DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- John Isner held off an upset bid by Dudi Sela of Israel on Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open after No. 3 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan exited the tournament because of a left hip injury. The second-seeded Isner squandered four match points in the third set after leading 4-1, but the 6-foot-10 American rallied from a 5-2 deficit to prevail in the tiebreaker for a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory that earned him a spot in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. "More times than not, when Im up 4-1, I close it out," said Isner, who is 5-0 in his three-set matches this season but is playing in his first tournament since exiting the Australian Open with an ankle injury last month. "It definitely didnt need to go to 5-5 when I was up 4-1. I put a lot of stress on myself when I do that." The world No. 13 will face American qualifier Rhyne Williams on Friday night. Williams ousted wild-card Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2 in Thursdays nightcap to reach his second ATP quarterfinal. Nishikoris bid to win his second consecutive ATP title came to an abrupt halt Thursday afternoon when the top-ranked Asian was forced to retire during the first set of his second-round match because of a left hip flexor injury. Nishikori was trailing Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 4-2 when he decided to stop the match. He said that he experienced discomfort for the first time during his first-round win Tuesday in which he stretched his win-loss record this season to 12-2. "I tried to play, but if youre not 100 per cent, its tough," said Nishikori, who is ranked No. 15 in the world and was coming off a win in Memphis last week. "I couldnt do anything today. Its going to take some time to recover. Its shocking this happened, especially since Ive been playing well." Gabashvili advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday and will face No. 7 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who defeated American wild-card Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-4. Samuel Groth and Max Mirnyi advanced to the doubles semifinals with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win against Americans Sekou Bangoura and Vahid Mirzadeh. Harrison and fellow American Jack Sock filled out the final spot in the doubles semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky. . - Joao Plata scored twice in the final 24 minutes, including the winner in stoppage time, to help Real Salt Lake remain unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over the winless Chicago Fire on Saturday night. . With the Rangers already leading 2-0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second period of New Yorks 7-2 pounding of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday afternoon.
http://www.nhlpanthersauthority.com/aut ... rs-jersey/. - The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent centre Brian de la Puente. . Espanyol midfielder Sanchez intercepted Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizozs clearance and, having spotted a gap, risked using his less-favoured left foot to fire a beautifully precise long-range shot that bounced in from high up the near post in the 24th minute. . Jimmy Howard made 44 saves and Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. ST. LOUIS -- A.J. Burnett had a special fan watching him pitch for the first time Friday night and he wanted to impress. He did. Burnett scattered seven hits for his first complete game of the year and the Philadelphia Phillies won their season-high fifth in a row, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1. "It the first time in my career my grandmother has seen me pitch," Burnett said. "It was extra special. She came up from Little Rock, Arkansas, with my mom and brother. It was awesome. She saw a good game." "Im giving her the game ball," he said. The Phillies winning streak has come on the road. They have won nine of 11 overall. "Everybody is feeding off one another and its clicking," Burnett said. "Were having fun." St. Louis has dropped three in a row after winning five straight. "Were trying real hard," said Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who had two hits. "But were facing good pitchers. A.J. threw a good game, kept us off balance." Burnett (5-6) threw 111 pitches to earn his 24th complete game. He struck out three, walked one and hit two batters. "Complete games dont happen very often," Burnett said. "I got quick outs, groundball outs. I threw my changeup a lot. I bet I threw 20-plus tonight. It was one of the days when the hook wasnt there. Normally, we keep pounding the hook trying to get it, but the changeup was effective. That pitch helped more than anything." That was the key, Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. "He had command of three pitches and he seemed to really pound the zone," Sandberg said. "When we gave him the lead, he really held his stuff. He still had good stuff in the ninth inning. He did a lot of things to help himself win the game." That included his bat. Burnett, who came into the season as a career .110 hitter, contributed an RBI double and scored. The ball bounced on the track in front of the 400-foot mark. "With the infield in, Ive got hit it in the air, right?" Burnett said with a laugh. "I put a pretty good swing on it thought. Thats all I got, though. If that ball doesnt leave, its not going to leave at all." Marlon Byrd homered and John Mayberry Jr. added two hits and scored twice. Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs and extended his hitting streak to 14 games with two hits.dddddddddddd Jaime Garcia (3-1) pitched into the sixth inning, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He lost his third start in a row to the Phillies. "He pitched close enough to give us a chance," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "He had good movement, he just got hit a couple of times." The game began after a 50-minute rain delay. St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the third when Matt Carpenter was hit by a pitch with two outs and later scored on a single by Matt Holliday. The Phillies scored twice in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Mayberry, Burnett and Rollins doubled in the fifth. Burnett drove in his first run of the season and Rollins stretched his longest hitting streak since a 14-game run in 2007. "Any way I can help," Burnett said. "Whatever it takes." The Phillies chased Garcia in the sixth. Byrd led off with a homer. After Domonic Brown doubled, Seth Maness relieved. Mayberry hit an RBI single and scored on Rollins sacrifice fly. NOTES: The Cardinals did not take batting practice before the game. ... The Phillies activated 3B Cody Asche (left hamstring) from the 15-day disabled list and put 3B Reid Brignac on the DL with a sprained left ankle. Brignac hurt his ankle in a play at first base Thursday when he tried to beat pitcher Shelby Miller to the bag. Asche grew up in nearby St. Charles County and played for the first time at Busch Stadium. ... Cardinals P Kevin Siegrist (strained left forearm) played long toss from 120 feet. He has not pitched since May 23. He said he might throw bullpen session Sunday. ... Cards GM John Mozeliak said P Trevor Megill, the Cardinals third-round pick in the amateur draft, has opted to return to Loyola Marymount for his senior season. Mozeliak said the team no longer will scout Megill, adding that Megill wanted more than the designated slot value of $504,400. ... Mozeliak said P Joe Kelly will have a "rigorous bullpen" Sunday and then a "baseball decision" will made about when Kelly might begin a rehab assignment. ... Rosemary Depler, of Peoria, Illinois, celebrated her 101st birthday by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. ' ' '
