Talk » If things feel good tonigh

DENVER -- Carlos Gonzalez was confident he wouldnt miss any extended time after suffering a sprained left ankle Wednesday night.Sure, its painful, he says. Its nothing compared to the ache his team would feel without him, though.Gonzalez homered twice before leaving the game with what looked like a bad sprain in the Rockies 12-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.Gonzalez had his 19th multi-homer game of his career with Nos. 22 and 23 this season. He was then forced to exit the game in the bottom of the seventh after rolling his ankle in the batters box.Gonzalezs prognosis: I wont be out.I hope that tomorrow I will feel a little bit better, he added. If I feel a little bit better, itll be good enough to play. Just tape it and go out there and have fun with my team.Nolan Arenado, Mark Reynolds and DJ LeMahieu also went deep in Colorados 11th win in 13 games that moved it above the .500 mark for the first time since May 18.The Rockies latest streak has them within three games of the second NL wild card, with three teams between them and St. Louis. Gonzalez missing any substantial amount of time would hamper any postseason hopes -- especially since rookie shortstop Trevor Story (thumb) was already lost for the remainder of the season.Its been fun, Gonzalez said. Its fun when you get wins. We are playing good baseball right now.Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was moved to the 60-day disabled list earlier in the day, and right-hander Louis Coleman (shoulder fatigue) and left-hander Adam Liberatore were also placed on the DL -- giving Los Angeles an NL-record 25 players put there this season.Arenado made things worse for the Dodgers from there, hitting a three-run home run to spark a five-run first inning off starter Brock Stewart (0-2). Reynolds added a two-run blast put the Rockies ahead 5-2.Later, LeMahieu and Gonzalez homered as part of a four-run fifth. Gonzales went deep again in the sixth.I am frustrated, Stewart said. The bullpen session before the game was great. Everything was working and then everything stayed flat during the game.It was a rough night, thats for sure.Tyler Anderson (4-3), meanwhile, allowed two runs in seven innings for Colorado. He struck out six and walked two. His lone blemish came in the first inning when Justin Turner hit a two-run home run.Anderson has been outstanding, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. Hes a pretty amazing story when you think about it. Not pitching at all a year ago. He showed up at the big league level hitting the ground level. Hes given us a quality start every time out.SCOREBOARD WATCHING(This is) when the fun starts, Weiss said of the wild-card race. This is time of year where you get to watch the scoreboard and youre paying attention to the other games. Theres that focus and emphasis on your game every night, to win every night. Thats fun.Its a lot easier showing up to the ballpark under those circumstances.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: Kershaw (back) wont be eligible to return until Aug. 27 at the earliest. ... LHP Rich Hill (hand) threw around 50 pitches in a bullpen session Wednesday. He looked real good and executed all his pitches, Roberts said. ... RHP Bud Norris threw a bullpen session and could make his next start this weekend.Rockies: SS Story (thumb) will undergo surgery Thursday in Denver. Story suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in Saturdays win over the Mets.UP NEXTDodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (9-7, 3.23 ERA) has had some early success against the Rockies this season. In two starts against Colorado, the Japanese pitcher has allowed just one run and struck out 17 in 13 innings.Rockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood (10-6, 3.50 ERA) has allowed just one run and four hits in his previous two starts. Less impressive is the fact that he also gave up 12 walks in 12 innings during those starts. Chad Pinder Athletics Jersey . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Sheldon Neuse Jersey .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/2605m-jed-lowrie-jersey-athletics.html . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Rico Carty Athletics Jersey . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. Walt Weiss Athletics Jersey . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. MILWAUKEE -- After putting three players on the disabled list in as many days, the St. Louis Cardinals suffered another bit of misfortune on Friday night when right-hander Michael Wacha, left fielder Matt Holliday and closer Trevor Rosenthal all were pulled early because of injuries in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.Wachas injury -- suffered when he took a line drive to the right foot -- isnt expected to be serious. Rosenthal and Holliday, however, are considered day to day after experiencing hamstring spasms and a stiff ankle, respectively.Short-handed or not, the Cardinals arent going to use injuries as an excuse as they continue their final series of the first half on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.We dont like it, but its one of those things; you cant allow yourself to go down that road of feeling sorry for yourself or saying too much, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. You just have to keep playing. We have very good players who can jump in and make it happen.The Cardinals did get some good news, as shortstop Jhonny Peralta returned to pinch hit after missing the previous two games with a thumb injury. He came on in the ninth inning and drove a 96 mph fastball from Jeremy Jeffress to the base of the wall in center field to end the inning, but Matheny said it was an encouraging at-bat.You see him come off the bench, swing the bat like that against a guy throwing as hard as (Jeffress) was ... thats a good sign, Matheny said. If things feel good tonight, youll see him in there tomorrow.Carlos Martinez gets the start and looks too continue his run of success against the Brewers, posting a 2-1 record and 1.dddddddddddd08 ERA in 16 career appearances. He jas been especially good at Miller Park, where hes 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA in 10 career appearances, including four starts.Milwaukee will counter with right-hander Chase Anderson, who is trying to finish the first half on a high note. Anderson hasnt gotten through six innings in any of his last six four starts and hasnt made it through four in his last two, including his last time out when he walked five in 4 1/3 innings against the Cardinals on July 3.Anderson only allowed three runs in that game but has given up 19 in his last 15 2/3 innings, bumping his ERA to 5.49.The victory on Friday snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cardinals, who have won seven of the 10 meetings already this season.We certainly havent done enough in all phases to beat them, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. Against any of these better teams, youve got to do a lot right and were just not doing enough against these guys.St. Louis success against Milwaukee isnt limited to this season, either; the Cardinals 12-0-1 in the last 13 series between the NL Central rivals.Im sure were not the only team that struggles against the Cardinals, Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun said after the Cardinals finished a three-game sweep last weekend. Theyre fundamentally sound. They dont make mistakes. They dont beat themselves. ' ' '