also failed to win its past two World Cup qualifying

SAN FRANCISCO -- National League All-Star game starter Johnny Cueto might have limped his way into a wild-card appearance.Itll depend how the 17-game winner feels Thursday night, and how the San Francisco Giants do the rest of the week.Cueto is scheduled to return from a one-game absence caused by a groin injury when the Giants conclude a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.The Giants (83-75) will enter that game sandwiched between the New York Mets (85-74) and St. Louis Cardinals (82-76) in a duel for two wild-card spots in the NL.The Mets lead the Giants by 1 1/2 games for the first spot. San Francisco in turn is one game up on the Cardinals for the final postseason berth.The Giants had a chance to open a two-game gap over the Cardinals with four to play, but lost 2-0 to the Rockies on Wednesday night.Youd like to take advantage of the situation when the other team loses, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of the Cardinals, who were beaten 2-1 by the Cincinnati Reds in an earlier game Wednesday. But (the Cardinals are) probably saying the same thing.Had Cueto been able to make his start last Sunday at San Diego, hed have been scheduled to pitch the second-to-last game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.That would have made him unlikely to get the call over Jeff Samardzija, and possibly even Matt Moore, in the NL wild-card game four days later.But Cueto now would have more than ample rest to toe the slab in the loser-go-on-vacation game ... presuming his groin passes its test Thursday.Cueto had been pitching well at the time of the injury. His 1.59 ERA in September is fifth-best in the NL among pitchers with four or more starts.Hes dominated the Rockies this season, going 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA in three starts, and in his career, recording a 6-2 mark and 2.19 ERA in 11 starts.Cueto (17-5) also will be seeking to become the NLs fourth 18-game winner, a level hes reached twice previously in his career.One longtime nemesis Cueto might not have to deal with Thursday is Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu, the NLs leading hitter with a .349 average.Rockies manager Walt Weiss held LeMahieu out of Wednesdays game as a means of helping him retain his batting lead over Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals.With four days remaining in the regular season, LeMahieu holds a .349-.347 lead over Murphy, who hasnt played since Sept. 20 because of a sore back.Its possible Murphy wont play again in the regular season, especially with the Nationals having already clinched the NL East.And if thats the case, Weiss insisted Tuesday he just might do the same with his guy.Well play it by ear, he said. Winning the batting title doesnt take one day. It takes six months. I dont know how its all going to play out. Id live to see DJ win that batting title.LeMahieu is 3-for-10 (.300) against Cueto this season, and is a .333 (8-for-24) lifetime hitter against the first-year Giant. Kings Jerseys China . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. Authentic Custom Kings Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.customnhlkingsjersey.com/ . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. Custom Kings T-shirts . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Cheap Kings Jerseys . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. GENEVA -- European champion Portugal failed to overcome the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo this time, and lost 2-0 to Switzerland in a World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday.For Portugals first competitive match since beating France in the Euro 2016 final, Ronaldo was left out of the squad while he recovers from the knee injury sustained in the opening minutes in Paris.A Swiss team which mostly lacked spark in France fired into life with two goals midway through the first half at Basel. It also had midfielder Granit Xhaka sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.Breel Embolo headed the opening goal in the 23rd minute, reacting fastest to goalkeeper Rui Patricios parry of a Ricardo Rodriguez free kick.A fine fast break in the 30th was finished by Admir Mehmedi with a curling shot into the top-right corner of the Portugal goal. Mehmedi had taken a return pass after finding forward Haris Seferovic running deep beyond the defense.Portugal struck a post in the 82nd when Nani directed a header to bounce slowly back across goal and safely away.Earlier, Portugals defenders went close with shots that deflected just wide of goal, by left-back Raphael Guerreiro in the 37th and with Jose Fontes volley in the 75th.Portugals loss was its first in 15 competitive matches under coach Fernando Santos, almost two years after he took the job.Defeat leaves Portugal in a familiar positioon, after also losing its opening Euro 2016 qualifying match.dddddddddddd. Two years ago, again without Ronaldo, Portugal lost 1-0 at home to Albania and coach Paulo Bento was fired.Portugal also failed to win its past two World Cup qualifying groups and advanced to the final tournament each time through the playoffs.In other Group B games, Faeroe Islands caused an upset by holding Hungary to a goalless draw and Latvia settled for a narrow win over Andorra.---FAEROE ISLANDS 0, HUNGARY 0Hungary was highly watchable in reaching the round of 16 at Euro 2016, including in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Portugal in the group stage when it led three times.But on a breezy evening in the north Atlantic, Hungary was grateful to come away with a point against the 135th-ranked Faeroe Islands.Hallur Hanssons shot struck a post of Hungarys goal in the 86th minute. The draw means the home side already matched its points total from 2014 World Cup qualifying.---ANDORRA 0, LATVIA 1Latvia benefited from a goalkeeping error early in the second half to take all three points from world No. 203 Andorra.A header by Latvias Valerijs Sabala in the 48th minute looped over Andorra goalkeeper Ferran Pol, who was stranded far off his line when unwisely trying to claim the cross. ' ' '