Funkerstation » defensive end.Its the worst defensive team Ive ever

MIAMI -- The two NL Rookie of the Year contenders chatted on the field during batting practice, discussing how they escaped Cuba before becoming major-league stars this season. Then they went head to head, and Jose Fernandez bested Yasiel Puig to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fernandez allowed only one earned run in six innings to help Marlins win 6-2 Monday night, giving the Dodgers consecutive defeats for the first time since June 20-21. Puig went 0 for 3 against the All-Star right-hander in their first matchup. "Its not a big deal," Fernandez said. "Its one game. I dont think at all that Im better than him. His talent is no doubt." They met for the first time less than two hours before the game and talked at length, a rarity for a hitter and the pitcher hes about to face. "We were talking forever," Fernandez said. "I know were going to be incredible friends, because we actually were talking about what we went through to get here. We used to live 45 minutes away from each other. Pretty amazing." That adjective is used a lot lately to describe Fernandez (9-5), who beat the Dodgers for the second time in two starts. He has an ERA of 1.64 since June 1, and at home this year hes 6-0 in 12 starts with an ERA of 1.40. The animated 21-year-old was especially pumped up to face the NL West leaders. "He told me he was fired up and woke up at 6:30 in the morning ready to go," manager Mike Redmond said. "I was a little nervous, just because with young kids youre not sure." Fernandez lacked his usual command, walking two in the first inning, and threw 109 pitches. But he struck out eight, and the Dodgers went 0 for 7 against him with runners in scoring position. "Hes a tremendous pitcher," Puig said through a translator. "He knew how to mix his pitches and was able to dominate." Fernandez also had the Marlins first hit and scored the games first run from first base on a two-out double by Christian Yelich. "We just beat the best team in baseball," Fernandez said. "Thats the most important part. I could have pitched a lot better, but we got the win." Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-4), another standout rookie, allowed three runs in 7 1-3 innings and lost for the first time in his past eight starts. Logan Morrison doubled home a run in the seventh to put Miami ahead to stay. Giancarlo Stanton added his 15th homer in the eighth, when Miami scored three times against a bullpen that has been the best in the majors over the past month. Three Marlins relievers completed the six-hitter, delighting a crowd of 27,127, the third-largest this season in Miami. The Dodgers fell to 25-5 since the All-Star break and lost for only the third time in their past 22 road games. They had a 10-game winning streak snapped Sunday at Philadelphia. "We didnt play bad tonight," manager Don Mattingly said. "We didnt make any errors. We didnt get a whole lot of hits. We just got beat. At some point you have to say you got beat." Juan Uribe went 3 for 3 against Fernandez, scored once and doubled home a run. But Puig went 0 for 5, dropping his average to .351. Hanley Ramirez, traded by the Marlins during their miserable 2012 season, drew boos each time he batted. He went 0 for 4 and struck out twice. Los Angeles loaded the bases in the fifth on a ground single, an infield single and an error by third baseman Ed Lucas. Carl Crawford drove in a run with a groundout, but Fernandez then squelched the threat. He struck out Puig on three consecutive 97-mph fastballs, and struck out Adrian Gonzalez on a breaking pitch. "He has always taken those situations and really dominated them," Redmond said. Stanton homered off the home-run sculpture at Marlins Park against Chris Withrow. "A 2-iron," Redmond said. "That was a bullet." The homer ended a streak of 12 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings by the Los Angeles bullpen. NOTES: LF Crawford and 2B Mark Ellis robbed the Marlins of hits. ... Fernandez might make only one more home start. The Marlins plan to limit him to no more than 170 innings this year. ... Miamis Donovan Solano had an RBI single and is batting .400 with runners in scoring position. ... LHP Chris Capuano, scheduled to start Tuesday, celebrated his 35th birthday Monday. Nike Shoes Black Friday China . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Cheap Nike Shoes Black Friday . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. http://www.nikeshoesblackfriday.com/ . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Nike Shoes Black Friday Sale . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. As opposites do attract we are set for a corker of an opener. Nike Shoes Black Friday Discount . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer took a few minutes during the third quarter to give a spirited lecture to star guard Victoria Vivians as she sat on the bench following a few bad plays.There was really no need to hurry. Breanna Richardson made sure the Bulldogs would be just fine.Richardson scored a season-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead No. 5 Mississippi State over Southern Mississippi 72-50 on Saturday.The performance made for two special days in a row for Richardson.Im proud of that kid, Schaefer said. We were at graduation last night. She and I didnt roll in here until 12:30 this morning. For her to come back and play after graduating last night is kind of appropriate. She really played well -- aggressive and physical underneath.Chinwe Okorie added 18 points for the Bulldogs.Mississippi State (9-0) never trailed, jumping out to a 21-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.The Bulldogs exploited their considerable size advantage in the post during the early run, with the 6-foot-1 Richardson and 6-foot-5 Okorie converting easy opportunities.Southern Miss (7-2) cut the lead to single digits a few times in the second and third quarters, but couldnt hit enough shots to make things close. Brittanny Dinkins led the Golden Eagles with 18 points.We just couldnt ever get over that hump, Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. But Im proud of how we fought. Weve just got to sharpen up the mental side of it so when we play these types of teams we can overcome some frustration.Mississippi State won handily despite a subpar game from Vivians, who finished with 11 points on 5 of 15 shooting. Richardson was there to pick up the slack, shooting 7 of 9 from the field.ddddddddddddI actually shocked myself, Richardson said. I honestly didnt know I had that many points and rebounds. I just came out, felt good, got into the rhythm of the game and played hard.SCHAEFER SCOLDS DEFENSESchaefer made it clear he was disappointed in the play of Morgan William, Roshunda Johnson and Vivians, the teams three starting guards, especially on the defensive end.Its the worst defensive team Ive ever had, Schaefer said. I know we held them to 50, but our lack of commitment defensively really irritates me.NO OUTSIDE SHOTMississippi State won despite just making 1 of 11 3-point attempts. Before Saturday, the fewest 3-pointers the Bulldogs had made in a game this season was two against Texas.BIG PICTUREMississippi State: The Bulldogs continue to plow through their nonconference schedule without a loss. This wasnt Mississippi States best performance -- especially by the guards -- but the team continues to find ways to score even when the outside shots arent falling.Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles have had a lot of success so far during nonconference play, but Mississippi State was a huge step up in competition. Southern Miss had solid guard play for most of the game, but couldnt keep the Bulldogs from getting easy inside looks.UP NEXTMississippi State: The Bulldogs travel to play Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday.Southern Miss: Southern Miss is off for more than a week before playing California in the Puerto Rico Classic on Dec. 19.---Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP ' ' '