Unsere Partnerseiten » alf, but that was about all the fight the Nets

WASHINGTON -- In the first major league matchup featuring twentysomething stars Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, it was a guy born two decades earlier, Raul Ibanez, who came through with the biggest hit. And after delivering a tiebreaking three-run double as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning to help Trouts Los Angeles Angels beat Harpers Washington Nationals 4-2 Friday, the 41-year-old Ibanez was showered with a particular nickname when he returned to the dugout. "After he got that hit, we were calling him Viejo, -- Old in Spanish," Trout said with a smile. Ibanez might be, um, much more experienced than many of his teammates, but he happens to be leading the Angels this season with 15 RBIs. "These guys make me feel young," he said about his teammates with the Angels, his fifth club in a 19-year career. "And I have five kids at home. Theyre 12 and under, and Im the biggest kid in the house, really. I feel right at home around these guys who are 22, 24, 25 years old. They definitely keep you young." He came through on a night that Trout and Harper went a combined 2 for 8 with zero runs or RBIs, and Albert Pujols went 0 for 5, staying on 498 homers. The 22-year-old Trout, the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year and a two-time MVP runner-up, was 2 for 5 with a pair of singles. The 21-year-old Harper, the 2012 NL rookie honoree, was 0 for 3 with a walk. The two outfielders became pals while teammates in the Arizona Fall League in 2011 and chatted with each other before the game. Neither recent first-round pick in the amateur draft -- Trout was No. 25 overall in 2009, Harper was No. 1 a year later -- was much of a factor once play began, though. Instead, all eyes were on Ibanez, taken in the 36th round in 1992. "Hes been around the block," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. Fernando Salas (1-0) won with a hitless seventh. Joe Smith worked the eighth and Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth to earn his second save, despite allowing Desmonds leadoff homer. Frieri struck out Denard Span with a man on second to end it. The Nationals led 1-0 entering the eighth, when they brought in reliever Tyler Clippard (1-2). Pujols led off and reached on the first of shortstop Ian Desmonds two errors in the inning. Later, Erick Aybars third hit of the night scored Pujols to even it. After Clippard walked Chris Iannetta to load the bases -- "The biggest thing that hurt me," the reliever said -- the lefty-hitting Ibanez came up. "Everybody likes being up in that spot," said Ibanez, the second-oldest player in the majors, behind Clevelands Jason Giambi, 43. "Thats what you play for, thats what you compete for -- to try to be up in that spot -- since you were a kid in the backyard playing." Nationals manager Matt Williams did not have a lefty reliever ready to go, in anticipation of Ibanez being used there, because he wanted Clippard to get through that inning. "Clips been the eighth-inning guy here for a long time," Williams said. "Certainly (his) track record indicates that hes good against lefties. Hes just as effective against left-handers as he is right-handers. So I want to stay with him there." Ibanez, without a hit in his previous 11 at-bats, connected on a changeup, Clippards specialty. "It is a pitch Im getting hurt on," Clippard said, and wondered aloud about whether hes tipping his pitches to opponents. NOTES: Angels 3B David Freese, who is hitting .143 with a .197 on-base percentage, was out of the starting lineup and struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. ... The Angels recalled LHP Nick Maronde from Triple-A Salt Lake. He fills the roster spot opened up when the Angels optioned RHP Josh Wall to Salt Lake on Sunday. Michael Jordan Jersey . With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. Early Wynn Jersey . So they rushed to re-sign the first baseman who general manager Ben Cherington described Friday as "a unique player." The World Series champions finalized a $32 million, two-year agreement Thursday with the slugging former catcher who turned into a surprisingly good defender. http://www.whitesoxteamshop.com/White-So...ids-Jersey/.com) - Oregon wasnt going to let Arizona ruin its national title dreams for a second straight season. Paul Konerko Jersey . The 31-year-old Russian dominated the No. 3-ranked Ferrer throughout, breaking the defending champion and local favourite four times on the indoor hard court. Yoan Moncada Jersey .com) - Many people at Eastern Washington are waiting to see if star quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.NEW YORK -- The "laughingstocks" won in a laugher. The Knicks resembled the division champions of a season ago rather than the biggest losers in New York, outplaying and even outtalking the Brooklyn Nets, who look like the real Big Apple busts. Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Iman Shumpert scored a season-high 17 points, and the Knicks ended a nine-game losing streak with 113-83 romp Thursday night in the first meeting of the season between the city rivals. "I think everybody looked like they had that feeling that we were tired of losing," Anthony said. "It showed from the tipoff." The Knicks (4-13) snapped a tie with the Nets (5-14) for most losses in New York, winning the game and the crowd with a dominant second half that had Spike Lee and the rest of the fans wearing blue and orange cheering perhaps the Knicks most complete performance of the season. Andrea Bargnani scored 16 before he was ejected in the fourth quarter, Knicks fans roaring in support of him standing up to Kevin Garnett. Brook Lopez had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, who again played without Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, or much passion in the second half. "Were struggling but were going to come out of this, man, thats the only way to think," Garnett said. "Im not going to think anything else." The game was nationally televised, as all four matchups are this season, but neither team had been giving fans much reason to watch. Nets coach Jason Kidd said Tuesday that both teams "stink," and Anthony not only agreed but added that the Knicks were the "laughingstock" of the league. Nobody was laughing at the Knicks on this night. New York made a season-high 16 3-pointers in 27 attempts (59 per cent), rediscovering a stroke that has been missing all season after it set an NBA record for makes in 2012-13, and led by as many as 34 points. Shumpert, who has been the subject of trade rumours and has struggled, hit five 3s and added six rebounds. The Nets hung in while the Knicks made 16 of their first 21 shots overall and trailed by only seven at halftime "Youve got to give the Knicks credit. They came (for) the season shooting around 32 per cent. Tonight they looked like the team of last year where they made a lot of 3s," said Kidd, who played for the Knicks last seaason.dddddddddddd "When they started the game off it didnt seem as if they were going to miss. But we stayed the course." Until the third quarter, that is, when their season-long woes in that period returned and the Knicks outscored them 34-16. When the public address announcer urged fans to stand and cheer before the fourth, they responded by booing, clearly sick of watching Brooklyn get hammered over the previous 12 minutes yet again. Tensions rose a couple of times, chiefly in the fourth quarter when Bargnani and Garnett became tangled as Bargnani fell to the court while trying to box out. Both players, along with Amare Stoudemire, were called for technical fouls, and Bargnani was hit with a second and thrown out shortly after when he appeared to say something toward Garnett after making a jumper. Garnett wouldnt discuss the incident, saying "I dont understand Italian" -- though Bargnani insisted whatever he said was in English. He also downplayed the exchange. "The most important thing is that we won the game, we played a great game and weve really got to start to build on this," Bargnani said. There were also double technicals and words exchanged after Andray Blatche set a hard pick on Shumpert in the first half, but that was about all the fight the Nets showed on the way to their sixth straight home loss. Both teams were booed during the introduction of starting lineups by split fan bases who are united in their early season disgust. The Nets believed they were a championship contender after acquiring Garnett and Pierce from Boston, the centerpieces of a roster that will cost more than $180 million in salary and luxury taxes. The Knicks are second to the Nets in payroll but had never gotten going after losing Tyson Chandler to a broken leg in their fourth game of the season. But they were the better team right from the tip. The Knicks made 12 of their first 14 shots and were ahead 30-15 after Anthonys 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining in the opening quarter. NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game for Nelson Mandela, South Africas first black president, who died Thursday at 95. Commissioner David Stern called Mandela "one of the most powerful and inspirational leaders in the world and a great friend of the NBA." ... The Knicks will try to end their seven-game home skid Friday against Orlando. ' ' '