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PHOENIX -- Brad Ziegler and the Arizona Diamondbacks are treading water in the NL West. Xavier Williams Jersey . Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Trevor Cahill and three relievers made it stand up in Arizonas 2-1 win over Los Angeles on Monday night. With Los Angeles fourth loss in a row and the Diamondbacks third straight win, the Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West remains four. The win also means the Dodgers will need to win the final two games of the three-game series to celebrate on the Diamondbacks home field. "Until we are mathematically eliminated we have to win every night," Ziegler said. "Weve got to go at it, especially when we are playing the team we are chasing. Los Angeles has lost 11 of 12 but the Dodgers once 13 1/2-game lead over Arizona only has shrunk to 9 1/2 with 12 games to play. The Diamondbacks are only in slightly better shape in the NL wildcard race, trailing the trio of Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Cincinnati by eight games with Washington three games ahead. "We cant worry about what they are all doing," Ziegler said. "We have to go out and play our game." The Diamondbacks managed only two hits against Los Angeles starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, marking the third time in club history they have won with two hits or fewer. "We were fortunate but sometimes you have to win 2-1 with two hits," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "We got two hits but we made the most of them." Goldschmidt raised his NL-leading RBI total to 116 with his 33rd home run off Ryu (13-7). Goldschmidt has homered in each of his last two games after an 83-at-bat drought. "He threw a fastball first pitch and I was looking for something over the plate," Goldschmidt said. "(Ryu) pitched great." Ryu (13-7) went the distance for his second complete game. He walked one, struck out four and retired 23 of the final 24 batters he faced. "I threw 100 pitches but that one pitch was the decision-maker of the game," Ryu said. "It was an error on my part. I believe no matter how good a pitch it was. If it is a home run, its a mistake." Cahill (7-10) won for the fourth straight decision, holding Los Angeles to one run on two hits over 5 2/3 innings. Ziegler pitched the ninth for his 11th save but not without some drama. Michael Young hit a pinch-hit single to centre and Skip Schumaker singled to left. Juan Uribe tried to bunt the runners over, but Ziegler fielded the ball and threw to third to force Young for the first out. Nick Buss hit a soft bouncer to first for the second out as the runners advanced. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly then sent up Matt Kemp, who was activated off the 15-day disabled list earlier Monday. Ziegler got ahead 0-2 on two swinging strikes, wasted a pitch and then struck out Kemp on a lunging swing at on a curveball well low and outside.. "Ive faced him a lot even before I got to Arizona, facing him in batting practice," Ziegler said. "I know what hed trying to do and he knows what he wants to do against me. Luckily, I came out on top tonight." Cahill was nearly untouchable over the first five innings, allowing only a single by Punto to start the game and a two-out walk to Puig in the first before retiring the next 13 in a row. But the right-hander quickly ran into trouble in the sixth with the Diamondbacks still holding a 2-0 lead. Cahill walked Ryu, Punto doubled to the wall in left-centre and Mark Ellis walked to load the bases. Cahill retired Adrian Gonzalez on a line drive to left and the runners held, but he then walked Puig to force home Ryu and cut Arizonas lead to 2-1. Josh Collmenter came in on a double switch and escaped the jam, striking out A.J. Ellis and getting Schumaker on a broken-bat grounder to second to leave the bases loaded. "Hes done that in the past," Gibson said of Cahill. "He just starts to lose it. You could just see he was aiming the ball." NOTES: Goldschmidt is tied with Reggie Sanders for eighth place on Arizonas single-season home run list and moved into sole possession of third place in RBIs behind Matt Williams 142 in 1999 and Luis Gonzalezs 142 in 2000. ... Cahill has not pitched past the sixth since August 22, a span of four starts. ... Ryus other complete game came on May 28 when he threw a two-hit shutout against the Los Angeles Angels. Daniel Sorensen Jersey . Argentina, who have yet to beat New Zealand in 17 meetings, rocked the All Blacks with an early converted try to backrower Juan Manuel Leguizamon and led 7-0 after five minutes. But Smiths double in the 23rd and 26th minutes - when Argentina was reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of hooker Eusebio Guinazu - turned the tide of the match and set up New Zealands third straight Championship win. Chiefs Super Bowl Jerseys . "It feels good, Ive never