ssian golf. But who knows if they will put money in?Ahead of this weeks challenge she is keen.Rio has given me confidence. It

TORONTO - To the surprise of some, Brett Lawrie was in the Blue Jays starting lineup on Monday night. To the concern of all, he didnt finish the game, spraining his left ankle while completing an awkward slide during a successful steal of second base. Where have you heard that before? "I guess you could say I dodged a bullet," said Lawrie after Torontos 9-3 win over Atlanta. "Just from what Jose Reyes did earlier this year and that type of injury that can happen when you get caught up on the bag like that where anything can really happen. Obviously, fortunately enough for myself that it was just my ankle and I can put pressure on it and stuff like that so theyre all good signs and well just see what happens when I wake up." Lawrie was walking around the clubhouse without a noticeable limp. An x-ray was negative and the Blue Jays list him as day-to-day. Just 24 hours earlier, Lawrie was the subject of controversy when first he glared, then screamed at Adam Lind and third base coach Luis Rivera in the ninth inning of Sundays win over Baltimore. Lawrie had flied out to right field and felt, in the moment, Lind should have tagged and tried to score. "Thank God I didnt go, I probably would have been out," said Lind. "The only way I would have gone would be if (Nick Markakis) came up throwing to second base." Manager John Gibbons verbally sparred with Lawrie in the dugout; Jose Bautista played peacekeeper and mentor. On Monday, Gibbons said he felt there would be no benefit to benching Lawrie, saying the matter had been "dealt with" and the club was ready to "move on." Lawrie addressed his teammates during a pre-scout meeting but declined media requests to speak on the matter. Other Blue Jays spoke up, including Bautista, who suggested Lawrie got caught up in the intensity of the ninth inning rally and lost track of the games situation. "Everybody noticed his reaction was not the best, but I talked to him and I understood that he got confused a little bit and caught up in the moment," said Bautista. "Thats it, its in the past, it got addressed and it shouldnt be a problem going forward." Veteran Mark DeRosa was signed in January, a late edition to the re-made Blue Jays, tasked with a leadership role. Lawrie is his biggest project. Their locker stalls have been side-by-side since the start of spring training. Theyve golfed together. They talk often. "I think a lot of pressure has been placed on him being the only Canadian guy," said DeRosa. "A lots been made of his importance to this franchise and that he plays well … I mean its just a learning process. I think thats why I was brought in here, to sit down and talk to him about certain things and how to handle yourself the right way. "Hes trying to get things going," continued DeRosa. "He feels he has a sac fly and a (RBI) and hes helped his team and then Adam doesnt go. Instead of looking at it like, as youre running down the first base line, hes probably not going to go. Those are things well work on but I know his hearts in the right place and thats why I kind of move on and well talk to him and address it. I know hes sick about it. I know he is." Lind, whose decision to hold on the Lawrie fly ball paid off one hitter later when he scored on a DeRosa RBI fielders choice, was forgiving of the third basemans indiscretion. "Theres no hard feelings for anybody," said Lind. "Its a fiery game, a fiery inning, bottom of the ninth, a big crowd and everybodys trying to win. Especially when youre young and probably not been in that situation for years, youre fired up." Lind agreed with Gibbons decision to put Lawrie in Mondays lineup. "Our best lineup is with him at third base and were kind of in a situation where we need to win ballgames and he did the mature thing to do, and talk to us during the meeting," he said. THE BROTHERS RASMUS When Colby Rasmus stepped into the batters box to face his brother, Braves pitcher Cory Rasmus, in the seventh inning on Monday, it marked the first time since June 23, 2010 that one sibling had pitched to another. It was an awkward experience. "It was a strange feeling, a lot of emotions going on," said Colby Rasmus. "But it was awesome and terrible at the same time." Colby doubled off Cory. Father Tony and another brother, Cyle, were watching from the stands. JOHNSON BRIEFLY BACK IN TORONTO - RETURN DATE SCHEDULED Josh Johnson made the drive from Buffalo to Toronto on Monday morning to throw a bullpen session for pitching coach Pete Walker. Johnson is rehabbing triceps inflammation and has made two minor league starts, most recently for the Bisons on Saturday. Hes due to pitch for Buffalo one more time and, barring a setback, will return to the Blue Jays and pitch the series opener in San Francisco next Tuesday. ROMERO ROCKED The sad saga of Ricky Romero continued in Buffalo on Monday. Romero didnt get out of the first, allowing eight runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning. He walked three Durham Bulls and gave up a two-run home run to top prospect Wil Myers.Dennis Rodman Pistons Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Joe Smith Jersey . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Khyri-Thomas-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. Ben Wallace Jersey . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Markieff Morris Pistons Jersey .