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MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Twins fans, and even some players, were eager to see Joe Nathan take the mound for the Texas Rangers in his first game back at Target Field on Friday night. Rangers manager Ron Washington decided to give his closer one more day of rest after a long week, and Matt Harrison had already done most of the heavy lifting to put Texas in position for another victory. Harrison breezed through eight innings and Ian Kinsler homered to lead Texas to a 4-1 victory over the Twins on Friday night. Harrison (2-0) allowed one run on seven hits with four strikeouts and Elvis Andrus had three hits for the Rangers. "He was pounding the zone," Andrus said of Harrison, the 26-year-old left-hander who started Game 7 of the World Series last year. "Hes been doing that since last year. When hes good, hes pounding the zone with first pitch strikes. Hes got good stuff and every time he gets ahead, hes really tough." When Washington went to Ogando for the ninth, there were some eyebrows raised. Nathan is 0-2 with two saves in his first four outings, including a blown save in his last outing against Seattle on Wednesday. Making his first appearance in the place he spent the previous seven years would have been a fitting way to try to bounce back. But he had thrown in five of six days, including a warmup, before getting Thursday off, so Washington decided to give him one more day of rest, even though he was back in the town where he became a star. "Theres nothing wrong with Joe," Washington said. "Hes ready to go. Ill give him the ball tomorrow." Anthony Swarzak (0-2) gave up four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in seven innings for the Twins. Danny Valencia had a sacrifice fly in the second inning, but that was all they could muster against Harrison. Harrison threw six shutout innings in his first outing of the season and had little trouble against a Twins offence that has scored more than two runs just twice in the first seven games. He was in a little jam in the fifth when the Twins had runners on the corners and two outs, but the big lefty struck out Joe Mauer to end the inning. He also got Mauer to ground into a double play after Jamey Carroll led off the eighth with a single. "His ball was diving all over the place," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Michael Young added two hits and an RBI for Texas. The Rangers got to Swarzak in the fourth, stringing together four straight singles and taking advantage of an error by second baseman Luke Hughes to take a 3-1 lead. Swarzak was able to limit the damage, turning a bases-loaded, no-out jam into just one run on a sacrifice fly from David Murphy before getting to the dugout. Ogando hit Josh Willingham to start the inning, then gave up a single to Ryan Doumit to make things interesting. But Ogando got Danny Valencia to ground into a fielders choice, Chris Parmelee to strike out swinging and Sean Burroughs popped out to end the game. Valencia, for one, was hoping to see his former teammate on the mound. Nathan may be a four-time All-Star and one of the best closers in the American League over the last decade, but there were a few guys who were waiting to take a whack at him. "I was kind of hoping for him," Valencia said. "After playing with him we kind of know what hes got. But hes a good guy, was a great teammate. Hes a great pitcher so it would have been a good challenge." NOTES: Japanese sensation Yu Darvish (1-0, 7.94 ERA) takes the mound for the Rangers on Saturday in his second start. The eight-time Japanese All-Star gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2-3 innings of his debut, but the Rangers put 11 on the board to make him a winner. RHP Nick Blackburn (0-1, 7.50) will pitch for the Twins. ... Twins RHP Jason Marquis started the season on the DL while tending to his daughter, who was injured in a car accident last month, and is scheduled to rejoin the team Monday. Manager Ron Gardenhire said Marquis is tentatively scheduled to pitch on Wednesday against the New York Yankees. ... Youngs single in the sixth gave him 3,074 total bases in his career, breaking Juan Gonzalezs franchise record. Adidas Superstar 2 Nere . -- Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A. Adidas Superstar Foundation j w .C. -- Having lost three straight, the Calgary Flames were looking for something positive when they visited the Carolina Hurricanes. http://www.scarpesuperstar.it/adidas-superstar-fou...nche.ht ml. As for regular Olympic spectators, theyre being warned that most travel insurance policies wont cover acts of terrorism or war. The Games in southern Russia, which run from Feb. 