SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres shook up their light-hitting offence by demoting leadoff batter Will Venable to Triple-A Tucson. Cheap Jerseys Authentic . Venable was hitting just .224 with no homers in 134 at-bats. He was one of a handful of returning players the Padres were counting on to have a solid season offensively, along with several new players. The move came in the midst of a brutal slump at Petco Park. San Diego has lost four of its first five in an eight-game homestand, scoring just five runs on 29 hits with 52 strikeouts. Going into Monday nights series-opening game against NL Central-leading St. Louis, the Padres were 8-18 at Petco Park, the worst home record in the majors. Venable seemed stunned by the move, but vowed to make the most of it. "Ill be working toward the goal of getting my act together and getting my swing right with the idea that when I get everything right, Ill be back to where I need to be," he said. "I havent been consistent with my approach, I havent been consistent with my setup and thats something that I need to be better at." The Padres havent come close to living up to their claim that they were a more complete team without all-star slugger Adrian Gonzalez, who was traded to Boston in December. "I can only really speak for myself and I need to get my act together, and thats it," Venable said. Venable batted .245 with 13 homers and 58 RBIs last year. During spring training, general manager Jed Hoyer said Venable, catcher Nick Hundley and third baseman Chase Headley were at the stage of their careers where they can "take a big step forward." Hundley is on the disabled list and Headley is hitting .255 with only one homer. "We thought it was the thing to do to get Will back to Tucson to work on some specific things that we think will help him move forward offensively," manager Bud Black said. "Most notably, in the batters box, his at-bats, his approach, some technical things that probably the minor league environment is better than him trying to work through these in a major league game." Chris Denorfia will move into Venables starting spot in right field. To take Venables spot on the 25-man roster, the Padres selected outfielder Blake Tekotte from Double-A San Antonio. Right-hander Samuel Deduno was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Tekotte. Petco Park has frustrated Padres sluggers since it opened in 2004, particularly the sprawling right field, where fly balls go to die. Asked if Petco Park is psyching out the Padres, Black said: "I dont think so. I hope not. No." Asked if he thinks the fences should be moved in, he said: "I think theres room for discussion there." The two deepest parts of the downtown ballpark are the gaps, which are listed at 401 feet in left-centre and 400 in right-centre. The fence in right-centre was moved in a few years ago. When Petco Park opened, the Padres joked that they had made it Barry Bonds-proof, since the Giants slugger always tormented San Diego. Bonds later quipped that the Padres had made Petco Park "baseball-proof." Bonds hit his 755th homer at Petco Park on Aug. 4, 2007, tying Hank Aaron with an opposite-field shot to left-centre. San Diego was swept in a weekend series by the Seattle Mariners, who like the Padres have a good pitching staff but a suspect offence. "We didnt pitch well," Black said. One stat the Padres cant blame on Petco Park is their staggering 391 strikeouts, most in the big leagues. "Thats something that we have to address, is the strikeout total," Black said. "You cant do that. I think in this park you have to put the ball in play. Or any park, it helps to put the ball in play. Thats no secret." San Diego has hit only 29 homers, fifth-lowest in the majors. Jerseys Cheap . Numbers Game looks at the deal that brings Lou Williams to the Raptors. The Raptors Get: SG Lou Williams and C Lucas Nogueira. Cheap Jerseys . Rookie Marek Mazanec made 39 saves for his first NHL victory and the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night. PITTSBURGH -- Jaromir Jagr spent the days leading up to his return to Pittsburgh insisting it wasnt personal. He stressed that he didnt mean to cause hard feelings when he signed with the hated Philadelphia Flyers over the summer instead of with the Penguins, with whom he became a star two decades ago. The Penguins are just another team, Jagr said -- no different than Tampa Bay. Funny, he didnt play like it. Seeming to revel in the chance to play the villain, Jagr punctuated his homecoming with his 12th goal of the season in a 4-2 Flyers victory on Thursday night. "I felt pretty good but I had so many chances that if I would have scored five goals, nobody would be surprised," Jagr said. One was enough to prove that the 39-year-old Czech Republic native can still summon breathtaking hockey when he needs to. Jagr missed an open net in the first period, then atoned late in the second. He took a pass from Claude Giroux in the high left slot, fended off Pittsburghs Brooks Orpik while skating through the zone, and flipped a backhander past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Flyers a lead they didnt relinquish. The second-leading scorer in Penguins history briefly raised his arms in triumph, then skated along the boards, offering a stone-faced salute as the Consol Energy Center crowd booed lustily. "I think it was important for not just him but the whole team to get that goal because he got it pretty tough from the fans," Giroux said. "But I think he kind of liked it a little bit." Jagr wasnt the only former Penguins player to return in triumph. Max Talbot, who helped Pittsburgh to the 2009 Stanley Cup title, added an empty-net goal in the final seconds as the Flyers remained perfect in Pittsburghs new building since it opened a year ago. Kimmo Timonen and Matt Read also scored for Philadelphia, which ended the Penguins four-game winning streak. "I think the most important thing is we won," Jagr said. "We won in Pittsburgh, and thats tough." Tyler Kennedy had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, and Jordan Staal scored his 15th of the season, but the Penguins spent most of the night being dominated by their cross-state rivals. Talbots decision to sign with the Flyers as a free agent was met with raised eyebrows, but little anger. Instead, the bad feelings were saved for Jagr, who served as Mario Lemieuxs boyish sidekick while taking the Penguins to back-to-back Cup titles in 1991 and 92. Jagr played more than 800 games in a Pittsburgh uniform before being traded to Washington in 2001. He is second in franchise history behind Lemieux in goals, assists and points. After flaming out in Washington, Jagr went on to a stint with the New York Rangers, and then a highly lucrative three-year sabbatical in Russia. He made overtures abouut returning to the Penguins for one last go-round during the summer only to opt for Philadelphia instead. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping. He has spent the first two months of the season appearing to not have lost a step, and he certainly looked like himself against his former team. Skating with authority and weaving his way through traffic flawlessly at times, the 1999 NHL MVP seemed to feed off the venom directed his way. There wasnt nearly as much animosity for Talbot, who helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2009, scoring both of Pittsburghs goals in a Game 7 victory over Detroit. The Penguins put together a brief video montage of Talbots time with the team and showed it during an early stoppage in play. Talbot responded with a wave to the crowd that included one fan hoisting a sign that said, "We still love you Max." Even so, there were no cheers when Talbots empty-net goal blunted a late Pittsburgh rally. At least Talbot got a sign. There were no such messages paying tribute to Jagr. That was fine for Jagr and his teammates, who gathered themselves after Staals goal 46 seconds into the game gave Pittsburgh a quick lift. Timonens power play goal -- his first tally of the season -- tied the game midway through the first, and the Flyers clamped down on Pittsburghs high-flying offence. The Penguins have been steady even without injured captain Sidney Crosby, who remains sidelined with concussion-like symptoms. Yet they have struggled against the leagues top teams and have lost to Philadelphia (twice), Detroit, Boston and the New York Rangers in the last month. "I dont know if its a cause for concern, but we just need to bear down and win those games. I mean those are huge games," Pittsburgh forward James Neal said. "We know theyre good hockey teams. The onus is on us, and weve got to play them harder and be the better team." The Flyers were certainly better on Thursday to move two points ahead of the Penguins in the standings. Yes, its only December and yes, its hard to evaluate the Penguins when Crosbys status remains uncertain. That is why Jagr didnt go too far in his celebration. He might save that for the playoffs. "(The Penguins) are a very good hockey club, no question about it -- and they still dont have Sidney Crosby," Jagr said. "And they were right behind us in the standings, and we knew it was going to be a tough game, and it was a tough game." NOTES: Defenceman Deryk Engelland and forward Steve MacIntyre were scratched for the Penguins. Defenceman Matt Walker and forwards Zac Rinaldo and Jody Shelley sat out for Philadelphia. ... The Penguins travel to New Jersey on Saturday while Philadelphia is off until Monday, when it hosts the New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Park in the annual outdoor NHL Winter Classic.wholesale nfl jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' '
