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ROME -- Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez scored either side of halftime as Juventus asserted its dominance in Serie A with a 2-0 win at AC Milan on Sunday. Striding toward its third consecutive title, the victory moved Juventus 11 points ahead of second-place Roma. "Only a tank could stop Juventus," new Milan coach Clarence Seedorf said. "They showed their strength and Tevez provided the difference. Hes a great player." Milan, which was starting to gain momentum under Seedorf, dropped to 10th, six points adrift of the European places. Milan started strongly with Kaka and Andrea Poli threatening in the first half but Juve took control when Llorente collected a pass from Stephan Lichtsteiner in the 44th to score from the edge of the box and highlight Milans porous defence. Then in the 68th, Tevez was left alone to find the target with a shot from 25 metres (yards) that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar. It was Tevezs 15th goal of the season, putting him atop the Italian leagues scoring chart, one ahead of Fiorentinas Giuseppe Rossi, who has been out injured since January. Milan sorely missed Mario Balotelli, who is still recovering from a right shoulder injury. Making matters worse, midfielder Poli was taken to the hospital after getting hit in the face during a collision with Juventus defender Martin Caceres in the 51st. Earlier, third-placed Napoli was held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Livorno without its standout forward Gonzalo Higuain. Belgium midfielder Dries Mertens converted a penalty for Napoli in the 31st but Livorno equalized when a backheel effort from its 19-year-old Senegalese defender Mbaye Ibrahima resulted in an own-goal by Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the 39th. Still, Napoli moved seven points ahead of fourth-placed Fiorentina in the race for the final Champions League spot. Fiorentina, which was missing two key suspended midfielders in Borja Valero and David Pizarro, lost 1-0 at home to Lazio. Also, the Tuscan squads coach Vincenzo Montella served a touchline ban following the fallout from Mondays 2-2 draw at Parma, which featured three red cards. Albanian midfielder Lorik Cana scored for Lazio five minutes in with a bicycle kick. Livorno moved level with Chievo Verona third from bottom, with the last three clubs destined for Serie B at the end of the season. Higuain is among the Serie A leaders with 13 goals but was suspended for this match. His replacement, Goran Pandev, earned Napolis penalty with what appeared to be minimal contact from Livorno defender Federico Ceccherini, leading to protests from the hosts. Elsewhere, Parma beat 10-man Sassuolo 1-0 with a second-minute goal from Marco Parolo to move level with Hellas Verona in sixth place -- one point behind Inter Milan and the Europa League zone. Verona goalkeeper Rafael saved a 47th-minute penalty from Rolando Bianchi in a 0-0 draw at home with Bologna. Also, Sampdoria won 2-0 at Torino with goals from Stefano Okaka and Manolo Gabbiadini; Atalanta beat 10-man Chievo Verona 2-1 after strikes by Carlos Carmona in the 21st and a winner from Luca Cigarini in the 85th; and Genoa beat 10-man Catania 2-0 with goals from Luca Antonelli and Stefano Sturaro. Earlier in the lunchtime fixture, Cagliari kept its focus to beat visiting Udinese 3-0 amid speculation that the Sardinian club could be sold. Colombian forward Victor Ibarbo put Cagliari ahead in the 18th, Uruguayan midfielder Matias Vecino doubled the lead in the 81st and Macedonian midfielder Agim Ibraimi found the target in the 89th. Udinese captain Antonio Di Natale threatened several times in the first half, hitting the crossbar with a deflected shot on one occasion. The victory moved Cagliari level with Udinese in 14th place. Cagliari president Massimo Cellino attended the match, his first stadium appearance since January. Fans greeted him with chants of "We want a president." Eleonora Sport Ltd., which is run by the Cellino family, is on the verge of taking over a 75 per cent stake in fallen English power Leeds, leading many to believe Cellino is losing interest in Cagliari, which has been beset by stadium troubles. . The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. . Kyle Shanahan was hired as offensive co-ordinator Monday after spending the previous four years in the same role with the Washington Redskins. . -- Kevin Stadler might be playing in the Masters for the first time, but hes already showing his old man a thing or two. .J. -- All those records, all for naught. . -- The Anaheim Ducks have signed left wing Dany Heatley to a one-year deal, returning the 33-year-old unrestricted free agent to the Pacific Division.NEW YORK, N.Y. - For once, Clayton Kershaw was glad to see a long shutout streak end.Kershaw became the first pitcher to win the National League MVP award since Bob Gibson in 1968, coasting to an easy victory Thursday.A little bit of shock, honestly, the Dodgers ace said on a conference call. I guess I never really anticipated to win that.A day after unanimously taking the NL Cy Young Award, Kershaw completed a Los Angeles sweep. A little earlier, Angels outfielder Mike Trout was a unanimous pick for the AL MVP.Trout had been blanked in his bid the past two years, finishing second both times to Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera. The 23-year-old Trout was the youngest unanimous MVP pick in major league history.Just anxious throughout the day, Trout said of the waiting period. I knew the experience I had the last two years. It helped me with it.Trout, the MVP of the All-Star game in July, and Kershaw both led their teams to West division titles. In August, they finally faced each in a regular-season game — Trout singled, doubled and struck out looking at Dodger Stadium.Someday, they hope to meet in October.I think in the future were going to contend for the World Series, year in and year out, Kershaw said.To do that, they want to improve in the playoffs. Kershaw went 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA against St. Louis in the Division Series, leaving him 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in the post-season.The MVP and Cy Young prizes dont take the sting away of what happened in the playoffs, Kershaw said.Trout went 1 for 12 in a three-game sweep by Kansas City in his first playoff try.Its tough to do. You have all these expectations, you want to do so good, he said.The awards voting was completed by the end of the regular season.Kershaw breezed past Miami bopper Giancarlo Stanton and Pittsburgh outfielder Andrew McCutchen to become Most Valuable Player.While Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander won the AL MVP in 2011, no one on the NL side had done it for nearly a half-century.There was plenty of everyday player-vs.-pitcher MVP debate before this announcement. Kershaw had acknowledged there are so many people out there who dont think a pitcher should win.But the 26-year-old lefty again dominated the hitters — Kershaw led the majors in wins and ERA while going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and throwing a no-hitter.Kershaw got 18 of 30 first-place votes and 355 points in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He drew nine second-place votees, one third and pair of fourths.ddddddddddddTo be a pitcher and win the MVP, its pretty awesome, he said.Stanton got eight first-place ballots and 298 points. He led the NL with 37 homers and was second with 105 RBIs, and missed the last 17 games for the fourth-place Marlins after being hit in the face by a fastball.McCutchen got four firsts and 271 points in his bid to win the award for the second straight year. He hit .314 with 25 home runs and 83 RBIs for the wild-card Pirates.Six AL pitchers have won the MVP since Gibson took it for the Cardinals.Before Gibson, seven pitchers had won the NL MVP, a list that includes Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Carl Hubbell and Dizzy Dean.The AL MVP has been won 12 times by pitchers, starting when it was first presented in 1931 to Lefty Grove.Kershaw won the major league season opener in Australia on March 22, then missed more than a month when a strained upper back put him on the disabled list.Featuring sharp breaking pitches, Kershaw came back to win his second straight NL Cy Young and third in four years.Kershaw led the big leagues in complete games and was best among starters in strikeouts per nine innings and WHIP (walks plus hits per inning).The four-time All-Star struck out 239 in 198 1-3 innings. On June 18, he threw the first no-hitter of his career, at Dodger Stadium against Colorado.Trout received all 30 first-place votes and 420 points. Detroit designated hitter Victor Martinez was second with 229 points and Cleveland outfielder Michael Brantley third with 185.Trout hit .287 and set career highs in home runs (36) and RBIs (111) while leading the major leagues in runs with 115 and extra-base hits with 84. In his third full season, he matched his bests in doubles (39) and triple (nine).The powers definitely up, he said. Getting a little older and a little stronger.Other numbers also changed. He led the AL with 184 strikeouts and his stolen bases dropped to 16.Trout was a unanimous pick as the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year and was second in MVP voting to Cabrera in both of his first two full seasons, 81 points back in 2012 and 103 points behind last year.Trout is the fifth-youngest MVP, STATS said. Vida Blue (1971), Johnny Bench (1970) and Stan Musial (1943) were 22 and Cal Ripken Jr. (1983) was a younger 23.Kershaw and Trout won the last of baseballs major post-season awards.Just in time, too. Pitchers and catchers are due at spring training in only 98 days. ' ' '
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