cond career homer. Happ walked the next batte

SEPANG, Malaysia -- Mercedes confirmed it was the team to beat at the Malaysian Grand Prix by setting the fastest times in both of Fridays practice sessions, although its Formula One rivals were closer than expected. Nico Rosberg, coming off his win at the season-opening race in Australia, was fastest in the second session and overall with a time of 1 minute, 39.909 seconds around the Sepang International Circuit, exceeding Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen by three-hundredths of a second. Raikkonen, who struggled in Melbourne, was also second fastest in the morning session behind Rosbergs Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Although Mercedes was expected to dominate the early races of the season, and did so in Australia, the top six cars on Friday afternoon were separated by just two-tenths of a second, indicating a competitive race on Sunday. "We are still having some small issues and therefore we were not able to maximize everything today," Rosberg said. "The quickest teams seem to be closer together than in Australia, so we still have work to do overnight to improve our level of performance." Defending four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel overcame some technical issues that restricted his running in the morning session and was an impressive third fastest in the afternoon, while his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo was seventh. The bad news for Vettel was that he needed to change his computer power supply unit, which alternates the power source between the engine, the turbo and battery-stored energy. That means he is onto his third of the season, with a limit of five all year before penalties kick in. "Friday timings are not the most important in the world, but to be out there in the range with the other guys was a decent day," Vettel said. "It was not a completely smooth day for both of us; for myself, still some things to solve on the software side, programming the car, which sounds wrong but that is the way it is." Hamilton was fourth in the second session, ahead of Ferraris Fernando Alonso and Williams Felipe Massa. Hamilton is using the same engine that caused his early retirement from the Australian GP, with the team having fixed the misfire and preserved an engine which is also subject to the same five-per-season limit. McLarens Jenson Button was eighth quickest, ahead of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg. On a typically hot but dry day at Sepang, all drivers endured technical issues of some kind, ranging from the lack of downforce which caused several off-track excursions, high tire-wear from the consequent sliding, and fuel consumption issues with the new V6 turbo hybrid engines and the introduction of fuel usage limits. As in Melbourne, Lotus and Caterham were the teams to suffer most. Neither Lotus car completed a lap in the morning as the team continued to play catchup on its engine development after a strife-torn off-season. Pastor Maldonado sat out the afternoon too, and while Romain Grosjean made several trips out on track, he suffered repeated breakdowns. Caterhams Kamui Kobayashi had yet more problems with his energy-storage system, necessitating another replacement after two in Melbourne, meaning he is already closing in on the season limit. China Shoes Cheap . "Uuufff," was all shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria could come up with after Stantons latest mammoth shot. Cheap Shoes From China Wholesale .And although FIFAs investigators are preparing to release the findings of a World Cup corruption probe, Hassan Al Thawadi dismissed any chance of Qatar losing the showpiece event. http://www.chinashoescheap.com/ . On Sunday, hell attempt to become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide race on Iowas short track. The 20-year-old Blaney wont be the only kid pushing a podium finish. Cheap Shoes China Wholesale . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too. Cheap Shoes From China . The Yankees made the moves before Tuesdays game against Baltimore. Robertson was listed retroactive to Monday. Robertson posted two saves in three games as the replacement for retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera before getting hurt.TORONTO -- In a month that continues to go from bad to worse, the Toronto Blue Jays came agonizingly close to a stirring comeback win Monday night before literally falling short. Another foot or so and Edwin Encarnacions ninth-inning blast to centre would have been a game-winning home run instead of a double off the wall to tie the game at 3-3. And the Jays joy at the three-run outburst in the ninth was short-lived when Bostons Yoenis Cespedes singled home the winning run in the 10th inning for a 4-3 victory that ended the Red Soxs eight-game losing streak. Shortstop Brock Holt singled off Aaron Sanchez (2-1) with one out and then stole second -- surviving an instant replay review -- and third before Cespedes sent the ball past a diving Munenori