Die Macht » Hoiberg never found his footing within the

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - No Sports Illustrated cover jinx for these Cardinals. They just keep on winning. Lance Lynn pitched two-hit ball over six innings, and David Freese and Allen Craig each homered and drove in three runs, helping St. Louis beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-0 on Friday night for their third win in a row and 11th in its last 13 road games. Lynn appears with the rest of the rotation on this weeks SI cover in a photo inspired by a cover from the Oct. 7, 1968, issue that featured Roger Maris, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson, Mike Shannon and Lou Brock. "Its a cool photo," Freese said. Lynn (7-1) struck out nine and walked one for the NL Central leaders, who earned their eighth shutout win of the season. The only hits he gave up were a single to Carl Crawford to open the game and a double to Juan Uribe in the third. The right-hander left after just 77 pitches because he felt his lower back tighten up going down to his hamstring. "It just flared up on me, so we decided it was a good time to shut me down," Lynn said. "As the game went on, it kept getting tighter and tighter. Wish I could have gone longer. With the run support and day off yesterday, it was a good time not to push it." Lynn is averaging better than a strikeout per inning this season with 66 strikeouts in 61 innings. He relied exclusively on his fastball the first time through the Dodgers lineup and then mixed it up the second time through. "Thats the plan going in every start for me," he said. The Dodgers fifth loss in seven games wasnt how they had planned to open a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. "We didnt do anything with him," manager Don Mattingly said about Lynn. "He threw a lot of fastballs through the course of the game and we didnt seem to be able to get on them." Freese played for the first time since cutting his right thumb on Sunday. He had the stitches removed although the cut remained open, but he said it affects him more throwing than hitting. His two hits on Sunday at San Diego were his first since May 4. "Its feeling good. I feel strong," Freese said about his swing. "The last few games it felt good. Its nice to join the fun." He improved against left-handed pitching, too, coming in 3 for 25. The Cardinals were hitting .223 against leftys and the team improved to 5-5. "Were still trying to figure that out," Freese said. "Leftys give us trouble sometimes." Craig continued his tear in May, when hes batting .363 with three homers and 17 RBI in 21 games this month. "I believe in myself. I feel like Im going to get the job done every time," he said. "The guys in front of me have done a great job getting on base." The last-place Dodgers loss came a few hours after team president Stan Kasten said Mattingly was not in immediate danger of being fired. "I do expect things to turn around," Kasten said before the game. "I expect Donnie to be here for a long time." Chris Capuano (1-3) allowed six runs — five earned — and six hits in five-plus innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked three. "With Allen Craig and David Freese, if youre going away to them, youve got to get the ball away," he said. "If you miss over the outer third or outer half and the ball is coming back to them, they can hurt you." Freeses two-run homer into the Dodgers bullpen in left field extended the Cardinals lead to 6-0 in the sixth. His RBI double in the second drove in Jon Jay with their first run. Dodger catcher A.J. Ellis went down for a few minutes after Jay collided with him, but stayed in the game. "Im glad hes not hurt and nothing bad happened for both of us," Jay said. Craig homered with two outs in the fifth after his two-run double in the third made it 3-0. "I just started rushing out there and was getting a little frustrated and stuff, and was just kind of speeding things up," Capuano said. "When youre rushing, your location gets a little off." St. Louis tacked on another run in the seventh when reliever Matt Guerrier gave up consecutive walks to Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday to open the inning. He then hit Craig to load the bases before Yadier Molinas sacrifice fly scored Beltran. Dodger sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier were a combined 0 for 6, with Kemp striking out twice. Ethier returned to the starting lineup after being benched by Mattingly three times in six games on the teams road trip to Atlanta and Milwaukee. Notes: The Dodgers were shut out for the fourth time this season and the first since losing 1-0 to Arizona on April 14. ... The Cardinals improved to 17-8 on the road, the most wins away from home in the majors this season. ... Mattingly said SS Hanley Ramirez, on the DL with a strained left hamstring, will play four or five rehab games. "I dont think hes quite as close as it looks," the manager said. ... Dodgers OF Jerry Hairston Jr., on the DL with a strained left groin, played six innings at third base and went 0 for 3 in his first rehab start for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Hes expected to play six innings there on Saturday. Denis Potvin Jersey Large . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Cheap Custom Islanders Jersey . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. http://www.customislandersjersey.com/ . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Custom Islanders Jersey China . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Custom Denis Potvin Jersey . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. This story is part of ESPN The Magazines Oct. 31 NBA Preview Issue. Subscribe today!Chicago BullsOverall: 97 Title track: 60 Ownership: 108 Coaching: 120 Players: 80 Fan relations: 84 Affordability: 93 Stadium experience: 77 Bang for the buck: 91 Change from last year: -31The Bulls were one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA last season, given the expectations they had coming into the year, so their slide in the overall standings (down 31 spots, near the triple digits) should come as no surprise. Bulls management believed this team could be a title contender, but a combination of injuries and disappointing play was too much for new coach Fred Hoiberg to overcome in a rocky first season.Whats goodWhen the fans are actually into the game, few arenas in basketball can get as loud and be as passionate as the United Center. A stadium experience ranking of 77th, though still in the bottom half of all teams, is one of the Bulls highest rankings (their best comes in title track, though thats likely more to do with past success than future optimism). Last year, the team made a larger push to include more local vendors in their game-night experience, giving fans more options to eat from well-known Chicago eateries. This season, the focus is on cocktails, with local bars bringing their most popular options to the arena.Whats badA large portion of the Bulls fan base was upset after former head coach Toom Thibodeau was fired last summer and replaced by then-ISU coach Hoiberg (coaching dropped 85 places to 96th last year, then bottomed out at 120 this year).dddddddddddd The Bulls front office sold Hoiberg as an offensive guru players would enjoy playing for -- particularly after listening to Thibodeau bark orders for five years. Unfortunately for the Bulls, that was not the case. The team missed the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, and Hoiberg never found his footing within the locker room.Whats newAfter years of hoping Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah would lead the team to a title, Bulls management decided to move on from both players last summer. Chicago dealt Rose to the New York Knicks, then watched Noah follow him. In their place, the front office landed veterans Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo to play alongside Jimmy Butler. Signing Wade and Rondo was an acknowledgement by the organization that it did not want to go through a full-scale rebuild. Whether that was the right move -- fans are certainly still unsure, dropping the players ranking 51 spots to 80th overall -- remains to be seen. The Bulls hope the new vets can help a young group of players, led by Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, improve in their third seasons.Next: Denver Nuggets?| Full rankings ' ' '