Bill Belichick for the New England Patriots ended in 2013.T

LOS ANGELES -- With their bats finally catching up to their pitching, the Los Angeles Dodgers are taking a three-game winning streak and a jolt of confidence into the All-Star break.Everybodys swinging the bat really well, said Howie Kendrick, who had three hits in the Dodgers 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.It took us a little while to get it going. (Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez) had a little lull there. (Corey) Seagers been hot all year, but its good to see different guys get it going.Rookie Kenta Maeda (8-6) struck out a career-high 13 over seven innings and held San Diego to a run on two hits, including a solo homer to Derek Norris. He retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced and struck out six straight near the end of his outing.It seemed like everything played off the fastball, catcher Yasmani Grandal said. He was commanding it, and then he was the same ol Kenta, throwing curveballs for strikes, sliders for strikes, good pitches for changeups. But we kept them honest with the fastball.Gonzalez got his first homer in 25 games to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the fifth against Christian Friedrich (4-5). Gonzalez has hit safely in five straight games and is batting .455 over his past 12 games.Kendrick extended his hitting streak to seven games. He doubled and scored in the first and drove in the Dodgers second run with line-drive single in the second. He also reached safely on an infield single in the sixth.Corey Seager, voted into the All-Star Game by the players, continued his hot-hitting with an RBI single in the first. The rookie has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games, batting .366 during the stretch.The Dodgers fought off an anemic offense early in the season to go into the All-Star break a season-high 11 games over .500.For our guys it was just staying focused on winning each game, and not getting focused on what players are hurt, what people are saying about us, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. There were a couple of stretches in there where we could have gone the other way.Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 27th save.For the Padres, the three losses to end the first half left them 18-18 since June 1 and headed into the break needing to regroup.I thought it was just bad baseball, Padres manager Andy Green said. Theres nothing else to say. I thought we were somewhat listless offensively. We had opportunities to square up the baseball and didnt.One Padre did, when Norris drove the first pitch he saw from Maeda with one out in the fifth over the left-field wall for his 12th homer.Friedrich lost for the fourth time in five starts, giving up three runs and seven hits over five innings.BULLPEN SESSIONClayton Kershaw threw 25 pitches off a mound before the game and Roberts said there was definitely encouraging progress in the left-handers rehab from a back injury.The Dodgers have not set a timetable for the three-time Cy Young Award winners return.He will not be in the rotation when we come back from the break, Roberts saidFIRST SERVETennis player and Thousand Oaks resident Sam Querrey threw out the games ceremonial first pitch. Querrey upset top-ranked Novac Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon on July 2.TRAINERS ROOMPadres: 2B Jemile Weeks (right hamstring strain) continues to progress through his running program. The Padres hope to get him into minor league rehab games after the All-Star break. ... 2B Corey Spangenberg (left quad strain) suffered a setback running on Friday and has been sent back to San Diego to be re-evaluated. ... RHP Tyson Ross (right shoulder inflammation) has suffered a sprained ankle and will see a doctor on Monday. Hes been throwing still, but just cant get off the mound from a stability standpoint with the ankle, Padres manager Andy Green said.Dodgers: Bud Norris, Brandon McCarthy and Maeda are slated to start the first three games after the All-Star break in Arizona, with Scott Kazmir and Hyun-Jin Ryu to go in Washington. ... Long-time Dodger announcer Vin Scully, in his final season at age 88, took a routine day off on Sunday.NEXT UPPadres: Andrew Cashner (3-7, 5.40) will make his third start of the year against the Giants when the Padres open the second half hosting San Francisco. Cashner has lost five of his last six decisions, dating to May 8.Dodgers: Bud Norris (4-7, 3.98) will make his third start in a Dodger uniform when Los Angeles opens the second half in Arizona on Friday. Norris is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA for the Dodgers since being acquired in a five-player deal from Atlanta on June 30. Patrick McCaw Raptors Jersey . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. Fred VanVleet Raptors Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. http://www.nbaraptorsonline.com/Authentic-Kyle-Lowry-Jersey/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Toronto Raptors Jerseys . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Jodie Meeks Raptors Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Mets fans can buy a few jerseys featuring names of players in the teams instructional league.Cespedes jerseys, theyre big sellers.Cone jerseys, available as throwbacks.Of course, those are for Yoenis Cespedes and David Cone, and not the instructional leaguers -- Ricardo Cespedes and Gene Cone. No, the only of the 58 players getting a spotlight in this camp with the Mets is Tim Tebow, the quarterback-turned-baseball hopeful whose No. 15 jersey is already a hot seller even though he has yet to take one professional at-bat.The Mets are cashing in already, and Tebow has a book coming out next month. Yet both the team and its new star of sorts insist this is no publicity stunt, even though the odds seem stacked very high against a 29-year-old former football player finding his way to the major leagues. And its certainly worth noting that the revenue from any Tebow apparel bought off the Mets site gets shared with other big-league clubs.The good thing is that I dont have to say anything, Tebow said when asked what he would say to those who think it is a stunt. I dont.Day 2 of the Tebow experiment with the Mets arrived Tuesday, when he returned to the minor league complex in Port St. Lucie for more running, throwing, catching and hitting. The media contingent chronicling his every move was much smaller Tuesday, and there were fewer fans as well. One man left shortly after the gates opened for Tuesdays workout, saying he went only to get a picture for his grandson.For their part, the Mets players seem fine with the baseball version of Tebowmania. A few even asked Tebow for advice on wholl win college football games this weekend.I think its cool, said Mets left-hander Steven Matz, who was working out on an adjacent field Tuesday and will be back in New York this week. Hes a hard worker. Hes just another player and you can tell thats all he wants to be. Hes just here to work hard and see if he can make the big leagues.Thats why Tebow says hes here.Tebow is taking the workouts seriously. Hes acknowledged that he still has a lot to learn -- even with regard to what equipment he needs to take to the field for practice -- and said he was hoping teammates would be comfortable having him around.To him, this is just playing the game he loved as a kid. Except back then, money wasnt an issue.dddddddddddd It is this time, as is almost always the case in pro sports.Tebow signed a deal with the Mets that included a $100,000 signing bonus. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson defended it earlier this month, saying before a game in Atlanta the team wouldnt spend that kind of money so we can sell a couple hundred dollars worth of T-shirts in Kingsport, referring to the Tennessee city where New York has a rookie league team.But merchandise isnt just on sale in Kingsport -- its everywhere. The Mets web site listed the $119.99 jerseys and $29.99 T-shirts as top sellers Monday, and some fans who didnt want to wait for shipping were lined up at the teams complex on Floridas Treasure Coast to buy Tebow apparel.I heard that was something that they might be selling. What do I think about it? Its cool, Tebow said.Tebow has a book coming out next month called Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Lifes Storms. He wouldnt seem to need baseball as a platform to promote the book; hes an analyst for the SEC Network and his fans are devout, whether hes on TV or not.But he did spend time after his first Mets workout answering questions about the book, talking about how his playing days under Bill Belichick for the New England Patriots ended in 2013.The whole first chapter is about the last two days with the New England Patriots and getting cut from them and what its like and that meeting, walking into coach Belichicks office and being told that youre not enough, Tebow said. And so the goal with this and why its title is `Shaken is every single person in this room and every single person probably in life goes through times when they get told theyre not enough.For Tebow, having a chance to play is enough.He looks at baseball as a way to tell his story a new way. A few weeks ago he was in his native Philippines, saying he hiked into remote areas and helped care for children who faced serious medical problems.Im always grateful for that platform to make a change in someones life, Tebow said. Hopefully for the better.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report. ' ' '