METAIRIE, La. Justin Turner Jersey . - The New Orleans Saints have relinquished their short-term injured reserve designation for this season by cutting rookie linebacker Khairi Fortt on Monday, one week before he would have been eligible to return to practice.The short-term injured reserve rule was created by the NFL in 2012 to allow clubs to remove one player each per season from their active roster for about half a season while the player rehabilitates from a significant injury.Teams generally save the designation for prominent players, as the Baltimore Ravens did in 2012 with linebacker Ray Lewis.Lewis tore a muscle in his arm in October during the regular season, returned from short-term injured reserve in December and helped the Ravens beat San Francisco in the Super Bowl in New Orleans.The Saints chose to use the designation at the beginning of the season on the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Fortt, a fourth-round draft choice out of California who missed much of training camp with an unspecified leg injury.Had Fortt remained on the roster, he would have been allowed to return to practice after the Saints return from their bye in Week 7. He would have been eligible to play in Week 9.The Fortt transaction was made official by NFL headquarters on Monday afternoon.Earlier in the day, Saints coach Sean Payton declined to answer a question about Fortts prospects for returning to practice following Week 6.If the Saints had decided not to use the short-term designation on Fortt, they either would have had to cut him before the regular season, or use one of 53 active roster spots on him during his rehabilitation.The Saints also could have elected to place him on regular injured reserve, allowing him to spend all of 2014 rehabilitating and learning the defence before coming back to play in 2015.One of those options would have allowed the Saints to save the short-term injured reserve designation for an early season injury to a more prominent player.On Friday, Payton announced that three-time Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd had torn knee cartilage in practice on Thursday.Payton said Byrds rehabilitation from surgery was going to take long enough to require Byrd to be placed on season-ending injured reserve.As of Monday evening, Byrd was still on the active roster, though Payton said earlier in the day that the Saints still planned to place him on injured reserve.___Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Andre Ethier Jersey . -- With Tony Allen back, the Memphis Grizzlies were able to turn up their defence pressure and hold off the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch. Mike Piazza Jersey . -- Valentin Zykov scored in overtime as the Baie-Comeau Drakkar rallied to a 3-2 victory over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. http://www.dodgersteamproshop.com/Dodgers-Chase-Utley-Kids-Jersey/ .com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome.CHICAGO -- Jeremy Guthrie was pleased with the way he was pitching over the previous two months. He just didnt have anything to show for it. He wasnt happy with much of his performance Friday night, but it was good enough to snap an 11-game winless streak. Lorenzo Cain had a two-run double to highlight a five-run first inning, Guthrie pitched into the sixth inning and the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. "Baseball is a very funny game," Guthrie said. "This is a very ironic way to pick up a win after a long stretch -- not pitch very well, not pitch too deep in the game, but do enough to help the team win." Guthrie (3-6) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. Before Friday, he had gone at least seven innings in four of his last five games. His last win was on April 9, against Tampa Bay. "This is probably the worst game hes had in this streak," Royals manager Ned Yost said. The right-hander had pitched well enough to win on several occasions, but received the lowest run support in the AL (2.59) during that span. That wasnt an issue Friday. Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler each had two RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the first inning, for Kansas City. Jose Quintana (3-7) never recovered from the slow start, allowing six runs and eight hits in six innings. Jose Abreu went 1 for 4 with an RBI for the White Sox. The Royals staked Guthrie to a five-run lead before he took the mound. The first four batters -- Nori Aoki, Omar Infante, Hosmer and Butler -- all singled to make it 2-0 and fifth-place hitter Alex Gordon followed with a double to right field to make it 3-0. After Quintana struck out Salvador Perez for the first out of the game, Cain stroked a double to left to drive in two more and made it 5-0. "In the past Qs always been a little slow coming out of the first inning," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "But they were swinging it. They barrelled him up and it happened fast." The White Sox got a run back in the bottom of the fiirst on a sacrifice fly by Abreu. Matt Kemp Jersey. The Royals got it back in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Hosmer. Chicago loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the inning as Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo singled and Alejandro De Aza walked, but the White Sox pushed across just one run -- on a walk to Adam Eaton -- to make it 6-2. "I didnt come out aggressive enough," Guthrie said. "A couple of walks and I loaded the bases in the second. I was very fortunate to get out of the first two innings with just a couple of runs and then I was able to settle down down the stretch." Guthrie struck out Tyler Flowers with no outs and then struck out Gordon Beckham with one out following the walk to Eaton. Conor Gillaspie then flied out to centre to end the inning. The starters then settled down and neither team scored over the next four innings. "He was at 74 pitches through three and I was like, OK, if you can just get us through five with the lead, thats going to be a heck of a job," Brewers manager Ned Yost said of Guthrie. "He ended up throwing 14 pitches in the fourth inning, six pitches in the fifth and got two outs in the sixth." Kansas City added a run in the seventh on Hosmers run-scoring single to make it 7-2. NOTES: Royals SS Alcides Escobar left the game in the eighth inning with a cramp in the left calf. "If he feels tightness tomorrow, well probably give him the day off," Yost said. .The White Sox have signed RHP Henry Rodriguez to a minor league contract. Rodriguez, released by Miami earlier this season, has been assigned to Triple-A Charlotte and will begin on the DL. ... The last time LHP Chris Sale had a high pitch count he landed on the DL for a month, but Ventura had no problems with the Chicago ace throwing 116 on Thursday. "He felt great going there and he didnt have that inning where he really had to fight through it and battle," Ventura said. ... LHP Danny Duffy (3-5) takes on RHP Hector Noesi (2-4) in the second game of the series Saturday. Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Mets Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys ' ' '