hings on the field to help you win baseball gam

Andy Murray insists he is not thinking about the world No. 1 spot after beating Gilles Simon in straight sets to reach his second successive final in Asia.The 29-year-old will play Roberto Bautista Agut in the final of the Shanghai Masters after the Spaniard shocked current No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first semi-final.It will be Murrays career-best 10th final of the season following last weeks success at the China Open in Beijing and he is continuing to close the gap to Serbian Djokovic at the top of the world rankings.Although Murray is confident of becoming the worlds best player, he is realistic in his chances of achieving that feat this year.He told Sky Sports: I said that I want to try to get to No. 1, but this year is going to be extremely difficult.The loss (by Djokovic) today helps me a little bit, but Im still quite far away from him, so Im not thinking about the No. 1 ranking this week or right now.The start of the year Novak had was incredible and because it was three, four months ago, its almost like people are forgetting that he won the Aussie Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and French Open, so hes a long way ahead of me.I just want to finish this year as best as I can, its been the most successful in my career. The last few months have been some of the most consistent I have been, so I just want to keep it going until the end of the year and finish as strong as possible.The Scot admitted he found the going tough against Simon, despite winning his 10th straight match without dropping a set.Murray said: Obviously there were a lot of breaks of serves and Gilles is a tough guy to play against. Not many players play like him, he hits the ball extremely flat, better than anyone.Hes extremely quick around the court, he changes direction extremely well and its sometimes difficult to get the balance -- whether to go for your shots or play possum and slow it down a bit.Its not always easy to get the tactics right, but I managed to get through it.On final opponent Bautista Agut, he added: Hes had some very good wins this week. He beat (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga in the round before so hes obviously playing very well.He pushes the top guys a lot, hes improving all the time and hes going to be highly-motivated for his first Masters Series final, so a lot to play for for both of us and it should be a great match. C.J. McCollum Blazers Jersey . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. http://www.blazersteamofficial.com/Anfernee-Simons-Blazers-Jersey/ . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Bill Walton Blazers Jersey . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Bill Walton Jersey . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers resume their pursuit of the top spot in the National League West with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Friday at Dodger Stadium.The Dodgers (57-45), who lost two of three to the Diamondbacks following the All-Star break, have gone 16-9 in their last 25 games and made up ground on the struggling NL West-leading San Francisco Giants. San Franciscos advantage in the division has dwindled from 6 1/2 games at the All-Star break to two. The Giants (59-43) have dropped 10 of 12 since the break.Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda (9-7, 3.25 ERA), who starts Friday, was knocked around for five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings in a 6-5 Arizona decision July 17 in Phoenix.However, Maeda bounced back Saturday in St. Louis against the Cardinals, holding them to two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-2 victory by the Dodgers. Maeda fanned three and didnt walk a batter on 92 pitches.I think hes exceeded our expectations, manager Dave Roberts said of Maeda, who is in his first season in the majors after pitching for eight campaigns in Japan. Hes pitched in some big games and thrown really well and you cant expect him to be great every time out. But I think that under all the circumstances, the adjustments, Kentas been fantastic. Every time he takes the ball we feel good about it.He does a great job of takinng care of himself, very athletic, does a lot of things on the field to help you win baseball games.ddddddddddddRight-hander Zack Godley (3-1, 5.88), who has never started against Los Angeles, takes the ball for the Diamondbacks. Godley earned a win against the Reds in his last start Sunday despite surrendering five runs in 5 2/3 innings.The Diamondbacks (42-60), though, have stumbled since winning the Dodgers series. Arizona has lost seven of its last nine, dropping three of four to the Milwaukee Brewers, including a 6-4 defeat Thursday.The lone win against the Brewers was an 8-1 rout Wednesday.That was a great game today. We hit a couple of home runs and put a lot of runs on the board early, Diamondbacks shortstop Jean Segura said.The Dodgers, who were off Thursday, had their three-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Dodgers, who split the two-game series with Tampa Bay, managed only four hits against Rays starter Matt Moore.Moore was good and kept us off-balance and made pitches when he needed to, Roberts said. We just really couldnt stress him.Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke wont pitch against his former club during this trip. Greinke is on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. ' ' '