Bu7chholz, on the DL since June 9, had to cut short a bullpen ses

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Defending champion Spain and stars Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta will train in the Washington, D.C., area next week. England and Wayne Rooney arrive Sunday for a week of workouts in Miami. Ivory Coast and Didier Drogba have games in St. Louis and Texas. But instead of preparing for the World Cup against top teams and global stars, the United States arranged a sendoff series against No. 85 Azerbaijan, No. 39 Turkey and No. 44 Nigeria. Not that U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann didnt try to schedule tougher opponents. "Youre trying to find the best teams that suit you. Its not that easy anymore," he said leading to Sundays exhibition against the Turks at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. When the U.S. contacted high-profile teams, Klinsmann said they backed off. "Has to do a little bit with our results of the last two years," he added. Since Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley in July 2011, the U.S. beat Italy for the first time in 11 games over 78 years, defeated Mexico in Mexico for the first time in 75 years and qualified for its seventh straight World Cup. Klinsmann chose Stanford University for a two-week training camp that opened May 14, and the Americans started their prep schedule Tuesday with a 2-0 win over the Azerbaijanis — coached by Berti Vogts, a special adviser to Klinsmann. The American defence and goalkeeper Tim Howard were hardly tested, and the U.S. offence seemed to be slowed by heavy legs following a physically demanding training camp. "Now the teams start progressively getting harder," defender Omar Gonzalez said. "I think its a great three games for us, and its just an opportunity for us to shore things up, to gain a little bit of confidence." Turkey hasnt appeared at the World Cup since 2002, when the Crescent-Stars finished third after losing to eventual champion Brazil 1-0 in the semifinals, then lost to Germany in the semis of the 2008 European Championship. The Turks finished fourth in their qualifying group for this World Cup, behind the Netherlands, Romania and Hungary. Preparing for the start of 2016 European Championship qualifying, Turkey won 2-1 at Ireland last weekend on goals by Ahmet Ilhan Ozek and Tarik Camdal, then beat World Cup-bound Honduras 2-0 Thursday at Washingtons RFK Stadium when Mevlut Erdinc scored in the 70th minute and set up Caner Erkins goal on a counterattack in the 83rd. "Turkey is an unpredictable team. Its a team that has a lot of individual skills and they are good players that can make a difference in half a second," Klinsmann said. "We need games that really keep us on our toes. We need games that especially for our back line ... that challenges them not to lose focus and concentration, not even for one moment in our game. Otherwise you get punished, and that costs you badly." Four years ago, the U.S. rallied to beat the Turks 2-1 in Philadelphia, getting second-half goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey in the Americans final game before they headed to the World Cup in South Africa. The Turks have been without Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan, who missed last weekends Champions League final against Real Madrid because of a sore hip, but Borussia Dortmunds Nuri Sahin is on the roster. After this, the only pre-World Cup exhibition left for the Americans is on June 7 against Nigeria at Jacksonville, Florida. Thats followed by a scrimmage in Sao Paulo against Belgium on June 12. One question is whether Klinsmann changes his back four of right back Fabian Johnson, central defenders Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler and left back DaMarcus Beasley. "Were not worried about the results," Klinsmann said. "Even if we would have a negative result in these preparation games, we would take it the right way." Venta De Nike Air Zoom . Still, Inter moved one point ahead of Parma in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League spot. Udinese remained 14th, 11 points above the relegation zone. Inter was beaten 2-1 by Atalanta at home on Sunday and has won only seven of 16 matches at the San Siro this season, as the squad seems to still be searching for its identity under new owner Erick Thohir and first-year manager Walter Mazzarri. Nike Air Zoom Ofertas . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec. http://www.nikezoombaratas.es/ . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. Comprar Nike Zoom Baratas .