FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Fumbles plagued Stevan Ridley even when the ball was dry. A steady rain presents another challenge to the New England Patriots running back. It wasnt a problem for him Thursday. The Patriots continued their organized team activities on a soggy day and Ridley gripped the ball as if his job depended on it. It might if he keeps fumbling. "I told one of the young guys today, thats the quickest way to get off the field," Ridley said. "You can ask me first." Hes speaks from experience. Ridley lost fumbles in three consecutive games last season. After the third, in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 24, he was benched for the rest of New Englands 34-31 comeback win in overtime. He lost a total of four fumbles last season leading to three touchdowns and a field goal. So hes been focusing on avoiding a repeat this year. "All you can do is really squeeze (the ball) high and tight," Ridley said. "I think that was a lesson I had to go through and, hopefully, I wont have to go through it again, but who knows? "A little bit of adversity never hurts anybody. ... You take your mistakes, you learn from them and you grow and you just keep on pushing." The third-round pick from LSU fumbled just once as a rookie in 2011, but the Patriots recovered it. He lost two of his four fumbles in 2012 before the problem escalated last year. And his rushing production dropped -- from 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns on 290 carries in 2012 to 773 yards and seven touchdowns on 178 attempts. So hes concentrating on improving his overall focus on every play. "I think if I can do that I can become a better player," Ridley said. "When you lose focus on the small things -- whether its small assignments, whether its carrying the football, whether its running a route, whether its blitz pickup -- those are things that cost you your playing time." LeGarrette Blount emerged as the top back late in the season, rushing for 431 yards and eight touchdowns in three straight games before both runners were shut down in a 26-16 loss at Denver in the AFC championship game. Blount left for the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent, leaving Ridley, Shane Vereen and Brandon Bolden as coach Bill Belichicks veteran backs. "You can go out there and be a starter one game and the next game youre two or three guys behind," Ridley said. "Thats what Coach stresses to us every week. We have to go out there and be as competitive as we can be. Hes going to play the matchups game and we just have to be unselfish enough to capitalize on the plays that we get." Ridleys four fumbles last year came on dry days. It rained during the last regular-season game, a 34-20 win over the Buffalo Bills, and the first playoff games, a 43-22 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Both games were at Foxborough. On Thursday, three months before the regular season, rain fell throughout practice. "Theres no contact so you should be running your routes perfect. You should be catching every ball thats thrown to you. You shouldnt be dropping anything on the ground," Ridley said. "Rain, sleet, whatevers out there, whatever the conditions are, you have to find a way to fight through that." Some had trouble. One receiver fell while trying to cut. "When you have a wet surface, you have to stick to your fundamentals," wide receiver Julian Edelman said. Wet or dry, Ridley knows he must do that all the time. "Were practicing either way. Coach says he doesnt care about the conditions -- rain, sleet, snow -- were playing in them," he said. "You just never know, but whatever it is there are no excuses." Ridley is entering the final season of his contract and tries not to think much about it. "I have to go out there and play football and hit it hard and run the ball and get wide open," he said. "I just have to be the same player Ive been." Anything else? "Try to go out there and be mistake-free." Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys . The Earthquakes (6-9-7) were coming off a 5-0 loss at home last Saturday to FC Dallas. Even with the draw, the Sounders (13-7-3) climbed back into a tie for both the Western Conference and overall top spot in MLS. Seattle, West co-leader Real Salt Lake and East leader Sporting Kansas City all have 42 points. Cheap Roger Clemens Jersey . This time, it was Eric Chavezs turn. Stuck in a rut since coming off the disabled list, Chavez hit the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning for a run-scoring single, sending the Diamondbacks to another walk-off victory, 4-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night. http://www.cheapbluejaysjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-george-bell-jersey . Osmond, of Marystown, N.L., fell in the middle of her routine and placed fifth in the ladies free skate at Iceberg Skating Palace (110.73 points), but that was all the Canadians needed after a strong performance by Kevin Reynolds in the mens free earlier Sunday. