hitting a lot of balls hard and just not having much to sh

MILAN, Italy -- Napoli missed a chance to move provisionally level with second-placed Roma as it was held to 1-1 at Cagliari in Serie A on Saturday. Earlier, Udinese picked up a valuable 2-1 win at fellow struggler Livorno in the final round of Italian league fixtures before the winter break. Napoli was brimming with confidence after beating Inter Milan 4-2, but it was Cagliari which started the brighter and the Sardinian side took the lead in the ninth minute. Davide Astori dispossessed Italy defender Christian Maggio and cut back for the unmarked Nene to fire home. The Brazilian thought he scored moments earlier but he was booked for firing at goal after the referee stopped play. Gonzalo Higuain levelled 10 minutes later with a powerful penalty after Goran Pandev was fouled by Astori. Jose Maria Callejon had a spectacular volley ruled out in the 73rd after the assistant referee spotted that the ball took the slightest of touches off Pandev, who was in an offside position. Napoli remains third but could find itself 10 points behind leader Juventus if the two-time reigning champion beats Atalanta on Sunday. Roma plays Catania and would move five points ahead of Napoli with a win. AC Milan plays city rival Inter in a highly anticipated derby. In Livorno, Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin handed a surprise start to Nico Lopez, who claimed the opener in the 11th minute. The Uruguay Under-20 star won the ball off Emerson and raced into the left of the area before unleashing an angled drive into the far bottom corner. Luca Siligardi levelled for Livorno shortly after the half hour as he feinted past Maurizio Domizzi and drilled across into the bottom left corner. Thomas Heurtaux scored the winner in the 65th minute. Livorno goalkeeper Francesco Bardi did brilliantly to keep out Danilos volley from an Antonio Di Natale corner but Heurtaux rushed in to tap in the rebound. It was the defenders fourth goal of the season and makes him joint top goalscorer at the club with star striker Di Natale. Udinese also hit the woodwork in first-half stoppage time when Bardi fingertipped Allans deflected cross onto the crossbar. Livorno, which has lost five of its past six matches, remained a point off safety ahead of the rest of the weekend games. 17:10ET 21-12-13 Ugo Amadi Youth Jersey .C. United on Saturday night and boost the Unions playoff hopes. Nick DeLeon scored in the 36th minute for United (3-23-6), which had ample opportunities to build on its lead but went its 10th straight match without a victory. Patrick Kerney Womens Jersey . When the next inning rolled around Wednesday, though, Nationals manager Matt Williams sent Strasburg to the mound to face the top of the Dodgers order in what would become a 3-2 victory for Washington, the first time this season the No. http://www.seahawksfansofficial.com/phil-haynes-jersey/ . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (5) – He had a brilliant game; it was a huge response for his average games before. Richard Sherman Womens Jersey .That means, of course, that John Wall beat the Spurs for the first time ever — within weeks of his first wins in head-to-head games against nemeses Chris Paul and Derrick Rose. Richard Sherman Seahawks Jersey .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player.MINNEAPOLIS -- It had been nearly two months since Joe Saunders pitched in the majors and 10 days since his last rehab start in the minor leagues. So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence. Saunders pitched five scoreless innings and Luis Sardinas drove in the only run of the game to lift the Rangers to a 1-0 victory over the Twins on Wednesday night. "It was a battle for the first time coming back in almost two months," Saunders said. "It was a struggle, but I made some good pitches, got some clutch strikeouts against some pretty good hitters and kept the team right where it needed to be." Saunders gave up five hits and struck out six after being activated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day. "I had to take a step back there in the first inning, relax and calm the nerves a little bit," Saunders said. "Its been a long time coming for me. Its the longest Ive ever been out. It was a good start." Sardinas had a two-out single off struggling Twins reliever Jared Burton (1-2) in the seventh inning to help propel the Rangers to their seventh win in the past 10 games. Kyle Gibson gave up six hits and struck out four in six scoreless innings, but the Twins left nine runners on base and went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Joe Mauer went 0 for 4. Shawn Tolleson (1-1) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings of relief for the win and Joakim Soria picked up his ninth save in 10 tries, one night after his error in the ninth inning led to his first blown save of the season. Saunders had only made one other start this season, but he took a line drive from Evan Longoria off his left ankle in his season debut on April 4. Saunders made four rehab starts and had his breaking ball working in his return to the Rangers rotation on Wednesday night. Saunders stranded seven baserunners, including getting Brian Dozier to fly out with the bases loadedd in the second.dddddddddddd With his pitch count at 97 after five innings, manager Ron Washington elected to go to the bullpen rather than push Saunders too hard in his first start back. "Hes a competitor and he had to compete tonight, especially early in the game when they couldve done some damage," Washington said. Gibson was just as sharp, allowing just one extra-base hit and breezing through six. But he didnt get any help from a slumping offence that has scored just 10 runs in the past six games. Mauer had a chance in the seventh inning with the tying run on third base and two outs, but he chased a breaking ball for strike three and heard boos from a frustrated hometown fan base. Mauer is hitting .277 with 15 RBIs and six doubles on the season. "I feel pretty good actually, which is even more frustrating," said Mauer, who has been dealing with a sore back for parts of the season. "Im hitting a lot of balls hard and just not having much to show for it. So hopefully that turns here soon. just got to try to have some good at bats, keep having good at-bats and hopefully they start falling." Elvis Andrus was ejected in the sixth inning after he muttered something to home plate umpire Pat Hoberg regarding a low strike called earlier in his at-bat. It was the second ejection of the season for Andrus and Washington moved Sardinas from second base to shortstop and put Rougned Odor at second base to fill the hole. NOTES: Twins CF Aaron Hicks was a late scratch with a back issue, forcing manager Ron Gardenhire to start SS Danny Santana in CF. ... While on a rehab assignment for a groin injury, Twins RHP Mike Pelfrey felt soreness in his shoulder and was brought to Minnesota for examination. Another stint on the disabled list is likely after the Twins diagnose the injury. ... Alex Rios extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the fourth. ... Gardenhire challenged a play in the seventh inning when Leonys Martin was ruled safe on a steal. Gardenhire claimed Dozier applied the tag, but the play was upheld after a 51-second review. ' ' '