had one before, not even in College," Hagelin said after the Rangers outgunned the Jets 4-2, behind some solid goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist following a pretty wide open first period.ST. LOUIS - The timing was perfect for Matt Adams dad to make a weekend visit to Busch Stadium. The burly first baseman is playing well after a stint on the 15-day disabled list, giving Jamie Adams a lot to smile about. "I think anybody here would like to have their parents around, especially on Fathers Day weekend," Adams said after hitting the go-ahead home run for the second straight game in a 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday. "Tonight was a little better," Adams said. "Coming the day before Fathers Day is great." Adams connected against Stephen Strasburg in St. Louis three-run seventh inning, driving a 3-1 offering over the wall in right-centre. On Friday, he homered on his first swing in his return from a left calf strain, lifting St. Louis to a 1-0 victory. "I think Im just waiting out the pitchers," Adams said. "I went down to Memphis to get my timing back and my confidence is up." The Cardinals batted around in the seventh with the help of two infield hits, a hit batter and two walks, one of them by Matt Holliday with the bases loaded against Drew Storen. Allen Craig added an infield hit off Storen on a slow tapper halfway down the third-base line. "What can you say?" Nationals catcher Jose Lobaton said. "Theyve been throwing good and today was one of those days." Jayson Werth had an RBI double in the first for the Nationals, who managed just four hits for a two-day total of six. Its their first series loss since losing a pair to Miami from May 26-28, and they will try to avoid a three-game sweep in the series finale Sunday. St. Louis reliever Randy Choate (1-2) needed one pitch to escape a bases-loaded threat in the seventh after a strong start from Shelby Miller, who gave up four hits in 6 2-3 innings. Pat Neshek worked a perfect eighth and Trevor Rosenthal finished for his 19th save in 22 chances. Strasburg allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings in his first career appearance in St. Louis. It was his 11th consecutive quality start, but he dropped to 5-3 with a 2.22 ERA in that stretch that began April 20 when he gave up two runs in six innings at home against the Cardinals. Strasburg didnt pitch in the 2012 NL division series against St. Louis after the Nationals shut him down the final month of thhe season. Breeland Speaks Jersey. They lost a five-game series. "It was just fun to finally get a chance to pitch here," Strasburg said. "I wanted to go out there and give it everything I had and I feel like I did that, so I can sleep easy tonight." Strasburg allowed just two homers in his previous seven starts, and Adams long ball was the Cardinals first off the right-hander in four career appearances. "In the grand scheme of things you can always second-guess yourself, but I think if I threw a 3-1 changeup there, especially if hes in swing mode, I probably wouldnt have had that result," Strasburg said. "Who knows? Im not going to dwell on it too much, just going to learn from it and move on." St. Louis pitchers have permitted just one run in the Cardinals last five victories, including a pair of 5-0 wins over Toronto and a 1-0 victory against Tampa Bay. Miller matched his season best with seven strikeouts but walked four, including two for Strasburg, batting .077 with two hits on the year. Strasburgs second walk loaded the bases, but Denard Span grounded out against Choate. "Ill say this just to make him mad, but it looks like he got a little tired," manager Mike Matheny said of Miller. "Those are the things that they dont like to hear, so hell come back and have something to say about that for sure." Span went 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 18 at-bats over the last five games. Anthony Rendon singled with one out in the first and scored from first on Werths double to right-centre. Craig made a sliding stop to cut the ball off and couldnt recover in time. It was tied in the third after a two-out rally started by Millers fourth hit of the season — and third double. The pitcher scored standing up on Matt Carpenters single. NOTES: Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia (2-0, 4.26 ERA) opposes Doug Fister (5-1, 2.68 ERA) on Sunday. Garcia is 3-1 against the Nationals and Fister has won his last five starts. ... The game time of 2 hours, 3 minutes for the series opener Friday night was the shortest in the major leagues this season. ... The Cardinals have won 11 of the last 13 regular-season meetings with Washington and are 17-2 at home the last two years against the NL East. ... The Nationals are 30-2 when scoring four or more runs and 5-30 when scoring three or fewer runs. ' ' '
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Activity: May 25 '20