NEWS » reasons for FINAs decision, Pipe wrote, acc

MIAMI -- With Jose Fernandez on the mound, Dee Gordon returning from suspension, Ichiro Suzuki continuing to chase 3,000 hits and two teams battling for wild-card playoff spots, there will be no shortage of story lines on Thursday when the Miami Marlins play host to the St. Louis Cardinals.Fernandez is nearly unbeatable at Marlins Park. The way he has pitched at home -- 26-1 with a 1.47 ERA -- he can pretty much throw his glove on this mound and win.Overall, he is 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA. The 12 wins match a career high for the two-time All-Star. And dont sleep on Fernandez offensively, either. He has six RBI this season.The Cardinals will counter with Michael Wacha (5-7, 4.37 ERA), who was a bit shaky in his most recent start, allowing 10 hits but just two runs. Overall, though, Wacha has held opponents to three or fewer runs in eight straight starts.Wacha vs. Fernandez should be a good matchup. Wacha, the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft, is only 25, but he is already an All-Star (2015) and a National League Championship Series MVP (2013).In that same year when Wacha was MVP, Fernandez was the NL Rookie of the Year. Fernandez is only 23 years old, but he already ranks as one of the games best.As for Gordon, he is due back after an 80-game ban for using performance-enhancing suspension.His return should inject some life in a lineup that earlier this week went 24 innings without scoring before breaking out on Wednesday with an 11-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.Gordon led the NL in steals and batting average last year, and he will also be an upgrade defensively at second base.Suzuki, who is three hits from 3,000, is a reserve outfielder, and it is unknown when he will get his next start. His most recent start came Tuesday, when he went 1-for-5.Well play what we think is our best lineup and move forward, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. Its a little uncomfortable when you get that close with Ich because you dont want to put him out there just to (get to 3,000).We have been playing in the concept of the team the whole year. Youd like Ich to get (No. 3,000) at home, but I dont want to force it.If its a good matchup or if a guy needs a day off and its a good thing for our team, well do it.As for the pennant race, the Marlins (55-46) lead the Cardinals (54-47) by one game and the New York Mets (53-47) by 1 1/2 games for the second wild-card spot.The Cardinals scored twice in the ninth inning off Mets closer Jeurys Familia on Wednesday night, rallying to win 5-4.St. Louis won two of three in the important series, and the Cardinals also earned the distinction of ending Familias streak of 52 consecutive saves.So there you have it -- a confident Cardinals team travels on little rest to visit a confident Marlins team with a lot on the line in a hot playoff race.And, oh yes, Fernandez takes on Wacha, Gordon returns from suspension and Suzuki chases 3,000. Best Cheap Basketball Shoes . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Basketball Shoes Cheap China . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.basketballshoescheap.net/ . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Clearance Basketball Shoes Online . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. Cheap Basketball Shoes Online . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- After three top anti-doping advisers to FINA resigned in protest at their advice on Russian cases being ignored ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the world swimming body has expressed surprise at their walkout.FINA responded in a statement Sunday that it obviously regrets the resignations by Doping Control Review Board chairman Andrew Pipe of Canada, and two others from the eight-member panel.Though FINA had barred seven Russian swimmers for past positive tests or links to state-backed doping, they were allowed to compete in Rio.Responsibility for those decisions ultimately lay with the IOC and Court of Arbitration for Sport, FINA said.Concerning the claims expressed in their resignation letter, FINA would like to clarify that the Olympic Games are an IOC event, swimmings governing body said.Pipes resignation letter criticized FINA over its handling of the process, the Press Association reported.We were disappointed to note that our recommendations were not followed -- and even more disappointed to receive no specific response to a subsequent written request for information regarding the reasons for FINAs decision, Pipe wrote, according to tthe British agency.ddddddddddddFINA insisted on its integrity in a letter of response by president Julio Maglione to the former officials.FINA always coordinates with all stakeholders in the sport movement to assure that transparency and zero tolerance in the fight against doping is in place, thus protecting the clean athletes, Maglione wrote, according to FINA.That claim appeared to clash with concern expressed by United States swimming and anti-doping officials in the months leading up to the Olympics about the rigor of FINAs work to combat drug cheats.A doping case involving Chinas star swimmer Sun Yang, a two-time 2012 Olympic freestyle gold medalist, was shrouded in mystery in 2014. His positive test for a banned stimulant and subsequent three-month ban was confirmed in China and by FINA only after it was served.FINA has also resisted suggestions to retest samples taken at the 2015 world championships hosted by Russia, held months before the first of two World Anti-Doping Agency inquiry reports detailed the countrys state doping program. ' ' '