There was nothing second-rate about their performance, but second place is where Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir find themselves following their short program in the ice dance event on Sunday. Marlon Santos Jersey . Following a pattern that has become all too familiar for the defending Olympic champions, the American team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White bested Virtue and Moir by a margin of 2.56 points at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi to take top spot. Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov fed off the pro-Russian crowd and tallied a 73.04, putting them in bronze-medal position heading into Mondays free dance (10:00 a.m. ET, streaming live at cbc.ca/olympics). Virtue and Moir, skating to Ella Fitzgeralds Dream a Little Dream of Me, put their slip-up in the team event far in the rear view mirror with a seemingly flawless performance, carving perfect turns, nailing their rotational lifts and staying in sync during their twizzle sequences. As the music ended and they struck their final pose, Moir let out a triumphant "Yes!", knowing that the skate represented one of their best performances of the season. Their joy was short-lived though, as their score of 76.33 came in below their season best score of 77.59 at the Grand Prix Finals in December, leaving the door wide open for the reigning world champions Davis and White, who set a new short dance world record with a score of 78.89. Canadas other medal hopefuls, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, skated a strong routine that earned them a 65.93, good for seventh place. The third Canadian entry, featuring Toronto-born Alexandra Paul and Barries Mitchell Islam, skated a light, airy and up-tempo routine, marred only by a small bobble on the opening twizzle by Paul. The 2010 world junior silver medallists finished with a score of 55.91, putting them in 18th place. Virtue and Moir have some work to do to catch the leaders, but they were still happy with how the day unfolded. "It was a really fun performance," the 24-year-old Virtue told CBC Sports. "Obviously, you are here to defend your title. You also want to have fun. You still love what you do." Moir, 26, said that it was this type of performance that has kept them going for the last four years. "Its definitely the reason we keep going. To be on this stage representing Canada, its a huge thing for Tessa and I to be part of a fantastic Olympic Canadian team." Moir added that they still get plenty of enjoyment out of competitions like these. "We love what we do. We love skating together. We have a lot of special moments, and that was one of them." Sundays short dance marked the third head-to-head battle between the Canadians and Americans at these Olympics. Davis and White beat Virtue and Moir by three points in the short dance portion of the team event early in the Games, and repeated the feat in the free dance portion with a seven-point victory. The two rivals bring contrasting styles to the sport. Virtue and Moir boast an elegant and flowing style, and a sense of unison that no other team can match, thanks to nearly 17 years as an on-ice tandem. Davis and White, on the other hand, typically display a faster and bolder technique than the Canadian duo, albeit one with arguably less precision. Virtue and Moir have laid claim to an Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, two world titles and six Canadian championships during their careers, but theyve consistently come up short against the American pair over the past two seasons, including at the 2013 world championship in Virtues hometown of London, Ont. What makes the rivalry even more peculiar, if not slightly peculiar, is the fact they share not only the same training facility in Canton, Mich., but also the same coach and choreographer, Russian-born Marina Zoueva. Zoueva has coached Davis and White for the past 14 years, and has been working with Virtue and Moir for 10 years. While they arent close friends with the Americans off the ice, Virtue and Moir have often said that they have a good relationship with them and that both sides enjoy the friendly rivalry. Another storyline that has surrounded the athletes since the team event, an alleged judging scandal, has fortunately faded into the background. During the opening weekend, the French sports publication LEquipe had reported that the American and Russian judges were conspiring against Canada in order to assure a gold medal for Russia in the team competition and gold for the U.S., in ice dancing. Despite being at the centre of the controversy, Virtue and Moir insist that the rumours havent affected their focus on or off the ice. Neymar JR Jersey .