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Canadian coach Don Hay hopes the players patched together for the IIHF world under-18 hockey championship can bring back some unexpected gold.

STELLENBOSCH, South Africa - For any track athlete, time counts more than anything else. The minutes, the seconds and the fractions of seconds. For Oscar Pistorius now, it's the days, weeks, months and — maybe — the years that pass.

ST. LOUIS - While mustering a lousy single in seven fruitless innings, Milwaukee hitters returned to the dugout muttering to themselves about St. Louis Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller and his unusual fastball. "It was weird.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Chris Capuano was thankful for the opportunity to get a chance to start again for the Los Angeles Dodgers, albeit under trying circumstances — the loss of $147-million right-hander Zack Greinke for two months.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Rick Ankiel wasn't in a talkative mood after coming up short in his diving attempt to save Houston from a fourth straight loss. The way this season is going, the Astros won't have much to say at all.

SEATTLE - Aaron Harang's debut in Seattle and return to the American League would have gone just fine if not for Miguel Cabrera's ability to hit with two strikes. "He ended up basically single-handedly beating us," Harang said.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Even Raffi Torres was surprised when Sharks coach Todd McLellan tabbed him for his first shootout chance in more than two years.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Grant Balfour likes the number of lopsided wins the Athletics have put together while compiling the second-best record in the majors. Still, Oakland's closer wouldn't mind getting some more work in save situations.

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers' bats came alive against Barry Zito.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - It's been a while since Jason Marquis won on a consistent basis. Now that he's gotten his first victory of the season for the San Diego Padres, he's hoping to build on it in a big way.