SEPANG, Malaysia -- Mercedes confirmed it was the team to beat at the Malaysian Grand Prix by setting the fastest times in both of Fridays practice sessions, although its Formula One rivals were closer than expected. Elgin Baylor Jersey . Nico Rosberg, coming off his win at the season-opening race in Australia, was fastest in the second session and overall with a time of 1 minute, 39.909 seconds around the Sepang International Circuit, exceeding Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen by three-hundredths of a second. Raikkonen, who struggled in Melbourne, was also second fastest in the morning session behind Rosbergs Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Although Mercedes was expected to dominate the early races of the season, and did so in Australia, the top six cars on Friday afternoon were separated by just two-tenths of a second, indicating a competitive race on Sunday. "We are still having some small issues and therefore we were not able to maximize everything today," Rosberg said. "The quickest teams seem to be closer together than in Australia, so we still have work to do overnight to improve our level of performance." Defending four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel overcame some technical issues that restricted his running in the morning session and was an impressive third fastest in the afternoon, while his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo was seventh. The bad news for Vettel was that he needed to change his computer power supply unit, which alternates the power source between the engine, the turbo and battery-stored energy. That means he is onto his third of the season, with a limit of five all year before penalties kick in. "Friday timings are not the most important in the world, but to be out there in the range with the other guys was a decent day," Vettel said. "It was not a completely smooth day for both of us; for myself, still some things to solve on the software side, programming the car, which sounds wrong but that is the way it is." Hamilton was fourth in the second session, ahead of Ferraris Fernando Alonso and Williams Felipe Massa. Hamilton is using the same engine that caused his early retirement from the Australian GP, with the team having fixed the misfire and preserved an engine which is also subject to the same five-per-season limit. McLarens Jenson Button was eighth quickest, ahead of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg. On a typically hot but dry day at Sepang, all drivers endured technical issues of some kind, ranging from the lack of downforce which caused several off-track excursions, high tire-wear from the consequent sliding, and fuel consumption issues with the new V6 turbo hybrid engines and the introduction of fuel usage limits. As in Melbourne, Lotus and Caterham were the teams to suffer most. Neither Lotus car completed a lap in the morning as the team continued to play catchup on its engine development after a strife-torn off-season. Pastor Maldonado sat out the afternoon too, and while Romain Grosjean made several trips out on track, he suffered repeated breakdowns. Caterhams Kamui Kobayashi had yet more problems with his energy-storage system, necessitating another replacement after two in Melbourne, meaning he is already closing in on the season limit. LeBron James Lakers Jersey . 3. Trevor Ariza left them talkin about 40. Ariza made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 40 points to help the Washington Wizards win their sixth straight game, 122-103 over Philadelphia on Saturday night. Nick Van Exel Lakers Jersey .com) - Nino Williams posted 18 points and seven rebounds, as Kansas State edged No. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Nick-Van-Exel-Jersey/ . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. TORONTO -- Yu Darvish was excellent. R.A Dickey wasnt bad either. And J.P. Arencibia returned with a bang. Darvish (9-5) scattered five hits and struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings and former Blue Jay Arencibia hit a three-run homer to help the Texas Rangers end their eight-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over Toronto on Friday night. Dickey (7-10) started strongly for the Jays but paid for a seventh-inning knuckleball that got away and was slammed into the left-field seats by Arencibia. "It just knuckled into the barrel, thankfully, because the other ones I swung and missed by a foot," said Arencibia, who struck out twice. Dickey has now lost six of his last seven starts, during which the Jays have scored a total of 11 runs. It was a matchup of two teams in a nosedive, played before 38,012 on a pleasant 22-degree night with the roof open at Rogers Centre. The Rangers (39-57), mired in the longest current losing streak in the majors, had lost 14 of their last 15 games and 22 of 25. Toronto (49-48) had dropped eight of its last 10, 11 of 15 and 17 of 25. But Darvish proved to be the tonic needed for Texas, which is now 12-6 this season when the elegant right-hander from Japan starts. Through six innings, every Blue Jays starter had struck out at least once and Texas finished with 17 strikeouts on the night. "It started