set and compete with them, win or lose, well be happy

DENVER -- Clayton Kershaw did everything but close out the Colorado Rockies. He handcuffed the Rockies over seven-plus innings despite not having his best stuff and swung a pretty mean bat, hitting a two-run double and helping spark a three-run rally with a sacrifice bunt. Kershaw stood to get his sixth win until Todd Helton hit a two-run homer in the ninth off closer Brandon League (1-2), who ended up with the win when the Dodgers answered with a two-run 10th off Rafael Betancourt for a 7-5 victory Friday night. "It would be easy to lay down there," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "The boys kind of bounced right back up." Helton fouled off five straight two-strike pitches before sending a 93 mph sinker into the second deck in right field to tie it with his fourth homer overall and his second pinch homer of the season. In the top of the 10th, pinch runner Carl Crawford scored from third on Luis Cruzs hard comebacker that bounced off the left heel of Betancourt (1-3) and dribbled toward the third base side, and Juan Uribe followed with a run-scoring single. Ronald Belisario pitched a perfect 10th for his first save since Aug. 29, 2012, also at Colorado. "You get punched in the gut when you compete and you play tight games," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Weve played a lot of tight games this year and sometimes the reward for competing like that is getting punched in the gut. I like the way our guys fought back against a really good pitcher." Kershaw allowed three earned runs on eight hits over seven-plus innings. He hurt the Rockies at the plate, too, with a two-run double in the fourth, a sacrifice bunt during the Dodgers three-run third inning and a single. But he couldnt make a 5-0 lead hold up. "I didnt have a whole lot tonight to be honest. My fastball wasnt very good, command wasnt great. Just had to fight my way through it tonight," Kershaw said. "Those (early) runs really helped a lot. I was able to just pound the strike zone. We got the win so it was good." Even with the win, the Dodgers were glad to see the calendar flip to June after going 10-17 in May for the lowest May winning percentage (.370) in club history. The Rockies went 12-16 in May and skidded into June. After losing three of four to the lowly Houston Astros, they sorely needed a solid start from right-hander Jon Garland (3-7) but they didnt get it in losing for the sixth time in seven games. Garland, whose spot in the rotation is in question with Roy Oswalt tuning up in Double-A Tulsa for a possible promotion soon, gave up five earned runs on seven hits over five innings. "Im not going to talk about the future or hypotheticals," Weiss said -- and a team spokesman later admonished reporters for asking the manager about Garlands tenuous spot in the rotation and about the health of Betancourt, who recently injured a groin. Weiss said the two-run double by Kershaw hurt, but he suggested Garland was the victim of some tough luck with several seeing-eye groundballs in the third. Garland said he didnt feel unlucky. "Right now I feel like Im just bad, to be honest with you," Garland said. Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez wasnt in the lineup even though his .362 batting average against the Dodgers coming in was second-highest among active players behind David Wrights .371 clip. CarGo pinch hit in the seventh with one out and two men on following a walk to Nolan Arenado and a double by DJ LeMahieu, but Kershaw struck him out on slider. Eric Young Jr., who started in left field for Gonzalez, then bounced out to short to end the threat. The Rockies chased Kershaw with back-to-back singles by Fowler and Troy Tulowitzki with nobody out in the eighth. Right-hander Kenley Jansen plunked Michael Cuddyer with a 1-2 fastball to load the bases, but got Wilin Rosario to ground into a double play, with Fowler scoring, and then induced a groundball out from Jordan Pacheco. Kershaw was battling all day," Mattingly said. "I dont think he felt like he had his good stuff today, but he kind of stayed with it. I probably shouldnt have sent him out there for the eighth but its hard not to send him back out there. Looking back, I probably shouldnt have done that." League then blew his third save in 14 chances. Youngs weak throw back to the infield helped Cruz score all the way from first base on Uribes double in the Dodgers three-run third inning. Mark Ellis and Adrian Gonzalez also knocked in runs that inning. Kershaws double into the left-field gap made it 5-0 in the fourth. "Curveball up and hes a good athlete," Garland said. "Hes a good hitter. Ive watched him take batting practice many of times. So I know what he can do." The Rockies got both runs back in the bottom half on Cuddyers RBI single and Rosarios run-scoring groundout. Notes: Cruz was plunked on his right hand by a pitch from Garland in the third but stayed in the game. ... This was Garlands first appearance against the Dodgers since July 27, 2010, when he was with the Padres. ... The Rockies are 5-0-1 against L.A. over the last six series with the Dodgers at Coors Field. ... Zack Greinke (2-1) faces Jhoulys Chacin (3-3) on Saturday. Cheap Brooklyn Nets Jerseys . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Cheap Nets Jerseys .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. http://www.cheapnetsjerseys.com/ .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Cheap Nets Jerseys Authentic . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. RIO DE JANEIRO? -- At least one member of Australias traveling party believes it would be a mistake to give the early darlings of the mens basketball tournament zero shot at an upset Wednesday night when the Boomers take on the highly favored United States.Its always possible, mate, Australia assistant coach and former NBA championship-winning center Luc Longley said Monday after an impressive 95-80 win over Serbia moved the Americans next opponent to a surprising 2-0 in Group A.There are no impossibilities in basketball.Yet it should be stressed that Longley, like all of Australias players, is realistic about the challenge ahead, even after their stirring victories over a top medal contender in France and a Serbian squad that finished second to the United States in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.The only thing Longley was prepared to guarantee about Wednesday nights game at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio is that the Australians will try to make it as scrappy as possible, with Matthew Dellavedova leading that charge at point guard and physical big men Andrew Bogut and Aron Baynes in the frontcourt.That should be the first thing we write on our whiteboard every game: Lets not be fun to play against, said Longley, who has moved into coaching after a playing career that featured three rings with the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan era.I think coming into the tournament, everyone would have looked at us and said, Were not looking forward to that game. Thats certainly the way the players want it to be. Its our brand of basketball. Its really the only way we have of punching above our weight class.The level of physicality in the matchup pitting Milwaukees Dellavedova against his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving will naturally get a lot of attention in the buildup to tipoff, but Dellavedova also happens to be coming off what might be his finest offensive performance in a national team jersey: 23 points and 13 assists (with zero turnovers) agaainst Serbia in support of Patty Mills team-high 26 points.ddddddddddddhis is the first time in Olympic mens play that Australia has managed a 2-0 start. In the quarterfinals of the 2012 Summer Games in London -- with Bogut unavailable because of injury -- Australia was typically feisty and made its presence felt, but ultimately couldnt prevent a 33-point defeat.Its the ultimate test, Bogut said of facing the United States, which will match him up against former teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green -- as well as Harrison Barnes -- for the first time since Bogut and Barnes moved on to the Dallas Mavericks in the wake of?Golden States acquisition of Kevin Durant.Theyre the best team in the world, best players in the world, so I think if we go out there with the right mindset and compete with them, win or lose, well be happy with that, Bogut continued. If we go out there and were intimidated by them and try and get our shoes signed before the game and a signed jersey, were in the wrong mindset.Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic, after watching Australia pull away late for another double-digit win on top of the Aussies impressive 21-point rout of Tony Parker-led France, said the front-line trio of Bogut, Baynes and David Andersen is second to none in the whole tournament in terms of intensity.They plan man basketball, said Serbia center Miroslav Raduljica, who scored a team-high 25 points Monday.Put a million dollars on it and youd probably get a dollar back if you bet on em, Bogut said of Team USA. So its a great challenge for us. It really gets us in a mindset of seeing what we gotta do to make our offense better and our defense better.Said Andersen, who played parts of three seasons in the NBA: Its like a Hail Mary I suppose youd call it. But were gonna go out there and give it our all and try to shake up the world. ' ' '