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ATLANTA -- Gavin Floyd was impressive in his first start in a year, giving the Braves a chance to end their longest losing streak in two years. Justin Upton homered and scored the tiebreaking run on Chris Johnsons eighth-inning single, and the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Tuesday night to end their seven-game skid. "That felt good," Johnson said. "Its big. We werent panicking too much. We were relaxed, even though we lost seven in a row." Floyd allowed one run on six hits in seven innings. He made his first major league start since April 27, 2013, for the White Sox against Tampa Bay. He had season-ending Tommy John surgery 10 days later, and his comeback included six minor league rehab starts this year. "It felt good," Floyd said. "There were a lot of emotions, a lot of excitement through this process leading up to it and getting back out there ... not only starting for the first time but trying to get us back on the winning side." Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez had modest expectations for Floyds return. "I didnt expect that really," Gonzalez said. "I expected a guy who was going to scuffle through five, six innings for the first time out. He hadnt been in competition in a year but he sure came out with flying colours. You couldnt ask for anything more. "He was really, really good for the first time in a year." David Carpenter (2-0) had two strikeouts in the eighth. Craig Kimbrel added two more strikeouts in a perfect ninth for his ninth save. With one out in the eighth, Upton singled to centre. Freddie Freeman followed with a liner that bounced off the leg of Randy Choate (0-1) and bounced to third baseman Matt Carpenter for an infield hit. Right-hander Pat Neshek gave up Johnsons single to right field that drove in Upton and allowed Freeman to advance to third. Johnson called the at-bat against Nesheks side-arm delivery "a grind." "It wasnt easy," Johnson said. "That guy is funky. Hes nasty. ... That was just a battle between me and him and me trying to get something in play. I was able to finally stay on the ball and kind of go the other way a little bit." Choate was left to bemoan Freemans shot that hit his leg, setting up Johnsons run-scoring hit. "If it misses me its a groundball to (shortstop) Jhonny (Peralta), probably a double play," Choate said. "I didnt feel it. I didnt even see it. It just somehow found me and ricochets off me. Thats the way it bounces sometimes and it stinks but what are you going to do?" St. Louis left-hander Tyler Lyons allowed only one run on four hits, including Uptons homer, in six innings. "Great start," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "Its a shame we havent been able to score that guy any runs. ... He had everything working today." Lyons retired the first 10 Braves before Upton snapped a 0-for-12 streak with his team-leading ninth homer in the fourth. The Cardinals tied it in the sixth. Matt Hollidays single to right-centre drove in Carpenter, who led off with a walk. Floyd made the start originally planned for Ervin Santana, whose spot was skipped due to his swollen right thumb. Santana is listed as the probable starter against the Cubs on Saturday. Gonzalez stayed with the structure of the revamped lineup he unveiled on Monday in an attempt to snap the losing streak and hitting slump. For the second straight game, shortstop Andrelton Simmons hit ninth, one spot behind the pitcher. NOTES: Atlantas last win was a 1-0 decision in 10 innings over the Reds on April 27. ... The losing streak was the Braves longest since eight straight losses from May 21-28, 2012. ... Matheny said 2B Mark Ellis was held out for a normal day of rest. Daniel Descalso filled in. ... The series ends on Wednesday night when Braves LHP Mike Minor looks for his first win of 2014 against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright. ... A scoring change gave Floyd an infield single on his grounder in the fifth originally ruled as an error on Carpenter. Jordans Clearacne . Howard had 17 points and a career-high-tying 26 rebounds in his Houston debut, James Harden added 21 points and the Rockets cruised to a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Discount Jordan Shoes . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games. http://www.airjordanoutlet.us/ . The Incheon-based tea, of the Korea Baseball Organization said the deal for the 35-year-old Scott included a $50,000 signing bonus. Scott reached the major leagues with Houston in 2005 and hit 23 homers or more for Baltimore each year from 2008-10. Jordan Outlet Chicago . The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively. Air Jordan Store On Sale . The Rangers centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Rangers coach Alain Vigneault.TORONTO -- Maximiliano Urruti is the latest prospective saviour for Toronto FC. The 22-year-old striker was officially introduced to the media Friday, ending a months-long quest to lure the talented Argentine from Newells Old Boys in his native country to Major League Soccer. "Finally, it all came together. The news is great news for everyone," Urruti told reporters before leaving with his new teammates for a flight to Columbus and a game against the Crew on Saturday night. "Now its time to get to work." While terms of the deal between Toronto and the Argentine club were not disclosed, and neither the player nor TFC management would discuss details of what broke the logjam between the two sides, team president Kevin Payne said the youngster is signed through 2015 with club options after that. "We hope that hes a player that can be an important player here for years to come and part of the young group that were really trying to build around and make the nucleus of Toronto FC," Payne said of Urruti, who he and chief scout Pat Onstad first became aware of while still working for D.C. United. Urruti will not be the clubs third designated player alongside Dutch striker Danny Koevermans and fellow Argentine Matias Laba, a midfielder signed earlier this season. Payne called Urruti "a very clean and sharp forward" who moves well, has decent size, is good on the ball and can take people on whether he plays up top of the formation or underneath. "Hes shown, when he has the opportunities, that he knows where the net is," Payne said of Urruti, who scored 14 goals in 56 matches for Newells Old Boys. "Itll take Maxi a little bit of time to get accustomed to the league and get fully fit but were excited about it." Urruti began training with TFC on Wednesday and pronounced himself fit and ready to go if called upon Saturday in Columbus. But head coach Ryan Nelsen suggested that role, if any, would be small early on. "He hasnt done much in quite a bit of time so were going to ease him in," Nelsen said. "But, you never know." Urruti joins a club that has had revolving door in the locker-room over its seven-year history. The tremendous turnover has seen most of those expeected to have a huge impact and a long stay at TFC sent packing, including Dwayne DeRosario, Julian de Guzman, Pablo Vitti and Luis Silva.dddddddddddd Urruti, who said a phone conversation with Laba made him feel very comfortable about signing with Toronto, is "well aware" of TFCs past and current struggles but is excited to play and have an impact. "Im ready and willing to go, score goals and do what Ive got to do to get the team ahead," he said. Both Nelsen and Payne went out of their way to temper expectations on Urruti coming in and filling nets around MLS, noting achieving game fitness and adjusting to the league will take some time. But its clear the Reds (4-11-8) can use some scoring touch. With 21 goals in 23 matches, Toronto has the third fewest in the 19-team league, ahead of only D.C. United at 13 and the 20 scored by Chivas USA. A goalless drought of 423 minutes snapped last month is the leagues second-longest in 2013. "Weve been defending well but we need to be finishing," said midfielder Bobby Convey. Columbus (7-11-5) comes in off a 2-0 home win over the New York Red Bulls last week, which snapped a three-game losing streak. The Crew will be looking to avenge a 2-1 loss at BMO Field last month in which Toronto scored two late goals to capture its first win at their home stadium in more than a year. Last weeks 2-1 home loss to the Seattle Sounders typified the season in many respects. The Reds carried the play against one of the leagues better teams but two sloppy plays defensively and an inability to capitalize on chances created at the offensive end spelled the difference in the match. Despite the defeat, Toronto has played its best soccer of the season in recent weeks. The Reds have earned seven points from their past four matches, including the first two-game win streak in more than a year. Along the way they have looked stronger at the back and posted a pair of shutouts. "Were improving all the time and its about keeping on doing that," said Robert Earnshaw, TFCs leading scorer with six goals. Earnshaw came on last week as a second-half substitute after missing three games with a hamstring injury and hit the post with what would have been the equalizing goal. 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