sportingnews - 20090526

Some huge names changed uni-

forms this NFL offseason—Albert

Haynesworth, Jay Cutler and Terrell

Owens, to name a few. Here’s our

take on the five teams that enjoyed

the best offseason:

1. Eagles. OTs Jason Peters and

Stacy Andrews upgrade the line;

WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean

McCoy give Donovan McNabb

more playmakers. The Eagles could

be the last team standing Feb. 7.

2. Jets. Getting QB Mark

Sanchez was the draft’s sexiest move.

Plus, they added four impact players

on defense—Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard,

Marques Douglas and Lito Sheppard.

3. Patriots. They added Fred

Taylor, Chris Baker, Joey Galloway,

Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden.

Oh, and Tom Brady got healthy.

4. Bears. Getting Cutler was

expensive, but they now have a

franchise QB for the next 10 years.

5. Giants. A nasty defense will

be nastier with Michael Boley, Clint

Sintim, Rocky Bernard and Chris

Canty. Rookie WR Hakeem Nicks

has intriguing potential.

— Clifton Brown

TUESDAY

MAY 26, 2009

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 308

Scoreboard

Baseball American League

Baltimore 4, Toronto 1

N.Y. Yankees 11, Texas 1

Boston 6, Minnesota 5

Detroit 13, Kansas City 1

Oakland 6, Seattle 1

Cleveland 11, Tampa Bay 10

Chicago White Sox 17, L.A. Angels 3

National League

Cincinnati 8, Houston 5

Milwaukee 1, St. Louis 0, 10 innings

L.A. Dodgers 16, Colorado 6

San Diego 9, Arizona 7, 10 innings

San Francisco 8, Atlanta 2

Florida 5, Philadelphia 3

N.Y. Mets 5, Washington 2

Pittsburgh 10, Chicago Cubs 8

MLB > 17 NFL > 35 NBA > 8 NHL > 11 NASCAR > 15 COLLEGE FOOTBALL > 5 COLLEGE BASKETBALL > 39 GOLF > 45 TENNIS > 41QUICK LINKS:

NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals

Denver 120, L.A. Lakers 101

(Series tied 2-2)

College Lacrosse Men’s Division I Championship

Syracuse 10, Cornell 9, OT

Orange rally for repeat, Page 7

Nuggets 120, Lakers 101

JACK DEMPSEY / AP

J.R Smith, above, scored 24 points and helped Denver lift an ailing Carmelo Anthony in Game 4. Page 8

Eagles soar withNFL’s best offseason

Intrastate travelsThe difference among the Golden State’s teams: SoCal is heading north and NorCal is going south.

This

Week Team

Last

Week

1 Dodgers 210 Angels 1514 Padres 2219 Giants 1629 A’s 29

Complete poll, 8

Team stats, Pages 27-34

MLB POWER POLL

BY DEREK [email protected]

When the SEC meet-ings convene today in Florida, commissioner Mike Slive’s agenda includes a message for the league’s football coaches.

He’ll tell them to cool it.The national story of

the offseason has been the motor mouths of the South, from their public needling of one another to more serious accusations of NCAA violations. New Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin started most of the fires. Florida’s Urban Meyer and South Caro-lina’s Steve Spurrier stoked them.

Two SEC coaches shared opposing views on the topic with Sporting News Today:

Motor mouths Kiffin, Saban take opposingviews on SEC trash talk

Q&A: Saban talks Bama football, Page 6

BY LANE KIFFINTennessee coach

All this stuff about media attention, well, look at the result so far. Top 10

recruiting class, No. 1 player in the country, first time it has ever happened

at Tennessee. I don’t think it’s very hard to figure out, that if the other stuff

didn’t happen, our recruiting success doesn’t happen.

You don’t go 5-7, you don’t come in and not have your staff signed until

one month before signing day and have the success we have recruiting

without that national attention.

I don’t love the way that I’ve had to do everything. But I was not hired

to please fans of other schools. I was hired for three people: the people of

Tennessee, our current players and recruits.

— As told to Matt Hayes

BY NICK SABANAlabama coach

I try to stay out of the spotlight. I don’t try to sensationalize anybody.

I’m not trying to entertain. I’m trying to give information and give access

to me and tell about our program. I want to represent our organization

in the first-class way and be the kind of role model and leader that other

people can emulate.

The way I look at it is, if you don’t want somebody to know something,

don’t say it. If you don’t want them to see you do something, don’t do it.

None of this (coaches’ jaw-jacking) do I know a lot about because I

don’t pay much attention to it. What somebody else does, I don’t have a

lot of control over.

— As told to Derek Samson

Lane Kiffin says media attention has helped him bring top recruits to UT.

WADE PAYNE / AP BOB LEVERONE / SN

For Nick Saban, recruiting is about information and access—not entertainment.

Reutimann is the manRainy Coca-Cola 600 goes to first-time winner Page 15

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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 2See a Different Game

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Tune In TodayA quick look at the best sports on TV

— all times Eastern

NBA

Cavaliers at Magic8:30 p.m., TNT

After Cleveland swept its first two playoff series, you would have thought the Cavs would be in for another romp of a team missing PG Jameer Nelson. But if not for LeBron James’ 3-pointer at the Game 2 buzzer, this series would be 3-0 Magic. James needs someone else to step up if the Cavs are to avoid going down 3-1. Dwight Howard has got-ten plenty of help and big shots from Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis to make this a real series.

NHL

Penguins at Hurricanes7:30 p.m., Versus

If the ’Canes are truly cardiac, this has to be their time to shine. Down 3-0 and having given up 13 goals over the last two games, it’s now or never for the 2006 Stanley Cup champions. One stat sticks out above the rest–getting Eric Staal involved in the action. The Hurricanes are a perfect 7-0 when he scores a goal in the playoffs, and 1-9 when he doesn’t. Then again, when the Penguins are playing this well, it might not matter.

BASEBALL

My Boys season finale10:30 p.m., TBS

Mike Fontenot is on the verge of losing his starting job

with the Cubs, but maybe he has a career on the small

screen. Judge for yourself as Fontenot guest stars on this

cable series. The Fontenot storyline: Brendan (Reid Scott)

attracts the attention of Fontenot’s girlfriend while at

spring training. Another Cub making an appearance is

1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir. And for all you folks who just like

to watch the show, a surprising secret about Stephanie

(Kellee Stewart) comes to light. — Compiled by Roger Kuznia

OFF THE FIELD

GUIDEMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL8 p.m.ESPN — St. Louis at Milwaukee

NBA BASKETBALL8:30 p.m.TNT — Playoffs, Eastern Conference finals, game 4, Cleveland at Orlando

NHL HOCKEY7:30 p.m.VERSUS — Playoffs, Eastern Conference finals, game 4, Pittsburgh at Carolina

TENNISNoonESPN2 — French Open, early round, at Paris

Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter on life supportFormer heavyweight champion

Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter is on life support after she was found with her neck on a treadmill cable Monday.

The girl’s 7-year-old brother found her on a treadmill with her neck on a cable attached to the exercise machine at their Phoenix home, police Sgt. Andy Hill said, calling it a “tragic accident.”

The boy told the girl’s mother, who was in another room. She took the girl off the cable, called 911 and tried to revive her.

Responding officers and fire-fighters performed CPR on the girl as they rushed her to a nearby hos-pital, where she was in “extremely critical condition” and on life sup-port, Hill said.

“Somehow she was playing on this treadmill, and there’s a cord that hangs under the console—it’s kind of a loop,” Hill said. “Either she slipped or put her head in the loop, but it acted like a noose, and she was obviously unable to get herself off of it.”

Hill said Tyson had been in Las Vegas but flew to Phoenix immedi-ately after learning of the accident. Police didn’t release the girl’s name.

Trouble for Jets S RhodesNew Jersey police are investigat-

ing a woman’s claim that she was raped by two men at the home of Jets safety Kerry Rhodes.

The New York Post reported in Monday editions that the woman, a Canadian tourist, said she met Rhodes and another man at a Man-hattan nightclub before being taken to a home in Morristown, N.J., where Rhodes owns a town

house, according to authorities.Rhodes, in a statement released

through a Jets spokesman, said he was not one of the accused.

Ex-NBAer Williams arrestedFormer NBA star Jayson Williams

was arrested early Monday after authorities say he punched some-one in the face outside a Raleigh, N.C., nightclub, the latest legal tribulation for the All-Star who has spent years in the courtroom since an injury ended his basket-ball career.

Some type of dispute led Wil-liams, 41, to hit the other person shortly before 2 a.m., Raleigh police said. Williams was charged with

one count of simple assault and released on $1,000 bond.

Harrison’s son doing fineThe agent of Steelers linebacker

James Harrison says the player’s young son is doing fine after an attack by a pit bull, but may remain in a Pittsburgh hospital another day or two.

Harrison’s family had hoped that 2-year-old James Harrison III would be released Monday, but Harrison’s agent, William Parise, says the hospital is being cautious about any possible infection con-cerns. Parise says there don’t appear to be any complications.

— Compiled by staff with wire reoports

ED BETZ / AP

A woman claims she was raped by two men at the home of Jets S Kerry Rhodes.

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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 3My Profile

Michael CuddyerTwins right fielder

(What you won’t find on Facebook … even if you are approved as a friend)

Born: March 27, 1979, in Norfolk, Va. Status: MarriedAlma mater: Great Bridge High (Chesapeake, Va.)What’s on TV: Reality TV, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, American Idol, 24, Lost,

Grey’s Anatomy, anything on the Food NetworkWhat’s in my iPod: Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Tim McGraw, Garth

Brooks, Zac Brown Band, Brooks & DunnWhat I drive: 2007 green Toyota Tundra Crew Max, 2006 blue Lexus

LS430, 2008 blue Toyota Highlander HybridFavorite flick: Good Will HuntingWhat I’m reading: Launching a Leadership Revolution, by Orrin Woodward

and Chris BradyMagazine subscription: Men’s Health

Bookmarks: MLB.com, ESPN.com, CBSSportsline.comWorst habit: My wife says not picking my clothes up off the floor

On my office walls: Pictures of my wife Claudia and my son CaseyLove to trade places for a day with … The President. I would just like to know

the things we are not supposed to know. First job: I was 13 in Chesapeake, Va., when I was a tiny tot soccer ref. Got

paid $10 a game. I just remember the enjoyment on those 4- and 5-year-olds’ faces.

Talent I’d most like to have: Either singing or playing an instrument. Any instrument.

Favorite meal: Sushi—about five different rolls from a place in Chesapeake called Domo

Favorite athlete to watch in another sport: LeBron JamesFavorite city to visit: Chicago

Favorite team as a kid: Dallas CowboysFavorite value in others: CharacterFavorite physical attribute about myself: My smileAnd least … My love handles

Dream date: My wifeMy greatest love: My familyMy hero: My dadMy bucket list: Sail from one continent to another

My motto: A vision without action is nothing but a hallucination. And, always smile.

— Jeff D’Alessio






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ANAHEIM—Jim Thome still has the photograph of Mike Schmidt grabbing his hand and raising it aloft as the two of them stood at home plate at Phila-delphia’s Veterans Stadium when the Phillies played their final game there in 2003.

The two sluggers will always be linked because of that moment, which Schmidt viewed as a symbolic passing of the torch. Thome made certain he acknowledged the Hall of Fame third baseman on Monday night after pass-ing him on the career home run list with a three-run shot that helped the Chicago White Sox rout the Los Ange-les Angels 17-3.

“Getting the opportunity to meet him and be a part of that was very special,” Thome recalled. “Anytime you can associate your name with the greats, like a Mike Schmidt, it’s a true honor and very humbling because you know what they’ve done for the game.

“To have Mike Schmidt do that at the last game at the Vet, when he lifted my hand, was one of the better feel-ings of my career, for sure. Mike is class. Maybe the ball will go next to that picture now. It’ll be pretty neat.”

Thome and Schmidt both hit 30 or more home runs in nine consecutive seasons. Thome’s streak is still alive.

“It’s unbelievable, really, when you hear the names of the guys he’s pass-ing and putting in his rear-view mir-ror who are legendary,” teammate Paul Konerko said. “You’ve got to sit back sometimes and just realize that you’re playing with a legend. I mean, Jim’s such a normal guy and such a humble guy, and just like any other teammate. But you still realize that his place in history just keeps climbing.”

John Danks (4-3) breezed to the

victory after Thome helped stake the left-hander to an 11-3 lead in the third with his 549th home run and eighth this season. The five-time All-Star also had an RBI single during Chica-go’s 24-hit attack, which included four each by Scott Podsednik and Alexei Ramirez.

Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko also went deep to help support Danks, who allowed three runs, four hits and a career-high six walks in six innings. Dye drove in four runs and Ramirez had three RBIs for the defending AL Central champions, who spoiled the return of slugger Vladimir Guerrero to the Angels’ lineup.

Guerrero was 0-for-4 in his first game since April 15, after being side-lined because of a torn pectoral muscle on the right side of his chest.

— The Associated Press

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Thome leads Sox’s pounding of AngelsChicago White Sox 17, L.A. Angels 3

White Sox 17, Angels 3

Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Podsednik cf-lf 5 2 4 2 1 0 .303Al.Ramirez ss 7 3 4 3 0 1 .243Dye rf 5 3 2 4 1 0 .270Thome dh 3 1 2 4 1 0 .250c-C.Miller ph-dh 2 0 0 0 0 1 .200Konerko 1b 4 1 1 1 0 1 .306Betemit 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .214Quentin lf 1 0 1 1 0 0 .2291-Bri.Anderson pr-cf 5 3 3 0 0 1 .307Pierzynski c 6 2 3 0 0 1 .273Fields 3b 6 0 2 2 0 3 .221Getz 2b 5 2 2 0 1 0 .250Totals 51 17 24 17 4 8

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Figgins 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .294M.Izturis 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .269Abreu rf 0 1 0 0 2 0 .303a-Matthews Jr. ph-cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .270Guerrero dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .222Hunter cf 1 1 1 2 1 0 .319b-Kendrick ph-2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .243J.Rivera lf-rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .286Quinlan 3b-lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .243K.Morales 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .283Mathis c 2 0 0 0 2 1 .224E.Aybar ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .282Totals 30 3 4 3 6 5

Chicago 344 210 201 — 17 24 0Los Angeles 300 000 000 — 3 4 0

a-struck out for Abreu in the 5th. b-flied out for Hunter in the 5th. 1-ran for Quentin in the 1st. LOB: Chicago 12, Los Angeles 6. 2B: Podsednik (3), Quentin (6), Fields (3), Getz (6), K.Morales (13). HR: Dye (12), off E.Santana; Thome (8), off R.Rodriguez; Konerko (7), off Bulger. RBIs: Podsednik 2 (5), Al.Ramirez 3 (20), Dye 4 (30), Thome 4 (26), Konerko (29), Quentin (20), Fields 2 (16), Hunter 2 (39), Quinlan (2). SB: Al.Ramirez (8), Hunter 2 (10). Run-ners left in scoring position: Chicago 7 (Fields, Dye 2, Al.Ramirez 4); Los Angeles 3 (Quinlan, Figgins, E.Aybar). DP: Chicago 1 (Getz, Al.Ramirez, Konerko).

Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADanks W, 4-3 6 4 3 3 6 4 112 4.59Carrasco 2 0 0 0 0 1 21 2.56Gobble 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 14.54Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAE.Santana L, 0-2 1 9 7 7 1 1 41 7.82R.Rodriguez 3 7 6 6 1 3 63 7.71Bulger 2 2 1 1 1 2 31 5.60J.Speier 2 3 2 2 1 1 35 5.89Arredondo 1 3 1 1 0 1 15 5.14

E.Santana pitched to 5 batters in the 2nd. Inherited runners-scored: R.Rodriguez 1-0. HBP: by J.Speier (Podsednik). Umpires: Home, Gary Cederstrom; First, Jim Wolf; Second, Brian O’Nora; Third, Fieldin Culbreth. T: 3:04. A: 43,177 (45,257).

MARK AVERY / AP

Chicago’s Carlos Quentin, center, is helped off the field after injuring his ankle.


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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 5Next Gen: Recruiting / College Football

The site of the annual Florida-Georgia game has been a hot topic for debate recently. Where should the teams play when the current contract with Jack-sonville, Fla., expires after the 2010 season?

Both coaches have weighed in—Florida’s Urban Meyer said he favors keeping the game in Jackson-ville, and Georgia’s Mark Richt said the Gator Bowl doesn’t seem much like a neutral site to him.

So what do three former quarterbacks who played in the series think? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution caught up with former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel (1993-96) and former Georgia QBs John Lastinger (1980-83) and Buck Belue (1978-81).

Wuerffel: “During my sophomore and junior years at Florida, the stadium in Jacksonville was being reno-vated for the Jaguars, and I had a unique opportu-nity—I played games in Gainesville and Athens.

“Many of the details of the alternating home games have gotten lost in my mind with the dozens of other home and away games in which I had par-ticipated. The games that stand out, for lots of dif-ferent reasons, were in Jacksonville. … Without any hesitation, I believe the Florida-Georgia game should stay in Jacksonville.”

Lastinger: “… I never felt like—and I think I can speak for my teammates—we were at a disadvantage by having to travel to Jacksonville back then. Being from Valdosta, I learned in a hurry how important the game is to the South Georgia fan base.

“It is truly one of the great traditions in all of col-lege football—and I think we should respect that and all that goes with it.”

Belue: “… Count me among those who would hate to see it moved just because the Gators have owned the series the last 20 years. I don’t buy that it’s a home-field edge for Florida. The last time I checked, that stadium was divided right down the middle, half Georgia and half Florida.

“… Move this game out of Jacksonville? That is unac-ceptable. I haven’t found a former teammate or a former Georgia player that wants to see the game moved.”

Michigan brought Joe Reynolds in on a track schol-arship. This fall, he’ll get a chance at receiver as a pre-ferred walk-on for coach Rich Rodriguez’s football team.

“In his years at West Virginia, he was famous for giving walk-ons scholarships because coach Rodri-guez himself was a walk-on who got a scholarship,” Reynolds told the Detroit Free Press. “I met with him. He made me feel like he knew everything about me.”

Michigan track coach Fred LaPlante gave film of Reyn-olds to the football coaches. Reynolds played football in high school and was a receiver/defensive back.

He will go to Ann Arbor on June 26 and partici-pate in 7-on-7 informal summer workouts with the football team.

The Independence Bowl has a new sponsor, AdvoCare International LP (a direct marketer of nutri-tional and skin care products) of Carrollton, Texas.

The Dec. 28 game will be called the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl, after a new multivitamin.

Austin Hinder’s grandfather played college football at California, but the Steamboat Springs (Colo.) quarter-back told Sporting News Today that’s not the only reason he committed to the Bears on Sunday.

His grandfather is Jim Hanifan, the longtime NFL assistant and former head coach of the St. Louis Cardi-nals and Atlanta Falcons. Hanifan was an All-Ameri-can at Cal and led the nation in receiving in 1954.

“My grandpa played there, and people are saying, ‘Oh, that’s why you’d go there,’ but he’s the one who was telling me all along to take all of my official visits,” Hinder told SN Today. “But I just couldn’t do it.

“Cal already had everything I wanted in a school, and they have the best quarterback mind out there in coach (Jeff) Tedford. And they always bring in great line classes, so I don’t have to run around my whole career.”

