NEW YORK -- Zack Wheeler learned a couple things Sunday. Pitching with a big, early lead is fun. And, its possible to work through an issue with his motion without losing rhythm on the mound. Both lessons helped the 24-year-old rising star breeze into the seventh inning, Anthony Recker hit a three-run homer in a five-run first and the New York Mets beat the Texas Rangers 8-4 for a series win. "Its a big thing for me because not always I was able to find it," Wheeler said of fixing a timing glitch in his mechanics. "It felt good to come back out there and compete." Lucas Duda had an RBI double and Juan Lagares a run-scoring single in the Mets biggest opening inning of the season, with all the runs scoring with two outs. New York then got only one hit off Nick Tepesch (3-4) until Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off the sixth with a long ball to right field. Daniel Murphys RBI double in the seventh made it 7-1, but reliever Gonzalez Germen allowed Alex Rios first homer in 46 games and Leonys Martins two-run drive before getting an out in the eighth. Ruben Tejada had an RBI single in the eighth to increase New Yorks lead to a four runs. "The kind of hit Ruben got in the eighth wins games," manager Terry Collins said. Jeurys Familia cleaned up for Gonzalez by getting the final two outs in the eighth and closer Jenrry Mejia pitched the ninth. The Mets needed five relievers to help send Texas to its sixth loss on a seven-game road trip that ended Sunday. "We still had a lot of baseball to play and we ended up doing that," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We just couldnt make up for the runs that they put on the board." Wheeler (4-8) had his second straight solid outing in an up-and-down season to help the Mets win for just the third time in 11 games. The lanky right-hander lasted 6 1-3 innings and gave up a run and six hits, including Robinson Chirinos second homer of the series. It was Wheelers first victory in his last 10 home starts. He is 1-6 over that span. "Weve got a young pitcher on our hands whos going to be really, really good," Collins said. "Zack gets better each start. Today his velocity was consistent throughout the game." A day after Texas rode Chirinos three-run shot in a four-run first for a 5-3 victory, Recker put New York up 5-0 with a flyball that down the left-field line. "To put up five in the first inning is pretty cool," Recker said. Tepesch, whose start was pushed back twice last week and pitched nine days ago, was hurt by two walks in the first. Curtis Granderson walked leading off and, after Duda drove in his 12th run 15 games with a two-out double, Nieuwenhuis was walked to extend the inning for Lagares. Tejada walked after Reckers homer but Wheeler struck out. But Tepesch settled until Tejada had a one-out double in the fourth. In six innings, Tepesch allowed six runs and five hits. He walked four and struck out four. "Just tried to get back to just commanding it down in the zone and making good pitches down in the zone," Tepesch said of rebounding from the first. The 25-year-old Tepesch got his first big league hit in his fifth career at-bat, sending a bouncer past diving shortstop Tejada leading off the fifth. Tejada robbed Tepesch of a hit in the third inning with a diving catch. NOTES: The Mets have scored 60 runs in the first, their best inning this season. ... Texas starting pitchers have hits in each of the three games. ... LHP Joe Saunders has cleared waivers and is now a free agent. The Rangers designated him for assignment Tuesday after he went winless in eight starts. He is 0-5 with a 6.13 ERA. ... The Mets placed LHP Jonathon Niese on the DL with shoulder fatigue. RHP Dillon Gee (right lat strain), on the DL since May 11, threw a bullpen Sunday and could take Nieses spot in the rotation Wednesday. ... Up next: The Mets host NL East-leading Atlanta Braves for four games. The Rangers return to Texas for a three-game set with Houston. The Rangers have lost 15 of 23 at home. . PAUL, Minn. . 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity.
http://www.cheapjerseysfromchina.info/.That is precisely what they got Sunday.The Ravens trailed at halftime and never built a comfortable lead against lowly Jacksonville, yet did just enough to squeeze out a 20-12 win to stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race. . -- Downcast before the final game of what had been a difficult road trip, the Ottawa Senators found a way to dig out a little momentum in the desert before heading home. . The future hall of famers stole the show at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, with Jagr moving into seventh place in all-time goal scoring and Brodeur stopping 29 shots as the Devils downed the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. LAPEENRANTA, Finland -- Canada will have to play for bronze at the world under-18 hockey championship. David Kase scored at 6:17 of overtime to give the Czech Republic a 4-3 semifinal win over Canada on Saturday. Kase converted a turnover in the Canadian zone to move the Czechs into the tournament final against the United States on Sunday. The Americans advanced with a 4-1 semifinal victory over Sweden. Canada, the defending champion who erased an early 3-0 deficit, will play the Swedes for the bronze medal on Sunday. "Its not easy," Canadian head coach Kevin Dineen said. "You just dont walk by this, you feel the sting of it and understand its going to be a tough game for both teams. "But it has to be something that we understand about playing for your country. Theres opportunity to finish strong and weve got to come out and show some respect for our country by playing extremely hard." The Czechs dominated overtime, outshooting Canada 5-1 in the extra frame and forcing goalie Mason McDonald to come up big. But the Canadians had a glorious chance to earn the victory when they went on the power play after David Pastrnak was called for hooking Travis Konecny at 2:07, but couldnt come up with the winner. Dineen said that was indeed a lost opportunity for his squad. "Absolutely," he said. "They were able to clear two pucks out and unfortunately for us we didnt have a net presence there. "We had some real skill and some ability to shoot it but nobody standing in front of the net, which was a real issue for us. We needed to capitalize there and I think when you get one of those in overtime you like to think that youve got a real advantage and unfortunately we couldnt get the thing to go in.dddddddddddd" The Canadians forced overtime with third-period goals by Joe Hicketts and Daniel Audette and Dineen said the effort his team had to expend to erase its early deficit came back to haunt it later on. "Yeah, it did," said Dineen, who led Canadas national womens team to Olympic gold in Sochi, Russia. "These players are used to logging a lot of icetime with their respective junior teams but I dont think theyre used to logging such hard minutes like they had to tonight. "That certainly played into it, fatigue at the end." Jiri Smejkal, Jakub Vrana and Michael Spacek scored in regulation for the Czech Republic, which outshot the Canadians 33-30. Mathew Barzal also scored for Canada. The Czechs wasted no time opening the scoring, with Spaceks goal coming just 1:15 into the contest. Vrana made it 2-0 at 7:37 of the second before Smejkal converted on a two-on-one break at 12:57. Barzal cut Canadas deficit to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 14:51. The Canadians came close moments after, with Ryan Gropp having a great scoring chance off a two-on-one, but couldnt beat Czech goalie Vtek Vanecek. Queeneville also had a glorious opportunity to make it a one-goal game with just over two minutes remaining. Hicketts pulled Canada to within 3-2 when his wrist shot from the point beat a screened Vanecek at 5:02 of the third before Audette scored off a goal-mouth scramble in front of Vanecek at 12:21. ' ' '
