we relegated ourselves to the thinking of were just a playoff tea

ST. LOUIS -- Allen Craig is starting to feel comfortable and the St. Louis Cardinals are hoping that continues for a long time. Craig, batting cleanup, had three hits, drove in a run and scored twice and Lance Lynn allowed two runs over seven innings to lead the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. After batting.315 with 97 RBIs in 134 games in 2013, Craig has struggled to find his stroke. He was hitting .192 on April 29, but his average has risen slowly but steadily since. He was up to .231 after Fridays game. Craig said he is feeling better and better at the plate, even if the results have not been readily apparent. "Guys know when theyre feeling good in the box," Craig said. "The results may not be there, but you can still feel good and feel like good things are going to happen. Its just a matter of time and being patient. I feel like Im at that point." Nevertheless, Craig was happy with the multihit game. "Im definitely excited because I dont take success for granted," Craig said. "This games tough and a lot goes into having a good game." Lynn (5-2) allowed seven hits walked two and struck out three. He seemed to get stronger as the game went on. "It was just one of those things where everything clicked and all of a sudden I was throwing the ball where I wanted to," Lynn said. "I was throwing the ball in the strike zone and when that happens, its fun to pitch." Carlos Martinez retired the Braves on four pitches in the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal set down the side in order for his 12th save in 13 opportunities. Matt Carpenter and Kolten Wong had two hits each and scored a run for St. Louis. Matt Holiday, Matt Adams and Yadier Molina all drove in a run for the Cardinals. St. Louis finished the game without manager Mike Matheny and centre fielder Peter Bourjos, both of whom were ejected by home plate umpire Sean Barber at the end of the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes. "I loved to see the fire and the fight that Peter showed there," Matheny said. "Frustrated and knew a couple of pitches didnt get called to what he thought was the strike zone in big situations. You cant take the emotions out of these guys." The Braves Chris Johnson went 2 for 4 with a run scored. Johnson is batting .377 (20 for 53) in May. While Johnson has been hot, his teammates have not. The Braves, who have lost 11 of 16, were held to two or fewer runs for the 18th time. "We get one or even two guys hot and theyre so far apart in the lineup that we dont get it going," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Sooner or later well start swinging like were capable of." Ervin Santana (4-1) took his first loss as a member of the Braves. Santana lasted five innings and allowed five runs and 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts. St. Louis broke open a 2-2 tie by scoring three times in the fifth. With one out, Carpenter and Wong singled. Holliday followed with an RBI double down the right field line to score Carpenter. Wong scored on Craigs single to left and Molina made it 5-2 with a sacrifice fly. The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the second on a two-out RBI single by Tyler Pastornicky, but the Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the inning on Adams RBI double. After the Braves took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on Andrelton Simmons 6-4-3 double play ball, the Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the frame when Craig scored from third on Santanas wild pitch with two outs. NOTES: Jhonny Peralta stole second in the fourth inning for his first stolen base as a member of the Cardinals. ... Santana had two wild pitches, giving him a total of five, one behind Arizonas Wade Miley for the most in the National League. ... Atlantas Aaron Harang (4-3) will oppose Shelby Miller (5-2) in the second game of the series Saturday. ... 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Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. AMIR JOHNSON (Raptors): I cant figure out what the issue or problem is, but based upon what Im seeing, hes not right.MIAMI - Pat Riley stood along a wall in what the Miami Heat call Championship Alley, the hallway that links the teams locker room and the court inside AmericanAirlines Arena.The corridor is lined with photos of great moments from Miamis three championship runs since 2006. Updating some of those photos has seemed like a rite of summer in recent years, with the Heat making five trips to the NBA Finals in the past nine seasons.Needing new images this summer seems highly unlikely.Riley, the Heat president whose media sessions occur only a handful of times each year, spoke out Thursday about Miamis struggles this season, with the franchise falling from the highest rungs of the NBA to a level where its simply fighting to grab a playoff spot.Its just been very, very frustrating that we havent been able to overcome the adversities that we have faced, Riley said. And they are not excuses — they are adversity. ... Were in the fight. Were not in the fight like we were before for the top of the conference, OK? We are in the fight for five or six other teams for, probably, the playoffs, spots six, seven and eight.So get real about it. Dont feel sorry about it. And get after it.The Heat (18-24) play host to Indiana (15-29) on Friday night, a matchup of the two teams that met in last seasons Eastern Conference finals and are now fighting for mere playoff spots.For the first time since 2004, the Heat has no one selected as an All-Star starter. Miami is 16 1/2 games behind sizzling Atlanta in the Southeast Division and enters Friday holding down the No. 7 spot in the East — with the next four teams in the conference standings all within three games of the Heat.Have we relegated ourselves to the thinking of were just a playoff team? No, Riley said.Riley and the Heat have engaged in some conversations about trades, though they seem largely initiated by other clubs. Riley said the team has not made any trade offers to anyone and said any deals the team makes before next months trade deadline would be with the intent of improving this year.ddddddddddddHe insists that Miamis current roster, even with injury issues, is enough to make the playoffs.Im not going to move chairs, Riley said. If theres something that makes sense that we could do that could really help us then we would consider it. But were not about to give up assets that we dont have, that we need, to make a lateral move out of desperation.Riley coached the Heat to their first title in 2006, then engineered one of the best coups in league history when he found a way in 2010 to bring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to Miami and play alongside Dwyane Wade. In four seasons together, that group went to the NBA Finals every year.James left to go back to Cleveland last summer, and the Heat are widely expected to be major free-agent players again in 2016. That doesnt mean Riley is sitting around idly for the next 18 months, however.Im not so sure that what we did in 2010 is anywhere close to what you can do in 2016, Riley said. The rules have changed. Players can force you into sign-and-trades. We were forced into a sign-and-trade in 2010 and we would gladly do it again, and it cost us four first-round picks.Miami has dealt with a constant stream of injuries all season, and Riley said its paramount that coach Erik Spoelstra has some sort of lineup consistency — in terms of player availability — over the final 40 games. Wade and Bosh have both been out, Josh McRoberts season is over because of knee surgery and the Heat have already had 10 players miss some time with injuries.The overall health, and just getting mentally tough to the challenge of what were playing for, Riley said, when asked what the biggest keys to turning the season around now are. And what were playing for is a playoff spot. Humble yourself to that, lets roll and lets go get it. 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