Events » Padres outfielder Seth Smith was out of the lineup

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Hours before John Loyer made his debut as Detroits interim coach, Chauncey Billups offered a preview. "Hes always very energetic at all times," Billups said. "I dont know what were going to do in second halves because he wont have a voice. He always loses his voice in the first half." Billups assessment was spot on, at least through one game. Loyer coached the Pistons to a 109-100 win over San Antonio on Monday, yelling out instructions in a raspy voice from the sideline on a night his team led comfortably for the entire second half. It was an immediate contrast to the mild-mannered Maurice Cheeks, the coach the Pistons fired a day earlier. Of course, sideline demeanours can be deceiving -- and Loyer was careful not to take too much credit for the teams sharp performance against the Spurs. "Its not about me," he said. "Im just glad our guys played hard." Loyer was in his third season as an assistant for the Pistons when he was abruptly promoted after Cheeks dismissal. He was a holdover from Lawrence Franks staff, remaining in the fold after Cheeks was hired last off-season. Loyer has also been an assistant for the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers. The Pistons scored 26 points off turnovers against San Antonio and led by as many as 23. "Certain events happened that are beyond our control, but we were able to come out and focus on playing basketball," forward Josh Smith said. "We came out with a big win against a great team." Loyer takes over the Pistons at a time when patience is growing thin. Detroit signed Smith and traded for Brandon Jennings in the off-season, but the results have been mixed at best. Even after beating San Antonio, the Pistons are 22-29. They were tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference entering Tuesday night. Detroit had won four of six when Cheeks was let go, so its hard to tell if the win Monday could be attributed at all to the coaching change. Jennings played well for Loyer -- just as he did in the last couple games under Cheeks. "The last four out of six, weve still been playing the same way," Jennings said after the win over San Antonio. "Were just trying to keep it going." Cheeks, a former point guard, was given the task of mentoring Jennings, but Jennings says he can still look to Billups for veteran guidance. Jennings performance down the stretch may make or break Detroits playoff chances. Jennings made a point of saying that Cheeks was like a father figure to him, but he hopes to stay in the offensive groove hes found over the past few games. "Im back to having fun, instead of just taking everything so personally and thinking about too much," Jennings said. "Im just hooping." Detroit hosts Cleveland on Wednesday, then plays a home-and-home with Charlotte -- another team in the mix for the post-season in the East. So the Pistons will have a chance to build on their recent success and create some positive vibes right away for their new coach. "Change for changes sake doesnt do much," Loyer said. "Anybody can change. We need positive change, and I thought our guys came out and had great effort (Monday night), great determination. You try to set a little bit of a tone every day. Thankfully, our guys, they set the tone." Fake Shoes For Sale . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Fake Sneakers . Lack replaced an injured Roberto Luongo late in the first period then watched defenceman Chris Tanev score the winning goal midway through the third as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 2-1 in a tight NHL game. https://www.fakeshoes.net/.com) - Sporting Kansas City announced Thursday that club has signed former on-loan midfielder Jimmy Medranda to a permanent contract from Colombian side Deportivo Pereira. Wholesake Fake Air Jordan 1 . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. Fake Nike Shoes . -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C.WASHINGTON -- After striking out 13 times in an 11-1 loss to Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals on Friday night, the San Diego Padres had reason to look forward to facing a much less-imposing pitcher on Saturday. But San Diego had even more trouble against right-hander Tanner Roark, who pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Nationals shut out the Padres 4-0. The 27-year-old set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an .074 batter entering the game, hit a solid single to centre field with one out in the sixth inning. San Diego managed to get just two more singles in the game and didnt get a runner past second base. "He had a good sinker, changeup, was keeping the ball down especially," said San Diego first baseman Yonder Alonzo, who went 0-for-3. San Diego entered Saturdays game tied for the second-worst batting average in the National League (.226) and saw it drop further. In a span of 19 hours and 18 innings, the Padres got 13 hits, all singles, and fanned 21 times. When Saturdays game was over, only two of the nine players San Diego started had batting averages better than .200 -- shortstop Everth Cabrera (.300) and outfielder Chris Denorfia (.324). "We do hope that the offence gets better, that guys get to their career averages -- at some point," manager Bud Black said. San Diego struggled in many facets on Saturday. The Padres made three infield errors. Second baseman Jedd Gyorko would have had two had it not been for a generous ruling. Jayson Werths hopper up the middle might have been an inning-ending double-play. But after it was initially ruled an error, it was changed to a single. Either way, the play allowed Washington to grab a 3-0 lead in the first inning, all the runs the Nationals needed against Padres ace Andrew Cashner (2-3). "What weve got to stay away from is the hitters letting their offence go into their defence," Black said. "When you dont score and you make a couple errors, they become magnified because its so important when youre not scoring.dddddddddddd" Mixing three other pitches with his modest 92 mph fastball, Roark (2-0) walked one and struck out eight, including Gyorko to end the game on his 105th pitch. "I was feeling confident out there on the mound, felling strong," Roark said. "Getting ahead of the hitters is the biggest thing." Roark has been more than a one-hit wonder for the Nationals. Since taking his spot in the rotation, he has produced eight quality starts in 10 attempts with a 5-1 record. Roark extended his run of consecutive scoreless innings to 18. In 35 innings at Nationals Park he has given up one earned run. On Saturday, he extended the frustrations of the Padres. "We played terrible today, honestly," Alonzo said. "We didnt defend, didnt hit. Cash kept us in the game, He always does. Hes our ace. He will always keep us in the game. Today we werent behind him. We didnt play good defence. It was somewhat of an embarrassment." Washington increased its advantage to 4-0 in the sixth when Kevin Frandsen opened with a single, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Roark, and scored on a single to left by Denard Span. Frandsen was starting in left field for Bryce Harper, who was out of the lineup with a jammed thumb. Notes: X-rays on the jammed thumb of Harper were negative, according to manager Matt Williams, who said that Harper was undergoing an MRI after the game. Williams said that Harper was available to pinch-hit. ... The Nationals had their second successful replay challenge in three games as Werth was ruled safe at second base, taking two bases on a booted ground ball. ... Padres outfielder Seth Smith was out of the lineup for the second straight day and will remain day-to-day after suffering a strained groin Thursday night against the Nationals. He was scheduled to take cuts in the batting cage on Saturday and for light jogging on Sunday. ... Washington right-hander Taylor Jordan (0-3, 6.23 ERA) will face San Diego right-hander Ian Kennedy (1-3, 3.60) on Sunday. ' ' '