LOS ANGELES -- Aaron Hill was having a miserable night at the plate until he got one more chance to redeem himself.
[b]James Ennis III Jersey[/b] . A few well-chosen words of encouragement from manager Kirk Gibson didnt hurt. Hill hit a two-run single in the 12th inning and Miguel Montero homered, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. "Gibby told me in the seventh or eighth inning, Youre going to get the game-winning hit tonight," Hill said. "He knew I was frustrated a little bit, so it just picked me up a little bit and I appreciated it. I dont know if I believed him at the time, but it worked out." Arizona snapped a six-game losing streak and improved to 5-14, the worst record in the majors. To do it, the Diamondbacks had to overcome Juan Uribes tying homer in the ninth off closer Addison Reed. "Obviously, the last week or so has been rough," Hill said. "But every day these guys come in with a great attitude, and it doesnt matter if its extra innings or not. It was a beautiful win tonight. It was refreshing, and hopefully we can keep it going." Chris Perez (0-1) gave up a leadoff double to A.J. Pollock in the 12th and plunked pinch-hitter Cliff Pennington on the left foot as he squared to bunt. Gerardo Parra advanced the runners with a sacrifice, and Hill lined an 0-1 pitch to right-centre to break the tie. The second baseman was hitless in five previous at-bats and didnt hit the ball out of the infield. Joe Thatcher (0-1) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the victory and six-year veteran Trevor Cahill got three outs for his first major league save. Cahill was 0-4 with a 9.17 ERA in four starts before he was demoted to the bullpen. "I dont think I was spending all day today thinking I was going to get a save tonight," Cahill said. "Youre out there watching the game, then all of a sudden youre in there and you dont have time to think about it. It was a close game, and I guess I got lonelier down there with everybody leaving. But it was fun. "You dont have to worry about pacing yourself. You can just let it go. Its a lot different than starting, because your adrenaline goes so quick. Then its over, and you dont know what happened." The Dodgers had won the first five meetings with the Diamondbacks this year, including both ends of their season-opening series in Sydney and last weekends three-game set at Phoenix. The Diamondbacks took a 2-1 lead in the ninth when pinch-runner Tony Campana scored on a wild pitch by reliever Chris Withrow, who was attempting to walk Martin Prado intentionally after falling behind him 2-0. "Ive seen that before, but never been a part of it," Dodgers catcher Tim Federowicz said. "I think if I wouldve jumped a little higher I mightve got it." Uribe responded in the bottom half with a one-out homer on a 2-2 pitch from Reed. Six of Uribes last eight regular-season homers have come against the Diamondbacks -- three in an 8-1 victory last Sept. 9 at Dodger Stadium. Arizona starter Wade Miley took a two-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the seventh in his rematch with Zack Greinke, but Scott Van Slyke drove Mileys 108th and final pitch the other way into the right-field pavilion leading off the inning. "It was a fun game to be a part of," Miley said. "Obviously I wasnt enthused about the walks, but I got through it. I told Gibby I wanted to go out there for the seventh and save the bullpen a little more. It wasnt a terrible pitch, but it caught a little more of the plate than I wanted it to and he did a good job with it." Miley struck out eight and walked five in his third start of the season against Los Angeles. Both of the left-handers losses have come against the defending NL West champions, including an 8-5 victory by Greinke last Saturday in Phoenix. "Miley had better command tonight. He attacked more and threw a lot more strikes early," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "The two games before, we were getting into favourable counts." Montero homered in the sixth off Greinke, who struck out eight over six innings as Los Angeles opened a 10-game homestand. NOTES: The Dodgers havent won their first six meetings against a team in their own division since 1988, when they started 6-0 against Atlanta. The Braves were in the NL West at that time. ... Thatcher has not allowed an earned run in his last 32 appearances against the Dodgers spanning 19 innings. ... Thirteen of the last 14 home runs Greinke has allowed have been solo shots, including the last nine. ... Tommy Lasorda and his wife, Jo, celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary at Dodger Stadium. They were a big hit on the "Kiss-Cam" after the fourth inning.
[b]Josh Richardson Jersey[/b] . Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.
[b]Custom Philadelphia 76ers Jerseys[/b] . -- The Detroit Lions made it crystal clear to Golden Tate that he was their top target in free agency.Alastair Cook lasted five balls for Essex wearing the new approved helmet after complying with new safety regulations on Monday. Cook scored 105 and 35 not out in Essexs 10-wicket win over Gloucestershire in their opening County Championship Division Two match last week, only to be spoken to by the England and Wales Cricket Board for wearing old-style headgear.New helmets, which comply to British Safety Standards and have a smaller gap between the peak and grille, were introduced in the winter after a number of high-profile injuries, including to Stuart Broad and Craig Kieswetter. On Monday, Warwickshires Jonathan Trott continued to stick with the old helmet and scored an unbeaten 62 against Middlesex at Lords, but Cook did not have such a good day after switching his headgear.With Sussex making 360 in their first innings at Hove, Essexs run chase got off to a poor start with Cook nibbling outside off stump from the bowling of Steve Magoffin and thick-edged the ball to Chris Nash at second slip.The new rules brought in by the ECB also state that international and county batsmen wear a helmet at all times, even when facing the spinners. Wicketkeepers also need to wear the new headgear standing up to the wicket, as do close fielders. Laying down the law ECB speaks to Alastair Cook about new helmet regulations Former England skipper and Sky Sports cricket pundit Nasser Hussain has sympathy for Cook and feels it is unfair to dictate what headgear a batsman should use.Hussain told the Daily Mail: The fact he nicked off to Steve Magoffin may have had nothing to do with the new lid but he would have gone to bed thinking if he had been wearing his old helmet he would have been able to see the ball better. Former England captain Nasser Hussain thinks Alastair Cook should be able to decide which style of helmet he wears.
[b]Hal Greer Jersey[/b]. . The last thing a batsman wants is any doubts over their equipment and, however trivial it may seem to move the grille up a few centimetres, I can assure you it makes a huge difference.Cook is a sensible man who knows his responsibilities to the wider game. I would rather have the England captain confident and comfortable. He has earned the right to make his own choices. The England skipper needs just 36 runs to reach 10,000 in Tests Players cannot be banned from playing in non-compliant headgear but could find themselves reported to the ECBs disciplinary committee and face possible sanctions.If Cook had continued to use the old-style Gray-Nicholls helmet, both county and Test umpires could have asked him to leave the field.The 31-year-old has been made available for Essexs first four County Championship matches and is due to lead the England team out again in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley on May 19. Also See: Cook speaks to ECB over helmet Essex CCC County ins and outs CC Division One preview CC Division Two preview Pundits county picks ' ' '
