Join us » Carpenter reached safely four times

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- With Drew Brees big arm, a 1-2 running punch in Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower and all of those capable receiving targets, the New Orleans Saints suddenly are looking like a legitimate contender again.Forget that 0-3 start. Brees still has big plans for this bunch.He threw a pair of touchdown passes to Michael Thomas and another to Ingram, who also ran for a 75-yard score a week after being benched as the Saints beat the lowly San Francisco 49ers 41-23 on Sunday.I want to win. I want to win a championship. I want to see this team come together and do something special, Brees said. Weve won four out of five and weve really grown over the last five weeks. Im excited about the second half of the season. Here we are, halfway through 4-4 again. I feel like our best is yet to come. Weve got some momentum now.Ingram, replaced by Hightower during last Sundays 25-20 win against Seattle after fumbling for a second straight game, scored his second straight TD for the Saints on a career-long run to answer immediately after DuJuan Harris caught a 47-yard touchdown pass from Colin Kaepernick. Ingrams run also was the second-longest in Saints history and he wound up with 158 yards rushing as San Francisco allowed an opposing 100-yard runner for the seventh straight game.Afterward, Hightower made sure to find Ingram with some kind words.To see him respond the way he did, Im proud of him, Hightower said. Thats not easy to do.The Saints (4-4) have grabbed back some momentum and returned to the race in the NFC South. They won for the fourth time in five games following an 0-3 start and eighth in the last 10 regular-season meetings with San Francisco.Brees dazzled in his debut game at Levis Stadium, where Fire Baalke signs showed up on cars and in the stands in reference to the beleaguered 49ers general manager. The QB completed 28 of 39 passes for 323 yards in the Saints first trip to San Franciscos home field since a 36-32 loss in the divisional playoffs after the 2011 season.Brees now has 449 career touchdown passes, leaving him one shy of becoming the third player to throw for 450 TDs. Peyton Manning (539) and Hall of Famer Brett Favre (508) are the others.Kaepernick also threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Vance McDonald just before halftime, when New Orleans led 31-20. In Kaepernicks third game back as starter, he had his best game yet: He became the 15th player in franchise history to rush for 2,000 yards and went 24 of 39 for 398 yards passing -- second most yards of his career.Today was a step in the right direction, Kaepernick said.But the Niners (1-7) didnt have nearly enough to avoid their seventh straight loss since shutting out the Rams to start the year.Hightower, who became the Saints first 100-yard rusher of the season last week against Seattle, ran for a 4-yard touchdown in the first to put his team ahead for good. Craig Robertsons interception of a pass by Kaepernick and return of 29 yards just four plays later set up Brees 1-yard touchdown pass to Thomas .Phil Dawson kicked field goals of 49, 48 and 46 yards for San Francisco.STEADY BREESBrees added more notables to his remarkable resume: He has 55 career games passing for at least 300 yards while throwing three touchdown passes, most in NFL history. Also, he didnt have an interception Sunday, becoming the first player in league history with 30 career games recording 300 yards passing, three TDs and no interceptions.STUPENDOUS STUPARFormer 49ers linebacker Nate Stupar forced Mike Davis fumble and recovered it early in the third quarter, the second straight big game for the journeyman in his fourth NFL season.Last week, he intercepted a pass by Russell Wilson.BIG-PLAY TOUCHDOWNSBreakdowns for both defenses led to the high-scoring, offensive day. The first half accounted for 663 of total offense combined -- 484 yards passing by Brees and Kaepernick together -- and 1,057 in all once the game was over.The teams came into the game as two of the leagues worst defenses, San Francisco at No. 30 and New Orleans 28th.HOLDING, TIMES THREEJust before halftime, 49ers defenders Eric Reid, Keith Reaser and Jimmie Ward were flagged for simultaneous, intentional holding penalties against a trio of receivers to keep the Saints targets from getting open in the end zone. New Orleans had only one more chance and settled for Wil Lutzs 26-yard field goal as time expired.San Francisco was penalized four times early, too -- two on its first defensive series and two more on its initial offensive possession that had the Niners settling for Phil Dawsons 49-yard field goal.