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ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs closer Jose Veras stumbled first. Then it was Trevor Rosenthals turn to fail -- at the plate and on the mound. Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning off the St. Louis closer, who struck out with an unusual chance to win it, and the Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-3 on Friday night. "I know he throws really hard," Castillo said. "So I just waited for something over the plate that I can drive, and I put my best wood on it." The Cardinals tied it with two runs in the ninth and had runners on first and second with two outs in the 10th when manager Mike Matheny decided against a pinch hitter. Rosenthal (0-1) took a called third strike in his second career at-bat and said he didnt carry any disappointment back to the mound. "Uh no, because I mean, Im not here to hit," Rosenthal said. "So its easy to kind of brush it off and just go out there and try to have another shutdown inning." Nate Schierholtz doubled for his fourth straight hit leading off the 11th and advanced on a sacrifice. Starlin Castro was intentionally walked and Ryan Kalish popped out on a bunt attempt before Castillo lined a 1-1 fastball 426 feet to left for his second homer. "I figured he might be hunting for a fastball," Rosenthal said. "Looking at the video, I didnt get it up quite as much as Id hoped, but he put a good swing on a good pitch. "Not much you can do about it." Justin Grimm (1-0) walked Matt Holliday and Matt Adams on eight pitches to start the 10th but got out of it, partly because Matheny left Pete Kozma and Tony Cruz on the bench. Grimm struck out Yadier Molina and got Shane Robinson to fly out before facing Rosenthal. Matheny said hed have batted Kozma with less than two outs. He also banked on another shutdown inning from Rosenthal, who needed just six pitches in the 10th. "Youve got a real good feeling hes going to bring us back in with another zero," Matheny said. "We had two shots at getting the guy in from second." Hector Rondon finished for his first career save. Veras hit two batters and walked another in the ninth. One run scored on a passed ball by Castillo, helping the Cardinals score twice in the inning. Matt Carpenters bases-loaded sacrifice fly tied it at 3. Veras has blown both his save chances and has allowed five earned runs in 3 2-3 innings with three hit batters and seven walks. "A shaky outing," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said, "but hes still our guy." Chicago starter Jeff Samardzija worked seven economic innings for the third straight start, exiting with a 1.29 ERA. He finally got some runs to work with, but was denied a win for the ninth straight outing since Aug. 24 at San Diego. "You keep pitching and giving your team a chance to win," Samardzija said. "Everyone is trying to do their jobs and sometimes balls find holes, and sometimes they dont." Ryan Sweeneys RBI single off Carlos Martinez tied it in the seventh and was the Cubs first run in 21 innings when Samardzija starts. Anthony Rizzos sacrifice fly off Kevin Siegrist snapped a tie in a two-run eighth. Cubs pinch hitters were 1 for 18 before the eighth inning when Justin Ruggiano, batting for Samardzija, singled off Martinez, and Mike Olt, batting for Luis Valbuena, singled off Siegrist. Molinas RBI single in the second was his 10th hit in 18 career at-bats against Samardzija. He had two hits and is batting .455 (25 for 55) with three homers and 17 RBIs against the Cubs the last two seasons. Cardinals starter Joe Kelly allowed an unearned run in six innings. He faced the minimum through the first five innings with the help of two double-play balls. NOTES: The Cubs appeal of a hit by pitch call on Allen Craig in the ninth was denied. ... Castro got a strange assist at SS in the fourth when he staggered and dropped Hollidays towering popup with a runner on first. The ball rolled directly to second baseman Emilio Bonifacio for a forceout as Kolten Wong slid back into first. ... Adam Wainwright (1-1, 1.29 ERA) faces Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 4.26) on Saturday. ... Kelly has pitched at least five innings in all 31 career starts, the longest streak by a St. Louis starter 25 or younger since 25-year-old Dizzy Dean went 35 in a row in 1935, according to STATS. ... St. Louis SS Jhonny Peralta was hitless in three at-bats before coming out in a double switch and is 2 for 31 (.063) on the season, both home runs. Nike Zoom Wholesale . