NEW YORK -- Daniel Murphy is proud he put fatherhood ahead of baseball, and New York Mets manager Terry Collins thinks criticism his second baseman received for taking paternity leave this week was unfair. Murphy made his season debut Thursday, three days after the birth of son Noah. He called staying in Florida an extra day "the right decision to make" following wife Victorias cesarean section and said "we felt the best thing for our family was for me to stay." He learned Sunday that his wifes water broke, then travelled to Florida and missed Mondays 9-7 opening loss to Washington and Wednesday nights 5-1 defeat. He said his son was born at 12:02 p.m. Monday. Major league rules allow up to three days of paternity leave, and WFAN broadcaster Mike Francesa said on the air Wednesday that Murphy should not have skipped the second game. "One day I understand. And in the old days they didnt do that," Francesa said. "But one day, go see the baby be born and come back. Youre a Major League Baseball player. You can hire a nurse to take care of the baby if your wife needs help." A day later, Collins bristled after learning of the comments. "If youre accusing Dan Murphy of not wanting to play -- this guy played 161 games last year, wore himself out, played through all sorts of discomfort," he said. "You know, the man had his first child. Hes allowed to be there. The rules state that he can be there, so he went. Theres nothing against it. Theres nothing wrong with it. You know, he missed two games. Its not like hes missed 10. You know, when you start attacking Dan Murphys credibility, you need to look in the mirror a little bit." Murphy said he received text messages about the criticism. He was applauded before his first at-bat, singled and scored the Mets first run against the Nationals. He said his son was named after the Biblical character Noah, not for Mets teammate Noah Syndergaard. "People are going to say you named him after the monstrosity that throws like 1,000 miles an hour," Murphy said. "We didnt. Noah came from Noahs Ark. Peace and rest is what it means." Baby Noah kept his parents awake at 3 a.m. Wednesday. "We had our first panic session. It was dark. She tried to change a diaper, couldnt do it. I came in," he said. "It was just the three of us, 3 oclock in the morning, all freaking out. He was the only one screaming. I wanted to." NOTES: Murphy took the roster spot of OF Chris Young, who was put on the 15-day disabled list because of tightness in his right quadriceps. Karl Malone Jersey . Granada defender Diego Mainz barged into the back of Villa to send the Spain striker to the ground inside the area and Costa stepped up to the spot to score his 12th league goal in the 38th minute. 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He said doctors determined that a loose stitch was to blame for the swelling, that Westbrooks lateral meniscus has healed properly and the procedure was successful.LONDON -- England secured its place in a three-way fight for the Six Nations title next weekend by blowing away Wales in a 29-18 win at Twickenham on Sunday, delivering a potent mix of clinical finishing, flawless place-kicking and non-stop intensity to capture the Triple Crown. Welsh hopes of landing an unprecedented third straight championship outright were ended thanks to first-half tries by Danny Care and Luther Burrell and seven successful kicks - five penalties and two conversions from flyhalf Owen Farrell. England banished the painful memories of a 30-3 loss to Wales in last seasons Six Nations title decider by dominating almost every facet of a game played at a searing pace. The visitors scrum was demolished, their tackling and handling was sloppy and they only stayed in contention because of fullback Leigh Halfpennys own blemish-free record of six penalties. "Weve tried to remove the fear of playing, and when youve got the courage of your convictions, it generally pays off," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. "Its nice to put last years result in Cardiff to bed. We lost fair and square on that day, but today was our day." England joined France and Ireland on six points from four matches, setting up a thrilling last round of matches. Owning a far superior points difference of +81, Ireland will win the title - and seal a perfect international sendoff for retiring centre Brian ODriscoll with a victory over the French in Paris in the last of the three games. England simply has to beat Italy in Rome, which should be a given on this performance, and hope Ireland lose. If that happens, Lancasters side should lift the trophy for only the second time since winning the World Cup in 2003. The English just keep raising the bar under Lancaster, who has changed the teams mentality and approach in his two years in charge. He claimed that the toughed-out 13-10 win over Ireland two weeks ago was the highlight of a reign that includes a record victory over New Zealand, but this success will take some beating. It clinched the Triple Crown - a sweep of wins over the home unions for the first time since 2003 and was the perfect answer to a midweek taunt from Wales coach Warren Gatland - who challenged whether the English had turned frrom boys to men in the last 12 months.dddddddddddd This Wales side contained 12 players that featured in the British Lions series-clinching win in the third test against Australia last July. Wales had more than double the amount of caps as England here. "We didnt keep the ball well enough today, there were too many turnovers and we were hammered at the scrum very disappointing," Gatland said. A bad day for the Welsh became even worse with the news that Halfpenny will miss the rest of this season after dislocating his right shoulder toward the end of the match. On a red-hot day in southwest London, England brought a scorching intensity that the Welsh couldnt live with. At scrumhalf, Care was the conductor-in-chief and from one of his trademark quick taps, England went in front after just five minutes. Care noticed Wales defenders had turned their backs after referee Romain Poite awarded a penalty following a long advantage, and Care darted past Poite and into a gap to dive over the line. It was Englands first try against Wales in 282 minutes. Wales often had no answer to its opponents line breaks and hard running, but with the adrenalin flowing England gave away some soft penalties at the fiercely contested breakdown that Halfpenny punished in the ninth, 23rd and 31st minutes. Two of those came from near halfway. With Farrell booting two penalties of his own, England held a 13-9 lead just after the half hour but that lead turned to 11 points when Wales over-threw a lineout and the ball was recycled out to the English left wing, where Jonny May cut inside. Play was set up for Billy Twelvetrees to slither a grubber kick into the left corner where Burrell collected on the dive for a try, converted from out wide. England was much the better side yet two more well-struck penalties by Halfpenny in the final three minutes saw Wales somehow jog back to the dressing rooms just five points behind. However, Welsh errors - both handling and tactical, continued after halftime and Farrell was unforgiving from the kicking tee. England was never in danger of blowing its lead. "We grew a lot as a team over the last year," England lock Courtney Lawes said, "and a performance like that has been a long time coming." ' ' '