CrossFire N/A » in the privacy of his girlfriends living room he cannot be

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jarred Cosart has spent a lot of time studying David Price. In the last year, the young Houston right-hander has spent a lot of time outpitching him, too. Cosart threw eight shutout innings to beat Tampa Bay once again, and rookie George Springers two-run homer helped the Astros defeat the Rays 3-1 Friday night. Cosart (7-5) gave up six hits in winning his third straight start. He walked one and struck out two, retiring 12 straight at one point. The 24-year-old Cosart topped the Rays last Saturday in Houston, the Astros last victory before losing four in a row. The pitching matchup against Price (5-7) was a rematch of Cosarts major league debut at Tampa Bay last July 12 in which he took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and finished with eight shutout innings and a win. "Hes a guy Ive watched for years, and hes one of the best in the league and hes proven that, and thats where were all trying to get," Cosart said. "I was trying to compete with him pitch-for-pitch, and you know hes not going to make too many mistakes. Tonight he made one, really." After striking out in his first five at-bats against Price, including his first try Friday night, Springer hit his 13th home run off the D-ring catwalk at Tropicana Field. It came in the third inning after the first of Jose Altuves three hits. "I was a little bit in front of it and just didnt want to hook it," said Springer. "I was actually saying to myself: Just stay fair!" Price "had some success off me the last game and he still has some success off me. It was one of those things where I was just able to hit it," Springer said. Price gave up six hits while striking out 12 in eight innings. It was his fourth straight game with double digits in strikeouts, tying Bostons Jon Lester (in 2010) for the longest such streak since 2008. Price is 1-3 in those four starts for the Rays, who have lost 18 of 24. A second-inning strikeout of Chris Carter was the 1,000th of Prices career. "It (the strikeout) is cool, cant deny that," Price said. "But it stinks. You want to win out there and were not doing that right now so its frustrating." Jonathan Villar added a solo homer for the Astros in the ninth off reliever Juan Carlos Oviedo. The Rays scored an unearned run in the ninth off reliever Chad Qualls, who got his ninth save. Yunel Escobar hit an RBI single with two outs before Ryan Hanigan struck out. Altuve leads the majors with 101 hits. Batting second in front of Springer, the Houston second baseman is 11 for 18 in four games since returning from a hand injury. "It really puts the pressure on the opposing pitcher with a guy that leads the league in hits," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Hes going to be on base a bunch, and then you have a guy in the batters box that can change the game with one swing. Its a pretty good dynamic for our lineup." Brandon Guyer and Jose Molina each had two of Tampa Bays eight hits, all singles. NOTES: The Astros optioned RHP Paul Clemens to Triple-A Oklahoma City and called up RHP Jake Buchanan, who will start Saturdays game against Tampa Bay RHP Jake Odorizzi. ... Price leads AL pitchers in innings (115 2-3) and strikeouts (133), along with hits (116) and home runs (16) allowed. ... With the signing of LHP Brock Burke, the Rays announced they have signed all 11 of their picks in the first 10 rounds of the draft. 00:23ET 21-06-14 Sneaker Websites Canada . A day after FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said three stadiums would not be ready in time for the Dec. 31 deadline, Brazilian officials said they actually plan to deliver all six remaining venues after that date. They claim only three are delayed, with the other three being handed over after the expected date only because of problems accommodating the schedule of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who wants to be present for the ceremonies. Cheap Sneakers Online Canada .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. http://www.cheapsneakerscanada.com/ . Rockies manager Walt Weiss was unhappy, too. Weiss addressed the issue in a 15-minute meeting with his pitcher and catcher after the Rockies gave up 14 hits and lost 10-1. De La Rosa lasted only 4 1-3 innings and allowed five runs in his first opening-day start. Sneakers Clearance Canada . Heather, the first Gaiter to win the award, set a Canadian Inter-university Sport record with 3,132 passing yards in eight league games, an average of 391.5 yards per game. That beat the mark of 3,047 set only one week earlier by Westerns Will Finch, a Hec Crighton finalist. Wholesale Sneakers Canada . The Brad Jacobs team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., advanced to Fridays championship game with a 10-6 win over Chinas Rui Liu in the semifinal.NEW YORK -- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling responded to the NBAs attempt to oust him on Tuesday, arguing that there is no basis for stripping him of his team because his racist statements were illegally recorded "during an inflamed lovers quarrel in which he was clearly distraught." According to the response, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Sterling says V. Stiviano recorded him without his knowledge and thus the recording was illegal under California law. He also said he could not have "wilfully" damaged the league because he did not know it would be made public. "A jealous rant to a lover never intended to be published cannot offend the NBA rules," Sterling said in the document, which was first reported by USA Today. Meanwhile, the attorney for Shelly Sterling confirmed that Donald Sterling has given her written permission to sell the team. According to a person who is in contact with a potential bidder, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the process publicly, the Clippers are seeking binding bids before next Tuesday -- the day NBA owners are scheduled to meet in New York and vote on whether to strip Sterling of the team. The league said in a statement Tuesday that if three-quarters of the 30 owners voted to sustain the charge, "the Sterlings interests in the Clippers will be terminated and the team will be sold." The NBA charged Donald Sterling with damaging the league and its merchandising partners, and the leagues constitution gave him until the end of Tuesday to respond. According to a basketball official familiar with the proceedings, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Sterling, the NBA has scheduled a call of its executive committee for 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Shelly Sterling submitted her own separate response to the NBAs charges Tuesday that included a "vigorous defence of the attempt by the NBA to blame her for doing nothing wrong," according to a person with knowledge of the proceedings. The individual wasnt authorized to speak publicly about the response. In his response, Donald Sterling saays that next weeks hearing cannot be fair because the owners have already made up their minds, quoting 10 teams who commented on Twitter or elsewhere that they supported the seizure of the team.dddddddddddd An AP survey on the day Commissioner Adam Silver announced Sterlings lifetime ban found that half of the teams supported it and no owner was against it. "These procedings will be a spectacle meant to mollify the popular opinion, not a fair and impartial hearing: the outcome of these procedings became a foregone conclusion weeks ago," the response states. The response also notes the disparity between his lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine and previous NBA punishments, including the $100,000 fine levied on Kobe Bryant when he was caught referring to a referee by a homosexual slur, and the 72-game suspension of Ron Artest for punching a fan. The NBA said Sterling is in violation because his racist comments were harmful to the league and its business partners, including the players. Sterlings response argues that because his comments came in the privacy of his girlfriends living room he cannot be considered "taking a position" that damaged the NBA, as required under the league constitution. "Mr. Sterling was not conducting the sport of professional basketball when he was arguing with Ms. Stiviano in her living room," the response says. "Not even the Commissioner alleges that Mr. Sterling intended to harm the NBA with his comment. Nor could he. This was an argument between a jealous man and the woman he loved that should never have left the privacy of his living room." Sterling also noted his history of supporting racial diversity, including five black head coaches and a black general manager, Elgin Baylor, who held the job for 22 years. Baylor eventually unsuccessfully sued Sterling, accusing him of racist behaviour. It also notes that he was due to receive his second lifetime achievement award from the NAACP before the recording of his comments was leaked. The response claims that it would cost Sterling $300 million to $500 million in capital gains taxes if he is forced to sell now rather than pass the team to his heirs. ' ' '