MONTREAL -- The throng of 46,121 at Olympic Stadium were rooting more for the defunct Montreal Expos, but they stood and cheered the Toronto Blue Jays just the same. Pinch hitter Ricardo Nanita singled with two out in the ninth to lift the Blue Jays to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on a Friday night that was part exhibition baseball, part tribute to former Expos and Mets catcher Gary Carter and part appeal to the world to bring baseball back to Montreal. It was the first game at the Big O since the Expos farewell game on Sept. 24, 2004, before they moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals. The teams will play again on Saturday afternoon, when the Expos 1994 team will be feted. Carters widow Sandy and daughter Kimmy were on hand with his ex-teammates Tim Raines, Steve Rogers and Warren Cromartie for a pre-game tribute to perhaps the most popular player in Expos history. He also played for and won a World Series in 1986 with the Mets. "The city always embraced Gary, and us as a family" Sandy Carter said afterwards. "I really felt that tonight. We made it our home and felt privileged to be here for 11 years." Carter died of brain cancer at age 57 in 2012. The City of Montreal named a street after him outside the Expos original home, Jarry Park. "He was a great teammate, a great player, a great competitor," said Raines, a roving outfield instructor for the Blue Jays. "Him and Andre Dawson taught me the meaning of playing the game. "If I didnt listen to him, Andre Dawson would slap me upside the head." Many other former players and management personnel were on hand to see the Blue Jays come back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the seventh and win it in the ninth. Fans chanted Lets Go Expos throughout most of the game, but all were on their feet for the final inning trying to will the Blue Jays to victory. Munenori Kawasaki opened the ninth with a double and scored from third as Nanita singled up the middle. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the final two innings for the win. Mets third baseman David Wright, a rookie in 2004, called it a fun night. "It brought back a bunch of memories for me," said Wright. "My first road trip in the big leagues was to Montreal, my first home run was in Montreal, so it was nice today to reminisce as bit. "Its nice for us to be able to come up here and break up spring training a bit, because it gets a little boring down there (in Florida). To come up to a great city with an obviously hungry fan base -- its kind of like a dress rehearsal for us. Youve got the big crowd, you get a little more excited than at a normal spring training game. "Its good practice for Monday (the Mets season opener against the Nationals)." The Mets scored two in the fourth off Jays starter Mark Buehrle on Chris Youngs two-run double. Toronto got one back in the fourth on Jose Bautistas home run, but Ruben Tejada doubled and scored on Daniel Murphys two-bagger off Casey Janssen in the fifth. Former Blue Jays prospect Travis dArnaud led off the seventh with a home run, but Edwin Encarnacion tied it with a two-run single in the seventh off Gonzalez Germen. Encarnacion was tagged out in a rundown after the runners scored. Cromartie leads a movement called the Montreal Baseball Project that is working to get a team back in Montreal, even though estimates are that it would cost more than $1 billion for a team and a new ballpark. The Expos, who became Canadas first major league team in 1969, moved to Washington to become the Nationals in 2004 after a decade of fire sales of top players, dwindling attendance and timid ownership. Cromartie and others are trying to revive baseball interest. They called on Montreal fans to turn out in large numbers to the pre-season games to show that the city will support baseball. "If people think there are no fans here -- you see tonight, the support is here," said Raines. "I think it would be good," said Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie, a native of Langley, B.C. "If the fans show up -- that would be the telling tale. You need that support. But it would be good for Canada." The Mets are old Expos rivals, but the crowd was behind the Jays from the start. There was a big ovation for a diving defensive play by Lawrie in the third and another an inning later for Bautistas homer. But in the stands, there were periodic chants of Lets Go Expos, just like in the old days. The Blue Jays open the season on Tuesday in Tampa Bay, so the trip north from Florida spring training actually took them out of their way. But no one complained of playing in front of huge, supportive crowd. "To be honest, Id rather stay in Florida, but its good for Canada," said Lawrie. "We can suck it up. Its good energy." Buehrle gave up two earned runs and four hits in four innings.
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Martinas Rankin Jersey . -- Billy Andrade hasnt played much competitive golf over the past four years. DENVER -- This time, the Sacramento Kings enjoyed their trip to Denver. Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points, Rudy Gay had 32 and the Kings used 39 third-quarter points to race past the Nuggets 109-95 on Sunday night. DeMarcus Cousins added 27 points for the Kings, who snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. It was Sacramentos first win in Denver since a 118-115 victory on April 5, 2008. The Kings have won three of their last four games overall, including both ends of a back-to-back. "The third quarter kind of dictated the game," Thomas said. "We were getting stops and we got out and ran. Thats when were at our best, when were in transition. We were in attack mode. Rudy started it off, DeMarcus got easy buckets and I just got what they gave me. I was making open shots. We played a helluva third quarter." Randy Foye and Evan Fournier each scored 27 points for the slumping Nuggets, who lost for the seventh time in the last eight games. The Nuggets fell to 1-5 without leading scorer Ty Lawson, who missed a sixth game because of a fractured left rib. "We basically controlled the whole first half, did what we wanted to do, and then we came out and gave up 39 points in the third quarter. Thats unacceptable," Foye said after Denver managed just 18 points in the third. "Its tough, man. But weve got to stay together, weve got to keep fighting and keep believing; dont give in. Thats the main thing. Everybody goes through times like this during the season. Its important for us to continue to fight, to keep pushing." Down 58-51 after Foye hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third, the Kings responded with a 21-2 run that put them in front 72-60 with 4:55 left in the period. Gay scored nine points in the decisive stretch, including consecutive three-point plays.dddddddddddd Cousins hit a couple of jumpers and Thomas twice connected from 3-point range, with Kenneth Farieds mid-range jumper accounting for Denvers only points during Sacramentos surge. "I wouldnt say it was the best quarter we put together all year but it was pretty good," Gay said. "We got back defensively, Fournier was hurting us in the first half, we got out and guarded him. They still hit a couple of tough shots but for the most part we attacked, got to the foul line and found the open man." The Kings carried an 87-70 lead into the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Wilson Chandler pulled the Nuggets to 94-84 with 6:41 left, but the Kings scored the next nine points, including another three-point play by Gay. The Nuggets opened a 13-point lead midway through the second quarter. Fournier connected on two 3-pointers and Jan Vesely, making his home debut after being acquired Thursday from Washington, broke through for a pair of dunks. Sacramento pulled to 52-48 at halftime, outscoring the Nuggets 8-1 in the last 2:10 of the second quarter, with Gay driving for a dunk to close the spurt. NOTES: Nuggets F Darrell Arthur missed the game after he strained his left hip during Fridays loss at Chicago. ... The Kings announced that Jason Terry, who was acquired from Brooklyn with Reggie Evans in exchange for Marcus Thornton, will miss the rest of the season so he can continue rehabilitating a knee injury. ... Sacramento has scored 100 or more points in three of its last four games. ... Gay surpassed 20 points for the third time in four games. ... Fourniers 27 points were a career high, surpassing his previous best by two. ' ' '
