VANCOUVER - The timing was right for the Vancouver Whitecaps to play the best team in the league. Zaza Pachulia Jersey . Sebastian Fernandez scored a pretty goal on a booming shot from about 30 yards out as the Whitecaps beat the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in Major League Soccer play Saturday night. The win restored some shine to a Vancouver team that had looked tarnished in their last two games, including a loss that ended a franchise record eight-game undefeated streak. The Whitecaps also snapped a two-game scoreless streak. "Any game you play against Seattle is always tough," said Vancouver coach Carl Robinson. "The game came at the right time. "We havent performed to our level (the last two games). We havent been bad but I dont think weve been good. We got back to work this week and refocused on certain things." Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said Vancouver was the hungrier team. "Hats off to them," he said. "I thought they played with a lot of passion because of the (past) results that they had and we didnt really match that completely until the second half. "We were around but we didnt put shots accurately enough on goal. This is a bump in the road. That is all it is." The Sounders played without several of their best players, including leading goal scorers Clint Dempsey (returning from the World Cup) and Obafemi Martins (injury). Seattle also was missing midfielders Osvaldo Alonso and Gonzalo Pineda who both were suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Schmid refused to use the missing players as an excuse. "We had enough quality on the field to get a result and to play," he said. Vancouver midfielder Gershon Koffie said the Whitecaps still had to beat a good team. "We dont really think about the players that are missing," he said. "We were all about the three points. "We got it." The Whitecaps controlled most of the first half against their Cascadia rivals. They managed to keep possession of the ball and passed with authority. In the second half they buckled down defensively when Seattle began to press. "The second half was about rolling the sleeves up, grit and desire and heart," said Robinson. There was a large contingent of Seattle fans among the loud, flag-waving sellout crowd of 22,500 at B.C. Place Stadium. Fernandez scored in the 12th minute when he took a pass from Pedro Morales and launched a rocket that sailed past the outstretched fingers of Sounders keeper Stefan Frei. "Pedro gave a good ball to me," said Fernandez, who scored for the third time this season. "I turned with the ball and there was space. "It was a good opportunity. I just tried to shoot." Morales was a thorn in the Sounders side all night. In the 19th minute he lofted a free kick from a sharp angle that landed in the box. The ball sat tantalizing for a few seconds but was cleared before a Whitecap could touch it. In extra time of the first half, Morales struck a curling shot that Frei stopped. "If he doesnt perform, we dont play well," said Robinson. "He went into areas and got the ball. "His range of passing was excellent. He calmed it down, he slowed it down, he won free kicks." Morales said the win helped prove the young Whitecaps can keep pace with the best teams in the league. "It was extremely important," he said through an interpreter. "It was a chance to show our fans what we are capable of. "If we continue with this attitude we will keep growing as a team." The loss snapped a three-game win streak for Seattle, who came into the game unbeaten in five matches. Seattle continues to lead the MLS standings with 35 points from a 11-3-3 record. Vancouver and Seattle tied in the teams previous meeting in May. The Whitecaps remain fifth in the Western Conference but climbed to within a point of fourth-place Colorado. Vancouver has 25 points from a 6-3-7 record. One of the games prettiest plays came in the 33rd minute when defender Steven Beitashour sent a perfect cross to a charging Erik Hurtado, but the forward sent the shot high and wide. The Sounders found their legs in the second half. Midfielder Lamar Neagle came close in the 52nd minute, firing a shot that drifted just wide of the Vancouver net. Seattles Tristan Bowen, a second-half substitution, banged a shot in the 60th minute that took a dangerous bounce before being gobbled up by Whitecaps keeper David Ousted. Notes: Morales wore the captains armband with Jay DeMerit out with an ankle injury. … Beitashour returned to the Whitecaps lineup for the first time since May 10 after playing for Iran at the World Cup. … Vancouver midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker says the birth of his daughter Scarlet has "completely changed" his life. … The Whitecaps play at home next Saturday against Chivas USA, travel to Toronto for a game July 16, then play in Salt Lake July 19. Tim Frazier Pistons Jersey .