the Cape Town meeting. Sethi had been representing his board in the absence of Shaharyar Khan, who could not attend du

DENVER -- A couple of bullpen sessions over the All-Star break helped Jeff Samardzija resolve the mechanical problems in his pitching delivery that had been bothering him much of the season. The refinements were evident Friday night when Samardzija pitched effectively into the eighth inning, and Anthony Rizzo doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh in Chicago Cubs 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. "We changed a couple things with my mechanics, kept me on line a little more," Samardzija said. "But if you had asked me all year how I felt about my mechanics, I would say they were off, to tell you the truth, until today. So, Im really excited to stop making adjustments and really just working on pitch selection and pitch location. As a pitcher, sometimes those things happen. It clicks for you and you go from there." Alfonso Soriano added a home run, his 17th, and Junior Lake, recalled by Chicago from Triple-A Iowa before the game, had three hits in his major league debut, including a double in his first career at-bat. Darwin Barney drove in an insurance run with a ninth-inning double. Samardzija (6-9) kept the Rockies in check by limiting them to one run on four hits in 7 1-3 innings, bouncing back after tying a career high by allowing nine runs in a 13-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on July 10. "Tonight, the guy was nasty and dominated," Michael Cuddyer said. "Youve got to tip your hat every once in a while. He pitched really well." Samardzija was able to paint the corners with his fastball and kept the Rockies off balance with a devastating splitter. "It was so good tonight," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "It was diving out of the strike zone so much you couldnt even get swings at it sometimes." Samardzija walked three and struck out six, including striking out the side in the seventh, when he set down All-Stars Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Cuddyer. "I was working both sides of the plate with my fastball, really established it for a strike, and when you do that, it makes your splitter that much better," he said. "Just being aggressive helped out a lot." Added Cuddyer: "He throws 96 mph with an 83-mph splitter that was on tonight. He didnt walk many guys until the very end." D.J. LeMahieu doubled off Kevin Gregg to start the ninth and advanced to third on a ground out by Gonzalez. Tulowitzki walked before Gregg induced Cuddyer to ground into a game-ending double play for his 18th save in 20 chances. Chicago regained the lead in the seventh, sparked by Cody Ransoms two-out walk off reliever Edgmer Escalona (1-3). Rizzo followed by lining a double down the right field line. He was thrown out trying for third but not before Ransom had crossed the plate with the go-ahead run. Soriano gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead when he homered to start the fourth inning, driving Jorge De La Rosas 0-1 pitch into the stand of evergreens beyond the centre field wall. It was his 389th homer, tying him with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for 57th on the career list. Dexter Fowler evened the score when he led off the Rockies half of the fourth with a homer, his 11th. He drove Samardzijas first offering beyond the centre field wall in almost the same spot as Sorianos. The Rockies had a chance to go in front after Tulowitzki and Cuddyer hit consecutive two-out singles. With Todd Helton up, a low pitch skipped past Welington Castillo, but the ball bounced off the backstop and the catcher corralled it, making an off-balance throw to Samardzija covering at home just in time to tag out Tulowitzki, who had broken for the plate. De La Rosa went six innings and allowed one run on five hits. Lake, an oufielder-infielder, filled the roster spot of outfielder Brian Bogusevic, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain. Sveum said he was extremely encouraged by Lakes exceptional debut. "Since Ive been here, thats the first kid thats come up and looked like a major leaguer, aggressive, aggressive on the bases," Sveum said. "He did a great job and swung the bat really nice." NOTES: The home run was Sorianos 15th extra-base hit since June 28, tops in the NL in that span. ... Fowlers home run was his first since hitting two against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 2. ... The Rockies opened the second half with a 10-game homestand, while Cubs began a 10-game road trip. ... Rockies right-hander Juan Nicasio (5-4) is set to pitch Saturday nights game against the Cubs. Hell be opposed by RHP Carlos Villanueva (2-5). Cheap Jordan 1 Retro All Pink . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Jordan 1 Retro High Og For Sale . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. http://www.cheapjordan1retro.com/cheap-jordan-1-retro-red/ .