PHOENIX -- Tina Charles had 31 points and 10 rebounds, Sugar Rodgers added 22 points and the New York Liberty beat the short-handed Phoenix Mercury 99-88 on Friday night.New York went ahead 64-41 after a six-point possession in which Phoenix stars Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi were ejected.Taurasi was called for a technical foul with 7:41 left in the third quarter after picking up an offensive foul. On New Yorks next possession, Sonja Petrovic was whistled for a questionable foul and then Griner picked up her fourth contesting Charles jumper.Griner had words with an official and was ejected. Taurasi was also sent off and coach Sandy Brondello got a technical. Rodgers made four straight free throws and Charles added two.Phoenix rallied to pull to 85-78 with 3:27 left after Isabelle Harrison scored six straight Mercury points during a 9-2 run. But Rodgers made a 3-pointer and Charles had a putback to extend New Yorks lead to 90-78.Shavonte Zellous and Tanisha Wright added 16 points apiece for New York (12-5), which is No. 3 in the AP power poll. The Liberty are 8-1 on the road this season.DeWanna Bonner made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points for seventh-ranked Phoenix (7-10). Wholesale Custom Ravens Shirts .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Jim Leonhard Jersey . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. http://www.customravensjersey.com/custom-lamar-jackson-jersey-large-1773d.html .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. 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It has already been a trying December for Pep Guardiola, and it will get no easier between now and when the calendar finally turns to 2017.Without at least three key players for the short term, he and Manchester City face a daunting task in trying to regroup Saturday at King Power Stadium, where title-holders Leicester City are facing desperate times in their bid to simply stay out of the drop zone.The talk of Guardiola as Manchester Citys saviour after winning his first 10 matches in all competitions has given way to whether his side has the bottle to mount even a Premier League title challenge after being humbled by front-runners Chelsea 3-1 at home last Saturday.The Citizens had taken the lead right before halftime via an own goal by Chelsea defender Gary Cahill. However, the London side ran rampant in the final 30 minutes as their 3-4-3 formation tore apart Citys defence -- the long-established weakness of this team with or without talisman Vincent Kompany -- and got goals from Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard in the final half-hour.In the boxes we are not strong enough, especially here at home said Guardiola, rueing a string of missed opportunities throughout the first half and Kevin De Bruynes effort off the crossbar shortly before Costas equaliser. The opponents, when they arrive they score, when we arrive sometimes not, mentally thats tough.The match then turned ugly after Hazards goal in the 90th minute, with striker Sergio Agueros reckless challenge on David Luiz -- somewhat in retribution for a physical challenge Luiz made earlier in the match that went without a card -- triggering a wild fracas in which Aguero received a red card as did midfielder Fernandinho for putting Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas in a chokehold and driving him over the advertising boards.Aguero, who leads Manchester City with 10 goals and 16 overall, will miss at least the next four matches since this is his second suspension of the season. He was given a three-match ban retroactively for elbowing West Hams Winston Reid on Aug. 28, and Fernandinho was handed a three-match suspension. To further add to Guardiolas backline woes, Nicolas Otamendi will not be available for this match after picking up his fifth yellow card.For all the talk of Citys attack, and with good reason, it has been the defence that causes worry. The Citizens (9-3-2) have recorded just two clean sheets in league play. Central defender John Stones has yet to show a comfort level marshalling the backline without the injured Kompany. Until Guardiola finds wing backs who can bomb forward to augment his 3-5-2 formation, he likely will tinker with a rotating cast of bodies throughout the next two months and perhaps find reinforcements in the January transfer window.Those tinkerings began in earnest Tuesday with Citys dead rubber versus Celtic to close out group play in Champions League. The match ended in a 1-1 draw as Kelechi Iheanacho canceled out a goal by City loanee Patrick Roberts in the first eight minutes, and Guardiola included 16-year-old midfielder Phil Foden to the match-day roster. For Iheanacho, it was his first goal since Oct. 23, and the Nigeria international is hopeful Guardiola will call on him to help replace Aguero up front.I have a responsibility to be the striker for the team, replacing Sergio when he is not around, said Iheanacho, who has 13 goals in 18 starts, to Citys official website. I have to prove myself, give my best and work hard for the team and make sure wwe get the wins we need.dddddddddddd(Aguero) is telling me I should do very well and they are words of encouragement from him. So Im going to do it.Leicester City, meanwhile, are looking for any signs of encouragement that will help their domestic form come anywhere near their Champions League success. But even that silver lining didnt materialise this week in their dead rubber at Porto, where an understrength side missing both Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez were overrun 5-0.The Foxes had already clinched the top spot in Group G, but the malaise in England -- where they have just one win in nine league matches (1-3-5) spread to their play on the continent, where they had conceded just one goal in while going unbeaten in the previous five contests.I have no regrets because I wanted to give an opportunity to all my players, said manager Claudio Ranieri, who made 10 changes to his starting lineup from their 2-1 defeat last weekend at Sunderland. If I needed to win or draw, I would bring all my first team to fight. But when you know there is another difficult match Saturday against Man City and you are top of the group, why not give a chance to players who say why dont I play? We are losing in the Premier League, give me a chance.Midfielder Danny Drinkwater picked up a knock in the heavy defeat, but he is suspended for this match as he completes a three-match ban for elbowing Watfords Valon Behrami in a 2-1 loss to the Hornets on Nov. 19.Ranieri rightly left his two superstars home in the Midlands to get extra rest ahead of this match, which takes on plenty of urgency since the Foxes (3-4-7) are in 16th place, own a minus-7 goal difference and are just two points above the relegation spots. Its a far cry from last season, when Leicester had 29 points through 14 matches and sported a plus-9 in the scoring columns.Vardys goal-scoring drought for Leicester has reached 16 matches since bagging one against Liverpool on Sept. 10, and while Mahrez leads the team with seven goals in all competitions, five have come from the penalty spot. The Foxes have totaled just 26 goals in their 21 matches, and Kasper Schmeichels injuries have done them no favours on the other side of the ball as theyve shipped 34 overall.But with both Guardiola and Ranieri needing to tinker with their lineups, the midfield will all but certain be where this match is decided. Nampalys Mendy played the full 90 minutes Wednesday in his first action since injuring his ankle against Arsenal on Aug. 20, and the former Nice midfielder who was counted upon to compensate for some of the loss of NGolo Kante to Chelsea may be primed for his first Premier League start this weekend since that injury for Leicester.The Foxes took four points off Manchester City last season, playing to a cagey scoreless draw in the corresponding fixture last season before blowing the doors of the Citizens 3-1 at the Etihad in February. That win removed the last doubts over whether Leicester had any staying power and also that Manchester City were just not good enough to overtake them.It also ended a seven-match winless spell against Manchester City (0-3-4) in all competitions since a 3-0 road victory in 2003. Leicester City are also winless in seven all-time home matches (0-3-4) against the Citizens in the Premier League era, getting outscored 5-2 while going 0-2-3 in the regular season. ' ' '