Kawasaki with two outs for the winning run. "We made a run at it. We needed another foot or two on Eddies ball," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "And then we couldnt shut them down (in) that extra inning. So disappointing, definitely disappointing." Toronto, which is 6-15 this month, has now lost nine of its last 12 games and 11 of its last 16. It failed to score more than three runs for the 13th time this month. The opposition scored first for the fifth straight game, dropping Torontos record to 20-39 on the season when it falls behind out of the gate. It marked the fifth time in the last six home games that the Jays had gone to extra innings. Their record is 3-2 in such games over that stretch. The Jays (66-65) had hoped to put an end to their August swoon given their success this season against Boston. Toronto had won six straight against the Red Sox and 10 of the 13 meetings between the two prior to Monday. Left-hander Craig Breslow pitched the 10th for his first save, despite putting the tying run on via a walk. Boston (57-74) was in control going into the ninth, with starter Clay Buchholz holding the Jays to two hits over eight innings and homers by Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia giving the visitors a 3-0 lead. Buchholz struck out four and walked two in a near flawless outing that kept the dormant Jays offence in check until the ninth, when he loaded the bases on back-to-back Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera singles and a Jose Bautista walk with one out. Closer Koji Uehara was unable to clean up the mess, allowing one run on an Adam Lind forceout and then two more on the Encarnacion double. Uehara (6-4) blew the save but still got the win. Boston manager John Farrell praised Cespedes heroics. "Cespy has been so good since coming over to us (from Oakland), getting RBIs in key moments, late-inning situations," he said. "Once again, today, with a game-winner. Whether its been with a base hit or a long ball, hes been big for us late in games." Buchholz had outduelled J.A. Happ, who struck out eight and gave up five hits in six solid innings before a ccrowd of 26,041 with the roof open at Rogers Centre.dddddddddddd But the Jays left-hander fell victim to the long ball in the fifth inning. "Happ was really good," said Gibbons. "Just those two swings got him." Sanchez also paid the price for a mistake, leaving a breaking ball in the strike zone for Cespedes. Buchholz, who had lost his last three starts, had hoped to notch his 11th career win against the Blue Jays -- the most he has against any team. Instead he was left with a no-decision and remains 1-3 against Toronto this season. Singles by Danny Valencia in the third inning, Lind in the seventh, Reyes and Cabrera in the ninth and a walk in the fifth were the only blemishes on Buchholzs scorecard. He was helped by stellar fielding plays by second baseman Pedroia, shortstop Holt and third baseman Will Middlebrooks. "Clay was outstanding," said Farrell. "He was very efficient. A lot of balls on the ground. I thought we played outstanding infield defence behind him." It was Bostons first victory since a 10-7 decision over the Houston Astros on Aug. 16. The Red Sox were coming off a 2-9 homestand that saw them outscored 62-43 -- with 19 of those Boston runs coming in the two victories. Happ, in his 20th start of the season, struck out three of the seven batters he faced over the first two innings. But he ran into trouble in the third when he gave up a single and walk to open the inning. Left-fielder Cabrera came to the rescue, throwing out catcher Christian Vasquez as he tried to take third on a deep fly ball from Pedroia. Boston finally got to Happ in the fifth when Betts, the No. 8 hitter, slammed a 3-2 ball deep for a solo homer over the left field fence with one out for only his second career homer. Happ walked the next batter and Pedroia made him pay one out later with his sixth homer of the season, depositing the ball in the Jays bullpen for a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox now have 12 homers at Rogers Centre in 2014, their most at a visiting park. Happ walked two batters while throwing 111 pitches including 66 strikes before giving way to Todd Redmond. "Its definitely tough to take," said Happ. "I felt better than that. They put some good swings on a couple of balls but other than that I felt like I was executing pretty well." Abandoned by his offence, Happ was 1-3 in his six previous outings since the all-star break. He was given just 12 runs in support during those starts. Jays pitchers came into the game with a 4.79 earned-run average in August, third highest in the American League. And the Toronto offence ranked last in runs (62) and homers (10). The Jays escaped facing Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and his 461 career homers. Ortiz, who leads all visitors at Rogers Centre with 37 home runs, was given a day off after an eventful weekend that saw him hit by pitches on the elbow Saturday and on the foot Sunday. ' ' '