Hinder (6-4, 180) is ranked No. 69 overall in Sporting News’ Top 100 high school prospects for the class of 2010. Alabama, Colorado, Florida State, Kansas, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Pitt, Stanford and UCLA had also offered him a scholarship.

He said he is relieved that the decision is behind him after a crazy spring—“It’s a good feeling to get it off your back.”

Hinder said he informed Cal offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig of the commitment but had not talked to Tedford yet. Hinder said Ludwig was “all fired up” and that Ludwig said he was really looking forward to Ted-ford’s reaction.

Hinder said he is a pro-style quarterback.“I love to drop back out of the shotgun and throw the

ball downfield, for sure,” Hinder said. “I’m also really ath-letic. I’m not going to just sit back there and take a sack—I’m going to use my feet to get out of trouble. Mainly, I like to throw the deep ball.”

Texas and coach Mack Brown have picked up early commitments by the boatload in recent seasons. This year, one of those early commitments bailed.

Midway (Waco, Texas) S Ahmad Dixon dropped the Longhorns and immediately committed to Baylor,

Rivals.com reported.Dixon (6-1, 195) is rated a four-star prospect by Rivals

and a five-star recruit by Scout.com.One of Dixon’s high school teammates has a family con-

nection to the Bears’ coaching staff, which prompted him to give Baylor a second look, he told Rivals.com. He liked what he saw and changed schools because of it.

Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) OT Matthew Jakubiec has committed to Arizona, Rivals.com reported. He also reported scholarship offers from New Mexico, New Mexico State and San Jose State.

Jakubiec (6-7, 310) is Arizona’s fourth commitment for the class of 2010.

— Brian McLaughlin

Highly-rated ColoradoQB commits to California

RECRUITING DISH INSIDE DISH

Former Florida-Georgia QBs: Keep the game in Jacksonville

COURTESY OF AUSTIN HINDER

Steamboat Springs (Colo.) QB Austin Hinder is ranked the No. 69 overall prospect in the 2010 class by Sporting News.

STEPHEN MORTON / AP

Gators fans never have a problem getting excited to face Georgia.


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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 6College Football

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.—Bobby Bowden and Florida State are scheduled to open the 2009 football season Labor Day night against archrival Miami, but school’s most important date of the year could be this week.

The university expects to hear from the NCAA soon on its appeal of sanctions resulting from an

academic cheating scandal that included taking away as many as 14 victories from Bowden’s coaching record.

Such a penalty would leave Bowden unable to keep pace with Penn State’s Joe Paterno in their competition to finish extraordinarily long coaching

careers with the most wins at the major college level.

“It’s just us two and you’d hate to give up in a good battle like that,” Bowden recently told the Palm Beach Post during a South Florida booster tour stop.

Bowden, who turns 80 in November, has 382 wins now, one fewer than Paterno.

Although the actual number of wins that will be subtracted from Bowden’s total hasn’t been deter-mined, it could be 14 which would leave Bowden 15 shy of Paterno going into the penultimate season of his coaching career, if not the final one.

Florida State has already contracted with offen-sive coordinator Jimbo Fisher to take over by the 2011 season or will pay a $5 million penalty, and university president T.K. Wetherell is on record that he won’t make a penalty payment.

Bowden has already shied away from an ear-lier goal of getting 400 victories before stepping away.

“I need to try and stay away from numbers, because people start counting,” Bowden said in January.

Florida State athletic director Randy Spetman said there’s no question that Bowden will coach the 2009 season.


A year ago, Alabama coach Nick Saban’s

Crimson Caravan tour of the Southeast carried a

slightly different message. He was coming off a

6-6 regular season, a year in which the Tide lost

at home to Louisiana-Monroe and saw their los-

ing streak against Auburn reach six games.

This spring has been more about handling

expectations than keeping the faith. Alabama, in

Saban’s second season, won its first dozen games

before falling to Florida in the SEC championship

and Utah in the Sugar Bowl.

Saban’s caravan stopped last week in Atlanta,

where he was presented with Sporting News’

Coach of the Year award and talked with report-

ers, including SN Today’s Derek Samson, about

all things Bama.

Q: When you go out to these booster events this offseason,

how much different is it from a year ago?

A: The energy and enthusiasm has always been really positive ever

since we’ve been here. People weren’t at all discouraged. They sort of knew we had to do some building. We’re pleased with the progress we made to this point, but not satisfied. What I try to do is get everybody to understand the goals are the same, but the inspiration is a little different.

Once you get good, you need a total disposition about staying good. … Now the challenge is you’ve got to wanna be the best. That’s a never-ending process. That’s got to be the motivation. It’s not about being embarrassed or trying to prove something.

Q: Have the players bought into that attitude?

A: We had a good spring, but I don’t think the true team chemistry

really surfaces until the summertime. The coaches are always with the guys in spring practice. In the summer, the

coaches aren’t there as much. That’s when the true leadership starts to emerge. You start to see the core buy-in that everybody has in terms of how they go about what they do.

They have to work with the strength and conditioning coaches. For the first time, the responsibility becomes theirs

instead of somebody making them do it. That’s where the true chemistry (devel-ops); you see what the team might be.

Q: Is the program where you thought it’d be at this point?

A: I didn’t have any thoughts where it would be. I just know where it

was the first day. Then we managed it the second day, the third day, the fifth month and the sixth month, the first season, then the second season. Our thing is you’ve got to have a lot of intensity but also a sense of urgency—continue to get better, and manage the positives and negatives you deal with every day. That’s all I focus on. I never had any thoughts of what it should have been, what it could have been, what it’s gonna be or when it’s gonna be that.

Q: How much do your (No. 1) recruiting rankings fuel

expectations?

A: It’s nice to be recognized and I certainly have respect for the

people doing the recognizing. But football is such a developmental game. I ask kids, “Are you a lot better now than you were as a freshman in high school?” They all say yeah. “Well, you’re gonna be a lot better player as a junior, a senior in college than a freshman. Now can we get back to why you improved?”

We (don’t want) the players them-selves caught up in that. The fans some-times get caught up in the instant self-gratification of it all. The expecta-tions affect the players, too. When they don’t have success, they get frustrated. That sets them back so they’re not mak-ing the progress they need to make.

Q: Is football the hardest sport to project the future of a player?

A: It’s a developmental game because of the physical nature of

the game. There’s so many skill sets involved because of the different positions. Offensive line, receivers, the running backs, quarterbacks … you’ve got so many different skill sets, and if a guy has a fatal flaw at any position, it will impede his development.

‘The true team chemistry really surfaces in the summertime’Decision on FSU’s appeal might affect Bowden’s future

Q&A with … Alabama coach Nick Saban

Bobby Bowden

BOB LEVERONE / SN

Though Nick Saban has had major recruiting success, he warns against the trap of instant gratification.


BY CHRISTIAN SWEZEYInsideLacrosse.com

FOXBOROUGH, MASS.—The Syracuse men’s lacrosse team is not the type to panic. After all, its 10-9 overtime victory over Cornell before 41,935 at Gillette Stadium on Monday afternoon marked the program’s 11th national title, a record amount.

Though there were signs that the Orange (16-2) may not have been panicking, they were at least rolling the dice when they trailed by three goals with less than four minutes to play.

For the first time in the game, coach John Desko used an attack unit of senior Kenny Nims, junior Cody Jamieson and sophomore Stephen Keogh.

Nims is the nation’s leading scorer. Keogh and Jamieson, mean-time, are considered two of the best finishers in the game. Keogh is a righty; Jamieson is a lefty. The two honed their shooting skills in the tight confines of indoor lacrosse in their native Canada.

And it was those three players who led the comeback that cul-minated in a goal by Jamieson 80 seconds into the sudden-death overtime.

To force overtime, Keogh scored with 3:37 to play to cut the deficit to 9-7; Jamieson scored to make it 9-8 with 2:46 left; and Nims forced overtime with on a goal with 4.5 seconds to play.

“We thought if we were going to have a chance to win we were going to have to have unsettled situations,” Desko said. “Those guys in-tight are going to shoot

the ball extremely well.”Said Nims: “I never did think we

were going to lose. Our guys never give up. ... This is our time of year. This is why we go to Syracuse.”

The three attackmen actually had been paired together to start the fourth quarter. But their impact was delayed because Cor-nell (13-4) did a masterful job of controlling the ball.

The Big Red had a 4 minute 3 second possession that culminated in a goal by senior Max Seibald for an 8-6 lead with 7:20 to play.

The lead became 9-6 following a goal by freshman Roy Lang with 5:31 left. Yet the goal by Lang was Cornell’s last shot. Its final four possessions ended with three turn-overs and a failed clear. The Big Red were outshot 8-0 in the final 5:31.

Senior John Glynn finished

with three goals, two assists, nine groundballs and won 10 face-offs. Seibald added two goals and played offense, defense and as a wing on face-offs.

Syracuse “played great and showed a lot of poise at the end of the game,” Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni said. “They certainly played like a team that has been here before.”

With the victory, Syracuse became the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Princeton in 1996-98. Sophomore John Galloway, the team’s start-ing goalie, is 7-0 in his career in the NCAA tournament.

That the winning goal came from Jamieson would have been impos-sible in the season’s early stages.

Jamieson, a transfer from Onon-daga (NY) Community College, was not cleared to play until early April

following questions about an online he course over the winter. Jamieson certainly is no stranger to winning—Onondaga won two junior college national titles when he was there—and his arrival was called “a game changer” by one Division I head coach.

Jamieson clearly added to his legacy with the winning goal on Monday.

“There were definitely nights looking at your ceiling wondering if it was going to happen,” Jamieson said of his eligibility quandry. “So I leaned on my fam-ily and friends and hoped it would happen. I practiced every day with the team and I still felt like a part of the team. They didn’t make me feel like I wasn’t a part of the team and it’s a great feeling right now.”

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 7Lacrosse

NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Failed clear dooms Big Red

FOXBOROUGH, MASS.—Cornell had a three-goal lead with less than 4 min-utes to play in the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse championship game on Monday in Foxborough, Mass. Yet when the game ended, it was it was Syracuse that was celebrating a 10-9 overtime victory before 41,595 at Gil-lette Stadium.

In between, the Big Red (13-4) had four possessions. Three ended in turn-overs, one in a failed clear.

The failed clear was the most distress-ing. Cornell had a 9-8 lead and had pos-session with 28 seconds left. But senior midfielder Max Seibald, the first four-time All-Ivy lacrosse player in league his-tory, passed the ball instead of trying to clear it himself.

And Syracuse senior Kenny Nims forced a turnover near midfield, then raced toward the goal. There, he caught a last-gasp pass from senior Matt Abbott and scored with 4.5 sec-onds to play.

Cornell midfielder Roy Lang, a 6-foot-3 freshman, leaped and tipped Abbott’s pass—but did not alter it enough to stop it from reaching Nims.

“We had an opportunity to clear the ball,” Seibald said. “Add I picked the ball up off the endline and passed it up. I prob-ably should have just ran it out myself. I’ll probably never forget that.”

Seibald finished with two goals and classmate John Glynn added three goals, two assists and nine groundballs.

“When you put so much time and effort in, you sacrifice so much,” Cor-nell coach Jeff Tambroni said. “Being five seconds away from being the best team in college lacrosse is a tough thing to swallow.”

— Christian Swezey

Orange win 11th title after forcing OT in final secondsNCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse champions2009 — Syracuse

2008 — Syracuse

2007 — Johns Hopkins

2006 — Virginia


2004 — Syracuse

2003 — Virginia

2002 — Syracuse

2001 — Princeton

2000 — Syracuse

1999 — Virginia

1998 — Princeton

1997 — Princeton

1996 — Princeton

1995 — Syracuse

1994 — Princeton

1993 — Syracuse

1992 — Princeton

1991 — North Carolina

1990 — x-Syracuse

1989 — Syracuse

1988 — Syracuse





1983 — Syracuse






1977 — Cornell

1976 — Cornell

1975 — Maryland


1973 — Maryland

1972 — Virginia

1971 — Cornell

x-Participation in tournament

vacated by NCAA

COURTESY OF GREG WALL

Cody Jamieson (43) and Greg Niewieroski (20) celebrate Jamieson’s game-winning goal, which gave Syracuse back-to-back titles.


http://InsideLacrosse.com

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALSDenver 120, L.A. Lakers 101

With ’Melo ailing, Nuggets step up and tie seriesDENVER— The Denver Nuggets are

so much more than just Carmelo Anthony.

A dominating effort on the boards and a great performance by the bench helped the Nuggets overcome a below-par effort from an ailing ’Melo on Monday night, when they raced past the Los Angeles Lakers 120-101, evening the Western Con-ference finals at two games apiece.

They did it with their star hob-bled by a sprained ankle and slowed by a stomach virus that had him hugging the commode before tip-off and getting IVs at halftime.

“Even before I twisted my ankle, with my stomach, I didn’t have my legs early in the game,” Anthony said. “I felt like I didn’t have any energy. Those IVs were a must. They helped a little bit. I’ll be OK for Wednesday.”

Anthony finished with 15 hard-earned points on 3-of-16 shooting, but it hardly mattered because, unlike in Game 3, his teammates came to the rescue.

Six of them scored in double dig-its, led by Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith with 24 apiece.

“It was important for everyone to step up,” Anthony said. “We had a bunch of guys step up today. I know the past two, three games our bench hasn’t been as productive as they have been in the playoffs, but tonight those guys stepped up. J.R. stepped up big, Linas Kleiza came in and hit some big shots, he was just phenomenal out there.”

Kenyon Martin and Nene each had a double-double as the Nuggets posted their eighth blowout of the

postseason but first against Los Angeles following three games that came down to the final seconds.

“They whooped us, period,” said Kobe Bryant, who scored 34 points. “They whooped us on the glass. They whooped us to loose balls.”

They whooped them in every

which way as Denver dominated the glass, the paint and the stripe, outrebounding, outmuscling and outhustling the tired Lakers, whose fatigue after their grueling seven-game series with Houston and the quick turnaround to Denver is really starting to show.

“But that’s not a very good excuse,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

The Nuggets beat the Lakers on the glass by 18, outscored them in the paint by 18, beat them on the fast break by 10 and outscored their bench 42-24.

“It just shows we have heart and can

play with a man down,” Smith said. “We did a lot this year and kept it up.”

So, the Nuggets didn’t need to worry about a botched inbounds pass in the closing seconds like the ones that cost them wins in Games 1 and 3.

“I had forgotten about that,” Nug-gets coach George Karl cracked.

The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 5 Wednesday, and the only thing that put a smile on Jackson’s face on this night was the memory of the Lakers’ win 48 hours earlier.

“What we’ve done is we’ve won a road game and brought the home-court advantage back to L.A.,” Jackson said.

Martin had 13 points and 15 boards, Nene pitched in 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Chris “Bird-man” Andersen added 14 rebounds for the Nuggets, who outrebounded the Lakers 58-40.

“We got hammered from every direction tonight,” Lakers forward Luke Walton said.

In Jackson’s view, the hammer-ing went overboard.

Jackson complained about Dahn-tay Jones’ trip of Bryant in the third quarter, calling it unsportsmanlike.

“I just fell on my face for no rea-son,” Bryant deadpanned. “I’m a klutz.”

Jackson also griped about Den-ver’s lopsided 49-35 advantage in free throws, a reversal of Game 3’s 45-31 Lakers advantage.

“Basketball is a game where the aggressor gets the advantage. And tonight we didn’t know what a foul was and what wasn’t a foul,” Jack-son complained.

—The Associated Press

L.A. Lakers 19 26 21 35 — 101Denver 22 30 25 43 — 120

L.A Min FG FT Reb A PF PTSAriza 25:42 1-4 0-2 0-1 1 5 3Gasol 35:25 8-11 5-7 1-10 4 4 21Bynum 23:17 6-7 2-3 2-5 0 5 14Fisher 23:13 2-7 0-0 0-1 1 1 5Bryant 41:12 10-26 12-13 1-7 5 3 34Odom 29:47 1-8 2-4 4-8 1 5 5Walton 12:39 0-2 0-0 1-3 5 6 0Brown 15:31 1-4 1-2 0-1 0 2 3Vujacic 15:30 2-4 0-1 0-1 0 0 6Farmar 14:00 3-7 2-3 0-3 2 0 10Powell 2:43 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0Mbenga 1:01 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0Totals 240:00 34-82 24-35 9-40 19 31 101

Percentages: FG .415, FT .686. 3-Point Goals: 9-31, .290 (Vujacic 2-4, Farmar 2-5, Bryant 2-10, Odom 1-2, Ariza 1-3, Fisher 1-5, Brown 0-1, Walton 0-1). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 10 (13 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Gasol 3, Bynum, Walton). Turnovers: 10 (Odom 3, Brown 2, Ariza, Bryant, Farmar, Fisher, Vujacic). Steals: 4 (Bryant, Fisher, Odom, Walton). Technical Fouls: Walton, 9:11 fourth. Flagrant Fouls: Bynum, 6:11 fourth.

DENVER Min FG FT Reb A PF PTSAnthony 34:58 3-16 9-11 2-3 5 5 15Martin 34:30 5-11 3-4 3-15 2 3 13Nene 34:47 5-8 4-7 7-13 6 2 14Billups 41:43 7-16 9-9 1-3 3 1 24Jones 19:14 3-5 6-6 1-3 1 2 12Smith 28:26 9-17 2-6 1-2 4 4 24Andersen 24:04 2-4 2-4 4-14 0 2 6Kleiza 13:02 3-5 2-2 0-2 0 2 10Carter 5:59 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 2 2Balkman 1:38 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 0Petro 1:01 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0Hart 0:38 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0Totals 240:00 38-86 37-49 20-58 23 24 120

Percentages: FG .442, FT .755. 3-Point Goals: 7-24, .292 (Smith 4-9, Kleiza 2-3, Billups 1-6, Andersen 0-1, Jones 0-1, Martin 0-1, Anthony 0-3). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 6 (6 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Andersen 2, Martin 2, Billups). Turnovers: 6 (Smith 3, Anthony, Carter, Nene). Steals: 6 (Smith 2, Anthony, Balk-man, Billups, Jones). Technical Fouls: Smith, 7:09 fourth; Martin, 3:49 fourth; Anthony, 3:49 fourth.

A: 20,037 (19,155). T: 2:54. Officials: Bennett Salvatore, Bennie Adams, Ken Mauer.

Series glance(Series tied 2-2)

May 19: L.A. Lakers 105,Denver 103

May 21: Denver 106, L.A. Lakers 103

May 23: L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97

Monday: Denver, 120, L.A. Lakers 101

Wednesday: Denver at L.A. Lakers, 9 p.m.

Friday: L.A. Lakers at Denver, 9 p.m.

Sunday: Denver at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m., if necessary

CHRIS CARLSON / AP

J.R. Smith was one of several Nuggets to fill the void created by Carmelo Anthony’s sprained ankle and stomach ache—he scored 24 points.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 8NBA


ORLANDO—Tinted sunglasses conceal-ing the cuts and bandages framing his puffy left eye, struggling Cleveland guard Mo Williams plopped down on a table inside a ritzy hotel ballroom on Monday and quickly proclaimed the Cavaliers were not in any trouble.

