Regeln » e Royals nearly came back, putting their first two run

TORONTO -- Days after folding down the stretch in a loss to division-rival Brooklyn, the Toronto Raptors made a statement on Friday night. Toronto stood tall in final quarter this time around, scoring 12 straight points late to break open a tie game on the way to a 99-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies before a crowd of 18,465 at Air Canada Centre. "Thats a tough team to beat. We beat a playoff team," said Toronto guard Greivis Vasquez, who scored 17 points off the bench, including five straight in 20 seconds to break an 80-80 tie and put the Raptors ahead for good with just under six minutes to play. "That was a good win for us at home." Vasquez, who also had six assists, fired a cross-court pass to DeMar DeRozan who nailed a three-point jumper to widen the Raptors lead to 90-80 with 3:13 to go. The Raptors (37-27) outscored Memphis 19-6 down the stretch to win their second straight and eighth in 10. It was the first loss in five starts for the Grizzlies (38-27). The game had a playoff feel most of the night. The defences were stiff, play was physical, every shot was contested and momentum swung repeatedly. The lead changed eight times and there were 10 ties. "I think any game like that is enjoyable for everybody," said Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, who was three rebounds shy of a triple-double, scoring 22 points, adding 12 assists and seven boards. "For our team, it just builds a little more character. "The physicality that those Memphis guys bring in, our bigs matched it and did a good job." Lowry said Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas "earned some respect" with his battle against Memphis big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Valanciunas led all scorers with 23 points. Amir Johnson also had a great night, limiting Memphis centre Gasol to eight points and three rebounds while scoring 12 points and grabbing eight boards. Randolph led the Grizzlies with 16 points and eight rebounds. "It was not easy," said Valanciunas. "Theyre playing very good basketball, especially in the paint. We battled really hard and showed that we can win." The Raptors got out-muscled down low in the early going. Memphis had a 14-0 edge on second-chance points as they stretched their lead to nine in the second quarter. But Toronto battled back and won, though the Raptors ended the night down 21-14 on second-chance points and were outscored 50-34 in the paint. Toronto head coach Dwane Casey said he thought his team learned lessons from the loss in Brooklyn. "We didnt have to repeat it too much about the physicality, how much they were going to get into it," Casey said. "Dont look to the officials for help. Take care of your own business. Get guys off of you. "Its a mans game in the paint, in that red area." Casey also praised his team for finding the open guy as Memphis repeatedly double-teamed DeRozan. "Our guys did a good job finding (Valanciunas) rolling to the bucket and basically standing under the basket wide open," Casey said. The Raptors wrap up their three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon against the Phoenix Suns before visiting the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday and the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday. Cheap China Jerseys .ca NBA Power Rankings. Winners of 15 straight, with a healthy roster, the Spurs have overtaken the Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder for the number one ranking. China NFL Jerseys . 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. http://www.cheapauthenticnfljerseys.net/. Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Wholesale China Jerseys . The 22-year-old Spanish midfielder recently signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea, and after spending last season on loan with Valencia in La Liga, Romeu will move to the Bundesliga for the 2014-15 campaign. NFL Jerseys Cheap .FIFA says it is relaxing the rule which forced match officials to leave its international list at the end of the year they turned 45.Catch a doubleheader of September baseball action on TSN2 tonight. First, tied for top spot in the AL Central, division rivals go head-to-head when the Detroit Tigers host the Kansas City Royals. Then, the NL Wild Card-leading San Franciso Giants entertain the Arizona Diamondbacks. All the action gets underway at 7pm et/4pm pt. Royals at Tigers - 7pm et/4pm pt (TSN2) Rick Porcello has gotten the better of James Shields twice already this season. With a chance to move past Kansas City for first place in the American League Central, Porcello will try to make it a hat trick on Wednesday evening as the Detroit Tigers go for a three-game sweep of the Royals. Porcello is 15-10 with a 3.30 earned run average this season, but yielded six runs -- three earned -- and 11 hits over 6 2/3 frames of a loss to the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 31. The right-hander followed up with another setback to San Francisco on Friday, charged with six runs, one of them unearned, and 10 hits over a mere three innings of work. "It was a combination of some good pitches that got hit and some bad pitches that got hit, and they capitalized on all of them," Porcello said. The 25-year-old has allowed only three runs over 14 innings in a pair of wins over the Royals this year, defeating Shields both times. Shields goes up against Porcello again tonight and is 0-2 with a 5.49 ERA in three meetings with the Tigers overall on the year. Shields has won four of his last five decisions and pitched a gem last time out to get a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees on Friday. The righty gave up three hits and struck out six over 8 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring 11 in a row before allowing a one-out single in the ninth. "Any time you face this team its going to be a grind," Shields said. "To be able to pitch like that and save our bullpen for our road trip was nice." The 32-year-old Shields is 13-7 this season with a 3.23 ERA. Kansas City has lost 11 of 15 to Detroit this season, and allowed the Tigers to pull into a tie atop the AL Central by losing the first two games of this series. The Royals had won five of six overall coming in. Max Scherzer, who was roughed up for a career high-tying 10 runs in a meeting with Kansas City on June 17, held the Royals to one run over 6 2/3 frames in last nights 4-2 Detroit win. Rajai Davis smacked a two-run homer and J.D. Martinez added a solo shot in the triumph, Detroits third in a row overall. "This is a huge series and were getting huge wins," Scherzer said. "Were playing great as a team and everybody is contributing." The Royals nearly came back, putting their first two runners on base against Joe Nathan in the ninth, but the closer struck out Alex Gordon, picked off pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson at second base and fanned Salvador Perez to notch his 30th save of the season. Jason Vargas surrendered four runs on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings for Kansas City. "Two mistake pitches, both of them in the middle of the plate," Vargas said of his two homers allowed. While Kansas City closer Greg Holland remains out due to a tight right triceps, Detroit reliever Joakim Soria is expected to be activated off the disabled list before tonights game. Soria, acquired from Texas on July 23, has been out since suffering a strained oblique on Aug. 9 annd will provide a boost to the bullpen bridge to closer Nathan.dddddddddddd. Diamondbacks at Giants - 10pm et/7pm pt (TSN2) The San Francisco Giants continue their push toward the postseason on Wednesday when they play the second of three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks at AT&T Park. San Francisco drew first blood in this series on Tuesday, as Yusmeiro Petit tossed another complete game against his former team, going the distance in the Giants 5-1 win. Petit was masterful, throwing an incredibly efficient 68 of his 84 pitches for strikes. The 29-year-old kept his pitch count low despite striking out a season high-tying nine batters. "Hes been a lift for us," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "He was hitting his spots tonight." Petit (5-3) was charged with a run on four hits in his first complete game since just over a year ago. He tossed a one-hitter against the D-backs on Sept. 6, 2013. The pitching performance overshadowed a career-best 5-for-5 effort at the plate from Joe Panik. Angel Pagan went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and Buster Posey drove in two runs for San Francisco, which has won seven straight games at home and pulled within 2 1/2 games of Los Angeles for the NL West lead. The Dodgers lost to San Diego Tuesday night. San Francisco is currently first in the NL wild card standings. Panik, Pagan, Gregor Blanco and Petit accounted for all 12 Giants hits. San Francisco chased D-backs starter Wade Miley (7-11) after just two innings. Miley fell to 0-3 over his last five starts after giving up three runs on five hits and four walks. "I felt really, really good," Miley said. "Thats the most frustrating part. I felt really good in the bullpen. Just couldnt execute my fastball. Couldnt throw it close to where I wanted to throw it." Heading to the hill for the Giants on Wednesday will be righty Ryan Vogelsong, who is 8-10 with a 4.06 ERA. Vogelsong absorbed the loss last Wednesday in Colorado and looked bad in doing so, as he was rocked for eight runs and 10 hits in just five-plus innings. "Its an adventure out there," Vogelsong said. "The ball flies, especially during the day. Then every kind of bloop shot falls in because guys have to play so deep. Their infield grass is really quick, too. So it seems like a lot of ground balls get through that dont at a lot of places. Put that together and youre looking at a long day." Vogelsong has faced the D-backs 19 times (13 starts) and is 3-5 with a 4.67 ERA. Arizona, meanwhile, will counter with righty Josh Collmenter, who has won his last two decisions. Collmenter beat the San Diego Padres last Wednesday, holding them to a run and five hits over seven innings, as he improved to 10-7 to go along with a 3.81 ERA. He has allowed just two runs over his last three starts, spanning 21 2/3 innings. "Ive been able to locate, move the ball in and out and mix pitches up," Collmenter said. "Thats my game plan. Just trying to force contact. I dont want to be a guy that walks guys and gets behind in the count. Today I was a little more erratic than the last couple, but I was still able to make some pitches when I needed to and guys made some good plays for me." Collmenter is 5-1 lifetime versus the Giants with a 3.74 ERA in 16 games (5 starts). San Francisco is 9-5 this season against Arizona. ' ' '