overcame to win the French and US Open. "Daniel is a specia

[blueberryjerry]

Despite an up-and-down start, Alex Anthopolous Blue Jays find themselves within striking distance of the top spot in the AL East. . The GM joined TSN 1050 to discuss why the team is hopeful Casey Janssen and Marcus Stroman will shore up the holes in what has been an inconsistent pitching staff, and how he plans on filling the Jays second base hole. Anthopoulos talks rotation, hole at second . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. . "It feels good, Ive never had one before, not even in College," Hagelin said after the Rangers outgunned the Jets 4-2, behind some solid goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist following a pretty wide open first period. . Cabrera is hitting .218 with three homers and 16 RBI in 80 games this season. The Padres recalled second baseman Brooks Conrad from Triple-A El Paso to replace Cabrera on the roster.RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Rafael Nadal showed no signs of a tender back Tuesday, defeating fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Rio Open. It was No. 1-ranked Nadals first match since losing three weeks ago in the Australia Open final against Stanislas Wawrinka, a match the Spaniard was a heavy favourite to win. Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the final in Australia, bringing up questions again about his health to start a season. A year ago he was coming back from a left knee injury, which he overcame to win the French and US Open. "Daniel is a specialist on clay, so for me it was a great match after so much time off after the final in Australia because of the back problems," Nadal said. "I practiced very little. So I was happy to get back, and get back with a victory." Nadal looked fine on the outdoor red clay and seems headed for a possible final Sunday against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Ferrer defeated Jeremy Chardy in his first-round match 6-2, 6-3. Nadal broke Gimeno-Traver in the sixth game en route to taking the first set. The two were even in the second set until Nadal broke in the 11th game and then served out to win. . Nadal has the best clay-court record in the Open Era, 294-21. "For Rio, for the Brazilian people, for everybody its nice because hes No. 1 in the world," third-seeded Fabio Fognini said of Nadal. "For the tournament, especially because its the first year, I think it will help." Other seeded players advancing on Tuesday included: No. 3 Fognini, No. 4 Tommy Robredo, No. 7 Juan Monaco and 8 Pablo Andujar. Ousted were No. 5 Nicolas Almagro and No. 6 Marcel Granollers. In the combined WTA event, top-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic won her first-round match, beating Colombias Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-4. Second-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy was eliminated in a 6-4, 6-4 to Spains Lourdes Dominguez Lino. Unseeded Teliana Pereira defeated No. 4 Alexandra Cadantu 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Brazilian woman ranked in the top 100 in 23 years. The last was Andrea Vieira. Brazils most famous womens player is Maria Bueno, who won seven Grand Slams, the last at the US Open in 1966. ' ' '

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