DENVER - Corey Dickerson is still wondering why he was at the centre of a near scrum. Dickerson hit Atlanta catcher Gerald Laird with his backswing and tempers quickly flared, setting off a tense sequence and leading to several ejections Thursday as the Colorado Rockies beat the Braves 10-3. The Rockies led 8-3 in the eighth when Dickerson fouled away a pitch and knocked off Lairds facemask. "It was on a two-strike slider on a backswing that I hit Laird, but it was an accident and I think they know that," Dickerson said. A stunned Laird was on the ground for several minutes before walking off the field under his own power and being replaced by Evan Gattis. "Hes OK," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "They did all the concussion tests and the doctor cleared him to fly back with us. Im sure hes going to be a little sore. Dickersons backswing got him more on the jaw than on the head. I think we dodged a bullet there." With his next pitch, Atlanta reliever David Carpenter hit Dickerson in the thigh and was ejected. "I guess Carpenter thought it was on purpose," Dickerson said. Rockies manager Walt Weiss bolted from the dugout and began yelling at Carpenter, as well as in the general direction of Gonzalez. Weiss was held back by home plate umpire Jordan Baker before being ejected. When he returned to the dugout, Weiss smashed a bat against the wall. "If you think a guy can foul a ball off and then at the same time hit the catcher on the backswing on purpose, you got no clue," Weiss said. "They made their decision. They made a bad choice." Carpenter denied throwing at Dickerson. "I tried to run a fastball in on him, it cut a little bit and caught him," he said. "Dickerson was looking at me and I thought, You just got hit, go to first base, thats all there is to it. Get on with the next batter. I was surprised getting tossed out of the game there, I was preparing for the next hitter." In the ninth, Rockies reliever Nick Masset hit Gattis in the hip with a pitch. Both Masset and Rockies bench coach Tom Runnells were immediately tossed. Jhoulys Chacin (1-4) pitched seven scoreless innings for his first win of the season, backed by home runs from Charlie Blackmon and Justin Morneau. Chacin, who missed the first month of the season with a right shoulder strain, struck out five and walked two. Rookie Tommy La Stella was the only Braves player to get a hit off him, singling in the second and doubling in the fifth. In his toughest inning, with the Rockies ahead 3-0, Chacin issued consecutive one-out walks in the seventh to Chris Johnson and La Stella but got out of the jam by getting Andrelton Simmons to ground into a double play. "I didnt feel that good today," Chacin said. "I was just trying to make my pitches. I was keeping my pitches down and trying to get ahead and thats pretty much what I did. Any time youre throwing strikes, youre usually going to get good results." Ervin Santana (5-3) struck out eight in 6 1-3 innings and scattered seven hits but two of them went for home runs. Chacin, who did not receive any run support in three of his outings and totalled just 10 overall in his seven previous starts, helped himself early. He singled in the third ahead of Blackmons home run. It was the 12th home run of the season from Blackmon, all from the leadoff spot, which leads the majors and is the most by a Rockies player in the No. 1 spot in team history. Morneau connected on Santanas first offering in the sixth for his 11th of the season, a two-out drive that sailed over the centre field wall into the Braves bullpen. The Rockies pulled away with a five-run seventh, getting an RBI single from Charlie Culberson and a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Ryan Wheeler. Josh Rutledge scored from third on a wild pitch by and Morneau delivered a bases-loaded single to drive in the final two runs of the inning. The Braves scored all their runs in the eighth on Jason Heywards RBI single and B.J. Uptons homer. After Carpenter was ejected, Anthony Varvaro took over and the Rockies added a pair of runs on RBI singles by pinch-hitter Brandon Barnes and Blackmon. NOTES: Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki was given a day off. ... Chacin fanned Gerald Laird in the fifth inning for his fourth strikeout of the game and the 500th of his career. Hes the seventh Rockies pitcher to reach the milestone. ... The Braves open a series against the Los Angeles Angels with RHP Aaron Harang (4-5) opposing C.J. Wilson (7-5) in the opener Friday. ... The Rockies travel to San Francisco, where Jorge De La Rosa (6-5) will face Tim Lincecum. . Jonathan Crompton led the team to a 40-9 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Crompton threw three touchdown passes - two to Duron Carter and one to Brandon London - and Sean Whyte connected on four field goals to power the Alouettes to the win. . Watching them over the past year - and in some cases, two years - has given us a starting point for this seasons Craigs List.
