little navel-gazing, contemplating the personal evolution he often has cited.Is it possible that down deep Djokovic didnt really want to get to the Paris final, where hed likely face the snarling Scot whos pl

NEW YORK -- The team meeting New York Mets manager Terry Collins called following Thursday afternoons lopsided loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks had the desired effect in terms of the Mets effort, if not the on-field result, Friday night.Perhaps the combination of a stirring offense and an ace pitcher on the mound Saturday will allow New York to stop the losing streak that threatens to ruin its season.The Mets, losers of four straight and six of seven, will look to begin climbing back into contention when they host the San Diego Padres in the middle game of a three-game series at Citi Field on Saturday night.The Padres hit four homers in the first three innings Friday night and hung on for an 8-6 win. With the loss, the Mets (57-58) fell to 10-20 since July 8 and slipped under .500 for the first time since April 17.Still, the Mets took some solace in how they came back from deficits of 5-0 and 8-2 to send the tying run to the plate in the sixth as well as from the relief work of Seth Lugo, Erik Goeddel and Hansel Robles.The trio of right-handers combined to retire the final 19 Padres batters after Logan Verrett was torched for eight runs in 2 2/3 innings.We feel that the turning around is on its way, second baseman Neil Walker said of the Mets, who fell to 24-1 this season when scoring more than five runs. We hit some balls really hard tonight and did some pretty good things when we got some traffic on the base paths. And after the first several innings, we did a good job of keeping them off the board.Another positive for the Mets should be the presence of Jacob deGrom on the mound. DeGrom has allowed one run or fewer in six of his last eight starts to lower his ERA to 2.35, the fourth-best mark in the National League.DeGrom is scheduled to be opposed by Padres right-hander Jarred Cosart, who will be looking for his first major league win in almost 11 months.Cosart will be making his third start for San Diego, which acquired him from Miami on July 29. He has not won since Sept. 17. 2015.While deGrom appears to have the edge over Cosart, the Padres (50-65) will hope to draw on the chemistry and confidence theyve built over the last two months.San Diego, which fully embarked upon a rebuilding plan by trading veterans such as James Shields, Matt Kemp, Fernando Rodney, Andrew Cashner and Drew Pomeranz this season, has the second-best record in the NL West (23-23) since June 18.Its a different team, said Padres second baseman Ryan Schimpf, who hit a grand slam in the first inning and a two-run homer in the third inning.(Not to) take away anything with the other guys, we enjoyed our time with them. (Trades are a) part of baseball. Weve got a good clubhouse here. Its fun to come to work with the guys everyday and battle it out and try to get some wins.Lewis Thorpe Jersey . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Terry Steinbach Twins Jersey . 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. https://www.cheaptwins.com/ . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Wholesale Twins Jerseys . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. C. J. Cron Twins Jersey .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem.There wont be a battle in Paris for the world No. 1 ranking between holder Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray this weekend. Djokovic all but passed the honor to Murray through intermediary Marin Cilic in the Paris Masters 1000 quarterfinals Friday evening.Cilic made a late-season charge to qualify for the season-ending eight-man ATP World Tour Finals. He has rediscovered the big serve and atomic forehand that earned him the 2014 US Open title. While those tools were unable to earn him a win against Djokovic in 14 previous tries, they were sufficient on this occasion, as Cilic clobbered Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Friday.The feat that left Murray two wins from the No. 1 ranking with Djokovic unable to do anything about it.Murray collected the first of those wins just a few hours after Djokovic flamed out, beating back an early challenge by Tomas Berdych to advance to the semifinals, 7-6 (9), 7-5. Should Murray win his semifinal, he will be the new No. 1 when the rankings are issued Monday, the 26th player to achieve the honor since the computer rankings were introduced in August 1973.Djokovic still leads Murray in their rivalry by a lopsided margin, 24-10. Their struggle has been played out on a smaller canvas, overshadowed by the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal and even the Djokovic-Nadal conflicts. Federer is 35, Nadal 31; Djokovic and Murray are both 29 and were born just weeks apart.Nadals absence (because of a slump combined with injury) has been a key element in Murrays rise. But so has the mysterious, recent decline in Djokovics once ferocious focus, which has come since securing his long-sought career Grand Slam last June at the French Open. Djokovic hasnt been the same player since, so much so that its hard to put it down entirely to a success hangover.Djokovic also admitted after Wimbledon that he was dealing with challenges in his personal life. More and more, Djokovic has relied increasingly on the language found in self-help manuals, and this week he left his coaches behind to show up in Paris with Pepe Imaz, an adviser with the sensibilities and philosophy of a new age Svengali.A few moments in the two matches involving Djokovic and Murray on Friday spoke volumes on the state of their games. In his quarterfinal, Djokovic broke Cilic to take a 5-4 llead and serve for the first set.dddddddddddd. He promptly gave the break right back with back-to-back double faults -- his first two of the match. The wince-worthy lapse set the stage for his ensuing collapse.By contrast, Murray and No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych both looked sharp in the first set of their match. In the tiebreaker, Berdych lit into Murray and built a 6-1 lead and five consecutive set points. But somehow, Murray -- with a little help from a rattled Berdych -- survived them all, as well as two more later in the 20-point breaker, and went on to win in straight sets, 7-6 (9), 7-5 .All this does not bode well for Djokovic. Perhaps he will decide it was foolish to leave behind his two primary coaches, Marian Vajda and Boris Becker, at such a critical moment. Maybe hell reconsider the impact of his involvement with Imaz and his Amor y Paz (Love and Peace) tennis philosophy.Or maybe hes just tired of it all, burned out after having gorged on Grand Slam titles and establishing himself as one of the all-time greats. He might feel he has earned the right to smell the roses and do a little navel-gazing, contemplating the personal evolution he often has cited.Is it possible that down deep Djokovic didnt really want to get to the Paris final, where hed likely face the snarling Scot whos playing like Braveheart? Djokovic beat Murray like a tom-tom in five Australian Opens, four times in the finals. Payback is a word that can send a chill down anyones spine.Then again, we had a glimpse of the old, self-sabotaging Murray in the Berdych match, after Murrays heroic tiebreaker. He jumped all over Berdych early in the second set and secured a break. But he allowed Berdych to break him back at the witching hour for 5-all. Murray then allowed Berdych to slip out of a 0-40 deficit, and even though Murray did eventually break Berdych, he then failed to hold a 40-love lead when serving for the match and had some anxious moments before he closed it out.Those were mere hiccups compared to Djokovics failure to make it to the semifinals. Djokovic might have left the No. 1 ranking behind. Will Murray have the poise and self-assurance to claim it? ' ' '