Far from it.“We’re the best team in basketball,”

he said.Really? The Cavaliers, winners of

66 regular-season games and their first eight straight in the playoffs, certainly haven’t looked superior to the Orlando Magic.

They can’t stop Dwight Howard inside. They can’t contain Orlando’s squadron of outside shooters. They are missing easy, open shots. They’re not giving LeBron James enough sup-port, and they trail 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals.

Williams remains confident.“They deserve respect,” he said.

“They are a good team. But we are the best team in basketball. I don’t feel that they’ve had to adjust to us one time in the series.”

So, Mo. You’re sure the Cavaliers will win Game 4 tonight and rally to win the best-of-seven series. Willing to guarantee it?

“Guarantee we’re going to win the series? Yeah, yeah,” he said. “We are down 2-1. But there is nobody on this team and definitely not myself that says we are not going to win this series. Yeah, it is going to be tough. We know that. We get this game tomorrow, go home, still got home-court advantage.

“We don’t see ourselves losing two out of three at home.”

The Magic brushed off Williams’ boast.

“We just got to go out there and play,” Howard said. “We can’t worry about what other guys are saying.”

James didn’t flinch when told Wil-liams had guaranteed the Cavaliers would advance.

“He should. There’s no other rea-son why we should be here,” he said.

Orlando, relishing the underdog role in its first conference finals appearance since 1995, won 99-89 on Sunday night in a disjointed Game 3 that included personal fouls, technicals and a fla-grant on Magic reserve guard Anthony Johnson for his elbow to Williams’ face in the second quarter.

The blow opened cuts above and below Williams’ eye, and Cleveland’s point guard said he was still feeling a little woozy from an unexpected shot he felt was intentional.

“My head’s still ringing,” said Wil-liams, who refused to take off his shades to show the wounds. “The game of basketball is not played with throw-ing punches, throwing elbows.”

Johnson refused to get drawn into a verbal war with Williams, who was called for a block on the play that bloodied him.

“I was trying to get to the rim and make a play and I drew a foul,” John-son said. “Elbows are a part of the game—good and bad. ...”

James was asked if the Cavaliers would retaliate.

“For what?” he said. “We’re just trying to get wins.”

The league’s MVP is averaging 41.7 points in the series, but the Cavs have

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS

REBOUNDPlayer OFF DEF TOT AVG. AST AVG. PF DQ STL TO BLKJames 14 81 95 8.6 76 6.9 18 0 21 23 9M. Williams 9 27 36 3.3 49 4.5 34 0 6 27 1West 4 34 38 3.5 45 4.1 22 0 15 27 4Ilgauskas 23 64 87 7.9 16 1.5 34 1 3 9 12Smith 10 38 48 4.4 3 0.3 25 0 6 7 7Varejao 36 36 72 6.5 6 0.5 32 1 13 12 14Szczerbiak 8 15 23 2.6 6 0.7 13 0 2 6 1Pavlovic 1 14 15 1.7 4 0.4 8 0 3 3 0Gibson 1 3 4 0.4 4 0.4 13 0 1 5 2Wallace 11 15 26 2.4 3 0.3 11 0 3 2 2Kinsey 1 1 2 0.3 0 0.0 2 0 0 1 0Jackson 0 5 5 1.0 1 0.2 5 0 0 1 0

TEAM 118 333 451 41.0 213 19.4 217 2 73 137 52OPPONENTS 94 269 363 33.0 198 18.0 245 2 65 131 36

Orlando MagicCleveland Cavaliers 3-Pnt.

Player G MIN FGM-FGA PCT FGM-FGA FTM-FTA PCT PTS AVG HGHoward 15 37.5 108-178 .607 0-1 83-132 .629 299 19.9 36Lewis 16 40.4 111-239 .464 30-76 66-85 .776 318 19.9 29Turkoglu 16 37.8 78-191 .408 19-51 59-69 .855 234 14.6 25Alston 15 32.7 69-179 .385 23-68 25-34 .735 186 12.4 21Pietrus 16 23.8 51-105 .486 21-61 32-44 .727 155 9.7 17Lee 13 28.5 46-104 .442 8-26 18-19 .947 118 9.1 24Redick 12 21.8 23-63 .365 16-41 12-13 .923 74 6.2 15Lue 1 4.0 2-2 1.000 1-1 0-0 --- 5 5.0 5Johnson 16 14.7 28-74 .378 8-27 5-12 .417 69 4.3 13Gortat 16 12.3 26-35 .743 0-0 7-10 .700 59 3.7 11Battie 14 6.1 15-30 .500 0-0 3-5 .600 33 2.4 8Foyle 2 2.0 0-1 .000 0-0 0-0 --- 0 0.0 0Richardson 1 2.0 0-1 .000 0-0 0-0 --- 0 0.0 0

TEAM 16 240.0 557-1202 .463 126-352 310-423 .733 1550 96.9 117OPPONENTS 16 240.0 548-1231 .445 88-286 280-365 .767 1464 91.5 112

REBOUNDPlayer OFF DEF TOT AVG. AST AVG. PF DQ STL TO BLKHoward 70 169 239 15.9 22 1.5 66 3 10 40 35Lewis 18 76 94 5.9 47 2.9 29 0 15 34 11Turkoglu 5 61 66 4.1 82 5.1 48 0 12 41 2Alston 1 36 37 2.5 69 4.6 34 0 24 25 4Pietrus 15 27 42 2.6 8 0.5 48 0 12 17 12Lee 4 20 24 1.8 22 1.7 25 0 13 14 2Redick 1 16 17 1.4 23 1.9 22 1 7 5 1Lue 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0Johnson 6 16 22 1.4 33 2.1 24 0 10 9 0Gortat 15 37 52 3.3 3 0.2 27 0 7 8 8Battie 4 9 13 0.9 0 0.0 7 0 0 1 1Foyle 0 1 1 0.5 0 0.0 1 0 0 1 0Richardson 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0

TEAM 139 468 607 37.9 309 19.3 331 4 110 204 76OPPONENTS 137 485 622 38.9 323 20.2 390 3 105 221 54

3-Pnt.Player G MIN FGM-FGA PCT FGM-FGA FTM-FTA PCT PTS AVG HGJames 11 40.0 127-239 .531 21-61 113-151 .748 388 35.3 49M. Williams 11 37.5 62-155 .400 26-78 19-27 .704 169 15.4 24West 11 41.5 51-110 .464 10-28 29-34 .853 141 12.8 21Ilgauskas 11 29.5 50-116 .431 2-13 15-24 .625 117 10.6 14Smith 11 19.1 22-49 .449 3-5 23-29 .793 70 6.4 19Varejao 11 30.2 27-56 .482 0-0 13-18 .722 67 6.1 14Szczerbiak 9 11.8 13-24 .542 1-7 9-10 .900 36 4.0 17Pavlovic 9 9.4 10-20 .500 2-8 1-3 .333 23 2.6 9Gibson 11 9.8 7-27 .259 4-17 7-7 1.000 25 2.3 9Wallace 11 11.8 4-6 .667 0-0 0-4 .000 8 0.7 4Kinsey 7 1.4 1-3 .333 0-0 2-2 1.000 4 0.6 2Jackson 5 5.0 1-5 .200 0-0 0-2 .000 2 0.4 2

TEAM 11 240.0 375-810 .463 69-217 231-311 .743 1050 95.5 106OPPONENTS 11 240.0 344-816 .422 61-176 177-231 .766 926 84.2 107

JOHN RAOUX / AP

REINHOLD MATAY / APMagic F Rashard Lewis has made a series-high 30 three-pointers while shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.

League MVP LeBron James is averaging 41.7 points in the series with the Magic, but his Cavs trail 2-1 heading into tonight’s game.

become a one-man show at the worst time possible.

Williams (32.1 percent), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (38.2) and Delonte West (41.9) are not shooting up to their standards.

James understands he can’t win a championship by himself.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “I know they can play a lot better. They know they can play a lot better. I don’t want to put pressure on those guys. They’ve just got to come out and do it. We just got to knock shots down.”

The Magic feel as though they haven’t gotten their proper due all season. While a potential James-Kobe Bryant showdown in the NBA finals has been fueled by popular TV com-mercials featuring puppets of the superstars, Orlando’s players have been wondering: Hey, what about us?

“It’s disrespectful when every-body’s counting us and Denver out trying to win a championship,” said Howard, who made the Cavs pay for fouling him by making 14 of 19 free throws in Game 3. “It’s like, forget the Magic, forget Denver. They want to see LeBron and Kobe go at it. So that is disrespectful. The only way you get respect is by going out there and tak-ing it. My mind-set is making people respect us.”


CLEVELANDVS. ORLANDO

Today’s gameConference finals(Best-of-7), all times ET

Cleveland at Orlando

8:30 p.m., TNT

Betting lineToday

FAVORITE .......... LINE ... O/U .........UNDERDOG

Cleveland .................... 1 .... (188) .............at Orlando



Playoff glanceCONFERENCE FINALS(Best-of-7), all times ET

EASTERN CONFERENCECleveland vs. Orlando(Orlando leads series 2-1)

May 20: Orlando 107, Cleveland 106

May 22: Cleveland 96, Orlando 95

May 24: Orlando 99, Cleveland 89

Today: Cleveland at Orlando, 8:30 p.m., TNT

Thursday: Orlando at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday: Cleveland at Orlando, 8:30 p.m., if necessary

Monday, June 1: Orlando at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m., if necessary

WESTERN CONFERENCE

L.A. Lakers vs. Denver(Series tied 2-2)


May 21: Denver 106, L.A. Lakers 103


Monday: Denver 120, L.A. Lakers 101

Wednesday: Denver at L.A. Lakers,9 p.m., ESPN

Friday: L.A. Lakers at Denver, 9 p.m.

Sunday: Denver at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m., if necessary

NBA calendarJune 4—NBA finals start date (pos-sible move-up to June 2).

June 15—NBA draft early entry entrant withdrawal deadline (5 p.m. ET).

June 18—NBA finals latest possible end date.

June 25—NBA draft.

INSIDE DISH

Van Gundy believes in handling complaints during gameMagic coach Stan Van Gundy proba-

bly had a beef that he could have brought to the league when he reviewed the film showing PG Mo Williams chucking the ball at C Dwight Howard in Game 3. But Van Gundy, who has no problem loudly letting referees know when he is dis-pleased, says that he doesn’t see much point in taking in-game prob-lems to the league for review.

“I can say this honestly, and I’ve said it before,” Van Gundy said. “We’ve got to be the only team in the league that never, ever, ever calls the league. Whatever com-plaints I have I’ll voice during the game. … They said they didn’t see (the throw). There were roughly 22,000 people in that arena, and three people didn’t see it. What are you going to do? How do you argue that if they didn’t see it?”

Raptors PG Jose Calderon, a fix-ture for the Spanish national team, announced on his personal website that he had asked to be withdrawn from consideration for this year’s European Championships in Poland. Calderon struggled for much of last season as he battled a hamstring injury and had surgery in April to repair a damaged liga-ment in his left ring finger. He wrote on the site, “I know that now I need to rest, recuperate well from the injuries from this season and seri-ously prepare for the upcoming NBA season where my team requires 100 percent of my effort to improve our results from last year.”

It could be a ploy, but general managers who have been licking their chops at the prospect of

landing PF Paul Millsap—known for his tough, hard-working focus on rebounding and defense—are

starting to suspect that the Jazz will make every effort to keep Millsap. He is a restricted free agent, so

whatever offer Millsap gets can be matched by Utah, and Greg Miller, head of the team’s ownership group,

has said publicly that he’d like to keep Millsap, even if it means pay-ing the luxury tax. The Jazz have two other prominent free agents, C Mehmet Okur and PF Carlos Boozer (if he opts out of the final year of his con-tract, which is no certainty).

“My sense is that Millsap is the pri-ority with them,” one Western Con-ference G.M. told SN Today. “You’ll see them let Boozer and Okur go before they let Millsap out.”

— Sean Deveney

The Timberwolves finally set-tled on a new general manager, tab-bing former Pacers exec David Kahn last week. Still left undecided is the fate of coach Kevin McHale. It’s not cer-tain that Kahn wants to keep McHale, or that McHale wants to stay on as coach. The two are expected to discuss the issue this week. There are still some top coach-ing candidates available—including ex-Mavs coach Avery Johnson, ex-Wiz-ards coach Eddie Jordan, ex-point guard Mark Jackson, Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau and former Timber-wolf Sam Mitchell—and if McHale steps down, the Timberwolves would join the Sixers and Kings as the only teams in need of a coach.

The Sixers, for their part, were considered the frontrunners for the services of Eddie Jordan, but have been extremely—annoyingly, to some in Philadelphia—fastidious in their interview process. In addition to Jordan, they now have chatted with Villanova’s Jay Wright, former coach Chris Ford, Thibodeau, ex-T-Wolves coach Dwayne Casey and Lak-ers assistant Kurt Rambis. Still, they’re expected to land Jordan in the end.

DAVID RICHARD / AP

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy doesn’t have a problem expressing himself, and isn’t compelled to follow up with calls to the NBA office.



EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Scott Walker knows about sacri-fice. The Carolina forward has been a big part of the Hurricanes’ playoff run while also helping his wife fight cervical cancer. So he has a little extra appreciation for what his coach, Paul Maurice, is doing right now.

Maurice was hired on an interim basis in December after Carolina GM Jim Rutherford fired head coach Peter Laviolette. When his former fran-chise and close friend needed the

help, Maurice didn’t hesitate.He also left his family behind in

Toronto while leading the Hurri-canes on a remarkable trip to the Eastern Conference finals. He’s done it all with no public guaran-tees that he’ll be the head coach next season.

It’d be shocking if Rutherford didn’t bring Maurice back after his coaching performance, but the G.M. has yet to offer any assurances beyond this season.

“I still want to wait and go through the process when we’re finished playing,” Rutherford told The News & Observer.

Rutherford’s deliberate style is what makes him one of the best GMs in the game. But it can’t be easy on Maurice.

“I think Jimmy (Rutherford) has done a tremendous job here over the years,” Walker told Sporting News Today. “He sits back and sees how things go and assesses things when he has time. Right now, you can’t assess anything.”

Walker said that makes Maurice even more respected in the Carolina dressing room. His contract doesn’t extend beyond June, but the players would never know by the time and sacrifices Maurice continues to make.

If this is an extended job inter-view, he’s earned the approval of the players.

“You know what it means to us; we can imagine what it means to

him,” Walker said. “He gets a great deal of respect from me for that. In some ways, it’s almost more than what you can do coaching. The sac-rifices you make for your team-mates and team pushes you a little further.”

Pittsburgh’s Dan Bylsma, the coach on the opposing bench, had his interim tag removed after lead-ing the Penguins to the playoffs.

He said he’s been so focused on

leading the Penguins that it wasn’t a decision that changed anything. But, he added, it was nice for his family, which did a little celebrating after the deal was signed.

Maurice said his family is cele-brating the Hurricanes’ playoff suc-cess. Right now, that’s the reward.

“We’ve gotten through it fine,” Maurice said. “It’s nice to have a playoff payoff like this. To come down and miss the time in your

family’s life, they enjoy [the play-offs], and they need it too.”

And in typical Maurice fashion, he injected some self-deprecating humor.

“It was a sacrifice for me. I’m not sure about my family,” Maurice said. “They seem to be getting along pretty well without me.”

When Maurice was hired and Ron Francis moved from the front office to the role of associate coach,

there were expectations from some in hockey that Francis was the head coach-in-waiting—if he wanted it.

Maurice said Francis sees things on the ice very few people in hockey see and agrees he would make a fantastic head coach.

Francis also has helped elevate the game of franchise center Eric Staal, who is close with the Hall of Fame center.

Maybe Francis’ presence compli-cates things. If he wants to be the head coach, even Maurice agrees he’s ready.

“We’ll sit down when everything is all said and done and discuss which direction we go,” Francis said.

If they’re competing for the same position, Maurice is doing a lousy job campaigning against Francis.

“For me, Ron is going to do what-ever he decides he wants to do. If it’s management, at some point he’ll be the G.M.,” Maurice said. “If he wants to be a head coach, at some point he’ll be a head coach. He can do that next season if he wants. I hope they’ll wait that long.”

Maurice deserves the head-coaching job regardless of the result of Tuesday night’s Game 4 in Caro-lina. All indications point to him getting it.

Rutherford has a history of mak-ing the right decision, and this one is easy.

“People in Carolina have a great deal of confidence with Jimmy,” Walker said. “I don’t know how he does it. He gets character guys and quality people around him.”

That’s what they have in Maurice: a coach worth keeping.

[email protected]

Sweep or not, Maurice deserves to have interim tag removed

Craig CustanceHOCKEY

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

Since taking over behind the bench on Dec. 3, Paul Maurice, left, has led Matt Cullen and the Hurricanes on a season-ending hot streak and into the Eastern Conference finals.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 11NHL



EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

RALEIGH, N.C.—It’s been five months since Eric Staal went this long between goals. If the All-Star center doesn’t start producing soon, he might have to wait that long before his next chance to score.

As Staal goes in this postseason, so go the Carolina Hurricanes. They’ve have won all seven playoff games in which he has scored a goal, and are 1-9 when he doesn’t.

One reason the Hurricanes enter tonight’s Game 4 in danger of being swept out of the Eastern Conference finals by the surging Pittsburgh Pen-guins is the lack of production from their franchise player.

The Penguins’ young stars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, have taken over the series, combining for 14 points and eight of their team’s 16 goals. Conversely, Staal has been held to just one assist in the series, and has gone six games without a goal since he had two in Game 4 of the second round against Boston.

The Hurricanes’ top scorer insists his touch will return with time, even if his team is running out of it.

“I’m counted on to score goals and counted on to produce offensively,” Staal said Monday. “I need to be a little bit better in my end of the rink and focus on that first, and everything else kind of takes care of itself. ... When those opportunities come, they’re going to fall—I didn’t score 40 goals for no reason. I know what I can do, and that’s continuing to attack the net, and those things are going to happen.”

The drought is his longest since he went seven games without a goal in November and December, a stretch that coincided with the firing of coach Peter Laviolette and the rehiring of Paul Maurice. Staal rebounded from

that stretch to score a team-best 40 goals, hitting that mark for the second time in his five-year career, and fin-ished with 75 points, two behind Ray Whitney for the team lead.

But after a quick start to the playoffs when he had 12 points in 11 games, he’s one loss away from the indignity of being eliminated by his baby brother’s team.

“He’s hard on himself—probably too hard on himself sometimes,” Pittsburgh forward Jordan Staal said. “It’s a diffi-cult situation for him. He’s been playing hard. It’s just not going in for him.”

The Penguins’ underrated defense has something to do with that, too. They’ve kept several of Carolina’s top players off the scoresheet during the series, holding Whitney and Erik Cole to two assists apiece.

“Those three guys ... they use each other very well,” Penguins defense-man Rob Scuderi said. “They don’t rely so much on one-on-one talent, individual skill, as they do on the whole line. We’re just trying to get on them quick, take away their time and space, and get moving into the offen-sive zone, because that’s where our forwards are able to grind them down and make them play defense.”

