Öffentlicher Bereich » eld off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick

LOS ANGELES -- Michael Cuddyer is closing in on his first batting title. And he didnt even need to play on Saturday night to help get there. Cuddyer spent the game on the bench with his .333 average and the Rockies beat Zack Greinke and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0. Atlantas Chris Johnson went 0 for 4 against Philadelphia and slipped to .321 -- effectively locking up Cuddyers first batting title in 13 big league seasons with one game remaining. "It means a lot," said Cuddyer, who was a teammate of two-time AL batting champion Joe Mauer in Minnesota. "It takes a lot of hard work, sticking to routines and things of that nature -- and a lot of luck along the way, too. Im not too proud to admit that to do something like that, youve got to get lucky. "I went into the season a career .271 hitter. So to be in a position like this, I never would have thunk it," Cuddyer added. "I never thought that when the season ends, Id be on top. Ive never been in that position before, so I was never assuming that I was going to be there. "Obviously when you get into September and youre in contention, you keep plugging away for it. And fortunately, Ive had a good September. But I never tried to get ahead of myself." The 34-year-old right fielder is the sixth player in Rockies history to win a batting crown, joining Andres Galarraga, Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, Carlos Gonzalez and three-time winner Larry Walker. Cuddyer is hitting .313 outside of Denver, so hes not just benefiting from playing half of his games at Coors Field. "To lead the league in hitting you have to hit well at home and on the road -- unless you hit like .400 at home," he said. "Ive been in this organization only two years, so Ive never really taken that home-road thing to heart, as far as Coors Field is concerned." Juan Nicasio outdueled Zack Greinke for his first victory in six starts and Nolan Arenado had an RBI double for the Rockies. Nicasio (9-9) allowed three hits over 5 1-3 innings and struck out seven while winning for the first time since Aug. 26 against San Francisco. The last time the 27-year-old right-hander faced the Dodgers on July 12 in Los Angeles, he outpitched Clayton Kershaw with seven scoreless innings for the victory. "Thats the thing about Juan. He can step up and have a performance like that," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He was trying to find consistency after being out for much of the time over the last two years. Weve seen that from him earlier this year when he matched up with Kershaw and threw much like that." Adam Octavio followed Josh Outman out of the bullpen in the sixth, retiring Juan Uribe on a foul pop and Scott Van Slyke on a fly ball with the bases loaded. Rex Brothers, the sixth Rockies pitcher, got four outs for his 18th save in 20 chances. It was only the fifth shutout win for the Rockies. "Its just good to go out there and play a competitive game like that and end up winning a really tough game against a really good team," Weiss said. "Im proud of the way our guys have played down the stretch. We fight until the last out, and were going to fight until the last out of the season." Greinke (15-4) allowed a run and four hits through six innings. The right-hander struck out seven and did not allow a walk in his 300th major league game. Troy Tulowitzki doubled with one out in the fourth and scored on Arenados two-out double to left-centre. Greinke lost for the first time in eight decisions since July 25 and finished his first regular season as a Dodger with a 2.63 ERA in 28 starts. He is scheduled to start Game 2 of the Division Series. With Andre Ethiers status for the playoffs in doubt because of shin splints, three other high-profile Dodger outfielders also were missing from the lineup. Centre fielder Matt Kemp was a late scratch because of left ankle soreness, and Carl Crawford was rested by manager Don Mattingly. Rookie Yasiel Puig, who fouled a pitch hard off his left shin and left Fridays game after five innings, pinch-hit in the seventh and struck out. "He was begging to get out there tonight once Matt couldnt go," Mattingly said of Puig. "But I felt like there was no reason for it, being that last second. We didnt know about Matt till five minutes before the game." NOTES: Greinke is averaging 1.86 walks per nine innings in his past 16 starts, after tying a career worst with seven bases on balls at Colorado on July 3. He finished with 19 hits, the most by a Dodgers pitcher since 1993, when Orel Hershiser was 26 for 73. ... Kershaw was presented with the teams eighth annual Roy Campanella Award by former manager Tommy Lasorda before the game. Nat Moore Jersey . 