ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Rams have been very rough on Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks. It hasnt helped the bottom line.Though Drew Stanton was carted off with a right knee injury, just like Carson Palmer was a month ago, the Rams couldnt get enough done on offence.At the end of the game they were down to their third-string guy, defensive end Chris Long said after a 12-6 loss Thursday night. Theyve got enough players that they made more plays than us.Chandler Catanzaro kicked four field goals and the Cardinals overcame the loss of quarterback Drew Stanton with stifling defence, getting a sack and fumble recovery from Larry Foote.When people go down, we dont even ask how bad it is, Foote said. We just keep rolling. We definitely dont want our quarterback getting hurt. We just say on the defensive side, Lets hold them.Coach Bruce Arians said Stanton had a previous knee injury so will need an MRI exam to determine the extent of the damage. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald seemed to believe Stanton would be out a while, and added about Lindley, Were going to rally around him.Were a resilient group, Fitzgerald added. Weve got a great defence, too.The Rams (6-8) were held to Greg Zuerleins two short field goals and had five three-and-out series in the third quarter. Catanzaros 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter ended nine quarters of shutout defence by St. Louis, which beat Washington and Oakland by a combined 76-0 the previous two weeks.Our defence kept us in the game, tight end Jared Cook. We couldnt capitalize on them flipping the field for us.Its the third time this season the Rams were held to single-digit scoring, and first in five games since Shaun Hill recaptured the quarterback job.Just mental errors, which is the bad part, Hill said. Physical errors are going to happen. Were humans. But on a short week, we have to be dialed in that much more and not have the mental errors and the mental breakdowns.Ryan Lindley was ineffective in his first appearance since 2012 in relief of Stanton, who injured his right knee on rookie Aaron Donalds sack in the third quarter, but it didnt matter. Palmer sustained a season-ending knee injury during their 31-14 victory over St. Louis at home last month.The Cardinals (11-3) entered tied for the top overall record in the NFC and will clinch a playoff spot if Sundays Dallas-Philadelphia game doesnt end in a tie, or a Detroit loss combined with a Green Bay victory.I thought our defence played well enough for us to win, coach Jeff Fisher said, but quickly added a turnover would have been nice. In situations like this, when your offence is struggling, your defence has got to make a play. We were close.The Rams were eliminated from playoff contention.Ryan Lindley was ineffective in his first appearance since 2012 in relief of Stanton, who injured his right knee on a sack in the third quarter, but it didnt matter. The Cardinals lost Carson Palmer to a season-ending knee injury during their 31-14 home victory over St. Louis last month.Kerwynn Williams was the Cardinals offensive standout with 75 yards on 15 carries. Stanton was 12 of 20 for 109 yards and Lindley was 4 of 10 for 30 yards.The Cardinals (11-3) entered tied for the top overall record in the NFC and will clinch a playoff spot if Sundays Dallas-Philadelphia game doesnt end in a tie, or a Detroit loss combined with a Green Bay victory.Rams players had no apparent protests relating to unrest in nearby Ferguson. Two weeks ago, five players did the Hands Up, Dont Shoot pose coming out of the tunnel during pre-game introductions, and last week players wrote I Cant Breathe!!! on wrist bands and cleats.Rams rookie Tre Masons fumble gave the Cardinals a short field that set up Catanzaros first field goal. Frostee Rucker punched the ball free and Foote recovered at the St. Louis 27.It was the first score given up by the Rams since Nov. 23, when San Diego scored the winning touchdown with just over 8 minutes left in a 27-24 victory.Michael Floyd 49-yard reception set up Catanzaros 44-yard field goal that put the Cardinals up 6-3 midway through the second. Catanzaro made kicks of 51 yards and 46 yards in the second halfBoth teams had key defenders active coming off ankle woes. Arizonas Antonio Cromartie and St. Louis Chris Long had been questionable.Arizona committed five penalties on its first two possessions, twice wiping out big gains. Shaun Hill was 4 for 4 with completions of 21 yards to Benny Cunningham on a screen and Cory Harkey for 16 yards to set up Zuerleins 24-yard field goal in the first. Zuerlein missed an extra-point kick and two field goals inside the 40 last week.Last month, Arizona outscored the Rams 21-0 in