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DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins meet in the rubber game of their series Sunday against the backdrop of history.Ichiro Suzuki is one hit shy of becoming the 30th player in major league history to reach 3,000 hits. He got No. 2,999 with a pinch-single in the eighth inning on Saturday night, stayed in the game and narrowly missing No. 3,000 in the ninth when pitcher Scott Oberg bobbled Suzukis high-bouncer, slipped to one knee while retrieving the ball and narrowly threw him out.After the Marlins 12-6 loss, manager Don Mattingly would not say whether he plans to start Suzuki on Sunday afternoon against Rockies right-hander Jon Gray.Ichiro declined to speak Saturday night, saying through a Marlins public relations official that after a loss he had no desire to talk about his personal accomplishment or anything upbeat.Regardless, the baseball world will be watching Sunday, waiting and hoping that Suzuki makes history. One of those with more than passing interest in his quest is Ken Griffey Jr., who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July and was Suzukis teammate in Seattle. The Mariners provided the following remarks by Griffey.I got a first row (seat) to watch one of the greatest ballplayers to (ever) play ... to watch what hes done, day in and day out, Griffey said. Its pretty impressive ... for him to go out there and roll out the hits that he has, its pretty incredible.Its a tribute to his work ethic and everything that he believes in. ... It is something special, not just for the guys who played with him but for all of baseball and all the people in Japan. This is something thats huge. I know that he doesnt take it lightly. He works hs butt off day in and day out.Opposing Gray for the Marlins will be Adam Conley, who is 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 22 starts. Right-handed hitters have hit 10 homers against Conley but are batting just .225 (78-for-347). Left-handed hitters havent homered against Conley but are batting .306 (33-for-108) against him.He has been much more effective against right-handed hitters.Conley is 3-3 with a 3.92 ERA on the road, including his last start on Monday in Chicago where he lost 5-0 to the Cubs and gave up two runs, five hits and six walks with four strikeouts in four innings.Gray, a rookie in his first full season in the majors, is 8-4 with a 3.77 ERA overall in 19 starts and 5-0 with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts at Coors Field.In Grays past seven outings, he is 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA, and hes 3-0 with an 0.69 ERA (26 innings, two earned runs) in four starts since the All-Star break with eight walks and 25 strikeouts. Not surprisingly, Gray is brimming with confidence.Even when Im not on my game, I know I can keep us in the game, just by competing, Gray said. Cheap Adidas Superstar China . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Adidas Superstar For Sale Cheap . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.superstarcheap.com/ . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. Adidas Superstars Clearance Sale . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. Cheap Adidas Superstar Online . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July.WASHINGTON -- The United States can head into a key stretch with some added confidence. Clint Dempsey scored twice in a five-minute span of the second half and moved into second place on the U.S. career scoring list, helping the Americans edge a second-string Germany team 4-3 in an exhibition game Sunday. Preparing for three World Cup qualifiers in a 12-day span beginning Friday, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann watched the Americans take a 4-1 lead and hang on to beat the team he helped win the 1990 World Cup as a player and coached to the 2006 semifinals. The match, which drew 47,359 to RFK Stadium commemorated the 100th anniversary year of the U.S. Soccer Federation and followed a 4-2 loss Wednesday to a first-string Belgium in Cleveland. "The feel-good factor is amazing," U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "The crowd was great, on the centennial anniversary. It was amazing to be a part of that game, and obviously to beat Germany was special." Jozy Altidore put the Americans ahead in the 13th minute with his first international goal in 1 1-2 years, and the lead widened to 2-0 lead three minutes later on an own goal by No. 4 Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who misjudged a backpass. Heiko Westermann cut the deficit for the three-time world champion Germans in the 51st, and Dempsey made it 4-1 with goals in the 60th and 65th. Americans defensive frailties were exposed late when Max Kruse and Julian Draxler scored their first international goals. With 35 international goals, Dempsey moved one past Eric Wynalda on the American career list and pulled within 14 of Landon Donovan. "Youre going to look back on the career and be proud of what youve done," Dempsey said. "But at the same time ... your teammates help you. They put you in positions, and they help create chances for you, and youve just got to finish them off." Dempsey has five goals for the U.S. this year and 13 since Klinsmann took over as coach in July 2011. "He has the drive. He has the hunger," Klinsmann said. "Hes not satisfied today scoring two goals against Germany because he wont be satisfied if he doesnt score against Jamaica." The Americans play Friday at Jamaica, June 11 against Panama at Seattle, and June 18 versus Honduras at Sandy, Utah. The U.S. (1-1-1) is third in the six-nation final round of North and Central America and the Caribbean with four points, one behind Panama (1-0-2) and trailing Costa Rica (1-1-1) on goal difference. Honduras (1-1-1) is behind the U.S. on goal difference, while Mexico (0-0-3) has three points and Jamaica (0-1-2) two. The top three nations qualify for next years tournament in Brazil, and the No. 4 team faces Oceania champion New Zealand in a home-and-home playoff for another berth. "Now the road gets long," Howard said. "Morale, motivation, feel-good factor, thats going to play a huge role, and I dont think it can be understated. Because going dowwn to Jamaica is not going to be easy.dddddddddddd" While the U.S. improved to 3-6 against Germany by beating Die Mannschaft for the first time since 1999, the Germans used just one player who started in their last World Cup qualifier, against Kazakhstan in March. Germany was missing its contingent from Champions League finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and from Real Madrid, which finished its season Saturday. Klinsmann made four changes to his starting lineup, inserting right back Brad Evans, central defender Matt Besler and midfielders Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson. Right back Geoff Cameron was dropped along with central defender Clarence Goodson, and midfielders Sacha Kljestan and Brad Davis. Johnson, a German-American starting in midfield instead of at left back, was limping and was replaced by Davis for the second when the second half began. Dempseys run led to the first goal, when he made a crossfield pass to Graham Zusi, who one-timed a cross to Altidore. He moved away from defender Per Mertesacker and sent in a right-footed volley from 8 yards. The 23-year-old Altidore, who set a record for Americans in Europe by scoring 31 goals this season for the Netherlands AZ Alkmaar, got his 14th international goal and first from the run of play since June 14, 2011, against Guadeloupe. His only goal since Klinsmann took over had been a penalty kick at Slovenia on Nov. 15, 2011. "This is a maturing process, and it will continue," Klinsmann said. "Hes still young -- we often forget how young Jozy actually is because hes been around so long already." With the Americans pressuring high following a goal kick, Benedikt Hoewedes played a backpass to ter Stegen, who allowed the ball to roll off his right foot and into the net. Westermann scored his fourth international goal when he peeled off Omar Gonzalez for an open 7-yard header on Kruses corner kick. Dempsey restored the two-goal lead after Jermaine Jones played a long ball to Altidore, who collected it and sent a one-hop pass across the field. Dempsey connected with a right-footed shot from about 10 yards. Five minutes later, Dempsey took advantage of Lukas Podolskis failure to close down his space and scored on a bending, 24-yard left-footed shot. Unpressured by Gonzalez and Besler, Kruse beat Howard from 20 yards. Draxler scored after Howard sprawled to his right and parried Sidney Sams long-range shot into his path. "Toward the end we kind of hit a wall," Gonzalez said. "We stopped possessing the ball, and thats when Germany just came at us." NOTES: The U.S. will play Guatemala in an exhibition at San Diego on July 5 ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. ... Roberto Moreno of Panama will referee Fridays World Cup qualifier in Jamaica. Roberto Garcia of Mexico is the referee for the June 11 game and Enrico Wijngaarde of Suriname for the June 18 match. ... The U.S. is 14-3-5 at RFK, its most frequent venue. ' ' '