San Diego far more balance and makes opposing defenses pau

PITTSBURGH -- Russell Martin has played long enough to realize that games in early June are rarely pivotal. Yet the Pirates veteran catcher admitted that Friday nights win felt good as Pittsburgh tries to stay with striking distance of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. Martin had three hits, including a three-run double during an eight-run sixth inning, and the Pirates rolled to a 15-5 victory over the Brewers, handing nemesis Kyle Lohse his first loss since April 1. The Pirates still trail the Brewers by six games, primarily because they have gone 3-8 against Milwaukee this season. The win was Pittsburghs sixth in its last eight games. "Anytime in the season where you can just feed off each other like that, its going to be a fun time," Martin said. "Especially against a team that were trailing right now. If you can beat up on a good team, it definitely does give you confidence." Martins double keyed an inning that increased Pittsburghs lead to 13-3 and included Jose Tabata hitting two RBI singles and reliever Tyler Thornburg issuing two bases-loaded walks. The Pirates sent 13 batters to the plate. "We were able to barrel some balls and we took some walks," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "The hits were nice, the walks were kind of runaway walks. Not many pitches were close in the walk sequence, it is what it is." Lohse (7-2) had won seven consecutive decisions, the longest active streak in the major leagues, but was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in five-plus innings. He had won his last six decisions against the Pirates, dating to 2011, and pitched a three-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs five days earlier. "I could go inning by inning about everything that went wrong but it was just one of those games where they hit good pitches and they hit bad pitches," Lohse said. "The best thing to do is forget about it and get ready for the next one. Thats the approach I took after I threw the shutout and thats the approach this time." Rookie Brandon Cumpton (1-2) allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings after giving up 11 runs -- the most by a major league pitcher this season -- in 3 2-3 innings in losing his previous start at the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday. "I really just put my head down and got back to work after that last start," Cumpton said. "I was just trusting my stuff and know its going to be there. It was great to get out there and get back on the horse." Andrew McCutchen homered and doubled for the Pirates while Jordy Mercer homered and hit an RBI single. Carlos Gomez, Aramis Ramirez and Scooter Gennett all had two hits for the Brewers. McCutchen doubled in a run and scored on Martins single in the first inning as the Pirates jumped on Lohse early. McCutchens seventh homer, a solo shot in the third, made it 3-0. NOTES: Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte, who is hitless in his last 20 at-bats, did not start for a third straight game. Tabata took his place for a second straight game. ... Milwaukee LHP Tom Gorzelanny, who is rehabbing from off-season shoulder surgery, pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Nashville on Friday night against Memphis in a PCL game. Though he has allowed two runs in 14 innings in nine games, Gorzelanny likely wont be ready to be activated from the DL when his 30-day rehab assignment ends next Friday. ... Pirates RHP Stolmy Pimentel, who is on the DL with right shoulder inflammation, pitched three scoreless innings in a rehab start for Double-A Altoona against Trenton in the Eastern League. ... RHP Vin Mazzaro accepted an outright assignment by Pittsburgh to Triple-A Indianapolis after clearing waivers. He was designated for assignment May 26. ... Brewers RHP Matt Garza (3-4, 4.42) faces RHP Edinson Volquez (3-4, 4.25) on Saturday. Air Max 97 Kaufen . Team spokesman Donald Beauchamp said there was no new information on the 80-year-old Hall of Famers condition. The family has requested privacy. Air Max 97 Schweiz .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. http://www.vapormaxkaufenschweiz.com/air-max-97-schweiz.html . Winnipeg trailed by five points in the final minute when quarterback Drew Willy completed a 13-play, 75-yard drive with Feoli-Gudinos 18-yard touchdown catch on third down to lift the Bombers to a 34-33 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night. Vapormax Herren Günstig Kaufen . Torres tells Spanish daily AS "in football you never know where you will be inside one month. Im going to work hard, thats all you can do with this last part of the season so important. Nike Vapormax Herren Schweiz . Ghoulam has put pen to paper on a four and a half year deal, tying him to Napoli until 2018. The 22-year-old Algeria international, who played for France at Under 21 level, has made 87 league appearances in four seasons at Saint-Etienne.(SportsNetwork.com) - Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will attempt to bounce back from a rare loss by doing what they usually do, beat the San Diego Chargers and Philip Rivers. The Patriots have never lost to Rivers and the Chargers with Brady under center, winning five consecutive when the two veteran Pro-Bowlers duel. Both clubs are currently in the thick of the AFC playoff race. The 9-3 Patriots had their seven-game winning streak snapped last weekend at Green Bay but are still in good position heading into December. By winning out, New England will clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC and secure a first-round bye for the fifth consecutive season. The 8-4 Chargers, meanwhile, are currently the top wild-card team in the AFC and sit just one game behind Denver for the top spot in the West thanks to answering a three-game mid-season skid with an equally long winning streak, which extended to three with a heart-stopping 34-33 win in Baltimore in Week 13. Trailing by 10 points with just over six minutes remaining, Rivers led San Diego back and capped the rally