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. Bill Laimbeer Jersey . - Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 5 and finished a home run short of a cycle, and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Langston-Galloway-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- Brady Heslip scored a season-high 20 points to help Baylor beat No.ATLANTA -- When Andrelton Simmons botched a grounder, the St. Louis Cardinals seized their opportunity. For the Atlanta Braves, it was another night of missed chances. Matt Carpenters two-run double that helped carry St. Louis past the slumping Braves, who shook up their lineup but still lost their seventh in a row, 4-3 on Monday. The Cardinals scored three runs in the fifth inning, taking advantage of shaky defence by Atlantas Gold Glove shortstop. In fact, Simmons had a couple of plays that couldve been scored errors but were initially ruled hits. The second one was changed to an E-6 and turned out to be especially costly, leading to a pair of unearned runs. St. Louis built a 4-0 lead and barely held on to win the series opener. "It was big," Carpenter said. "Especially when we got out to a big lead, to be able to hold them off, that was big for us." Desperate for more offence, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez batted pitcher Aaron Harang eighth and put second baseman Ramiro Pena in the ninth spot. Pena had two hits, including a seventh-inning homer that brought the Braves within a run, but they couldnt overcome a 4-0 deficit. Juston Upton took a called third strike from Trevor Rosenthal to end the game with the potential tying run at second base -- Uptons fourth strikeout of the night and extending Atlantas woes with runners in scoring position. The Braves were 1 for 12 in those situations and are 6 of 51 during their losing streak, though Freddie Freeman saw some encouraging signs. "We hit some balls hard with runners on," he said. "We were in the game the whole game. We couldnt say that the past week." The last time the Braves had such a lengthy skid was May 21-28, 2012, when they dropped eight in a row. Their longest losing streak last season was four straight. Shelby Miller (4-2) got a shaky win, giving up six hits and two runs in five-plus innings. Trevor Rosenthal pitched out of trouble for his ninth save, giving up a leadoff single to Simmons. Jordan Schafer bunted the runner to second, but Pena flied out to right before Upton whiffed. Harang (3-3) took the loss, though he pitched much betteer than his previous start, when he was pounded for nine runs by the Marlins. Thon Maker Jersey. This time, he gave up four runs in six innings but only two were earned. The game was scoreless until the fifth, when Peter Bourjos led off with a single before Mark Ellis grounded one off Simmons glove. The shortstop, looking to make a force at second, appeared to take his eyes off the ball as it skipped past him. After Miller bunted the runners to second and third, Carpenter doubled to right-centre to bring them both in. Matt Holiday followed with a hard liner past third baseman Chris Johnson to make it 3-0. "Those things happen," Harang said of Simmons error. "I told him not to be too hard on himself. Hes probably going to save my butt plenty of times this year." St. Louis added another run in the fifth on Bourjos RBI single, but Gonzalez challenged a call at third base that had seemingly given the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. Yadier Molinas bases-loaded grounder ricocheted off Harangs leg, right to Johnson at third. He caught it and blindly stepped back in search of the bag and managed to barely nick it, as the replay showed. The called was quickly overturned after a review of only 37 seconds. The Braves knocked out Miller in the bottom half of the sixth, the first three hitters reaching safely. The Cardinals went to the bullpen after Evan Gattis RBI single, and B.J. Upton followed with a sacrifice fly off Pat Neshek. Neshek escaped the jam by striking out Simmons. NOTES: The Cardinals sent pitcher RHP Joe Kelly back to St. Louis to continue his rehab from a strained left hamstring. "Joe just wasnt to the point where they thought they could push him, so keeping him around the rest of this road trip didnt make any sense," general manager John Mozeliak said. "I dont know Id call it a setback as much as he just wasnt progressing as quickly as we wanted." ... Atlanta RHP Gavin Floyd will make his season debut when he starts Tuesday against LHP Tyler Lyons (0-2) of the Cardinals. Floyd is coming back from Tommy John surgery and will start in place of Ervin Santana, who has a bruised right thumb. ' ' '