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have finalized their agreed-upon trade that sends former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins to the West Coast for a pair of minor league pitching prospects. Nike Zoom Comprar Online . In the opener of the World Group first-round series, world No. 18 Kei Nishikori defeated Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont.BOSTON -- John Lackey certainly looks and sounds fully recovered from elbow-ligament replacement surgery. It shows both on and off the mound. Lackey struck out a season-high 12 over seven strong innings and Daniel Nava drove in two runs, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 victory Wednesday and a sweep of the two-game series against the Colorado Rockies. "Probably the strongest hes been all year," Boston manager John Farrell said. "Outstanding fastball command, good power to it and a lot of strikes." The 34-year old right-hander gave up two runs and eight hits without walking a batter. Mixing a fastball and slider most of the time, he threw 73 of 98 pitches for strikes. Lackey (5-5), who missed all of last season rehabbing from the Tommy John surgery, struck out nine over the first four innings -- getting three each in the first, second and fourth -- while allowing Wilin Rosarios first-inning RBI single. "Ive been feeling pretty good," Lackey said, often breaking into smiles and joking, a big change from his demeanour in his early days in Boston. "I still feel like Im getting stronger. It was a process, a lot of work, Im still building." With the top two starters in the rotation -- Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz -- both going through tough stretches, Lackey knows hes been one to pitch in big games. "Jon will be fine. Clay has done great. Im not worried about those guys," he said. "Ive been the guy that has gone first in playoff games." Lester has struggled after a strong start, losing three of his last four decisions. Buchholz is currently on the 15-day disabled with a neck strain. Lackey had his 14th career double-digit strikeout game, first since Oct. 3, 2010. "It speaks to where my stuffs at right now," he said of the strikeouts. Shane Victorino had three hits and Dustin Pedroia added two for the Red Sox. Roy Oswalt (0-2), making his second start since being recalled from Double-A, allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings, striking out five and walking one. Colorados Michael Cuddyer extended his hitting streak to 23 games with two solo homers, matching Dante Bichettes club-record set in 1995. "The Red Sox are good at putting the ball in play and creating some things. It was a lot of contact, a lot of action, and I just think they found some holes early," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "I thought Roy settled in and made good use of his fastball as he went along. In the end, battled for us to give us six." The Rockies finished a road trip in which they lost seven of nine. New Boston closer Koji Uehara worked a perfect ninth for his second save. The Red Sox wasted little time jumping to a 3-1 lead against OOswalt in the first.dddddddddddd Jacoby Ellsbury had a leadoff double and scored on Victorinos single to right. David Ortiz followed with his 499th career double, a drive high off the Green Monster that scored Victorino. Nava then had an RBI single when the ball bounced off the second-base bag and into short left just as shortstop Josh Rutledge was attempting to make a play on it. Oswalt, 3-2 with a 2.16 ERA Double-A Tulsa, struck out 11 without allowing a walk in his first start against Washington last Thursday. "I felt like both starts actually were better than what they turned out to be," he said. "Thats baseball, you know? Maybe the next two starts I get some lucky breaks. It seems like the first two Ive had a couple of breaks here and there that didnt really fall my way, but Im going to keep throwing strikes and make them hit the ball and see what happens." Boston increased it to 5-1 in the third on Mike Napolis bases-loaded RBI single. He improved to 6 for 9 and four RBIs this season with the bases full. Nava followed with a sacrifice fly before Oswalt got the next two outs to strand runners on second and third. In the sixth, the Rockies cut it to 5-2 on Cuddyers leadoff homer off a billboard above the Monster seats. They had runners on first and third with one out before Lackey struck out Tyler Colvin and got Yorvit Torrealba on a liner to centre. In the eighth, Cuddyer hit a different sign above the left-field seats leading off against Junichi Tazawa. Colorado had grabbed a 1-0 lead on when Rosario singled after Carlos Gonzalez singled and stole second. NOTES: Cuddyer had his ninth career multihomer game, first since July 24, 2012, at Arizona. ... Buchholz, on the DL since June 9, had to cut short a bullpen session. Farrell said he had an MRI, but didnt know the results. ... Boston entered the day leading the majors with 172 doubles and had three more. ... Rockies OF Dexter Fowler was out with a sore right wrist. ... The Red Sox activated RHP Clayton Mortensen from the 15-day disabled list after optioning RHP Pedro Beato to Triple-A a night earlier. Mortensen was sidelined since June 11 with a strained right groin. ... The teams are scheduled to meet again in Colorado on Sept. 24 and 25 for the Rockies final two home games of the season. ... The Rockies host the Mets in a makeup of the teams April 17 snowed-out game Thursday. New Yorks Tyler Chatwood (4-1, 2.22 ERA is slated to face Jeremy Hefner (2-6, 3.89 ERA). ... Boston is scheduled to play the first of four against the Blue Jays Thursday. Jon Lester (7-4, 4.57ERA) is expected to face Torontos Chien-Ming Wang (1-0, 2.18). ... Bostons Stephen Drew had a triple for the second straight game. ' ' '