m the back end in our offense and moving pucks more efficien

DENVER -- This isnt out of left field -- the Los Angeles Dodgers are struggling against southpaws this season.Latest to stymie them: Tyler Anderson.The Dodgers had little success against the Colorado Rockies left-hander in a 7-0 loss during the opener of a doubleheader Wednesday.Not all that surprising, considering Los Angeles is hitting under .220 when facing a lefty. The team squandered a solid outing from Ross Stripling (3-6), who surrendered three runs over six innings.Ross pitched well enough for us to win and you know left-handed pitching has been our Achilles heel, said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whose team was held to six hits and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.Teams going forward are going to run left-handers against us. So weve got to find a way to get guys on base and get them in.Anderson (5-5) allowed six hits in 6 1/3 innings against the NL West leaders. He also helped his own cause with an RBI single in the second in the teams first shutout at Coors Field this season.It was nice, Anderson said. Tiring, but it was good.The doubleheader was necessitated by a rainout Tuesday. Anderson actually tossed a few warmup pitches before the first inning and then a relentless downpour blanketed the area, leading to a postponement after a delay of 2 hours, 32 minutes.Colorado has taken the first two games in the series from the Dodgers. This is the fifth series the Rockies have captured from a first-place team in August. Theyre the only team in the majors with a positive run differential (plus-26) and a losing mark (64-68).Pinch-hitter Stephen Cardullo hit his first career homer in the seventh -- on his birthday, no less. The 29-year-old Cardullo spent the last few seasons playing for an independent team in New York before signing a minor league contract with Colorado in January. He joined the Rockies last week after hitting .308 with 17 homers for Triple-A Albuquerque.Andersons quirky delivery gave the Dodgers fits all afternoon. He briefly pauses before throwing to the plate.The 2011 first-round pick wiggled his way out of a sticky situation in the sixth when the lefty had runners on first and third and one out. He struck out Adrian Gonzalez -- the top daytime hitter in the majors this season -- and then fanned Rob Segedin with a changeup.Anderson trotted back out for the seventh, and left to an ovation with one out and two on. Chris Rusin bailed him out by striking out pinch hitter Yasmani Grandal and Howie Kendrick.We are going out of the strike zone and there are some counts where guys are swinging at a ball out of the zone, Roberts said. That changes the sequence in the at-bat.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (mild disk irritation) had a successful outing in a simulated game Tuesday and now is in a momentary holding pattern. We havent made the decision as far as what his next progression will be, Roberts said. ... LHP Scott Kazmir (neck stiffness) will be slotted into the rotation when hes eligible to come off the DL on Sept. 7.EXPANDED ROSTERSRoberts gave an early glimpse of his plans for September call-ups. The Dodgers will add catcher Austin Barnes, righty Louis Coleman, lefty Luis Avilan -- who will serve as the 26th man Wednesday for the second game -- and righty Josh Ravin. Missing from that list is outfielder Yasiel Puig, who was demoted to the minors in early August.With Yasiel, thats still a possibility, but were trying to figure out whats best for him and whats best for us, Roberts said.UP NEXTThe Dodgers scratched lefty Rich Hill (10-3) from the start in Game 2, going with righty Bud Norris instead. The team was concerned about a blister on his left middle finger. Colorado went with righty Jeff Hoffman (0-2). Patrik Laine Jets Jersey . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Keith Tkachuk Jersey . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-jack-roslovic-jets-jersey/ . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Blake Wheeler Jets Jersey . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Laurie Boschman Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Coyotes locked up two of their best young defenseman on Thursday, signing Connor Murphy to a six-year contract and Michael Stone to a one-year dealMurphys deal is for $23.1 million with a salary cap hit of $3.85 million. Stones deal, which allows him and the team to avoid a salary arbitration hearing next week, is worth $4 million.Were happy to get these two guys signed, Coyotes general manager John Chayka said. Both right shots, which are obviously difficult to find. Both had good years, career years last year and really bought into what the coaching staff was trying to preach with more involvement from the back end in our offense and moving pucks more efficiently.Murphy elevated his game last season, often pairing with All-Star Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and led Team USA with three goals during this years world championships.The 23-year-old had six goals and 11 assists in 78 games with the Coyotes in 2015-16, his second ffull NHL season.dddddddddddd He has 11 goals and 21 assists in 181 career games after being drafted with the 20th overall pick of the 2011 NHL draft.I cant say enough about how fortunate I am to have a management and ownership and team that believes in me and puts trust in where they think Im going to be, Murphy said.The 26-year-old Stone had six goals and set a career high with 36 points last season. He also led the team with 143 blocked shots despite suffering season-ending ACL and MCL injuries in late March.Stone has 23 goals and 64 assists in 279 career NHL games, all with the Coyotes.I would love to be here long term. Thats a goal (but) things are a little uncertain with my injury, Stone said. The one-year deal is going to give me a chance to prove myself and hopefully, we can look at something longer down the road. ' ' '