Indeed, the Penguins are at their

fast-breaking best when they’re fly-ing down the ice, peppering goalie Cam Ward with quick shots and fol-lowing one goal with another. They’re outshooting Carolina by nearly nine shots per game. Three times in the series the Penguins have scored mul-tiple goals within 90 seconds.

Next up for Pittsburgh: A spot in the record book, one way or another.

No team since the 1984 Edmonton Oilers has won the Stanley Cup the year after losing in the finals. The Pen-guins—beaten by Detroit in six games in last year’s Cup finals—seemingly are racing the Red Wings to become the first team to reach the final round in consecutive years since New Jersey did

it in 2000 and ’01. The Red Wings lead the West finals 3-1 over Chicago.

Before the Penguins can think about a probable matchup against former teammate Marian Hossa—who signed with the Red Wings in the offseason for what he perceived as a better chance to win a title—they must take care of the Hurricanes and avoid becoming the first NHL team since the 1975 Penguins to lose a series after leading 3-0.

“We certainly know the situation we’re in,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. “We haven’t won four games. This is a race to four, and we still have more work to do to get there.”


Playoff stats (Through May 24)

Pittsburgh PenguinsPOS NO. PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW OTG S PCTGC 71 Evgeni Malkin 16 12 16 28 3 18 5 0 3 1 79 .152C 87 Sidney Crosby 16 14 12 26 10 12 5 0 1 0 63 .222R 13 Bill Guerin 16 6 7 13 10 9 2 0 2 1 47 .128D 55 Sergei Gonchar 14 2 10 12 2 10 1 0 1 0 32 .063L 14 Chris Kunitz 16 1 11 12 5 15 0 0 0 0 31 .032L 26 Ruslan Fedotenko 16 5 5 10 5 4 0 0 0 0 41 .122D 58 Kris Letang 15 3 6 9 3 26 1 0 1 1 39 .077L 24 Matt Cooke 16 1 6 7 2- 12 0 0 0 0 23 .043D 7 Mark Eaton 16 4 2 6 9 6 1 0 0 0 11 .364C 48 Tyler Kennedy 16 3 3 6 3- 4 0 0 2 0 50 .060C 11 Jordan Staal 16 2 4 6 5- 6 0 0 0 0 39 .051R 81 Miroslav Satan 10 1 4 5 4 9 0 0 0 0 15 .067C 25 Maxime Talbot 16 3 1 4 2 5 0 0 0 0 21 .143R 27 Craig Adams 16 2 2 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 21 .095D 44 Brooks Orpik 16 0 4 4 1- 16 0 0 0 0 5 .000D 43 Philippe Boucher 7 1 2 3 2- 4 1 0 1 0 8 .125D 4 Rob Scuderi 16 1 2 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 7 .143D 2 Hal Gill 16 0 2 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 15 .000D 3 Alex Goligoski 2 0 1 1 1- 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000R 17 Petr Sykora 6 0 1 1 3- 0 0 0 0 0 7 .000L 9 Pascal Dupuis 10 0 0 0 3- 6 0 0 0 0 14 .000TEAM TOTALS 16 61 101 162 9 180 16 0 11 3 569 .107OPPONENT TOTALS 16 46 79 125 9- 242 10 2 5 1 461 .100

NO GOALTENDER GP MINS AVG W L OT EN SO GA SA SV% G A PIM29 Marc-Andre Fleury 16 995 2.71 11 5 0 1 0 45 460 .902 0 0 2TEAM TOTALS 16 1000 2.76 11 5 0 1 0 46 461 .900 0 0 2OPPONENT TOTALS 16 1000 3.66 5 11 0 4 1 61 569 .893 0 0 0

Carolina HurricanesPOS NO. PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW OTG S PCTGC 12 Eric Staal 17 9 5 14 2- 4 3 0 1 0 68 .132L 36 Jussi Jokinen 17 7 4 11 1- 0 2 0 3 1 27 .259R 59 Chad LaRose 17 4 7 11 1 14 0 0 0 0 49 .082L 13 Ray Whitney 17 3 8 11 7- 4 0 0 1 0 52 .058D 25 Joni Pitkanen 17 0 8 8 2 16 0 0 0 0 46 .000L 14 Sergei Samsonov 16 5 2 7 3 6 0 0 0 0 22 .227D 77 Joe Corvo 17 2 5 7 7- 2 1 0 1 0 48 .042R 24 Scott Walker 17 1 6 7 3- 19 0 0 1 1 24 .042C 8 Matt Cullen 17 3 3 6 1 14 0 1 0 0 26 .115D 4 Dennis Seidenberg 15 1 5 6 5- 12 0 0 0 0 16 .063D 6 Tim Gleason 17 1 4 5 2- 32 0 0 1 1 11 .091L 18 Ryan Bayda 14 2 2 4 2 18 0 0 0 0 17 .118R 15 Tuomo Ruutu 16 1 3 4 3- 8 0 0 0 0 17 .059C 17 Rod Brind’Amour 17 1 3 4 4- 8 0 0 0 0 28 .036R 26 Erik Cole 17 0 4 4 4- 22 0 0 0 0 30 .000R 44 Patrick Eaves 17 1 2 3 1- 13 0 0 0 0 21 .048R 39 Patrick Dwyer 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---D 5 Frantisek Kaberle 7 0 1 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 7 .000D 33 Anton Babchuk 12 0 1 1 3- 10 0 0 0 0 21 .000C 63 Dwight Helminen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---D 38 Tim Conboy 3 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 ---D 7 Niclas Wallin 17 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 9 .000TEAM TOTALS 17 41 74 115 5- 221 6 1 8 3 539 .076OPPONENT TOTALS 17 48 83 131 5 210 8 0 9 1 554 .087

NO GOALTENDER GP MINS AVG W L OT EN SO GA SA SV% G A PIM30 Cam Ward 17 1043 2.65 8 9 0 2 2 46 552 .917 0 0 0TEAM TOTALS 17 1049 2.75 8 9 0 2 2 48 554 .913 0 0 0OPPONENT TOTALS 17 1049 2.35 9 8 0 1 2 41 539 .924 0 0 0

Staal sputters at inopportune time for HurricanesToday’s gameEastern Conference finals(Best-of-7), all times ET

Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7:30 p.m., Versus

Betting lineToday

FAVORITE .........LINE UNDERDOG ........ LINE

Pittsburgh ............ -135 at Carolina .............+115

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

Carolina wins when Eric Staal scores, but he hasn’t found the net since Game 4 of the second round.



WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Playoff stats (Through May 24)

Chicago BlackhawksPOS NO. PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW OTG S PCTGR 24 Martin Havlat 16 5 10 15 0 8 0 0 1 1 35 .143R 88 Patrick Kane 15 8 5 13 10- 12 2 0 0 0 33 .242C 19 Jonathan Toews 16 7 6 13 1- 26 5 0 2 0 42 .167L 32 Kris Versteeg 16 4 8 12 5- 22 3 0 0 0 24 .167R 10 Patrick Sharp 16 7 4 11 1- 4 3 0 2 1 40 .175C 36 Dave Bolland 16 4 7 11 0 24 1 1 1 0 27 .148D 7 Brent Seabrook 16 1 10 11 0 14 1 0 0 0 35 .029D 51 Brian Campbell 16 2 8 10 0 0 2 0 0 0 26 .077D 25 Cam Barker 16 3 6 9 1- 2 0 0 0 0 31 .097R 33 Dustin Byfuglien 16 3 6 9 1- 26 1 0 0 0 40 .075D 2 Duncan Keith 16 0 6 6 1 8 0 0 0 0 23 .000R 37 Adam Burish 16 3 2 5 4 30 0 0 1 0 22 .136C 26 Samuel Pahlsson 16 2 3 5 4- 4 1 0 0 0 10 .200L 16 Andrew Ladd 16 3 1 4 4 12 0 0 1 1 31 .097L 55 Ben Eager 16 1 1 2 1- 51 0 0 1 0 14 .071D 8 Matt Walker 16 0 2 2 3- 14 0 0 0 0 15 .000L 22 Troy Brouwer 16 0 2 2 1- 12 0 0 0 0 19 .000D 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson 16 0 1 1 3- 6 0 0 0 0 8 .000C 46 Colin Fraser 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000TEAM TOTALS 16 53 88 141 4- 279 19 1 9 3 476 .111OPPONENT TOTALS 16 52 85 137 4 250 14 1 7 1 463 .112

NO GOALTENDER GP MINS AVG W L OT EN SO GA SA SV% G A PIM39 Nikolai Khabibuli 15 881 2.93 8 6 0 3 0 43 421 .898 0 0 050 Corey Crawford 1 16 3.75 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 .857 0 0 038 Cristobal Huet 2 66 4.55 1 1 0 0 0 5 32 .844 0 0 0TEAM TOTALS 16 970 3.22 9 7 0 3 0 52 463 .888 0 0 0OPPONENT TOTALS 16 970 3.28 7 9 0 3 0 53 476 .889 0 0 0

Detroit Red WingsPOS NO. PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW OTG S PCTGL 93 Johan Franzen 15 10 9 19 10 10 3 0 2 0 47 .213C 40 Henrik Zetterberg 15 9 9 18 11 6 3 0 0 0 55 .164R 11 Daniel Cleary 15 6 7 13 15 8 0 0 2 0 31 .194D 5 Nicklas Lidstrom 14 4 9 13 7 6 3 0 1 0 45 .089C 51 Valtteri Filppula 15 1 12 13 8 6 1 0 0 0 25 .040R 81 Marian Hossa 15 6 6 12 4 6 2 1 1 0 70 .086R 37 Mikael Samuelsson 15 5 4 9 5 4 0 0 2 1 60 .083L 26 Jiri Hudler 15 4 5 9 3 6 2 0 1 0 30 .133D 28 Brian Rafalski 10 3 5 8 8 11 2 0 1 0 19 .158C 13 Pavel Datsyuk 13 1 6 7 4 9 1 0 0 0 47 .021D 55 Niklas Kronwall 15 1 6 7 4 25 1 0 0 0 23 .043D 23 Brad Stuart 15 1 6 7 8 10 1 0 0 0 27 .037R 96 Tomas Holmstrom 15 2 2 4 0 16 0 0 0 0 14 .143D 52 Jonathan Ericsson 15 2 2 4 8 21 0 0 1 0 25 .080D 22 Brett Lebda 15 0 4 4 6 8 0 0 0 0 13 .000C 43 Darren Helm 15 2 0 2 1 4 0 0 0 0 23 .087L 8 Justin Abdelkader 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .000L 82 Tomas Kopecky 8 0 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 13 .000R 18 Kirk Maltby 12 0 1 1 2- 2 0 0 0 0 5 .000D 14 Derek Meech 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---L 21 Ville Leino 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000C 33 Kris Draper 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000D 24 Chris Chelios 5 0 0 0 1- 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000TEAM TOTALS 15 57 96 153 20 171 19 1 11 1 586 .097OPPONENT TOTALS 15 33 57 90 20- 277 15 0 4 2 429 .077

NO GOALTENDER GP MINS AVG W L OT EN SO GA SA SV% G A PIM29 Ty Conklin 1 20 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1.000 0 0 030 Chris Osgood 15 926 2.14 11 4 0 0 1 33 420 .921 0 1 2TEAM TOTALS 15 948 2.09 11 4 0 0 1 33 429 .923 0 1 2OPPONENT TOTALS 15 948 3.61 4 11 0 4 0 57 586 .903 0 0 0

Wednesday’s gameWestern Conference finals(Best-of-7), all times ET

Chicago at Detroit, 7:30 p.m., Versus

DETROIT—The Detroit Red Wings had 3-1 series leads twice in the play-offs last year and failed to advance on home ice either time.

Detroit did, though, beat the Pitts-burgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup after eliminating the Dallas Stars. Both series ended in Game 6 on the road.

The defending champions would like to make things a little easier on themselves Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

“You want to finish it as soon as you can,” Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski said Monday, a day after the Red Wings beat Chicago 6-1 in Game 4. “Obviously, we have some banged-up bodies.

“We want to get them healthy, and the best way to do that is to finish it as soon as you can.”

MVP finalist Pavel Datsyuk (foot) has missed two games, six-time Nor-ris Trophy-winning defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (lower body-injury) was a surprise scratch Sunday, and four-time Cup-winning forward Kris Draper (lower body) missed Game 4, too.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock said he hopes Datsyuk and Lidstrom will be back on the ice Wednesday, but ruled out Draper for Game 5.

Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood said the team doctor kept him out of the third period Sunday because of cramps, but insisted he felt “great” on Monday.

“If it had been a closer game, I would have stayed in for sure,” Osgood said.

On the brink of elimination, the Blackhawks are also banged up.

Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (lower body) hasn’t played since the second period of Game 4, which Chicago won in overtime, and the team’s leading scorer, Martin Havlat, left the ice in two straight games after getting checked hard.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said the status for both players will become more clear today.

If Havlat is hesitant to step back on the ice before becoming a free agent this summer, it’ll be understandable. He was hit by defenseman Niklas Kronwall in the first period of Game 3 and by defenseman Brad Stuart in the middle of Game 4.

“The physicality of Stuart and Kro-nwall is so important for our success at playoff time,” Babcock said.

Rafalski said Kronwall’s open-ice checks remind him of the ones dished out by former New Jersey Devils teammate Scott Stevens. Kronwall was given a major penalty and was ejected from Game 3 for his shot on Havlat.

“He’s not as big as Scotty, but he still delivers,” Rafalski said.

Quenneville delivered the line of the day after Game 4, saying, “I think we witnessed probably the worst call in the history of sports there,” after a roughing penalty on Matt Walker led to Detroit taking a 3-0 lead in the sec-ond period.

“Well, I wasn’t happy after the game,” said Quenneville, trying to distance himself from his comments. “I already voiced my displeasure.

“We have to face the Wednesday challenge. We got to be smart how we go into the next game and play our game and play it hard between the whistles.”

Quenneville was fined $10,000 by the NHL on Monday for his remarks.

Babcock said the key for the Red Wings is to realize they have done nothing yet.

“As soon as you let up for one sec-ond, and the other team gets more focused, then they beat you,” he said. “Last year was a great example, we lost two Game 5s at home that, in the end, could have cost us the series.”


Red Wings welcome opportunity to clinch at home

CARLOS OSORIO / AP

Niklas Lidstrom and the Red Wings failed to close out two series last postseason in Game 5 at home.



INSIDE DISHPlayoff glance CONFERENCE FINALS(Best-of-7), all times ET

EASTERN CONFERENCECarolina vs. Pittsburgh(Pittsburgh leads series 3-0)

May 18: Pittsburgh 3, Carolina 2



Today: Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7:30 p.m., Versus

Friday: Carolina at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m., if neces-

sary, Versus

Sunday: Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7:30 p.m., if

necessary, Versus

Tuesday, June 2: Carolina at Pittsburgh, 7:30

p.m., if necessary, Versus

WESTERN CONFERENCEChicago vs. Detroit(Detroit leads series 3-1)

May 17: Detroit 5, Chicago 2

May 19: Detroit 3, Chicago 2, OT

May 22: Chicago 4, Detroit 3, OT

May 24: Detroit 6, Chicago 1

Wednesday: Chicago at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Versus

Saturday: Detroit at Chicago, 8 p.m., if necessary,

Versus

Monday, June 1: Chicago at Detroit, 7:30 p.m., if

necessary, Versus

NHL calendarThrough May 30—NHL Combine, Toronto.

June 5—Stanley Cup finals begin at Western

Conference champion.

June 18—NHL awards show at Las Vegas.

June 26-27—NHL draft, Montreal.

July 1—Free agency signing period begins.

July 5—Deadline for player-elected salary

arbitration.

July 6—Deadline for club-elected salary

arbitration.

July 10—Deadline for eligible players to elect

Group 5 free agency.

July 20-Aug. 4—Salary arbitration hearings held.

Aug. 6—Deadline for salary arbitration decisions

to be rendered.

Report: Avalanche sweeten offer for RoyIt may not be just the Colorado

Avalanche head coaching job Pat-rick Roy is considering. According to a Montreal news website, Rue-frontenac.com, Roy was offered both the general manager and head coaching job in Colorado by Avs president Pierre Lacroix.

According to the report, Roy would hire Sylvain Lefebvre and Guy Boucher as his assistant coaches and Colorado vice president of hockey operations Craig Billington as his co-general manager.

There’s speculation that Colo-rado upped the ante in order to prevent Roy from getting hired by the Montreal Canadiens in some capacity.

Right now, Tony Granato is still the Avs head coach, although his firing appears to be a formality at this point if Roy is interested in the job. According to The Denver Post, the team had no comment on the report, which cited sources close to Roy.

The NHL has fined Black-hawks coach Joel Quenneville $10,000 for harsh criticism of officiating in his team’s loss to Detroit in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

Quenneville fumed over a roughing call against defenseman Matt Walker during a scrum as the first period ended Sunday. The Red Wings scored on the ensuing power play 1:13 into the second period extending their lead to 3-0, and went on to win 6-1 and take a 3-1 edge in the series.

“I think we witnessed probably the worst call in the history of

sports there,” Quenneville said after the game. “Nothing play.

“They scored, it’s 3-0. They ruined a good hockey game and absolutely destroyed what was going on the ice. ... Never seen anything like it.”

The Blackhawks will try to avoid elimination Wednesday in Detroit.

According to The Globe and Mail, the NHL and Phoenix Coy-otes owner Jerry Moyes have agreed on how the team will be operated day-to-day. According to the report, both sides are expected to tell the judge that the league will continue to finance the team’s operation until a new buyer is found.

The only hang-up remaining is the timeline of the sale of the team. Moyes would like a sale quickly so there aren’t huge losses in Phoenix next season while the league wants to wait on moving the team, citing schedul-ing problems and normal proce-dures of moving a team.

The timeline of the sale will likely be decided by the judge.

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock met with reporters on Monday during an off-day for Detroit. Immediately he was asked about the status of his three injured veterans Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper.

He ruled Draper out for Wednesday’s game and said he was happy he didn’t have to worry about playing the other two until then.

“I’m hopeful to see Pav and Nik very shortly here,” he said.

Even without those three, the Red Wings were able to rout Chi-cago in game four. But Babcock

said beating the Blackhawks so convincingly doesn’t send any message.

“I don’t buy any of that stuff,” Babcock said. “I believe in living

in the present and getting pre-pared for the opportunity we have. You know, we have a good opportunity. I understand that. The guys understand that.”

Toronto general manager Brian Burke is interested in moving up in the upcoming NHL Entry draft, but he might not have a taker in Tampa Bay G.M. Brian Lawton, who holds the No. 2 pick in the draft. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Lawton would prefer to hold on to the pick rather than trade it. The team covets Swedish defenseman Victor Hed-man, although there’s still the possibility Hedman goes No. 1 to the New York Islanders.

Either way, Lawton said they want to add a key piece to the franchise’s future.

“Our goal is to be competing for a playoff spot next year,” Law-ton told the paper. “Along the way, we want to build a founda-tion and a team ownership and the fans can be proud of.”

Calgary G.M. Darryl Sutter is expected to address the media in Calgary today and possibly name a replacement for the recently fired Mike Keenan. While New Jer-sey’s Brent Sutter has been the hot-test name speculated, the Calgary Herald reported that Darryl Sut-ter himself could return behind the bench.

