we believe by Auguswe believe by Augus | Forum

LOS ANGELES -- For a team that hasnt played well from behind, the Los Angeles Dodgers managed to pull out a victory after trailing and then blowing a two-run lead against a club with the best record in baseball. PJ Tucker Jersey . Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in three runs, Mark Ellis lined a go-ahead double in the sixth inning and the Dodgers defeated St. Louis 5-3 on Saturday night to snap the Cardinals three-game winning streak. "Just the fact that we stayed in the game helps," Gonzalez said. "Its not that were not fighting. Were just going down in order and not getting guys on base." The last-place Dodgers, who had lost five of seven, gave up a two-run lead before Ellis two-out hit off Seth Maness (3-1) scored Carl Crawford from first base to make it 4-3. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly pulled out all the stops in trying to orchestrate a victory. He made double switches in the sixth and seventh, and then inserted pinch-hitter Juan Uribe in the eighth, resulting in an RBI double. Paco Rodriguez (1-2) earned his first major league victory with a scoreless inning of relief on 10 pitches. He came in with the bases loaded in the sixth and escaped the jam while preserving a 3-3 tie. Brandon League tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his 10th save in 12 chances. The NL Central-leading Cardinals tied the game at 3 on David Freeses broken-bat RBI double and Pete Kozmas infield single in the sixth. Nick Punto made a diving stop behind third base, but he couldnt throw out Kozma. "I thought I did (have a double down the line), but he made an outstanding play," Kozma said. "If it gets through, two and maybe three runs score." The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead on Gonzalezs RBI double off Joe Kelly in the third. Gonzalez led off the fifth with his fifth homer, extending the lead to 3-1. He tied the score at 1 in the first with an RBI double. Ellis (.309), Gonzalez (.316) and Punto (.340), who went 3 for 4, powered the Dodgers offence from the top of the order while sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier combined to go hitless in seven at-bats. Kemp struck out twice, including once with runners on first and second to end the sixth. The duo was a combined 0 for 6 on Friday. Fans booed both Kemp and Ethier. "It may be a little part of the fans frustration when you have high expectations," Mattingly said. "You change that by playing better and winning games." Mattingly made his second double switch in the seventh, with Kenley Jansen taking the mound and Skip Schumaker replacing Kemp in centre field. A clearly frustrated Kemp returned to the dugout shouting, but Mattingly said he didnt take him out because hes struggling. "Its tough because you dont want to take to switch one of your guys out but it was the only move I felt I had," he said. The win helped Kemp cool down. "It had been a bad day for me. I didnt do much to help the team," he said. "Thats how they feel. Let them do what they want to do." Gonzalez didnt like the negative reaction to Kemp. "Kemp is never a guy who should be booed," he said. "Hes trying his heart out. He cares more than anybody out here. He wants to do more. Hell get out of it." Los Angeles starter Ted Lilly allowed two runs and two hits in 5 1-3 innings in his first major league game since a 12-2 loss to Colorado on April 29. The left-hander struck out three and walked one in his third start of the year. He retired 14 in a row during one stretch. Lilly began the season late on April 24 after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, then went on the disabled list from April 30 to May 20 with a strained right rib cage. "I was hoping to go a little deeper. Fortunately, we won the game," he said. "My timing was a little in and out. My command wasnt as good as I would like it. I still have a little ways to go as far as sharpness. That being said, its the best Ive thrown the ball in a while." Cardinals starter John Gast left in the bottom of the second because of left shoulder tightness. He faced six batters, giving up one run and one hit. The rookie left-hander threw 25 pitches, walking two and striking out none. "I wasnt getting real loose in the bullpen and then it got worse once I got out there," he said. "It was kind of tight and weak, and it was affecting my command and velocity the whole time. Last year I sat out a start because of something in the front of my shoulder, and today it was in the back of it." St. Louis already has three starters on the disabled list: Chris Carpenter (who hasnt pitched this season), Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook. Gast was starting in place of Westbrook. NOTES: Kelly tied his career high with six strikeouts and equaled his longest relief appearance of the season, allowing two runs in three innings. ... Dodgers SS Dee Gordon snapped an 0-for-25 slump when he singled in the fourth, his first hit since May 13 against Washington. ... The Dodgers improved to 1,009-1,007-16 in the teams all-time series. ... The Cardinals are undefeated in their last seven series (6-0-1) going into Sundays finale. Gerald Green Jersey . Down by seven with 90 seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable. Chris Paul Rockets Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.therocketsofficial.com/Customized/ . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds.PRETORIA, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius stood for his entire 15-minute court hearing Tuesday, staring straight ahead, hands clasped in front of him and giving away little emotion as the world got its first close up view of the double-amputee Olympian and murder suspect in nearly four months. In stark contrast to the sobbing figure Pistorius presented through much of his bail hearing in February, the athlete appeared composed as Acting Chief Magistrate Daniel Thulare postponed the case until Aug. 19 to allow police more time to investigate the Valentines Day killing of his girlfriend. Pistorius spoke just three words in court after the magistrate asked him if he understood he was still bound by the same bail conditions and must reappear then. "Yes, your honour," Pistorius replied in a voice which croaked at first, but which also had an air of newfound calm ahead of a trial which wont start until September, at least, and will likely be a long, slow process. Pistorius faces a life sentence in prison, with a minimum of 25 years, if convicted of premeditated murder, the charge against him for the Feb. 14 shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp. Having faced up to the rows of television cameras and photographers that gathered around him Tuesday when he entered Court C, clamouring for their first images of him in months, Pistorius then kissed a family member and left the dock after the short appearance. He didnt comment to reporters. In a macabre coincidence, the case will continue on what would have been Steenkamps 30th birthday, and the model and law graduates parents this week pleaded in an interview with a British television channel for answers to the killing where only Pistorius and Steenkamp were present. "I want to know why he shot her because she must have been so afraid," Steenkamps mother, June Steenkamp, told Channel 5. The extension was sought by the prosecution, and will eventually give investigators six months to gather evidence, interview witnesses and prepare a case against Pistorius by the time he returns to court in August. Prosecutors said police should finish their investigation by then and the trial could start in September, but a verdict possibly wont come until next year. Since he was freed on bail on Feb. 22 -- just over a week after killing Steenkamp in his home -- Pistorius has been living as a virtual recluse, his family has said, with just two reported sightings of him in public. The 26-year-old Pistorius has said he shot Steenkamp accidentally through a toilet stall door, thinking she was a nighttime intruder. The staate alleges he and his 29-year-old girlfriend may have argued before her death and he intentionally killed her. Steve Francis Jersey. An athlete who had his lower legs amputated when he was a baby, and who then went on to run at the Olympics, Pistorius has faced up to challenges before -- although none with the immensity of his looming murder trial. Pistorius family said he was broken with grief in the immediate aftermath of Steenkamps death, but his uncle said he would be prepared for trial. "He will be ready once the court case starts and he will be able to stand as a man in that courtroom," Arnold Pistorius said in excerpts from a South African television interview Sunday and released by his family. Steenkamps family -- none of whom were in court -- also spoke out ahead of the hearing, with her parents telling Britains Channel 5 on Monday that they were still desperate to know the reasons behind the shooting, and also that their daughter had told them about previous arguments with Pistorius. "I just feel why couldnt I have warned her, or known something about this person (Pistorius), that they could be capable of doing something like that," June Steenkamp said in the interview. Pistorius arrived at the courthouse in a silver SUV with black blinds covering the windows, and used the main public entrance and not the back or side entrances he arrived at during his four-day bail hearing. He was then forced to walk past dozens more photographers and television crews which crowded him outside, with police roughly pushing back reporters to make way for Pistorius to pass. The Olympians news-dominating case has never been far from the worlds headlines, but Acting Chief Magistrate Thulare also warned Tuesday of "scandalous and possibly contemptuous" reporting by some media in Pistorius case following the publication of pictures by another British television station last week. The leaked photographs purport to show the blood-spattered bathroom where Pistorius fatally shot Steenkamp, firing his 9mm pistol four times through the locked door of a toilet stall and hitting his girlfriend with three bullets. Prosecutors wouldnt comment on those leaked images or which areas of the police investigation were still ongoing. "The investigation is continuing and we believe by August, or even before August, we will have wrapped up everything," prosecution spokesman Medupe Simasiku said. "As soon as everything is completed the court will announce a trial date." Pistorius trial will likely be heard at Pretorias High Court. ' ' '