Monaco left back Layvin Kurzawa could hit the Premier League

MILWAUKEE -- After coming off a 15-inning loss at Colorado the night before, another extra-inning affair wasnt what a weary St. Louis Cardinals team needed. Fighting to maintain control of the lead in the NL Central, the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers Friday night on Carlos Beltrans sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, preserving their roost atop the division. "Getting taken into extra innings isnt what we were looking for, but what a win," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "That would be a pretty tough one to eat when you have the two-run lead. It was just a great, great win." The Cardinals hold a two-game lead over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Reds downed the Pirates 6-5 in 10 innings to move into a tie for second place. "That says a lot about this club the way we responded. It was a huge win and we needed that one," said Matt Carpenter, who had three hits and a walk in six plate appearances. "Every game is crucial." Matt Adams, who has been plagued by right elbow soreness and was fitted for a brace before the game, smacked a towering two-run, ninth-inning home run to give the Cardinals a 6-4 lead, but the Brewers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the frame to tie the game. Adams blast to right-centre field came off Brewers closer Jim Henderson, who walked Matt Holliday to start the inning. Former Brewers closer John Axford (7-7), acquired by St. Louis last month, picked up the win. Carlos Martinez got his first save of the year for the Cardinals. "Coming back here to Miller Park, I was definitely nervous in the pen, but when I was out there on the mound I was calm," Axford said. "We needed that win." Michael Blazek (0-1), whom the Brewers received in the deal for Axford, took the loss. Beltrans fly ball to deep right field off Blazek scored Kolten Wong, who led off the 10th with a walk. Matheny was impressed with Axfords composure. "He was sharp, looked good and (got) a real big double play ball for us. It was pretty impressive how he could maintain and do that under that kind of pressure." Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Brewers got a leadoff double from Jeff Bianchi and he later scored on a single by pinch-hitter Logan Schafer. The Brewers added another run on Aramis Ramirezs slow roller off Axford. Carlos Gomez grounded into an inning-ending double play to send the game to extra innings. "I was just trying to get a groundball and get us back in the dugout," Axford said. "I would have preferred to have gotten the save as opposed to the win, but it worked out." Axford came on in relief of closer Edward Mujica, whom the Brewers tagged for three hits and two runs in one-third of an inning. "We are trying to get our closer right. We are one groundball away from turning a double play," Matheny said. "We turn a double play, he gets a save, we get a win and he is feeling pretty good about himself. It didnt happen tonight. We hurt for him." The Cardinals jumped on Brewers starter Johnny Hellweg for a run in the first inning on Matt Hollidays single. Ramirez hit a three-run home run with one out in the Brewers half of the first off Shelby Miller, who entered the game having given up just three earned runs over 25 innings in four previous starts against the Brewers this season. "It was a hanging breaking ball that didnt finish," Miller said. "Obviously a bad way to start off the first inning. Other than that, we settled in and battled as much as we could. At the end of the day it was a huge win for us." Miller surrendered seven hits and four runs in six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Hellweg gave up seven hits and two runs over in an erratic five-inning stint. He walked five, struck out one, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. "He looked pretty good today," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He faced a really good lineup. He also got ground balls when he needed them and got double plays. Thats what he does." NOTES: The Cardinals ran their record to 7-1 at Miller Park this season and 13-4 overall against the Brewers. ... Shelby Miller became the first St. Louis rookie pitcher to start 30 games in a season since Rick Ankiel in 2000. ... With four strikeouts, Miller passed Harvey Haddix for third place on St. Louis rookie strikeout list with 166. ... St. Louis wraps up its final regular-season road trip with the three-game series in Milwaukee. Cheap Air Jordan 11 . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. Jordan 11 For Sale Cheap Real . - Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but good problems right now. http://www.cheapairjordan11.net/ . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Jordan 11 Cheap China . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Air Jordan 11 Cheap Sale . Seager had another triple, a home run and a double in a rare feat not seen in more than 40 years, leading Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners past the New York Yankees 10-2. "It was a weird play," Seager said of the triple in the fourth inning.PARIS - The Rhone derby against neighbour Saint-Etienne comes at the right time for Lyon.The seven-time champions have won five of their last six games and are unbeaten in 10 ahead of the big match of the weekend in the French league.Both clubs are well positioned in the standings, with third-place Lyon trailing leader Marseille by four points and Saint-Etienne in sixth, four points further back.With 10 league titles to its name, Saint-Etienne is the most decorated French club while Lyon dominated the first division between 2002 and 2008, claiming seven titles in a row. Their fierce rivalry often produces clashes off the field, too, and only 400 Lyon fans will travel to the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium on Sunday night.Unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions, Les Verts will be seeking their first home win in the topflight against Lyon in 20 years.Here are some things to know ahead of this weekends matches:___STRATEGIC HEADACHEThe appointment of Marcelo Bielsa as Marseille coach has been decisive in the teams resurgence this season.Lacking the millions invested in Paris Saint-Germain by its Qatari owners, the Argentine coach is compensating with strong discipline and astute strategic decisions.This season, Marseille played most of his games in a 3-3-3-1 system, with striker Andre-Pierre Gignac scoring 11 of his teams 30 goals. Ahead of Nantes visit to the Stade Velodrome on Friday, Bielsa is thinking about starting with two strikers, Gignac and Michy Batshuayi.The problem is when you play with two No. 9s, one of them has to play further down the pitch and on the sides, Bielsa said. And he will play worse than usual. On the other hand, it can happen that the addition of the two has a positive impact on the teams overall performance.The former Argentina coach said that this aspect of the game has been troubling him for years.I started to think about it 15 years ago, when I had (Hernan) Crespo and (Gabriel) Batistuta under me, Bielsa said. Its not an easy decision to take.___LILLE IN CRISISWith only three more points than the relegation-threatened teams and the worse offensive record in the leaague, Lille is in tatters.ddddddddddddBecause of the Davis Cup final held in the northern French city last weekend, Rene Girards side has not played since a 2-0 loss at Reims on Nov. 9 and its most recent win dates back to the end of September.We need to find a solution. I hope this break will have done us some good because the last month and a half has been very difficult, Lille midfielder Rio Mavuba said.The problem for Lille, which is also involved in a tiring Europa League campaign and claimed only one win in its last 12 matches, is that the club is now facing a run of tough encounters before the winter break. First comes a trip to Bordeaux on Sunday before matches with leader Paris Saint-Germain and rival Lens in the northern derby.I think we can come through this run of games better off than we were before, Mavuba said. At the moment I am not worried but we know it will be difficult.___KURZAWAS BOTCHED TRIPHighly-praised Monaco left back Layvin Kurzawa could hit the Premier League sooner than expected.The 22-year-old France international travelled to Manchester earlier this week to attend Citys Champions League match against Bayern Munich as a guest of the English champions. But according to LEquipe newspaper, a last-minute intervention from his club prevented him from watching the game form the stands and Kurzawa saw on it on TV in a hotel room.Kurzawa did not play in Monacos 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen and will not make the squad for Saturdays match at Rennes because of a hamstring injury that will sideline him until January.___MOTTA AND SILVA BACKAfter sitting out PSGs 3-1 win against Ajax in Champions League because of leg injuries, Thiago Silva and Thiago Motta returned to training ahead of Saturdays game against Nice.Mottas return will bring some relief to coach Laurent Blanc after his teams frailties in midfield were exposed against the Dutch side.Thats the second time weve been behind (Ajax) in terms of possession. They played better football than us, Blanc said. We know that were not dominating teams at the moment. You have to analyze and try to understand why. ' ' '