If that happens, the paper reports, it’s likely because of an order from ownership. The Flames owe Keenan a reported $1 million not to coach next season.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP

Patrick Roy could have G.M. duties in addition to the head coaching job in Colorado.



http://Ruefrontenac.com

http://Ruefrontenac.com

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 15NASCAR

Coca-Cola 600 results

FINISH START CAR DRIVER MAKE POINTS LAPS

1 21 00 David Reutimann Toyota 190 227

2 1 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 175 227

3 37 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 170 227

4 19 99 Carl Edwards Ford 160 227

5 8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 160 227

6 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 160 227

7 6 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 146 227

8 9 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 142 227

9 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 143 227

10 30 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 134 227

NASCAR Sprint Cup standings (through Monday’s race)

RK. +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS T-5 T-10

1 -- Jeff Gordon 1722 Leader 12 0 1 6 8

2 -- Tony Stewart 1678 -44 12 0 0 5 8

3 -- Kurt Busch 1607 -115 12 0 1 3 6

4 -- Jimmie Johnson 1594 -128 12 0 1 5 7

5 -- Denny Hamlin 1575 -147 12 0 0 2 4

6 +1 Kyle Busch 1540 -182 12 1 3 4 5

7 +1 Ryan Newman 1538 -184 12 1 0 4 6

8 -2 Jeff Burton 1472 -250 12 0 0 2 5

9 +1 Matt Kenseth 1460 -262 12 1 2 3 5

10 -1 Greg Biffle 1448 -274 12 0 0 3 6

11 +1 Carl Edwards 1431 -291 12 0 0 2 5

12 -1 Mark Martin 1428 -294 12 3 2 3 6

13 +2 David Reutimann 1422 -300 12 1 1 2 3

14 -- Juan Montoya 1397 -325 12 1 0 0 4

15 +1 Kasey Kahne 1351 -371 12 0 0 1 3

16 +1 Brian Vickers 1348 -374 12 2 0 2 5

17 -4 Clint Bowyer 1319 -403 12 0 0 3 4

18 +1 Martin Truex Jr. 1238 -484 12 1 0 0 3

19 -1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1225 -497 12 0 0 1 3

20 -- Marcos Ambrose 1216 -506 12 0 0 1 2

21 +3 Jamie McMurray 1168 -554 12 0 0 0 3

22 -- Casey Mears 1168 -554 12 0 0 0 1

23 -2 Kevin Harvick 1149 -573 12 0 0 2 2

24 -1 Reed Sorenson 1148 -574 12 0 0 0 1

25 +5 Joey Logano* 1145 -577 12 0 0 0 3

—Bold line indicates Chase cutoff

MORE COVERAGE from sportingnews.com

Results: sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=553064

Standings: sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=553066

BY REID [email protected]

CONCORD, N.C.—He’ll take it!David Reutimann was the big win-

ner in NASCAR’s losing battle against Mother Nature in Monday’s rain-shortened 24 hours of the Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Nearly 25 hours after the 50th edi-tion of the race was supposed to start, and with menacing storm cells dot-ting the radar, NASCAR called the event after 227 of a scheduled 400 laps and made a first-time winner of Reutimann, who parlayed a strategic call by crew chief Rodney Childers into the unlikely victory.

The win in NASCAR’s longest race, which was postponed from Sunday because of rain, was the first for Michael Waltrip Racing—now in its third season of Cup competition—and the first for a Toyota team other than Joe Gibbs Racing. All told, Reutimann led five laps, all under the final caution. He was running 14th when rain started falling on Lap 221.

The top three finishers—Reuti-mann, polesitter Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon—remained on the track when NASCAR threw the sixth caution of the race on Lap 221 after a shower hit Turn 2. Six laps later, the race was red-flagged for the fourth time. Carl Edwards and Brian Vickers, who each took two tires under yellow on lap 222, finished fourth and fifth.

“It certainly wasn’t the prettiest win,” said Reutimann, who won the race with his father, renowned short-track racer Buzzie Reutimann, in attendance. “Rodney Childers made a great call and told me to stay out.

“When you envision winning your first Sprint Cup race, this is not

exactly the way you envision it. But these things are so hard to win, we’ll take it any way we can get it… It’s fun, but I felt like I was down on pit road for a month (waiting for NASCAR to call the race.”

Reutimann gained two positions to 13th in the Cup standings, trailing 12th-place Mark Martin by six points.

“Obviously, their crew chief made an awesome call,” an elated Michael Waltrip said of the No. 00 Toyota team’s effort. “David and I have been in position to win races before, and fate took it away from us. So I look at this as payback.”

Kyle Busch led a race-high 173 laps but was victimized by rain for the second straight NASCAR event. On

Saturday night, he had the dominant car in the rain-shortened Carquest Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series race, which Mike Bliss won by con-serving fuel and staying out until a storm hit the speedway.

Busch passed Newman on Lap 3 and thereafter dominated the green-flag segments of the race, which were run between interruptions from intermittent thundershowers. New-man lost track position when he had to bring his No. 39 Chevrolet back to the pits to tighten a lug nut under a competition caution called on Lap 41.

Newman and crew chief Tony Gibson discussed strategy during the final caution and made the stra-tegic call that salvaged a good finish.

Notes: Newman posted his fourth

straight top-five finish. The last time he had a comparable streak was 2005 … Robby Gordon’s third was his best finish since he ran second at Watkins Glen International in 2005 … Bill Elliott finished 15th in his 800th Cup start … Kurt Busch came to pit road with a vibration on Lap 193, and his crew corrected the prob-lem by changing right-side tires on the No. 2 Dodge. The unscheduled stop dropped Busch to 34th at the finish. He remained third in points but fell 115 behind leader Jeff Gordon, who finished 14th … Dale Earnhardt Jr. fought an ill-handling car from the outset, lost two laps on the track and finished 40th.

— Reid Spencer writes for

the Sporting News NASCAR wire service

Reutimann gladly takes rain-shortened victory

MIKE MCCARN / AP

David Reutimann, second from left, only led five laps in Monday’s race but they were the ones that counted the most.



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INSIDE DISH

NASCAR kept the rear axle housing of Robby Gordon’s car following the Coca-Cola 600 and will do further inspections of it this week at its Research and Development Center, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Monday night.

If there are any penalties to Gordon and his Robby Gordon Motorsports team, they will be announced later this week, Tharp said.

Gordon finished third in the rain-delayed race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, thanks in part to his decision to stay on the track under the final cau-tion period. The result was his best since a sec-ond at Watkins Glen in 2005 and his best on an oval track since winning at New Hampshire in 2001.

“Part of it was watching the computer screen,” Gordon said. “We were sitting there 20th or 21st, and we were like, ‘OK, if we come in and pit, we’re going to come out 21st. If we stay out, we’ve got an opportunity to finish in the top five.’

“I was just kind of bummed there were two other guys who went for the gamble.”

Gordon had used the same strategy earlier in the race when he stayed out under the race’s fourth caution to lead lap 73. When the chance came to do it again just past the halfway point, the choice was clear.

“I don’t think we had to say anything,” crew chief Kirk Almquist said. “We’d done it once earlier in the race. We stayed out and led a lap under the first red flag we had. We had talked about it and knew if we got in the situation again, depending on where we were on the track, we definitely were going to go for it and try it.”

— Lee Montgomery, Bob Pockrass, SceneDaily.com

Rookie Joey Logano’s acclimation to NASCAR Sprint Cup racing was in full view in Monday’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Logano ran as high as fourth during the race, which was called after 227 of a scheduled 400 laps. Under caution on Lap 222, he brought his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the pits for

four tires and fuel and lost positions when race winner David Reutimann, runner-up Ryan Newman and Gordon gambled on the weather and stayed on the track.

Logano was credited with a ninth-place run, matching the career best he posted in two of the previous three races, at Talladega and Darling-ton. Though the rain may have deprived him of a better finish, Logano, who turned 19 on Sun-day, was philosophical.

“A top-10 is hard to be mad about,” he said. “Could have been a blessing in disguise. Could have been better. Could have been worse. The only thing that I wish was different is that they brought us down pit road and stopped up and let us change our tires after we went back green (instead of opening pit road when the final cau-tion flew), because then we would have been sitting fourth right now or fifth or wherever the heck we were.

“It is what it is. I couldn’t have done anything about it, so I really can’t be mad about it. It’s still ninth place. We could have gone back a lot fur-ther than (we could have gone) forward.”

— Reid Spencer

At 3 p.m., 163 laps into the race, NASCAR brought the cars to a halt on the frontstretch as crew members lined pit road and fans stood silently in the grandstands in a Memorial Day moment of remembrance for members of the Armed Forces who have given their lives in ser-vice to the United States.

“I thought that it was really cool,” said sev-enth-place finisher Kasey Kahne. “To honor the men and women who have served our country, and be able to participate in such a really special deal was great.

“During the moment of silence, I just sat in my car and thought about what the men and women of the Armed Services have done for our coun-try. I’m proud of NASCAR and all the drivers and crews for such a great moment.”

— Reid Spencer

NASCAR confiscates Robby Gordon’s rear axle housing after 3rd-place finish

BY JARED TURNERSceneDaily.com

CONCORD, N.C.—The plight of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway is living proof that the fastest car doesn’t always win a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Busch led 173 laps—by far the most of any driver in Monday’s rain-delayed event that was originally set for Sunday— but finished sixth after pitting with most of the leaders under the race’s final cau-tion, brought out by rain on lap 222.

The rain kept coming, the race never went green again and it was called official after 227 of 400 scheduled laps. Busch, the first driver off pit road who took four tires, ended up behind three drivers who didn’t pit at all and two others who took just two tires.

“We had to come down pit road and put gas in it,” Busch said. “Fortunately, a lot of guys like us took four tires so we didn’t lose that much ground. The 99 (of Carl Edwards) and the 83 (of Brian Vickers) took two tires, so they got out in front of us. It only hurt us two spots so we fin-ished sixth.”

First among those drivers who stayed out was winner David Reutimann, who inherited the top spot by not pitting. Reutimann had been running 14th when the final caution flag flew.

If the weather had cleared and the race had resumed, Reutimann and the two others who didn’t stop—Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon—would have been forced to pit and fallen deep in the field. But that’s not what happened.

“We’re running a different race than what them guys in 15th are racing,” said Steve Addington, Busch’s crew chief. “(We) made the decision and thought we’d go back racing. (I thought), ‘We have lights here, we probably won’t get another drop of rain.’ ... It’s just hard to sit there and know what’s going to happen, but we

were racing our race. …“If we’d have stayed out and then it

went back green, we’d have had to come down pit road ... and we’d have been stuck back there in 26th position and it would have been hard getting back up there. But we came here to win the race and we raced the guys we were racing and all them took four tires.”

Busch was the leader when the final caution flag waved. Five laps later, the race—already past its halfway point and thus an official event—was called.

Despite the way things turned out, Addington could find solace in how

strong the No. 18 group ran throughout the race.

“You can take bright spots out of it,” he said. “We ran good all day long, from the beginning of the race till right there till the last pit stop. We were still in good shape because if we’d have went back green (those) guys were in a bad situation.

“… It’s not hard on (Kyle). It sucks for us for him because he goes out there and drives his tail off and dominates the race all day long and then doesn’t have any-thing to show for it.”

[email protected]

Rain ruins dominant day for Kyle Busch

HAROLD HINSON FOR SN

Kyle Busch did everything but win Monday’s race, leading 173 of the 227 laps that were run before rain ended it.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 16NASCAR



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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 17Baseball

Alex Rodriguez didn’t make himself available to the media in the days leading up to Monday’s Yankees-Rangers game, his first in Texas since he admitted this spring that he used steroids during his time in Arlington.

But he wasn’t able to hide from the fans who had watched him hit 156 home runs in a Texas uniform but booed him heartily during introductions Monday.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram before the Yankees 11-1 victory that he hadn’t talked to Rodriguez since his admis-sion and that Hicks had no intention of doing so during the series either.

“I don’t worry about Alex Rodri-guez,” Hicks said. “I worry about the Texas Rangers.”

Rodriguez’s response: his first five-hit game since 2005.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi had suggested that any negative reac-tion in Texas would be based on Rodriguez’s stature as a “great player,” and not because Rangers fans felt cheated or betrayed by A-Rod’s admitted steroid use while with the team from 2001-03, the New York Daily News reported.

But before the A.L. West-leading Rangers took the field, The Who song “The Kids are Alright” blared over the loudspeakers, a dig at Rodri-guez for comments he made after being traded that he would have never gone to Texas if he had been told it would be him “and 24 kids.”

Manny Ramirez worked out at Dodger Stadium on Monday for the first time since he was suspended 50 games for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy 2½ weeks ago.

Ramirez took batting practice at the empty stadium, team spokesman Josh Rawitch said. The rest of the Dodgers were in Denver, where they beat the Rockies 16-6. Their road trip contin-ues this week against the Rockies and Cubs. Ramirez can work out with the Dodgers, but he must be off the field by the time gates open. He is eligible to be activated for the July 3 game at San Diego.

Yankees C Jorge Posada, sidelined since straining his right hamstring May 4, could play in an extended spring training game this week. He took bat-ting practice, threw and participated in a running program Monday with OF Xavier Nady (right elbow ligament), C Jose Molina (strained left quadriceps) and 3B Cody Ransom (right quadriceps).

Struggling David Ortiz’s possible

drop in the Red Sox lineup has been delayed because the lefthanded DH was on the bench Monday at Min-nesota, with Twins lefty Francisco Liriano on the mound. Manager Terry Francona said Ortiz, hitting .195 with one home run, is healthy and described his slump as “normal hit-ters’ woes.” 3B Mike Lowell is sched-uled for a rest, so Francona said he might make multiple changes to the order for tonight’s game.

Lefthander David Price, who helped Tampa Bay reach the World Series last year, was promoted from Class AAA Durham and started at Cleveland on the same day it was announced that 2B Akinori Iwamura, batting .310, will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ligament in his left knee Sunday against the Marlins. Meantime, manager Joe Maddon, voted by his peers as Sporting News’ 2008 A.L. manager of the year for leading the Rays to that 2008 World Series, has received a three-year contract exten-sion, through 2012. “This is where I belong,” Maddon said. “This is where I want to be.”

Cubs OF Milton Bradley believes umpires have widened his strike zone in retaliation for his April 16 run-in with umpire Larry Vanover, the Chicago Tribune reported, forcing Bradley to chase pitches he normally doesn’t swing at or risk being called out on strikes. “Unfortunately, I just think it’s a lot of ‘Oh, you did this to my colleague,’ or ‘We’re going to get him any time we can. As soon as he gets two strikes, we’re going to call whatever and see what he does. Let’s try to ruin Milton

Bradley,’” he told the Tribune.

The Arizona Republic reported that Monday’s afternoon game pre-vented many Diamondbacks play-ers from attending funeral services in the morning for reliever Scott Schoeneweis’ wife, Gabrielle, found dead Wednesday at the couple’s suburban Phoenix home. The team would have chartered a bus for the team if not for Monday’s 12:40 p.m. PT game against the Padres, manager A.J. Hinch said. Still, starting pitchers and some who are on the D.L. were expected to attend.

Reds 2B Brandon Phillips, who has an N.L.-leading 27 RBIs this month, plans on trying to play with a hairline fracture of his right thumb suffered Saturday against the Indians. “It is really swollen right now,” Phillips said. “I’ll think about the next step when it gets here, after the swelling goes down.”

Giants G.M. Brian Sabean, acknowledging that his anemic team needs to add a hitter, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he is active in trade talks and, in a departure from his long-held philosophy, is willing to get one who can walk as a free agent after the season. The Giants have inquired about Marlins 2B Dan Uggla, who won’t be a free agent until 2011. The Nationals are willing to deal 1B Nick Johnson, and the Indians have made IF/OF Mark DeRosa avail-able. Both are potential free agents. Others who could be moved include A’s OF Matt Holliday, Texas IF Hank Bla-lock and Seattle 3B Adrian Beltre, whom Sabean is known to like.

THE LAUNCHING PADWhat to expect in the major leagues today

Out for revengeAfter suffering a doubleheader sweep by a combined score of 17-4 at

Fenway Park last month, the Twins are in no mood to roll out the red carpet for the Red Sox in their current series. And when the Twins are angry, look out. Last week, they snapped a six-game losing streak by shellacking the White Sox by the score of 20-1. The next night, they hung 11 runs on the Brewers. But bad as the Twins are on the road (5-14), they’re tough to beat at home. Already this season, two Twins (Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer) have hit for the cycle at the Metrodome. It all could add up to a long night for Boston starter Jon Lester, who has a 6.93 ERA in four road starts this season.

Royal pain for DetroitWith the first-place Tigers recently putting some space between them-

selves and the rest of the A.L. Central, the Royals need to make up some ground in their current three-game set against Detroit. And they will have the right man on the mound tonight. Ace Zack Greinke will try again for win No. 8, though it will be hard to top his previous effort at Kauffman Stadium against the Tigers. Back in April, Greinke fanned 10 Detroit hitters in a com-plete-game shutout.

We want a pitcher ...As nice as it is to have a starting pitcher who can handle the bat, the Reds

would like righthander Micah Owings to be more dominant on the mound than at the plate. Owings, a .314 career hitter who is batting .292 with a homer this season, has a 5.27 ERA over his past five starts. His struggles at home (5.63 ERA in three starts at Great American Ball Park) have been espe-cially troubling. He will face the Astros at home tonight.

— Chris Bahr

INSIDE DISH

Boo who? Rangers fans let A-Rod have it

LM OTERO / AP

Alex Rodriguez’s first trip to Arlington after admitting steroid use was met with boos.

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST / AP

Jason Kubel is one of two Twins to hit for the cycle in Minneapolis this season.


TOM MIHALEK / AP

Heath Bell and the Padres continue to sustain their strong start to the season.

BY RYAN [email protected]

The eyes of the baseball world have been focused on Southern California lately, what with the Dodgers leading the majors in vic-tories without the services of their suspended slugger, and with the Jake Peavy watch hitting Favreian levels (OK, that’ll never happen …).

What we’ve also learned is that the Padres are capable of playing better baseball than anyone thought head-ing into the season. Their strong 9-3 start caught most folks by surprise, as has their current nine-game win-ning streak. But the rotation can be solid, and the bullpen has been pretty good, led by closer Heath Bell. Man-ager Bud Black has done a fine job with a makeshift team.

The goal now is to avoid another extended swoon, like the 4-19 stretch the Padres went through leading up to the nine-game winning streak. When you look at that lineup, though (with the obvious exception of Adrian Gonzalez), that might be easier said than done. They’ve proven they’re capable of winning; now they have to show they’re capable of finding some type of consistency.

Power Poll

1. Dodgers (last week: 2) After a rough start without Manny Ramirez (1-4 in the first five games after his suspension), the Dodgers have gone 8-3 and continue to be lights-out at home (18-5).

2. Rangers (4) Still a bit strange to see that the team with the most homers in the majors entering the week is led in homers, RBIs and runs scored by the leadoff hitter, Ian Kinsler.

3. Red Sox (6) The three-game sweep of the Blue Jays in Fenway Park to open last week could be a sign of things to come for both teams.

4. Brewers (3) The Brew Crew enter Monday with the same record as the division-rival Cardinals, but they get the nod here thanks to their convincing three-game sweep in St. Louis last week.

