nine quality minutes. "He picked us up," Casey stated, credi

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PHOENIX -- Nick Ahmed provided the big hit of the day for the Arizona Diamondbacks -- with his left forearm. Cheap Jerseys china . Ahmed was struck by a potential double play relay as he slid into second base in the 10th inning, and the Diamondbacks wound up beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Sunday. With runners at the corners and one out, Andy Marte hit a grounder to shortstop Jordy Mercer, who flipped to second baseman Jayson Nix for a forceout. Ahmed came in with his arms raised up, and was hit by Nixs throw. The ball rolled away, allowing Tuffy Gosewich to score the winning run. "Thats the way were taught to slide and play the game. Go in hard and late and it wasnt a dirty play in my mind at all," Ahmed said. Manager Clint Hurdle and the Pirates lingered on the field to argue with the umpires, to no avail. There was no video review of the final play, and crew chief Ron Kulpa said the call couldnt be challenged. After the game, the umpires looked at a replay for their own sake. Second base umpire Lance Barrett stood by his no-call on interference and Kulpa backed him. "The guy has to do something obviously, willfully, intentionally to break up that double play. Guys slide into second base all the time with their hands up," Kulpa said. "When Lance told him what he had, we talked about it, but Clint wasnt very irate. Its a big play. We looked at the tape, and Lance got it right," he said. Hurdle felt otherwise. "I felt there was an extra effort in getting his hands up, in the way," he said. Ahmed had a bandage over his arm after the game. "I was anticipating if the ball was on the ground trying to go in hard and breaking up two," Ahmed said. "I went in hard and slid late, and it looked like Nix kind of dropped down to try to make the throw and it just hit me in the arm." Gosewich doubled with one out in the 10th and Ahmed walked. A wild pitch by Mark Melancon (1-3) moved Gosewich to third. Diamondbacks reliever Evan Marshall (4-2) escaped a one-out, second-and-third jam in the top of the 10th by striking out pinch-hitter Gaby Sanchez and Travis Snider. Arizona starter Trevor Cahill was in line for just his second win this season, but reliever Brad Ziegler struggled for the second straight day. The Pirates tied it in the eighth on Josh Harrisons single, Gregory Polancos double and Andrew McCutchens sacrifice fly. McCutchen left the game moments later with left side discomfort. AHOY! The Pirates signed Nix before Sundays game. He was released by Tampa Bay on Friday and also played for Philadelphia earlier this season. Nix entered the game in the eighth and soon was involved in the key play. The Pirates optioned infielder Brent Morel, who went 2 for 2 with three RBIs in Saturday nights 8-3 win over Arizona, to Triple-A Indianapolis. He was 3 for 16 in nine games with the Pirates. TRAINERS ROOM Pirates: Second baseman Neil Walker missed a second straight game with lower back tightness. Hell get one more day of rest with the Pirates getting Monday off and is expected to be ready to play Tuesday against Miami. ... Outfielder Starling Marte went 1 for 4 in a rehab game with Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday. Hes coming back from a concussion. Diamondbacks: Outfielder Cody Ross went swimming in a pool on Saturday, but is still a ways off, manager Kirk Gibson said. Ross has been on the disabled list since July 22 with a left calf injury. ... Outfielder A.J. Pollock (hand) doubled in two at-bats in a rookie league game Saturday and could soon be sent to Triple-A Reno to continue his rehab. ON DECK Pirates: After an off-day Monday, right-hander Charlie Morton gets the call against the Marlins in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Morton has worked at least seven innings in eight starts this season. Hes 5-3 all-time against the Marlins. Diamondbacks: Left-hander Wade Miley (7-7) starts the opener of a three-game home series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. Hes 4-1 in his last six starts and the teams is 4-0 in his last four home starts. NFL Jerseys China .Y. -- Cory Schneider has to make the most of his opportunities to guard the New Jersey Devils net to earn more playing time. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap . Miralem Pjanic dribbled through the defence to score an extraordinary goal in the 43rd minute at the Stadio Olimpico and Gervinho added another from a rebound in the 65th for Romas ninth straight victory — ending Milans five-match winning streak. http://www.chinacheapwholesalenfljerseys.com/ . Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece and the Clippers beat the Suns 112-108 Wednesday night, their fourth win in a row and 17th in the last 19 games.DETROIT - Locked in an unexpectedly tight battle with the lowly Pistons, having coughed up an early 18-point lead, the Raptors went up by one with just over seven minutes remaining as conflicting chants broke out in the stands. "Lets go Pistons," cried the home crowd while a boisterous group of Toronto supporters chimed in with their own anthem of equal or greater volume. "Lets go Raptors," shouted a four-row contingent of fans, dressed in red, white and black, rooting for the Atlantic Division champions right behind the visiting teams bench. "Oh, man, I think we had more fans than them tonight," said DeMar DeRozan, who had scored all 12 of his teams fourth-quarter points at that time. "It was definitely cool to see that." With the clock winding down, the Raptors now up 10 and on their way to a monumental, albeit shaky victory, that section erupted in anticipation. They were not alone. Four fans stood on the opposite end of the court, proudly wearing their Raptors jerseys as they held up four sheets of paper spelling out "R-A-P-S". The Palace of Auburn Hills was filled with Raptors faithful who made the four-hour (or so) drive from Toronto, crossing the border to Michigan, where they were able to witness team history. "I didnt know where I was for a while," Casey said of the unexpected support after his teams 116-107 victory, Torontos 47th of the season, matching a franchise record. "When you win, people come out of the woodwork and they want to jump on the wagon and it was great that they came out with that enthusiasm. I thought it helped our guys." Nearing the end of their magical, out-of-nowhere campaign, the Raptors continue to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Two