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NEW YORK -- Cole Hamels maintained his focus and walked away a winner after 3 1/2 hours of dreary baseball Wednesday night. "Im glad I play it, but I wouldnt be watching it," he said. Hamels pitched seven strong innings and handed himself some much-needed run support, sending the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-2 victory over the New York Mets. Carlos Ruiz homered and the Phillies overcame a couple of mental mistakes by Jimmy Rollins to win for only the third time in 17 road games. Hamels hit a two-run single to help Philadelphia improve to 8-5 under interim manager Ryne Sandberg. This was no masterpiece, though. Mets starter Daisuke Matsuzaka took an interminable amount of time between pitches and threw 82 over the first three innings. Hamels worked at a much faster pace but irritated fans by making seven straight tosses to first base with Eric Young Jr. aboard. Young stole second anyway. One night after Jonathon Nieses three-hit shutout for the Mets lasted 2 hours, 19 minutes, thats how long it took to play 5 1/2 innings in a game between also-rans that ultimately dragged on for 3:32. About halfway through, a television camera fixed on Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee spinning a crushed water bottle in the dugout. "Unfortunately, sometimes when you have games like this, you just have to go out there and try to be effective from pitch one and make sure that your warmup pitches are right on par," Hamels said. "Its a lot of self-motivating and just trying to stay in the game as much as possible, which is a lot easier said than done." Matsuzaka (0-2) laboured through 4 1-3 innings on Japanese Heritage Night in his second start for the new-look Mets, who have dropped six of seven. Depleted by key injuries and Tuesdays trade that sent Marlon Byrd and John Buck to Pittsburgh, New York fell to 2-6 on a nine-game homestand. "Todays game was pretty self-explanatory, I think," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "I was all over the place today, all over the zone." The Mets made three errors after going six games without one, which matched a season high. Hindered by the fifth-worst run support in the majors this season, Hamels (6-13) worked around nine hits and improved to 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in six August starts. The left-hander struck out eight, walked one and upped his career record to 7-12 against the Mets. "Hes pitched well all year," Sandberg said. While rain postponed afternoon tennis matches at the U.S. Open next door, the Phillies and Mets stayed dry throughout a drab evening that matched the pace of the game. Hamels grounded a two-run single to left field off reliever Robert Carson in the fifth to make it 4-1. That gave Hamels, a career .170 hitter entering the game, four RBIs this season and answered a three-run double by Niese the previous night. "That was huge," Sandberg said. Rollins failed to cover third base on a third-inning popup along the third base line. Noticing that the shortstop was flat-footed, the speedy Young alertly tagged up at second and beat Rollins and Ruiz to the bag. Ike Davis followed with an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch, his 10th hit in 67 at-bats (.149) against left-handers to that point. Rollins made up for his gaffe with a tying double in the fourth -- but got cut down at third for the third out. It was Rollins first RBI in 15 games, his longest drought since August 2005, according to STATS. A ground-rule double by Michael Young set up the Phillies in the fifth and made him 10 for 17 (.588) off Matsuzaka, who forced in the go-ahead run by hitting John Mayberry Jr. with a pitch. That was it for Matsuzaka, charged with four runs, four walks and six hits in his second major league start of the season. "Hes definitely deliberate, but like I said, you have to adapt and adjust to his pace of play because ultimately he controls it," Mayberry said. The former Red Sox star was pitching in Clevelands farm system before he was granted his release last week. The Mets signed him to fill a hole in their injury-depleted rotation the rest of the way. "I do know the history of, you know, he does take some time between pitches. But I will tell you, his stuffs good enough," New York manager Terry Collins said. "Tonight the command was off and therefore he was off." Ruiz hit a solo homer off Carson in the sixth. Andrew Brown had an RBI double for the Mets in the seventh. "Wow. It was a long day," Ruiz said. "It was hard to stay focused, waiting that long." NOTES: All-Star OF Domonic Brown sat out again with a sore right heel. He hasnt started since being lifted Saturday, but Sandberg said Brown is getting close. ... Phillies 3B Cody Asche left in the seventh with a cramp and a mild right hamstring strain. ... Mayberry was called for interference with his backswing on a stolen base for the second time in three nights. ... Matsuzaka singled for his third career hit and first since June 24, 2010, with Boston. ... RHP Carlos Torres pitches in place of injured Mets ace Matt Harvey in the series finale Thursday. RHP Ethan Martin gets the ball for Philadelphia. Aaron Rodgers Jersey . The New York Rangers centre had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators ending a 13-game goal-scoring drought. Jaire Alexander Womens Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/El...s-Jersey/.Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games. Bart Starr Womens Jersey . The premature end left 26 players still to finish the round in the Asian Tour event. Siddikur, who shot a bogey-free first round to share the lead with five others, eagled the par-5 first hole before bogeying twice and rebounding with six birdies. Elgton Jenkins Packers Jersey . Picard had a goal and two assists to help Canada improve to 2-0 at the tournament. Seven different players scored for the two-time defending champions. "Today all four lines played excellent," said head coach Laura Schuler. TORONTO -- The game marked the return of Rudy Gay, but the night belonged to the Toronto Raptors. Terrence Ross scored 18 points to lead the Raptors to a 99-87 victory over Sacramento on Friday, the Kings first visit since the mammoth seven-player deal in December that sent Gay to the west coast. A month after the Kings manhandled Toronto in Sacramento, the Raptors turned the tables on their visitors, putting their personal feelings aside and showing just how much theyve improved since the roster remake. "We have to treat them like an enemy rather than a friend because we all have friends on that team," said Patrick Patterson, one of the four players who came to Toronto in the deal. "Going into this game we have to treat it like theyre the enemy, as if theyre a villain and were a superhero pretty much. We cant be friendly with them." Patterson and DeMar DeRozan scored 15 points apiece, while Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and Amir Johnson had nine rebounds to go with nine points for the Raptors (34-26), whove won eight of their last 10 games. DeMarcus Cousins topped Sacramento (22-40) with 24 points, while Gay had 15. The Raptors led for all but the games opening two minutes and pulled away in the third quarter to take an 80-63 advantage into the fourth. Toronto stretched its lead to as much as 23 points in the fourth. The Kings would cut that to 10 points on a Ben McLemore three-pointer with a minute to go that made the game seem closer than it was. The night marked Gays first trip back to Toronto since Raptors GM Masai Ujiri shipped him, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento for Greivis Vasquez, Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes on Dec. 9, just 18 games into the season. The first time the teams played last month in Sacramento -- a 109-101 Kings win that saw Sacramento lead by 20 going into the fourth -- was far too friendly for coach Dwane Caseys liking. "I have friends whove been in this league 20-plus years, but I see them in the summertime," the Raptors coach said. "Guys were very professional, workmanlike, not disrespecting their friends on the other team but knowing we had a job to do when you walk out between those lines. "After the game is over you can shake hands, hug, kiss, whatever you want to do. But we have to have that razor-like focus every time we walk on the floor." Salmons said the difference Friday was "We let go of the personal stuff. "We said we were doing that the first game, but clearly we didnt, so it was time to just let it go and just play basketball. It was more professional this time around." The Raptors were 6-12 when Ujiri rewrote his roster in December. Toronto has gone 28-14 since to sit third in the Eastern Conference. Gay, who shot 5-for-13 on the night, wasnt a huge factor in the game. He received a smattering of boos during the Kinggs introductions, and again when he had Sacramentos first basket, but the level of hostility was nothing like that unleashed on former Raptors Vince Carter or even Andrea Bargnani when they play in Toronto.dddddddddddd The loudest jeers -- and cheers -- of the night came when Gay threw down a huge one-handed dunk but was called for travelling. "Honestly I didnt even pay attention to it," Gay said. "Boo or cheer, either way I have to go out and do my job." Of the former Kings, Patterson had the strongest night against his former team, scoring on an array of shots, including a pretty put-back basket and huge alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter that brought the crowd of 18,658 to its feet. He was 3-for-4 from three-point range. Casey called Patterson a "godsend" in stretching the floor. "Not only that but his intensity, his work ethic, how hard he plays," Casey said. Patterson said hes thrilled to have come into a team in Toronto where he fits so well. "It feels great, knowing that my teammates look for me, everyone on down the list is encouraging me to shoot the ball no matter where I am on the court, and when the coaching staff is drawing up plays for you and the ball seems to be bouncing your way at times, and then you have the crowd behind you, its definitely a great feeling," Patterson said. The Raptors shot 47 per cent on the night to the Kings 42. The Raptors were the superior team from long range, shooting 10-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Kings went just 5-for-19 from three-point range. Toronto looked rejuvenated from a rare four days off without a game, racing out to an early eight-point lead in a foul-filled first quarter. The Raptors were up 29-19 going into the second. "I thought that we were awful tonight," said Kings coach Michael Malone. "The first and third quarter I thought that our starting group was not ready to play. . . I am very disappointed with the effort tonight and we are nowhere near good enough to come into a playoff teams house and think we can go through the motions and try to turn it on when we want to. "We are not that good a team." The Raptors stretched their lead to 13 early in the second and then went cold, shooting 33 per cent in the quarter and allowing the Kings to pull to within two points. Toronto took a 51-44 advantage into the dressing room at halftime. Ross poured in nine points in the third including a three with 3:13 left that put the Raptors up by 15, their biggest lead to that point. A layup by Patterson with three seconds left sent Toronto into the fourth quarter with an 80-63 advantage. NOTES: The Raptors are in Minnesota on Sunday and Brooklyn on Monday then return to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. . . Toronto, which bea