illustrate just how difficult it has been to play the new ball in Sri Lanka

LOS ANGELES -- Dan Ugglas batting average is the last thing on his mind. The slugging second baseman prefers to concentrate on home runs, RBIs and the Atlanta Braves comfortable lead atop the NL East. Uggla had two homers and four RBIs in an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. It was the 18th multihomer game for the three-time All-Star and his second this year. Since the start of the 2006 season, his first in the majors, Uggla leads all players at his position with 222 home runs -- 42 more than Yankees slugger Robinson Cano. He entered this four-game series hitting .183. "The batting average is what it is," Uggla said. "I mean, it aint the first time Ive hit .180, .170, .160, whatever. But I throw those numbers out the door. The way I look at it, were eight games up right now -- and thats without me doing anything at all. But I know what Im capable of doing. And if I can be more consistent and help these guys out by driving in some runs, thats all that matters. "You always want to feel like you matter and feel like you were a factor. There were a lot of times this year where I didnt. So to get some homers and drive in some runs feels good," he added. Freddie Freeman drove in three runs with a double and Mike Minor kept the Braves rotation rolling with six solid innings. Atlanta had an eight-game lead over second-place Washington -- the largest of any division leader -- pending the nightcap of the Nationals doubleheader against Minnesota. The Braves, who won the season series 5-2, grabbed a 4-1 lead with four runs in the third against rookie Matt Magill (0-2). All of them were unearned because of an error by three-time Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who fielded Justin Uptons dribbler a few feet from the foul line and dropped the ball while making a hurried attempt to tag him. It was his seventh error, two more than he had last season. Freemans single loaded the bases, and Evan Gattis followed with a sacrifice fly before Uggla drove a 2-1 pitch into the Dodgers bullpen in left field. He led off the fifth against Ronald Belisario with his 13th of the season and third in two days. "Hes a veteran player, hes been around a while and hes seen every kind of pitch. So nothing can fool him," Magill said. "But if you dont have good command, you cant get anybody out." Minor (8-2) allowed a run and six hits, struck out six and walked three while helping the Braves gain a split of the four-game series. The left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA over his last seven starts. Atlantas rotation has yielded four runs in 37 1-3 innings spanning the teams last six games. The stretch includes eight innings of one-hit ball by rookie Julio Teheran -- who came within four outs of a no-hitter on Wednesday against Pittsburgh -- and back-to-back starts by Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm in which each allowed one run in Braves losses. "Its just a friendly competition among everybody. You always want to top the guy before you," Minor said. Magill was charged with seven runs -- three earned -- and four hits over 3 2-3 innings in his sixth major league start, none of which the Dodgers have won. The 23-year-old right-hander from Simi Valley issued six walks, giving him 28 in 27 2-3 innings and a 6.51 ERA. He was recalled Sunday from Triple-A Albuquerque to fill in for Ted Lilly, who wasnt able to pitch because of a neck sprain and was placed on the disabled list for the third time this season. "Its tough not being able to have a set schedule and not being able to pitch every five days," said Magill, who gave up nine walks last Sunday at Colorado in a 7-2 loss. "But when they need you here, youve got to make sacrifices and still be able to compete. Thats why its so frustrating, because Im not giving myself a chance to win games. I know in my head I can do it, but my bodys just not hooking up right now the way I want it to and my fastball command hasnt been there." Atlanta increased the margin to 7-1 in the fourth when Magill loaded the bases with his second walk of the inning and gave up Freemans three-run double just beyond the outstretched glove of centre fielder Skip Schumaker after getting a visit from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. "When youve got bases loaded and two outs, you just want to try and get at least one more run," said Freeman, second in the NL in hitting with runners in scoring position. "Im not trying to do anything differently with guys on base. I just try to hit the ball hard every single at-bat, and for some reason they seem to fall with people on. I was fortunate to get one in the gap and luckily he didnt make that play. Its always nice to kind of blow it open a little bit and let Mike settle in." Los Angeles loaded the bases with none out in the first on the first of three hits by electrifying rookie Yasiel Puig, a bunt single by Nick Punto and a walk to Gonzalez. Puig was forced at the plate on a grounder and Luis Cruz struck out, but Schumaker drove in Punto with an infield single. That extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games, the longest by a Dodgers player this season. NOTES: Puig completed his first week in the majors with 13 hits in 28 at-bats, four homers and 10 RBIs in seven games. ... Minor is 13-2 with a 2.33 ERA in his last 20 starts, a stretch that began after his 5-0 loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 19. ... Schumaker started in CF for the seventh time this season, with Andre Ethier getting the day off and Matt Kemp still on the DL. Wholesale Nike Air Max 90 . