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SAN DIEGO - Recently retired big leaguer Mark Kotsay was hired Monday as hitting coach of the San Diego Padres, a job with precious little security.Kotsay is the seventh person to hold the job since spacious Petco Park opened in 2004. By comparison, the Padres have had only two managers since then, Bruce Bochy and Bud Black.Kotsay replaces Phil Plantier, who was fired after the end of last season. The Padres offence was abysmal in 2014, particularly in the first half.Im not really worried about job security. In my role, I look at it as an opportunity to get back into the game that I love, the opportunity to be part of a great coaching staff and help lead this group of hitters in the direction we foresee, said Kotsay, who had two stints with the Padres.It will be the first professional coaching job for Kotsay, who turns 39 on Tuesday. After retiring from his playing career following the 2013 season, he spent last season as a special assistant to the Padres general manager.Kotsay said he had 12 different hitting coaches in his 17 big league seasons.Its a difficult task. Its a role that in some regards is not necessarily rewarding, he said. Being recently retired ... my connection to the game and the players that Im going to be leading is very close, very new, very fresh. I think that I will have an understanding of what theyre going through as players, based on my career, and the different roles that I played as an offensive player on different teams, the successes, the failures. Ill be able to reflect on what theyre going through and things like that.Kotsay played parts of 17 big league seasons with the Marlins, Padres, Athletics, Braves, Red Sox, White Sox and Brewers. The left-hander had a career average of .276, with 127 home runs and 720 RBIs in 1,914 games.Being the Padres hitting coach has largely been thankless and short-lived for Kotsays predecessors.Plantier replaced Randy Ready, who was fired a day after the Padres finished last in the NL West at 71-91 in 2011. The other Padres hitting coaches during the teams time at Petco Park have been Dave Magadan, Merv Rettenmund, Wally Joyner and Jim Lefebvre. All were fired except Joyner, who resigned late in the 2008 season, before he could be fired.When Plantier was fired, the Padres said his assistant, Alonzo Powell, would return to the staff.As for getting the Padres to hit better at Petco Park, Kotsay said hell tell the players to use the field for the way it is. Theres a lot of open space out there in the outfield and you will reward yourself when you take a positive at-bat. In the long run its about scoring runs. When we score three or four runs in Petco Park with the pitching staff we have, it will present opportunities to win games. Last years club, in the second half of the season, made improvements. Were going to continue to hopefully build on those improvements in spring training, with the philosophy being that we as a group are going to be better. Thats the focus.In a statement, Black said: Marks career as a player, teammate and team leader speaks for itself. His knowledge, work ethic, competiveness and personality will greatly impact our major league club, as well as our entire organization.The Padres have missed the playoffs for eight straight seasons. They finished third in the NL West at 77-85, 17 games behind the division-champion Los Angeles Dodgers.___Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson Wholesale Asics Shoes . The 48th-ranked Williams made her first appearance in Dubai since she won her second straight title here in 2010. Shed missed the last three years either because of injury or Sjogrens Syndrome. Wholesale Asics Shoes Free Shipping . Teams one through twenty competing in Englands top flight are each fatally flawed. A wide-open, highly competitive and mistake-filled season has followed. http://www.cheapasics.com/ . Left-handed reliever Boone Logan agreed to a $16.5 million, three-year contract on Friday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. Cheap Asics Shoes . Listen to the Rangers vs. Kings live on TSN Radio starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also stream the post-game press conferences live on TSN. Cheap Asics Shoes Online . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey.CINCINNATI - Andy Dalton looked over the spread-out Ravens defence and decided there was enough room for a quarterback sneak.With a push from his linemen, he surged into end zone for a last-minute win.Surged the Bengals back into first place, too.Dalton made up for his two fourth-quarter turnovers by scoring on a 1-yard sneak with 57 seconds left on Sunday, rallying Cincinnati to a 27-24 victory over Baltimore that changed the AFC Norths pecking order.After three very bad weeks, the Bengals (4-2-1) were back atop the tightly bunched division.That was a cool moment, a cool experience and exactly what we had to have in that situation, said Dalton, who scored Cincinnatis first and last touchdowns on 1-yard sneaks.It was especially satisfying for Dalton, who had a fumble and an interception in the fourth quarter that let an 11-point lead slip away. The Ravens (5-3) took advantage and pulled ahead 24-20 with 3:59 to go.Dalton pulled it out with a 10-play, 80-yard drive against the NFLs stingiest defence.He was like, Were good, weve got this, receiver Mohamed Sanu said.Dalton threw a 53-yard pass to Sanu on third-and-10 — safety Terrence Brooks got turned around and couldnt make a play on the ball — to get Cincinnati in range.Dalton was 3 of 5 for 62 yards on the drive, converting a pair of third downs.On the fourth-down play from just beyond the 1-yard line, Dalton had the option of taking it himself. The Bengals sent three receivers to the right, and he figured the sneak would work. His linemen gave him the final push over the goal line.They could have called forward progress stopped, yes they could have, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.It was the first touchdown that the Ravens had allowed in the final 2 minutes of a game this season. The 24 points were the most they have allowed overall.The Bengals had to wait out a few scary moments before celebrating.Joe Flacco eluded the rush and lofted a pass to Steve Smith, who went 80 yards for an apparent touchdown with 32 seconds left. Smith was called for pushing off on George Iloka to get open, nullifying the play.That was pass interference two years ago, it was pass interference last year, its pass interference thiss year, and it will be pass interference for the next two years, Iloka said.dddddddddddd I knew it right away.With that, the Bengals had their first series sweep of the Ravens since 2009. They won the season opener 23-16 in Baltimore on A.J. Greens juggling 77-yard touchdown in the closing minutes.Green was inactive on Sunday for the third week in a row because of an injured big right toe, hurt in the opener at Baltimore. Sanu filled in and had two big plays while finishing with five catches for a career-high 125 yards.Sanu also made a one-handed catch for a 48-yard pass play on Cincinnatis game-opening drive, which ended with a 1-yard sneak by Dalton. He was 21 of 28 for 266 yards with an interception, a fumble and two sacks.Those turnovers helped Baltimore take its first lead. Haloti Ngata forced a fumble by Dalton that Daryl Smith returned to the 8-yard line, and Lorenzo Taliaferros second touchdown run put the Ravens up 21-20.C.J. Mosley intercepted Daltons tipped pass, setting up Justin Tuckers 53-yard field goal with 3:59 to go. Just like in the opener, the Ravens defence couldnt hold onto a late lead.Flacco was 17 of 34 for 195 yards with two interceptions and a sack. The Ravens dominated the first half against a struggling defence — Cincinnati had allowed more than 500 yards in two of its past three games — but couldnt get touchdowns out of long drives.Baltimore had the ball for 18 plays on its first drive, but Flaccos incompletion on fourth down from the 1-yard line made the Ravens come up empty. It was the longest drive without points in franchise history.Notes: Ravens WR Torrey Smith ran into a cluster of players in the second half and was tested for a concussion, but returned. WR Michael Campanaro pulled a hamstring in the third quarter and didnt return. CB Jimmy Smith left with a foot injury during the Bengals opening drive. Harbaugh provided no specifics on the injuries. ... Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict left during Baltimores opening series after hurting his left knee but returned. RG Kevin Zeitler reinjured his right calf, which forced him to miss three games.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '