Wir suchen Dich! » striking out for the third out

NEW YORK -- The hair is shorter now, a tad thin on top. The shorts are shorter and the sleeves a little longer.But at the age of 30, Rafael Nadal still has the look of urgency in his brown eyes, the fierce concentration on his face, the perpetually furrowed brow.After the second point of Friday nights third game, there was another familiar sight -- a comforting one if you are a Rafa fan -- the vintage celebratory uppercut. It followed a terrific sequence when Nadal tracked down a deft drop shot by Andrey Kuznetsov and sent a deft forehand flick for a cross-court winner.All summer long there have been grave concerns about Nadals health, but after a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory, the No. 4 seed is into the fourth round of the US Open. Amazingly, Rafa hasnt been to the second week of a Grand Slam since last years French Open, and hasnt achieved that here in three years.Oh, and there was a sublime, scrambling, between-the-legs lob on the second-to-last point that set off a scissor-kicking, fist-pumping episode after he won the point.I couldnt see Andrey, [but] I imagined he was going very close to the net, Rafa explained in his on-court interview. The only chance was the lob shot. I was lucky that the ball was in.Nadal won nine of the last 11 games. Kuznetsovs serve was broken seven of 12 times.A few more takeaways:Rafa scores a 2016 hat trick: In this day and age, its not easy to beat someone three times in a single season. But three of Nadals 37 wins this year have come against the unfortunate 25-year-old Russian -- in three different continents: Asia (Doha), Madrid (Europe) and now North America. The overall head-to-head is 4-0, and Rafa has won 10 of 11 sets.The wrist seems to be OK: You may remember when Nadal pulled out of Roland Garros after the second round with a nicked-up left wrist and then was forced to skip Wimbledon. He has said that its not completely healed, but there were times when he was under duress that Rafa seemed to hit out completely from both sides. Roland Garros was a tough decision, then Wimbledon again, he said. But here I am in New York; thats a very special city.Maybe playing in Rio was a good idea: Back in the day, Rafa always thrived on a heavy tournament schedule. But given his growing history of injuries, going to the Olympics, which were wedged into the ATP World Tour calendar, seemed like bad play for a guy who passed on Wimbledon. But Rafa went, losing the bronze-medal match against Kei Nishikori. However, he won doubles gold with partner Marc Lopez. That gave him confidence heading into New York, and he looks remarkably fresh through three rounds. More importantly, some of that old confidence seems to be seeping into the two-time US Open champions consciousness.Next up: Nadal meets No. 24-seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille on Sunday. Pouille knocked off No. 15 seed Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets Friday, a match that required 3 hours, 24 minutes. Rafa and Pouille have met only once previously, with Nadal winning 6-2, 6-1 last year in Monte Carlo, but Pouille is having the best season of his life. Two months ago, he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Fortuitously, they practiced together before the Open. Custom Football Jerseys China . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Winchester, who was not penalized for the hit, appeared to make contact with Kellys head early in the first period of Thursdays game in Boston. Cheap Custom Jerseys Store .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. http://www.customjerseyschina.com/ . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Clearance Custom Jerseys Shop . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. Sale Custom Jerseys .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. HOUSTON -- Rich Hill has returned to form after a stint on the disabled list, and it helped the Oakland Athletics to a much-needed win Thursday night.Yonder Alonso doubled and drove in two runs and Hill tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts in six solid innings to give the Athletics the 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros.The win snapped Oaklands two-game skid and was just its second victory in eight games.Weve seen quite a few of these games from him this year and to come back so effective after a long layoff and an injury is really impressive, manager Bob Melvin said. Weve gotten him back to 100 pitches or so and hes pitching in the same fashion he did before he left.Hill (9-3) allowed three hits and one run to extend his winning streak to six games in his second start since coming off the disabled list on Saturday. Hill was out for a little over a month with a strained left groin.He said he feels like hes back to where he was before his injury.Last outing went really well and I think this outing went well, he said. Every single time you get to put the uniform on at this level and go out there you have to take advantage of it.Manager A.J. Hinch said Hill kept Houston off-balance by mixing his pitches well.Early, it was all about the breaking ball. Late, it was all about his fastball, he said. So he changed his game plan a little bit back and forth and we had no way to solve it. He had a little bit of everything working. Regardless of our tendency to strike out, Rich Hill did a really good job.Ryan Madson pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save.The Athletics trailed by one in the second when Danny Valencia and Khris Davis singled before Stephen Vogt drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. The Athletics tied it when Marcus Semien grounded into a double play that allowed Valencia to score.Alonso followed with his double to put Oakland up 2-1. He gave the Athletics an insurance run with an infield RBI single with two outs in the ninth.Houstons Doug Fister (8-6) yielded three hitss and two runs in eight innings for his third straight loss after winning his previous seven decisions.ddddddddddddGeorge Springer extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff triple that landed on Tals Hill in center field. Houston took a 1-0 lead when he scored on a groundout by Marwin Gonzalez.Luis Valbuena singled with one out in the second before Hill settled in, retiring the next 10. Houston didnt have another baserunner until a single by Jake Marisnick with two outs in the fifth inning. Hill struck out Jason Castro to end that inning before striking out three with two walks in the sixth to end his night.Josh Reddick reached on an error by shortstop Carlos Correa to start the ninth before Houston intentionally walked Vogt with two outs. Semien drew a walk after that to load the bases before Alonsos fly ball dropped in front of Correa to allow Reddick to score.COCOS APOLOGYCoco Crisp was ejected after tossing his bat in the direction of home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn after striking out for the third out of the fifth inning. After the game, Crisp apologized for his behavior and said he didnt mean for the bat to end up so close to Reyburn.I want to apologize for getting too close to him, Crisp said. That was pretty bad. Just also to let him know that I didnt want it to come out where it was going to hit him.Crisp went 0 for 3 to snap a 12-game hitting streak, which was the longest active streak in the majors.UP NEXTAthletics: Daniel Mengden (1-4, 3.48) will start for Oakland on Friday. The rookie, who has 31 strikeouts combined in his first five career starts, looks to bounce back after allowing seven hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday.Astros: Collin McHugh (5-6, 4.50) is scheduled to start for Houston on Friday. McHugh is looking for his first win since May 30, after going 0-2 in his last six starts. ' ' '