SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Mercedes locked out the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix as Nico Rosberg claimed pole position on Saturday, qualifying ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner. It was Mercedes third straight pole to start the Formula One season but the first for Rosberg, who equaled his father Keke with five career poles. Rosberg leads the championship on 43 points, 18 ahead of Hamilton. "It has just worked well through the weekend, finding my way, making progress and getting through some issues," Rosberg said. "I have good memories of this track, winning the GP2 championship and starting my first race in F1. I enjoy coming here and again today its suited me." Rosberg and Hamilton have a win each from the opening two races of the season and Mercedes also dominated the three practice sessions leading into qualifying, both in day and night conditions, with Sundays race to be held at night for the first time. The only surprise was Rosberg taking pole ahead of Hamilton, who usually thrives in the one-lap format. "I locked up in the last lap but generally I am happy for the team," Hamilton said. "Nico did a great job and naturally Im happy my teammate is there and not someone else." Defending four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel did not even make the final session of qualifying and will start from 10th on the grid -- promoted one spot as his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified third, gets a 10-place grid penalty from the previous race in Malaysia. Vettel paid the price for a session-ending spin in pre-qualifying practice which prevented him from getting valuable data on how to set up the car on the soft-tire, low-fuel setting. He also complained of a downshifting problem. "The final run for some reason was a bit more difficult, the rears were locking up," Vettel said. "We had been playing around with it for quite a while, we are still not where we want to be but I dont want to blame it on that. There was a little bit more in the car which I couldnt get to, so I am not happy with today." Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Sergio Perez qualified fourth and fifth respectively and, with the one-place promotion, both equaled their best career starting positions. Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen qualified sixth, four places ahead of Fernando Alonso, to take the qualifying honours over his teammate for the first time this season in what is expected to a year-long fight between the two former world champions. Alonso said the car was down on power in the final part of qualifying, though he felt the teams starting grid positions of fifth and ninth were "more or less what we expected to be honest." "Q2 we were down a little bit and Q3 we lost more," Alonso said. "Still, we didnt miss out on the possibility of pole position because we are not in that kind of position. Its just a couple of places that hopefully tomorrow we can recover." McLarens Jenson Button, contesting his 250th grand prix, qualified in seventh and his teammate Kevin Magnussen was ninth, separated by Felipe Massa of Williams. Aside from Vettels early elimination, the main surprise of Q2 was Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg qualifying in 12th, having been fastest of all drivers in Q1 and showing strong pace during the practice sessions. Saubers Adrian Sutil was hit with a five-place grid penalty for impeding Lotus Romain Grosjean in the first session of qualifying, sending him to the very back of the grid. cheap jerseys from china . Five first-round trades were made Tuesday night as well as another involving an early second-round selection. cheap jerseys . The judges scored it 49-46, 49-46, 50-45 for Kennedy. Wrestling proved to be the difference with Kennedy taking Bisping down in the first, third and fifth rounds and keeping him there. The crowd at the Colisee Pepsi didnt like it and neither did Bisping, whose game is built on movement and technical striking. http://www.jerseysnflwholesale.us.com/ . During the morning loop on TSN, SportsCentre presents Purple Hearts, a TSN Original feature on Daron Richardson, daughter of former NHL defenceman Luke Richardson, who took her own life at the age of 14. nfl jerseys china . - Adam Scott didnt have to look as far down the leaderboard to find players who suddenly are a real threat to win at Bay Hill. jerseys from china . Even the longest of tenures with the Twins, though, dont last forever. Versatile veteran Michael Cuddyer, voted by local beat writers as the teams most valuable player in 2011, is gone. He will be with the Colorado Rockies next season.HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros wanted to add power to their lineup and a veteran presence to their young team. They think they got both by agreeing to a $2.9 million, one-year contract with Carlos Pena. "We believe he is exactly the kind of player we need in this organization at this time," general manager Jeff Luhnow said Monday. "We think that hes going to be a big contributor for us on the field as well as in the clubhouse next year." Pena will be the Astros designated hitter, addressing a key need as they prepare for their first season in the American League. But Luhnow said Pena could also play first base. "I think he provides some flexibility because hes a left-handed batter who can play a good first base defensively," Luhnow said. "So that gives you some options ... he can still play very good first base, and we expect to see him at first base a little bit." The 34-year-old Pena, who spent last season in his second stint with Tampa Bay, hit .197 with 19 home runs and 61 RBIs in 2012, when he made $7.5 million. In addition to his base salary, he can earn $1.4 million in performance bonuses, $233,333 each for 350, 400, 450, 500, 550 and 600 plate appearances. He has hit below .200 in two of the past three seasons and struck out a career-high 182 times last season. But he also draws a lot of walks -- he had 87 last season -- and has continued to drive in runs despite his dipping averages. "There are so many things that I have to improve," he said. "There are so many things that Ive been so good at, and other things that Ive been challenged with. The game has changed so you adapt and make adjustments ... Im always learning." He said that he had other offers, but felt as if Houston was the right fit for him. "Everything seems so fresh so I wanted to be part of that new identity," he said. "Hopefully as we start creating our new identity and shhaping up our culture, I want to make sure that I do everything I can to start steering it in the right direction.dddddddddddd" Pena had the best seasons of his career in his first stint with the Rays from 2007-2010 when he had at least 100 RBIs in three of those four seasons. His most productive year came in his first with the team when he hit 46 homers with 121 RBIs, both career highs. Pena started his career with the Rangers, and has hit 277 homers with 791 RBIs in a 12-year career that also had stops in Oakland, Detroit, Boston and with the Cubs. He has history with new Houston manager Bo Porter, having played with Porter in spring training when he was in the Rangers minor league system. Hes undaunted by the fact that Houston has lost more than 100 games in each of the past two seasons and isnt expected to contend in its move to the powerful AL West next season. Pena was in a similar situation in Tampa Bay. They Rays had lost 95 and 101 games respectively in the two seasons before he joined the team. They lost 96 in his first season there in 2007 before winning 97 games the next season and reaching the World Series. "It actually was inviting to me," he said of joining a rebuilding team. "Ive been on teams where we were thought to be the worst in baseball at one point and very quickly, sooner than anyone expected, we were in a World Series. So Ive seen things change very quickly. ... I like the challenge that it presents and the potential for growth." Some had speculated that the signing of Pena would eliminate the possibility of the Astros bringing back slugger Lance Berkman. Luhnow said that wasnt the case. "We need to do everything we can to improve this team," Luhnow said. "And if we get to a point where Lance is interested in playing and we find that we can utilize him, which we obviously can if hes healthy, then well have a conversation with him." cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '
