VALLS, Spain -- Slovenian cyclist Luka Mezgec earned his third stage win of this Volta a Catalunya, edging the pack in the final sprint on Friday. Joaquim Rodriguez maintained the overall lead, with the 218-kilometre (134-mile) ride from Llanars Vall de Camprodon to Valls producing no changes at the top of the general classification. Mezgec, riding for Giant-Shimano, finished the stage in 5 hours, 16 minutes at the front of a large pack. He also won the two opening stages of the seven-day race with sprint finishes. Rodriguez kept his four-second lead over Alberto Contador. Tejay van Garderen remained seven seconds behind. Nairo Quintana trailed by 10 seconds and Tour de France winner Christopher Froome was 17 seconds off the pacesetter. "I hope I can reach the final day with the same advantage," said Rodriguez, who won the Volta in 2010. "We will have to be very attentive and stay focused." Contador downplayed his chances of overtaking Rodriguez. "The remaining course leaves very little margin," Contador said. "For me, the important thing is to recover physically from these tiring days." Saturdays sixth stage will take riders over 172 kilometres (107 miles) from El Vendrell to Vilanova i la Geltru. The race finishes in Barcelona on Sunday. Johnny Boychuk Islanders Jersey . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. Thomas Hickey Islanders Jersey . -- Canadian ski cross star Marielle Thompson accomplished two goals in one race Saturday. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-d...landers-jersey/. The matchup will be made up in Minnesota at a later date. The arena was evacuated about 45 minutes before the scheduled 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff when a generator malfunction outside the arena sent smoke pouring into the building, according to NBA spokeswoman Sharon Lima. Leo Komarov Islanders Jersey . The ninth-seeded Safarova doused Swede Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-3 on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. The Czech player was a finalist here two years ago and captured back-to-back doubles titles in 2012 and last year. Matt Martin Islanders Jersey . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona.Paris, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Rising Romanian Simona Halep whipped former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and resurgent German Andrea Petkovic upset 2012 runner-up Sara Errani in a pair of lopsided quarterfinal matches Wednesday at the French Open. Both Halep and Petkovic will now play in their first-ever Grand Slam semifinals. The fourth-seeded Halep handled the 27th-seeded Russian Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-2 on Court Lenglen and the 28th-seeded former top-10 star Petkovic played her best match of the fortnight in whipping the 10th-seeded Italian Errani 6-2, 6-2 on Chatrier in a pair of matches that started under overcast skies following a three-hour rain delay. The veteran Kuznetsova was slowed by a left leg injury on Day 11. Errani was the Roland Garros runner-up to Maria Sharapova two years ago and lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the semifinals last year, while the two-time major champion Kuznetsova titled here in 2009 and was the runner- up in 2006. The graceful Halep is now 3-2 lifetime versus Kuznetsova, while Petkovic improved to 2-1 against Errani.dddddddddddd The 22-year-old Halep hadnt reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal until this years Australian Open. Shes captured a whopping seven WTA titles over the last 13 months, second only to Williams. Halep, however, is the only woman to have won titles on clay, grass and hard courts during that stretch. The 26-year-old one-time world No. 9 Petkovic reached the quarterfinals at three of the four major events in 2011 before injuries derailed her in 2012 and for the first half of last year, dropping her as low as 177th in the world. Halep and Petkovic will meet on Thursday, with the Romanian leading their all-time series, 2-1. Thursdays other semi will pit a seventh-seeded Sharapova against 18th-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. Sharapova completed the career Grand Slam with a title here in 2012 and lost to Williams in last years finale. The 20-year-old Bouchard has reached the final four at both Grand Slam events in 2014. The 27-year-old Sharapova is 2-0 lifetime against Bouchard, including a second-round win here in Paris last year. ' ' '