There was nothing second-rate about their performance, but second place is where Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir find themselves following their short program in the ice dance event on Sunday. Following a pattern that has become all too familiar for the defending Olympic champions, the American team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White bested Virtue and Moir by a margin of 2.56 points at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi to take top spot. Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov fed off the pro-Russian crowd and tallied a 73.04, putting them in bronze-medal position heading into Mondays free dance (10:00 a.m. ET, streaming live at cbc.ca/olympics). Virtue and Moir, skating to Ella Fitzgeralds Dream a Little Dream of Me, put their slip-up in the team event far in the rear view mirror with a seemingly flawless performance, carving perfect turns, nailing their rotational lifts and staying in sync during their twizzle sequences. As the music ended and they struck their final pose, Moir let out a triumphant "Yes!", knowing that the skate represented one of their best performances of the season. Their joy was short-lived though, as their score of 76.33 came in below their season best score of 77.59 at the Grand Prix Finals in December, leaving the door wide open for the reigning world champions Davis and White, who set a new short dance world record with a score of 78.89. Canadas other medal hopefuls, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, skated a strong routine that earned them a 65.93, good for seventh place. The third Canadian entry, featuring Toronto-born Alexandra Paul and Barries Mitchell Islam, skated a light, airy and up-tempo routine, marred only by a small bobble on the opening twizzle by Paul. The 2010 world junior silver medallists finished with a score of 55.91, putting them in 18th place. Virtue and Moir have some work to do to catch the leaders, but they were still happy with how the day unfolded. "It was a really fun performance," the 24-year-old Virtue told CBC Sports. "Obviously, you are here to defend your title. You also want to have fun. You still love what you do." Moir, 26, said that it was this type of performance that has kept them going for the last four years. "Its definitely the reason we keep going. To be on this stage representing Canada, its a huge thing for Tessa and I to be part of a fantastic Olympic Canadian team." Moir added that they still get plenty of enjoyment out of competitions like these. "We love what we do. We love skating together. We have a lot of special moments, and that was one of them." Sundays short dance marked the third head-to-head battle between the Canadians and Americans at these Olympics. Davis and White beat Virtue and Moir by three points in the short dance portion of the team event early in the Games, and repeated the feat in the free dance portion with a seven-point victory. The two rivals bring contrasting styles to the sport. Virtue and Moir boast an elegant and flowing style, and a sense of unison that no other team can match, thanks to nearly 17 years as an on-ice tandem. Davis and White, on the other hand, typically display a faster and bolder technique than the Canadian duo, albeit one with arguably less precision. Virtue and Moir have laid claim to an Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, two world titles and six Canadian championships during their careers, but theyve consistently come up short against the American pair over the past two seasons, including at the 2013 world championship in Virtues hometown of London, Ont. What makes the rivalry even more peculiar, if not slightly peculiar, is the fact they share not only the same training facility in Canton, Mich., but also the same coach and choreographer, Russian-born Marina Zoueva. Zoueva has coached Davis and White for the past 14 years, and has been working with Virtue and Moir for 10 years. While they arent close friends with the Americans off the ice, Virtue and Moir have often said that they have a good relationship with them and that both sides enjoy the friendly rivalry. Another storyline that has surrounded the athletes since the team event, an alleged judging scandal, has fortunately faded into the background. During the opening weekend, the French sports publication LEquipe had reported that the American and Russian judges were conspiring against Canada in order to assure a gold medal for Russia in the team competition and gold for the U.S., in ice dancing. Despite being at the centre of the controversy, Virtue and Moir insist that the rumours havent affected their focus on or off the ice. Custom Mexico Jerseys .com) - Manchester City will face a steep test in the Champions League knockout stage as the English champions were drawn with Barcelona on Monday. Raul Jimenez Jersey . 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As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Braun hadnt done much except get hit by a pitch. He made up for it with one swing in the bottom of the ninth. Braun was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning that scored a run and had an RBI single in the ninth, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. "I got beat up pretty good," Braun said. "Ill take it. Ill take them both." Braun thought the Rockies might pitch around him. He had already struck out twice and grounded out while Jonathan Lucroy had two hits and a RBI. "Typically, there is probably a higher likelihood that they pitch around me," Braun said. "I have been swinging so terribly and Luc has been swinging so great that that combination probably enticed them to at least come at me a little bit." Rockies manager Walt Weiss told reliever Matt Belisle to pitch carefully to Braun, but the strategy didnt work. "Ill always take responsibility for that one," Walt Weiss said. "Could have put him on. Its a tough situation for Mattie. Hes trying to get him to expand for a couple of pitches. The ball was maybe a little up. Braun went up and got it." Mark Reynolds led off the ninth with a single off Belisle (2-3) and advanced on a sacrifice by Jean Segura. Scooter Gennett pinch hit for Francisco Rodriguez (3-2) and was intentionally walked. The runners advanced on a passed ball by catcher Michael McKenry. After Rickie Weeks went down swinging, Braun drilled Belisles first pitch up the middle. "I dont think they were trying to throw it where he ended up throwing it," Braun said after collecting his first walk-off hit since 2011. Josh Rutledge tied the game when he homered off Rodriguez with one out in the ninth. Rutledge hit a 3-2 pitch that just barely cleared the wall in left for his second homer this season. Rodriguez was trying to help Kyle Lohse win his third straight start. Lohse has been victimized by five blown saves this season. He allowed one run on seven hits over seven innings and came within two outs of beating the Rockies for the second time in five days. Sunday, he pitched five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits in the Brewers 6-5 win in Colorado. Rodriguez leads the majorss with 27 saves, but this was his third blown save this season.dddddddddddd Lohse had plenty of sympathy for Rodriguez. "I feel bad for K-Rod because hes been pitching so well, but the bottom line is we won," Lohse said. "He came in and did what he does. Ill take K-Rod closing out one of my games any time." The Brewers became the first team in the majors to record 50 wins. Their NL-leading record (50-32) is the best in team history through 82 games. They have 13 games left to top the team record of 54 wins before the All-Star game. The Brewers also improved to 5-0 in the season series with the Rockies. "Its nice to be the first one to 50 wins, for sure," Braun said. "Were excited with the way that weve played so far, but theres still a lot of baseball left." The Brewers went ahead 2-1 in the seventh. Khris Davis doubled off Nick Masset to start the inning and Reynolds followed with a walk. Both advanced on a sacrifice by Segura. When Lyle Overbay was announced as the pinch hitter for Lohse, the Rockies brought in Rex Brothers. The Brewers countered with Martin Maldonado, who struck out swinging. After Weeks walked, Adam Ottavino came on to face Braun and hit him with the first pitch. Lucroy hit into a fielders choice for the third out. The Rockies scored their run in the seventh on a sacrifice by pinch-hitter Brandon Barnes that scored Rutledge. The Brewers scored first when Lucroy chopped an RBI single over second base off rookie Tyler Matzek in the sixth. Matzek went six innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out three. NOTES: The Rockies challenged the call when Carlos Gomez was ruled safe at second in the eighth inning. The decision was reversed in under 2 minutes. . Rockies C Wilin Rosario, who left Thursday nights game with lower back tightness, missed the game. Weiss said that the injury was not serious, but enough to keep him out of the lineup. . Rockies RHP Nolan Arenado (broken left middle finger) heads to Triple-A Colorado Springs on Sunday for a rehab assignment. . Troy Tulowitzkis double in the fourth was his 400th career extra-base hit. . RHP Matt Garza (4-5, 3.20 ERA) faces Colorados RHP Jhoulys Chacin (1-6, 4.84) on Saturday. 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