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J.EVIAN, France -- Its a little known fact that prior to this summers Rio Olympics one nation already had two gold medalists in its professional golfing ranks. That country was Russia, the athletes were tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov and gymnast Vera Shimanskaya, and neither of them was in Rio.But Maria Verchenova was.The 30-year-old from Moscow may not be Russias most famous professional golfer, but she is comfortably the nations best player of the game and, having set the Olympic course record (and posted a hole-in-one) in the process of finishing tied for 16th, shes rubber stamped that reputation.There was also the little matter of her hat and her dresses: They were flamboyant. They made an impression on sports biggest stage, and these details matter.Golfers who are not golfers? Big hats and retro dresses? It seems to be a rule in Russian golf that the curiosities are always integral, rather than incidental, to the tale.The Evian Championship, the fifth and final major in the LPGA season, takes place this week in the French spa town of Evians-les-Bains on the waters of Lake Leman overlooked by the snow-peaked mountains of the Alps.As a venue it reeks of old world French glamour, of the resorts which played host to Europes aristocrats and mega-rich in the early decades of the 20th century. It was also the very destinations the Russian elite escaped to following the Revolution, where they discovered golf and created the first Russian club, in Cannes during the 1920s.Nearly 100 years later, ahead of her fourth appearance in the event, Verchenova reflects on a month that has changed her profile around the world. And when she talks about the outfits which captured the attention of the world, she does so with a nod to the past.I think my dresses are very elegant, she says. Ive always liked it that in the early days of ladies golf they wore elegant dresses, but now it is more like sportswear. I wanted to return to those old styles. The hat is more sensible. Ive been wearing for a few years now, to protect myself from the sun.Through 54 holes in Rio, the outfits garnered more attention than her scores, a little like her career in microcosm. Its fair to say that she is best known for her magazine shoots. But just as her 13 top-20 finishes on the Ladies European Tour prove, she can play the game. So did her final round in Rio -- a superb 9-under 62 which drew attention to her golf after the cameras and commentators had focused on the hat most of the week.The highlight was her 6-iron at the 155-yard par-3 fourth (her 13th hole of the day) which dropped for a hole-in-one, not that she knew it.It was quite funny, she laughs. You can see on TV that Im not quite sure. There werent many people behind the green, but they were cheering and so I was asking my caddie What happened? What happened? and he was asking me the same question. I only found out for sure when I overheard the scorers radio say Verchenova 8-under. It was an amazing moment.On sports greatest stage she had played the round of her life.It really was one of those days. I was hitting it well all week, but the tactics were wrong. The greens were hard and we were hitting the ball low into them and running through the back. So we talked about it, decided to hit higher approaches, and it worked.That week in Rio was a long way from her introduction to the game on a vacation with her father in the Czech Republic at age 12. She had dreamed of becoming a ballerina, swayed by the beauty of the dancing, but was now taken by the beauty of golf courses and honed her game at Mooscow Country Club.ddddddddddddThe Moscow course is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design which was first mooted in the 1970s by the American business tycoon Armand Hammer. The son of a Russian emigre, he dreamed that golf could draw Russia back into the international community. Leonid Brezhnev, then general secretary of the Soviet Union, thought otherwise. Moscow had to wait until 1993 for it to be built.For Verchenova, the course, which trails through thick, dacha-dotted forest in the suburb of Nakhabino, was where she fostered her dreams and where more recently she plays golf with Yevgeny Kafelnikov, two-time tennis Grand Slam winner and the tennis gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.At the same Sydney Games, Vera Shimanskaya claimed gold in rhythmic gymnastics. Today both athletes are professional golfers, but, with a combined count of zero cuts made in 35 appearances on major tours, there is a gulf in class between themselves and Verchenova.What they do all share is the status of Olympians, something Verchenova cherishes personally and recognizes the importance of for her sport.The whole week was a buzz, she says. I stayed in the Olympic village because I wanted to feel the excitement. Seeing the other athletes going to their event in the morning was so unusual and exciting, so different from any other tournament.For me it was something else. I was so proud to be the only Russian representative and to know the whole country was supporting me was amazing.The Olympics is in our blood. Ever since I was little every two years, winter or summer, we all watch the Games and support our players, it is very prestigious to represent Russia.The final round drama was picked up by Russian broadcasters and prompted a welcoming party on her return.It was such a long journey home, we were stuck in Madrid six hours, but when we arrived the people were still standing there at the airport. A group of junior golfers from Moscow CC had waited six hours for me. They were just young kids, but they gave me flowers as congratulations.As a youngster herself, Verchenova had limited assistance outside her family. Not only was there little in the way of structure for the still fledgling game, but it very definitely remains a pastime for the elite in Russia. The recently opened Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club, peppered with fake Greek temples and boasting a helicopter park, is rumored to have (and need) less than 20 members. Even if that is not true, the fact many believe it could easily be is instructive in itself.It would have been nice to have support like other nations and to have a role model, says Verchenova, but I want to do my best to be a pioneer. I did a lot of speaking about golf before the Games, lots of photo shoots, TV and interviews. I wanted to promote Russian golf. But who knows if they will put money in?Ahead of this weeks challenge she is keen.Rio has given me confidence. It shows what I can do. I know it is only one round, but then I remember how much work I put into this. Ive worked hard with my coach, my gym coach, my psychologist. The 62 was the result of that hard work. Hopefully it will push me on. I also won the European qualifying for Evian back in May, that was another boost.At the end of the year she will head to qualifying school, hoping to write the latest chapter in the quirky story of Russian golf -- the one about the Russian girl in the big hat winning a card to play on the LPGA. ' ' '