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MONTMELO, Spain -- Sebastian Vettels practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix ended with the four-time defending Formula One champion hitching a ride on a scooter after his Red Bull puttered out. Lewis Hamilton had no such problems, finishing Fridays opening day of practice with the top times from both training sessions as the dominating Mercedes team showed no signs of slowing down. The British driver is looking for his fourth straight win this season. Mercedes teammate and F1 leader Nico Rosberg was right behind, setting the afternoons second best time after his crew fixed a cooling issue. Vettel was running through his fifth lap on the sunny and dry 4.6-kilometre (2.9-mile) Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya when his Red Bull came to a halt. He then helped push his RB10 out of the path of his rivals before a group of fans gathered at the fence to take photographs of the champion using a fire extinguisher on the rear of his malfunctioning car. After Vettel was whisked back to the paddock on the back of a scooter, Hamilton clocked the fastest lap time in the opening session and then bettered that by almost 1.5 seconds in the afternoon with a mark of 1 minute, 25.524 seconds. Red Bull said an electrical problem that "damaged the wiring" of Vettels car meant he couldnt return for the afternoon practice session. That left Vettel with only one session on Saturday before qualifying. "Its a small failure, but a big consequence," Vettel said. Red Bull had given Vettels car an older chassis in a move the German called a "sanity check" to try to find an elusive answer to his cars lack of pace. The Austrian team renowned for its design had a bigger problem than speed, however, when Vettel was left stranded just after the fifth turn. Vettel is having his worst season at Red Bull with only one podium finish so far and sits in a distant fifth place in the standings. He has even had to let new teammate Daniel Ricciardo pass him twice during the last two races. And Ricciardo emerged from the opening day of practice as the closest thing the grid can offer as a threat to the Mercedes duo by recording the third best time in both sessions at almost a second behind Hamilton. Hamilton trails Rosberg by four points despite having won the last three races in front of his teammate. The pair have won all four races and taken all four pole positions this year. Hamilton hasnt lost a step after a three-week break and showed that the other teams have yet to make headway despite their upgrades for the start of the seasons run of European events. "Its been a great day today and Im happy to be back in the car after what feels like quite a long break," said Hamilton. "Our two practice sessions today went very smoothly, in fact Ive not had such a good Friday for a very long time." Last years race winner, Fernando Alonso, had the fourth best effort in both sessions, while Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen could do no better than fifth in the afternoon. Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo said he was "not happy" with his team and that he would work closely with new team principal Marco Mattiacci to "improve the situation as soon as possible." Pablo Maldonado of Lotus recorded the most laps through both 90-minute sessions with a total of 76. The early session to prepare for Sundays race featured some close calls. Sergio Perez had to box when the left mirror on his Force India car became detached. The Mexican driver had to grab it and drive one-handed while coming in. Sauber test driver Giedo Van der Garde survived a bigger scare when he told his team he had "a break failure" and ran off course, barely missing the wall. In the second session, Romain Grosjeans Lotus stalled at the end of the pitlane, while Jean-Eric Vergne lost the right rear wheel of his Toro Rosso. Max Chilton twice had to come in due to engine trouble before a piece of his Marussia went flying on his next trip out. He ended the day by driving into the sand. Swell Offered Italia .Do you have to be that close? Federer snapped at a TV cameraman hovering nearby as he received medical advice after losing a set on Wednesday.For Nadal and Sharapova, the nuisance was coming from the lowly-ranked qualifiers across the net. Swell Bottiglie . Ramon, 30, played in a career-high 97 games with the Goldeyes in 2013. He also matched a career-high eight home runs and posted 52 RBI. http://www.swellbottiglie.it/. -- Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana agreed Tuesday to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder. Swell Italia Offerte . The deals were announced on Friday. Beckham will receive $4.175 million in base salary, while De Aza will receive $4.25 million. Beckham hit .267 with five home runs and 24 RBIs over 103 games last season, his fifth with the White Sox. Swell Italia .Y. -- The Montreal Canadiens have had few reasons to celebrate this season as they have been mired near the basement of the Eastern Conference.PHILADELPHIA -- The new rule designed to protect catchers helped the Philadelphia Phillies gain a victory. Ryan Howard homered in his second game since a three-game benching and scored the go-ahead run on an overturned call at the plate in Philadelphias 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Arizonas Miguel Montero was called for blocking the plate before he had the ball and leaving Howard no path, a violation of an experimental rule put in place this season. "What am I supposed to do? Leave the ball go and get it, or stand still?" Montero recalled telling umpires. "The throw took me there. I went and got the ball. I have no clue where to go on this kind of a play. Id much rather be run over. Its an awkward rule. Let the game alone. Its been this way for 100 years. Its kind of not fun anymore." With the score 2-2 in the sixth, Howard walked with two outs against Vidal Nuno (0-2). Marlon Byrd popped up to short right field, where second baseman Didi Gregorius backpedaled slowly, settled under the ball and allowed it to kick off his glove and bounce toward centre. Ender Inciarte picked up the ball and threw to the plate, where Montero was blocking Howards path, grabbed the throw on the fly and tagged the runner as Howard tried to get around him on the infield side. Umpire Dale Scott signalled out, but after a review of 2 minutes, 55 seconds, Howard was ruled safe. "This year thats a run," said Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg, who called his team "very fortunate." "In the last 100 years, its not a run," he said. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson, who came onto to the field to speak with Scott after the video review, said "the rule has to be reevaluated." "I didnt think they got the play right," Gibson said. In the first season of expanded video review, the plate-blocking rule has been among the most contentious of the innovations. "Theres a lot of judgment there and a little bit of confusion," Sandberg said. "Even 3 1/2 months into the season, here the catcher didd not know that he couldnt stand there the whole time.dddddddddddd And then, ultimately, Howard didnt know his responsibilities as he got to home plate." Howard hit a two-run homer in the first, his 16th of the season but second since June 19. He is 3 for 8 since his benching. "These are a couple of games he can build on and continue to contribute and improve and help the team out," Sandberg said. Philadelphia added a run in the seventh when left fielder David Peralta dropped Ben Reveres fly to the warning track, and Montero was given an error for dropping shortstop Nick Ahmeds throw and allowing Wil Nieves to score. Montero admitted the earlier play at the plate had an effect on him in the seventh. "I thought, What should I do?" he said. "They make it very hard." Roberto Hernandez (5-8) allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. He had been 0-5 in seven home starts since beating Washington 1-0 on May 4. "He got groundballs when he needed them, and he threw enough pitches around the zone and got some hitters to swing the bat," Sandberg said. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a two-hit ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances. Nuno, making his fourth start since he was acquired from the New York Yankees, gave up four runs -- two earned -- four hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings. Nick Ahmed doubled in a run for Arizona in the second, and Paul Goldschmidt hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth. NOTES: Arizonas Aaron Hill didnt play after being hit on the right hand on Saturday night. ... Arizona first-base coach Dave McKay wasnt with the team in order to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for Tony La Russa. McKay served on La Russas staff for 27 straight seasons. ... RHP Chase Anderson (6-4, 3.58) starts for Arizona on Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati, which starts RHP Homer Bailey (8-5, 4.22). ... Philadelphia starts RHP A.J. Burnett (6-9, 3.86) in the opener of a three-game series at the New York Mets, who start RHP Bartolo Colon (9-8, 4.03). ' ' '