SAN FRANCISCO -- Jeff Samardzija had a simple game plan against the Atlanta Braves that helped him earn a much-needed win and moved the slumping-but-still-surviving San Francisco Giants closer to first place in the NL West.Just made them hit it to (shortstop Brandon) Crawford mostly, Samardzija said, referring to his Gold Glove teammate.The plan couldnt have worked out much better for Samardzija or the Giants.Sparked by a handful of defensive gems by Crawford, Samardzija and two relievers combined on a seven-hitter, and San Francisco beat Atlanta 7-0 on Friday night.Samardzija (11-9) had an uneven outing and had to pitch out of two early jams to win for only the fourth time since May 30. He got plenty of help from Crawford, who threw out a runner at third in the first inning, snared a liner to end the second with the bases loaded then made a nifty bare-handed grab to throw out Dansby Swanson to end the sixth.I like getting groundballs so Im glad that (Samardzija) feels confident in me to make those plays for him, Crawford said.Samardzija allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out six. He also doubled and scored in the fourth.Atlanta failed to score in the first after putting runners at second and third with one out. The Braves also came up empty after the first three batters reached base in the second, then ran themselves out of another opportunity in the fourth when Jace Peterson was called out after getting hit by the ball on pitcher Joel De La Cruzs single.Rocky start but he did a great job of getting out of those jams, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Samardzija. He just kept his concentration and his poise. Saved the game probably at that point for us.Angel Pagan homered while Brandon Belt, Denard Span and Buster Posey added two hits apiece for the Giants. San Francisco scored six runs on two-out hits and benefited from three Atlanta errors.Freddie Freeman had two hits for Atlanta, one day after taking a hard fall while flipping over a railing chasing a foul ball.Hunter Strickland and Cory Gearrin retired three batters apiece for San Francisco.The Giants benefited from the Braves shaky defense to give Samardzija an early cushion.San Francisco had four consecutive two-out hits off De La Cruz (0-7) in the first inning following a throwing error by Atlanta shortstop Swanson.We go up early and its a whole different game, really, Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. We just couldnt score and it looked like (Samardzija) got locked in pretty good.San Francisco went up 5-0 in the second on Pagans ninth home run, three batters after Gorkys Hernandez reached on second baseman Petersons fielding error.Belt, who had an RBI single and scored in the first inning, doubled in Posey in the fifth.The Braves couldnt keep up.NO HELP FOR THE PITCHERDe La Cruz remained winless after allowing seven runs in four innings but he cant shoulder all the blame for his record. The Braves have failed to score in five of the eight games started by the right-hander and he is receiving just 1.3 runs of support per start. I thought he threw the ball OK but (your teammates) make some miscues and you need to get the next guy out and he wasnt able to do that, Snitker said. It wasnt real good, really.TRAINERS ROOMBraves: Freeman showed no lingering effects after hurting his back during Thursdays game in Arizona. Freeman doubled in the first inning and reached on an infield single in the fifth.Giants: Outfielder Hunter Pence was held out after straining his right hamstring a day earlier. Pence is hopeful of returning to the lineup Saturday.UP NEXTBraves: RHP Mike Foltynewicz (6-5) faces the Giants for the second time this season Saturday night. Foltynewicz, who beat San Francisco on May 30, is winless in his last two starts overall.Giants: RHP Jake Peavy (5-9) returns to the rotation for the first time since being demoted to the bullpen following the trade for Matt Moore on Aug. 1. Peavy last started on May 30 against Washington. Wholesale NBA Shoes UK . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. New Balance UK Outlet . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. http://www.newbalancesaleuk.com/ . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Cheap New Balance Shoes UK Free Shipping . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Cheap Authentic Shoes UK . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are feeling good about themselves after winning two games in a row.The Vancouver Canucks are frustrated with their inability to score goals, let alone win games.The young Maple Leafs will try to keep the good times rolling when they play the Canucks on Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre after they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Thursday for their first road win of the season.The Canucks (4-6-1) lost 1-0 to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and have been shut out in four of their past five games. They have lost six in a row in regulation time and seven straight dating to an Oct. 22 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings. They have scored a league-low 17 goals in 11 games.They feel that were getting chances, were just not scoring, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said Friday when asked how his team is handling the slump. Theyve played the game long enough that they know they will eventually come. If youre playing poorly its tough. Its hard, too, when youve played well and you havent got anything. ... Our goaltenders have played well, both of them.Right now were getting in front of the net, were getting to those rebounds but we cant find a way to score, Canucks left winger Daniel Sedin said. But we have to stay positive. Usually when you go through these stretches youre not playing very well but we are playing well and creating enough chances to score some goals and thats the frustrating part. I feel we could have won a few of those game.The Maple Leafs (4-4-3), meanwhile, are gaining confidence after winning in Buffalo for the firsst time since Jan.dddddddddddd 29, 2013, when they won in overtime.Mitch Marner had the first two-goal game in the NHL. He has been playing on a line with Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk.We werent happy with our last couple of games, Marner said. We were giving up too many chances and (Thursday) we just wanted to play sound defensively and get back hard and help the D out. We knew if we played hard D wed get the chances on offense and luckily it happened.Mitch had a real good game and then hadnt been as good, Bozak had been sick and James wasnt skating as good, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said, When they got skating they were better. Everybody got cautious. When you havent done a ton of winning and youre young, you get cautious and you start backing up instead of -- the game is way more fun when youre playing with the puck in the offensive zone. Well get that figured out over time as we learn how to win.A key to the win Thursday was the goaltending of Frederik Andersen. He made 42 saves against the Sabres after stopping 44 shots in a 3-2 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.Hes gotten his confidence, obviously, Babcock said. You can see why we made the move for him, hes a big-time goaltender and hes going to give us confidence as time goes on.The Canucks know what they are facing in the Maple Leafs.Theyve got their focus on coming with a lot of energy every night and thats why theyre hard to play against, Desjardins said. ' ' '