days after clinching their second ever division title, they tied the teams all-time win mark - previously set in 2000-01 and then again in 2006-07 - and have a chance to top it on Monday when they host the Bucks or in Wednesdays finale against New York. "We talked about it as a team," Casey said. "It wasnt our goal going into the year but its good for this group. Its something they should be proud of. They worked at it and its all their doing." "Why not break it?" "It definitely means a lot, man," said DeRozan, who scored 14 of his game-high 30 points in the final quarter Sunday. "When you look at it, if you really sit down and look at it, man, thats big. To be tied with the franchise record and have a chance to break it. We came a long way. A lot of people wouldnt have counted [on] us to be in this position that were in now. So its definitely a credit to our hard work, players and coaching staff." DeRozan cited the teams surprisingly successful Western Conference road trip in late January - with wins over Dallas and Oklahoma City - as a turning point in the season. Thats when he knew they could go on to do something special. "Once we saw that happen, we understood we could play with anybody," the all-star guard said. Their 47th win was not the most memorable, certainly not the easiest on the eyes but there was DeRozan, coming up big when his team needed him, once again. "He really carried us down the stretch," Casey said of DeRozan, who was masterful in the fourth, especially after Kyle Lowry fouled out on a pair of highly questionable calls midway through the quarter. "Hes been doing it all year, its why hes an all-star. He did a great job of managing the game, picking his spots, being aggressive. Losing Kyle hurt us a little bit but I thought thats when DeMar really took over." With just over six minutes remaining, Lowry was called for his fifth foul as he stood in, hoping to take a charge on the Pistons Peyton Siva as he barrelled into the lane. Twenty seconds later, the Raptors point guard picked up his sixth and final foul, although replays showed that he made little-to-no contact with Andre Drummond, who tripped over his own feet and went to the ground. After scoring 28 points in 33 minutes, Lowry was done for the afternoon. He had been brilliant and was as animated as you might expect as his teammates walked him to the bench, seeming to say, &quoot;we got this. Cheap Jerseys from china. " "Everybody was frustrated with the calls when Kyle fouled out," DeRozan admitted. "We understood that we werent going to win by complaining or forcing to get calls. We had to go out there and take it and thats what we did." The Raptors had led by as many as 18 in the first half, 17 early in the third, before the Pistons went on to drop 37 points in quarter, making for another subdued post-game celebration. You wouldnt know if from their record - theyve won eight of 10 - but Caseys team has been moonwalking its way into the postseason, beginning next weekend. As we know, Torontos once stifling defence has slipped. For the 12th time in the last 20 contests they surrendered 100 (or more) points on Sunday, but the Raptors coach lamented over a more specific concern; toughness, or a lack thereof, magnified in their win over Detroit. "The thing that bothers me most is the rebounding, them kicking our butt in the paint, the physicality and [them] taking advantage of us that way," said Casey after the Pistons grabbed 21 offensive boards, most by any Raptors opponent this season. "Thats all weve been talking about and its something we have to correct or itll be a short stint in the playoffs." Practice time has been and will continue to be scarce in April, so Casey and his coaching staff are forced to utilize their final games to make necessary tweaks and adjustments going into the playoffs. "You have to," Casey said. "Thats whats tough this time of year, is finding that time where you can work on things and tweak things. Thats why these games are important to us." Electric start Thanks in large part to the Pistons generous defence and early foul trouble, Toronto got off to a quick start, scoring 42 points in the first frame, most of any quarter this season. The Raptors scored 16 points off Detroits eight turnovers, connecting on 14 of their 19 field goal attempts and 11 of 13 free throws, while holding the Pistons to 36 per cent shooting. Both Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe were relegated to the bench after picking up a couple fouls apiece. Without their star frontcourt, the Pistons had no answer for the brute strength of Jonas Valanciunas, who scored 10 in the opening period while Tony Mitchell picked up four fouls in six minutes trying to hold him off. Centre of attention Sundays matchup of emerging sophomore centres lived up to its billing. For the 10th consecutive game, Valanciunas scored in double figures, finishing with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. On the other end, Drummond recorded his 56th double-double of the season - second to only Kevin Love for the NBA lead - with 14 points and 17 boards. Lift from the bench With Lowry exiting in the fourth, Greivis Vasquez was subbed in and immediately picked up where the starting point guard left off, scoring six of his 14 points in the final six minutes of the game. "I was concerned, not about his offence but more about defence because Kyle was doing a decent job on their guards," Casey said of Vasquez, who has led the Raptors bench in scoring in 10 of his last 14 games as a reserve. "Greivis came in and ran the offence, got us into sets." Earlier in the game it was another guard, Nando De Colo, that made an impact coming in off the bench. After a dreary start to the second quarter, De Colo sparked Toronto in nine quality minutes. "He picked us up," Casey stated, crediting De Colo. "He moved the ball, he attacked, he did a great job of increasing the tempo [and] gave Amir one of the best passes weve had all year running the floor. His court vision is uncanny and thats why I dont hesitate to get him in there to change the game." The stat In three meetings, the Raptors outscored Detroit by 28 (84-56) in the fourth quarter, sweeping the season series with the Pistons. The quote "Its timing, its grit, its anticipation and a lot of those things we didnt have," Casey said of the rebounding discrepancy. The Raptors were bested 55-40 on the glass. "They basically manhandled us in the paint and weve got to better than that." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '