Talk » aid.Koch succeeded in doing that even if Delgado

ATLANTA -- Mexico coach Jose Manuel De La Torre knows theres only so much he can do to please his critics. A narrow win over Trinidad and Tobago might rekindle concerns about his job security, but De La Torre was not interested in discussing his future or his teams perceived struggles. When a reporter asked De La Torre if he thought this was a weak victory, the coach was quick to respond. "You dont like it? We saw a different game," De La Torre said. "Thats what I can tell you. Every time we win, we have to enjoy it. A win is a win, but that is enough. We always have to fix things but we also did a lot of great things tonight." Raul Jimenez scored in the 84th minute to lead Mexico to a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup on Saturday night. Mexico, a six-time Gold Cup champion going for its third straight title, will face Panama in the semifinals on Wednesday in Dallas. Jimenez used his right foot to redirect Miguel Layuns shot attempt from the right side with a sweeping move that helped the ball sail just past diving goalkeeper Jan Williams and into the left corner of the net. Three of Mexicos 11 shots in the first half were on goal, but Williams only had to dive once to make a save. The other two attempts went right into his hands. In the 62nd minute, Layun attempted a shot from the right top corner of the box. His arc looked to be on line before Williams stretched out to deflect the ball high. Barely 1 minute later, Williams tipped away a shot by Jimenez, but he couldnt prevent him from scoring the winning goal with about 5 minutes remaining. Williams faced 23 shots. Mexico goalie Jonathan Orozco faced seven. Trinidad and Tobago ended Gold Cup play with a 1-2-1 record. "It feels worse when you give up a goal so late in the game," Trinidad and Tobago coach Stephen Hart said, "but congratulations to Mexico. Hart was not discouraged, though, adding that his team at least gave itself a chance to win. "We need to possess the ball better and keep it out of the feet of the opposition," he said. "That needs to improve and our ability to attack with a little more variety. Our fullbacks did not get involved today at all, which is a big part of our game. Theres some work to be done." A 2-1 loss to Panama in a group match earlier this month dropped Mexico to 2-3-8 in international play this year, but the team has since won three straight. Against Panama in four days, Mexico might play its second straight game without midfielder Jorge Enriquez, who sat out Saturday with a leg injury. Panama this time will have Blas Perez, a leading scorer who did not play against Mexico because of a Major League Soccer commitment to FC Dallas. "Its a different game, a very different game," De La Torre said. "We start over. We have had three more games that the team has improved upon since then. Little by little, we showed it tonight in the results and in seeing the confidence that each of the players has been able to achieve." De La Torre believed his team showed composure to persistently pressure Williams in hopes he would make a mistake. Its the same approach he wants Mexico to take against Panama. "The team did not become desperate," De La Torre said. "They were under our strategy and our plan in order to win. It was very good on our end that we (took care of) the sides, the middle and the centre." NOTES: CONCACAF officials announced a crowd of 54,229, a soccer record at the 21-year-old Georgia Dome. ... Mexico improved to 12-3-3 against Trinidad and Tobago, including a pair of wins in the Gold Cup. This was the first meeting between the teams in a knockout round. Dan Quinn Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. 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The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. WASHINGTON -- Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale wasnt sure what to expect from Matt Koch in his first major league start. He just knew it wouldnt be a long outing.Koch knew it, too, and he made the most of his limited time on the mound, allowing one hit and two runs in five-plus innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks lost 4-2 to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.The 25-year-old no-hit the NL East champions through five innings before Jose Lobaton singled to lead off the sixth. Walking pinch-hitter Wilmer Difo spelled the end of Kochs night at 69 pitches with a blister issue cropping up along the way.Hale said the pitch count and not the blister was the reason he took Koch out of the game after an impressive showing.We wanted to see him pitch up here and get a chance to start, Hale said. He showed us he can do it. ... We were real close on the 70-75 pitches we wanted to get him, so we were really happy with what he did. Its too bad. He had a win in his pocket there and it went away quick.Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer off Randall Delgado (4-2) to provide the winning margin for the Nationals, trying to secure home-field advantage in their NL Division Series against the Dodgers.Washington leads Los Angeles by two games with five to play, after the Dodgers lost 7-1 at San Diego.Diamondbacks second baseman Jean Segura hit a leadoff homer against Max Scherzer (19-7), and Welington Castillo had an RBI double in the third. But the Cy Young Award candidate settled in to strike out 10 in six innings.Hale acknowledged being surprised by Kochs performance, even if the right-hander didnt impress himself.Just trying to get quick outs, Koch said. I knew I was at my pitch limit, so I was just trying to make the most of the pitches I had and trying to get quick groundball outs.It worked for most of the game, and the Louisville product started tthinking about a potential no-hitter after getting through four.ddddddddddddMy mindset was just stay focused and keep the ball down, he said.Koch succeeded in doing that even if Delgado made a mistake that cost the Diamondbacks a victory. With the organization looking ahead to next season and beyond, Koch did well in a spot start in place of Zack Greinke after five career relief appearances.This was a guy who has already shown in the relief appearance that we gave him that hes not afraid and he goes right at guys, Hale said. He was very, very, very good.SCHERZER DOMINATESScherzer mixed his slider, curveball and changeup in with his overpowering fastball to wrest control of the game back. At one point he struck out six consecutive hitters.What allowed him to settle in is that he changed his game plan because you could tell their game plan on him was to sit hard and early in the count, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. That was just a veteran making the adjustment at the right time.TRAINERS ROOMDiamondbacks: Hale said RHP Rubby De La Rosa successfully had stem cell injections in his elbow. De La Rosa is trying the stem cell procedure in an attempt to avoid a second Tommy John surgery.Nationals: C Wilson Ramos is out for the rest of the season and playoffs after an MRI revealed a torn ACL in his right knee. ... LHP Sammy Solis threw a perfect seventh inning in his first appearance since Aug. 15 after a stint on the DL with shoulder inflammation. ... OF Bryce Harper missed another game with a left thumb injury. ... 2B Daniel Murphy remained out with a strained glute.UP NEXTLHP Gio Gonzalez (11-10, 4.51 ERA) starts the third of the four-game series for the Nationals against Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (2-12, 6.47). ' ' '