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BOSTON -- John Lackey pitched seven strong innings, Jackie Bradley Jr. singled in two runs and the Boston Red Sox snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night. The Red Sox never lost more than three straight last year when they won the World Series. They avoided dropping their first four home games for the first time since 1984. Lackey (2-0) allowed an unearned run and five hits in seven innings five days after giving up two runs over six innings in a 6-2 win at Baltimore. Chris Capuano pitched the eighth and Koji Uehara escaped a second-and-third jam in the ninth in a non-save situation. Tanner Scheppers (0-1) allowed Bradleys run-scoring hits in the second and fourth, and Boston added three runs in the eighth. Bradley, Mike Napoli and A.J. Pierzynski each had three singles for the Red Sox. Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Bradley after singles by Xander Bogaerts and Pierzynski. Texas tied it in the fourth on singles by Adrian Beltre and Alex Rios, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly by Mitch Moreland. Bradley came through again in the fourth with another run-scoring single after Pierzynski singled and went to third on a single by Jonathan Herrera. The Red Sox stranded runners at second and third in the fifth after Napoli and Grady Sizemore singled and both advanced on a passed ball. Pierzynski ended the inning by striking out. Then the Rangers left runners at second and third with a chance to tie the game in the seventh. The threat ended when J.P. Arencibia grounded out to second as Lackey pounded his glove while walking off the mound after facing his final batter. But the Red Sox wasted a chance to extend their lead in the seventh when Bogaerts struck out with runners at second and third and two outs against Seth Rosin. Boston reached Rosin for three runs in the eighth when Pierzynski singled, went to second on a walk to Herrera and scored when Bradley bunted for a single and first baseman Prince Fielder threw wildly for an error. The other runs scored on a single by Daniel Nava and a fielders choice groundout by Dustin Pedroia. NOTES: Elvis Andrus and Rios have hits in each of Texas seven games. ... Martin Perez (0-0) pitches for Texas against Felix Doubront (1-0) in the second game of the three-game series Tuesday. ... Rangers manager Ron Washington said Yu Darvish, whose first start was delayed until last Sunday by back stiffness, will have his usual four days off before pitching Friday even though Texas has an off day Thursday. Scheppers next start will be pushed back to the weekend. ... The Red Sox signed free-agent infielder Ryan Roberts and sent infielder Brock Holt to Triple-A Pawtucket. ... The Rangers placed LHP Joe Saunders on the 15-day disabled list with a bruised left ankle. . All of 46 seconds into the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 victory over Alex Ovechkins struggling Washington Capitals, Crosby assisted on Chris Kunitzs goal. . The Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night, their seventh defeat in 10 games. Rasmus was put on the 15-day DL on May 15 because of a sore right hamstring. Hes hitting .222 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs. . They signed their first kicker. Ottawa inked Nick Setta, a 32-year-old native of Lockport, Illinois, to a contract. . Mark Van Guilder, Austin Watson and Colton Sissons also scored for the Admirals (22-13-10), who are 2-0-2 in their last four outings, while Roussel tacked on an assist for a two-point night. Greg Pateryn scored once for the Bulldogs (20-22-4), who lost their fifth straight contest, and also assisted on Gabriel Dumonts goal. . HABS HEADED TO CONFERENCE FINAL The Montreal Canadiens scored early in Game Seven, built a lead and protected it well on their way to a 3-1 series-clinching win over the Boston Bruins. While this game or series isnt necessarily a referendum on the value of fourth lines, the Canadiens certainly benefitted from production lower down their forward depth chart.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The first time that Ohio States LaQuinton Ross took a shot, North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll knew it was going to be a long night. Ross broke out of a frigid shooting spell by scoring 17 points Friday night and the seventh-ranked Buckeyes rode a 19-point first-half run to a 99-64 victory over the overmatched Ospreys. "He hit that first 3 from the corner and I started thinking to myself, Oh, Lord. Here we go," said Driscoll, who has known Ross since he was in middle school. Ross hit 6-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-7 3-pointers after struggling all year to find his range. The 6-foot-8 junior with a silky touch had a terrific run in the NCAA tournament a year ago, coming off the bench to give the Buckeyes instant offence on the way to the regional championship game. This year he was expected to replace departed Big Ten scoring leader Deshaun Thomas, but came in shooting just 22 per cent from the field and averaging 6.2 points a game. Over the last the three games he was only 2 for 20 from the field including 1 for 8 behind the arc. But he came out cool and confident against the Ospreys. He hit all four shots from the field -- including both 3-pointers -- while picking up 10 points in the opening half as Ohio State built a 48-29 lead. Buckeyes coach Thad Matta couldnt have been happier to see the ice thaw on Ross jumper. "LaQuinton got into a little bit of a groove," he said. "He and I talked the other day. I just said, Look, we cant make shots for you. We cant think for you out there on the court. I told him we were going to put him in positions to be successful. He was probably humbled a little bit the way hes shot the ball the last few games. It was great to see the ball go in for him." From watching Ross on video, Driscoll said it appeared he was unsure of everything. "Sometimes when you watch him on tape, it looks like he might not be locked in, like he might not be sure what his role is, what shot he should taake," he said.dddddddddddd "Is it a good shot? Is it a bad shot? Am I (a guard)? Am I (a forward)? Should I go to the (NBA) early? Should I come back? To his credit, for some reason, he seemed to be locked in." Ross hot shooting carried over to the rest of the Buckeyes, too. They came in shooting 42 per cent on the season but shot 69 per cent against North Florida-- the sixth-best shooting percentage in program history. Amir Williams and Amedeo Della each hit career highs for the Buckeyes (6-0), with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Aaron Craft added 16 points, making his first 3-pointer of the season, while Lenzelle Smith Jr. had 10. "When guys see other guys make shots, it boosts everyones confidence," Smith said. "It makes everybody think, Why cant I be the guy to make the next shot? That stuff catches on fire and guys start swinging the ball and getting wide-open shots." Beau Beech and Dallas Moore each had 14 points and Charles McRoy 11 for North Florida (4-4), which fell to 0-16 against ranked teams and 0-6 against teams in the Top 10. The Buckeyes made their first eight shots from the field while overcoming a 6-5 deficit with a 19-0 run to take the lead for good. Craft had three layups, Williams and Smith Jr. each had five points and Ross hit a 3 in the spurt. North Florida came back to score 14 of the next 18 -- Beech hit two 3s and Davenport added one -- to cut the lead to 28-20. But the Buckeyes led 48-29 at the break and then scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second half with Ross scoring four early points. It was the 100th collegiate win for Craft and Smith Jr., who reached that figure in 119 games -- faster than any Ohio State player. "As I told the guys at shootaround, this game today was about getting those two guys their 100th win," Matta said. "If you stop and think about how quick they got there -- 119 games to get 100 wins -- its amazing. And Ive never been prouder of two guys." ' ' 'to follow. ' ' '
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