S Starlin Castro will miss the remainder of the season, ac

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Derrick Rose heard the fans chanting his name, and yes, he wouldve loved to give them what they wanted. But after missing most of the past two years and with still a long summer of basketball ahead, hes willing to take this return slowly. "Just trying to protect myself, just knowing that this is a long, long schedule and this is the most basketball Ill be playing in two years," Rose said. "I want to be out there, but at the same time my health is the No. 1 issue right now." With Rose sitting out, Kyrie Irving started and made all five shots, scoring 12 points as the U.S. national basketball team beat the Dominican Republic 105-62 on Wednesday night in an exhibition game. James Harden also scored 12 in limited playing time for the Americans, who used their subs for most of the second half. Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan each scored 13 points. Rose and U.S. assistant Tom Thibodeau, Roses coach with the Chicago Bulls, both said he was experiencing general soreness, though Rose was quick to point out it was nothing related to his multiple knee surgeries. Roses absence allowed U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski to take a longer look at other players with cuts coming soon. The Americans have 16 players on the roster and have to get down to 12 before the upcoming Basketball World Cup. "When we do eventually make decisions on the 12, it will be very, very difficult," Krzyzewski said. Krzyzewski said there would be no cuts before Fridays game against Puerto Rico, and he said Rose would play that night. Fans chanted loudly in the third quarter for Rose to get into this one, but Krzyzewski decided shortly before tip the Chicago Bulls star wouldnt play. Rose had sat out practices the past two days after starting in Saturdays exhibition victory over Brazil on his home floor, saying Tuesday he just wanted extra rest as he tries to play his way back into shape after missing most of the past two seasons because of knee surgeries. "Hes feeling a lot better, he was probably feeling good enough to play tonight, but because he hasnt played and hes trying to shake off some rust, the best thing to do was to give him the day off," Thibodeau said. Houston Rockets forward Francisco Garcia scored 14 points for the Dominican Republic, coached by South Floridas Orlando Antigua. The Dominicans are without their best player, the Atlanta Hawks Al Horford, who is recovering from a torn right pectoral muscle. Karl Towns played 10 minutes for the Dominicans, though he wont accompany them to Spain as the highly touted freshman heads to Kentucky. The team shot 34 per cent. "Wouldve liked to shot the ball a lot better, but I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the game. We showed some good points," Antigua said. The teams will meet again in Bilbao, Spain, where they are both in Group C. The Americans leave Saturday for Spain, where they will finish their preparations with a final exhibition against Slovenia. The World Cup opens on Aug. 30. The Dominicans took a 6-4 lead, the Americans answered with 14 straight points to make it 18-6, and that was about it. The Americans expanded a 28-17 lead after one quarter to 53-31 at the half, as Harden and Klay Thompson each scored 10 points by the break. The U.S. pushed it to 69-34 with a little more than 4 minutes left in the third after a flurry by Irving, allowing for extra playing time for players at the back end of the roster such as Andre Drummond and Gordon Hayward. Drummond finished with 12 points for the Americans, who shot 58 per cent. Chandler Parsons, Kyle Korver and Mason Plumlee were the only Americans who didnt play. Before the game, U.S. military members presented each player with two dog tags. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said one featured the American flag, the players name, and the words leadership, service and teamwork, and the other featured the name of a serviceman. China Jerseys Cheap . Wheeler scored two goals, including the winner, as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 on Friday in a game that featured a seven-goal first period. China Jerseys Stitched .J. Ellis have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ . And by all indications, the team is expected to select phenom Connor McDavid with their selection. The Buffalo Sabres, who were knocked down to the second overall pick after finishing with the worst regular season record, are expected to take the other generational player in Jack Eichel. Cheap Jerseys From China . - Josh Sterk scored twice to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 7-1 rout of the Ottawa 67s in Mondays Ontario Hockey League action. Fake China Jerseys . Less than 24 hours later, in the same arena, he tried to recreate the magic of his all-time favourite player. Hilliard scored a career-high 26 points and No.CHICAGO - Preparing for the final weekend of the regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals hoped to easily move past the non-contending Chicago Cubs.Instead, they ran into Chicagos buzzsaw a€” Jake Arrieta.Arrieta (10-5), coming off a one-hit shutout against Cincinnati last week, limited St. Louis to two hits and an unearned run while striking out 10 in seven innings, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory.Hes got swing-and-miss stuff in the strike zone and hes got the ability to get it out of the strike zone as well, and that makes him tough, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said. Anytime you got a guy with that type of electric stuff, you kind of feel like youre on defence up there. Anytime he gets ahead of you, youre in a bad spot.Arrieta outdueled St. Louis John Lackey (3-3), both on the mound and at the plate. After Lackey intentionally walked Logan Watkins in the fourth inning, Arrieta hit a two-run triple a€” the first triple of his career and the first by a Cubs pitcher since 2012. The Cubs never surrendered the lead.Its amazing that that at-bat is the one that does it, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.Lackey gave up two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out eight, his most since joining the Cardinals at the trade deadline.The Cardinals, who clinched a playoff berth earlier in the week, remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central. The Pirates lost at Atlanta, reducing St. Louis magic number to three for clinching the division title.Im tired of looking up there and waiting for somebody else to help us, Matheny said following the game. Nobodys helped us all season long. Why are they going to start now?The Cardinals loss assured NL East champion Washington will open a division series at home.The Cardinals were held without a hit through four innings but managed two singles in thee fifth.dddddddddddd Yadier Molina came in to score on Welington Castillos throwing error, cutting the Cubs lead to 2-1.Molina has hit safely in seven consecutive games and 12 of his past 14.Chris Valaika had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to extend the Cubs lead to 3-1.The Cardinals mounted a two-out rally in the ninth, but Hector Rondon worked out of the jam for his 13th consecutive save and his 27th in 31 opportunities this season.After the game, Arrieta took pride in playing the role of spoiler.To pitch well against them, at this time of the season with the implications on the game that are there, its meaningful, Arrieta said. Its just another positive thing to use moving forward into the off-season.Arrieta has allowed two or fewer runs in 19 of 25 starts this season.TRAINING ROOMCubs: SS Starlin Castro will miss the remainder of the season, according to manager Rick Renteria. Castro injured his left ankle sliding into home against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 2.Cardinals: OF Jon Jay missed Wednesdays game due to a personal matter. He will rejoin the team on Friday in Arizona.UP NEXTCubs: LHP Eric Jokisch (0-0, 1.74) will make his first career start on Friday when the Cubs open a three-game set at Milwaukee.Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.18), who missed approximated three months earlier this season with a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder, starts for the Cardinals on Friday against Arizona.WRIGLEY FACELIFTNow that the Cubs regular-season schedule is over, improvements and renovations at the 100-year-old ballpark a€” including constructing a large video scoreboard in left field a€” are expected to begin soon. The scoreboard and other outfield signs are expected to be in place by the start of next season, but the new home clubhouse isnt slated to be completed until 2016. ' ' '