o play blocks up front and hold the point against people.Kentucky: Stoops midweek blasting of his defense

Two years after their time together with the Tampa Bay Rays ended, Joe Maddon and Ben Zobrist hoisted a World Series championship trophy with the Chicago Cubs?early Thursday morning.Later Thursday, the Rays took to Twitter to congratulate Maddon, their former manager, and Zobrist, who played for Tampa Bay under Maddon, on the achievement.Maddon managed the Rays from 2006-14 before joining the Cubs. Zobrist played for the Rays during that time span. He was traded to the Oakland Athletics before?the start of the 2015 season, was sent?to the Kansas City Royals?in a trade-deadline deal and won a world championship with them last fall.Zobrist was named the 2016 World Series MVP. He is the first Cub to receive the honor, which was first bestowed in 1955 -- a decade after their most recent appearance before this season.?Maddon and Zobrist made three trips to the postseason during their time with the Rays, including 2008s World Series run.?Maddon and Zobrist will forever be tied to Cubs lore, but it appears that they havent been forgotten?in Tampa-St. Petersburg.?-- Alex Tekip Custom Blues T-shirts . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Custom Blues Jerseys .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. http://www.custombluesjersey.com/ . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Custom Blues Jersey China . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Cheap Blues Jerseys .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Benny Snell Jr. scored the go-ahead touchdown from 1 yard midway through the fourth quarter, Boom Williams broke a 43-yard TD and Kentucky held off South Carolina 17-10 on Saturday night for their third straight series victory over the Gamecocks.Inconsistent offensively in the first half, the Wildcats (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) got going after trailing 7-3 at halftime with another strong performance by their hard-charging backfield tandem. Williams rushed 15 times for 123 yards including his big run down the left side for a 10-7 lead early in the third quarter.Snell followed with nine carries for 41 of Kentuckys 65 yards on the 11-play drive, all achieved on the ground. The freshman finished with 73 yards on 16 attempts as the Wildcats won their second in a row after two tough losses.The two combined for 317 yards rushing last week against New Mexico State.Kentuckys defense preserved the lead with two big sacks on South Carolinas final possession, including Denzil Wares tackle of Brandon McIlwain for a 19-yard loss on fourth and 17. Kentucky recorded a season-high four sacks overall and held the Gamecocks (2-2, 1-2 SEC) to 268 yards.Kentucky also overcame its largest halftime deficit since rallying from 18 down against South Carolina to win on Oct. 6, 2010.Thats the way this football team needs to play, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. You cant change the past, but we can certainly change our future and push forward.THE TAKEAWAYSouth Carolina: Other than a second-quarter TD drive ending with A.J. Turners 12-yard TD run and Elliott Frys 35-yard fieldd, the Gamecocks didnt move the ball much.dddddddddddd McIlwain completed 15 of 30 passes for 177 yards in his second straight start but South Carolina managed just 91 yards rushing. We really lacked execution starting the game offensively, first-year coach Will Muschamp said. We struggled and couldnt get anything going in the throwing game. ... We just never got into sync and defensively we really struggled to play blocks up front and hold the point against people.Kentucky: Stoops midweek blasting of his defense seemed to do the trick as the Wildcats held the Gamecocks to 3 of 13 on third-down conversions and got to the quarterback. We really had to take it (the criticism) to heart, nose guard Naquez Pringle said. Seeing what we could do and accomplish, we had to finish. It was a great win.Williams continued to show durability and explosiveness with his second straight 100-yard rushing game. The offensive line yielded four sacks and Kentucky converted just 4 of 13 third-down chances but gained 351 yards. Junior quarterback Stephen Johnson held the ball too long on many snaps but completed 11 of 19 passes for 135 yards in his first start in place of injured Drew Barker (back).UP NEXT:South Carolina: The Gamecocks play the first of five home games over six weeks next Saturday against Texas A&M, seeking their first win in three meetings against the Aggies.Kentucky: The Wildcats visit defending national champion and top-ranked Alabama next Saturday. ' ' '