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Eddie Murray Dodgers Jersey . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Dylan Floro Dodgers Jersey . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/ . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Bill Russell Dodgers Jersey .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Ken Landreaux Jersey . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. ST. LOUIS -- Mike Matheny is still waiting for rookie left-hander John Gast to show some emotion. "Hes the same all the time ... he never smiles," the St. Louis manager said. "Real even keel." Gast used that business-like approach to pick up a win in his major league debut Tuesday night. Carlos Beltran drove in four runs and Gast threw six solid innings, helping the Cardinals cruise past the New York Mets 10-4. Gast (1-0) tossed five shutout innings before giving up four runs in the sixth. He surrendered six hits, struck out three and walked one in a 71-pitch effort to help the Cardinals win for the fifth time in six games and 11th in their last 13. "I was excited, ready to go," Gast said. "There was some excitement. I was able to refocus the adrenaline to make my pitches." Matheny was pleased with the poise of the 24-year-old, who held the Mets scoreless on three hits and 50 pitches through the first five innings. "He was fine on the corners," Matheny said. "You could tell he was working the bottom of the zone. Once he started going, he was making some really good pitches." Beltran slammed a three-run homer in the fifth inning, his team-high tenth, to give St. Louis a 9-0 lead. He also added a run-scoring hit in the third. "It was a fastball in the middle of the zone," Beltran said of the 437-foot blast that landed in Big Mac Land. "I was able to stay inside and hit it good." The veteran outfielder was also impressed with Gast. "It was fun to see," Beltran said. "That just shows the depth of our minor league system. They have a lot of guys like that who can come in and do the job." New York right-hander Dillon Gee (2-5) gave up six runs, five earned, in four innings for the Mets, who lost their fifth straight despite scoring more than three runs for the first time in eight games. Gee has allowed four earned runs or more in five of eight starts this season. "I dont know what to say, I didnt feel all that bad tonight," Gee said. "Im a ground ball guy and I think seven ground balls got through. I dont know what else to do." MMarlon Byrd hit a two-run homer in the sixth as New York also lost for the 11th time in its last 14 games at Busch Stadium.dddddddddddd Gast began the season with 32 consecutive scoreless innings for Triple-A Memphis. He was called up in part to fill the rotation spot of Jake Westbrook, who is on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation. Jon Jay also homered for St. Louis, a solo shot in the sixth, his fourth of the year. Beltran went 3 for 5. "Its fun, were playing good baseball," Beltran said. "Were getting good starting pitching and the offence is doing enough to win ballgames." St. Louis scored three times in both the first and third innings to take a 6-0 lead. Allen Craig capped off the early uprising with a two-run single. Matt Holliday doubled in Matt Carpenter for the first run. The first four St. Louis hitters reached safely and the Cardinals scored three times on Gees first 11 pitches. Pete Kozma and Carpenter added run-scoring singles in the third. Carpenter reached safely four times. The Mets five-game skid is their longest since losing six in a row April 25-30. "Weve gone through a bad streak and its been two weeks long," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We cant sit here and try to make something positive out of it." Former St. Louis pitcher/outfielder Rick Ankiel, who was signed by the Mets on Monday, grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. Ankiel received a warm ovation from the crowd. NOTES: St. Louis rookie Shelby Miller (5-2, 1.88 ERA) will face Shaun Marcum (0-3, 8.59) in the third game of the four-game set tomorrow. Miller retired 27 successive batters after giving up a leadoff hit to Eric Young in a 3-0 win over Colorado on Friday. ... New York C John Buck broke out of a 2-for-27 slump with a single in the sixth. ... Ankiel is getting paid at a pro-rated share of the major league minimum $490,000 from the Mets, which comes to $382,896, and that amount is off-set against the $775,000 he was guaranteed under the deal he was released from by the Astros. He can earn an additional $775,000 in performance bonuses from the Mets based on plate appearances. ' ' '