with a 1-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eddie Royal with 38 seconds left in the game. Rivers completed 34-of-45 passes for 383 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for the Chargers, who outscored Baltimore by a 21-10 margin in the fourth quarter. These are the kind of games you have to win to get into the postseason, said Rivers. And these are the kind of games youve got to win if you do get in. Keenan Allen caught 11 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns for San Diego while Royal hauled in nine passes for 81 yards. The players never gave up and we just kept plugging away, said Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. Thats what good teams do. The character of our team once again showed up, and when youve got a great quarterback like Philip Rivers, you got a chance to win every game just as long as theres time left on the clock. Brady, on the other hand lost his Week 13 battle against one of the few people on the planet who are actually his peer, Aaron Rodgers. A-Rod threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns and kept two NFL-record streaks alive in a 26-21 win last Sunday at Lambeau Field as the Packers remained perfect (6-0) at home this season. Rodgers has now thrown 360 consecutive passed and 31 touchdown passes at Lambeau since his last interception on the field over two years ago, both NFL bests. Brady was 22-of-35 for 245 yards with two touchdown passes to Brandon LaFell. Rob Gronkowski had seven catches for 98 yards and Brandon Bolden added a 6-yard touchdown run in the loss, New Englands first since falling 41-14 in Kansas City on Sept. 29. I just wish we would have won this one, Brady said. We put a lot into this one, and this was a great test for us. I think the guys knew how important this was for our season. The Pats are 20-14-2 all-time against San Diego and have won five of six overall. The lone Chargers win in that span came when Matt Cassel was filling in for an injured Brady in 2008. The two teams havent met since 2011, a 35-21 New England win when Brady tossed for 423 yards and three scores. The Patriots havent been to San Diego since 2010, a 23-20 Pats win fueled by a Gronkowski TD and three Stephen Gostkowski field goals. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Much like last week with Brady versus Rodgers, all the hype is centering on the QBs because both have been so good for so long. Brady, however, has always gotten the best of Rivers in the past, winning all five of his starts against the San Diego signal caller while compiiling a 91.dddddddddddd4 passer rating in those encounters. Conversely, Rivers has managed just five touchdowns with eight interceptions and a less-than-stellar 73.4 passer rating in those games. Even though the two are never directly playing against each other, Rivers lack of success against Bradys Pats is a narrative that will follow the North Carolina State product until he excels in this kind of environment. Weve never played this Patriot team, a terse Rivers said when queried about his lack of success against Brady. Were 0-0 against this group. Theres a lot of guys in that locker room that have never played the Patriots in their life. Rivers is currently third in the AFC with a 102. 8 passer rating, slightly ahead of Bradys 101.1, He also has an AFC-best 69.1 completion percentage but is behind Brady in both passing yards (3,243 to 3,218) and TD passes (28 to 25). Its great to have him on our football team, McCoy said of Rivers. Hes been very efficient. Hes done a great job of leading not only the team, but the offense week in and week out. However you slice it, both QBs are great. Brady has the best December winning percentage in over 70 years at 45-7 and Rivers is in second with a 30-6 mark. Since losing to Kansas City to fall to 2-2 on the season, New England is 7-1 and has been scoring well over 30 points per game. Perhaps the biggest contributor to that has been the health of Rob Gronkowski, who is feeling good after a myriad of injuries in recent seasons and has an NFL-best 910 receiving yards for a tight end. Gronks nine TDs, meanwhile, are equal to his counterpart with the Chargers, veteran Antonio Gates, one of the best pass-catching TEs in NFL history. Rob has done a good job for us and been on the field a lot, plays in a lot of situations, been productive in the passing game and the running game, New England coach Bill Belichick said. The Pats mentor also had some flattering words for the ageless Gates, who remains one of the tougher matchup problems in the league. Gates seems timeless, Belichick said. Hes a hard guy to defend. Hes got great size, athleticism, hands, does a real good job setting up his routes, beating man or zone coverage. The x-factor in the game could be the running backs. San Diego is back to leaning on Ryan Mathews, who returned a few weeks ago after missing seven games with a sprained knee. The talented Mathews gives San Diego far more balance and makes opposing defenses pause before putting an extra defensive back on the field. Its great to have him back, McCoy said of Mathews. Hes worked extremely hard to get back where he is today. The Pats, meanwhile, brought back LeGarrette Blount two weeks ago after he was released in Pittsburgh and the big man hasnt missed a beat since he was with the Pats in 2013, averaging 68 yards a game and scoring two TDs. OVERALL ANALYSIS Belichick is generally ahead of the curve when it comes to the little things that helps a team win. Instead of flying from Green Bay back to Foxborough and then out to San Diego, the future Hall of Fame coach eliminated the East Coast to West Coast trek which always seems to be an issue by flying directly from Wisconsin to the Southern California. Its that kind of attention to detail that sets the Patriots apart and expect them to win a 10th game for the 14th consecutive season on Sunday, the first organization to turn that trick since the San Francisco 49ers reached double digits in every year from 1983-98. Sports Network predicted outcome: Patriots 27, Chargers 20 ' ' '