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Nike Zoom For Sale . Scolari says that although Brazilians have the right to complain about the government and demand improvements, perhaps the protests wont be coming at the "right time. http://www.cheapnikezoom.net/.com) - The St. Nike Zoom Online Shop . His Chicago Blackhawks teammates werent shocked when he found it. Kanes career has been defined by his brilliance in the Blackhawks biggest moments, and his tiebreaking goal with 3:45 to play in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals will rank among the best. Cheap Nike Zoom Shoes . -- Kevin Stadler might be playing in the Masters for the first time, but hes already showing his old man a thing or two.SAN ANTONIO -- The Spurs rode the wide shoulders of Tim Duncan to victory. The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. So the veteran Duncan overcame a brief injury scare to score 27 points. The Spurs held Dallas to one field goal in the final seven minutes to rally for a 90-85 win Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. The Mavericks also went scoreless for 5 1/2 minutes during that stretch, their lone field goal coming with less than a second remaining. San Antonio won despite going 3 for 17 on 3-pointers and getting only 23 points from its normally potent bench. "We got killed on 3s in the first four outings this year," Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki said. "It was no secret; we stayed home a little more on 3-point shooters, but youve got to give them something, and Duncan in there is obviously still solid." Duncan scored nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the paint in the final quarter to help the Spurs overcome a 10-point deficit. "Timmy, hes not going to score 24 a game or anything like that," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Hes the base from which everything else occurs, whether hes scoring or not. It just gives us a comfort level and a point from which to operate. He plays (defence), rebounds, scores here and there. He just does his job." Parker had 21 points, and Manu Ginobili added 17. Kawhi Leonard had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Tiago Splitter pulled down 11 rebounds for top-seeded San Antonio, which has won 10 straight against Dallas. Devin Harris scored 19 points for the Mavericks, who nearly pulled off a huge upset. The Spurs had insisted that what happens in the regular season doesnt matter, and they were proven right for much of the game -- much to the home fans dismay. Absent were the crisp passing, aggressive defence, bench scoring and 3-point shooting that made for the leagues best record. "Its always tough to change gears from the regular season to the playoffs when youre preparing for a team and theyre preparing for you specifically," Duncan said. San Antonio returned to its winning formula over the final seven minutes, taking an 86-81 lead with a 15-0 run. Splitteer tied the game with five minutes remaining, rolling to the basket off a screen for an easy layup off a pass from Parker.dddddddddddd The All-Star point guard then drove the lane for a layup and drained a 13-foot jumper, which he punctuated with a loud scream after Dallas called timeout with 2:45 to go. "I was able to push the ball and get some easy baskets," Parker said. "It got our confidence going, so once again defensively, the stops that we made helped us offensively." Dallas had taken an 81-71 lead when Brandan Wright completed a three-point play with 7:45 remaining. The Mavericks proceeded to miss their next 12 shots and committed three turnovers. "Defensively, we started making stops," Ginobili said. "We were at a point where they were getting to the rim. They were making shots and nothing seemed to work for brief periods. There was a point where we were down 10 where we made a couple of steals. We ran, we got fouled, we got a couple of easy buckets, and that changed our mentality." Nowitzki, who finished with 11 points, was 2 for 6 from the field in the final quarter. The veteran forward was closely defended by Splitter. "Theyre not necessarily unbelievably athletic and long, but they are very smart," Nowitzki said. "What they want to do defensively is take you out of your comfort zone." Duncan, wearing a heavy brace on his left knee, walked off the court gingerly with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter after banging knees with Monta Ellis. He did not get up as he customarily does during a timeout to greet his teammates. Duncan later left the court, followed closely by trainer Will Sevening and team doctor David Schmidt, returning a minute later limping slightly less, and he played big down the stretch. "I knew as soon as I felt it," Duncan said. "My leg just kind of went numb, so I knew it was hopefully just a charley horse. I knew I needed just a couple of minutes just for the feeling to come back and I would be fine." NOTES: Referee Joey Crawford screamed twice at a pair of scoring officials during a timeout, telling them at one point to do their jobs. Crawford, who once ejected Duncan for laughing from the bench during a game against the Mavericks, was booed regularly by the fans. ' ' '