DENVER -- Early on, Stephen Strasburg didnt have his best stuff and yet the powerful right-hander tried to bear down to keep his team close.
Authentic Joel Embiid Jersey . Almost paid off, too. The Washington Nationals loaded the bases in the ninth before falling 6-4 to Jorge De La Rosa and the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. Strasburg (7-8) settled in after a shaky start, giving up four runs -- three of which were in the first -- and nine hits over 5 1-3 innings. "Giving up three runs early, I couldve easily shut it down," Strasburg said. "I didnt want to do that. I wanted to keep it as close as possible. Give the guys a chance to come back -- anything can happen here." And almost did. Closer LaTroy Hawkins got the first two outs in the ninth, before allowing RBI singles to Jayson Werth and Anthony Rendon to make it a 6-4 game. With the bases loaded, Hawkins struck out Ian Desmond to end the rally. "You have to tip your cap sometimes. He did a good job," Desmond said. "He made some pitches on me. "We did a good job battling back right there. We kept on grinding away. Ill take us in that situation a lot of times." Denard Span had four hits for the Nationals, who finished the season series 5-1 against Colorado. He was one of the few to have success against De La Rosa, who gave the Rockies a badly needed boost as they snapped a seven-game skid. "Jorge, another great outing. He did it again," manager Walt Weiss said. "Were scuffling like crazy and he takes the ball and gives us a great performance and wins the game." The Rockies tried a little bit of everything to break out of their funk. They wore their socks high and even engaged in a pregame staring contest. Turns out, the best cure for their slump was simply the left arm of De La Rosa. De La Rosa (11-6) struck out a season-high 11 as he pitched efficiently into the eighth inning. He kept the Nationals guessing by effectively mixing in a changeup with his 89-mph cutter. "All my pitches were working really good today," said De La Rosa, who allowed two runs -- one earned -- before being lifted for a reliever with one out in the eighth. "My command of all my pitches was really good today." The Rockies decided as a team to wear their socks high, just to try something new. Even Weiss followed the trend. This helped ease the tension, too: Prior to the first pitch, Rockies outfielder Brandon Barnes and Nationals reliever Aaron Barrett engaged in quite a stare-down, with both players standing near the dugout holding their hats over their chest to see who would blink first. After several minutes, Barnes finally gestured toward Barrett that they settle it with a game of rock-paper-scissor. Right after De La Rosas warmup pitches, home plate umpire Paul Emmel told Barnes go into the dugout, with Barrett throwing his hands up in triumph. "Well do any stare-down to win games, for sure," joked Nolan Arenado. Once again, De La Rosa mastered a park that typically isnt friendly to pitchers. Hes 42-14 lifetime at Coors Field. "This is the perfect park for me," he said. Usually, its the hitters saying that. De La Rosa had his pitches dancing all day. He struck out Bryce Harper three times. The Nationals were just 1 of 14 with runners in scoring position off De La Rosa. "He knows how to pitch here," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "Hes got a surprising fast ball when he needs it, but he relies on his changeup a lot. Thats a great strategy here. "Hes a good pitcher. He pitches well." The Nationals were without infielder Ryan Zimmerman, who went on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained right hamstring. "Its a pretty substantial strain of the hamstring," Williams said. "You never know how its going to react, so well just take it day by day. Its going to be a couple of weeks at least. Well see where he is at the end of that and go from there. He pulled it good." NOTES: Werth wasnt in the starting lineup because of a tender right knee. ... The Nationals are off Thursday before opening a three-game series in Cincinnati.
Authentic Timothe Luwawu Jersey . The German has taken the pole for three straight races -- winning the first two. Hes aiming for a third consecutive win at the Yeongam circuit and, most importantly, a fourth consecutive F1 championship.
Authentic Julius Erving Jersey . He spent the rest of the game making up for lost playing time. Green scored a career-high 36 points, including eight in overtime, and the Phoenix Suns beat Denver 112-107 on Tuesday night to hand the Nuggets their fifth consecutive loss.About an hour or so after the final whistle of last Sundays Manchester derby and as the talk shows debated Manchester Uniteds worst start to a league campaign in almost three decades - away from the huge police and security presence in and around the Etihad, a mass brawl broke out involving approximately a hundred supporters of the blue and red half of Manchester. No surprise the backdrop was a pub. According to reports, it was those claiming allegiance to Manchester United who took it upon themselves post-match to confront City supporters as they savoured yet another derby victory at one of their favourite match day watering holes. The running battle up and down the street involved chairs, sticks and flares. Those not taking part formed a disorderly queue in the garden outside the pub encouraging those who felt compelled to take part in the street battle. It was 4:30pm on a Sunday afternoon. As the battle grew more intense and savage - from those who had ringside seats the very audible familiar sounds of grunts, groans and chants one would normally associate with a crowd as a match was in progress could clearly be heard and seen on video shot from a mobile phone. Not too sure Sheik Mansour bought into Manchester City to witness one such, very dishevelled looking fellow, with a half empty pint of beer in hand repeatedly and obsessively barked out, Come On City. He seemed to be pleading for his team to get back into the contest (There goes my thinking Manchester City had won the match). Quite frightening was the fact the person in question looked more middle aged than he did resemble teenage rampage. Then all we have to do is remember that when he actually was a teenager the so termed English Disease had reached saturation point during the early to mid-1980s. Like father, like son I would not be shocked to learn his very own child was taking part. Although not widely reported in the media in recent years incidents of hooliganism occurring well away from football grounds and preying eyes of police forces has crept back into all levels of football in the nation that gave birth to the worlds game. Commenting on the incident, Manchesters Police Commissioner referred to it as, the face of football past. Up and down the country police forces have the latest mod cons and technology at their disposal to identify and round up the ring leaders and trouble makers after the violence has occurred. Greatter Manchester Police were only made aware of Sundays incident after they were contacted by a local newspaper which had been provided with that mobile phone footage.
Authentic Wilt Chamberlain Jersey. When they did arrive on the scene, the mob which had bought shame on their clubs and their city had long gone. The only person in the vicinity was a man lying in the street suffering from severe head injuries and a broken nose. Back to that like father, like son reference, the person in question was identified as 48-years of age. Unsurprisingly, he refused the police offer of calling an ambulance. His reason likely down to the fact he didnt much feel like, helping the police with their enquiries. To date, five arrests have been made but no one as yet charged with any criminal offence. As all this was occurring, thousands of miles away DC United supporters were making their way to Harrison, New Jersey to take in the first leg of last Sunday afternoons Eastern Conference Semi-final against the Red Bulls. The league estimated their number to be 350 with the preferred mode of transport a four hour journey by road. Going through the security and bag check process prior to entering Red Bull Arena, the DC United supporters were advised of what, and what they couldnt bring inside the stadium. Three of their numbers must have had smiles as wide as the New Jersey Turnpike as they made their way through the crowd to take their allocated seats in the upper tier. Once there they unfurled a banner advising Red Bull supporters of what phone number to call for ordering their 2015 season tickets. Problem was the crest displayed was that of New York City FC whilst the banner also referenced title sponsor, Etihad. Although midway through the first half Red Bull Arena security instructed the rather cheeky chaps from DC to take down their banner their point had been most effectively made. Images appeared on social media platforms and with it legendary status affirmed. Football banter as good as anything you will have heard or seen at any Barclays Premier League stadium this season was now in full effect for a league and its supporters that have been derided and mocked for years. As English football wrestles and agonizes over the reappearance of the face of football past, the beautiful games new frontier is slowly but surely building its own unique culture and identity.
Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter
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