ide. Texas dropped 12 of its first 14 games this month. "

PHILADELPHIA -- Jonathon Niese stayed warm, and the surprising New York Mets cooled off Philadelphia. Niese pitched seven steady innings on a rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies. Ruben Tejada doubled and had two RBIs for the Mets, who chased Cole Hamels in the fifth and have won seven of nine. They improved to 15-11 overall, marking the first time New York has been four games over .500 since July 14, 2012. "Conditions are really tough and Jon just keeps cruising along," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "You have to be pretty impressed with the way hes going about it. He used all of his pitches. It seemed like he had good command of his curveball even though it was wet. ... He went out and pitched another great game." Marlon Byrd homered and Ryan Howard had two hits with a double for Philadelphia, which lost for only the third time in nine games. The start was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 28 minutes, and the temperature at first pitch was a chilly 46 degrees. Many in the announced crowd of 28,189 who braved the cold were dressed more appropriately for a Philadelphia Eagles football game in December, with hooded sweat shirts, winter coats and wool blankets. There was a misty rain for the first 2 1/2 innings before heavy rain began to fall in the bottom of the third. The rain tapered off to a drizzle before becoming heavy again in the seventh. The weather hardly affected Niese (2-2), who didnt allow a hit until Byrds two-out homer in the fourth. The left-hander gave up four hits while striking out five and walking one. "It was another cold one," Niese said, "but it seems like the more I pitch in cold weather, the more I figure out how to stay warm." Niese sat near a heater in the Mets dugout and kept his hands in his jacket pockets, which contained hand warmers. While on the mound, Niese said he made sure to move around constantly rather than stand still. "I was able to effectively throw my pitches," he said. Said Murphy, "He threw the ball great. It was a treat to watch from second base." Hamels (0-2) struggled in his first home start of the season, allowing six runs on eight hits with five walks and a hit batter in 4 2-3 innings. Seeking his 100th career victory, Hamels lost the strike zone in the fourth when he walked four batters, including Niese with the bases loaded, as the Mets took a 3-0 lead. Hamels was making his second start of the season after opening on the disabled list due to left biceps tendinitis. The leftys ERA rose to 6.75 as he dropped to 2-8 in his last 10 home starts against the Mets. Murphy had a two-out RBI single in the third, and Josh Satin singled home a run in the fourth. "Ive never seen Cole be that erratic, and Im sure a lot of that was the conditions," Collins said. "Its early in the year and he missed a lot of spring training. Hell be fine, Im sure." Hamels said the conditions made it difficult to pitch but blamed himself for not being able to adjust better. "The elements got the best of me today," he said. "From my standpoint, Im truly embarrassed because I didnt really give anyone a chance." Hamels said a lack of perspiration made gripping the ball difficult. "When youre able to perspire, youre able to get certain types of grips with the baseball," he said, before joking: "Today might have been the day to use pine tar, but unfortunately I dont do that. It might have been the day to learn. It was difficult to throw the baseball and difficult to throw strikes. You have to be able to battle out there, and I wasnt able to do it." Byrds homer pulled the Phillies to 3-1, but New York chased Hamels when it got an RBI double from Chris Young and a two-run single from Tejeda to make it 6-1 in the fifth. NOTES: Mets starters have given up more than three runs once in the last 13 games. ... Murphy extended his hitting streak to 10 games. ... Mets RHP Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Kyle Kendrick (0-2, 3.52) in the conclusion of the two-game series Wednesday night. ... During the rain delay, the Phillies showed Game 6 of the NHL playoff series between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers on the scoreboard and rang the bell in centre field traditionally rung for home runs when Wayne Simmonds scored a first-period goal to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Cheap Jerseys USA . Jovanovski, the 2012 champ seeded fifth, will meet surprise Japanese qualifier Misa Eguchi on Friday. Eguchi, ranked 183rd, qualified for her first WTA main draw this week, then beat No. China Jerseys . In fact, with a few improvements, this could very well be a decent team over the next few seasons. I will go into more detail when digging into the Canucks Off-Season Game Plan, which will be coming earlier this year since they are part of the non-playoff contingent, there are some reasons to think this is a favourable situation for President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden and whomever he selects to be the new general manager. http://www.cheapnfljerseyssale.us/ . According to the CFL Scouting Bureaus January rankings, four of the top five Canadian prospects line-up on the offensive side of the trenches, which is good news for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. With only one selection in the first two rounds — Walters sent his second-round pick to Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the 2013 trade deadline — the No. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . I suppose Sternberg has earned the right to speak out since his Rays, despite one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors at $58 million, are entering the final weekend of the regular season holding down the first Wild Card spot in the American League, one game ahead of Cleveland and two up on Texas. Cheap Jerseys Sale .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels says its his full expectation that manager Ron Washington will return next season. The Rangers started play Tuesday mired in a seven-game losing streak and have seen their AL West title hopes apparently slip away for a second straight season because of a September slide. Texas dropped 12 of its first 14 games this month. "I refer to us as partners, and I feel very much that way," Daniels said before Tuesday nights game at Tampa Bay. "Other than that, well address everything in the off-season. Like I said, I fully expect that partnership will continue." Texas is in a crowded field for an AL wild-card spot. "Were in a position to makee the playoffs .dddddddddddd.. its our job to hold on to that," Daniels said. "Weve got to go and have a good at-bat, a good inning, a good game and turn the tide here a little bit. Thats where our focus has to be. Everything else is just a distraction from where our energy and focus should be." Washington, who managed the Rangers to the playoffs each of the past three years including trips to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, said he doesnt fear losing his job. "Im steadfast with what my job has always been," Washington said. "Be the best I can be for this organization as the manager. Back my players. Back my coaching staff. Back the organization. Do the best job I can." ' ' '