5. Cardinals (11) The Cardinals gave up just two runs during the five-game winning streak (after Milwaukee left town) that brought them back into a tie with the Brewers.

6. Tigers (7) The recent improvement in the pitching staff—especially Dontrelle Willis’ resurgence—has Tigers fans everywhere thinking postseason.

7. Blue Jays (1) Rough week for the Jays. How they respond to this six-game losing streak will set the tone for the rest of the season.

8. Phillies (10) What’s wrong with Brad Lidge? He’s allowed at least one earned run in eight of his past 11 appearances, and already has four blown saves this season.

9. Yankees (8) The Yankees were the beneficiary of one of those Lidge blown saves, which helped save them from being swept at home by the Phillies this weekend.

10. Angels (15) The conversation about Torii Hunter and the A.L. MVP starts now.

11. Mets (5) That was a trip to Los Angeles that the Mets would rather forget.

12. Braves (18) Atlanta is only 1½ games out of first place, and that pitching is starting to round into shape.

13. Reds (12) Odd stat: The Reds are two games under .500 at home, but five games over on the road.

14. Padres (22) That 9-0 homestand was impressive, especially considering the wins came against three teams—Reds, Giants, Cubs—with sights set on the postseason.

15. Rays (14) David Price is back in the bigs. He struggled at times for Class AAA Durham, but his last outing—nine strikeouts in five hitless innings—is what Rays’ fans hope to see.

16. Twins (17) Joe Mauer is the best hitter in baseball right now. His only flaw at the plate was a lack of power. That’s “was” as in past tense. He already has 10 homers this season.

17. Royals (13) Three huge games with the Tigers starting today in Kansas City.

18. Cubs (9) The offense just isn’t there right now. The Cubbies scored a whopping total of five runs in their six games—all losses—this week in St. Louis and San Diego.

19. Giants (16) San Francisco is now nine games behind the Dodgers in the N.L. West. That’s not exactly the push the Giants were hoping to make with Manny on the sidelines in L.A.

20. Mariners (21) Here’s an update with the Russell Branyan experiment (give him 500 at-bats, see what he does with it): His OPS is solid (.988) and he has 10 homers, but the 20 RBIs aren’t enough for the No. 5 hitter.

21. Marlins (19) At least the Nationals should keep the majors’ most free-falling team out of last place in the N.L. East.

22. Pirates (24) Andy LaRoche is batting .424 with nine RBIs in his current nine-game hitting streak.

23. Orioles (23) The Erik Bedard trade looks better every time Adam Jones steps to the plate in an Orioles’ uniform.

24. Astros (20) The Astros are fifth in the N.L. in team batting average (.265) but only 13th in runs scored. They’re batting .249 with runners in scoring position, 12th in the N.L.

25. White Sox (25) Jake Peavy would have looked nice slotted atop the rotation on the South Side.

26. Diamondbacks (28) Signs of life have finally been spotted in the desert—the D-backs are 6-2 in their past eight games.

27. Rockies (26) Todd Helton (.342 average) and Brad Hawpe (.326) have been rocks in the Rocks’ lineup; everyone else has been resoundingly blah.

28. Indians (27) With the way this season has gone for Cleveland, is it any surprise the Indians lost two of three to their Ohio rivals, the Reds?

29. Athletics (29) Just, ugh.

30. Nationals (30) Rookie lefty Ross Detwiler has given up three earned runs in his first two starts (a nifty 2.45 ERA) but hasn’t gotten a win either time.





American League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayBoston 27 18 .600 — — 6-4 W-2 17-6 10-12New York 26 19 .578 1 — 8-2 W-1 14-9 12-10Toronto 27 21 .563 1½ ½ 3-7 L-7 16-6 11-15Tampa Bay 23 24 .489 5 4 6-4 L-2 11-10 12-14Baltimore 19 26 .422 8 7 4-6 W-1 12-11 7-15

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayDetroit 25 18 .581 — — 8-2 W-1 15-7 10-11Kansas City 22 23 .489 4 4 4-6 L-1 14-11 8-12Minnesota 22 24 .478 4½ 4½ 4-6 L-1 17-10 5-14Chicago 20 24 .455 5½ 5½ 5-5 W-1 12-10 8-14Cleveland 18 28 .391 8½ 8½ 4-6 W-1 8-11 10-17

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayTexas 26 18 .591 — — 6-4 L-1 14-7 12-11Los Angeles 23 21 .523 3 2½ 5-5 L-1 12-9 11-12Seattle 21 25 .457 6 5½ 4-6 L-1 12-12 9-13Oakland 17 25 .405 8 7½ 4-6 W-2 10-12 7-13

National League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayPhiladelphia 24 19 .558 — — 7-3 L-1 8-13 16-6New York 24 20 .545 ½ 1½ 5-5 W-1 13-8 11-12Atlanta 23 21 .523 1½ 2½ 6-4 L-1 11-12 12-9Florida 21 25 .457 4½ 5½ 4-6 W-2 9-14 12-11Washington 13 31 .295 11½ 12½ 2-8 L-1 7-16 6-15

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayMilwaukee 27 18 .600 — — 6-4 W-1 13-7 14-11St. Louis 26 19 .578 1 — 5-5 L-2 17-9 9-10Cincinnati 24 20 .545 2½ 1½ 4-6 W-2 11-12 13-8Chicago 21 22 .488 5 4 2-8 L-8 12-8 9-14Pittsburgh 21 24 .467 6 5 7-3 W-2 11-9 10-15Houston 18 25 .419 8 7 3-7 L-5 9-15 9-10

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayLos Angeles 31 15 .674 — — 7-3 W-1 18-5 13-10San Diego 23 22 .511 7½ 3 10-0 W-10 17-6 6-16San Francisco 21 23 .477 9 4½ 3-7 W-1 14-8 7-15Arizona 19 26 .422 11½ 7 6-4 L-2 9-16 10-10Colorado 18 26 .409 12 7½ 4-6 L-1 7-11 11-15

z-first game was a win

Pitching Matchups Today’s Games (All times Eastern)

American League The Line

Tampa Bay (Garza 4-2) at Cleveland (Pavano 4-4), 7:05 p.m. TB -125 at Cle +115

Toronto (Romero 2-0) at Baltimore (Berken 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Tor -115 at Bal +105

N.Y. Yankees (Chamberlain 2-1) at Texas (Millwood 4-4), 8:05 p.m. NYY -115 at Tex +105

Boston (Lester 3-4) at Minnesota (Blackburn 3-2), 8:10 p.m. Bos -120 at Min +110

Detroit (E.Jackson 4-2) at Kansas City (Greinke 7-1), 8:10 p.m. at KC -165 Det +155

Chicago White Sox (Colon 2-4) at L.A. Angels (Saunders 6-2), 10:05 p.m. at LAA -190 ChW +180

Seattle (Washburn 3-3) at Oakland (Braden 3-5), 10:05 p.m. at Oak -145 Sea +135

National League The Line

Florida (A.Miller 1-1) at Philadelphia (Blanton 2-3), 7:05 p.m. at Phi -155 Fla +145

Houston (Oswalt 1-2) at Cincinnati (Owings 3-5), 7:10 p.m. Hou -135 at Cin +125

Washington (Stammen 0-0) at N.Y. Mets (Li.Hernandez 3-1), 7:10 p.m. at NYM -150 Was +140

Pittsburgh (Snell 1-5) at Chicago Cubs (Marshall 2-3), 8:05 p.m. at ChC -150 Pit +140

St. Louis (Wainwright 4-2) at Milwaukee (Suppan 3-3), 8:05 p.m. at Mil -105 StL -105

L.A. Dodgers (Milton 0-0) at Colorado (Cook 3-1), 8:40 p.m. at Col -165 LAD +155

San Diego (Correia 1-2) at Arizona (Scherzer 1-3), 9:40 p.m. at Ari -155 SD +145

Atlanta (Medlen 0-1) at San Francisco (Lincecum 3-1), 10:15 p.m. at SF -165 Atl +155

MORE COVERAGE Get everything you need to

dominate your fantasy league at sportingnews.com/fantasy/baseball

Fantasy Focus Start ’em, Sit ’em

Start ’em

Roy Oswalt, SP, Astros. Oswalt is 23-1 with a 2.35 ERA against Cin-cinnati. Don’t think Reds fans will ever forget that.

B.J. Upton, OF, Rays. Upton’s aver-age has been abysmal, but he’s 5-for-8 (.625) with a home run and two RBIs vs. Carl Pavano.

Chris Duncan, OF, Cardinals. Dun-can’s average has dropped about 70 points in May, but he’s 5-for-12 (.417) against Jeff Suppan.

Sit ’em

Magglio Ordonez, OF, Tigers. Ordonez is 4-for-31 (.129) with five strikeouts vs. the Royals’ Zack Greinke.

Delmon Young, OF, Twins. Young just returned from the bereave-ment list and needs time. Plus, he’s 3-for-16 with five Ks against Jon Lester.

Kelly Johnson, 2B, Braves. Johnson is 1-for-10 with three strikeouts vs. the Giants’ Tim Lincecum.

—George Winkler

LEAGUE LEADERSBatting Average

Runs

RBIs

Doubles

Triples

Home Runs

Stolen Bases

Pitching (5 decisions)

Strikeouts

Saves

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 20

Callaspo Kansas City 16

MYoung Texas 16

Byrd Texas 15

Lind Toronto 15

Lowell Boston 15

Four tied 14

N.L.

Player Team

FSanchez Pittsburgh 17

Hudson Los Angeles 16

Kotchman Atlanta 16

Beltran New York 15

FLopez Arizona 15

HaRamirez Florida 15

Tejada Houston 15

A.L.

Player Team

Verlander Detroit 85

Greinke Kansas City 73

FHernandez Seattle 66

Halladay Toronto 63

Lester Boston 58

Garza Tampa Bay 53

Beckett Boston 51

N.L.

Player Team

Peavy San Diego 79

JVazquez Atlanta 78

Lincecum San Francisco 76

JSantana New York 75

Billingsley Los Angeles 69

Haren Arizona 63

JoJohnson Florida 59

A.L.

Player Team

Fuentes Los Angeles 12

Papelbon Boston 12

Jenks Chicago 10

FFrancisco Texas 10

Sherrill Baltimore 10

MaRivera New York 9

Rodney Detroit 8.

N.L.

Player Team

FrRodriguez New York 13

Bell San Diego 13

Cordero Cincinnati 12

Hoffman Milwaukee 11

Franklin St. Louis 11

Qualls Arizona 11

Broxton Los Angeles 11

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 49

Bay Boston 47

Morneau Minnesota 41

Hunter Los Angeles 39

CPena Tampa Bay 39

Markakis Baltimore 38

AHuff Baltimore 37

N.L.

Player Team

Ibanez Philadelphia 43

Fielder Milwaukee 42

Dunn Washington 39

Pujols St. Louis 38

Hawpe Colorado 36

Cantu Florida 35

Zimmerman Washington 35

A.L.

Player Team

BRoberts Baltimore 41

AdJones Baltimore 38

Damon New York 37


Pedroia Boston 37

Scutaro Toronto 37

Two tied 36

N.L.

Player Team


Pujols St. Louis 38

Zimmerman Washington 37

Hudson Los Angeles 35

ASoriano Chicago 35

AdGonzalez San Diego 33

Two tied 32

A.L.

Player Team

MiCabrera Detroit .378

Bartlett Tampa Bay .373

VMartinez Cleveland .364

AdJones Baltimore .359

AHill Toronto .348

Morneau Minnesota .341

Kubel Minnesota .340

N.L.

Player Team

Beltran New York .367

Pence Houston .358

DWright New York .348

Zimmerman Washington .346

Ibanez Philadelphia .345

Hudson Los Angeles .344

CGuzman Washington .344

A.L.

Player Team

CPena Tampa Bay 15

Bay Boston 13


Teixeira New York 13

Four tied 12

N.L.

Player Team

AdGonzalez San Diego 17


Dunn Washington 14

Pujols St. Louis 14

Four tied 12

A.L.

Player Team

Crawford Tampa Bay 29

Figgins Los Angeles 19

Ellsbury Boston 18

Abreu Los Angeles 15

Bartlett Tampa Bay 14

BUpton Tampa Bay 14

Crisp Kansas City 11

N.L.

Player Team

Bourn Houston 15

Taveras Cincinnati 12

Burriss San Francisco 11

Fowler Colorado 11

JosReyes New York 11

Three tied 10

A.L.

Player Team

Palmer Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Halladay Toronto 8-1 .889

Greinke Kansas City 7-1 .875

Slowey Minnesota 6-1 .857

Buehrle Chicago 6-1 .857

Penny Boston 5-1 .833

RRamirez Boston 4-1 .800

N.L.

Player Team

Broxton Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Martis Washington 5-0 1.000

Cain San Francisco 5-1 .833

Pelfrey New York 4-1 .800

Stults Los Angeles 4-1 .800

DLowe Atlanta 6-2 .750

JSantana New York 6-2 .750

A.L.

Player Team

Crisp Kansas City 5

Andrus Texas 4

JBuck Kansas City 3

Crawford Tampa Bay 3

Cuddyer Minnesota 3

DeJesus Kansas City 3

15 tied 2

N.L.

Player Team

Kemp Los Angeles 4

Morgan Pittsburgh 4

Victorino Philadelphia 4

Bourn Houston 3

JUpton Arizona 3

Winn San Francisco 3

DWright New York 3

Houston P Roy Oswalt

PAT SULLIVAN / AP


http://sportingnews.com/fantasy/baseball


AMERICAN LEAGUE

Red Sox 6, Twins 5

Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Ellsbury cf 5 1 2 0 0 1 .300Pedroia 2b 5 2 3 0 0 0 .337Youkilis 3b 5 1 2 2 0 1 .384Bay lf 5 1 2 2 0 1 .289Lowell dh 5 0 4 1 0 0 .3051-N.Green pr-dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 .309Baldelli rf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .233a-J.Drew ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .269Varitek c 5 0 0 0 0 1 .238J.Bailey 1b 3 1 1 1 0 1 .197Lugo ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .258Totals 42 6 16 6 0 8

Minnesota AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Gomez cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .225Tolbert 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .197Morneau 1b 4 1 1 1 0 1 .341Kubel dh 4 1 2 1 0 1 .340Cuddyer rf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .286Buscher 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .186Redmond c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .259b-Mauer ph 1 1 1 2 0 0 .444Delm.Young lf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .253Punto ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .181Totals 35 5 8 5 0 10

Boston 003 200 010 — 6 16 1Minnesota 010 002 002 — 5 8 0

a-popped out for Baldelli in the 9th. b-homered for Redmond in the 9th. 1-ran for Lowell in the 9th. E: Baldelli (1). LOB: Boston 10, Minnesota 3. 2B: Youkilis 2 (13), Bay (11), Baldelli (1), Gomez (5), Morneau (13), Redmond (3). HR: J.Bailey (3), off Dickey; Cuddyer (8), off Penny; Mauer (11), off Papelbon. RBIs: Youkilis 2 (28), Bay 2 (47), Lowell (33), J.Bailey (9), Morneau (41), Kubel (24), Cuddyer (31), Mauer 2 (31). SB: Pedroia (6), Bay (5), Tolbert (2). CS: Ellsbury (6). Runners left in scoring position: Boston 6 (Bay 2, Lugo 3, Varitek); Minnesota 2 (Cuddyer, Punto).

Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAPenny W, 5-1 5 1⁄3 6 3 3 0 7 91 5.96R.Ramirez H, 7 1 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 26 0.74Okajima H, 7 1 0 0 0 0 1 13 2.70Papelbon S, 12-13 1 2 2 2 0 1 14 2.57Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALiriano L, 2-6 4 11 5 5 0 7 84 6.42Dickey 4 3 1 1 0 0 59 3.42Ayala 1⁄3 2 0 0 0 1 7 4.79Henn 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 6 4.91

Inherited runners-scored: R.Ramirez 1-0, Henn 2-0. HBP: by Dickey (J.Bailey). PB: Redmond. Umpires: Home, Jerry Layne; First, Tony Randazzo; Second, Chris Guccione; Third, Todd Tichenor. T: 3:01. A: 27,636 (46,632).

Yankees 11, Rangers 1

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Jeter dh 5 2 1 0 1 0 .284Damon lf 4 3 2 0 1 1 .312Gardner cf 1 0 1 0 0 0 .253Teixeira 1b 4 3 2 2 1 0 .273A.Rodriguez 3b 5 2 5 4 0 0 .2591-Berroa pr-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167Cano 2b 5 1 2 2 0 0 .315Me.Cabrera cf-lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .323Swisher rf 4 0 1 3 0 0 .225R.Pena ss 5 0 1 0 0 1 .246Cash c 5 0 3 0 0 0 .182Totals 43 11 19 11 3 3

Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Kinsler 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .278M.Young 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .337Vizquel 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .372Hamilton cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .260Dav.Murphy lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .229N.Cruz rf 4 1 2 1 0 0 .294Blalock dh 3 0 0 0 0 1 .245Byrd lf-cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .282C.Davis 1b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .200Teagarden c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .225Andrus ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .285Totals 31 1 4 1 1 7

New York 204 013 010 — 11 19 0Texas 000 000 001 — 1 4 0

1-ran for A.Rodriguez in the 8th. LOB: New York 10, Texas 5. 2B: Jeter (10), Damon (11), Teixeira (10), A.Rodriguez 2 (3), Hamilton (4), N.Cruz (9), Teagarden (2). 3B: Cano (1). HR: N.Cruz (12), off Aceves. RBIs: Teixeira 2 (36), A.Rodriguez 4 (17), Cano 2 (27), Swisher 3 (27), N.Cruz (32). SB: N.Cruz (8), Blalock (1). SF: Swisher. Runners left in scoring position: New York 5 (Me.Cabrera 2, R.Pena 2, Damon); Texas 4 (Teagarden 2, Byrd, Kinsler). DP: Texas 2 (Kinsler, Andrus, C.Davis), (Andrus, C.Davis).

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHughes W, 3-2 8 3 0 0 1 6 101 5.16Aceves 1 1 1 1 0 1 8 1.84Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHarrison L, 4-4 5 11 7 7 1 2 96 5.43Benson 3 6 4 4 2 1 60 8.50Madrigal 1 2 0 0 0 0 16 7.71

HBP: by Hughes (Blalock), by Benson (Teixeira). Umpires: Home, Tom Hallion; First, Jerry Crawford; Second, Mike Muchlinski; Third, Phil Cuzzi. T: 2:35. A: 48,914 (49,170).

Boston 6, Minnesota 5N.Y. Yankees 11, Texas 1

Sox produce again for PennyBooed in Texas, A-Rod reacts by going 5-for-5MINNEAPOLIS—Brad Penny has

received quite the welcome from the Boston Red Sox.

They signed him for $5 mil-lion this season, believing the two-time All-Star could rebound from shoulder prob-lems. They’re scoring runs for him at an exceptional rate. Heck, they even take care of him when he’s sick.

Jason Bay and Kevin Youki-lis hit two-run doubles, and Red Sox started a 10-game road trip with a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday—surviving a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning by pinch-hitter Joe Mauer.

Penny (5-1) gave up an early home run to Michael Cuddyer, but he worked his way into the sixth despite a sinus problem that caused an upset stomach. He was vomiting between innings.

