earned a start in left field because of his bat

NEW YORK -- Mets rookie Eric Campbell earned a start in left field because of his bat. He should be getting even more playing time because of his glove. In his first career major league game in the outfield, Campbell doubled Yasiel Puig off second base after making a spectacular diving catch in the eighth that helped preserve New Yorks 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. "As it always goes, put a guy in for his offence and his defence saves the game," manager Terry Collins said. Campbell had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and is hitting .368 in his first eight big league games. Collins said he is going to use the versatile 27 year old who plays mostly at the corner infield spots at second base and shortstop, too. Campbell, who even worked out a bit behind the plate to be the Mets emergency catcher with Travis dArnaud on the 7-day concussion list, is ready. "I can handle it," Campbell said of playing second and short. "Just fielding a groundball and throwing to first." Jonathon Niese (3-3) hit an RBI double to provide himself some much-needed run support and pitched seven sharp innings for New York, which won for just the sixth time in 20 games this month and avoided a three-game sweep. Juan Lagares had a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh. The dynamic yet, at times, frustrating Puig made a sensational catch of his own on a sinking liner to right-centre that was so good it elicited a warm ovation from the 23,416 in attendance. But he made two baserunning mistakes that could have cost the Dodgers runs. "Thats one of the best catches Ive ever seen," Campbell said. "That was crazy." Zack Greinkes stretch of 21 straight starts allowing two or fewer runs ended. A mark that hasnt been matched since at least 1914 was done in by some sloppy play. "Just in my experience, weve played incredible defence when Im pitching throughout the years," Greinke said, "so, if someone makes one mistake in one game, you cant really say too much." Dodgers centre fielder Matt Kemp bobbled Curtis Grandersons drive in the first inning to right-centre, allowing Granderson to take third base on a double in a 12-pitch at-bat. Granderson then scored on Campbells sacrifice fly. In the fifth, third baseman Justin Turner failed to glove Daniel Murphys slow grounder that allowed Niese to score for a 3-1 lead. Niese reached on a well-struck RBI double to right-centre following Anthony Reckers double to a similar spot. Greinke was lifted after five, yielding four hits, three runs -- one earned -- two walks and four Ks. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 22 games. Niese then walked Chone Figgins, playing in place of Dee Gordon, to start the sixth. Figgins advanced to second on Puigs grounder to third when Murphy, the second baseman, dropped Wrights force attempt -- the call was upheld by replay. But Niese escaped unscathed when Puig ran into an out on an infield fly gone awry. Hanley Ramirez hit a high popup to second base. Murphy backed up under the ball but appeared to lose it in the lights. When the ball fell, Murphy hesitated and Puig jogged into second. Apparently thinking he was forced out, Puig wandered off second and was tagged out for the double play. "I didnt actually see the umpire give the signal," Puig said through a translator. "I felt it was a little bit too late and, by that time, I was already off the base. I thought it was going to be a double play and I was already off in that situation." The Dodgers tied it in the seventh, though, when Turner hit his first homer with the Dodgers after spending parts of four seasons with the Mets. "Hes welcome for that one," Niese said, joking. "For that one, just a mistake that he punched." Lagares RBI single off Chris Perez (0-2) s gave the Mets back the lead in the seventh. Granderson tripled in a run in the eighth for a 5-3 lead. Niese had received just five runs of support total in his previous four home starts. The left-hander has not allowed more than three earned runs in 12 starts. Jenrry Mejia pitched the ninth for his second save. He pitched a scoreless ninth Wednesday night making this his first back-to-back appearances since moving to the bullpen this month. NOTES: DArnaud (7-day concussion DL) was scheduled to do some on-field work before the game. If all goes well he should take batting practice on the field Friday. ... Up next: The Dodgers head to Philadelphia on Friday and the Mets play host to the Arizona Diamondbacks. 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Calgary finished atop the CFL standings with a 14-4 record and earned the right to host the West Division final at McMahon Stadium on Nov. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Serge Ibaka pointed to the sky, soaking in the cheers from the adoring home crowd moments before coming out of a game that just a few days earlier, he never imagined he could play. He scored 15 points in a dramatic return from what was thought to be a season-ending left calf strain, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 106-97 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. Ibaka started after missing the first two games of the series. The Thunder originally said he would miss the rest of the playoffs, but changed course Friday. His presence helped the Thunder dominate and cut the Spurs lead in the series to 2-1. Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks took Ibaka out with 3:17 remaining and the Thunder ahead by 20. "When you talk about a teammate, thats everything you want in a teammate," Thunder forward Kevin Durant said. "I gained so much more respect for Serge for sacrificing himself for the team. Regardless of what happened tonight, thats something you want beside you." Ibaka made six of seven shots and was a threat that gave Durant and Russell Westbrook relief. Westbrook had 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds. On defence, Ibaka was a strong physical presence who blocked and altered shots and used his still formidable mobility to close out on shooters. He had seven rebounds, four blocks and a seemingly endless amount of energy. "Serge has put so much work in throughout the season that missing a couple of days didnt hurt him," Westbrook said. "Tonight, he jumped right back into where he was." Manu Ginobili scored 23 points and Tim Duncan added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Spurs. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Oklahoma City. The Thunder outrebounded the Spurs 52-36 after losing the battle of the boards in the first two games. San Antonio, which shot at least 50 per cent in the first two games, shot just 40 per cent on Sunday night. The first two games looked like a layup drill for the Spurs. This time, they were forced to reset numerous times. The passes were not as quick or as easy. "I was very disappointed that we didnt come out with more of a foot in the neck sort of attitude," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "t;They killed us on the boards, they beat us in 50-50 balls and thats very disappointing to me.dddddddddddd." San Antonio won Game 2 112-77, leaving the Thunder humiliated. "I knew that we were a better team than losing by 30," Brooks said. "Its not us. It was us that night, but were a much better team than that. I have a lot of respect for San Antonio, but theyre not that much better than us." Things were different from the start with Ibakas return. Brooks also inserted speedy Reggie Jackson into the starting lineup in Thabo Sefoloshas place. Jackson finished with 15 points. "We bounced back tonight. We always talk about that bounce-back ability and we had that tonight," Brooks said. The crowd roared when Ibakas name was announced during pregame introductions, and it got even louder when he started playing. He had eight points, three rebounds and two blocks in just over six minutes of play in the first quarter. Twice in the final minute of the first half, Ginobili hit 3-pointers, and both times, Westbrook answered with a 3-pointer. The last one, with 0.6 seconds left, gave the Thunder a 57-53 lead. Oklahoma City shot 56 per cent in the first half but turned the ball over 12 times. Ginobili had 20 points and made 5 of 7 3-pointers before the break to keep the Spurs close. Oklahoma City extended its lead to 83-76 at the end of the third quarter. A runner by Durant, then a 3-pointer by Caron Butler pushed the Thunder lead to 90-76 with just over 10 minutes to play. "Hopefully we realize that if were not intense, not very sharp and dont hustle like crazy, were not going to win here," Ginobili said. "They showed us reality. Hopefully we react in game four and play a much better game." Notes: Thunder C Kendrick Perkins picked up his third foul eight minutes into the game. He played just 13 minutes and finished with four points and three rebounds. Backup centre Steven Adams, a rookie, had seven points and nine rebounds. ... Thunder G Derek Fisher took a hit and was bleeding from the top of his head in the first quarter. He got six stitches. ... The Thunder shot 63 per cent from the field in the first quarter but trailed 29-28 at the end of the period. ... Ginobili scored just three points in the second half. 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