“I always did my stuff ahead of the deadline. The best deal Ive ever done was the Darryl Sydor deal. We did that at the end of January in 04, and Syd was the missing piece. Dani Alves Jersey .com) - The Oakland Athletics needed to rely on a lot of young pitchers to win an American League West title this season.MINNEAPOLIS -- Staring down the wrong end of history, the Minnesota Twins would much rather have seen a pitcher other than Jered Weaver, who no-hit them in 2012 and dominated them most recently on July 24. Yet the Twins did just enough against their nemesis to beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 on Monday night, ending a 10-game home losing streak and avoiding the worst such skid since the franchise started in Washington in 1901. "We all know weve lost a few ballgames in a row here at home," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "The people that showed up here were rooting pretty hard, and our guys were playing pretty hard, too. Big win." Only 21,826 were officially registered as paying customers, the smallest crowd since Target Field opened for the 2010 season. Fewer than that actually showed up on a hot, humid night, but they saw Trevor Plouffe go 2 for 3 and drive in the tying and go-ahead runs, and rookie Josmil Pinto hit three doubles. Casey Fien (4-2) struck out two in a scoreless seventh for the victory, and Glen Perkins pitched the ninth for his 33rd save in 37 chances. Plouffes two-run, two-out double in the fifth inning off Weaver tied the game 3-3, and his bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Cory Rasmus (0-1) in the seventh made it 4-3. Plouffe, hitting .329 in 21 games since Aug. 18, had a 2-2 count when he dumped a line drive into short centre field to score Pinto and Ryan Doumit in the fifth. He entered the game hitting .182 (2 for 11) in 14 plate appearances against Weaver. "Youve got a good pitcher on the hill there thats really had our number," Plouffe said. "He got two strikes on me, then its just battle mode. Hes got that good cutter and changes speeds on it. I was kind of looking for that, trying to lay off the pitch he rides up and in on me. I was able to get enough bat on the ball to get it out there." "I made a pretty good pitch to Plouffe there, and he kind of stuck out his bat and hit it up the middle," Weaver said. "Sometimes youre going to get guys out and sometimes youre not." Plouffe added a sacrifice fly to medium right field in the seventh. Kole Calhoun made a nice throw home, but Brian Dozier slipped his hand under the tag of catcher Chris Iannetta. Playing a makeup game for an April 17 rainout, the Angels continue their longest trip of the season -- nine games -- on Tuesday in Toronto. They also play three-game series at Houston and Oakland. Weaver made his fourth straight quality start for the Angels, allowing three earrned runs, nine hits and two walks in six innings. Luis Suarez Jersey. In their last meeting, the Twins managed just two hits over eight innings in a 1-0 loss on July 24, and then there was the no-hitter on May 2, 2012. The right-hander entered Mondays game with an 8-2 record and 3.28 ERA in 14 career starts against Minnesota. "I started to tighten up there in the third or fourth and got through the sixth, and (manager Mike) Scioscia didnt want to push me anymore, which is understandable," Weaver said. "Its nothing concerning, just the hot-and-humid air and losing a lot of fluids and stuff. It just started to tighten up a little bit, but its not a concern." Rasmus (0-1) loaded the bases in the seventh on a walk, a fielders choice and a single before Plouffes sacrifice fly. Pedro Florimon drew a bases-loaded walk off Buddy Boshers to drive in another run, and Doumit capped it with an RBI single in the eighth. On the way to a third straight 90-loss season, the Twins werent eager to set another futility record. They already have broken the teams season record for strikeouts (1,222 and counting), so avoiding a 114-year record for a home losing streak has to be a relief. "I knew we hadnt been playing well, and its a concern for us, obviously," Plouffe said. "We want to win as many games as possible, even if were out of (playoff contention). Its just who we are as a team; were not just going to lie down." NOTES: After the game, the Angels optioned INF Tommy Field to Triple-A Salt Lake, which starts a playoff series against Omaha on Tuesday. ... Angels 2B Howie Kendrick, out since Aug. 6 because of a hyperextended left knee, could be available as soon as Tuesday in Toronto, Scioscia said. Kendrick was injured after colliding with a teammate while chasing a pop fly. ... The Angels recalled C John Hester before Tuesday nights game. ... With his RBI double in the fourth, has an RBI in 12 of his past 13 games. ... The Twins will use a six-man rotation for the final month of the season, Gardenhire said. They added September callup LHP Scott Diamond to the rotation. ... The Twins added Diamond, INF Eduardo Escobar, OF/1B Chris Parmelee, RHP Shairon Martis and C Eric Fryer to the expanded roster after Rochester lost its International League playoff series on Sunday. To make room on the roster, the Twins placed RHP Samuel Deduno (shoulder) and OF Wilkin Ramirez (broken leg). ... Twins C Joe Mauer, on the DL because of a concussion suffered Aug. 19, took batting practice. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '