three-year deal with left-hander Zach Duke

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LOS ANGELES -- Sergio Romos reflexes gave him and the San Francisco Giants a hard-earned save. The Giants held off the Los Angeles Dodgers for a 4-2 win on Friday night when pinch-hitter Adrian Gonzalezs hard grounder went off Romos right foot. The ball bounced to third baseman Joaquin Arias, who threw to first for the final out after the Dodgers had runners on first and third with two outs. "Got a little scary there the last couple innings," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He got a break there at the end with a kick save." Hunter Pence homered and scored twice and the Giants got to Clayton Kershaw (14-9) with four consecutive singles -- the first three with two strikes -- to start the seventh. "Its one of the toughest things in baseball facing Kershaw on his way to probably getting the Cy Young," Bochy said. "We strung together some good at-bats. Guys werent trying to do too much." Mired in last place, the defending World Series champion Giants have been reduced to playing out the string. "We do want to finish strong," Romo said. "Theres a lot of pride here." Madison Bumgarner (12-9) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings, extending his streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer in each of his past 18 starts. The left-hander struck out six and walked two in picking up his first win since Aug. 2, a span of seven starts. "When youre going up against a guy like him (Kershaw), you got to try to at least keep it a tie," Bumgarner said. Romo got the final four outs to earn his 34th save in 38 chances. He gave up consecutive singles to start the ninth, putting the tying runs on with no outs. Yasiel Puig struck out swinging and Nick Punto hit into a fielders choice groundout before pinch-hitter Gonzalezs groundout. "I had to bear down. These guys are no joke," said Romo, who challenged Puig. "If youre going to get beat, you got to get beat with your best stuff." Los Angeles had its four-game home winning streak against the Giants snapped, but with second-place Arizonas 7-5 loss to Colorado, the Dodgers magic number was reduced to four for clinching their first NL West title since 2009. "It should have been three," Kershaw said. "Id really like to just have that peace of mind that we clinched because anything can happen." Kershaw gave up three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits in seven innings. The lefty who leads the majors in ERA struck out six and walked none. He had won three straight home starts against the Giants. "They came right back and battled me all night and got some big hits when they needed to," he said. "The breaks didnt go our way. It was my fault." Kershaw has hit a rough patch lately. After giving up a season-high five earned runs and career-worst 11 hits in five innings of a 10-8 road win over Colorado on Sept. 2, he served up two solo homers to Jay Bruce over seven innings in Sundays 3-2 loss at Cincinnati. Pences 22nd homer with two outs in the eighth off Chris Withrow extended the Giants lead to 4-2. Pence got a leadoff hit in the seventh and Pablo Sandoval followed with a single. Arias singled, scoring Pence, and Arias took second on a fielding error by Scott Van Slyke. Brett Pill followed with a single to right, scoring Sandoval and Arias to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. "We hit some balls hard all night and we thought eventually something would break through," said Pill, who came in just 5 for 33 since Aug. 3. The Dodgers had the tying run on third in the seventh, but Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning. Juan Uribe sent a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the sixth, scoring Michael Young, who singled. Notes: Dodgers SS Hanley Ramirez sat out a day after leaving in the seventh inning with mild tightness in his left hamstring. The team said an MRI on Friday showed that Ramirez has an irritated nerve in his back rather than a hamstring issue. He received a cortisone injection and is expected to be available to play next week. Ramirez, the teams best hitter with a .342 average, has had two stints on the DL this season. ... Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that when LHP Chris Capuano returns from a strained groin, he will initially work out of the bullpen. ... Dodgers OF Andre Ethier left the game in the eighth after tweaking his ankle. ... Giants RHP Chad Gaudin, on the DL with carpal tunnel, threw 25-30 pitches to hitters in a simulated game. Ray Lewis Jersey .com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Eric Weddle Jersey . "I met her, I think, a week ago. We went to a Norwood hockey store and picked her out some gear. http://www.cheapravensshoponline.com/Yo ... ersey/.com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Brent Urban Jersey . "You hate when they score," he said with some distaste at the thought. "You take pride in it. James Hurst Jersey .The rookie goalie made 36 saves to help the Calgary Flames blank their Pacific Division rivals 1-0 on Saturday following a 48-hour ordeal that included lost baggage, a cancelled flight and a new pair of contact lenses.SAN DIEGO - Jeff Samardzija has played for Notre Dame and the Cubs and now will get to pitch for the White Sox.Being a Chicago guy, thats one of the craziest things Ive thought about, he said Tuesday after Oakland dealt him to Chicagos South Side. Im sitting here thinking, Now, do I really have to go get my cleats on and go play for the Bears? If I could skate, maybe the Hawks. My jumpers garbage, so the Bulls are out of the question.Trading an All-Star for the third time in less than two weeks, the Athletics sent the Samardzija and right-hander Michael Ynoa for right-hander Chris Bassitt, catcher Josh Phegley and first baseman Rangel Ravelo and infielder Marcus Semien.An All-America wide receiver with the Fighting Irish, Samardzija was 31-42 with a 3.97 ERA for the Chicago Cubs from 2008 until July 5, when he was traded to the As. He went 5-6 with a 3.14 ERA for Oakland.Its a gutsy move, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. You look around at our division, and you see the starting pitchers out there, of what it takes to make it in your division of facing them all the time, and we feel like thats something we had to do.Samardzija, a right-hander who turns 30 on Jan. 23, made $5,345,000 this year and is eligible for salary arbitration. He can become a free agent after the 2015 season.Were going to make every effort to make this a long-term relationship, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. We felt that this was a premium starter who fit, not just in terms of how he fit in our rotation, but how he fit in our clubhouse.Samardzija wasnt so sure he would want to miss free agency.Youre so close to it, you really want to experience it, he maintained. But like I said before, when the situations right, its right. When the numbers are right, theyre right.The White Sox have been a prominent team in the off-seasoon.ddddddddddddOn Monday at the winter meetings, Chicago agreed to a $46 million, four-year contract with closer David Robertson, a person familiar with the deal said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the agreement had not been announced.Even before that, Chicago agreed to a $25 million, two-year contract with first baseman Adam LaRoche and a $15 million, three-year deal with left-hander Zach Duke.Weve moved the chains to improve this club in what we feel is dramatic fashion, but we still have work to do, Hahn said. Its starting to get a little tight. We spent a pretty good chunk of what we had available to us, but at the same time it just means its time to get a little more creative.Samardzija joins a rotation that includes Chris Sale, who finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting, and Jose Quintana.I think were going to be the most competitive rotation in the league, and I mean that internally, Samardzija said. The best starting rotations are made when theres three or four guys that want to be the best and they want to go out there and clinch that three-game series or win that Sunday sweep game.While Chicago is adding after finishing fourth in the AL Central at 73-89, Oakland is subtracting.Following its loss to Kansas City in the AL wild-card game, Oakland traded third baseman Josh Donaldson to Toronto on Nov. 28 and first baseman/outfielder Brandon Moss to Cleveland on Monday.Oakland was 22nd in payroll at the end of the regular season at $92 million. Moss had a $4.1 million base salary this year and is eligible for arbitration. Donaldson is eligible for arbitration for the first time after Oakland renewed his salary this year at the $500,000 major league minimum.___AP Sports Writers Howie Rumberg and Andrew Seligman contributed to this report. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '