SAN DIEGO -- Eric Stults pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time in nearly two months and Alexi Amarista homered to lead the San Diego Padres to a 2-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday. Stults (3-11), winless in his last nine starts, was victorious for the first time since a 9-3 victory over Miami on May 10. The lefty held the Giants to four hits with six strikeouts and two walks as he snapped a six-start losing streak. The Padres won their season-high fifth straight game as they faced the Giants for the first time since they were no-hit by Tim Lincecum on June 25 in San Francisco. Lincecum is scheduled to start on Sunday. Although Stults had lost eight of his nine starts during his winless streak, he had pitched well in his last two. He continued that trend against San Francisco as he allowed just one runner to reach third base. Joaquin Benoit pitched a perfect eight inning and Huston Street got the final three outs for his 23rd save in as many chances to secure the four-hitter. It was San Diegos second straight shutout following Tyson Ross three-hit gem in Wednesdays 3-0 win over Cincinnati, and its third in four games. San Francisco continued to freefall with its 18th loss in 23 games. The Giants 5-18 record since June 9 is the worst in the majors as they have fallen out of first place in the NL West. It was the third time in five games the Giants have been shutout. Matt Cain (1-7) pitched well but had little to show for it as he lost his fourth consecutive decision and is winless in seven starts. He allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. Cain struck out six to become the fourth San Francisco pitcher to reach the 1,500-strikeout mark. Amarista led off the third inning with his second homer that barely cleared the right-field fence. Seth Smith doubled with one out and scored on Chase Headleys single for a 2-0 lead. Headley went 4 for 4. Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was 0 for 4 in his return to the Giants lineup after missing 50 games with a broken thumb. Notes: The last time the Padres won five straight was last season when they had a seven-game streak in June. ... The Giants have scored two or fewer runs in eight of their last 11 games. ... Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry and Lincecum are the other San Francisco pitchers with 1,500 strikeouts. Cain is the eighth pitcher in Giants franchise to reach the mark . ... Giants RHP Tim Hudson (7-5, 2.59 ERA) will face Padres RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (2-0, 0.66) on Saturday. . Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. . Goins is the early favourite to win the starting job at second base. Pillar is an outsider to secure a role off the bench, which becomes an even more difficult spot to win if the number of back up jobs is reduced by one. That happens if the Blue Jays decide to start the season with an eight man bullpen.
http://www.angelsteamshop.com/Angels-Ch ... ds-Jersey/. Johnny Manziel, college footballs most entertaining player with the reputation for pulling off magical plays, was selected with the No. . - Buffalo Bills running back C. . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Justin Peters wants the Carolina Hurricanes to believe in him. They say they do -- especially after performances like this. Peters stopped 21 shots in his third career shutout and the Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 1-0 on Thursday night. Radek Dvorak scored a deflected goal in the first period to help the Hurricanes win their second straight following a five-game slide that coincided with a lower-body injury to starting goalie Cam Ward. Peters has allowed a total of one goal in those victories. "Hes given us an opportunity to win these last two games," coach Kirk Muller said. "Hes done his job. Wed like to say were going to score more than one or two goals, but you know what, theres nights you dont have to. Hes given us a confidence that we can just go out and play our game ... and play it the way we want to play it." Peters, making his sixth straight start, made one of his best saves in the final minute of the second period when he stopped a streaking Michael Grabner after a turnover. The Hurricanes blocked 13 shots, three by forward Tuomo Ruutu. Peters finished with the Hurricanes first shutout of the season and his first since blanking Washington last March 12. "I want to create confidence in the team. I have confidence in them, and Im just trying to build that confidence," Peters said. "Every day, we become more confident in each other because we trust each other, because were playing the right way. When we play the right way ... thats when we get rewarded." All six of Carolinas wins have come by one goal. "Games are tight and theres not a lot of room out there," Muller said. "We found a way to win." Backup Kevin Poulin made 23 saves in his second start in six days for the Islanders. They have lost two straight and four of six, and were shut out for the firstt time this season.dddddddddddd "Its frustrating to sit here and not even get a point in that game when I felt we deserved a little better," coach Jack Capuano said, "but thats the way it goes." At the very least, their penalty-kill unit showed improvement. They shut down both of Carolinas power plays after giving up four goals with the man disadvantage in a 6-2 loss to the Capitals two nights earlier. The Hurricanes, who have made a habit of falling behind early, scored the first goal of a game for the first time since mid-October -- and needed a deflection to do it. "It was a little almost unusual we got that first one," forward Jordan Staal said. Poulin tried to clear the puck from behind the net but Ron Hainsey kept it in at the blue line, then threw it at the net and Dvorak tipped it in from the side of the net at 6:39. What turned out to be the games only goal also marked Carolinas first in a 5-on-5 situation since Oct. 25. In the four games in between, they scored four goals -- two on the power play, one with a sixth attacker and one in a 4-on-4 overtime to beat Philadelphia two nights earlier. Meanwhile, the Islanders gave themselves plenty of scoring chances but too few pucks on net: New York put just 12 shots on goal during the first two periods. "We gave him an opportunity to make that first save, and our D did a good job of blocking people out in front of the net and preventing those second and third rebounds," Muller said. Added Capuano: "Missed too many shots." NOTES: Hainsey has assists in two straight games -- his only two assists of the season. ... Carolina D Brett Bellemore found himself in two fights in the second, trading punches with Matt Martin before coming to blows with Kyle Okposo. ... New Yorks Travis Hamonic scrapped with Nathan Gerbe early in the third. ' ' '
