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NEW YORK -- Jacob deGrom took the mound with a disappointing record, but with the full backing of his manager. The rookie right-hander rewarded Terry Collins confidence with the strongest outing of his young career. DeGrom struck out 11 in seven shutout innings and also delivered a table-setting hit from the No. 8 spot in the batting order as the New York Mets tagged All-Star Julio Teheran and the Atlanta Braves 8-3 Tuesday night. "Showed you that he can certainly compete in this league," Collins praised. The shaggy-haired deGrom (2-5) pitched the Mets to their third win in a row, and the franchises 4,000th victory since starting out as an expansion team in 1962. Atlanta has lost three straight. The lanky 26-year-old scattered seven hits, walked none and matched a career best for strikeouts. "Feel I had my best start," deGrom said. "Controlling every pitch I needed to." DeGrom said he got most of his strikeouts on "elevated fastballs and sinkers," though he felt his most effective pitch was his curveball. "Knows what hes got to do to get a K when he needs it, and just goes out and does it," Collins said. The Mets set a team record at Citi Field with 18 hits. Curtis Granderson kept up his resurgence with a leadoff home run and Lucas Duda doubled twice, singled and drew two walks. Daniel Murphy also doubled twice and third baseman David Wright added two hits and made a nifty catch. DeGroms single led to a three-run burst in the second inning, and he exited as a 6-for-22 (.273) hitter in the majors, part of the reason Collins felt comfortable in tweaking his lineup. "Dont really care where I bat. More focused on the pitching," deGrom said. Said Collins: "Way too much made of the pitcher hitting eighth. Ill need to call La Russa and tell him he created a huge monster." Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa holds the record for most times batting his pitcher eighth in a season -- few other skippers have followed his lead since. Teheran (8-6) gave up a career-high 11 hits after shutting down the Mets in his previous outing, part of a Braves sweep last week. He lasted just 3 1-3 innings, matching the shortest of his 53 starts in the majors. "One of those nights that everybody has and today was mine," he said. "I feel like everything I threw, they got a good swing." Teheran was picked Sunday for his first NL All-Star team, but the 23-year-old righty was very hittable from the get-go. Collins noted before the game that the ball was flying during batting practice -- Granderson proved him correct, lining Teherans second pitch off the facade of the second deck in right field. "Its just one of those starts," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "The young man, hes bound to have a bad one every now and then. If you go out there 35 times, youre going to have a bad one, and today was one of his bad ones." Granderson, rebounding nicely from a slow start, hit his fourth home run in seven games. On Monday night, his tying homer in the eighth inning sent the Mets to an 11-inning win over Atlanta. The shot also gave the Mets a home run in eight straight games at Citi Field, matching a team record for the stadium that opened in 2009. The Mets led 5-0 in the third. Atlanta put runners at the corners with two outs in the sixth, but Wright made a diving, backhanded catch on Jason Heywards liner to end the inning. Three Mets relievers closed out the win. They did it while winds whipped debris all over the field as a storm blew into the ballpark. Freddie Freeman hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth. NOTES: Granderson hit his third leadoff homer of the year and 27th of his career. Mets RHP Dillon Gee (strained right lat) comes off the disabled list to start Wednesday night against RHP Ervin Santana. ... Teheran is set to start Sunday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, meaning he wont pitch in the All-Star game Tuesday at Minnesota. ... Andrelton Simmons went hitless for Atlanta. He had six straight multihit games coming in. ... This was the sixth time -- all in the last month -- that Collins has batted his pitcher eighth. DeGrom was the first pitcher to get a hit in that slot. Collins hit Eric Young Jr. in the ninth spot, saying it created a double leadoff position. Corey Grant Jersey . Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up. Tashaun Gipson Jersey . The South Africa international, who rejoined the club last month on loan from Tottenham, opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a powerful shot into the roof of the net. http://www.thejaguarsfansshop.com/Jaguars-Donte-Moncrief-Draft-Jersey/ . 5 Trade Deadline isnt that far away and teams will be making decisions on whether to buy, sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Blake Bortles Jersey . -- Canadas Nicole Vandermade won the Four Winds Invitational on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory. Brandon Linder Jersey . -- Max Gilbert captured his first pro victory at the Tour Championship of Canada.MINNEAPOLIS -- The Toronto Raptors have had every excuse to give in this season. Theyve had injuries to key players, turned the roster over significantly with an early season trade and had low expectations after a regime change portended a possible tear down and rebuild. Kyle Lowry doesnt make excuses. Dwane Casey doesnt make excuses. And the Raptors havent given an inch while climbing the Eastern Conference ladder. Lowry had 20 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his fourth career triple-double, lifting the Raptors to a 111-104 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. DeMar DeRozan added 25 points and seven rebounds and Steve Novak hit five 3-pointers for the surprising Raptors (35-26), who have won nine of their last 11 games to surge to third place in the East. They are nine games over .500 for the first time since 2006-07. "We try to keep everybodys spirits high even if its not going well on the basketball court and we dont let nothing get down on us," said DeRozan, whose team shot 58.3 per cent (14 for 24) on 3-pointers. "Thats the cool thing about our team. We continue to keep it going." Kevin Love had 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Nikola Pekovic added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Minnesota has started a crucial four-game homestand with two losses in three games, and the teams hopes of climbing from 10th in the West into the playoff picture are looking bleak. "Weve got to go out and win games were not supposed to win," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "Thats the approach you have to take. If youre going to get down and you start moping about it, youre going to lose again." The Raptors got some bad news early in the day when they learned Patrick Patterson, a key member of the bench during their post-Rudy Gay trade surge, would miss the next seven to 10 days with a sprained right elbow. But just as they have done over the last two months, the Raptors found someone else to step up. Novak had played less than 13 minutes over the last month, but he scored a season-high in 18 minutes and Terrence Ross (15), Amir Johnson (15) and Greivis Vasquez (12) all reached double figures in scoring as well to earn a tough road win. "t;I cant say enough good things about those guys cause its going to take all of us, especially with Patrick being out," Casey said.dddddddddddd The Wolves entered the night five games behind Dallas and Phoenix for the eighth and final spot in the West. Theyve now lost two of the first three games of a crucial four-game homestand. They put up a fight in this one, trimming a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to 93-91 with five minutes to play. But Lowry drilled a 3-pointer, the Raptors locked down with the kind of defence that has gotten them this far and DeRozan finished the Wolves off with a 3-pointer from the left wing to improve Toronto to 26-2 when leading after three quarters. "Twenty games left, anything can happen," Love said. "We obviously have to go on some sort of a run. But if those other teams keep winning and pulling games out of their you-know-what, were in trouble." When Love sat down for a rest in the second quarter, the Raptors blasted Minnesota with a 15-0 run to take a 46-33 lead. Love ended the run with a jumper, fed Pekovic three straight times with pinpoint entry passes and also drew a charge during a 17-2 run that gave Minnesota a 50-48 lead. DeRozan and Ross both went to the bench early in the third quarter when they each picked up their fourth fouls and thats when Lowry took over. He was tenacious in his attack, hitting two jumpers and feeding Vasquez for a 3 to put Toronto up 75-68. He also played a big role in getting Wolves point guards Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea in foul trouble with his aggressive penetration. "We needed all of his assists. He did a good job getting in there, penetrating, finding people," Casey said. We needed all his rebounds, especially with the way they crash the boards. He just had an all-around game." NOTES: Love made four 3-pointers, including one in the third quarter that broke Rashad McCants franchise record for 3s in a season. McCants made 142 3-pointers in 2007-08 to set the previous franchise record. ... The Raptors reserves outscored Minnesotas 32-16 for the game. ... Barea had another tough night, going 2 for 8 for five points. ... The Raptors recalled Dwight Buycks from the NBDLs Bakersfield Jam on Sunday. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '