PHOENIX -- Chase Anderson said the perfect start to his major league career "feels amazing," and the Arizona Diamondbacks feel the same way about the young right-hander. Anderson pitched seven innings to become the third pitcher since 1998 to win his first five major league starts, leading the Diamondbacks to a 6-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt each hit a two-run homer in Arizonas six-run seventh inning. It was Peraltas first major league homer. Anderson (5-0) had a career-best eight strikeouts. He allowed two runs and five hits on his way to becoming the first pitcher to win his first five starts since Jered Weaver won seven straight in 2006. "Words dont describe that," Anderson said, "just going 1-0, 2-0. Each time I go out there Im just trying to give the team a chance to win. ... 5-0 feels amazing." The Diamondbacks have scored 45 runs in Andersons five wins. "Geez, when you get that kind of run support its not too hard to go out there and win games," he said. Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said Anderson "really threw one of his strongest games for us. He made a mistake to (Justin Upton). ... But other than that, very good." Upton, Freddie Freeman and Ramiro Pena homered for the Braves, who lost two of three in Arizona. Aaron Harang (4-5) issued six walks in six-plus innings, and was charged with three runs and four hits. Brad Ziegler, closing instead of home run-plagued Addison Reed, gave up a leadoff homer to Pena but retired the next three for his first save of the season. Gibson said Reed "has a tired arm, nothing serious." Harang (4-5) was working on a two-hitter before Aaron Hill led off the seventh with a single. Peralta then drove the next pitch over the wall in centre, tying it at 2. "He threw me a curveball. He just was hanging it," Peralta said. "I just made my best swing. I saw the ball flying and I was just OK, I got that one. It feels good. I couldnt stop laughing or smiling." Peralta went 2 for 4 and is batting .429 in seven games since being called up from Double-A Mobile. Harang then walked Cody Ross and was through for the day. Chris Owings added a two-run single off right-hander David Hale, and Goldschmidt hit one far above the 413-foot sign in left-centre for a 6-2 lead. Owings was hitless in nine at-bats in the series before his base hit. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez let Harang bat in the sixth. "You have to let him back out there (in the seventh)," Gonzalez said. "Yeah, he had some walks but we felt comfortable that he could manoeuvr through the lineup. A base hit and a two-run homer ties it. That seventh inning just unraveled on us." The Braves responded with two in the eighth, but lost out on an opportunity for more. Freeman connected against Joe Thatcher, and Tommy La Stella had an RBI single. Andrelton Simmons walked to load the bases before Evan Marshall struck out Gerald Laird to end the inning. Atlanta jumped in front on Uptons two-run drive in the sixth, and that looked as if it might be enough for Harang for a while. Peraltas leadoff single in the fifth was Arizonas first hit of the game. The Diamondbacks went on to load the bases on Andersons bunt for his first major league hit, but failed to score. Anderson got some help from his defence in the fifth. Third baseman Martin Prado made a diving stop of Lairds grounder, and then falling backward threw from his right knee to first, where Goldschmidt snagged it on one bounce for the out. NOTES: Atlantas Jason Heyward went 0 for 5, ending his 11-game hitting streak. ... On Monday, Arizona begins a four-game set with the Astros, the first two in Phoenix, the last two in Houston. Josh Collmenter (4-2, 3.63 ERA) starts the opener for Arizona, Jarred Cosart (4-5, 4.16 ERA) goes for the Astros. ... Atlanta moves on to a four-game set in Colorado. On Monday, the Braves send Gavin Floyd (0-2, 2.80 ERA) to the mound against the Rockies Christian Bergman in his major league debut.
Randy Johnson Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation.
Mike Ford Jersey . For the first time all night, as the Raptors were on the clock to make the 20th overall selection, no one had the slightest idea what was about to happen. No leaks, no whispers, nothing. http://www.customyankeesjersey.com/custom-mel-stottlemyre-jersey-large-974i.html. Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., had 18 aces in the match. He needed one hour 39 minutes to complete the victory.
Jonathan Loaisiga Jersey . Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland.
Greg Bird Jersey . These teams will see plenty of each other in the next few weeks as three of the Canucks next nine games are against the Wild (after today they meet February 9th in Minnesota and again February 16th at Rogers Arena).Sao Paulo, Brazil - The World Cup kicks off in style today as host nation Brazil battles Croatia in the opening match of Group A play at the Arena de Sao Paulo. Follow all the action live on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, 690 in Montreal, 1260 in Edmonton and on TEAM 1410 beginning at 4pm et/1pm pt. As the host country, the pressure is squarely on the shoulder of the Brazilian squad to make good on their status as pre-tournament favorites and win their sixth World Cup title. The key for Brazil will be how manager Luiz Felipe Scolari does with keeping his young team on an even keel in front of their home crowd. Leading the star-studded Brazilian team is 22-year-old Neymar, who figures to be one of the faces of the tournament. The Barcelona man is viewed as the future of the Brazilian national team, and he made quite an introduction for himself at last summers Confederations Cup, scoring four goals in the tournament and helping Brazil to a 3-0 win over Spain in the final, which earned him recognition as the best player in the competition. Experienced players such as Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho were left off the Confederations Cup roster, and were replaced by youngsters Fred and Hulk, who will help Neymar with the scoring onus. Scolari has a plethora of options in midfield with creative players like Chelsea trio Ramires, Oscar and Willian, while Inter Milans Hernanes is another offensive option. Defensively, experienced goalkeeper Julio Cesar will anchor a group that includes David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Dante as options in the middle, while full backs Dani Alves and Marcelo give the team plenty going forward in two- way roles. Croatia, meanwhile, returns to the worlds biggest footballing stage after missing the 2010 event in South Africa.dddddddddddd Croatian head coach Niko Kovac is armed with a talented roster that certainly has a fighting chance to reach the knockout stage, despite a difficult draw. Kovacs club is led by a strong midfield which contains Real Madrids Luka Modric and Sevillas Ivan Rakitic. The former Tottenham man, Modric, will be responsible for generating offense from his midfield position and feeding the ball forward to players like Mario Mandzukic and Ivica Olic. The presence of Rakitic will help Modric in the middle of the field, while both Mandzukic and Olic will be responsible for putting away the chances. Olic will have to carry the offensive load against Brazil, however, as Mandzukic will be unavailable after he was sent off in the clubs qualifying victory over Iceland. Croatia will have one big miss in midfield as Niko Kranjcar will not feature in the tournament due to a hamstring injury. Kranjcar has totaled 16 goals in 81 international appearances, and his experience will be missed in a midfield short on depth. Captain Darijo Srna anchors the back line with considerable international experience, having been capped 110 times for his country. Hell need to keep his defenders organized and clam on the ball against the likes of Brazil and Mexico if the side is to reach the knockout round for the first time since 1998. Brazil hosted the World Cup once before, in 1950, and that team was also expected to hoist the trophy, but were upset by Uruguay in the final. That defeat is still talked about in Brazil today, so the current team will aim to make sure they get off to a winning start. ' ' '
