Braves Tyler Pastornicky into taking off from third base. Fernan

NEWARK, N.J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. The Devils will keep the first-round draft pick they were scheduled to forfeit this year, and the league will reduce the $3 million fine assessed against the team for circumventing the NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement The Devils recently applied to the league for reconsideration and relief from a portion of the original penalty, citing primarily changes in circumstances which, in the clubs view, changed the appropriateness of the sanctions. The NHL did not spell out what changed, but Kovalchuk retired after last season and returned to Russia to play there. Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said the franchises new ownership asked the league to reconsider the penalty, and a hearing was held this year. "Were pleased," said Lamoriello, who said several factors other than Kovalchuks retirement went into the leagues decision, without elaborating. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur felt the original NHL penalty was harsh. "I thought it was a bad judgment by them when they penalized with a first-round pick and all the money," Brodeur said. "I thought they hit our organization pretty hard at the time. It will be nice for the future to count on an extra No. 1 pick." The league said the Devils will be entitled to the 30th selection overall -- the last pick in the first round -- in the 2014 draft. They will not be permitted to trade or transfer its right to that pick. Kovalchuk, who had been acquired by the Devils in February 2010, became a free agent at the end of that season. New Jersey signed him to a 17-year, $102 million deal but the league ruled what would have been the longest contract in NHL circumvented the salary cap and rejected it. Arbitrator Richard Bloch heard the unions appeal and nullified the deal. The Devils eventually signed the Russian to a 15-year, $100 million contract deal. However, the NHL ruled the original contact tried to get around the salary cap and penalized the three-time Stanley Cup champions. The Devils had already forfeited a third-round draft pick in 2011. The team also had a first-round draft pick taken from them in the ruling handed down by an independent arbiter, but they had the right to defer until 2014. The Devils kept deferring the loss of the first-round pick, which they were due to lose in June. The NHL said it would not comment further on the decision. Wilson Chandler Jersey . -- Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick shot a second-round 69 to take the lead after 36 holes and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam and Chad Pfeifer, who lost his left leg above the knee serving in Iraq, are among several players in contention in the American Century Championship tournament on Saturday. Kenneth Faried Jersey . Although Spain could still advance out of the group stage, the game may have signalled the end of the run by a generation of Spanish stars whose quick passing, "tiki-taka" style delighted the world and helped them win the last three major tournaments. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Drazen-Petrovic-City-Edition-Jersey/ . The goals took Liverpools tally in the Premier League this season to 70, overtaking Manchester City as the top scorers, and left the fourth-place team just four points behind league leader Chelsea. Theo Pinson Nets Jersey . Both the top-seeded Djokovic and sixth-seeded Fish took relatively easy paths, with the Serb winning when opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the second set with a sore arm and Fish dominating Janko Tipsarevic in two quick sets. Kevin Durant Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. MIAMI -- Jose Fernandez got booed for not running out a grounder, and felt a tiny twinge of disappointment about not getting a chance to finish off what could have been his first complete game. Everything else for the Miami Marlins young ace went perfectly once again Tuesday night. Fernandez allowed two hits in eight stellar innings, Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer and the Marlins opened a homestand by beating the Atlanta Braves 9-0 on Tuesday night. "Jose did a great job," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "We needed him to go out there and log some big innings, and thats back-to-back great starts against a great offensive team." Jarrod Saltalamacchia also homered for Miami, which had its third-highest run output of the season in a game that took just 2 hours, 7 minutes. It was the fastest one in the majors this season, according to STATS. Miami second baseman Ed Lucas had three hits in his season debut after recovering from a broken left hand, and Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run single for the Marlins. Fernandez (4-1) was dominant against the NL East leaders for the second time in a week, lowering his ERA to 1.59. He struck out eight and walked two, and hasnt allowed an earned run in 23 innings over his last three starts. The right-handers numbers are eye-popping going back to early in his rookie season. Fernandez is 14-4 with a 1.52 ERA in 24 starts since June 1, with 190 strikeouts against 45 walks in 160 innings. "Same as last time -- hes good every time," Atlantas Freddie Freeman said. Braves starter Alex Wood (2-4) allowed seven runs and 10 hits, leaving after facing four batters without getting an out in the sixth. Wood and Fernandez had a memorable duel last week, combining for 25 strikeouts and no walks in what became a 1-0 Miami win that lasted 2 hours, 8 minutes. This time, Fernandez -- who got booed by some in the crowd after not running out a sharp grounder to shortstop leading off the third -- needed only one run again. Miami just happened to give him eight more for good measure. The runs came in bunches during the rematch, with Miami scoring three in the third and five more in the sixth to blow it open. &quoot;We have to figure out how to beat Fernandez," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.dddddddddddd "Not everybody is Cy Young, and you still have to beat Cy Young every once in a while." Stanton went the opposite way for a two-run homer to right in the third inning, and Ozunas single in the sixth was enough to chase Wood. Fernandez even added a run-scoring single later in the sixth, and Saltalamacchia connected off Braves reliever Anthony Varvaro in the seventh. The Braves had only three right-handed batters in the starting lineup against Fernandez, looking for any way to break through against him. It was evident early that little was going to work. Fernandez needed only 17 pitches to get his first seven outs, and ended two innings with a pair of knee-buckling 83 mph off-speed offerings. Fernandez was even solid in the field, keeping the game scoreless with a nifty play to end the third. He came hard off the mound to field Ramiro Penas chopper that stopped halfway up the third base line, then faked a throw to first -- which baited the Braves Tyler Pastornicky into taking off from third base. Fernandez simply flipped the ball to Saltalamacchia, who put the tag on a sliding Pastornicky and kept the game scoreless. By the time Fernandez returned to the mound, he had a 3-0 lead and was rolling. Fernandez said he and Saltalamacchia had a quick pregame meeting to go over strategy and came up with the following plan: Whatever Miamis catcher called, Fernandez would throw. Redmond said he considered letting Fernandez finish the game, but with a nine-run lead the manager didnt want to take any risks in the ninth. "Ill get it sometime," Fernandez said of the elusive first complete game. NOTES: Aaron Harang (3-1) goes for Atlanta on Wednesday against the Marlins Nathan Eovaldi (1-1). ... To make room for Lucas, the Marlins designated INF Greg Dobbs for assignment. ... Marlins RHP Jacob Turner (shoulder strain) will come off the DL to start Saturday at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... The Braves said LHP Mike Minor (shoulder soreness) will start in Atlanta on Friday, making his season debut against San Francisco. ' ' '