ason, deftly shifted the puck from forehand

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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Yunel Escobar homered off Jered Weaver, and James Loney and Evan Longoria had RBI singles to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night. Chris Archer (3-2) allowed two hits over 5 2-3 innings and won for the first time in his last five starts, striking out five and walking five. The right-hander came in with a 6.97 ERA since his 16-1 victory over the Yankees on April 19 at St. Petersburg. Jake McGee, who has stranded all 13 baserunners hes inherited, started the seventh inning fresh after Juan Carlos Oviedo got the last out in the sixth. McGee gave up a single by Erick Aybar and a walk to Mike Trout, his third of the game. But Albert Pujols, who stranded six runners on the night, flied out to right field. Joel Peralta pitched a scoreless eighth and Grant Balfour pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save. Weaver (4-3) allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings with five strikeouts and three walks. The Angels ace was 4-0 with a 1.71 ERA in his previous five starts, including a 9-3 decision last Sunday in which he asked to be taken out of a game for the first time in his nine-year career because of a problem with his command -- after throwing 102 pitches in 6 1-3 innings and getting staked to a 7-1 lead. Archer matched zeroes with the three-time All-Star through the first four innings, and each team had one hit -- the Angels a two-out single by Pujols in the first, and the Rays a one-out single by Escobar in the third. Efren Navarros two-out single in the sixth was the only other hit Archer allowed. Escobar, who came in with four hits in eight career at-bats against Weaver, opened the scoring in the fifth when he drove an 0-2 pitch to left-centre for his third homer of the season. It was only the third allowed by Weaver in seven starts since April 6 at Houston when the Astros went deep four times against him in 7-4 win. Loney added a run-scoring single over the head of right fielder Collin Cowgill in the seventh for his team-leading 25th RBI, after Longoria drew a leadoff walk and got his first stolen base of the season -- matching his total in 160 games last year. The Rays tacked on another run in the eighth with two walks and Longorias RBI single against Michael Kohn, who had held opponents to just one unearned run in 17 1-3 innings over his previous 17 appearances. Archer retired his first two batters in the fifth before walking John McDonald, Erick Aybar and Trout -- whose walkoff three-run homer against Brad Boxberger in the ninth inning Thursday gave the Angels a 6-5 win. But Pujols grounded to third for a force on Aybar, making the two-time NL MVP 0 for 6 this season in bases-loaded situations and 3 for 22 since signing a 10-year, $240 million contract with the club in December 2011. NOTES: Weaver intentionally walked Escobar in the seventh, the right-handers first intentional pass since Sept. 4, 2009, at Kansas City (Mark Teahen). ... Tampa Bays last 12 shutout wins all have come on the road, including five this season. C Ryan Hanigan has caught 15 shutouts by the staff in 98 starts since catching Homer Baileys no-hitter with Cincinnati against Pittsburgh on Sept. 28, 2012. ... Angels rookie INF Luis Jimenez beat David Price in the Halos 40th annual cow-milking contest.... Tampa Bay 2B Cole Figueroa, who was promoted from Triple-A Durham on Thursday when 2B Ben Zobrist went on the DL, made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. He popped out to shortstop against Mike Morin. ... Angels OF Kole Calhoun (sprained right ankle) began a rehab assignment Friday night with Triple-A Salt Lake, and 3B David Freese is scheduled to join him Saturday. Freese hasnt played since May 2 because of a non-displaced fracture in the middle finger on his right hand, after getting hit by a pitch from Texas Colby Lewis. Roberto Firmino Jersey . Samir Nasris 88th-minute equalizer at Etihad Stadium will be of little consolation to City, which is now six points behind league leader Liverpool and four points behind second-place Chelsea. Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sundays 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons. Cameron Brannagan Jersey .