ttom half.TRAINERS ROOMReds: RHP Homer Bailey (elbow surgery) is scheduled to make his second rehab appearance with Tripl

PHOENIX -- After a season of injuries and indecision, the Phoenix Suns hope they have tweaked their young roster correctly as they open the 2016-17 season against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.Two years ago, the Suns best three guards (Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas) all played the same position. But the logjam at point guard quickly went from unworkable to untenable, beginning a spiral that forced a reboot to the Suns rebuilding plans.Now the Suns kick off the 2016-17 season with three guards with defined positions and roles.Bledsoe is the survivor of the purge and the undisputed point guard, hoping to rebound from injuries that forced him to watch most of last seasons 23-59 disaster from the sideline.Devin Booker, who rose from the ashes of a terrible season, is now the starting shooting guard and face of the franchise a few days shy of his 20th birthday. He became the fourth-youngest player in league history (behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant) to score 1,000 points in a season.Brandon Knight, plagued by injuries and inconsistency but an undeniable offensive force, will come off the bench as a sixth man who will see major playing time in coach Earl Watsons rotation that now includes former Suns Leandro Barbosa and Jared Dudley and a host of promising but unproven talent.With Bledsoe, Booker, Knight and Barbosa heading up the guard rotation, the Suns waived Archie Goodwin on Monday and opted to keep John Jenkins and Tyler Ulis at the end of the bench. Goodwin had several highlight-reel moments during his three seasons with the Suns but never enough to warrant serious playing time.Suns general manager Ryan McDonough told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that Goodwin had requested a change of scenery.We felt like we got down to 16 really good, quality NBA players. Archie and his agents for the last few months asked us to accommodate a trade request, McDonough said. With that in mind, we told Archie and his agent wed try to help him move to a team where hed have an opportunity and play. Unfortunately, we werent able to work out a deal. This time of a year, its hard.Forward P.J. Tucker, who underwent back surgery in September, was cleared to play on Tuesday and will come off the bench. T.J. Warren, coming off season-ending foot surgery himself, will start at forward with Dudley and Tyson Chandler at center.While the Suns have missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, the Kings are trying to break a 10-year postseason drought. Despite an explosive season from center DeMarcus Cousins, who ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring at 26.9 points per game, the Kings won only 33 games -- the most in Cousins six season in Sacramento.The Kings won three out of four meetings with the Suns last season, and Cousins was a big reason.Sacramento will start the season without starting point guard Darren Collison, who will begin an eight-game suspension due to a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. Ty Lawson will start at the point for the Kings, looking to rebound after two poor seasons and two DUI arrests in 2015.The Kings will open the season with 11 games in the first 17 days. Most of those games will be with Lawson as the only true point guard on the roster.Its going to be a rough stretch, Lawson told the Sacramento Bee. If things go bad, weve just got to stick together. We cant pull apart. Things are going to happen, but I feel like if we stay positive and stick together, well be able to get through it.Former Sun and new King Matt Barnes will miss his first game with the Kings due to rib and knee problems.Kaleb McGary Womens Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Calvin Ridley Youth Jersey .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Takkarist-McKinley-Falcons-Jersey/ . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Deion Sanders Womens Jersey . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Steve Bartkowski Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July.WASHINGTON -- Two games into their series with the NL East-leading Washington Nationals, the Cincinnati Reds have been blown out and edged in 14 innings.Its been a sampling of the Reds entire season, really, and when it comes right down to it, one loss hurts just as much as the other.The Reds wasted another solid start by right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and fell to the Nationals 3-2 in 14 innings Friday night.Cincinnati outhit Washington, but in the end a two-out RBI double by Ben Revere in the 14th inning proved to be the difference.DeSclafani gave up two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight. His solid outing came one night after the Reds were hammered in a 13-4 defeat.They beat us up pretty good, so its typical after a game like that you have a well-pitched game and a close one, Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. Unfortunately, it took 14 innings to be decided. It puts us in a situation to be a little thin (in the bullpen).The last-place Reds have lost five straight and nine of 10.Its definitely tough, obviously, and the way the season has gone, DeSclafani said. The whole team fought hard and the bullpen pitched great. You get into those extra innings and it seems like nobody can scratch a run across the board.DeSclafani left after Washington put runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh and the scored tied at 2. Raisel Iglesias entered and retired Jayson Werth on a hard-hit grounder.DeSclafani, who began the season on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, is 2-0 with a 1.78 ERA in five starts since his return on June 10.The Reds cant seem to find the right mix of hitting and pitching in a nine-inning game.Thats why we have a record like this, Price said. We could use a win and a well-played game.Reveres liner off the wall in right-center agaiinst Ross Ohlendorf (5-6) scored Danny Espinosa, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.ddddddddddddThat ended a game that lasted 4 hours, 30 minutes.Yusmeiro Petit (3-1), the sixth Washington pitcher, worked two innings for the win.Nationals starter Tanner Roark allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings. He struck out four and walked two.Two singles and a sacrifice fly by Daniel Murphy put Washington up 1-0 in the first and ended DeSclafanis scoreless streak at 13 innings.Tucker Barnhart tied it for the Reds with an RBI single in the second.Cincinnati went up 2-1 in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Adam Duvall, but a two-out double by Murphy tied it in the bottom half.TRAINERS ROOMReds: RHP Homer Bailey (elbow surgery) is scheduled to make his second rehab appearance with Triple-A Louisville on Saturday. He pitched an inning on Monday. ... RHP Caleb Cotham (shoulder) began his rehab stint by facing four batters on Thursday with Double-A Pensacola. He gave up two hits, a walk and three runs.Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (back, ribs) could be close to coming off the DL. Manager Dusty Baker said Strasburg threw on the side on Thursday and he told me he felt good. How do you keep a guy on the shelf if he tells you he feels good? Baker added: Each time he doesnt go out there, hes getting farther and farther behind on his endurance and on his sharpness.UP NEXTReds: RHP Dan Straily (4-5, 4.38 ERA) faces Washington for the second time this season Saturday night. He allowed two hits in seven innings on June 4 but received no decision.Nationals: RHP Joe Ross (7-4, 3.30) faces the Reds for the first time. Ross is 4-0 in seven starts since May 21. ' ' '