In nine starts by Penny, the Red Sox have scored 58 runs.

“It’s a lot of fun with this team,” Penny said, later adding: “The breaks are going my way.”

Penny, who lowered his ERA to 5.96 after allowing six hits without a walk, watched his new team take a 5-1 lead against Francisco Liriano (2-6) in the fourth. Penny struck out seven.

Jacoby Ellsbury stretched his hitting streak to 20 games with a slow roller over the mound in the third that Liriano wasn’t in position to field.

The Red Sox got 15 hits from the first six batters in the order.


ARLINGTON, TEXAS—The only thing that felt awkward for Alex Rodriguez was wearing a red New York Yankees cap.

A-Rod certainly wasn’t bothered by hearty boos he heard in his first game in Texas since admitting earlier this year that he used steroids while playing for the Rangers.

Even while insisting there was no extra motivation, Rodriguez had the perfect response: matching a career high with five hits and driving in four runs in New York’s 11-1 victory over the Rang-ers on Monday.

“There’s no panic. I know exactly what I’m capable of doing,” Rodriguez said. “I’m feeling much better each and every day.”

As for the red caps the Yankees wore for Memorial Day, Rodriguez called those “a little weird.”

After singling in the eighth inning in his fifth at-bat, A-Rod was lifted for a pinch runner with New York already up 10-0. His first five-hit game since April 2005 raised his batting average 60 points—from .189 to .259. He had 10 hits his previous 16 games since being acti-vated from the disabled list May 8.

“He looked great. He didn’t try to do too much,” manager Joe Girardi. “He pulled the ball, hit some balls in the gaps, some up the middle.”

Phil Hughes (3-2) limited the Rangers to three hits over eight shutout innings, leav-ing after 101 pitches. He had allowed 17 earned runs in 15 2-3 innings since throw-ing six scoreless innings in his first start of the season April 28 at Detroit.

“The story for me was Phil Hughes,” Rodriguez said.

Maybe on any other day.Rodriguez was booed when introduced

before the game and each time he batted,

though cheers from a group of Yankees fans were more prominent by the time A-Rod trotted off the field in the eighth.

Rodriguez played for the Rangers from 2001-03, when he first became baseball’s highest-paid player with a then-record $252 million, 10-year contract, and was traded to the Yankees prior to spring train-ing in 2004. In an interview with ESPN in February, he blamed the pressures of that contract for his decision to use perfor-mance-enhancing drugs in Texas.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks, who said he felt “personally betrayed” after the slug-ger’s admission, said he had no plans to talk to Rodriguez this week. A-Rod did call him to apologize in February.

“Texas is a place that has been really good to me,” Rodriguez said after the win. “I have a lot of respect for the ownership here. I have a lot of good friends.”

Mark Teixeira, the Rangers’ former first-round pick, hit an RBI double off Matt Harrison (4-4) in the first before Rodriguez drove in a run with an infield single.

Teixeira , a former Rangers first-round pick who was traded less than two years ago, heard his share of boos, though not as loud as those reserved for Rodriguez.

“We’re Yankees, we get booed every-where,” Teixeira said. “It’s great. That means people care.”


LM OTERO / AP

Alex Rodriguez punished his former team at the plate, leading the Yankees to an easy road win.



AMERICAN LEAGUE

Orioles 4, Blue Jays 1

Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Scutaro ss 5 1 2 0 0 1 .280A.Hill 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .348Rios rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .260V.Wells cf 4 0 2 1 0 0 .266Lind dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 .291Rolen 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .303Overbay 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .274Barajas c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .301Bautista lf 3 0 0 0 1 3 .293Totals 35 1 9 1 1 5

Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Roberts 2b 4 2 2 1 0 1 .295Andino 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .189Ad.Jones cf 3 0 1 0 1 2 .359Markakis rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .303Mora 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .250A.Huff 1b 3 1 1 1 0 0 .267Wigginton dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .216Reimold lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .262Zaun c 2 0 1 1 1 0 .215C.Izturis ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 .238Totals 31 4 9 3 4 5

Toronto 100 000 000 — 1 9 0Baltimore 100 100 20x — 4 9 0

LOB: Toronto 9, Baltimore 9. 2B: Overbay (10), Barajas (12), B.Roberts (14), A.Huff (13). 3B: B.Roberts (1). RBIs: V.Wells (22), B.Roberts (18), A.Huff (37), Zaun (4). SB: Scutaro (4). CS: Lind (1). SF: A.Huff. Runners left in scoring position: Toronto 5 (Bautista, V.Wells, A.Hill, Rolen, Scutaro); Baltimore 4 (B.Roberts 3, Wigginton). DP: Toronto 1 (Overbay, Scutaro, Overbay).

Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERATallet L, 2-3 6 7 2 2 2 5 101 4.31B.J.Ryan 2⁄3 2 2 2 2 0 32 8.71Wolfe 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 10 1.42Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAGuthrie W, 4-4 7 7 1 1 1 4 108 4.90Baez H, 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 13 3.28Sherrill S, 10-12 1 1 0 0 0 1 17 2.75

Inherited runners-scored: Wolfe 2-0. IBB: off B.J.Ryan (Mora). HBP: by Wolfe (Zaun), by Guthrie (Lind). WP: B.J.Ryan. PB: Zaun. Umpires: Home, Tim Timmons; First, Jeff Kellogg; Second, Rob Drake; Third, Mark Wegner. T: 2:51. A: 24,904 (48,290).

Indians 11, Rays 10

Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Upton cf 6 0 1 1 0 3 .194Crawford lf 4 1 1 1 1 0 .316Longoria 3b 2 1 0 0 3 1 .330C.Pena 1b 4 2 2 1 1 1 .244W.Aybar 2b 4 1 0 0 1 0 .263Zobrist rf 4 2 2 1 1 0 .286Gross dh 3 2 1 3 2 0 .274Navarro c 4 0 2 1 0 1 .221Brignac ss 5 1 1 2 0 1 .222Totals 36 10 10 10 9 7

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.J.Carroll 2b 3 1 0 0 3 1 .273Sizemore dh 4 1 2 1 2 0 .227V.Martinez c 6 0 1 2 0 1 .364Jh.Peralta ss 4 1 1 0 1 1 .268Choo rf 5 2 1 0 0 1 .302DeRosa 3b 4 2 2 0 1 0 .260Garko 1b 5 2 3 5 0 0 .257LaPorta lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .190a-A.Cabrera ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 .316B.Francisco cf 3 1 2 1 2 0 .248Totals 38 11 12 9 10 6

Tampa Bay 052 300 000 — 10 10 2Cleveland 000 200 027 — 11 12 0

Two outs when winning run scored. a-walked for LaPorta in the 9th. E: Brignac (1), Longoria (4). LOB: Tampa Bay 9, Cleveland 11. 2B: Zobrist (9), Navarro (6), Sizemore (9), B.Francisco (8). HR: Gross (3), off J.Lewis; Garko (3), off Price; Garko (4), off Balfour. RBIs: B.Upton (9), Crawford (22), C.Pena (39), Zobrist (24), Gross 3 (14), Navarro (11), Brignac 2 (2), Sizemore (29), V.Martinez 2 (32), Garko 5 (20), B.Francisco (15). SB: Crawford (29). Runners left in scoring position: Tampa Bay 5 (W.Aybar 2, B.Upton 3); Cleveland 5 (Choo 3, V.Martinez, J.Carroll). DP: Tampa Bay 2 (W.Aybar, Brignac, C.Pena), (Longoria, W.Aybar, C.Pena); Cleveland 1 (Jh.Peralta, J.Carroll).

Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAPrice 3 1⁄3 4 2 2 5 6 100 5.40Cormier 2 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 40 2.12J.Nelson 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 5.21Thayer 1 1⁄3 5 4 2 1 0 38 6.23Choate 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 -Balfour 1⁄3 1 2 2 1 0 14 5.75Isringhausen L, 0-1 BS, 1-1 0 1 2 2 3 0 23 6.00Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACarmona 1 1⁄3 3 5 5 5 3 60 6.42J.Lewis 1 2⁄3 3 5 5 2 2 44 5.47Rundles 1 1 0 0 1 1 31 0.00Sowers W, 1-2 5 3 0 0 1 1 57 7.71

J.Lewis pitched to 3 batters in the 4th. Choate pitched to 1 batter in the 9th. Isringhausen pitched to 4 batters in the 9th. Inherited runners-scored: Cormier 2-0, Choate 2-1, Balfour 2-2, Isringhausen 1-1, J.Lewis 3-0, Rundles 2-2. HBP: by Rundles (Navarro). Umpires: Home, Angel Hernandez; First, Bill Welke; Second, Tim Welke; Third, Jim Reynolds. T: 3:51. A: 20,929 (45,199).

Baltimore 4, Toronto 1Cleveland 11, Tampa Bay 10

When it rains, it pours for JaysMartinez fires up Tribe for 10-run rally BALTIMORE—Jeremy Guthrie’s pitch count had soared past 100, and the Toronto Blue Jays had the tying run at second base in the seventh inning when a driv-ing rain got even worse.

Guthrie managed to put the wet baseball where he wanted, and the Baltimore Orioles escaped with a 4-1 victory Mon-day that extended the Blue Jays’ losing streak to seven.

Guthrie (4-4) allowed one run, seven hits and a walk over seven innings. He had lost four of his previous five decisions, but in this one his control was excep-tionally sharp—even after the conditions became dismal.

With Baltimore nursing a 2-1 lead, Lyle Overbay led off the seventh with a single and Rod Barajas struck out before Jose Bautista walked. After a visit from pitching coach Rick Kran-itz, Guthrie struck out Marco Scutaro on a 3-2 pitch and fin-ished his performance by induc-ing Aaron Hill to hit into a fielder’s choice.

“I don’t know how he did it. He sure came up with some big pitches,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

Former Oriole B.J. Ryan then gave up two runs in the bottom half to put Toronto in a 4-1 hole. After a drying agent was applied to the soggy infield, Cesar Izturis slapped a grounder to third that dropped out of Scott Rolen’s glove. Brian Roberts followed with a triple and scored on a sac-rifice fly by Aubrey Huff.


CLEVELAND—Trailing by 10 runs, Victor Martinez told his Cleveland Indians teammates they could win.

Martinez, in an 0-for-18 slump, backed up his words by lining a two-out, two-run single to cap a seven-run ninth inning that gave the Indians an 11-10 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

“You never know what’s going to hap-pen,” Martinez said after his hit off Jason Isringhausen (0-1) ruined the Rays night, which began with the much-awaited season debut of starter David Price. The lefthander was staked to a 10-0 lead but ran his pitch count up and lasted only 3 1/3 innings.

“When he came out, I said, ‘Go out there and be a tough out, and just keep battling,’ ” Martinez said. “That’s what we did.”

The Indians became the first team to make up a 10-run deficit and win since the Texas Rangers rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 16-15 on May 8, 2004, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“When you do something like this, it is special,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

It was the largest blown lead in Rays history. Tampa Bay had twice led games 10-2 before losing 20-11 each time—to the New York Yankees in 2005 and Cleveland in 1999.

Ryan Garko’s two-run homer off Price in the fourth started the comeback. His three-run shot in the ninth off Grant Balfour made it 10-7.

“I wanted to put the barrel of the bat on the ball and just happened to hit a home run,” Garko said of his second homer. “The important thing was not making the last out. Nobody wanted to

do that.”Jeremy Sowers (1-2) pitched five score-

less innings for the win in his first relief appearance after 51 career starts.

The loss was Tampa Bay’s 14th in a row in Cleveland. The Rays have not won a road game against the Indians since a 1-0 victory on Sept. 28, 2005.

The teams combined to use 11 pitch-ers, who issued a total of 19 walks—10 by the Rays.

Isringhausen walked the first three men he faced, forcing in one run to make it 10-8. Martinez then lined a 3-2 pitch to center and was mobbed by teammates in Cleveland’s biggest win of a disap-pointing season.

“The walks are unacceptable,” Isring-hausen. “I’d rather give up home runs than walk guys.”

The Indians still have the worst record

in the A.L. at 18-28 and are just 8-11 at home.

But Garko said he felt confident see-ing Martinez at the plate with the game on the line. The catcher leads the Indi-ans with 32 RBIs and a .364 batting average.

“That’s the guy you want up there in that spot,” Garko said.

Price struggled with his command, walking five.

“He had great stuff, but was all over the place,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Indians starter Fausto Carmona was even wilder. The right-hander unrav-eled in the second inning, walking the first four men he faced on 20 pitches and giving up five runs while registering only one out.


TONY DEJAK / AP

Cleveland’s Victor Martinez celebrates after hitting a two-run single that capped the victory.



AMERICAN LEAGUE

Athletics 6, Mariners 1

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.I.Suzuki rf 4 0 4 0 0 0 .335Y.Betancourt ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .259Beltre 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .211Griffey Jr. dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .232M.Sweeney 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .232Jo.Lopez 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .221Johjima c 1 1 1 1 0 0 .250Ro.Johnson c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .188En.Chavez lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .264F.Gutierrez cf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .265Totals 33 1 8 1 2 6

Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Kennedy 2b 4 1 4 2 1 0 .441K.Suzuki c 5 0 0 0 0 2 .290Cust dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 .255Holliday lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .264Giambi 1b 2 0 0 0 2 2 .217O.Cabrera ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .240R.Sweeney cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .250T.Buck rf 3 3 1 1 1 0 .210Crosby ss-1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .213Hannahan 3b 4 1 2 1 0 1 .196Totals 31 6 8 4 7 5

Seattle 010 000 000 — 1 8 2Oakland 130 101 00x — 6 8 0

E: M.Sweeney (2), Jo.Lopez (8). LOB: Seattle 8, Oakland 8. 2B: M.Sweeney (5), Kennedy 2 (6), Hannahan (5). HR: Johjima (3), off Bre.Anderson; T.Buck (2), off Jakubauskas. RBIs: Johjima (10), Kennedy 2 (13), T.Buck (7), Hannahan (5). SB: I.Suzuki (7), Kennedy 2 (3). CS: Holliday (1). S: Y.Betancourt. Runners left in scoring position: Seattle 5 (M.Sweeney 2, Griffey Jr., En.Chavez, Beltre); Oakland 5 (Cust 3, K.Suzuki 2). DP: Seattle 2 (Beltre, Jo.Lopez, M.Sweeney), (Jo.Lopez, M.Sweeney); Oakland 1 (Hannahan, Kennedy, Giambi).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAJakubauskas L, 3-5 3 1⁄3 6 5 4 3 2 79 6.45Stark 1 2⁄3 0 0 0 2 0 20 6.30Morrow 2 1 1 0 2 3 52 6.91White 1 1 0 0 0 0 17 2.01Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABre.Anderson W, 2-4 6 6 1 1 2 4 105 4.98K.Cameron S, 1-1 3 2 0 0 0 2 34 1.93

Inherited runners-scored: Stark 2-0. WP: Morrow. Umpires: Home, Brian Knight; First, Dana DeMuth; Second, Doug Eddings; Third, Hunter Wendelstedt. T: 2:48. A: 15,280 (35,067).

Tigers 13, Royals 1

Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Granderson cf 5 2 3 1 1 2 .250Polanco 2b 6 2 1 1 0 0 .259Ordonez rf 4 1 1 1 1 0 .2661-J.Anderson pr-lf 1 0 1 0 0 0 .272Mi.Cabrera 1b 6 2 4 3 0 1 .3782-Raburn pr-1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222Larish dh 5 1 1 0 1 4 .235Inge 3b 6 2 3 2 0 1 .280Thomas lf-rf 5 0 2 2 0 1 .269Laird c 3 2 1 2 2 0 .246Santiago ss 4 1 2 1 0 0 .348Totals 45 13 19 13 5 9

Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Crisp cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .236Maier cf 1 1 1 0 0 0 .314DeJesus lf 4 0 2 1 0 0 .242Butler 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .285J.Guillen rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .291Jacobs dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 .261Teahen 3b 2 0 0 0 0 2 .261Lu.Hernandez ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .125Callaspo 2b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .309a-Hulett ph-2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000J.Buck c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .235Bloomquist ss-3b 3 0 0 0 0 3 .298Totals 33 1 7 1 1 10

Detroit 202 030 204 — 13 19 0Kansas City 000 000 010 — 1 7 1

a-struck out for Callaspo in the 7th. 1-ran for Ordonez in the 8th. 2-ran for Mi.Cabrera in the 9th. E: Teahen (2). LOB: Detroit 11, Kansas City 6. 2B: Granderson (5), Mi.Cabrera 2 (10). 3B: Maier (1). HR: Laird (2), off Mahay. RBIs: Granderson (27), Polanco (18), Ordonez (18), Mi.Cabrera 3 (36), Inge 2 (33), Thomas 2 (8), Laird 2 (13), Santiago (20), DeJesus (18). SB: Granderson (6). SF: Santiago. Runners left in scoring position: Detroit 8 (Thomas, Polanco 3, Santiago 2, Inge 2); Kansas City 1 (Jacobs). DP: Detroit 1 (Mi.Cabrera, San-tiago, Mi.Cabrera); Kansas City 1 (Callaspo, Bloomquist, Butler).

Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAVerlander W, 5-2 7 5 0 0 0 8 96 3.55Miner 1 2 1 1 0 1 11 4.76Perry 1 0 0 0 1 1 17 2.33Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMeche L, 2-5 2 1⁄3 6 4 2 3 1 73 4.55Ponson 3 2⁄3 4 3 3 0 2 47 6.49Mahay 1 4 2 2 0 1 22 4.32Colon 1 0 0 0 1 3 21 0.00J.Wright 1 5 4 4 1 2 31 3.86

Inherited runners-scored: Ponson 3-0. Umpires: Home, Paul Emmel; First, Angel Campos; Second, Bill Hohn; Third, Bruce Dreckman. T: 2:52. A: 34,524 (38,177).

Detroit 13, Kansas City 1Oakland 6, Seattle 1

Verlander impresses againKennedy making most of his second chanceKANSAS CITY—The way Justin

Verlander has been pitching lately, he didn’t need the Detroit Tigers’ big offensive day.

Verlander pitched seven shutout innings and the Tigers banged out a season-high 19 hits in a 13-1 victory over the slumping Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Miguel Cabrera had three RBIs and four hits and Gerald Laird, Brandon Inge and Clete Thomas each had two RBIs as the Tigers won for the 23rd time in their last 31 outings at Kauffman Stadium.

Verlander (5-2), who improved to 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA in his last six starts, retired the first nine batters and gave up only five singles and did not allow a runner past second. He did not issue a walk and struck out eight, taking over the major league lead with 85.

“He’s one of those guys, if he’s on his game, it’s not fun,” said Laird, who had a two-run home run. “He’s throwing 95 to 98 (mph), he’s got a sharp breaking ball and a plus-chan-geup you’ve got to cover. This guy’s locating his stuff and he’s pitching ahead in the count.”

Verlander agreed that his recent stretch is as good as he’s had since breaking into the majors in 2006 as the A.L. rookie of the year.

It certainly is a far cry from his 11-17 record of last season.


OAKLAND—Adam Kennedy has been the Oakland Athletics’ most dynamic offen-sive player since shortly after they plucked him from Tampa Bay’s minor league sys-tem 2½ weeks ago.

