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Test cricket is big-man cricket and West Indies cannot use their youth and inexperience as a crutch to deflect against poor performances, according to Marlon Samuels. Two days before the second Test against India at Sabina Park, Samuels said the young players will have to keep earning their places with their performances.Well, first and foremost, Im not going to be here to tell you that its a young team, Samuels said. For me to say that is like finding excuses for the team. Its a Test team, and Test cricket is big-man cricket, and the players should know that by now.They are here, playing Test cricket. So we all have to step up to the plate, and put up a very good challenge against the Indians. The Indians are a very good team, a very good unit, so what we want to try and build right now is a team spirit, and build a stronger unit in order [to move forward]. Yes, we have new players coming in, but they still have to deliver. At the end of the day, you have to do that to keep your job here.A string of impressive limited-overs performances won Samuels West Indies Cricketer of the Year award, but his Test form has been poor in recent months. Before scoring a half-century in the second innings of the first Test in Antigua, he had failed to pass 20 in his 10 Test innings.You make a half-century, its a milestone, he said. You have to cherish it, but at the end of the day I always want more. I havent been getting the runs that Im looking for in the Test arena, but Ive been making up in the shorter versions, so it augurs well that Im doing well for the team as well. Its just, I need to start focusing more and putting in some big performances, so the team can benefit from my performances.Samuels looked forward to another Test in front of his home crowd at Sabina Park, and said he wanted to show them what they have been seeing over the years - me coming out here, playing shots and just enjoying myself in the middle. But his main aim, he said, was to help West Indies bounce back from their innings defeat in Antigua.Its a great opportunity for me, he said. Not too many sportsmen get to play in front of their home crowd. Ive got the opportunity more than one time, so I cherish it, playing in front of a Jamaican crowd. As I said, its a great opportunity, not only for me, but for the team to make a turnaround and come here and play some positive cricket and put up, not just a challenge, but a fight.According to some media reports, Samuels has been considering Test-match retirement, and Jeffrey Dujon, the former West Indies wicketkeeper who is part of the TV commentary team for this series, had suggested on air that this might be his last Test series. Samuels did not reveal his plans, and said his only focus, for now, was to do well in this series.Jeffrey Dujon can say anything, Samuels said. But what I say is, Im here to focus on the Test series and put my best foot forward, and make a significant contribution, so that whatever I do, the team can benefit from it. So thats my ultimate goal and thats my focus at the moment.Cheap Padres Jerseys . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Stitched Padres Jerseys . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/ . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. San Diego Padres Gear .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Wholesale Padres Jerseys . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said.LOS ANGELES -- The St. Louis Cardinals didnt exactly sting the ball against Clayton Kershaw. They just went to the plate with the purpose of putting it in play. The plan worked. Matt Carpenter drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single and Pete Kozma hit a three-run double, leading the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday in the rubber game of their series. "Kershaws a great pitcher. But hes going to come out and throw strikes, so you need to be ready to swing the bats," Kozma said. "We needed every run we got." "When you face someone like Kershaw, hes not going to give you anything. You have to scratch and claw for everything you get and thats what we did," manager Mike Matheny said. "The timely hits -- some of them werent all that pretty. But these guys came in here today talking about fighting, and thats exactly what they did." Kozma led off the seventh with a bloop double off the glove of shortstop Dee Gordon as he dived for the ball in short centre field. One out later, Carpenter grounded a single off the glove of first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, allowing Kozma to score. Pinch-hitter Matt Adams added an RBI single in the ninth. "They found some holes today and got a lot of hits that fell in there. But thats the mark of a good team," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "Thats a good professional hitting team over there that battles and grinds." Seth Maness (4-1) got credit for the victory in relief of starter Shelby Miller despite retiring only two of the six batters he faced. Kershaw had a chance to help himself with the bat in the sixth, but grounded into an inning-ending double play against Maness. Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 14th save in 14 attempts, as the Cardinals improved the major leagues best record to 32-17 and increased their NL Central lead over Cincinnati to 1 1/2 games. Kershaw (5-3) gave up four runs, seven hits and three walks in seven innings and struck out five as his ERA rose from a major league-best 1.35 to 1.68. The 2010 Cy Young Award winner had allowed only three earned runs in 39 2-3 innings over his previous five starts, including two no-decisions. Kershaw had not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his previous 22 starts since giving up eight over 5 2-3 innings against the Cardinals on July 24, 2012, at St. Louis. That was the longest such streak by a Dodger since Orel Hershisers 27-game stretch between July 12, 1985 and May 25, 1986. "This start is better than going five innings and giving up three," Kershaw said. "Going deeper into the game is obviously important, especially for our bullpen. Youre not going to be able to just go out there and throw up zeros or one run every time. Youve got to battle sometimes." Slumping centre fielder Matt Kemp was not in the Dodgers starting lineup, a day after he was removed by manager Don Mattingly in a double-switch with the team ahead by a run in the seventh inning of a 5-3 win.dddddddddddd The two-time All-Star pinch hit for reliever Ronald Belisario in the eighth with a man on and grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning after Trevor Rosenthal followed Maness out of the bullpen and hit his first batter, Andre Ethier. But Rosenthal escaped the jam by striking out Ellis and Skip Schumaker, who started in centre field in Kemps place. "It was a big situation to come into, so I just tried to execute, make some quality pitches and get ahead," Rosenthal said. "I was trying to throw something hard down in the zone to try and get a groundball for a double play there with Ellis. Luckily it turned out well." Miller allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings and struck out three in his first career start against the Dodgers, after beginning the day with the fourth-best ERA in the NL at 1.74. The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Gonzalez drove a 1-1 pitch into the right field pavilion for his team-high sixth home run, after a leadoff walk to Carl Crawford. But the Cardinals countered with three runs in the third. Yadier Molina drew a leadoff walk, David Freese hit a broken-bat bloop double down the left field line on the next pitch, and .229-hitting Daniel Descalso walked on four pitches. Kozma then line a fastball just inside third base and past a diving Juan Uribe for the bases-clearing double. "He went up there looking for a fastball and he hit it. So you have to give him credit there -- especially after a four-pitch walk," Kershaw said. "That second inning was frustrating, giving up the walks, and that bloop hit was frustrating. You cant do much about the hits, but you cant walk guys. So that was definitely my fault there." Los Angeles tied it in the fifth on an RBI single by Gonzalez that scored Kershaw, who started the rally with a one-out single. NOTES: Ellis has struck out seven times in nine at-bats since his collision at home plate with Cardinals baserunner Jon Jay in Friday nights series opener. In Ellis previous 19 at-bats, he went down on strikes only once. "I was running the bases with my kids just now. I needed to be on base at least once today," Ellis said. ... Kemp is homerless in 101 at-bats at Dodger Stadium since his two-run shot off Colorados Jorge De La Rosa last Sept. 20. ... Cardinals LHP John Gast, who left Saturdays game with tightness in his shoulder after facing just six batters, was placed on the 15-day disabled list -- making him the fourth Cardinals starter currently on the DL along with Chris Carpenter, Jake Westbrook and Jaime Garcia. ... RHP Michael Blazek, another rookie, was promoted to the majors for the first time from Triple-A Springfield. Blazek will be the seventh rookie pitcher used this season by Matheny. ... St. Loui