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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers season series with the Arizona Diamondbacks went just swimmingly for the defending NL West champions. John Stockton Jersey . Adrian Gonzalez hit a pair of three-run homers to reach 100 RBIs for the seventh time, and Los Angeles capped a three-game sweep of the downtrodden Diamondbacks with a 7-2 victory Sunday after being held hitless by Trevor Cahill for more than five innings. Los Angeles won 15 of the 19 meetings against manager Kirk Gibsons injury-ravaged club, which still harbours resentment over the way the Dodgers celebrated clinching the division title last season by romping around in the swimming pool at Chase Field after the obligatory clubhouse champagne ritual. "We dont really buy into that. For us, its just about winning games," Gonzalez said. "Theyre a team that we were able to handle pretty well this year. Obviously, we have really good pitching and these guys do a really good job of preparing for their hitters." Los Angeles increased its lead in the NL West to three games over San Francisco, which lost 6-1 at Detroit later. It is the fifth time since the start of divisional play in 1969 that the Dodgers defeated a team 15 or more times in one season. They were 16-3 against Arizona in 2004, 16-2 against San Diego in 1974, 15-2 against Atlanta in 1973 and 15-4 against Colorado in 2006. "Sometimes you have those years when you play well against a team, and this year its the Diamondbacks," said Matt Kemp, who homered and threw out a runner at the plate to complete a double play with the bases loaded in the second. Cahill (3-11) yielded three runs, two hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander went 0-4 in four starts against the Dodgers this season, allowing 20 earned runs in 17 innings. "This is a terrible series weve had against these guys this year," Gibson said. "Weve had years where weve had their number, but Gonzalez and Kemp both hit our pitching good this year and did a lot of damage." Zack Greinke (14-8) gave up two runs and six hits before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter during Los Angeles three-run sixth. The division-leading Dodgers now have three pitchers with at least 14 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1977-78, when they had four in both years. Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner, is 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last six starts against Arizona. Dee Gordon slapped Cahills 68th pitch of the game, a sinker down and away, inside the left-field line for an opposite-field double that broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the sixth. Hanley Ramirez walked on four pitches and Gonzalez smacked a 3-1 delivery over the centre-field fence. "Im looking for the same pitch, every pitch from him -- fastball middle-in, and stay up the middle," Gonzalez said. "He missed some barrels earlier with all that movement he had on his pitches. But for us, it was more about just staying with our game plan and trying to hit strikes." Gonzalez, whose six RBIs tied a career high, made it 6-2 in the seventh against Oliver Perez with his 22nd homer. That gave the four-time All-Star 31 homers and 101 RBIs against the Diamondbacks, more than any other active player. Kemp homered on Perezs next pitch, and the left-hander then plunked Andre Ethier with a slider -- resulting in a warning to both benches by plate umpire Scott Barry. That was followed by some extracurricular chirping by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and ace Clayton Kershaw, leading to the ejections of both. DOWN IN THE ORDER Dodgers CF Yasiel Puig, whose average has dipped from .323 on Aug. 3 to .293 -- his lowest since April 30 -- was 0 for 2 with a walk after getting dropped to seventh in the lineup for the first time in his two-year career. "Who do you want the extra at-bat going to? Right now, thats not necessarily Yasiel," Mattingly said. "Yas is probably hitting where he should be hitting right now. I think its a place where youre not putting extra pressure on him." UP NEXT Dodgers: Kershaw (17-3, 1.70 ERA) faces San Diego on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner has a chance to become the first Dodgers starter to finish with an ERA under 2.00 in consecutive seasons since Sandy Koufax (1963-64). Kershaw is 14-1 with a 1.21 ERA and six complete games over his last 17 starts, including a no-hitter. Diamondbacks: Wade Miley (7-10, 4.18 ERA) makes his 100th big league start Tuesday night at San Francisco as the Diamondbacks begin a stretch of nine games in which they will face the Giants six times. Arizona trails the season series 8-5. Rodney Hood Jersey .Tzavelas opened the scoring in the 11th and Pereyra added another in the 51st. Emmanuel Kone pulled one back in the 80th and Levadiakos missed several chances to level in the last 10 minutes. Rudy Gobert Jersey . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3. Jonas Jerebko Authentic Jersey | Cheap Jonas Jerebko Womens Jazz Jerseys Sale . Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Michael Brantley also homered and the Indians beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 9-4 Thursday for their first three-game winning streak this season.Day in 100 words or less It was supposed to be a day without drama. A day the bookmakers told us would be rudimentary, seeing France and Germany breeze by Nigeria and Algeria respectively. We should have known better. France were average for 70 minutes and good for 20, scoring late to prevent Nigeria from moving on. Germany, on the other hand, were pathetic for 70 minutes, average for 20 and marginally better in the extra time they needed to see off Algeria. Germany 2-1 Algeria (AET) Germany are in Brazil to win the World Cup. They may be only three wins away but based on this display those victories are going to be very difficult to find. World Cup winners are allowed slow starts and mixed performances along the way, but Joachim Lows side have a lot of work to do between now and July 13. In the end they, just, deserved the win in Porto Alegre but Algeria played a huge part in an enthralling match. They also did a great job at targeting Germanys high defensive line. The problem for Germany was not the position of the line, but the amount of things they did wrong while playing with it. It was clear they didnt want playmakers dropping in between the lines and with Algeria playing deep, Germanys high line made sense. Except, the players didnt orchestrate