Bla Bla » le, it was the Vikings who had the NFCs best record

DENVER -- On any other day, Nolan Arenados grand slam wouldve drawn all the attention.The kid on the mound stole some of his thunder. German Marquezs performance was just that electric.Marquez pitched five solid innings for his first major league win and the Colorado Rockies slowed the St. Louis Cardinals playoff chase with an 11-1 victory on Wednesday.A great pitching performance, manager Walt Weiss said. Its easy -- easy velocity. Very effortless.This was a memorable afternoon for Marquez (1-0), who made his first big league start after three appearances out of the bullpen. The right-hander with the 95 mph fastball allowed one run and struck out three.At 21 years, 212 days, Marquez was the second-youngest pitcher in Rockies history to earn his first win, the team announced. The youngest was Jamey Wright (21-206).He set the tone and pitched a good game, Arenado said.The sweet-swinging third baseman certainly did his part. Arenado broke open the game in the second with his NL-leading 39th homer of the season. His fourth career slam made it 6-1.With a major league-best 128 RBI, Arenado is two away from matching his career high set a season ago.Whatever I do for the rest of the year, Ill be happy with, Arenado said. I definitely want to drive in more runs.St. Louis starter Luke Weaver (1-4) was roughed up by the Rockies, surrendering seven hits and six runs in two innings. Before this game, the right-hander had allowed 12 earned runs in his last seven starts combined.The Cardinals, who had won four in a row, began the day tied with New York and San Francisco atop the NL wild-card standings. The Mets and Giants both played later.The hard-throwing Marquez was acquired in January as part of the deal that sent outfielder Corey Dickerson to Tampa Bay. Marquez pitched a majority of the season for Double-A Hartford, where he was chosen as the pitcher of the year in the Eastern League.A lot of people told me that the ball can fly (at Coors Field), Marquez said. But they have to hit.Marquez worked his way out of several dicey situations against the best road team in baseball. He allowed his only run in the second, when Jeremy Hazelbaker led off with a double and later scored on Kolten Wongs sacrifice fly.The Cardinals took two of three from Colorado during a series in which their starting pitchers were brilliant at the plate. Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright and Weaver went a combined 4 for 4 with two doubles and six RBI. Weaver had a single in his only plate appearance.DJ LeMahieu got two hits and drove in two runs to raise his average to .351. He holds a slight lead over Washingtons Daniel Murphy in the NL batting race.TRAINERS ROOMRockies: Third base coach Stu Cole sat out another day after being hit in the head by a ball that caromed off another during batting practice Tuesday.THIS & THATRockies catcher Tom Murphy had a three-run homer as part of a five-run seventh. ... OF Jordan Patterson collected his first big-league hit in the second. ... It was Colorados seventh grand slam of the season.UP NEXTRockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood (11-9, 4.13) takes the mound Thursday to begin a four-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. Chatwood is 7-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 11 road starts this season. Jeff Burroughs Braves Jersey . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Bob Uecker Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1563o-eddie-mathews-jersey-braves.html . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Cheap Braves Jerseys . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Rowland Office Jersey .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Wednesday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EST:- CHAPECO, Brazil -- Six players, one goalie coach and a handful of support staff are all that is left of the Chapecoense soccer club after a plane crash in Colombia killed 71 people, including 19 members of the team. While those who are left struggle with tremendous loss and try to comfort families of the victims, they are also thinking about how to rebuild the team -- which they say fallen members would have wanted.- LONDON -- Someday, somehow, soccer will likely return at Chapecoense. Through the grieving and after the funerals of the 19 team members who died in a plane crash, soccer will probably be played again, just as it was at Manchester United and Torino following similar tragedies.- NASSAU, Bahamas -- Tiger Woods knows all but two players in the 18-man field at the Hero World Challenge. How many really know the Woods they grew up watching? Eight players werent even on the PGA Tour when he last won a major.- IRVING, Texas -- Negotiators for baseball players and owners work to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, a day before their current deal is set to expire.- Its been a magical season for the Dallas Cowboys, with a franchise-record 10 straight wins since an openning loss.dddddddddddd Yet earlier in the schedule, it was the Vikings who had the NFCs best record, 5-0. They are 6-5 now and in danger of missing the postseason as they host Dallas on Thursday night.- The trophies could be the only prizes for the winners in several games during championship weekend. Those titles dont automatically come with playoff spots and in some cases the wrong winner could ruin things for a conference.- TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conferences two stingiest defenses will take the field Saturday for Alabama and Florida in the league championship game. Thats no coincidence.- Clemsons Dabo Swinney and Virginia Techs Justin Fuente will be on opposite sidelines in Saturdays ACC Championship game, but that was almost not the case. Fuente was a finalist in 2011 when Swinney was looking for a new offensive coordinator.- KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- P.J. Flecks enthusiasm can become exhausting after a while, but theres no doubt that the players and fans have bought into it, and thats part of the reason Western Michigan is undefeated.- Two notable mens college basketball games: No. 15 Purdue at No. 14 Louisville (7 p.m.) and No. 3 North Carolina at No. 13 Indiana (9 p.m.). ' ' '