2014-04-02

MINNEAPOLIS -- The injury-riddled Minnesota Timberwolves lost star forward Kevin Love to a broken right hand for the second time this season when an MRI confirmed the injury on Saturday. Love re-fractured his third metacarpal in the hand, and the team said it expects to know more about a timetable for his return after he is examined by a hand specialist in New York. The original injury, which occurred on Oct. 17, sidelined Love for the first three weeks of the season and has hampered his shooting. He re-injured the hand during the third quarter Thursday night at Denver. "Hes a huge part of what we were hoping to do and now we have to find other ways to do it," coach Rick Adelman said before Saturday nights game against Portland. "Even in the game in Denver, people talk about his shooting, but he had 13 rebounds at halftime and 13 points. Thats two big numbers. We have to find a way to manufacture those numbers and find a different way to play." Love is averaging a team-best 18.3 points and 14.0 rebounds in 18 games. Its the latest in a long list of key injuries for the Wolves during the first half of the season. Ricky Rubio, who was scratched for Saturday nights game with back spasms, missed the first 20 games of the season while he continued his recovery from knee surgery. Brandon Roy, Malcolm Lee and Chase Budinger are out with knee injuries, and Josh Howard was waived in late December after a season-ending knee injury. "Ive never been through anything like this," Adelman said. "You start out with Ricky from the very beginning, hoping to get him back and then its just been one thing after the other." Rubio also missed the previous three games with back spasms. The Timberwolves are being cautious with dynamic point guard, who started experiencing back problems not long after he returned after missing nine months due to the knee injury. Adelman has said Rubio might be overcompensating for his recovering knee, which could lead to other issues. "Were 15-14 and Im trying to figure out how we were able to get there," Adelman said. "This team does have resolve about them." cheap jerseys from china . 2. Alvarez hit .458 with four homers and eight RBI in six games last week. His best performance came on August 28th, when he tied a career-best with a four- hit effort, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI in a 9-0 victory over the St. wholesale nfl jersey . -- Hightail edged 1-2 favourite Merit Man by a nose to win the $500,000 Juvenile Sprint, giving Hall of Fame trainer D. http://www.wholesalejerseysamerican.com/ . Stephen Burbank ruled Tuesday in favour of the league and dismissed the grievances filed by both teams. The Redskins lost $36 million over two years, and the Cowboys $10 million for overloading contracts during the uncapped 2010 season despite league warnings against such manoeuvring. nfl jerseys china . -- Adrian Peterson hasnt wavered all summer: He says he is ready to play for Minnesota in the season opener. cheap jerseys . The Raptors know first-hand what Lin can bring to the table in terms of attendance and excitement. Lin scored 27 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer in a win over the Raptors in front of a big crowd at the Air Canada Centre on Valentines Day. The Raptors would likely attempt to back-load any offer they make to Lin, a restricted free agent this summer, by paying big money over the last few seasons of a deal.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Ted Lilly is just getting his second wind at age 35. James Loney is trying to salvage something from a miserable season. Juan Rivera is giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a reminder of what theyve missed in the middle of their lineup and some hope for next season. Loney hit his second three-run homer in two nights, Rivera added a two-run shot and Lilly pitched seven sharp innings, leading the Dodgers to a 6-1 victory over the Pirates on Saturday night. Lilly (10-14) allowed a run and four hits, struck out seven and walked two. The two-time all-star, winding up his first full season with the Dodgers, joined CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle as the only left-handers to reach double digits in wins during each of the past nine seasons. Lilly has a 2.67 earned-run average over his past 10 starts, lowering his overall ERA to 4.27. "Im pretty happy with the accomplishment," said Lilly, who had a career-high 17 wins in 2008 with the Chicago Cubs. "In a way, I think I surprised myself. Ive been fortunate to be able to keep going out there and make all my appointments, so to speak. I look back over those nine years, and Ive worked hard and done everything I can to be prepared. Basically, Im going out there and giving it everything I have every five days. "I lost a lot of games where I got outpitched by the other guy," Lilly said. "This is about competing, and the object is to win. Im not going out there for a quality start. The goal is to win the game in any way necessary. For the most part this year, Ive been on the short end of the stick on a lot of those games. I need to pitch better. Thats the bottom line." "By no means do I see the end near," Lilly added. "I feel like theres a lot of my own personal goals that have yet to be met, and one of those goals is to be playing at the end of October. And I havent really had an opportunity to do that, so hopefully that happens sooner than later." All-star Matt Kemp scored his 100th run in the third inning on Riveras homer and stole his 40th base in the sixth, becoming the first player in Dodgers franchise history with at least 40 steals, 100 runs scored, 100 RBIs and 30 home runs. "I didnt even to know I was the first person to do that, so that surprises me to hear that," Kemp said. "I definitely set personal goals at the start of the season, but I dont talk about them because my goals wouldnt come true if I did. I try to come close to reaching them if I can." James McDonald (9-9) threw 76 pitches over three innings and giving up five runs and seven hits. It was his first appearance against the team that drafted him in the 11th round of the 2002 draft and brought him up to the majors for the first time in 2008. McDonald matched his shortest outing in 30 starts this season. He also pitched three innings in a 9-5 loss at Florida on April 21, giving up eight runs and six hiits.dddddddddddd The Pirates acquired McDonald from Los Angeles at last years non-waiver trade deadline. Saturday was the third anniversary of his big league debut, when the lanky right-hander pitched a perfect inning of relief at Pittsburgh and struck out two. He was 5-6 with a 4.11 ERA in 53 appearances with Los Angeles, including five starts. "Maybe I tried to put too much emphasis on this outing because it was the Dodgers," McDonald said. "Maybe I let the game speed up instead of just kind of stepping back and slowing it down. Its something Ill learn from. I wasnt getting ahead of guys. When you get behind good hitters who have an idea, things are not going to work out your way. I should have been more aggressive in the strike zone early in the count." The Dodgers grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first, as Loney drove a first-pitch homer into the pavilion seats in right-centre for his 11th of the season and the 23rd allowed by McDonald. In Fridays series opener, Loney ended a homerless drought of 57 at-bats on a full count against reliever Chris Resop while pinch-hitting for Justin Sellers in the sixth inning of the Dodgers 7-2 win. The only other time this season that Loney homered in consecutive games was Aug. 26-27, including a tying solo shot off Colorados Rafael Betancourt in the ninth inning of a game the Dodgers won 7-6 in 11. Loney didnt get his average above .250 until June 12, when he had three hits including a home run at Colorado. Since Aug. 21, he is batting .368 with six homers and 21 RBIs and has raised his season average to .276. Kemp led off the third with a single and Rivera followed with his fourth home run since joining the Dodgers in a trade with Toronto on the day of the All-Star game. Los Angeles increased the margin to 6-1 in the fifth, when Tim Federowicz singled home Aaron Miles for his first RBI in the major leagues. Pirates catcher Matt Pagnozzi, the nephew of former St. Louis catcher Tom Pagnozzi, made his Pirates debut in the fifth as a pinch-hitter for reliever Aaron Thompson and hit an opposite-field single on the second pitch he saw. Once he puts on the gear, Pagnozzi will become the eighth different catcher used this season by manager Clint Hurdle — the most by the Pirates since 1953 and one shy of the franchise record set in 1914. Notes: The Dodgers were eliminated from the NL wild-card race Saturday with Atlantas 1-0 victory over the New York Mets. ... Lilly had a career-high 17 wins in 2008 with the Chicago Cubs. ... Pagnozzi became the 52nd player used by the Pirates, breaking the previous club record set last season. ... The Pirates are 17-40 since July 19, when they were 51-44 and led the NL Central by a half-game. They have since plummeted to a season-worst 21 games out of first place. ... Rivera ended an 0-for-19 drought with a first-inning single. In 53 games with the Dodgers, he is hitting .283 with 37 RBIs. ' ' '

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