. ... Noah was given a technical foul with 5:02 remaining in the third by official Josh Tiven. As he ran back defensively, Noah punched the air in disgust after missing a layup he thought was caused by a foul on Duncan. ... When asked how the Spurs will handle the rash of recent injuries, coach Gregg Popovich said he didnt want to be a smart-(aleck) but ... "You play the guys on the bench. We cant play the guys on the other team. I know that." ' ' '