the fourth quarter, with two defensive touchdowns, to come from four points down to win 31-14. After that game, St. Louis benched Austin Davis in favour of Hill.Notes: Fitzgerald was held in check against a team hes dominated with seven receptions for just 30 yards. Still, at 31 he became the youngest player to 900 career catches. In 22 games against St. Louis, he has 128 receptions and 16TDs, most against any opponent. ... The Rams led at halftime of their previous five home games this season, two of them losses. ... The Cardinals took the lead in the series, 36-35-2. ... Arizona is 7-0 at home and 4-3 on the road. ... The Rams entered with consecutive wins for the first time this season and are 3-4 at home.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Hydro Flask Oslo . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks. Hydro Flask Billig http://www.norgehydroflask.com/ .Boston beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night and celebrated consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. Hydro Flask Prisjakt . He looked very comfortable Wednesday night. Konerko had a big three-run double and Gordon Beckham homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sliding Chicago Cubs. Hydro Flask Barn . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. In a prime-time showdown the rival Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will face off at Fenway Park on Sunday night. These teams have split the first two games of this three-game set. The Red Sox won Fridays bout 4-3 and had a 3-0 lead early on Saturday, but Boston starter Allen Webster could not hold the edge, walking six batters and allowing four runs over 2 2/3 innings of work.Watch the game live on TSN2 at 8pm et/5pm pt. "I felt good in the first two innings, really struggled with my release point in the third and never got it back," Webster admitted. Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI to lead the way for New York, which had lost five of its previous six games. "You arent always going to hit the ball hard, get a lot of hits or score a lot of runs," Jeter said. "When you do, hopefully it lasts for as long as possible. You can always feel like you have a hit streak coming, but you have to go out and do it." On Saturday Yoenis Cespedes made his debut with Boston after coming over in Thursdays trade with Oakland that sent Jon Lester westward. The Cuban outfielder went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Mike Napoli went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI and Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt each had two hits in the losing effort. Since winning four straight after the All-Star break, the Red Sox have dropped nine of 11. Making his 17th start of the season for the Yankees on Sunday will be David Phelps. Phelps has ben an extremely versatile pitcher for New York this season, filing in as a starter with injuries ravaging the rotation. Although originally in thee bullpen, Phelps last 16 outings have been starts.ddddddddddddAs a starter he is 5-5 with a 3.90 ERA and as a reliever he has an ERA of 3.86. In total he is 5-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 25 total appearances. Before facing Texas last Monday, Phelps had won his last four decisions. However, after allowing four runs in six innings against the Rangers the streak came to an end as the Yankees lost 4-2. Phelps has faced Boston three times already this season, although all three of those appearances came in a relief role. He has pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings this season and 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 career chances versus the Red Sox. Clay Buchholz suddenly finds himself the leader of the Red Sox staff, with Lester, John Lackey, Jake Peavy and Felix Doubront all sent away via trade in the last week. Red Sox fans cannot feel too confident in Buchholzs abilities to anchor the rotation, considering he is just 5-7 with a 5.87 ERA this season, during which he has been hampered by injuries. The hope is that he will be able to recapture the dominant form he displayed last year when he went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA in a season that was also shortened by injuries. Since throwing a shutout against the Astros on July 13, Buchholz has been trending down, allowing 13 combined earned runs in his last three starts, including a season-high of seven last Monday against Toronto. In his lone start against New York this season the right-hander allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits in six innings. He is now 5-6 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 career starts against the Yankees. New York has a 7-5 edge in the season series with Boston. ' ' '
