Inland Waterways » Hardy connected for his first of the year

NEW YORK -- J.J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. Nelson Cruz has been hitting homers all season. Cruz hit his 23rd home run, Hardy connected for his first of the year and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 6-1 after starter Bud Norris left with tightness in his right groin. Adam Jones and Steve Pearce also went deep off struggling soft-tosser Vidal Nuno, helping the Orioles rebound after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss Friday night. "Big win for us," Hardy said. Cruz and Pearce each had a two-run shot. Hardy ended a drought of 339 at-bats that dated to last September. "It definitely felt nice," he said. "I felt like I forgot how to do it." "I think it probably is a little bit of a relief. I started to question myself if I ever was going to hit one again," Hardy added. Mark Teixeira hit his 12th home run for the Yankees, who had won four straight and eight of 10, but that was all they managed against Norris and three relievers. During a pregame ceremony on the field, former New York first baseman Tino Martinez was honoured with a plaque to be placed in Monument Park. Making his first start against the Yankees, Norris (7-5) allowed three hits in five innings and matched a career high by winning his fourth straight start. He warmed up on the mound for the sixth but was pulled for Ryan Webb, who pitched two scoreless innings. Tommy Hunter got the final five outs. Norris said he felt something "kind of funny" while throwing a fastball in the fifth. "It kind of grabbed on me," he said. "Ive had groin stuff before, especially my left one but not necessarily my right one. Youve got to be real careful with those." "I could see it getting a little worse and I wanted to be smart, but really, hats off to the offence for scoring and to the bullpen for picking me up," Norris added. "Pretty sore right now." Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Norris probably will pitch the night game of a split doubleheader Friday against Tampa Bay, but the right-hander said it was too soon to tell. "Weve got other options, but Im hoping we caught it in time," Showalter said. Pressed into the rotation because of injuries to CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, Nuno (1-4) is having a hard time with the homer-friendly dimensions at Yankee Stadium. He was rocked in his previous outing in Oakland and is 0-4 since beating the Los Angeles Angels on May 7. "This is what we have. And as I said, its not like theres just starting pitchers lying around out there," New York manager Joe Girardi said, explaining that Nuno will stay in the rotation. "Right now, this is what it is." The left-hander yielded five runs -- four earned -- and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. He allowed three home runs and has served up 13 in 39 1-3 innings this season at home, where he is 0-3 with a 7.09 ERA. "My fastball today, I just left it up too much," Nuno said. "I trusted all my stuff today. No regrets and everything, but they just got to my fastball." Jones hit a solo shot with two outs in the first and drew a leadoff walk in the fourth before Cruz connected. Cruz began the day one home run behind Toronto slugger Edwin Encarnacion for the major league lead. "Hes carried us along a lot of the season," Hardy said. Pearces drive made it 5-1 in the fifth, and Hardy went deep off Jose Ramirez in the eighth for his 159th career homer and first since Sept. 5, 2013, against Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox. "We like hitting home runs," Jones said. Back in the dugout, Hardy got the silent treatment. He threw sunflower seeds on himself and was doused with water by Cruz. The two-time All-Star shortstop has hit at least 22 home runs five times, including a career-high 30 with Baltimore in 2011. "Normally I just put my head down and run. This time I kind of watched a little bit to make sure that it got up," Hardy said. "As I was rounding third, I looked into the dugout and no one had moved. So I kind of knew that they were going to sit there." NOTES: Baltimore recalled reliever Brad Brach from Triple-A Norfolk. ... Nuno has allowed 15 homers in 67 1-3 innings overall. ... Pineda (right shoulder muscle) will get another week off after an MRI still showed "a trace of inflammation," Girardi said. ... RHP Masahiro Tanaka (11-1, 1.99 ERA) starts Sundays series finale against Orioles RHP Chris Tillman (5-4, 4.82). Hall of Fame reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage will be honoured with a Monument Park plaque as part of festivities for the 68th annual Old-Timers Day at Yankee Stadium. Michael Bennett Eagles Jersey . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. Josh Sweat Jersey . Three pitches later, he was hugging Mike Napoli at home plate after his teammates winning home run. Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1 Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss. http://www.eaglesfansproshop.com/Eagles+Mike+Wallace+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1349 . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Markus Wheaton Eagles Jersey . James Harden wasnt worried and told his coach as much. "He was fired up but I told him: Its OK. Were going to be all right," Harden said. And they were. Houston scored 17 straight points after that timeout, led by 10 from Harden, to take the lead and roll to an easy 129-106 win. Dallas Goedert Eagles Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell.Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Victor Oladipo put the exclamation point on an Orlando Magic upset win with a highlight-reel 360-degree dunk in the final minute. It also put the finishing touches on a great all-around performance from the blossoming second-year guard. Oladipo finished with 32 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Magic beat the Houston Rockets 120-113 on Wednesday night. Nik Vucevic posted 25 points and 12 rebounds, while rookie point guard Elfrid Payton added 15 points, six boards and four assists for the Magic, who have won back-to-back games on the heels of a six-game losing streak. It just took time. It took a minute for us to figure out how to play, Oladipo said. James Harden had 26 points, 10 assists and five steals for Houston, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Dwight Howard supplied 23 points and eight boards against his former team Howard had been averaging 24.8 points and 16.5 rebounds per game in four prior meetings against Orlando since being traded by the Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2012. Its always fun to play here, come back and think about those great times we had here, Howard said. Ill always have love for this cityy.dddddddddddd A Trevor Ariza 3-pointer and a short Donatas Motiejunas jumper on consecutive Houston possessions staked it to a 107-104 advantage with 2:42 left, but Orlando ripped off the next seven points. A pair of Payton layups preceded a Channing Frye triple as Orlando established a 111-107 cushion with 1:20 remaining. Harden found Motiejunas at the other end for a layup before a Vucevic 3-point play and Oladipos emphatic slam sealed the outcome. Earlier, Frye nailed two treys and the Magic raced off to an 11-2 start. Orlando led 29-19 following a quarter of play, but Houston used a 13-4 run to begin the second and claw within 33-32. Patrick Beverley hit a triple in the waning seconds of the opening half to get the Rockets within 55-52 heading into the break. Hardens layup in the final minute of the third quarter helped Houston go into the final frame with an 85-84 edge. Game Notes Orlandos Tobias Harris missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury ... The Rockets fell to 11-4 against Eastern Conference opponents, including 6-2 on the road ... Houston dropped to 19-4 when Harden scores at least 25 points ... Orlando netted 26 points off 21 Houston turnovers. 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