coming off a season-high 48 shots Tuesday against

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ST. LOUIS - When Carlos Martinez tries for a spot in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation, the 23-year-old righty will be proudly wearing the number of a fallen teammate.Martinez was close friends with fellow Dominican Republic countryman Oscar Taveras, the promising rookie outfielder who died in a car crash last October after St. Louis was eliminated by the Giants in the NL Championship Series.Martinez switched to jersey No. 18 to honour Taveras, and says hell wear it the rest of his career.He was a friend, a brother, Martinez said through an interpreter Monday on the final day of the teams three-day Winter Warm-Up fan festival. Im taking it bit by bit. This tragedy, of course, affected me.Cardinals uniforms will feature patches with Taveras number and initials, and a decal will be placed inside the stadium, much like the ones memorializing the late Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said the team also is renovating a field in Taveras hometown of Sosua, aiming to make it first-rate.A brief stint pitching in the Dominican Winter League provided Martinez with an outlet that helped him process the accident that also killed Taveras girlfriend.Martinez wax 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 26 strikeouts and two walks in 24 innings for Aguilas Cibaenas.It definitely helped me mentally to be able to focus on something else, to be able to concentrate on something else, Martinez said. I know what I need to do be in the fifth spot and Im ready for the challenge.I feel like yes, this is my spot, he said.Martinez appeared in 57 games last season,including seven starts in midseason, going 2-4 with a 4.03 ERA. Hes the top pitching prospect in the organization.The Cardinals werent anxious to block that path by chasing free agent Max Scherzer, who got a seven-year, $210 million deal with Washington on Monday.The Cardinals have other pitching issues. Theyre monitoring the progress of 20-game winner Adam Wainwright from elbow surgery, Michael Wacha from an unusual shoulder injury and lefty Jaime Garcia from unproven thoracic outlet surgery.Were giving Carlos a great opportunity, but opportunity is just that, manager Mike Matheny said. Hes going to have to go out and compete.Marco Gonzales, coming off an impressive finish to his rookie year, and reliable lefty Tyler Lyons offer depth for a franchise leaning on its farm system.It makes the off-season for baseball fans enjoyable, to think of the what-ifs, Matheny said. Man, I could think of a bunch of guys that could come in here and compete for a job.I dont see the urgency in running out and making a hasty decision that goes outside of what the business model and plan is, he said.Lance Lynn, who has 48 wins in three years in the rotation, believes the biggest hurdle for Martinez will probably be adjusting to the work ................. Counting a brief stint in the minors last year, he worked 99 2-3 innings.Thats going to be a different thing for him. You have to know when to go after it and when to be able to back off and get through things, Lynn said. I threw 140 innings, 160 innings before I even got called up to the big leagues.Lynn preferred to wait and see how Martinez handles the adjustment when facing a lineup for the third time. He topped out at 88 pitches and never made it past six innings last season.He showed at times last year that hes got electric stuff, Lynn said. Hes going to have to handle the pitching deep into games and staying under control and being able to get through those innings late in the game when theyve seen him once or twice.Lynn has the security of a long-term contract after getting a three-year, $22 million extension a few days earlier. Last year he entered spring training competing for a spot in the rotation.You know its going to take care of itself with the arbitration process, but just to get the whole three years situated so we dont ever have to go through it, Lynn said. Both of us feel like we got what we wanted and Im excited about it. Jackie Robinson Dodgers Jersey . Once he got the ball, he knew he had to take the last shot. Fortunately for the Philadelphia 76ers, it went in at the buzzer. Adrian Gonzalez Dodgers Jersey . -- Bruce Allen is now officially upgraded to president and general manager of the Washington Redskins. http://www.ladodgersprostore.com/Howie- ... rs-jersey/. -- Free agent centre Evan Dietrich-Smith has agreed to a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Maury Wills Authentic Jersey .Y. -- Dont rule out Niagara Falls as a potential future home of the Buffalo Bills. Andre Ethier Jersey . Whether its a sign of things to come remains to be seen, but that question will likely be answered within the next week. Nash is the biggest name in the NHL rumour mill heading toward the Feb.SUNRISE, Fla. - Gustav Nyquist scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, helping lift the Detroit Red Wings over the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Thursday night. Brian Lashoff and Daniel Alfredsson also scored and Jimmy Howard made 23 saves as the Red Wings ended a four-game road losing streak. Scottie Upshall scored and Tim Thomas stopped 30 shots for Florida, which has lost four of its last five. Detroit took a 2-1 lead when Nyquist grabbed a rebound in the slot in the Red Wings zone, brought it along the left boards and beat Thomas high on the stick side at 13:22. Nyquist has nine goals in his last nine games. Lashoff added an empty-net goal with 20 seconds left. Florida took a 1-0 lead in the first despite a slow start. Upshall came out of the penalty box just in timee to take a pass from Tomas Kopecky behind the Red Wings defence.dddddddddddd His wrist shot from the slot went five-hole on Howard with 26 seconds left in the period — only the second shot of the game for Florida. The Red Wings tied it at 1 on Alfredssons power-play goal at 6:30 of the second when he found a loose puck in front and swept it past Thomass stick. The Panthers, coming off a season-high 48 shots Tuesday against Toronto, managed only two shots in the first, a season-low for a period. At the end of the second, they were outshot 23-8. NOTES: Red Wings centre Pavel Datsyuk, who missed the past 14 games with a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup Thursday. . D Jakub Kindl missed the game with a lower-body injury. . Kopecky recorded his 100th NHL assist. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys China ' ' '