PHILADELPHIA - After sitting idle without a first-rounder in the NHL draft, one Ottawa Senators scout was thrilled to get to make some picks on Day 2.
[b]Roy White Jersey[/b] . "The scouts were happy," general manager Bryan Murray said. "I think somebody shook my hand at the end." That wasnt the handshake Murray went into the weekend hoping for. And try as he did, he was unable to consummate a trade to give centre Jason Spezza his wish to leave Ottawa. "I called the teams or took calls from teams that were interested," Murray said Saturday. "We talked about the return, the type of deal we wanted to make. In a couple of cases there was real interest and it went away. So I dont know whether it was because of the draft and on the day of the draft picks are very valuable, whether that was part of it or it was something different." Murray wanted a first-round pick, a roster player and a prospect for his captain, who has a limited no-trade clause and thus the power to refuse to go to 10 teams. One of those 10 is Nashville, which had a deal worked out to get Spezza that couldnt go through because he didnt agree to go to the Predators. "David (Poile) talked to me and we couldnt go there," Murray said. "I told (Spezzas agent) Rick Curran that today, I had a deal sitting there if I wanted to do it, but he was on the list of no-gos." A Senators-Predators deal mightve landed Ottawa the 11th pick. Instead, Poile pulled the trigger on getting winger James Neal from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. Considering that and the Anaheim Ducks trade with the Vancouver Canucks for centre Ryan Kesler, Murray knows that "the field narrows a little bit." Murray estimated that he talked to four or five teams about Spezza and that three expressed fairly serious interest. It never worked out, leaving everyone in the situation still hanging. “Im sure its disappointing for him, its disappointing for me because Id like to accommodate him if I could, but he does have a year left on his contract," Murray said. "If thats the case well have a pretty good player for next year." Or its possible that teams circle back to the Senators after July 1 if they dont land Paul Stastny or another free-agent centre. As far as Ottawas approach to the start of free agency, thats affected by Spezza, too. "I dont know, thats the problem," Murray said. "Part of your decision is what can you spend, where does it fit and what do you get in return for a certain player? If you dont know that, then its harder." Unable to get anything done on the Spezza front, the Senators made five picks to stock up for the future. They took defenceman Andreas Englund 40th, defenceman Miles Gendron 70th, forward Shane Eiserman 100th, defenceman Kelly Summers 189th and left-winger Francis Perron 190th. The 189th pick, a seventh-rounder, Ottawa got from the Winnipeg Jets for a 2015 sixth-rounder. That was the only trade Murray was able to make in Philadelphia. "It just seemed to me there were a lot of phone calls, a lot of talking, people interested, but nothing really happened," he said. "I had to make one trade at the end, a seventh-round pick for the sixth next year just to say I did something. So that was my accomplishment."
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[b]Thairo Estrada Jersey[/b] . Vincent Lamar Carter is no longer the lean, athletic dynamo who dazzled Raptors fans with eye-popping dunks that posterized even the leagues best defenders. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A hard-to-describe feeling comes over Cole Hamels every time he faces the Cincinnati Reds, especially in their hitter-friendly ballpark. The left-hander just feels good from the first pitch to the on-field high-fives at the end. Hamels pitched into the eighth inning as he stayed unbeaten in his career against Cincinnati, and Jimmy Rollins moved closer to the Phillies hit record with a solo homer, leading Philadelphia to an 8-0 victory Friday night. The Phillies ended their longest losing streak of the season at six games. Cincinnati dropped its third straight. Hamels (2-3) improved to 10-0 in 13 career appearances against the Reds, holding them to three runs or less each time. The Phillies have won all of his 13 starts against Cincinnati, including his five-hit shutout during the 2010 playoffs. Hamels made his big league debut at Great American Ball Park in 2006 with five shutout innings, and he remembers that feeling every time he returns. "Its a great memory and its everlasting," said Hamels, who allowed five hits and struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings, throwing 125 pitches. "Thats what I take from it: This is it, this is what I worked for since I was a little kid. I take it out there year after year." The Phillies piled up 11 hits with eight players getting at least one. "A lot of guys contributed," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "That will go a long way going into tomorrow with momentum with a lot of guys." Rollins hit his seventh homer off Johnny Cueto (5-5), who lasted only five innings for his shortest start of the season. The solo homer left Rollins six hits shy of the club record. Rollins has 2,228 hits with the Phillies, trailing only Hall of Famer Mike Schmidts mark of 2,234. Domonic Brown had a two-run double and a sacrifice fly, and John Mayberry Jr. singled home a run off Cueto, who matched his season high by giving up six hits. Cuetos ERA jumped from a league-leading 1.68 to 1.97. "Thats what good ballclubs do," Brown said. "They do things like that. They pick each other up. I think were growing every day." Cincinnatis offence remained in a deep slump. The Reds llost to the Giants 6-1 on Thursday, with the last 19 batters going down in order.
[b]Luke Voit Jersey[/b]. . The streak reached 25 in a row before Zack Cozart singled in the third inning. Their scoreless streak is at 17 innings and counting. Ryan Ludwick had a chance to break the streak, but was thrown out at home in the seventh inning as he tried to score from third base on a ball that bounced away from Carlos Ruiz. The catcher recovered quickly and threw to Hamels, who tagged the sliding Ludwick. "An unbelievable play," Sandberg said. "Textbook. Its a fundamental play, but you dont practice it every day." Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth to get in some work. His next save will make him the 26th pitcher to reach 300, leaving him tied on the career list with Bruce Sutter and Jason Isringhausen. The closer for the Red Sox and Phillies was the fastest to his 200th save, getting it in his 359th game. If he gets No. 300 in his next appearance, he will tie Trevor Hoffman (552 games) for second-fastest. Mariano Rivera got No. 300 in his 537th game. Chase Utley had three hits and a sacrifice fly for the Phillies. He was hit by a pitch and was picked off first base by Cueto, who needed 92 pitches to make it through five innings. Cueto uncharacteristically hit two batters in the same inning and gave up his first homer in five starts. NOTES: Roberto Hernandez (2-3) starts for the Phillies on Saturday against Alfredo Simon (7-3). Hernandez is trying for his first win since May 4. ... The Phillies promoted INF Ronny Cedeno, who batted .286 with a homer and 20 RBIs for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. LHP Cesar Jimenez was designated for assignment to the minors. ... Cincinnatis Brayan Pena was hitless in four at-bats, extending his slump to a career-worst 0 for 17. ... RHP Mat Latos will make one more rehab start before the Reds consider activating him. His last start for Triple-A Louisville was stopped after 67 pitches because he had a calf cramp. Latos wanted to be activated rather than make one more appearance in the minors, but the Reds want him to get to 100 pitches before he goes back into the rotation. ' ' '
