NUERBURGRING, Germany -- Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes earned the pole position for Sundays German Grand Prix, edging Red Bulls three-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel. Hamiltons second consecutive pole and third of the season made up for the disappointment of seeing the second Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg, knocked down to 11th at the end of the second qualifying session. Hamilton set the fastest qualifying time Saturday of 1 minute, 29.398 seconds. Vettel had dominated the last two practice sessions but ended up .103 seconds behind Hamilton, who gained his 29th career pole after his team overcame problems with the car during the last two practice sessions, which Hamilton called "disasters." "It was even worse this morning. I was a good eight tenths of a second off, and I wasnt comfortable with the car at all," said Hamilton, who has often criticized his car before races. "So we went back into the truck, analyzed everything, put in a lot of hard work ... Its a privilege to drive for this team, theyve great history, so Im proud to be able to get pole for them, but there are no points today. They come tomorrow," Hamilton said. He is still winless since joining Mercedes this season. Mercedes came into the race with fives poles in the previous six GPs but has struggled to maintain the momentum in racing conditions. Hamilton held the pole at the British Grand Prix last week but had an early puncture and finished fourth. Marc Webber in the second Red Bull was third in qualifying, with the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean next. Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso was sixth, Felipe Massa of Ferrari seventh and his teammate Fernando Alonso eighth. Rosberg, who won two of the last three races, was sitting second midway through the second qualifying session and his team left him in the garage, apparently believing his time was good enough to put him into the top 10 for the third and decisive session. But Raikkonen led a charge of late efforts and Rosberg watched from the garage as he was eliminated. "It was quite a shock," Rosberg said. "I didnt see it coming ... I thought I would be easily on the front row today." Many leading drivers had threatened to pull out of Sundays race if tire blowouts that plagued last weeks British GP persisted. Supplier Pirelli made changes and the tires have held, reducing the risk of a pullout. Vettel said Pirelli appeared to have done a good job and did not think there would be any reason to pull out of the race. "I am confident there will be no such problems," Vettel said. Vettel said he was struggling "to get it together" in the first sector of the circuit and that the tail wind had been a factor. "It was quite close, and I tried everything I had. But we are much closer to them here than we were in Silverstone. We have made some progress and are confident for tomorrow. "Weve done our homework and now its up to us. We are on the front row, which wasnt quite enough for pole position, but I am looking forward to tomorrow," said Vettel, who is seeking his first win on home soil. Vettel holds a 21-point lead over Alonso in drivers standings after eight of 19 races. Hakeem Butler Youth Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. Adrian Wilson Cardinals Jersey . LOUIS -- St. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Patrick-Peterson-Jersey/ . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. David Johnson Cardinals Jersey .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does. Adrian Wilson Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. NEW YORK -- Even when a pitcher tried to walk him on purpose, Gary Sanchez almost hit a home run.Thats how good things are going for the rookie -- and his team, too.Sanchez homered and nearly launched another as Tampa Bay messed up an intentional walk, leading the hard-charging Yankees to their season-best seventh straight win, 5-1 over the Rays on Saturday.The guys feel really good about themselves, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.No wonder, with how theyre playing and moving up in the playoff race.The Yankees closed within three games of AL East-leading Boston, their closest to the lead since mid-April, and remained one game behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot. The Orioles beat Detroit 11-3, leaving the Tigers with the same record as the Yankees.Masahiro Tanaka (13-4) struck out 10 and took a shutout into the eighth inning. Chris Archer (8-18) tied the Tampa Bay record for losses in a season, set by Tanyon Sturtze in 2002.It was scoreless in the sixth when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a two-run homer and Sanchez followed with a long drive.In the eighth, after Ellsburys double put runners on second and third with no outs, the Rays seemed set to walk Sanchez.I knew they were going to walk me, Sanchez said through a translator. At the same time, I wanted to be ready.In case, maybe, a soft toss floated near the strike zone.Its not something pitchers are always doing a lot and comfortable, Girardi said.He was right.Catcher Bobby Wilson moved wide as reliever Enny Romero lobbed in his first pitch at 52 mph, but the ball drifted close to the plate. Alertly, Sanchez socked it to the warning track in deep center field for a sacrifice fly.Yeah, I know I was supposed to throw a base on balls on four pitches, intentional walk, Romero said.Romero said his hand was sweaty and the ball started to slip. But, he said, I cant stop because if I stop its a balk.From the dugout, Rays manager Kevin Cash seemed to say, What happened?While some officials in Major League Baseball have proposed making intentional walks an automatic affair -- just wave the batter to first base without a pitch -- things like this are bound to keep people talking.Up to a point, that is.As far as the eighth inning is concerned, Im not reallyy going to talk about it other than to say its embarrassing, Cash said.dddddddddddd Thats embarrassing, but were not going to talk about it any farther than that.Sanchez connected for the second straight day, giving the 23-year-old catcher 13 home runs in 125 at-bats this season.Tanaka won his sixth straight decision, giving up five hits and walking none. He left in the eighth after Bobby Wilson homered with one out and Logan Forsythe was hit by a pitch.An All-Star last year, Archer leads the majors in the losses this season -- James Shields, who has lost 17 with the Padres and White Sox, pitched Saturday night.Archer fanned six and tops the AL with 217 strikeouts. Nolan Ryan is the only AL pitcher to ever lead the league in losses and strikeouts, doing it in 1976 with the Angels.TARGET TAGGEDEllsbury picked on a familiar victim when he lined his eighth home run, a shot into the right-center field seats. Ellsbury is 19 for 34 (.559) with two homers against Archer, the most hits by anyone off the right-hander.Sometimes, it just happens, Girardi said. You wonder why one guy sees another guy so well.Said Archer: A lot of that is in the past.Im sure if we looked at the numbers from this year, and if we looked at the quality of contact and not just a traditional batting average, give us a much better depiction of how hes been against me recently. You know hes a veteran hitter, I left a cookie out there for him and he capitalized, he said.CLEARING UPTRAINERS ROOMRays: Brad Miller was at 1B, a day after he was the DH while recuperating from being hit by a pitch in the right elbow. ... RHP Chase Whitley is likely to make his Rays debut Sunday, pitching in relief. He started for the Yankees last year, had Tommy John surgery in May and was acquired Tampa Bay in November.UP NEXTRays: RHP Matt Andriese (6-7, 4.58) is 0-7 with a 6.11 ERA in his last 15 games, eight of them starts. The last Tampa Bay pitcher to lose eight straight decisions was Dan Wheeler in 2007-08.Yankees: RHP Luis Cessa (4-0, 4.07) makes his fifth start in the majors. The Yankees have won all four games hes started. ' ' '