http://www.cheapvikingsjerseysonline.co ... sey-online. The punch happened in the fourth quarter of Milwaukees 116-102 loss to the Kings on Wednesday when the two players became entangled while battling for rebounding position. . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday. . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders.PITTSBURGH -- The best line on hockeys busiest team hardly looked gassed. The way Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot were furiously pouring in overtime goals, the New York Rangers didnt exactly look like a group in need of a day off. Brassard beat Marc-Andre Fleury 3:06 into overtime -- with Pouliot bizarrely doing the same seven seconds later -- and the Rangers stunned the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference secound round Friday night. The winner officially went to Brassard, whose wrist shot from in front beat Fleury cleanly but caromed back onto the ice. Referee Steve Kozari waved it off, however, and play continued before Pouliot slammed the puck into a wide open net moments later for good measure. "I found out way later (Brassard) got the goal," Pouliot said. "Good for him. Weve been playing well against Philly and now tonight. We deserved that." Pouliot and Brad Richards gave the Rangers an early 2-0 lead. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots and stuffed a late Pittsburgh breakaway in the final seconds of regulation. The line of Pouliot, Brassard and Mats Zuccarello combined for 14 points in New Yorks four regular-season meetings with the Penguins. They were the best trio on the ice on a team barely 48 hours removed from a wearying seven-game victory over Philadelphia in the opening round. "Since Christmas theyve probably been our most consistent line," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Theyve got real good chemistry. They read off one another and support one another well and ... they scored two in overtime." Lee Stempniak and James Neal scored for the Penguins. Fleury made 24 saves but was helpless on the winner. "It was just a big pile of guys and I was trying to find the puck out of it," Fleury said. Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby was held without a goal for the 12th straight playoff game as the Rangers took away much of the open ice where Crosby likes to operate. "It couldve went either way," Crosby said. "I dont think we played a full 60 (minutes)." Not exactly. The Rangers were supposed to be exhausted after outlasting the Flyers in the opening round, not advancing until a 2-1 victory in Game 7 on Wednesday night. Instead, it was the well-rested Penguins who apppeared to need a nap.dddddddddddd Pouliot gave New York the lead 5:04 into first period, capitalizing on a Pittsburgh turnover then splitting Penguins defenceman Olli Maatta and Matt Niskanen before firing a wrist shot that caromed off Fleurys right arm and into the net. Richards doubled the lead late in the period with his third and easiest goal of the post-season. Carl Hagelin beat Maatta to a puck in the corner and fed it to Richards, who had enough time in front to go from his backhand to his forehand and flip the puck by an overmatched Fleury. Whatever sluggishness the Penguins felt after a three-day layoff vanished in the second. Stempniak cut the lead in half by taking a nice drop pass from Beau Bennett then streaking down the middle and beating Lundqvist with a backhand 7:15 into the period. Neal tied it just over 6 minutes later thanks to a rare mistake by Lundqvist, who deflected Neals into the air then had it glance off his back and into the net. Lundqvist pleaded with officials that Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin had interfered with him while trying to make the save, but replays showed Malkins high-stick swat didnt come close to touching the puck. New York gathered itself before the third and the teams traded chances over the final 20 minutes of regulation with Lundqvist stopping a slap shot from Stempniak in the final 15 seconds to send it to overtime. Whatever adrenaline the Rangers had left fueled them during the brief extra period. New York dominated play before the madcap finish to beat the Penguins in Game 1 of a post-season series for the first time. The Penguins came in 4-0 in the playoff series against New York. Now the Rangers find themselves in control with a welcome day off before Sundays rematch. "Yeah we played seven games and the seventh one was a grueling match but I think most of us have been through it," Pouliot said. "Its the NHL and you have to find a way and we did." NOTES: New York went 0 for 4 on the power play and is 0 for its last 25 with the man advantage. ... The Rangers held out F Chris Kreider once again. Kreider wore a non-contact jersey during Friday mornings skate and his return from a hand injury remains uncertain. ... Penguins D Brooks Orpik missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. ' ' '