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Nike Air Max 90 From China . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. https://www.cheapnikeairmax90china.us/ . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Fake Nike Air Max 90 . Rousey will put her perfect 8-0 record and hardware on the line against another undefeated fighter, 7-0 Sara McMann in the main event of UFC 170, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada on February 22nd. Clearance Nike Air Max 90 . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Historically, conditions outside Asia have been the toughest for opening batsmen; in England, South Africa and New Zealand, the ball swings and seams, while Australian pitches have offered more bounce. Over the last five years, though, opening the batting in Sri Lanka has been more difficult than in any other country.In 87 innings in Tests since the beginning of 2012, the average opening partnership in Sri Lanka has been 25.82, easily the lowest among all countries with a cut-off of 30 partnerships. (The average in Zimbabwe is 22.19, from 21 opening stands there during this period.) The only century opening partnership in Sri Lanka during this period was more than four years ago, in April 2012, when Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss added 122 in Colombo. There have been only four other 80-plus stands in this period, while 32 times out of 87 - thats 37% of the total innings - the partnership has ended before getting into double digits. That includes the dismal numbers from the ongoing Sri Lanka-Australia Test in Pallekele, when the first wicket in each of the first three innings fell for single-digit scores.The average opening stand in Sri Lanka during this period is 16% lower than in any other country (with the 30-innings cut-off). The next lowest is in South Africa, which has always been a difficult country for opening batsmen, but even there the average is more than five runs higher than the average in Sri Lanka. In the other Asian countries the averages are much higher - 40.16 in the UAE, 43.47 in India and 45.93 in Bangladesh - confirming that conditions in Asia are quite favourable for batsmen when the ball is new. Except, it would seem, when the country in question is Sri Lanka. The concept of home advantage for batsmen is a well-entrenched one, but over the last five years it hasnt held true for Sri Lankas opening pairs. In 44 partnerships at home since the beginning of 2012, they have averaged 27.59, with a highest stand of 93 not out, by Dimuth Karunaratne and Tharanga Paranavitana against New Zealand in Galle in 2012. Their numbers in the last year are especially abysmal: in 13 innings since July 2015, the openers have added more than 15 only once, and have averaged 10.15 per partnership. Their partnerships during this period read thus: 15, 12, 15, 0, 1, 8, 11, 1, 56, 1, 0, 6, 6. In 44 partnerships at home in the last four and a half years, Sri Lanka have had 24 sub-20 stands, and only seven in excess of 50.They have done much better overseas: in 35 away partnerships during this period, they have scored 248 more runs than they have in 44 home partnershhips, and averaged a healthy 40.dddddddddddd20. Apart from Australia, where the average has been only 19.16 in six innings, the Sri Lankan openers have done well everywhere, averaging 64.33 in Bangladesh, 52 in the UAE, 41 in New Zealand and South Africa, and 37.70 in England. Compared to 24 sub-20 stands in 44 home innings, in 35 away innings they have had only ten such stands.That is a huge contrast to the other subcontinent teams, whose opening pairs do much better at home than away. Indias openers have averaged 51.68 at home and 25.57 away in the same period. Pakistan have averaged 41.03 in the UAE and 22.18 in other countries, and Bangladesh have averaged 43.68 at home and 27.50 away. The home and away numbers for Sri Lankas current opening pair, Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva, illustrate just how difficult it has been to play the new ball in Sri Lanka compared to other countries. In 23 overseas partnerships, they have been extremely consistent, going past 30 on 16 occasions. On the recent tour to England, they put together partnerships of 108 and 45, and on the previous tour to England in 2014, they got starts each time, with stands of 54, 25, 37 and 40 in two Tests.At home, on the other hand, they have had little success to speak of, with only three partnerships of 30 or more in 13 innings. Ten times one of them has been dismissed before the team has reached 20. Silva, especially, has struggled at home, averaging 26.39 from 23 innings, compared to an overseas average of 39.86 in away Tests since the start of 2012.That, again, is a huge contrast with other opening pairs from the subcontinent. M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, for example, average 65.44 from ten partnerships at home during this period, but outside Asia it drops to 25.14 from 21 partnerships. Both home and overseas opening pairs have struggled to string together partnerships in Sri Lanka in these last four and a half years. Sri Lankas openers have done poorly, but overseas teams have fared even worse, averaging 24.04 for the first wicket. When India toured there last year, for example, their opening partnerships aggregated 35 in six innings, an average of 5.83. Sri Lanka wasnt always so inhospitable to opening pairs. In the five years before 2012, the average stand here was a healthy 38.50, which was higher than the opening stands in South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand. Lately, though, all opening batsmen would probably wish they were elsewhere than in Sri Lanka. ' ' '