on the mound," said Texas manager Ron Washington. "Yu was able to pitch around some traffic that he had on the bases and make some pitches in some key situations. He kept us in the ball game until we could get something going offensively. Despite a slump of its own, Toronto came into the game second in the AL East, four games back of Baltimore, while Texas was last in the AL West, 21 games behind the leading Athletics. Texas has a league-leading 15 players on the disabled list. The Rangers also lead the majors in players (50) and pitchers (30) used in 2014, and, with 15 rookies, is tied with Arizona for another MLB first. Like the Rangers, Toronto is missing key personnel. But manager John Gibbons wasnt making excuses. "When guys like Darvish are on, I dont care what your lineup looks like. Theyre going to cut you up pretty good. Theyre going to limit your opportunities," he said. "We had a couple tonight that we didnt cash in. We left a few guys on base (nine). Thats why hes one of the top pitchers in baseball. But I mean weve been in an offensive drought for a while now. And were due to break something out." It marked the sixth time this season that Darvish, who tied his season high for Ks, has recorded double-digit strikeouts. Toronto, which has now lost three straight games, had won eight of its last 10 against Texas since the start of 2013. The Jays offence continued to sputter, with one run on seven hits. Dickey opened strongly before faltering in the fifth when Adrian Beltre ended the knuckleballers scoreless run with a leadoff homer. Dickey had faced the minimum 12 batters in the first four innings before giving up the line-drive shot over the right-field fence on a 3-1 delivery, Beltres 14th homer of the season. Two outs later, Dickey hit Arencibia with a knuckleball that got away and second baseman Rougned Odor tripled him home to increase the lead to 2-0. Jerry West Lakers Jersey. . Arencibia, a catcher making his MLB debut at first base, made it 5-0 with one out in the seventh when he cashed in back-to-back singles with his homer. "A big blow," said Gibbons. "I hope it gives him confidence," Washington said of Arencibia. "He certainly didnt lack it when he arrived here from the minor leagues. It was nice for him to come through right there. It was big, it was huge. Getting hit by the pitch was huge, too. He had a good night back. Its got to continue. At least he gives us some threat in that lineup." Colby Rasmus pulled one back with a leadoff homer to right field in the seventh, his 13th of the season. Darvish exited two outs later with the Jays having men on second and third after a walk and single. Left-hander Neal Cotts induced Melky Cabrera to fly out to end the inning. The Rasmus home run ended a scoreless streak of 16 innings -- and a 42-inning run without a homer for the Jays, who lead the majors in home runs. Darvish walked three and had two wild pitches, throwing 117 pitches including 69 strikes. Dickey gave up five earned runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out seven while walking two. He threw 109 pitches, 75 for strikes. "I thought Dickey was good. The three-run homer, of course, hurt," said Gibbons. "But hes been on a nice roll pitching. Were not winning his games. Were not scoring runs in his games. But take away that home run, I thought he was really good." The combined salaries of Dickey (US$12 million) and Darvish ($10 million) would nearly cover half of the CFLs salary cap hit. And they wasted little time showing why they collected such hefty paycheques. Dickey retired the first seven batters he faced before giving up a single to Odor. A pretty double play by Munenori Kawasaki ended the inning quickly, however. Darvish also kept the Jays off the bases in the early going with just two walks and two singles in the first five innings. Toronto had men on first and second with one out in the second but Darvish snuffed out the threat with two straight strikeouts. He struck out two more to end the fifth after walking Juan Francisco. Darvish did it again in the sixth, striking out two after Cabrera led off the inning with a bloop single before stealing second. Darvish had not pitched since July 9 other than an inning in Tuesdays all-star game. The six-foot-five right-hander came into the game having given up at least four earned runs in four of his last five starts. The game marked back-to-back starts for Dickey, who was on the mound for Torontos last game before the all-star break -- allowing two runs in six innings in a 3-0 loss to Tampa. He said the lack of run support was not in his mind. "No, not really. I cant control any of that. I have a hard enough time tending to my own garden. If I can just concentrate on being me and hopefully Ill get us deep into the ball game with a chance to win the game, hopefully I havent given up any runs. Thats all I can do. And thats all I try to do." Aaron Loup, Todd Redmond and Dustin McGowan followed Dickey. Closer Joakim Soria pitched the ninth for Texas, striking out two and giving up a single. NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap Jerseys From China Discount NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Black Jerseys ' ' '