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys China . Adam Lind provided the power and rookie starter Marcus Stroman had the best start of his young career as the Blue Jays dumped the Yankees 8-3 at Rogers Centre. Stroman, making his fifth start for Toronto, allowed one earned run and three hits over a career-high eight innings. Cheap Roberto Alomar Jersey . Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck.NEW YORK -- Aaron Harang knew the score, hed done this before: No hits, too many tosses. Harang didnt allow a hit for seven innings but was pulled after 121 pitches, and reliever Luis Avilan gave up David Wrights two-out single in the eighth as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 6-0 Friday night. "It wasnt that tough of a decision, really," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. As Harangs pitch count increased on a chilly evening, it seemed doubtful he would go the distance. Harang walked six, including two in the sixth inning and another pair in the seventh. "I know how it works," he said. Sure does. In 2011, in his first start for San Diego after missing a month because of a foot injury, he pitched no-hit ball for six innings and was taken out after 95 pitches. Harang retired the first two Mets batters in the seventh, then went to full counts on the next three. He threw 23 pitches in the inning. "If Im through eight, Im going back out," Harang said. Harang (3-1) left for a pinch hitter during a long, four-run eighth. He was never in the on-deck circle -- the decision had already been made. Gonzalez had Harangs health in mind. The 35-year-old righty said he fought his manager, but not much. "I know its probably the hardest decision hes ever going to have to make," Harang said. "He reiterated multiple times, Man, I hate doing that." Gonzalez said it wasnt quite that difficult. "I want him pitching 27 more times," Gonzalez said. "If it was the ninth inning, maybe, think about it." "It gets to the point you chase that no-hitter, chase that dragon, youre up to 140 pitches," he said. "I think we made the right decision." Jordan Walden completed the combined one-hitter. The Mets hit few balls hard against the resurgent Harang, who lowered his ERA to an NL-best 0.70. The closest they came to a hit off him was actually on a check-swing tapper by Travis dArnaud in the second inning. Second baseman Dan Uggla charged, snapped a throw and dArnaud was called out. Television replays appeared to show dArnaud mightve been safe with an infield hit, and manager Terry Collins discusssed the call with first base umpire Eric Cooper.dddddddddddd But Collins didnt challenge it because Lucas Duda, who had been on first, tried to advance to third and was easily beaten by first baseman Freddie Freemans return throw. "I thought I was safe, but its the perfect reason to not challenge something because there was an out at third," dArnaud said. "I know that if you get it right, they give it back to you, but Terry went out, talked to the umpire and then explained the whole situation to me." Wright spoiled the combo no-hit bid with a clean single to left field. The 6-foot-7 Harang took a no-hit try into the seventh inning for the second time this year. He did it in his season debut, giving up a leadoff single in the seventh at Milwaukee. He has never pitched a no-hitter in 13 major league seasons. Harang struck out five. He fanned pinch hitter Andrew Brown with runners at first and second with his final pitch, protecting a 1-0 lead. Harang finished up last season with the Mets, then was let go by Cleveland in spring training. He kept up the Braves recent run of stellar pitching. Julio Teheran beat Philadelphia 1-0 on Wednesday and Alex Wood lost to the Phillies 1-0 Thursday. The Mets had their three-game winning streak snapped. Before the game, they traded slumping first baseman Ike Davis to Pittsburgh and activated outfielder Chris Young from the disabled list. Freeman hit his fifth homer, a two-run shot in the eighth. The Braves got a run on a strange sequence that began with a double by Uggla -- Justin Upton was thrown out at home on the play, but Uggla headed to third and scored when dArnaud threw wildly into left field. Jordan Schafer added an RBI double beyond the reach of right fielder Curtis Granderson. Chris Johnson hit an RBI double off Jonathon Niese (0-2) in the second for a 1-0 lead. NOTES: RHP Ervin Santana (1-0, 0.64 ERA) starts for Atlanta on Saturday vs. RHP Bartolo Colon (1-2, 6.00). Colon has been having back trouble, and Collins said Daisuke Matsuzaka needed to be ready in case the problem flares up. ... Kent Mercker pitched the Braves last no-hitter in 1994. ' ' '