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But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes. Cameron Wake Dolphins Jersey . They were expecting him there all along. The Pacers announced Friday night that George has been cleared "to return to normal basketball activity," a decision made three days after he was concussed in Game 2 of the Indiana-Miami series.KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- At any age, Jeff Gordon sure knows how to win. Nearly two decades after he burst onto the scene with his first victory, Gordon keeps taking checkered flags, storming to the lead in the final laps at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night for his first victory of the season and 89th overall in NASCARs top series. The 42-year-old Gordon held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick on the final lap to move into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. Gordon won for the first time since October at Martinsville and became the ninth driver to win in the first 11 races this season. He entered the race with the points lead, but exclaimed a weight was lifted off his shoulders as he crossed the finish line for his third Kansas victory. "Im just so proud of (the 24 team). They have been giving me the best race cars all year long," Gordon said. "I have been having so much fun. Im going to be 43 this year and I feel like Im 25 again. That is the way they make me feel." Kasey Kahne was third, followed by Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Danica Patrick was seventh for her best career Cup finish. Gordon built his points lead on the strength of four top-fives and seven top-10s in the first 10 races -- including second-place finishes at Texas and Richmond -- but he knew how much one win would ease pressure on his Hendrick Motorsports team. He got it under the lights at Kansas. "This is so sweet," he said. "What a huge weight lifted off this teams shoulders. We needed to get to Victory Lane." Gordon is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first career Cup victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. He will go for his fourth Coca-Cola 600 victory May 25. At Daytona this year, Gordon insisted he was serious about considering retirement with a fifth championship. He looks every bit a title contender -- but said he feels like he could race until 50 if his cars are this stout. "The whole retirement thing I think is thrown out too much," he said. "I know Im somewhat to blame for that." After the start of the race was delayed 35 minutes by rain, the first Sprint Cup night race at Kansas soon left drivers in the dark after the lights went out on the backstretch. NASCAR polled drivers if they wanted to continue and they were good to go, with Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards among the many who said thhe track was bright enough to race.dddddddddddd Harvick led the final 36 laps in his October win and led the first 41 on Saturday before briefly falling into the middle of the pack. Harvick worked his way to the front in the No. 4 Chevrolet and opened a commanding lead over Gordon and Logano. He led a race-high 119 laps in the 400-mile race -- small consolation once Gordon grabbed the lead with eight to go. With two wins already, Harvick has been a force in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing, but his dominant Chevrolet ran out of gas on his last pit stop and lost time that he couldnt recover. "I should have been paying attention to my pit road lights and should have got off pit road better," he said. "I made a mistake at the end and it cost us a chance to stay out in front of the 24." Patrick had her best run of the season, spending most of the race nestled inside the top 10, and brought a needed jolt of electricity when she passed teammate Tony Stewart and Earnhardt to move into third with 95 laps left. Patrick hadnt finished better this season than 14th at Fontana and her lone top-10 in the Cup series was an eighth-place finish in the 2013 Daytona 500. She was shuffled back on a restart, costing her a top five. Patrick beamed in the garage after the kind of finish shed been striving for since her dazzling performance at Daytona more than a year ago. Crew chief Tony Gibson told her, "Chicks rule, huh?" "I know that we havent had the best of times, but we work hard for it," Patrick said. "This is the kind of stuff that materializes in wins. Weve just got to keep hanging around and doing what were doing. Im just proud of everyone for working really hard and believing in me." Sara Christians fifth-place finish in a 1949 race remains the best for a female driver in NASCARs top series. Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland both had their cars erupt in flames in separate accidents. Gilliland was slow to exit his No. 38 Ford and gingerly walked away from the smouldering wreckage. He was checked out and released from the infield care centre. "It was the hardest hit Ive had in a long time," he said. McMurray had a solid run derailed when he smacked the wall and the back of his No. 1 Chevrolet caught fire. "I heard a small pop, and then just lost all the steering and got into the fence," he said. ' ' '