at teammate all the time. Does he like to give guys a hard time? Yes. Does he like to pester | Forum

ATLANTA -- Andrelton Simmons believes winning close games in late September can only help the Braves in October. Maillot De Foot France Pas Cher . Simmons single to the gap in right-centre drove in Justin Upton with two outs in the ninth inning to give Atlanta a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. It was Simmons third game-ending hit of the season and the Braves 24th win in their final at-bat. Simmons said its a good habit for the NL East champions to carry into the playoffs. "Its always good to have those close games and come out victorious and create that winning habit that weve had throughout the year," Simmons said. "To keep that going into the post-season is big." Upton led off the ninth by hitting the first pitch from Donovan Hand (0-5) for a single to left. Freddie Freeman hit a fly ball to deep centre for the first out before Evan Gattis, who had three hits, hit a grounder that Scooter Gennett bobbled behind second base for an infield hit, leaving runners at first and second. The official scorer originally ruled Gennetts play an error before changing the call after the game. Brian McCann popped out to third base for the second out before Simmons first hit of the night ended the game. "Hes come up big in those situations," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez of Simmons, who is best known for his standout defence at shortstop. Gonzalez said Simmons, 24, thrives in pressure situations. "Hes got a pretty good temperament and I just think he keeps getting better and better," Gonzalez said. "... We all know what kind of defender he is, and I think his bat is just going to keep getting better and better as he matures." Craig Kimbrel (4-3), who leads the majors with 49 saves, struck out the side in the ninth. He has 96 strikeouts in 65 innings. Shortstop Jeff Bianchi hit his first homer of the season in the fifth for Milwaukee. Brewers rookie Tyler Thornburg set a career high with eight strikeouts while giving up two runs, seven hits and one walk in seven innings. Thornburg, 24, has allowed no more than two runs in any of his seven starts. "You never feel good when you dont win a game, but hes got to feel good about what he did this season," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "From a Triple-A start, thats quite a finish." Thornburg was born in Houston but attended high school in the metro Atlanta area. "Being from here, I tried to push the moment aside a little bit and to try to stick with what Ive been doing," Thornburg said. "And it worked well tonight." Thornburg had consecutive wins over the Cardinals and Cubs before facing the Braves. He also had strong starts against Texas and Pittsburgh. "I know there are a lot of people out there that either dont think I belong or dont think I belong in the starting rotation," Thornburg said. "I did pitch against four playoff teams. It wasnt exactly bad teams I was facing. Im really excited about that. That will give me a lot of confidence going into the off-season." Freddy Garcia allowed two run, six hits and one walk in 6 2-3 innings for Atlanta. Garcia, 36, had seven strikeouts to set a season high in a combined 13 starts with Baltimore and the Braves. Jonathan Lucroy gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead in the first when his single drove in Norichika Aoki, who doubled. Lucroy leads the majors with 76 RBIs as a catcher. He has driven in 82 runs overall. Thornburg was helped by double plays in the second and third innings before giving up a run in the fourth. With two outs, Freeman singled and scored on a double to the base of the wall in centre field by Gattis, who was thrown out trying to advance to third. NOTES: The Braves announced RHP David Hale will start Thursday night against Philadelphia. RHP Kris Medlen will have an extra day of rest before starting Friday night, followed by LHP Mike Minor and RHP Julio Teheran. Medlen, Minor and Teheran are in line to be the first three in the rotation for the playoffs, but Gonzalez said hes not yet ready to name Medlen the Game 1 starter. ... Brewers SS Jean Segura had to stop running before the game after he felt tightness in his strained right hamstring. ... Roenicke said RHP Wily Peralta, who developed a blister on his throwing hand in his last start against the Cardinals on Sunday night, will not make his scheduled start Saturday against the Mets. ... Braves LHP Paul Maholm and Brewers RHP Kyle Lohse will bring 10-10 records into Wednesday nights final game of the series. http:///...-mangala-france.html . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. http://www.maillotdefrancefoot.fr/maillot-dimitri-payet-france.html . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. http://www.maillotdefrancefoot.fr/maillot-patrice-evra-france.html . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over .DAVIE, Fla. -- The basic role that Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito shared as offensive linemen for the Miami Dolphins was protecting quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The roles are now reversed. Tannehill is defending both Martin and Incognito, the central characters in a bullying saga that has taken both offensive linemen off the field and continued to evolve Wednesday when the NFL appointed a lawyer to investigate possible misconduct within the team workplace. Shortly afterward, many Dolphins spoke out about the matter for the first time -- and with at least one questioning Martins motives. "I dont know why hes doing this," offensive lineman Tyson Clabo said. "And the only person who knows why, his name is Jonathan Martin." Two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Martin considered quitting football in the past, with one of those people saying it was because of how other offensive linemen treated him. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the organization has not given specific reasons about his departure from the team. Incognito is suspended. Martin left the Dolphins last week after a lunchroom prank, and remains excused. "If you had asked Jon Martin a week before who his best friend on the team was, he would have said Richie Incognito," Tannehill said, on another day when dozens of reporters descended on the team complex. "The first guy to stand up for Jonathan when anything went down on the field, any kind of tussle, Richie was the first guy there. When they wanted to hang out outside of football, who was together? Richie and Jonathan." The prank was a silly one -- when Martin sat down to eat, everyone else at the table stood up and walked away. Its apparently a go-to comedic ploy for the Dolphins; Tannehill and offensive lineman John Jerry both said theyve been targets of that very act in the past, and that its typically just laughed off. Not this time. Martin left the team on Oct. 28 after it happened. The story has continued spiraling ever since, with questions about not only whether bullying was tolerated, but if Incognito used racially charged terms against his teammate in phone and text messages. Incognito is white. Martin is biracial. "Whats perceived is that he was a racist, psychopath maniac," Clabo said, defending Incognito. "The reality is Richie was a good teammate, and that Richie and Jonathan Martin were friends, or appeared to be." Added Jerry, who is black, speaking about Incognitos alleged use of a racial slur: "I know the type of person he is and I know he dont mean it that way." How everything inside the Dolphins locker room is meant will now be probed by Neew York attorney Ted Wells, the NFLs choice to dig into the matter. http:///...a-diarra-france.html. Wells has experience with high-profile sports matters, having been involved with special investigations into the Syracuse basketball sexual harassment case and the NBA players union leadership dispute. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said the team will co-operate fully with Wells investigation. "The type of culture that Ive championed since the day Ive walked through these doors has been one of honesty, respect and accountability to one another," Miami coach Joe Philbin said. "I consider those to be hallmarks of this program, and I believe our locker room reflects those beliefs. I believe in the men in our locker room, and I believe in our coaching staff." Inside that locker room, players defended both themselves and Philbin. "Whats been bothering me is kind of things that you hear from outside this locker room about things that maybe undermine the integrity or the leadership or the type of players and the class of guys that we have here and the class of this organization," defensive end Cameron Wake said. "Ive been here five years and coach Philbin has done nothing but turn this organization in a positive direction from top to bottom." Wide receiver Brian Hartline said seeing the franchise take hits over the saga was difficult to bear. "Now were able to say our opinion and protect ourselves from being bullied by you guys because we werent talking," Hartline said. "We werent fighting back. We never said a word. We had to sit back and listen for a couple of days. Were kind of tired of it." Clabo said theres a way the offensive linemen treat one another, that no one is exempt from the ribbing and that its done to keep the mood light in the room. "You have to earn the trust of your teammates in this league," Clabo said. "No one is going to walk in the door and just automatically be somebody that you want to go into a game with and believe and trust and know that that persons going to be there when hes supposed to be there. Those things have to be earned." At this point, its unknown if Martin will have that trust -- or even if hell return to the Dolphins, period. Tannehill said that if either Martin or Incognito returned, he would be inclined to try to move on from this saga. "All I know about Richie is hes a great teammate to me," Tannehill said. "I saw him being a great teammate all the time. Does he like to give guys a hard time? Yes. Does he like to pester guys and have fun? Yes. But he brought a lot of laughter to this locker room, he brought a lot of cohesiveness to this locker room and he was the best teammate that I could ask for." ------ Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '