ST. LOUIS - When Carlos Martinez tries for a spot in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation, the 23-year-old righty will be proudly wearing the number of a fallen teammate.Martinez was close friends with fellow Dominican Republic countryman Oscar Taveras, the promising rookie outfielder who died in a car crash last October after St. Louis was eliminated by the Giants in the NL Championship Series.Martinez switched to jersey No. 18 to honour Taveras, and says hell wear it the rest of his career.He was a friend, a brother, Martinez said through an interpreter Monday on the final day of the teams three-day Winter Warm-Up fan festival. Im taking it bit by bit. This tragedy, of course, affected me.Cardinals uniforms will feature patches with Taveras number and initials, and a decal will be placed inside the stadium, much like the ones memorializing the late Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said the team also is renovating a field in Taveras hometown of Sosua, aiming to make it first-rate.A brief stint pitching in the Dominican Winter League provided Martinez with an outlet that helped him process the accident that also killed Taveras girlfriend.Martinez wax 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 26 strikeouts and two walks in 24 innings for Aguilas Cibaenas.It definitely helped me mentally to be able to focus on something else, to be able to concentrate on something else, Martinez said. I know what I need to do be in the fifth spot and Im ready for the challenge.I feel like yes, this is my spot, he said.Martinez appeared in 57 games last season,including seven starts in midseason, going 2-4 with a 4.03 ERA. Hes the top pitching prospect in the organization.The Cardinals werent anxious to block that path by chasing free agent Max Scherzer, who got a seven-year, $210 million deal with Washington on Monday.The Cardinals have other pitching issues. Theyre monitoring the progress of 20-game winner Adam Wainwright from elbow surgery, Michael Wacha from an unusual shoulder injury and lefty Jaime Garcia from unproven thoracic outlet surgery.Were giving Carlos a great opportunity, but opportunity is just that, manager Mike Matheny said. Hes going to have to go out and compete.Marco Gonzales, coming off an impressive finish to his rookie year, and reliable lefty Tyler Lyons offer depth for a franchise leaning on its farm system.It makes the off-season for baseball fans enjoyable, to think of the what-ifs, Matheny said. Man, I could think of a bunch of guys that could come in here and compete for a job.I dont see the urgency in running out and making a hasty decision that goes outside of what the business model and plan is, he said.Lance Lynn, who has 48 wins in three years in the rotation, believes the biggest hurdle for Martinez will probably be adjusting to the work load. Counting a brief stint in the minors last year, he worked 99 2-3 innings.Thats going to be a different thing for him. You have to know when to go after it and when to be able to back off and get through things, Lynn said. I threw 140 innings, 160 innings before I even got called up to the big leagues.Lynn preferred to wait and see how Martinez handles the adjustment when facing a lineup for the third time. He topped out at 88 pitches and never made it past six innings last season.He showed at times last year that hes got electric stuff, Lynn said. Hes going to have to handle the pitching deep into games and staying under control and being able to get through those innings late in the game when theyve seen him once or twice.Lynn has the security of a long-term contract after getting a three-year, $22 million extension a few days earlier. Last year he entered spring training competing for a spot in the rotation.You know its going to take care of itself with the arbitration process, but just to get the whole three years situated so we dont ever have to go through it, Lynn said. Both of us feel like we got what we wanted and Im excited about it. John Smoltz Braves Jersey . After the loss, White refused to make good on the bet, instead offering Hoyt tickets to a Bears game. Darren ODay Braves Jersey . -- Two nights after losing to the Eastern Conferences worst team, the Phoenix Coyotes handled the best. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/ada...-braves-jersey/. "I never commented to anyone that I wanted out," he explained. "My heart is with this group and making the playoffs." Kesler added that the rumours are "completely false" that he asked to be traded - recently or ever. Julio Teheran Jersey .com) - A pair of Eastern Conference rivals will meet on Saturday as D. Kevin Gausman Jersey . The 40-year-old midfielder was put in charge on Tuesday when David Moyes reign ended after 10 months with the defending champions in seventh place in the English Premier League.UNIONDALE, N.Y. - This weekend version of New York, New York could cost the Columbus Blue Jackets the playoff spot they are desperate to grab. The Blue Jackets gave everything they had at home in a loss to the playoff-hopeful New York Rangers on Friday night and followed it up with a disheartening 2-0 defeat on Sunday to the New York Islanders, who are just playing out the string. "Its the NHL. The other team is paid to play, too," defenceman Jack Johnson said. "There is no easy teams. Nobody took them lightly, nobody didnt understand the gravity of the situation, we just didnt score a goal." Evgeni Nabokov made 41 saves in his 58th NHL shutout, and Travis Hamonic scored a coast-to-coast, power-play goal in the second period to pace the Islanders, who are third to last in the Eastern Conference. Columbus had a total of 24 shots in the first two periods and then fired 17 in a desperate final frame when the Blue Jackets had four of their six power plays. "If you cant come and push yourself every night, go do putt-putt or something," Johnson said. "Everyone tried. We knew how important this one was. I cant question anyones effort. It was just a tough game." The Blue Jackets power play has gone 0 for 35 the past nine games. They will have to get better over the final 11 games, starting with a key home matchup on Tuesday against Detroit, which is neck and neck with Columbus in the playoff race. Columbus, which has dropped to fifth in the Metropolitan Division, has fallen out of an Eastern Conference playoff position. The Blue Jackets have lost three of four. "These points are huge right now," centre Ryan Johansen said. "Against a team like the Islanders, who are playing spoiler right now, its very frustrating. Weve got to learn from it but we cant dwell on this." Nabokov got the best of Russian counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky in their third meeting this season and posted his third shutout in this campaign. It was just the Islanders second regulation win ever over the Blue Jackets. Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Islanders, who bounced back from a 6-0 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday and finished a 2-2 homestand. "We were playing hard for our fans. We worked hard and we found a way to win," Nabokov said. "We knew they were playing a third gaame in four (days) and we wanted to make it tough for them.dddddddddddd." Bobrovsky made 30 saves before he was pulled for an extra skater with 1:50 left as Columbus began its final power play. "There is no time to rant and rave," forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "Weve got to be ready to go for our next game. "We certainly need to be a lot better than we were today." Hamonic gave the Islanders struggling power play a lift with a stunning, end-to-end rush up the middle of the ice that produced his second goal of the season with just 51.7 seconds left in the middle period. The defenceman started from behind his net and skated alone on a straight line toward the centre ice logo. He eluded R.J. Umberger in the neutral zone, carried the puck across the blue line and then snapped a shot from the slot over Bobrovskys left shoulder for his first goal since Oct. 29 — a span of 45 games. "I was glad to get that scoring chance and finish it," Hamonic said. "Nice to chip in offensively, but I work to bring a defence presence first. "I was just fortunate to get my feet moving and score." New York had two failed power plays earlier in the second. The first generated little as the Islanders couldnt get organized. The second produced several potential scoring chances, including a seemingly open net for Frans Nielsen to shoot at, but his drive from the right circle hit the outside of the net. The Islanders took a 1-0 lead when Clutterbuck scored his 10th goal just eight seconds after serving a roughing penalty. Johan Sundstrom, in his fourth career NHL game, swung behind the Columbus net and attempted to score on a wraparound at the left post. The puck caromed in front to Nielsen, who nudged it into the slot to Clutterbuck for a shot that beat Bobrovsky with 6:34 left in the first. It was the first career point for Sundstrom, who made his debut on March 14. NOTES: The Islanders only other regulation win over the Blue Jackets since Columbus joined the NHL for the 2000-01 season was a 4-0 home victory on Dec. 2