Cuts » Nottinghamshire and England hats, w

ATLANTA -- Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman knows how well Ervin Santana commands his fastball on both sides of the plate.They were teammates in Atlanta in 2014, but familiarity hasnt helped much. Freeman is 1 for 12 in his career against Santana.Hes got that slider you think youre going to hit, and it just disappears, Freeman said. He had it working today.The Braves managed just four hits against Santana in seven scoreless innings, and their rally in the eighth fell short in a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.Minnesota improved to 48-71, four games better than the Braves, in a matchup of the two worst teams in the major leagues.Santana (6-9) walked two and struck out six, throwing 64 of his 107 pitches for strikes to win his third straight start. Atlanta beat him 2-0 on July 26, but Santana had his repertoire working in muggy conditions at Turner Field.I feel great, Santana said. There was a lot of humidity, but we got the win. Thats the most important thing.The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first on Trevor Plouffes RBI double. In the eighth, Joe Mauer hit his 10th homer and Kurt Suzuki had an RBI single to make it 3-0.Brandon Kintzler earned his 12th save in 13 chances after facing four batters in the ninth.Santana allowed three runners to get into scoring position before striking out Jace Peterson in the second, Chase dArnaud in the third and pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur in the seventh.Pitching against the majors weakest offense, Santana improved to 3-2 with a 1.99 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break. Atlanta ranks last in runs and homers.Hes efficient, interim Braves manager Brian Snitker said. He throws strikes. He changes speeds. He can bury his breaking ball when he wants to.The Braves cut the lead to 3-2 in the eighth. Ryan Pressly gave up Matt Kemps RBI double and Nick Markakis RBI groundout, but he stranded a runner at third when Adonis Garcia lined out.Minnesota made it 4-2 in the ninth when Mauricio Cabrera, the sixth of seven Atlanta pitchers, gave up Plouffes RBI single.Mauer went 3 for 4 and is hitting .418 with 14 RBI in his last 19 games. Suzuki is hitting .322 with 26 RBI in his last 42 games.Atlanta starter Joel De La Cruz (0-6) gave up four hits, one run, two walks and struck four in 5 1/3 innings.The Twins are 15-8 in their last 23 road games. The Braves dropped to 18-40 at home.WELCOME TO THE BIGSBraves SS Dansby Swanson, the No. 1 overall draft pick of 2015, will be in the lineup Wednesday and make his major league debut when hes called up from Double-A Mississippi. Swanson replaces Erick Aybar, who was traded before Tuesdays game to Detroit for catching prospect Kade Scivicque. In 127 games in the minors, Swanson hit .277 with 10 homers and 66 RBI.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: Twins manager Paul Molitor said Miguel Sano could return to Wednesdays lineup after missing the last three games with a sore right elbow. An MRI taken Monday showed no structural damage. Sano had Tommy John surgery on the same elbow and missed the 2014 season.Braves: Snitker said All-Star RHP Julio Teheran was encouraged after making a rehab appearance Sunday at Triple-A Gwinnett. He allowed three hits and two runs -- one earned -- with five strikeouts in five innings. Teheran, the Atlanta ace, is expected to come off the DL and start Friday against Washington. Hes been sidelined since July 30 with a right lat strain.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Kyle Gibson (4-7) is 2-7 with a 6.10 ERA in 11 career interleague starts.Braves: RHP Mike Foltynewicz (6-5) won at Minnesota on July 27 despite giving up 12 hits and seven runs -- six earned -- in 5 1/3 innings. Cheap Shoes Websites . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Cheap Shoes Uk . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. http://www.cheapukshoes.com/ . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. Discount Shoes Online Uk . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Cheap Shoes Uk Sale . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Lancashire 273 for 9 (Smith 70, Broad 3-50, Tahir 3-78) vs NottinghamshireScorecard For the second season in a row, Nottinghamshire are meandering through midsummer at the uncomfortable end of the Division One table, looking like a team in need of inspiration. Last year, after being bottom at the halfway stage, they seemed to be find it in Peter Moores, the former England coach, whose addition to the staff at Trent Bridge coincided with a revival that saw them finish third.This year, evidently, they need something to spark them again, having won their opening match of the Championship programme against Surrey in April but not one since in an eight-match winless run that began, as it happens, with an eight-wicket defeat by Lancashire at Old Trafford.Perhaps this time the uplifting factor will be Imran Tahir. Back at Trent Bridge for a second spell after his first, last year, was curtailed early by injury, the South Africa leg-spinner began by conceding 13 runs in his first over, six of them before he had bowled a legitimate delivery, but thereafter produced evidence that the skills that have sustained him through an extraordinary career might be just what Nottinghamshire need, even in a summer as damp and miserable as this one.Although Lancashire, the Division One leaders, took a chance with the toss and decided to bat first, it was on a surface that had some grass left on and looked dark in colour after more heavy downpours on Saturday, one that surely had Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney licking their lips.Yet it was Tahir who proved Lancashires most troublesome opponent, offering few cheap runs, even when he was attacking, and having enough guile to snare two of his three wickets with his googly.At the heart of his contribution was an engrossing battle with the Lancashire opener, the left-handed Tom Smith, who was 40 from 95 balls as his side reached lunch at 109 for 1 but was thereafter so comprehensively pinned down by Tahir that of the next 46 deliveries he faced from the legspinner he managed to score off just six before he was lured down the pitch and stumped after the ball kicked past the outside edge.It had been the googly, too, that earlier bowled Luke Procter for 48. In between, Steven Croft was possibly unlucky to be given out leg before after taking a long stride forwards but Tahirs 3 for 78 from 27 overs did not flatter him in any way.ddddddddddddfter his 7 for 45 against West Indies in Basseterre, in the process of which he became the fourth fastest bowler to reach 100 wickets in one-day internationals, he has arrived with form and confidence high. Nottinghamshire, who have managed thus far to stay out of the relegation places but have played more of their matches than those around them, will have their fingers crossed that it continues.Tahir was one of three changes in the Nottinghamshire bowling compared with the rain-affected draw with Warwickshire last week. He replaced the young off-spinner Matt Carter, with Gurney and Broad coming in for Luke Fletcher and Jake Ball, who is being rested after bearing a heavy workload in recent weeks.Ball, Nottinghamshires leading wicket-taker, is strongly tipped to make his Test debut against Pakistan at Lords next week and Mick Newell, wearing both his Nottinghamshire and England hats, wants him to be in peak condition should his chance come.Broad bowled a fine spell with the new ball without reward and was then rather fortunate after lunch to see Alviro Petersen given out to a legside strangle when he barely appealed. In the last of his four consistently-disciplined spells he held a brilliant return catch from a full-blooded hit to dismiss Jordan Clark before Liam Livingstone took a mighty swing at him towards midwicket and was caught at backward point off a steepling top edge.There was a scare late on when Neil Wagner ducked into a ball from Harry Gurney and took a blow on the back of the head. Happily, amid obvious concern among the Nottinghamshire players, who summoned help immediately, the New Zealand bowler was able to get to his feet and walk off.As it happened, he was also out, which seemed somewhat unfair, the ball dropping behind him as he dropped to his haunches and rolling on to the stumps with enough force to dislodge a bail and provide the in-form Gurney with a second wicket he deserved, if not by a route he would have chosen. ' ' '