7-23, are being staged amid unprecedented security and under global warnings of danger. Adidas Superstar Online .cas Heisman Watch, Johnny Football took advantage of Marcus Mariotas bye week out west to separate himself from the pack a little with a monster performance in Week 10, albeit against a weak opponent. Adidas Superstar Nere e Bianche .Rooney was set up well by his teammates for both goals as Radamel Falcao met a long cross into the area in the 23rd minute, sliding to reach the ball at the far post and square a perfect pass for Rooney to tap into an empty net.MALABO -- Zambia snatched top spot in Group A with a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in the African Cup of Nations on Sunday to join the co-host in the quarterfinals and end Libyas faint hopes of progressing. Christopher Katongo scored in the 67th minute against already-qualified Equatorial Guinea, with the co-host having to settle for second and a likely meeting with cup favourite Ivory Coast in the last eight. "Our strategy was to go into the second round," said Katongo, "Whoever we meet its not our problem. We have to concentrate on our own tactics and what the coach wants us to do." Libya exceeded expectations simply by qualifying for the tournament as civil war raged at home, and the surprise opening 1-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea proved crucial as the north Africans bowed out despite beating Senegal 2-1. Senegal crashed to a third straight loss at the tournament and a humiliating end after being tipped as one of the contenders for the title. "Maybe its a surprise for some people but we came to finish first," said charismatic Zambia coach Herve Renard, who arrived at his post-match news conference wearing a Zambia scarf over his lucky white shirt despite the hot and humid weather. "Maybe it was a difficult target but the players respected everything perfectly today." Equatorial Guinea was playing its first match at the 15,000-plus Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, a smaller venue than the 37,500 Estadio de Bata where the team played its first two games. Police again mounted a tight security operation with dogs and riot officers with full body armour and shields on patrol while a helicopter flew over the stadium. Fans began arriving a few hours before kickoff and the bottleneck caused by police only allowing entry through one gate meant thousands queued outside the stadium, with reports of tear gas being used at one stage to control the crowd -- a repeat of scenes at the opening match in Bata. Despite the tough police tactics, a festive atmosphere reigned inside tthe stadium where fans blew trumpets, wore masks and wigs in the national colours of Equatorial Guinea and waved giant inflatable hands in support of the team.dddddddddddd The atmosphere was dampened somewhat by Katongos decisive strike, the Zambia captain skipping past two challenges on the edge of the box before firing a low shot into the corner past Equatorial Guinea keeper Emanuel-Danilo Clementino. Missing the suspended Iban Iyanga and Laurence Doe and with David Alvarez rested on the bench, Equatorial Guinea struggled to make many scoring chances. Ivan Bolado missed the home sides best opportunity when he found space in the box from Daniel Ekedos pass in the 41st, but he failed to lift his shot over Kennedy Mweene in the Zambia goal. "Its only one defeat. We have to correct the mistakes for the next match and see the future optimistically," said Equatorial Guinea coach Gilson Paulo. Although Equatorial Guinea had already qualified, missing out on top spot in the group could be crucial as Ivory Coasts host of Premier League players are the most likely opponents in the quarterfinals. In the other Group A match, Ihaab Boussefis two goals werent enough to send Libya through despite a 2-1 win over Senegal. Boussefi struck in the fifth and 84th minutes to give Libya victory at Estadio de Bata, but Zambias win -- which was played at the same time -- ended their hopes. The strikers double did lift Libya to its first victory at the Cup of Nations in 30 years, however, and the countrys first win at the tournament on foreign soil. Deme Ndiaye equalized with a glancing header from a corner in the 11th for Senegal, which was playing for pride, in a frantic start. Nonetheless, Senegal slumped to a third straight 2-1 loss, to exit the Cup of Nations without a point for the first time in its history. It was the second first-round elimination for Senegal in its last two tournaments after also not making it out the group stage in 2008. It didnt qualify for the African Cup in 2010. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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