been cheated out of medals at those Olympics and other w

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Yadier Molina looked perfectly comfortable in the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Batting second for only the third time in his career, Molina homered and drove in four runs to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the slumping Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Monday. Molina hit a two-run homer in the first inning and doubled home a run in the third before his sacrifice fly in the fourth scored Pete Kozma. "Yadier is pretty flexible," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We like him wherever he hits. Today he did a nice job hitting in the second position." Molina had batted fifth 40 times and sixth seven times this year. "It doesnt matter for me," he said. "Ive got the same approach: Im going to be aggressive." While the Cardinals own the best road record in the majors at 19-9, the Royals dropped their ninth straight home game -- one shy of the franchise record set last year. "Were playing good," Molina said. "Weve got some good offence. Right now, were seeing the ball pretty good. Were finding some holes. Were showing the people weve got a pretty good team. Hopefully we can continue to do that for the rest of the season." The anticipated pitchers duel between Adam Wainwright and James Shields failed to materialize. Wainwright (7-3) struck out five and walked none in eight innings for the win. He allowed 12 hits, his most since Sept. 14, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs. The right-hander gave up 12 hits over 22 1-3 innings in his previous three starts. "Early on, they got some hits off some bad pitches and I felt like as the game went on they put some really good at-bats against me and hit some good pitches as well," Wainwright said. "I broke several of their bats and they found holes. The got some good hits as well on good pitches. I think as a pitcher no matter what happens on the other side you just have to keep battling and keep making pitches and eventually if you keep making pitches things will work out." Edward Mujica gave up a hit in the ninth but earned his 15th save in as many opportunities. Shields (2-6) yielded nine hits and season highs of six runs and five walks over six innings while losing his fourth straight start. "I wasnt commanding my fastball and I was getting behind in the count and then I started walking guys," Shields said. "Weve just got to gut it out. Weve got great effort in here." After rain delayed the start for 62 minutes, the Cardinals opened the game with Matt Carpenters single and Molinas third home run. It was the first time Molina had faced Shields. "Shields is a good pitcher," Molina said. "My brother (caught) him in Tampa. I watched him a bunch of times on TV. Ive got a pretty good idea what he brings to the table. He made a couple of mistakes in the middle and I took advantage." Royals rookie David Lough, who had a career-high four hits, led off the first with a double and scored on Alex Gordons single. Molinas double in the third scored Daniel Descalso. Molina scored on Allen Craigs single. The Royals answered with two runs in the bottom half. Gordon scored on a wild pitch and Eric Hosmer contributed an RBI single. The Cardinals expanded their lead in the sixth when Carpenters double scored Descalso, who had three hits and a walk. "We showed some life," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We had Wainwright on the ropes, but we couldnt get the big hit." NOTES: Cardinals RHP Jake Westbrook threw all his pitches in a bullpen session and experienced no pain in the tender elbow that put him on the disabled list May 9. After that, Westbrook cancelled an afternoon flight to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his elbow. ... The Cardinals optioned RHP Carlos Martinez to Triple-A Memphis, where he will start after seven relief appearances in the majors. The 21-year-old Martinez has primarily been a starter in the minors. ... The Cardinals scratched pitching prospect Michael Wacha from a Sunday start with Memphis. He could start Thursday at St. Louis against the Royals. "Were still checking our options," Matheny said. ... 3B Mike Moustakas was held out of the Royals lineup with a bruised quadriceps, but was available if needed. ... The Cardinals recalled RHP Victor Marte from Memphis, where he had 10 saves. ... LF Matt Holliday, in an 0-for-14 skid, was not in the Cardinals lineup. 20:50ET 27-05-13 Air Max 97 Rebajas . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Air Max 97 Baratas España . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. http://www.baratasairmax97.es/ . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Air Max 97 Baratas . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Air Max 97 España . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. EUGENE -- What she calls a very emotional year became even more so for Alysia Montano on Monday, during the finals of the womens 800 at the U.S. track and field trials.While rounding the final bend of the race and in fourth place, Montano crashed to the ground as Brenda Martinez stumbled ahead of her and fell out of contention. After the rest of the field crossed the finish line, Montano repeatedly got up to continue, only to drop back to her knees, wailing in emotional pain. She said she was telling herself, Get up. Get up. But you get up, and youre really far away. Your heart breaks.She finally crossed the finish line in tears at 3:06:77, albeit in last place and more than a minute behind winner Kate Grace.?Ajee Wilson finished second, and Chrishuna Williams was third.Martinez, who finished seventh and didnt make the 800 Olympic squad, said she was clipped from behind but was not sure if it was Montano or someone else.I honestly didnt know. It happened so quick, she said. I kind of just shut my eyes and said, This is not happening.USA Track and Field released a statement after the race saying that it ruled there was incidental contact, and therefore, no runners were disqualified from the race.Martinezs coach and husband, Carlos Handler, however, told reporters that Montano clipped her. Montano insisted that was not the case.I didnt touch anyone, Montano said. Go back, and watch the footage. She jumped straight out. I was in lane three. If this is going to be a blame game, I dont really want to play that right now. Ive got my own things Im dealing with.She certainly was dealing with them Monday. Montano held her daughter at times duuring the interviews, while tears occasionally dripped from her eyes.ddddddddddddSome of Montanos emotional struggles began in November, when it was revealed that the two Russian runners who finished first and third in the 800 meters at the 2012 Olympics had doped. Montano, who finished fifth in that event, was very outspoken to many media outlets about how she had been cheated out of medals at those Olympics and other world events. I was racing against robots, she told 60 Minutes.Despite the doping reports and WADAs recommendation that the two Russian 800 runners be stripped of their 2012 medals -- one of which would be handed to Montano -- the IOC has yet to do so. Now Montano wont have the chance to win a medal in the 800 in Rio.Im missing three medals, said the 2012 Olympian, who ran a race two years ago, despite being eight months pregnant. In like eight years of my life as a professional runner, my entire professional career, has been a farce, basically.And now everyone is coming out and saying the Russians arent running in the Olympics, but theyre missing the whole point: that the IAAF is a corrupt institution that is still running the game for us as professional athletes. And Im trying not to take that anger with me to today. Im still trying to stay in this sport, basically with knowing that whos running the show has been using us all along and doesnt really care about our well-beings. Thats been an emotional struggle for me.Its an emotional struggle that probably wont get any easier anytime soon. ' ' '