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BARCELONA, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadals clay-court struggles worsened Friday as his 41-match winning streak at the Barcelona Open ended with a three-set loss to Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer. Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadnt lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final. The 20th-ranked Almagro converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over his fellow Spaniard on the 11th try. "I had a lot of opportunities in the second set," Nadal said. "I didnt take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him." After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadals streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament. Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match. Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position. Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagros backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadals long return set up the second match point. Nadal hadnt been eliminated this early in back-to-back clay-court tournaments since 2004, when as an 18-year-old he also failed to get past the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Bastad. "This is an important win for my career," said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Santiago Giraldo in Saturdays semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3. Earlier, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia overpowered opponents to set up a semifinal meeting. The fourth-seeded Nishikori continued his good run since returning from a groin injury with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic of Croatia, while the ninth-seeded Gulbis dismissed Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Gulbis saved all five break points against Gabashvili, who had knocked out the fifth-ranked Ferrer. China NFL Jerseys . After Andrew Romine served up two monster home runs in the inning, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he thought Romine was one of the bright spots on the night, showing just how bad the series opener against the last-place Minnesota Twins went for the Tigers. Authentic China Jerseys Cheap . Sizemore, who turned 29 on Jan. 4, has been limited to six games over the past two seasons because of an injured left knee that twice required surgery. He originally got hurt on Feb. 25, 2012, during a fielding drill in Oaklands first full-squad spring training workout and had surgery that March 21 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. http://www.wholesalejerseysnflchinacheap.com/. And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand. Wholesale Jerseys Store . -- Jesse Lussier scored 8:24 into overtime as the Halifax Mooseheads erased a four-goal deficit to beat the host Val-dOr Foreurs 6-5 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. Jerseys NFL Wholesale . Earnshaw, 31, most recently spent time on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv from Welsh club Cardiff City, which plays in Englands second-tier League Championship. Earnshaw began his career with Cardiff Citys youth program and turned professional in 1998.NEW YORK -- The Minnesota Twins are waiting for Oswaldo Arcia to consistently have nights like the one he had Friday. Arcia homered and threw out a runner at home plate, Ricky Nolasco pitched six solid innings for his first win in more than a month, and the Twins flexed some muscle in beating the New York Yankees 6-1. "We really have hopes for this guy. We like him an awful lot," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You saw that tonight, what he can do." Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe also connected against Vidal Nuno (1-2) for the light-hitting Twins, winners for the second time in eight games. Texas and Kanas City were the only American League teams to enter Friday with fewer homers than the Twins 39. "Thats a big difference for us, two guys in the middle of our order," Plouffe said of Willingham and Arcia, who both rejoined the Twins on Monday. Willingham broke his left wrist on April 6. The 23-year-old Arcia strained his right wrist two days earlier, then spent time in the minors. Arcia has at least one hit in all five games since his return. Kurt Suzuki and former Yankees infielder Eduardo Nunez had RBI singles in the eighth, giving Minnesota its highest run total since scoring eight against Boston on May 13. Nolasco (3-5) has struggled in his first AL season of a nine-year career. He had not won since April 24, a span of six starts. But the right-hander was effectively wild in keeping New York from making any solid contact. Facing the Yankees for the first time in 240 big league games -- 223 starts -- Nolasco gave up a run on seven hits and four walks. He struck out three while throwing 107 pitches, 59 for strikes. "A hard six innings," Gardenhire said. "Its never easy against these guys." Wind was whipping through the stadium when Arcia homered to right field with one out in the second. Several minutes earlier, a brief but heavy rain shower in the first inning sent fans scampering for cover. Willingham led off the fourth with a drive over the 399-foot marker in left-centre, his second long ball since coming off the disabled list Monday. Arcia followed with a single, then Plouffe hit a two-run shot into Monument Park in centre field for a 4-1 lead. The four runs allowed by Nuno ended a streak of 14 straight games in which Yankees starters allowedd three earned runs or fewer.dddddddddddd Nuno retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced and struck out seven without allowing a walk in 6 2-3 innings. "His stuff was pretty decent," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "But when he made a mistake, they hit it out of the park." Twins centre fielder Danny Santana left in the third inning when he was cut on his left eyelid by his own bouncing batting helmet. Santana was sliding headfirst into third base on a successful steal attempt when his helmet flew off. It hit the dirt and caromed up, clipping his eye. Santana was replaced by Aaron Hicks, who had missed two games with a stiff back. Santana got seven stitches and said he probably wont be able to play until the swelling around his eye goes down. The Yankees tied it 1-all in the third on Jacoby Ellsburys RBI double and had opportunities to cut into the Twins three-run lead in the fifth and sixth. Arcia helped end both rallies with rocket throws from right field. In the fifth, his accurate heave on Derek Jeters one-out single forced Brett Gardner to hold at third. Jeter strayed too far off first and Gardner broke for home. The speedy Gardner was tagged out in a rundown. "Its just a bad read, and its going to happen from time to time," Girardi said of Jeter getting caught off first. Arcia threw out Brian Roberts trying to score on Yangervis Solartes single to end the sixth. "Hes always had a good arm," Willingham said. "I think its more consistency with him." NOTES: The Twins last hit three homers in a game on Sept. 10, 2013. ... Yankees OF-DH Carlos Beltran (bone spur, right elbow) was very happy after a pain-free batting practice session. ... New York RHP Shawn Kelley (back) had his first bullpen session since being sidelined May 7. He will likely have another one Sunday. ... Gardenhire said RHP Mike Pelfrey, who had Tommy John surgery in 2012, has inflammation in his elbow and is being treated with medication. Pelfreys velocity has dropped from low 90s to around 87 mph. Gardenhire said Pelfrey was experiencing tingling in his fingers. ... Twins OF Sam Fuld (concussion) did cardio exercises and some light hitting off a tee. ... Up next: Minnesota RHP Kevin Correia (2-6) faces Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka (7-1) on Saturday. ' ' '