TORONTO -- The numbers caught up with the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. So did the San Antonio Spurs. Without four new recruits from the Rudy Gay trade, the depleted Raptors ran out of steam against the well-stocked defending Western Conference champions. Led by Manu Ginobilis 16 points, seven Spurs scored in double figures as San Antonio recovered from a slow start to thump the Raptors 116-103 in NBA play. Toronto (7-13) led by as much as 14 in the first quarter but, with little help available on the bench, faded fast and San Antonio (16-4) pulled ahead as the game wore on. DeMar DeRozan and Amir Johnson led Toronto with 19 points. Tony Parker finished with 15 and Tim Duncan 14 as the Spurs went to their bench early. It was Torontos first game since the Gay trade was officially approved by the league, although the players involved sat out Sundays 106-94 road win over the Lakers. Toronto used just eight players in the win, snapping a five-game losing streak. "They got us in the second quarter. That was the difference in the game," said Toronto coach Dwane Casey. "I was really happy and proud with the way our guys executed in the first quarter. Kind of a carryover from the L.A. game and thats a good sign. "Again, theres no excuses in this league but Im going to chalk this one to travel a little bit, we ran out of gas. But youre talking about one of the best teams in the league in (San Antonio)." The Raptors -- returning home from a three-game West Coast swing -- were without Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes, acquired Monday in the deal that sent Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento. Forward Tyler Hansbrough was not available Tuesday, sidelined by a shoulder sprain. D.J. Augustin was waived on Monday. That left 10 players available to face the Spurs, with DeRozan and Terrence Ross struggling with their accuracy, shooting a combined 10 of 27. "You can make all the excuses. I dont want to make any excuses," said guard Kyle Lowry. "We just lost tonight." "It is what it is," DeRozan said of the Raptors lack of help. "Youve got to deal with it. We went out there and played hard." Patterson, Salmons and Hayes were due to arrive in Toronto late Tuesday with Venezuelas Vasquez slated to come in Wednesday due to red tape requirements. The Spurs, meanwhile, were in their third country in less than a week. San Antonio was in Mexico City last week for a date with the Minnesota Timberwolves that was eventually postponed due to smoke inside the arena. Tuesdays game was the first of four in five nights for the Spurs, who were coming off a 111-100 loss Sunday in Indiana. Three-point shooting helped the Spurs gain their lead. San Antonio, moving the ball around nicely before going cold late from outside the arc, hit 13 of 23 compared to 10 of 23 for Toronto. Toronto had 19 turnovers, which yielded 20 points. Centre Jonas Valanciunas looked good early Tuesday, sinking his first five shots with an arsenal ranging from a dunk and hook shot to put-back layup and tip. But he only scored four points the rest of the way. Led by the Lithuanian, Toronto made its first six baskets for a 13-6 lead before DeRozan missed a three-point attempt some four minutes in. The first quarter ended with the Raptors ahead 36-24 and shooting at 62.5 per cent compared to 47.8 for San Antonio. Torontos two bigs, Valanciunas and Johnson, combined for 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting while Spurs stars Duncan and Parker totalled eight points. "We played good basketball after the first quarter," said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. "We played very badly in the first quarter, no defence. Then we played pretty good ball after that." San Antonio took control in the second quarter, outscoring Toronto 35-17 as the Raptors missed on 14-of-22 shots. A 13-2 Spurs run at the start of the quarter narrowed the gap to one point and the visitors pulled ahead for the first time, 41-40, courtesy of an Aron Baynes dunk. San Antonio led 59-53 at the half, closing with a 13-4 run. Valanciunas and Johnson were stuck on 24 points after two quarters. Torontos shooting percentage was down to 50 while the Spurs improved to 54.8. The depleted Toronto bench was 1-of-7 shooting in the first half (9 of 25 overall) compared to 10 of 17 for the Spurs (23 of 38). San Antonio pushed the lead to 15, up 89-74 at the end of the third quarter. The game was pretty much over by then. Casey says plenty of work lies ahead for the new-look Raps. "Were going to treat (practice) Wednesday and Thursday like training camp, weve got so many new guys coming in," he said prior to the game. "Were going to go back to basics. Weve got to find out where guys can fit in." Ross got the start at small forward Tuesday, with Casey calling the six-foot-six Ross a "freak athlete" who is one of the most athletic players he has ever coached in the NBA. "Hes a great athlete. He just has to harness that, bring it in and be a complete player, and do it on a consistent basis." Tuesday was not his night to show it, however. He finished with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting. "Hes a young kid but thats the only way hes going to learn, to be in there in the fray," Casey said later. "I thought he did some good things." "A typical young guy," he added. "He and Jonas both are error-prone and weve got to continue to work with them and get them better in those areas and cut those (mistakes) down." Asked if Ross will continue to get the start, Casey said: "Well see." He called the start "an opportunity, not given." Canadian Cory Joseph and former Raptor Matt Bonner got warm receptions when they checked into the game for the Spurs in the fourth quarter. Baynes, a six-foot-10 Australian in his second year in the NBA, finished with a timely career-high 14 for the Spurs, who were without