A group of 13 U.S. Senators is trying to ratchet up the pressure on soccer officials to hold next summers FIFA Womens World Cup on a natural grass field instead of on artificial turf. TSN has obtained a copy of a letter the senators sent Nov. 7 to FIFA and the U.S. Soccer Federation to ask for their support after recent efforts by a group of 40 top international players to lobby the Canadian Soccer Association have been met by silence. The players say they are being discriminated against because the mens World Cup has never been played on artificial turf. Turf, they say, increases the risk of injury and overheating. Artificial turf both increases the risk of serious injury and fundamentally changes the way the game is played. FIFA has never used turf fields for the mens World Cup… As members of the United States Senate, we are deeply concerned with FIFAs treatment of these players. We urge you to begin good faith negotiations with these athletes, free of retaliation and with the equal treatment that they deserve, the senators wrote. The letter is signed by Senators including New Yorks Charles Schumer from New York, Californias Dianne Feinstein and Ohios Sherrod Brown. Its unclear how much leverage the U.S. Soccer Federation has over FIFA and the CSA. In a letter sent Nov. 7 to FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the senators wrote: FIFA itself has recognized the inferiority of turf to natural grass. In March, FIFAs weekly magazine published an article titled, How Bad are the Artificial Turf Pitches? in which the author points out that male athletes routinely refuse to play on artificial turf, deeming it unacceptable, and widely regarded as deeply problematic. The letter comes a week after lawyers alleged some of the aggrieved players have been illegally threatened with reprisals for their complaint by groups including the U.S. Soccer Federation. In an Oct. 27 letter to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, obtained by TSN, lawyer David Wright asks for three players to be removed from the list of applicants: Teresa Noyola of Mexico; and Camille Abily and Elise Bussaglia of France. While the reprisal threats are reprehensible and actionable, they have thankfully backfired in terms of reducing the total number of named players in this action, Wright said in his letter. As three have withdrawn, we are now able to list at least 60 current individual applicants. The players complaint over the turf dispute was filed Oct. 1 with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, days after FIFA officials started to inspect the six venues that will host the June 6-July 5 competition. The tournament will be held in Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Moncton and Montreal. A spokeswoman for the Canadian Soccer Association has repeatedly declined to comment, referring questions to FIFA. Clearance NHL Jerseys . 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Discount NHL Jerseys . -- One shot came out of bottom of a cactus, the other from the base of a desert bush with rocks scattered around it.As one AL East rival exits the Bronx, another enters a new series at Yankee Stadium. This time the Tampa Bay Rays take a turn against the New York Yankees Monday in the opener of a three-game set. The Yankees are 6-6 in a stretch of 15 consecutive games against division opponents and lost their third straight series this weekend versus the despised Boston Red Sox. You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 7pm et/4pm pt. Boston needed a ninth-inning home run to beat the Yankees on Saturday, then closed the series with Sunday nights 8-5 victory. Yankees starter Chase Whitley struggled to the tune of five runs and eight hits in four innings for New York, losers in six of the past eight games. Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran each hit solo homers in defeat. "I always believe that when you play against teams that are in your division, those are series that youve got to win," said Beltran, who has been dealing with soreness in his forearm and had three hits. "We missed this one." Teixeira has homered in four of his last eight games and has hit safely in 14 of the previous 17 contests. New York is still just two games off the AL East lead. David Phelps tries to pitch the Yankees back to respectability when he toes the rubber Monday night. Phelps is 2-0 in his last three starts and did not figure into the decision of a 7-6 loss at Toronto last Tuesday, as he permitted six runs and eight hits in five innings. Phelps has allowed 15 runs in his last four starts and is 3-4 with a 4.35 earned run average this season. The right-hander has faced Tampa Bay eight times (4 starts) in his career and is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA. Tampa Bay has been playing better baseball of late, but the club is still last in the division at 10 games off the pace. The Rays opened an 11-game road trip by taking three of four games againsst the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, and won the series with Sundays 12-7 offensive outburst.dddddddddddd Kevin Kiermaier hit a solo home run and Logan Forsythe added a two-run shot during a seven-run seventh inning for the Rays, who have won six of their last nine games. Matt Joyce had a big game by going 5-for-6 with two homers, three runs scored and four RBI. Joyce matched a Rays single-game record with five hits and 12 total bases. His shot in the third inning ended a drought of 124 at-bats without a homer. "You really dont have too many days like that," Joyce said. "Its nice to have one of those days and enjoy it." Ben Zobrist also went deep and recorded three hits, two RBI and two runs scored in the win. Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb picked up the win and was reached for four runs (3 earned) in five innings. The Rays have won five of their last seven road games and will also visit Detroit for four games on this road trip. They are 16-24 as the guest. Tampa Bay has scored at least five runs in 12 of the last 18 games, going 11-7 in that stretch. Chris Archer hopes to get some more of that run support when he takes the mound in the Bronx. The Rays have scored exactly five runs in each of Archers last two starts, including a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh last Tuesday. Archer fell to 1-3 in his last four decisions after giving up five runs -- four earned -- in seven innings of work. Archer, who is 4-5 with a 3.29 ERA and has thrown six-plus innings six times in the past seven appearances, will put his unblemished mark against the Yankees on the line Monday. He has won all four of his starts in this series and has a 1.26 ERA across 28 2/3 innings. The Rays have won four of seven meetings with the Yankees this season and took two of three matchups in the Bronx from May 2-4. ' ' '