opener thanks to the brutal winter, should be better

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Josh Beckett has pitched his home games in Los Angeles for almost two years now, and hed almost forgotten what it was like to sit through a rain delay. He handled this one with no problem The right-hander waited more than 2 hours to make his start Tuesday night, but once he got on the mound, he was on top of his game. Beckett allowed two hits in six shutout innings, Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run single and the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-1. "Sitting around today was tough," the 34-year-old Beckett said. "Im not 23 anymore. I was ready to go at 7:10. I spent a lot of time in the weight room trying to stay loose. I felt fine." Beckett (4-3), who had endured two consecutive 2-1 losses since his no-hitter May 25 in Philadelphia, finished with seven strikeouts and one walk. He also hit a batter with a pitch. "Actually, I felt like it was his cleanest game since the no-hitter," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "The ball was coming out better. He had a better changeup, and he kept the ball down." Beckett echoed Mattinglys assessment. "I felt like it was a clean outing," he said. He also enjoyed better support from his offence, which scored more runs in one inning than it had in his previous two starts combined. Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Justin Turner led the Los Angeles lineup with two hits apiece. Beckett got into the act with a single of his own for the Dodgers, who have won three straight and four of five. "Joshs performance today is what hes been giving us all year," Ethier said. "We havent been producing many runs for him." Mike Leake, reached for a season-high five runs in his previous start Thursday against San Francisco, allowed five more and a season-high nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. Leake (3-6), who lost seven games last season, had seven strikeouts and one walk. "It was a weird night," said Leake, bothered by a stiff neck in his previous three starts. "I missed some spots. I got some groundballs, but they found holes. I didnt do my job today." Reds first baseman Joey Votto, activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after missing 23 games with a strained quadriceps in his left knee, went 1 for 3 with a single, two strikeouts and a walk. After the start was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 5 minutes, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second on Gonzalezs leadoff double and Ethiers one-out double. Beckett helped himself in a three-run fifth after Turner led off with a single. With one out, the pitcher faked a bunt and hit a chopper over charging third baseman Todd Frazier for his third hit in 23 at-bats this season. "I saw him charging," Beckett said. "He was playing so shallow already. I took a shot." Turner scored on Dee Gordons double, and Ramirez drove in both runners with a single to right field. That pretty much gave Los Angeles control. The largest deficit overcome by the Reds to win this season is two runs. Cincinnati manager Bryan Price was impressed with the Dodgers approach. "They did a nice job of putting the ball in play," Price said. "They ran some balls through the infield. They had enough team speed to get some good reads off the bat and score off that line drive to right." Los Angeles added a run in the sixth on Matt Kemps one-out walk and back-to-back singles by Ethier and Turner, who has four consecutive multihit games. Puig singled, stole second and scored on Gonzalezs second double in the seventh. Ethier is hitting .467 (7 for 15) with six RBIs against Leake. The Reds avoided being shut out on Jay Bruces leadoff double, Devin Mesoracos infield single and Zack Cozarts one-out RBI single in the seventh. Mesoraco snapped a career-worst, 0-for-19 slump. NOTES: Cozart stayed in the game after being hit in the batting helmet by Becketts pitch in the fifth. ... Ethiers sixth-inning infield single originally was ruled an out, but Mattinglys challenge led to the call being overturned after a replay review. ... LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu is the Dodgers scheduled starter Wednesday. The last time he faced the Reds, he carried a perfect game through seven innings before settling for a 4-3 win on May 26 in Los Angeles. Cheap Shoes From China . Gonzalez participated in his final game on Sunday, Atlantas 21-20 defeat at the hands of the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers, having posted four catches for 46 yards. China Shoes Cheap .com) - Avery Bradley scored 21 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets, 89-81. https://www.chinashoesshop.com/ . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies. China Shoes Free Shipping . The kind he has every so often. The kind he has when Dwyane Wade sits. James scored 43 points -- 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display -- and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. China Shoes Nike .S. womens soccer team to a 2-0 win over China in Colorado in the afternoon. TORONTO -- Four games into the MLS season, the Toronto FC training room is packed. And more worrying, it is filled with marquee talent. Toronto (3-1-0) could be without as many as five starters for Saturdays visit by the Colorado Rapids (2-1-1) including two designated players whose combined pay this season is close to US$13 million. Catch the game on TSN starting at 4pm et/1pm pt. England striker Jermain Defoe (hamstring) is out for the second straight week. American midfielder Michael Bradley missed another practice Friday, his body feeling the effects of games for both the U.S. and Toronto last week. "Were giving him every single chance ... well make a decision (Saturday)," manager Ryan Nelsen said of his teams midfield general. Centre back Doneil Henry (knee) will sit out a second straight game. Jonathan Osorio (hamstring) is "probably a no" for the third week in a row and fellow midfielder Alvaro Rey (hamstring) is "very very questionable." Because of injuries and suspensions, Toronto has only five players who have started every game so far: goalkeeper Julio Cesar, defenders Mark Bloom and Justin Morrow and midfielders Bradley and Rey. And that number could be down to three after this weekend. Defoe was sidelined by a hamstring injury at Spurs earlier this season. Nelsen has said the two injuries are not linked and repeated Friday that the England star was dealing with a mild strain. Hamstrings are tricky things, especially for elite soccer players. Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke, for example, ran 12.2 kilometres in Wednesdays Champions League semifinal against Barcelona. Toronto, which has used 19 players to date, has had to put the brakes on Defoe, who has wanted to resume training. Nelsen, however, sees a bigger picture. "The one thing that we dont want is obviously him coming back and getting re-injured. And so if we have to sacrifice an extra week, we have to sacrifice an extra week." Nelsen said the team has been reviewing everything at its disposal -- from heart rate to distance travelled in training -- to see if things could be done differently. The club is also learning the ins and outs of the bodies of new players like Defoe, he added. The TFC manager says there are no alarm bells about the current spate of injuries. A challenging opening to the schedule and the long winter that has kept practices until this week to artificial turf under a bubble at the team training centre havent helped. Most top soccer pros would rather gargle cod liver oil than set foot on artificial turf. Nelsen believes that this is just the kind of injury run that all clubs go through at some point. "It happens at Chelsea, it happens at Man City, it happens at every single club. Hopefully were just getting all of them done now." Said captain Steven Caldwell: "Its disappointing that weve got a few injurries but a lot of them are nobodys fault.dddddddddddd." In the case of Toronto, this is a squad that brought in at least seven new starters this season. Time has been needed on the training ground to get everyone on the same page. Youre damned if you, damned if you dont, Nelsen said of practice regimens. "Because if you pull them out of training and just rest them, then theyre not ready for the demands of a game. Were sitting with three wins because the guys are fit and organized. But we couldnt have done that if we had all wrapped them up in cotton wool." Bradley presents an interesting case in point. Rested this week, he is probably the exception to the rule that starters need to practise. If he doesnt start, speculation will grow that he is dealing with more than the variety of strains the club has pointed to. The good news is the injuries have not slowed Toronto down so far. Missing Defoe, Osorio, Henry and the suspended Caldwell last week, it still managed to topple previously unbeaten Columbus away from home. Also on the plus side, squad players like rookie defender Nick Hagglund and second-year midfielder Kyle Bekker have stepped up. And veteran Bradley Orr showed his moxie in smoothly shifting over to centre back. Nelsen says his reserves have stepped up to the challenge during the current injury glut. But he is not about to say debate over his teams depth is over. "I always got told that anybody can play one, two, three games at any level," he said. "But its the ability to spit them out week in, week out ... thats the mark of what a really good player is." Orr will likely partner Caldwell in central defence with Bekker deputizing for Osorio in midfield again. Dwayne De Rosario could start on the flank for Rey with Issey Nakajima-Farran who scored off the bench last week, possibly partnering Gilberto up front. Jeremy Hall may get the nod if Bradley cant go. The pitch at BMO Field, poor for the home opener thanks to the brutal winter, should be better Saturday although the players know it will take time to return to top condition. "Its not going to be ideal," said Caldwell, who returns from his one-game suspension. Colorado, under new head coach Pablo Mastroeni, has already defeated Portland and Vancouver this season and tied the New York Red Bulls. The lone loss was a 3-2 decision to defending champion Sporting Kansas City. "Theyve got a really nice team thats been around together as well for a bit," said Nelsen. "Theyre a team, for me, that has no real weaknesses. Theyre just a lovely, solid MLS team thats going to be very difficult." Spanish midfielder Jose Mari -- real name Jose Maria Martin Bejarano-Serrano -- introduced himself last week with two goals against Vancouver. The first, a swerving left-footed rocket, was judged the leagues goal of the week. ' ' '