injured centre Tiago Splitter (calf). San Antonio is now 30-9 all-time against the Raptors, and has won the last six meetings. Torontos last victory over the Spurs was Jan. 3, 2010, at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto FCs Brazilian target Gilberto was said to be in attendance. Raptors global ambassador Drake was also courtside. Ultra Boost Outlet . Teams one through twenty competing in Englands top flight are each fatally flawed. A wide-open, highly competitive and mistake-filled season has followed. Adidas Gazelle Sale Deutschland . -- Challenged for the first time under Major League Baseballs expanded replay system, umpires got it right. http://www.nmdschuhesale.de/ultra-boost-...0-outlet.html.5 million contract with the right-handed reliever. Ziegler revealed the agreement via Twitter, saying hes "really excited to stay in Arizona for a couple more years, at least. Adidas Nmd Grosshandel Deutschland .Y. - Major League Soccers independent review panel has taken back the fine and one-game suspension it placed on Toronto FC forward Luke Moore earlier this week. Nmd Cs1 Primeknit Schuh Schwarz) .S.-Cuba relations means baseball prospects get off the island and into the major leagues without payoffs to smugglers and threats from kidnappers, its hard to see the downside.(SportsNetwork.com) - Detroit right-hander Justin Verlander endured one of the worst years of his career this past season. But on Thursday, Verlander can put a seasons worth of frustration behind him, as he takes the ball for the Tigers in the decisive fifth game of the American League Division Series against the Oakland Athletics. "Its not just another game," Verlander said. "The season is on the line. The whole season, the way we battled and played as a team, comes down to one game. May the best team win. You cant treat it like another game, you know. Its a little bit different. There is more to it. Its going to be fun. Its what you play the game for. Its exciting. This is what you dream of as a kid, to be on the mound in a clinching game." Of course, Verlander was in this exact same position last year and responded by striking out 11 in a four-hit shutout to propel the Tigers to the ALCS. He was equally as dominant against the As in Game 2 of this series, but did not get a decision, despite tossing seven scoreless innings in his teams 1-0 loss. Verlander, though, was 13-12 during the season and finished the year with his highest ERA (3.46), lowest strikeout rate (23.5 percent) and lowest innings total (218 1/3) since 2008 and battled through reduced velocity. However, the 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner started to show signs of the pitcher he has been down the stretch and pitched to a 2.27 ERA in his final six starts of the regular season. "I think its just some of the adjustments I made, one of the maybe a thousand that I tried to make this year," he said. "It was definitely a grind all year. Then it reached a point where I realized it was going to take awhile, that it wasnt going to be one thing I had to fix." Oakland, meanwhile, has relied on a lot of young arms this season. If they want to play another game theyll need to lean on another, as for the seventh time in their last 10 postseason games the As will hand the ball to a rookie hurler. Sonny Gray takes the ball as he did in Game 2 versus Verlander and the Tigers and will try to duplicate that performance which saw him strike out nine batters over eight scoreless innings. A 23-year-old righty, Gray has just 11 big league starts under his belt. Yet, Oakland manager Bob Melvin chose him rather than 40-year-old Bartolo Colon, who won 18 games this season and was second in the AL with a 2.dddddddddddd5 ERA. "Obviously, we had two great options there with Bartolo," As manager Bob Melvin said during a late-afternoon conference call Wednesday. "We looked at it at a bunch of different angles. We have a lot of smart people in our front office and in our baseball operations and the short of it is it came down to Sonny and the last game he pitched in similar conditions in our ballpark. So thats the route were going to go." Including the Game 2 assignment, Gray pitched to a 1.66 ERA in seven home starts. Hes also struck out 47 batters over 48 2/3 innings of those outings. "Hes got a power arm and lot of talent, but its hard to know -- like in Game 2 -- how a young guy is going to react," As shortstop Jed Lowrie said about Gray. "But he went out there with all the confidence in the world and performed pretty well." Detroit staved off elimination on Tuesday, as it rallied twice and held on to beat the Athletics, 8-6. Victor Martinez homered in the win, while Game 1 winner Max Scherzer, who relieved starter Doug Fister in the seventh, escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth with two strikeouts and a line drive for the Tigers, who are trying to get back to the ALCS for the second straight year. "To be able to get out of that jam, I mean, thats something Ill never forget," said Scherzer. "Thats something Im not really asked to do, and tonight I was." Lowrie hit a two-run homer and knocked in Oaklands first three runs as the As built a 3-0 lead through the first 4 1/2 innings. Oakland will be trying to buck a trend of Game 5 failures on Thursday. The As have lost all five Game 5s they have played in the ALDS and are a miserable 1-11 in potential clinching games since losing the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds back in 1990. Detroit, which lost four of seven games against the As during the season, has beaten Oakland the last two times these teams have met in the postseason. The As only win against the Tigers in the playoffs came in the 1972 ALCS, which started a run of three consecutive world titles for Oakland. The winner of tonights contest will play Game 1 of the ALCS in Boston on Saturday. ' ' '