Cwgirls would get as the Tide took over down the stretch

MIAMI -- Two days after Brandon Crawford battered the Miami Marlins with seven hits, he beat them with one swing.Crawford homered in the fourth inning and the San Francisco Giants won a series for the first time since the All-Star break, beating Miami 1-0 Wednesday.Crawfords seven hits in the opener of the three-game set tied an NL record. In the finale he put San Francisco ahead with his 11th homer leading off the fourth inning.He had a great series, manager Bruce Bochy said. We needed a shot in the arm, and he gave it to us.Crawford, who went 9 for 16 in the series to hike his average to .277, pulled a 3-2 changeup from David Phelps over the fence.They had been mixing on me pretty good the past couple of days, Crawford said. I had to be ready for anything. Fortunately I hit the changeup pretty good.Before the game, Crawford posed for photos with Rennie Stennett, who paid a visit to offer congratulations. Crawfords seven-hit game was the first since Stennett went 7 for 7 at Wrigley Field in 1975.The Giants finished 4-5 on their trip and improved to 8-16 since the All-Star break. They have a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Philadelphia beat the Dodgers 6-2 on Wednesday.While their frustration eased, on the Marlins side it peaked in the sixth inning, when hitting coach Barry Bonds was ejected for arguing after pinch hitter Chris Johnson took a called third strike to end a threat.He didnt think it was a strike, Johnson said. And I didnt think it was a strike.Bonds was in the dugout when plate umpire Cory Blaser gave him the thumb. Bonds then came onto the field to briefly argue further before being pulled away by manager Don Mattingly.Despite the early departure, Bonds didnt miss any runs by his team. Jeff Samardzija (10-8) pitched 5 2/3 innings to best his former Notre Dame teammate, David Phelps, and four Giants relievers completed a five-hitter.Santiago Casilla pitched around a two-out double in the ninth by Ichiro Suzuki, striking out J.T. Realmuto to earn his 26th save.With that one-run lead, I was trying to protect it, Samardzija said. You have to tip your hat to our bullpen -- to go 3 1/3 innings and hold them at 1-0, they should get the win.Samardzija had lost his past three starts.Suzuki singled and doubled to increase his career hit total to 3,002, and teammate Marcell Ozuna singled to end an 0-for-18 slump. But Miami bunched two hits in an inning only once -- in the second -- and Derek Dietrich was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.The Giants won with six hits, and took the series despite scoring just one run in the final 24 innings.Were too good of a ballclub for this to continue, Bochy said. Well get the bats going. These guys have it in them. Im not concerned about them.Phelps (5-6), making his second start of the season after moving from the bullpen into the rotation, pitched five innings and allowed one run -- on Crawfords homer.Whoever said solo home runs dont beat you is a liar, Phelps said. I was telling myself not to walk him. Thats what happens when you do that. I threw a pitch in the middle of the plate and he timed it up.TRAINERS ROOMMarlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, nursing a sore right hip, pinch-hit with two on in the fifth and flied out to end the inning. Mattingly said he hopes Stanton will be able to return to the starting lineup for the Marlins next game Friday.UP NEXTBoth teams have Thursday off. The Giants begin a 10-game homestand Friday against Baltimore, with RHP Matt Cain (4-6, 5.16) scheduled to start against RHP Dylan Bundy (5-3, 3.05).RHP Andrew Cashner (4-8, 4.96) is scheduled to start for the Marlins when they begin a three-game series Friday against the Chicago White Sox. It will be the first game for the White Sox in Miami since 2004. Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Cheap Basketball Shoes Wholesale . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. http://www.wholesalebasketballshoes.us/ . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Discount Basketball Shoes . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Wholesalle Basketball Shoes China . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. NICEVILLE, Fla. - The Alabama womens basketball team earned an 84-63 win over McNeese State in its first game in the Patrick Harrington Classic, which is being played at Northwest Florida States Raider Arena. The victory moved the Crimson Tide to 10-1, its best start over the first 11 games since 2000.We are honored to be here. This is a great cause for a great coach and a great man, Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said of Harrington, who was the head coach at Northwest Florida State before passing away in a car accident two years ago. McNeese was very motivated and played near-perfect at times, but our kids really pulled through.Junior Meoshonti Knight led five in double figures with a season-high 20 points, while freshman Ashley Knight had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds in addition to six blocks. Her six blocks ties for the third most in a single game in program history. Also in double figures was freshman Jordan Lewis with 11 and juniors Quanetria Bolton and Hannah Cook with 10 apiece. Junior Mercedes Rogers led the Cowgirls with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.Alabama held McNeese State scoreless over the first four minutes of the game, allowing the Tide to build a nine-point lead. Cook knocked down a long three just before the buzzer to give Alabama a 20-12 lead after one.The two teams traded baskets for the majority of the second quarter, but the Tide was able to push its lead out to double digits at the end of the framee, outscoring the Cowgirls, 6-2 over the final 1:39 to give Alabama a 39-29 edge at the break.ddddddddddddMcNeese State responded with a 6-2 run of its own to begin the third and eventually cut its deficit to four at the 5:25 mark. That was as close as the Cowgirls would get as the Tide took over down the stretch, pushing its lead back out to double digits and taking a 58-46 advantage into the final period.In the fourth, it was all Alabama as the Tide scored 26 points and led by as many as 22.Alabama shot 38.5 percent (15-39) in the first half before turning it around in the second, where the Tide hit 57.1 percent (16-28) of its attempts to finish at 46.3 percent (31-67) for the game. McNeese State finished at 36.5 percent (23-63) overall. The Tide won the battle of the boards, 48-32, and outscored the Cowgirls, 48-22, in the paint.At one point in the third quarter we just put it together and willed ourselves, added Curry. NeNe really gave us a boost off the bench. And AK (Ashley Knight). I mean what can you say? To finish with 16 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks in 23 minutes was just phenomenal. Our bench, from NeNe, to AK, to Coco (Knight), was big, big, big for us tonight. Meo was unstoppable. It was just a good all-around team effort.Alabama closes out the Patrick Harrington Classic on Tuesday when it takes on UTEP at 7 p.m. CT. ' ' '