ASS News » turned down the volume so he could talk

MIAMI -- R&B blared in the St. Louis Cardinals postgame clubhouse, making conversation difficult, and Justin Masterson reached over to the stereo and turned down the volume so he could talk about his latest outing. Masterson did it all Wednesday-- pitching, hitting and monitoring the music after St. Louis beat the Miami Marlins 5-2. The former Indians ace earned his first career RBI in the sixth with a two-out single. But he was more excited about pitching seven scoreless innings in his best outing since being acquired in a trade with Cleveland on July 30. "I pray to the good lord that this is on the right path," said Masterson, who has struggled for much of the season. "I felt very comfortable. The ball was coming out well and it was heavy. And it was going at guys; thats nice, too." The 6-foot-6 sinkerballer recorded 12 outs on groundballs. He also bounced a grounder through the Miami infield for his RBI, and when asked if he got the ball as a souvenir, he laughed. "I got a W," he said. "Its much better for the team than the ball." Masterson improved to 2-1 with St. Louis and 5-6 overall. He allowed three hits -- all singles -- and no walks and threw only 91 pitches before departing for a pinch hitter. After recording only six outs in his previous start, he lowered his ERA to 6.00 in three outings with the Cardinals, and 5.14 overall this year. "Today was just a great sign of the kind of pitcher he can be when he gets it all put together," manager Mike Matheny said. "It couldnt have happened at a better time." The Marlins were going for their first three-game sweep of the Cardinals since 1996, but they didnt get a runner to second base until the ninth. "Absolutely we wanted to get greedy and try to go for the sweep," Casey McGehee said. "But Masterson threw the ball well." Miami walked in a run and allowed two unearned runs on a pair of errors by second baseman Jordany Valdespin. Nathan Eovaldi (6-7) allowed four runs, two earned, in six innings. Jeff Baker hit a two-run homer for the Marlins, but NL home run and RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. The Cardinals won despite going 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They were 4 for 26 in those situations in the series, which made a two-out, two-run single by Matt Adams in the third inning especially welcome. "Somebody in the dugout yelled real loud, Hey, we got the lead," Matheny said. "That was a nice change of pace." Masterson made the early advantage stand up. "You get two or three runs and you can challenge guys and go after them," he said. FORMER CATCHER Marlins manager Mike Redmond caught Masterson in 2010 when both were with the Indians. "Hes a totally different guy than I caught," Redmond said. "He definitely relies on his location and changes speeds, but he still gets a ton of groundballs. We never got anything going against him." Redmond also caught the Marlins starter Thursday, Brad Penny, when both played for Florida. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals LF Matt Holliday left the game in the seventh inning when his chronic knee trouble flared up, but he said the problem wasnt serious. Marlins LHP Dan Jennings, who suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by a line drive on Aug. 7, has been free of symptoms the past two days and played catch before the game. Theres no timetable yet for his return. Redmond said he anticipates that RHP Carter Capps (elbow) and INF Derek Dietrich (wrist) will rejoin the team next month. UP NEXT The Cardinals open a homestand Thursday against the Padres when John Lackey pitches against Eric Stults. Lackey has an 8.25 ERA in two starts since joining St. Louis. Penny pitches Thursday against Arizona and Chase Anderson. Penny has a 1.93 ERA in 23 games against the Diamondbacks. Jesper Bratt Jersey . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. Marcus Johansson Jersey . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. http://www.authenticdevilspro.com/Scott-stevens-devils-jersey/ . -- Its been 21 years since Joe Gibbs Racing celebrated its only Daytona 500 victory. Custom New Jersey Devils Jerseys . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Will Butcher Jersey . There, I saw a teenaged boy with tears in his eyes, being consoled by strength and conditioning coach Randy Lee.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have narrowed their general manager search to four candidates, including Bruins assistant GM Jim Benning and Senators assistant GM Tim Murray, a person familiar with the process told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Sabres have not revealed their list of candidates to succeed Darcy Regier, who was fired in November. The search is led by newly hired team president Pat LaFontaine. The finalists are still being interviewed, and no timetable has yet been set for when the position will be filled, the person said. The two other finalists were not revealed. Candidates linked to the job include Pittsburgh Penguins assistant GM Jason Botterill and Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Claude Loiselle. Benning, a former NHL defenceman, spent 12 seasons as a Sabres scout, including eight as the teams director of amateur scouting before being hired by the Bruins in 2006. In Buffalo, Benning had a hand in the Sabres drafting the core of the team that lost the Eastern Conference finals in 2006 and 07. It was a group that included goalie Ryan Miller, forwards Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville and defenceman Brian Campbell. Murray is in his seventh season as the Senators assistant general manager. He began his NHL scouting career with Detroit in 1993, and is the nephew of Senators general manager Bryan Murray. Murray has also spent time as a scoout with Florida, Anaheim and the New York Rangers.dddddddddddd LaFontaine has been patient in conducting his search since taking over after the Sabres fired both Regier and coach Ron Rolston. The purge happened after the Sabres got off to a franchise-worst start and stuck at the bottom of the NHL standings with a 4-15-1 record. LaFontaine was initially offered the GMs post by Sabres owner Terry Pegula, but instead turned it down because he felt he didnt have enough experience. LaFontaines first move was bringing back former Sabres coach Ted Nolan to serve as interim coach with the chance to retain the job once a new general manager is in place. Under Nolan, the Sabres (12-26-4) have gone 8-11-3 and have won five straight at home entering their home game against Carolina on Tuesday night. Though still last in the standings, the Sabres general managers job is considered attractive because the team has stockpiled high draft picks as part of a youth movement that began under Regier last season. The Sabres could have as many as two first-round and three second-round selections in this years draft. The Sabres also have a solid group of prospects in their farm system. They include defencemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov, who were both drafted in the first round in June. The next Sabres general managers most immediate priority will be determining whether to re-sign Miller, who is in the final year of his contract. ' ' '