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory. http://www.soccerliverpoolproshop.com/c ... ersey.aspx. The senior threw for 319 yards and no interceptions in his final college game, leading No. Mohamed Salah Jersey . -- Kevin Stadler might be playing in the Masters for the first time, but hes already showing his old man a thing or two. Ragnar Klavan Jersey . "If we only consider this season," Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said, "there is just one club in Manchester -- and its ours.NEW YORK -- The Nashville Predators snapped out of their funk with a solid win at Madison Square Garden. The host New York Rangers might ask the visitors how they did it before they head back to Tennessee. Nick Spaling and Rich Clune scored first-period goals, and seldom-used backup Carter Hutton made 28 saves as the Predators broke a five-game losing streak by beating the skidding Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday night. New York geared up for a team-record, nine-game homestand, but three games into it the Rangers have only an overtime loss on the positive side of the ledger (0-2-1). And now they will have to go the next four to six weeks without captain Ryan Callahan, who sprained his left knee in the first period. Callahan is second on the club with seven goals. "Everyone has to step up a little more," defenceman Dan Girardi said. "He brings a lot to the team, a lot of different characteristics." The Rangers were already playing without top defenceman Marc Staal, who sustained a concussion two games earlier. Hutton (5-3-1) made his first start since Nov. 10 and his third appearance in that span as the Predators try to get by while No. 1 goalie Pekka Rinne (hip) is out. Marek Mazanec went 0-4-1 in the previous five games. "I played a couple periods," Hutton said. "We practice pretty hard, we train pretty hard. This was kind of something I was ready to do." Matt Hendricks made it 3-1 just 2:38 into the third, knocking in a loose puck from in front, with Clune earning an assist. Paul Gaustad scored an empty-net goal with 1:06 left and added two assists. "I think everyone is going to sleep a little easier tonight," Clune said. "We stopped the bleeding, but we have to move forward, ride the high on the plane, but refocus fast." Rick Nash cut New Yorks deficit in half in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 22 shots. The Rangers have dropped four straight at home (0-3-1). "The only thing I know right now is it can only go up," Lundqvist said. "Its extremely tough mentally, and you try to be positive. You have to." Despite a team meeting after their 4-1 loss to Washington on Sunday, several lineup changes -- and a call-up from the AHL -- the Rangers came out flat and fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period. New York (15-16-1) added veteran forward Arron Asham to the liineup, but the Rangers still cant find consistency to their game.dddddddddddd "There were certain areas we talked about before the game," coach Alain Vigneault said. "I thought we started off all right, but it makes it real challenging when you are down 2-0 early." Nashville was hardly impressive or overly aggressive, but the Predators made the most of their chances and scored twice on only six shots. Spaling made it 1-0 with 6:15 left, right after the Rangers briefly avoided falling behind on another scoring chance in front. Spaling delivered a hard hit on defenceman Ryan McDonagh and then was free in front to score his fifth of the season before McDonagh could get back in the play. Another breakdown produced the Predators second goal 4:07 later. Hendricks raced the puck up right wing and flipped a perfect pass over the stick of Rangers forward Dominic Moore and onto Clunes blade. Clune, who had no points and 69 penalty minutes in 17 games this season, deftly shifted the puck from forehand to backhand and slid it past Lundqvist. When the period ended, the Rangers were serenaded with boos as they trudged off to the dressing room. "This crowd is a demanding crowd. You can hear the crowd getting on them, letting them know what they thought," Clune said. New York enjoyed a better second period. Even though the Rangers were outshot 12-6, they scored the only goal. Nash finished a crisp three-way passing play that started with Derick Brassard moving the puck to his left to Brad Richards, who quickly found Nash down low. Nash cut right to left across the crease and tucked in his sixth goal of the season at 6:38. Brassard nearly tied it with 1:49 remaining in the second, but his hard drive struck a post behind Hutton. "It was not the start we were looking for," Lundqvist said. "Still, after two periods, it is just a one-goal game. We tried to fight back in the second and in the third. "That third goal killed us." NOTES: Nash earned his 600th NHL point. ... Vigneault confirmed Staals concussion, but said it doesnt appear to be as severe as his previous one a few years ago. ... Clune entered with four goals, 11 points and 208 penalty minutes in 78 NHL games. It was his second multipoint game. ... Earlier this season, Hutton became the seventh goalie to win a game with the Predators. 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