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Cheap Jordan 1 Retro Yellow . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Cheap Jordan 1 Shoes Online . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Giles Clarke, the ECB president, is set to renew his relationship with the Pakistan Cricket Board, after being tasked alongside Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive, to explore ways to boost the boards economy in the absence of any home international matches.The decision was taken at the quarterly ICC board meeting that concluded in Cape Town on Friday. The board also agreed to look into financial assistance for the PCB given that it has now been almost eight years since their cricketers were last able to play a match in front of their home fans.Clarke, who is a member of the powerful Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee, headed up the ICCs original Pakistan Task Force in 2009, although he was unable to visit the country in that capacity due to the ongoing security concerns.Despite their difficulties, Pakistans Test team rose to become the No.1 nation earlier this year following a hugely creditable 2-2 draw in their away series against England. It is understood that Clarke is scheduled to meet PCB officials in a months time to chalk out the details of the ICCs funding exercise.We reflect the unique contribution of Pakistan to world cricket. There is a huge amount of goodwill at the ICC board table for Pakistan, Clarke told ESPNcricinfo. Along with the [ICC] chief executive, I have been charged with looking at how we can assist Pakistan. Some of the economics of life has not been easy for Pakistan because they cant play home games.We are looking at the economics of Pakistan cricket, seeing where the ICC can help in recognising the importance of Pakistan to the international cricketing community, and to the cricketing world. They got the Test mace and played a superb series in England this summer. They were magnificent on and off the pitch during the England series.Describing himself as a very committed supporter of Pakistan cricket, Clarke said he had spent seven years trying to figure out ways to develop the game in the country.We have made a bit of progress today with some of the ideas that came out of the meeting. Dave Richardson and I are going to see what we can do to help Pakistan cricket economically and what we can do what possibilities are there for anyone to tour Pakistan.However, the prospect of international cricket making a permanent return to Pakistan remains doubtful. Earlier this year, memories of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team buss in March 2009 were revived when another terrorist attack ripped through Lahore, killing at least 72 people and injuring 300 others in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, a popular hangout.dddddddddddds you know, we were a very long way down the road with a concept of having a heavyweight world team tour Pakistan and play against Pakistan, said Clarke. Then the atrocity in Lahore absolutely scuppered that.As a consequence of that attack, the PCB had to terminate a planned World XI versus Pakistanis match, an exercise that had been intended to provide a first step towards a return of full international cricket.Cricket does not belong in a war zone, said Clarke. [But] Cricket does belong in Pakistan. If we are going to bring world cricket back to Pakistan, then we will need the help of the vast number of massively enthusiastic Pakistani cricket followers - which in my view is most of the country. Because it is the bad guys who are stopping us. If you love cricket in Pakistan, you know we cant have atrocities. It stops people from coming. But if you give up, then the terrorist wins. I am not bloody giving up.According to Clarke, PCB executive chairman Najam Sethi made a very powerful plea which had struck a chord with the ICC board during the Cape Town meeting. Sethi had been representing his board in the absence of Shaharyar Khan, who could not attend due to health reasons.During his address, Sethi focused on the major issues that were denting Pakistan cricket financially. Aside from Zimbabwes limited-overs tour in May 2015, have played all of their matches since 2009 in the UAE. However, the extra costs incurred by those matches have directly hampered the development of the game back home in Pakistan.In a bid to shore up their domestic infrastructure, the PCB recently began work on 16 regional academies as a part of their developmental plan. Another option under consideration is that ICC should help carry the cost of Pakistans bilateral series in the UAE.There is, however, an acceptance from all parties that it will ultimately be down to the players themselves to determine whether they are prepared to tour Pakistan again. As Englands current tour of Bangladesh shows, administrators cannot force players to tour when they are not comfortable with the security. ' ' '