the game-plan properly. The full-backs are supposed to drop deep to cover any attackers in behind but their positioning was poor. In front, the midfield of Germany did little to press Algeria into a mistake and far too often balls were easily played over the top, forcing Per Mertesacker and Jerome Boateng to regularly turn and face their own goal, an area many centre-backs are not comfortable with. Thankfully, they had Manuel Neuer in behind and he made an incredible amount of clearances outside of his box. Stats powered by Opta Germanys problems continued in possession. They head into the quarter-finals with too many of their key players either not fit or not playing well. This is a team that became obsessed with Spain after losing to them twice at Euro 2008 and at the last World Cup but at the moment they have a balance issue with their front six. Bastian Schweinsteiger, so crucial to their hopes, limped off in extra time and will desperately be needed in the quarter-final. Philipp Lahm is a fine midfielder but his value is much higher as a full-back. Forced into that change when Shkodran Mustafi was stretchered off, Lahm at full-back gives Germany an outlet his teammates trust in a wide area. It also unleashes Sami Khedira into midfield, a player, himself, who is not fully fit but who brings something completely different to the midfield with his penetration. Think Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso from 2010 - that is what Khedira and Schweinsteiger can be. A pair with great strength who can dictate the tempo and direction of a match. Germanys Xavi, Toni Kroos, is a fine player who can dictate the pace and tempo but demands calculated and intelligent movement in front of him. He is not a true playmaker who will beat two or three men and score an individual goal. This puts tremendous pressure on the front three. Again, thinking of Spain, these three are essential for success. Mario Gotze and Mesut Ozil are not natural wide players. They like to operate centrally in spaces between the lines but that makes Germany easy to defend against. Germany needed width, much like Spain did in 2010, and on came their Pedro, Andre Schurrle for Gotze. Ozil, however, was no Andres Iniesta. He is a defensive liability when an opponent is not in possession of the ball and when in possession he is not at his best on the left flank. Ozil likes to make quick movements, quick passes to feet, and out wide that requires full-backs to get forward, something this German team does very little of. Thomas Muller, one of the bright spots for Germany against Algeria, is a vital player for Lows system. However, the jurry is still out on what his best position is. Tony Bradley Jersey. . Germany started with a false nine in this tournament, then went to Muller as the target man, but it was clear how valuable he is on the Schurrle goal, as his direct running into space and creativity set up the Chelsea man for a moment of brilliance on the goal. Their next opponents, France, may just be exactly what they need. France are a talented team but they have not been tested enough when forced to defend a lot, they tend to play slowly in possession and Germany should control possession and could do what Spain did to France two years ago at Euro 2012. That is easier said than done, however, and Germany will need to be far better to stay in Brazil. What they do have, though, is a cast of characters who are genuine world class stars. If any team can turn this around quickly it is this one. France 2-0 Nigeria There is a very thin line between success and failure at World Cups. The line is different for every team. Frances victory over Nigeria saw them jump over that line. Whatever happens from now on, this World Cup has become a success for a French team some thought wouldnt qualify after their loss in Ukraine last October. Against Nigeria they were far from perfect but their maturity came through. Under Didier Deschamps there is no room for complacency and France were a united front. For the second successive day, a European team grew stronger as the game wore on and a key tactical switch made the difference. Deschamps chose to play Karim Benzema with Olivier Giroud but Nigeria exploited this, creating overlaps out wide on the left where the Real Madrid man operated. This forced Blaise Matuidi to cover and help Patrice Evra, opening up spaces in midfield. During the second half Antoine Griezmann was introduced for Giroud and the balance of the side was much better. Benzema was not at his best but, importantly, France were able to pull through in a game where he didnt carry them. The goal came from a set-piece and the Nigerian goalie, Vincent Enyeama, who had been excellent, made one error in judgment and allowed Paul Pogba to nod home the winning goal into an empty net. Laurent Koscienly, a menace to defend at set plays throughout, played a huge part by attracting two defenders that the goalkeeper didnt trust to deal with the Arsenal man. It was a fitting goal for Pogba, who was the best player on the pitch. In all, many French players who have excelled at the highest level, the Champions League, performed very well like Mathieu Valbuena, Laurent Koscielny, Raphael Varane and Pogba. Nigeria go home with their heads held high with many of their players having had an excellent World Cup. Man of the Day Nominees Ahmed Musa – The Nigerian attacker has had a fantastic World Cup and his speed on the counter caused France a number of problems. Paul Pogba – The Juventus man had easily his best performance at the World Cup so far and scored the crucial goal. Andre Schurrle – Once again another substitute at this World Cup made a big impact on the game. Manuel Neuer – The German goalkeeper was sensational, often playing as an 11th outfield player, sweeping up behind his defence. Essaid Belkalem – The Algerian defence was brilliant, led by the 25-year-old Watford defender. The winner... Manuel Neuer – Arguably one of the best goalkeepers in the world today had a monumental match when his country needed him the most. What comes next? Argentina vs Switzerland (12pm et/9am pt) and Belgium vs USA (4pm/1pm) Burning question for Tuesday Will Belgium start a game better than they have done so far in this World Cup or will they once again start slowly and allow the USA confidence to build? Key stat of Day 19 With 10 games remaining, we have now had 150 goals at this World Cup. That is more than we had in 2006 and 2010. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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