Leben und Wohnen » aid. The Spurs knew their defence had to be better,

ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to being a hitter, St. Louis rookie Michael Wacha would rather talk about his pitching. Wacha threw seven innings and drove in two runs with a single, helping the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory Thursday over the Chicago Cubs. The 6-foot-6 Wacha (3-3) had lost his last three decisions since an April 13 win over the Cubs. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed seven hits, including a homer, but did not walk a batter. He struck out five. "I was able to pound the strike zone down in the zone and it was pretty effective," Wacha said. "I kept them off-balance, which means its a pretty good day. Its definitely nice to go deep into a ballgame and get a win. It definitely gets your confidence going in the next start thats for sure." Trevor Rosenthal pitched 1 2-3 innings for his 11th save. Rosenthal, who blew a save Tuesday, inherited a one-out, bases-loaded situation and gave up a sacrifice fly, but closed out the inning and retired the side in the ninth. The Cubs have lost nine of their last 11 and are off to the worst start in 39 games (13-26) since 2002. Jason Hammel (4-2) gave up five runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1-3 innings, raising his ERA to 3.06. Hammel had six strikeouts. St. Louis scored four runs in the second inning on Wachas two-run single in between a run-scoring groundout by Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenters RBI double. It was Wachas first hit and RBIs of the season. "Its nice to finally have a batting average," Wacha said. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny noted it was a timely hit. "Mike was good and obviously getting that hit there to drive in a couple runs it was kind of a huge boost to us at that point," Matheny said. With two outs, Hammel might have escaped with little damage but he had to throw a strike on a 3-2 count to Wacha and the bases loaded. "I got behind Wacha with two wild ones," Hammel said. "I came in with a fastball and he hit it." Chicago got two runs back in the fourth on a home run just inside the left-field foul pole by Starlin Castro. He drove in No. 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo, who beat the St. Louis shift to the right side with his second bunt to the left side in two at-bats. Rizzo has three career bunt singles with the Cubs with one coming in his previous 285 games. "If theyre going to give me that, I might as well take it," Rizzo said. "We were able to cash in once. I almost make them pay twice for it. Wacha is a great pitcher but you get him on the stretch and try to get him off his game a little bit. "You know if teams are going to give me that, for the most part, Im going to take it every time." When Rizzo came to bat in the fifth and seventh, St. Louis did not shift. "Rizzo took advantage of the shift until they changed their defence on him," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "That led to our first two runs when Starlin drove the ball out of the ballpark. Hes really looking at the game from a lot of different angles. Think about it, youre down four runs and a solo home run is not going to do a whole lot for you." The Cardinals made it 5-2 when Molina lined a 3-2 pitch just inside the line in left for a one-out RBI single. Junior Lake hit a sacrifice fly for a run in the eighth, but Rosenthal got out the jam. St. Louis lost a challenge in the third when Matt Holliday was called out on a close play at first after hitting a grounder to shortstop. The time of the review was 2 minutes, 54 seconds. NOTES: Missouris new basketball coach Kim Anderson threw out the first pitch. "It was an honour to throw the first ball out," he said. "I was nervous out there, but its something I will never forget." ... The Cardinals announced the time for making up Wednesdays game with the Cubs that was rained out. It will be played at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 30 as part of a split doubleheader. The second game will start at 7:15 p.m. instead of 6:15 p.m. ... The Cardinals recalled 2B Kolten Wong on Wednesday from Triple-A Memphis and optioned infielder Greg Garcia back to the club. Wong was optioned April 27 after hitting .225 in 20 games. He hit .344 in 10 games at Memphis. He was not in the starting lineup as he was still battling the effects of a stomach virus. Cheap Trail Blazers Jerseys . At this rate, the Flyers captain is set to be remembered more for a fantastic finish. Cheap Indiana Pacers Jerseys . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. http://www.nbawholesalejerseys.com/?tag=...mccollum-jersey. If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. Cheap Basketball Jerseys . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. Cheap Chicago Bulls Jerseys . The team reported the signing on its website Thursday, but said Friday the deal was off in "a mutual parting of the ways that had to do with the language of the contract.MIAMI -- Here they are again, back on the brink of a championship. It slipped away from the San Antonio Spurs last year, but it would take something special -- historic, actually -- to stop them now. The Miami Heat would have to make the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history. "Theyre the two-time champs, theyre a great team, and there is still one more game," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "We have to win one more game." Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and the Spurs routed the Heat again, winning 107-86 on Thursday night to open a commanding 3-1 lead. The Spurs can win their fifth NBA championship with a victory at home in Game 5 on Sunday and avenge their seven-game loss to Miami last year. They have three chances, and the way theyre dominating the Heat, they might need just one. "Im pleased that they performed as well as they did while weve been in Miami, and thats about as far as it goes," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Now weve got to go back home and play as well or better." LeBron James had 28 points and eight rebounds, but Dwyane Wade was just 1 of 10 through three quarters and finished with 10 points. "They smashed us," James said. "Two straight home games got off to awful starts. They came in and were much better than us in these last two games. Its just that simple." No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals, and the way the Heat were outclassed twice on their home floor makes it hard to imagine the two-time champions being the first. "We put ourselves in a position where it is about making history," James added. Parker added 19 points, and Tim Duncan had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who shot 57 per cent from the field and are hitting 54 per cent in the series. The Spurs lost twice in Miami to end last years finals, their only defeat in the championship round. They won their two games in South Florida this time by a combined 40 points. San Antonios surprising dominance has Miami on its heels, and unless Miami can figure things out quickly, the Heats two-year championship reign will come to an abrupt end. If this was the last home game of the season in Miami, it looked and sounded nothhing like the ones to end the last two years, which featured confetti falling and trophies raised.dddddddddddd This one had the unfamiliar sound of boos late in the first half and a chant of "Go Spurs Go!" with under 3 minutes left from the San Antonio fans who remained long after many of Miamis had bolted. A Heat win Sunday would force a Game 6 in Miami Tuesday. The Heat had followed their last 13 post-season losses with a victory, but now at the end of a fourth straight season that has gone the distance, they might be out of gas. Miami seemed to lack the energy -- or maybe effort -- to defend San Antonios precision ball movement for the full 24 seconds, and time after time the Spurs ended up with a shot from somebody who didnt have a defender nearby. Not quite as sharp as when they shot a finals-record 75.8 per cent in the first half Tuesday night, the Spurs were still plenty good enough to open another huge lead by halftime, and they withstood every attempt Miami made to make a run. "We were expecting a reaction from them but we were ready for it, so we just did the same thing," Spurs forward Boris Diaw said. The Spurs knew their defence had to be better, realizing their once-in-a-lifetime, 19-for-21 start in Tuesdays 111-92 Game 3 victory covered the fact that they allowed Miami to make more than 50 per cent in the game. They held Miami to 35 per cent in the first half. "They played great and I can honestly say I dont think any of us were expecting this type of performance," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. San Antonio blew the game open late in the second quarter with seven straight points, capped by Leonards soaring follow dunk that made it 55-33. James, who battled cramps in Game 1, left the court and briefly returned to the locker room midway through the first quarter Thursday. But he had 10 quick points in the third quarter to bring Miami within 13, but San Antonio pushed it to 81-57 after three and never looked back. Notes: Under Popovich, the Spurs have won 15 of the 18 best-of-seven series in which they led 2-1. ... The Heat hadnt lost back-to-back games in the playoffs since dropping three straight against the Boston Celtics in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals. ' ' '