st outing of the season. “I really loved

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Josh Beckett has pitched his home games in Los Angeles for almost two years now, and hed almost forgotten what it was like to sit through a rain delay. He handled this one with no problem The right-hander waited more than 2 hours to make his start Tuesday night, but once he got on the mound, he was on top of his game. Beckett allowed two hits in six shutout innings, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run single and the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-1. "Sitting around today was tough," the 34-year-old Beckett said. "Im not 23 anymore. I was ready to go at 7:10. I spent a lot of time in the weight room trying to stay loose. I felt fine." Beckett (4-3), who had endured two consecutive 2-1 losses since his no-hitter May 25 in Philadelphia, finished with seven strikeouts and one walk. He also hit a batter with a pitch. "Actually, I felt like it was his cleanest game since the no-hitter," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "The ball was coming out better. He had a better changeup, and he kept the ball down." Beckett echoed Mattinglys assessment. "I felt like it was a clean outing," he said. He also enjoyed better support from his offence, which scored more runs in one inning than it had in his previous two starts combined. Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Justin Turner led the Los Angeles lineup with two hits apiece. Beckett got into the act with a single of his own for the Dodgers, who have won three straight and four of five. "Joshs performance today is what hes been giving us all year," Ethier said. "We havent been producing many runs for him." Mike Leake, reached for a season-high five runs in his previous start Thursday against San Francisco, allowed five more and a season-high nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. Leake (3-6), who lost seven games last season, had seven strikeouts and one walk. "It was a weird night," said Leake, bothered by a stiff neck in his previous three starts. "I missed some spots. I got some groundballs, but they found holes. I didnt do my job today." Reds first baseman Joey Votto, activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after missing 23 games with a strained quadriceps in his left knee, went 1 for 3 with a single, two strikeouts and a walk. After the start was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 5 minutes, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second on Gonzalezs leadoff double and Ethiers one-out double. Beckett helped himself in a three-run fifth after Turner led off with a single. With one out, the pitcher faked a bunt and hit a chopper over charging third baseman Todd Frazier for his third hit in 23 at-bats this season. "I saw him charging," Beckett said. "He was playing so shallow already. I took a shot." Turner scored on Dee Gordons double, and Ramirez drove in both runners with a single to right field. That pretty much gave Los Angeles control. The largest deficit overcome by the Reds to win this season is two runs. Cincinnati manager Bryan Price was impressed with the Dodgers approach. "They did a nice job of putting the ball in play," Price said. "They ran some balls through the infield. They had enough team speed to get some good reads off the bat and score off that line drive to right." Los Angeles added a run in the sixth on Matt Kemps one-out walk and back-to-back singles by Ethier and Turner, who has four consecutive multihit games. Puig singled, stole second and scored on Gonzalezs second double in the seventh. Ethier is hitting .467 (7 for 15) with six RBIs against Leake. The Reds avoided being shut out on Jay Bruces leadoff double, Devin Mesoracos infield single and Zack Cozarts one-out RBI single in the seventh. Mesoraco snapped a career-worst, 0-for-19 slump. NOTES: Cozart stayed in the game after being hit in the batting helmet by Becketts pitch in the fifth. ... Ethiers sixth-inning infield single originally was ruled an out, but Mattinglys challenge led to the call being overturned after a replay review. ... LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu is the Dodgers scheduled starter Wednesday. The last time he faced the Reds, he carried a perfect game through seven innings before settling for a 4-3 win on May 26 in Los Angeles. Oklahoma City Thunder Jerseys . -- Packers cornerback Tramon Williams has been fined $26,250 for contact with an official, per NFL guidelines. Patrick Patterson Jersey . Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. http://www.authenticthunderauthority.com...er-jersey-c-25/. Malone will become an unrestricted free-agent and as per the collective bargaining agreement, the Lightning will be responsible for two-thirds of the remainder of his contract over twice the length of the rest of the deal. Russell Westbrook Jersey . Louis still looking for a way out of Tampa Bay, the 38-year-old NHL veteran isnt showing his cards. Gary Payton Jersey . Ferrer was unable to find his rhythm in losing 6-4, 6-2 to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match while Nadal struggled past fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos 7-6 (2), 6-4. Nadal eventually overcame his 103rd-ranked opponent to reach the third round, rebounding from a surprise loss to Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals.TORONTO - I dont believe in luck, DeMar DeRozan told reporters after practice on Thursday, speaking in the context of his teams quick start to the campaign. He was dealt an unfortunate hand just over 24 hours later. Nearly four minutes into the second half of Friday nights tilt with Dallas, the Raptors All-Star guard drove to his right, something he does routinely every game. As he went to plant his foot, he slipped and crumpled to the floor, where he remained for over a minute. The entire team stood around DeRozan, who winced in pain, until he was eventually helped up and to the locker room. Despite a late-game rally, the Raptors could not get over the hump, falling 106-102, their first loss in seven games, but the more pressing concern was the status of their leading scorer. Just hopefully hes okay, Patrick Patterson said of DeRozan, who did not return after sustaining a strained left groin. Hopefully its nothing serious, hopefully hes able to turn around and bounce back. DeRozan was having a rough night before the injury bug bit. After a hard fall early in the game, he came up holding his right wrist. In 21 minutes of action, he was held scoreless, missing all eight of his shots without getting to the free throw line. He was not the only Raptor stymied by the Mavericks tenacious defence, especially early in the game. Jonas Valanciunas was also held without a point in the first half before bouncing back in the second half, as the Raptors shot just 42 per cent as a team and committed an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers on the evening. Kyle Lowry was forced to sit out with three fouls for a significant chunk of the first half, while the team played with DeRozan for most of the second. Still, they continued to fight and would cut their deficit - once as high as 15 - down to three a number of times late in the fourth quarter. With 25 points - 13 in the fourth - Lowry led the charge and Amir Johnson, scoring a season-high 20, assisted with his best outing of the season. “I really loved our fight in the fourth quarter, the way we ended the game and kept scrapping,” Dwane Casey said. “I told the guys this a few minutes ago: If we continue to compete like that at a high level, we’re going to win a lot of games. That’s a good team. They’re not chopped liver at all. They’re going to be in the deep money in the West when it’s all over with. We ended up losing, said Greivis Vasquez, who scored nine of his 14 in the final frame. I think you have got to give them credit. They played a great game. They shot the lights out. Our best player went down, but we still kept the game close. It was one of those games where you just have to move on and understand what we’re getting into, a west coast trip. We have just got to continue to grind. It’s not the end of the world. We lost a game. So what? On to the next one. We get better. We have to defend better. We have to rebound better. We have to play transition defence better. We have to do a lot of different things better. But we’re still, what, 13-3? That’s a prettty good record to me.dddddddddddd Now, the focus shifts to DeRozans health. The team did not have an update on the guard, whos missed just 11 games over his six-year career, but hope to know more about his status on Saturday. I mean it is what it is, said Lowry. We know hes going to be fine. We know hes going to take care of his body and well see whats going on. Weve got to play. Next man up. Its a team, not about one guy. If anybody goes down the next man has to step up. Its early and hopefully he takes all the time thats needed for him to 100 per cent heal and get back, Patterson added. We want him back as soon as possible but its all about him recovering and being 100 per cent before he does that. Rose returns, rips old regime An elite quote throughout his playing career, Jalen Roses brief Raptors tenure will be remembered just as much for his honest quips, however brutal, as anything he did on the court. Fittingly, the 13-year NBA vet turned ABC and ESPN analyst was in fine form when he held court ahead of Fridays game, on a night in which he was honored by the Raptors as part of their continued 20th anniversary celebrations. Rose, who received a warm welcome from fans after a video tribute in the first quarter, threw a couple of jabs at former general manager Rob Babcock and the front office regime that engineered the trade of Vince Carter, a deal Rose was critical of at the time. Carter, Roses teammate in Toronto before he was dealt to the Nets nearly 10 years ago, was honoured in similar fashion earlier this month, getting noticeably emotional when he was greeted with cheers for the first time since his exit. Well, the way [Carter] was overcome by emotion and the way he shed a couple of tears, thats how I felt when we traded him for Aaron and Eric [Williams] and Alonzo Mourning who never was deciding to make the trip, Rose joked. Hes the greatest Raptor in team history. As a player who has been traded before I know that when things get out to the public, like where your mom is parking, that means somebody in the front office is clearly leaking information to try to make you look bad and make the transition easier when you move a great player like him. The 41-year-old Rose wasnt surprised to see fans in Toronto finally embrace Carter, even speculating that the former face of the franchise would choose to go into the Hall of Fame - when and if he gets in - as a Raptor. Throughout his time in Toronto and in the years to follow, Rose said he would always boast about the teams fan base, hoping to change the perception that players dont want to move to Canada. It existed but we took pride to try to change it, said Rose, who averaged 16.2 points in 117 games over three seasons with the Raptors. Drafting Rafael Araujo didnt help. We needed a couple a players that could contribute, so it starts with the moves the teams make. We werent really adding to that team like I felt like we could. What did we trade Vince for? When that ends up happening, its hard to truly have success. ' ' '