hreat. B.J. Upton hit a leadoff single before stealing

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Stewart Cink birdied seven of the final 11 holes Thursday for a 7-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Martin Laird in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.Cink had a bogey-free round at TPC Summerlin in his first start since dropping out of the FedEx Cup playoffs after the second event. He won the last of his six PGA Tour titles in the 2009 British Open.Well, 64 is good for anybody, I think, but on the first day of the year, you dont really ever know whats going to come out, the first day of the season, Cink said. Its been six weeks since I played and you have to prepare yourself to be ready for both, a great start and a not so great start, and just be ready to keep going.I have to be honest, through seven holes I had seven pars and it didnt look like anything special out there except a whole lot of grazed putts. I just kind of was patient and waited for a good stretch, and a good stretch happened.Laird also had a bogey-free round. He played the front nine in 5-under 30 and added birdies on Nos. 15 and 18, holing a 50-foot putt on the last. The Scot won the 2009 event and lost in a playoff in 2010 when Jonathan Byrd made a hole-in-one on the fourth extra hole.I missed a bunch of opportunities on the back nine, putted great on the front and hit it actually better on the back than I did the front nine, just kept missing 8-, 10-footers, Laird said. Then I said to my caddie walking up the last, watch, This will be typical, Ive just missed 8-, 10-footers and Ill probably make this 50-footer. And I did, so it was just one of those days, and it was nice to see that one go in.Scotlands Russell Knox was third at 66. He played his first 11 holes in 7 under, dropped strokes on Nos. 5 and 6 and closed with a birdie on No. 9.Got off to a good start, made a nice putt on the first hole, and the front nine I played so well, Knox said. I hit it good, putted unbelievable. Just got a little ahead of myself, started thinking about that magic number a little too early.Jarrod Lyle, Bo Van Pelt, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Saunders, Brian Stuard and Andrew Svoboda shot 66.Lyle is making his second PGA Tour start since a recurrence of leukemia some 18 months ago. The Australian tied for 31st last week in the season-opening Frys.com Open in Napa, California.It was a good round today, Lyle said. Got off to a bit of a shaky start, but I rolled some putts in and just kept myself out of trouble, which is a nice thing to do.To keep his PGA Tour card, Lyle needs to earn $250,825 in his next 19 events to reach the equivalent of No. 125 on the money list in 2012. He made $33,300 last week.Ive got a job to do and Ive got to try to make as much money as I can to try and regain my playing privileges, Lyle said. Im starting the year just like everybody else. Ive probably got less events than other people have got to play, but the goal is exactly the same, go out there and make as many cuts as you can, finish as high as you can on the leaderboard, and great play takes care of a lot of issues.Andres Romero had a hole-in-one on the 203-yard 17th en route to 67. He used a 7-iron.Defending champion Webb Simpson opened with a 69.FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel had a 71. At No. 13, hes the top-ranked player in the field.Frys.com Open winner Bae Sang-moon also had a 71. Jason Heyward Cubs Jersey .com) - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were among the third-round winners Friday at the French Open. Greg Maddux Cubs Jersey . -- Without Carey Price, the run for a first Stanley Cup in 21 years got steeper and longer for the Montreal Canadiens. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2090t-david-ross-jersey-cubs.html . With the Canadiens leading by one to start the third period, Price turned away 16 shots by the Panthers in the final frame to give Montreal a 2-1 victory over Florida on Monday night. The Panthers (16-21-6) outshot Montreal 16-10 in the final frame, but were repeatedly frustrated by Price, who made 26 saves on the night. Lee Smith Jersey . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3. Justin Steele Jersey . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need.HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros had solid pitching but couldnt get their offence going in the first two games against Atlanta. On Thursday, they finally put together a complete game and won 6-1 to avoid a series sweep. Matt Dominguez broke out of a slump with a three-run home run and rookie George Springer also homered to back up seven strong innings by Jarred Cosart. Dominguez snapped an 0-for-23 skid with his two-out shot to left-centre field off Mike Minor (2-5) that made it 5-1 in the fifth inning. "Thats the big hit that when we were in this here funk that we were in, that was the big hit that had been eluding us," manager Bo Porter said. Dominguez said there was a mixture of relief and excitement when he connected on his home run. "I try not to focus on it but of course it gets in your head," Dominguez said. "Good situation. Got a good pitch to hit and I was finally able to put the barrel on it." Cosart (8-5) allowed six hits and a run for his fourth straight victory. Porter believes that Cosarts presence on the mound has improved with each start this season and the 24-year-old agreed. "When Im throwing strikes I have a lot more confidence and obviously thats what theyve been preaching," Cosart said. "And with the mechanical stuff Ive been doing I have a lot more confidence in throwing strikes and just being able to trust my stuff and attack the hitters and know Ive got a really good defence behind me thats going to make a lot of plays for me." Springers solo homer off Juan Jaime in the seventh pushed the lead to 6-1. He has 15 homers this season, the most by a rookie in franchise history before the All-Star Break. Lance Berkman had the previous mark with 12 in 2000. Minor gave up seven hits and five runs in six innings to remain winless since May 19. Jon Singleton had two hits and an RBI and Jose Altuve added a pair of hits and swiped two bases ffor the Astros, who had managed just four runs combined and had been shut out twice in a four-game losing streak.dddddddddddd. Altuve leads the American League with 107 hits and 30 steals. Justin Upton had two hits on Thursday and hit .364 with two homers and four RBIs in the series and B.J. Upton had a hit and scored Atlantas only run. "Things just didnt go our way," Justin Upton said. "For the most part we tried to play a little small ball with our run-scoring struggles and weve done a pretty good job of it. (Thursday) it didnt work out for us and we didnt get the big ball, either." The Braves had trouble stringing together hits against Cosart and he was helped by the Astros turning a pair of double plays. Evan Gattis doubled to start the seventh before Jason Heyward drew a walk, but Cosart retired the next three batters to end the threat. B.J. Upton hit a leadoff single before stealing second and taking third on an error on the throw by Jason Castro. The Braves went up 1-0 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Tony La Stella. Altuve singled and a double by Singleton, which bounced off the wall in left field, sent him home to tie it at 1-1 in the first. Minor plunked Dominguez to start Houstons fourth before a double by Castro. The Astros took a 2-1 lead when Castro scored on a groundout by Jesus Guzman. NOTES: The Astros opened their gates 30 minutes early Thursday to allow fans to watch the World Cup match between the United States and Germany on the stadiums big screens. ... Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman was back in the lineup after leaving Wednesday nights game in the eighth inning after being hit by a pitch on the right elbow. ... Houston selected the contract of RHP Jose Veras from Triple-A Oklahoma City and outrighted RHP Kyle Farnsworth before the game and he has elected free agency. Veras struck out Justin Upton for the last out of the game. ' ' '