That’s both a credit to the veteran sec-ond baseman and a cutting critique of the A’s otherwise floundering lineup, although his teammates provided a little help to their surprising star in Oakland’s 6-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.

Kennedy extended his torrid start for Oakland with a career high-tying four hits and two RBIs, while Travis Buck homered and scored three runs to back Brett Ander-son’s second major league victory.

Kennedy also walked and eventually scored on an error in the first when he slid home in a collision with Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima, who broke his toe on the play. The former A.L. championship series MVP is 20-for-37 in his last nine games, giving him 26 hits in his 15 games with the A’s.

“Getting on base five times is a little ridiculous, but I’ll take it,” said Kennedy, the A’s leadoff hitter since shortly after his arrival. “I’m trying to fit in, have good at-bats, play hard, and that’s about it. I just try to do what I can do best and look for ways to get on base.”

Oakland scored three runs in the sec-ond inning on three consecutive hits, including a two-run double down the right-field line by Kennedy, who improved his average to .441 with the 15th four-hit game of his 10-season career. Not bad for a 33-year-old who wasn’t playing particu-larly well for Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affili-ate in Durham earlier this month before Oakland acquired him for a player to be named.

“You just stay ready for it (in the minors)

and try to prove where you belong,” Ken-nedy said. “It’s not fun, and it’s not easy. I didn’t know if I was getting another chance. I just went down there to grind it out.”

Anderson pitched six strong innings for the last-place A’s, who beat Seattle for just the second time in seven meetings this season. Anderson (2-4) yielded six hits and two walks, largely staying out of trou-ble at the Coliseum despite retiring the side in order just once.

The 21-year-old left-hander picked up

his first major league win in his previous start last week at Tampa Bay with six innings of four-hit ball.

“It’s a weird game where sometimes the ball doesn’t roll for you, and then the next time you get six or seven runs,” Anderson said. “My command was not as good today as my last start, but I had good fastball velocity, for some reason. My last two starts, we’ve come out and scored runs early. That eases things out there for me. It helps everything.”


BEN MARGOT / AP

Oakland’s Travis Buck scores beneath Seattle P Brandon Morrow in the sixth inning.



NATIONAL LEAGUE

Mets 5, Nationals 2

Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.C.Guzman ss 5 0 1 0 0 0 .344N.Johnson 1b 3 0 1 0 2 0 .338Zimmerman 3b 4 0 1 1 1 1 .346Dunn lf 4 0 0 0 1 0 .277Kearns rf 5 0 0 0 0 2 .213W.Harris cf 3 1 1 0 2 0 .281A.Hernandez 2b 2 0 0 0 2 0 .279Nieves c 3 1 2 1 1 0 .304Lannan p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .111Colome p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Maxwell ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .167D.Cabrera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Bergmann p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000c-Willingham ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .213K.Wells p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 33 2 6 2 9 7

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pagan rf 2 1 0 0 2 0 .261Castillo 2b 3 1 2 0 0 0 .282Beltran cf 3 1 2 1 1 0 .367Sheffield lf 3 1 2 3 1 0 .277Fr.Rodriguez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---D.Wright 3b 1 1 0 0 3 0 .348Tatis 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .276Santos c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .269R.Martinez ss 3 0 0 1 0 1 .077Maine p 2 0 1 0 0 0 .222a-Dan.Murphy ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .246Parnell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Putz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Reed ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .304Totals 27 5 9 5 7 3

Washington 010 000 100 — 2 6 0New York 001 004 00x — 5 9 0

a-popped out for Maine in the 6th. b-struck out for Colome in the 7th. c-struck out for Bergmann in the 8th. d-struck out for Putz in the 8th. LOB: Washington 13, New York 7. 2B: W.Harris (5), Castillo (3), Beltran (15). HR: Sheffield (4), off Lannan. RBIs: Zimmerman (35), Nieves (6), Beltran (31), Sheffield 3 (14), R.Martinez (3). SB: W.Harris (3). S: Castillo. SF: R.Martinez. Runners left in scoring position: Washington 5 (Lannan, Kearns 2, C.Guzman, W.Harris); New York 3 (Sheffield, Tatis 2). DP: Washington 3 (A.Hernandez, C.Guzman, N.Johnson), (N.Johnson), (Lannan, C.Guzman, N.Johnson).

Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALannan L, 2-4 5 8 5 5 4 0 92 4.11Colome 1 1 0 0 0 1 14 15.00D.Cabrera 2⁄3 0 0 0 3 0 25 5.85Bergmann 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 4 2.45K.Wells 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 6.00New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMaine W, 4-3 6 4 1 1 3 4 98 4.18Parnell 1⁄3 1 1 1 3 1 25 2.29Feliciano H, 6 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 3 2.45Putz H, 9 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 2 1 29 3.55Fr.Rodriguez S, 13-13 1 1 0 0 1 1 23 0.83

Lannan pitched to 4 batters in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored: Colome 1-1, Bergmann 3-0, Feliciano 3-0, Putz 3-0. WP: D.Cabrera. Umpires: Home, Larry Vanover; First, Dan Iassogna; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, Adrian Johnson. T: 3:20. A: 41,103 (41,800).

Marlins 5, Phillies 3

Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Coghlan lf 5 0 2 0 0 0 .212Hermida rf 5 1 2 0 0 2 .275Ha.Ramirez ss 4 1 1 0 1 0 .317Cantu 1b 3 1 1 0 2 2 .277Helms 3b 5 2 3 4 0 1 .246Uggla 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .200C.Ross cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .239R.Paulino c 4 0 1 1 0 1 .233Volstad p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .050Meyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-Hayes ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 38 5 11 5 3 10

Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rollins ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .234Utley 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .291Ibanez lf 3 1 0 0 1 2 .345Howard 1b 4 2 2 3 0 1 .262Werth rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .255Victorino cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .270Feliz 3b 3 0 2 0 0 0 .303Park p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100b-Stairs ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .276Ruiz c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .284Moyer p 1 0 0 0 1 1 .091Dobbs 3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .139Totals 31 3 6 3 3 8

Florida 000 301 100 — 5 11 1Phil 200 001 000 — 3 6 0

a-struck out for Meyer in the 8th. b-grounded out for Park in the 9th. E: Volstad (1). LOB: Florida 9, Phila-delphia 5. 2B: Hermida (5), Rollins (10), Feliz (11). HR: Helms (1), off Moyer; Howard 2 (12), off Volstad 2. RBIs: Helms 4 (10), R.Paulino (6), Howard 3 (33). CS: Victorino (3). Runners left in scoring position: Florida 5 (Helms 2, Volstad 2, Uggla); Philadelphia 3 (Rollins, Moyer, Utley). GIDP: Ibanez. DP: Florida 1 (Ha.Ramirez, Uggla, Cantu).

Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAVolstad W, 4-3 6 2⁄3 6 3 3 2 6 107 3.69Meyer H, 8 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2.75Nunez H, 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 15 3.47Lindstrom S, 9-11 1 0 0 0 1 1 13 6.16Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMoyer L, 3-5 6 7 4 4 2 5 113 7.42Park 3 4 1 1 1 5 50 6.57

Inherited runners-scored: Meyer 1-0. HBP: by Volstad (Utley). Umpires: Home, Marvin Hudson; First, John Hirschbeck; Second, Wally Bell; Third, Marty Foster. T: 2:51. A: 45,186 (43,647).

N.Y. Mets 5, Washington 2Florida 5, Philadelphia 3

Homer or not, Sheffield still has hot bat

Helms has last laugh against Phillies fans

NEW YORK—Gary Sheffield hit a drive to the top of the left-field wall, just before the fence reaches the 15-foot, 8½-inch mark. A fan reached out and touched the ball.

Tiebreaking, three-run homer or RBI double?

While the intial call was home run, Washington manager Manny Acta argued and three umpires went inside for a video review. For six minutes, players and fans at Citi Field wondered.

Crew chief Larry Vanover finally signaled home run, and the banged-up New York Mets went on to beat the hapless Wash-ington Nationals 5-2 Monday night.

Sheffield himself was curious during the wait.

“I went down to see it on TV, but they were showing both man-agers,” he said. “They didn’t show the replay, so, you know, I got kind of scared.”

He wound up with his fourth homer of the season and No. 503 in his big league career. Since Carlos Delgado got hurt and Sheffield began playing regularly as the cleanup hitter on May 13, the 40-year-old is hitting .395 (15 for 38) with two doubles, three homers and nine RBIs. He’s raised his average from .178 to .277.

“I knew I can DH every day, but playing the outfield is a dif-ferent story,” said Sheffield.


PHILADELPHIA—All Wes Helms needed to get him going were some boos from an unforgiving crowd.

Helms homered and drove in four runs, Chris Volstad pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and the Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 on Monday night.

Ryan Howard hit a pair of homers for the N.L. East-leading Phillies, while Jamie Moyer failed in his fifth try to earn his 250th win.

Helms was a bust in his only season in Philadelphia in 2007. Signed to a $5.45 million, two-year contract as a free agent, Helms batted .246 with five homers and 39 RBIs in 280 at-bats. Naturally, Phil-lies fans let him hear it whenever he plays here.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Helms said. “It actually drives me to try even harder to do well.”

If that’s what it takes, maybe Marlins fans should give Helms an earful at home. He’s only hitting .246 with one homer and 10 RBIs.

Volstad (4-3) allowed three runs and six hits. Dan Meyer retired the only bat-ter he faced, Leo Nunez pitched a perfect eighth and Matt Lindstrom finished for his ninth save in 11 chances.

“He was throwing his curveball and pounding the strike zone,” Marlins man-ager Fredi Gonzalez said of Volstad. “I was very encouraged the way he pitched.”

Moyer (3-5) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings, falling to 12-2 against the Marlins. The 46-year-old left-hander has improved his last two starts after a dreadful stretch. His ERA dropped slightly to 7.42.

“I feel I’m back to where I need to be,” Moyer said.

Back from an 8-2 road trip, the defend-ing World Series champions continued to struggle at home. They’re 8-13 at Citi-zens Bank Park, and a major league-best 16-6 on the road.

Moyer breezed through the first three innings, retiring seven straight before running into trouble in the fourth. Han-ley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu walked to start the inning. Moyer thought he struck out Helms on a close 2-2 pitch, but didn’t get the call. Helms drove the next offering out to left for his first homer of the season, giving the Marlins a 3-2 lead.

“Walks kill you,” Moyer said. “It’s the

game right there.”Ronny Paulino’s RBI single with two

outs in the sixth increased Florida’s lead to 4-2. Howard led off the bottom half with an opposite-field shot to left-center.

Helms’ RBI single off Chan Ho Park in the seventh gave Florida a two-run cushion.

The Phillies jumped on Volstad in the first. After Raul Ibanez drew a two-out walk, Howard hit the first pitch he saw high off the brick batter’s eye in straight-away center for a 2-0 lead.

“That was a real good team win for us,” Volstad said. “Everyone contributed.”


TOM MIHALEK / AP

Florida SS Hanley Ramirez, left, was able to put an easy tag on Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins for an out.



NATIONAL LEAGUE

Reds 8, Astros 5

Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Bourn cf 4 1 2 0 1 0 .288Tejada ss 5 0 1 1 0 0 .341Berkman 1b 5 2 2 2 0 1 .231Ca.Lee lf 5 0 2 0 0 0 .319Pence rf 4 0 3 0 1 0 .358I.Rodriguez c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .260Quintero c 3 0 1 1 0 1 .208K.Matsui 2b 3 1 0 0 1 1 .219Keppinger 3b 3 1 3 0 1 0 .313W.Rodriguez p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .045Arias p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Erstad ph 1 0 0 1 0 0 .149Fulchino p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Michaels ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .182Byrdak p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 37 5 14 5 4 4

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Taveras cf 5 1 1 0 0 1 .274Hairston Jr. 2b 4 2 2 1 0 1 .260Dickerson lf 3 1 0 0 2 2 .228Gomes rf 4 0 3 3 1 0 .429Cordero p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---R.Hernandez c 5 0 2 0 0 0 .295Ale.Gonzalez ss 5 1 0 1 0 0 .215A.Rosales 1b-3b 5 2 2 1 0 2 .269Janish 3b 2 0 1 1 1 0 .300Burton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Owings ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .280Fisher p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Bruce rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .228Harang p 2 0 2 1 0 0 .143a-Votto ph-1b 1 1 0 0 1 1 .368Totals 37 8 13 8 5 8

Houston 201 002 000 — 5 14 3Cincinnati 500 120 00x — 8 13 0

a-was intentionally walked for Harang in the 5th. b-grounded out for Arias in the 6th. c-struck out for Burton in the 6th. d-popped out for Fulchino in the 8th. E: Tejada 2 (8), Quintero (2). LOB: Houston 9, Cincinnati 11. 2B: Berkman (6), Keppinger 2 (6), Taveras (7), R.Hernandez (7). 3B: Ca.Lee (1). HR: Berkman (10), off Harang. RBIs: Tejada (26), Berkman 2 (27), Quintero (3), Erstad (3), Hairston Jr. (12), Gomes 3 (3), Ale.Gonzalez (16), A.Rosales (9), Janish (3), Harang (3). SB: Bourn (15). CS: Pence (4). SF: Hairston Jr. Runners left in scoring position: Houston 2 (K.Matsui, Tejada); Cincinnati 5 (Taveras, Ale.Gonzalez, R.Hernandez 2, Dickerson). Runners moved up: Erstad, Janish. GIDP: Pence, Quintero. DP: Cincinnati 3 (R.Hernandez, R.Hernandez, Janish), (A.Rosales, Hairston Jr., Votto), (Ale.Gonzalez, Votto).

Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAW.Rodriguez L, 5-3 4 10 6 0 2 3 78 1.71Arias 1 1 2 0 3 0 27 4.82Fulchino 2 1 0 0 0 5 40 4.08Byrdak 1 1 0 0 0 0 12 2.81Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHarang W, 5-4 5 10 3 3 1 4 93 3.36Burton 1 2 2 2 1 0 22 6.10Fisher H, 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 29 0.00Cordero S, 12-12 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 1.80

IBB: off W.Rodriguez (Janish), off Arias (Votto). Umpires: Home, C.B. Bucknor; First, Mike Everitt; Sec-ond, Mike Estabrook; Third, Brian Gorman. T: 3:04 (Rain delay: 2:03). A: 17,818 (42,319).

Brewers 1, Cardinals 0, 10 innings

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Schumaker 2b-rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .299Rasmus cf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .227Pujols 1b 2 0 0 0 2 1 .322Duncan lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .250Stavinoha rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .207McClellan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Y.Molina c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .275Thurston 3b-2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .224C.Carpenter p 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000Barden 3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .259Br.Ryan ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .241Totals 32 0 2 0 4 8

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Counsell ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .311McGehee 2b 4 1 0 0 0 2 .265Braun lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .325Fielder 1b 3 0 0 0 1 2 .265M.Cameron cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .285Gamel 3b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .211Hall 3b 1 0 1 1 0 0 .230Hart rf 2 0 0 0 0 2 .242a-Catalanotto ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000Kendall c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .217Gallardo p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .190Hoffman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Gerut ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .220Villanueva p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500Totals 32 1 3 1 1 10

St. Louis 000 000 000 0 —0 2 1Milwaukee 000 000 000 1 —1 3 0

Two outs when winning run scored. a-grounded out for Hart in the 8th. b-fouled out for Hoffman in the 9th. E: Barden (3). LOB: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3. RBIs: Hall (11). CS: Counsell (1). Runners left in scoring posi-tion: St. Louis 2 (Stavinoha, Duncan).

St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAC.Carpenter 8 2 0 0 0 10 93 0.00McClellan L, 2-2 1 2⁄3 1 1 0 1 0 16 1.96Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAGallardo 8 2 0 0 4 6 126 3.32Hoffman 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.00Villanueva W, 2-3 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 3.97

IBB: off McClellan (Fielder), off Gallardo (Pujols). WP: Gallardo. Umpires: Home, Chad Fairchild; First, Paul Nauert; Second, Paul Schrieber; Third, Ed Rapuano. T: 2:26. A: 43,032 (41,900).

Cincinnati 8, Houston 5Milwaukee 1, St. Louis 0, 10 innings

Rain delay doesn’t deter Reds’ Harang

Hall’s RBI single ends game, breaks slump

CINCINNATI—Reds righthander Aaron Harang kept working when the game was delayed by rain for more than two hours in the fifth inning.

He wasn’t going to let this one get away.

Harang came back out after the delay to earn his first win over the Astros in two years and Cincinnati made the most of three Houston errors, scor-ing eight unearned runs in an 8-5 victory Monday.

Harang (5-4) surrendered a single to Hunter Pence when the game resumed in the fifth then struck out Humberto Quintero. He had lost his last four starts against the Astros since he beat them with a com-plete game on May 30, 2007.

“I think I threw a complete game with all the work I did inside,” he said.

Harang allowed three runs and 10 hits in five innings. Cin-cinnati manager Dusty Baker said he was willing to work with him after the delay.

“We asked him, ‘What would you do if you were us?’ ” Baker said. “He said, ‘I’d let me go back.’ I’m just glad the delay wasn’t longer. He wanted the game, and he deserved the chance to go get it.”

Jonny Gomes had three hits and three RBIs for the Reds, who have won three of four.

—The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE—Bill Hall sprinted off the field after his two-out, game-winning hit in the 10th inning, barely pausing to slap manager Ken Macha’s hand.

Hall wanted to savor the Milwaukee Brewers’ 1-0 win over the St. Louis Car-dinals on Monday privately.

No matter. On the field or in the club-house, in St. Louis or Miller Park, the Brewers are getting used to celebrating wherever they want against their N.L. Central rivals.

Hall snapped a 1-for-28 slump with his RBI single and lifted Milwaukee to its 11th win in the last 12 over the Cardi-nals, who’ve said they don’t like the young Brewers’ brash attitudes and penchant for public celebrations.

“I got the big hit, everybody just came into the clubhouse and we celebrated in here. Just having fun with ourselves,” Hall insisted. “We care about each other in here.”

Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter took a perfect game into the seventh inning, and the Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo car-ried a no-hitter into the sixth before each finished allowing just two hits over eight innings.

Milwaukee closer Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth and Carlos Vil-lanueva (2-3) the 10th for the Brewers, setting up Hall’s dramatics off St. Louis’ Kyle McClellan (2-2).

Casey McGehee reached on an error by third baseman Brian Barden to lead off the 10th for the Brewers.

“It wasn’t a tough play,” Barden said. “It just didn’t go in my glove. That’s all I can say.”

Prince Fielder was intentionally walked one out later and retired at sec-ond on Mike Cameron’s fielder’s choice.

It appeared that the Cardinals might have been able to turn two on Cameron’s grounder, but McClellan deflected the ball, forcing shortstop Brendan Ryan to pull up and settle for one out.

“I asked Brendan if it was hit hard

enough to turn two and he didn’t think so,” McClellan said.

Manager Tony La Russa disagreed.“If we don’t tip that ball, it’s an easy

double play,” La Russa said.—The Associated Press

MORRY GASH / AP

Milwaukee’s Bill Hall drove in the game’s only run with a two-out, 10th-inning hit.



NATIONAL LEAGUE

Giants 8, Braves 2

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg.K.Johnson 2b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .250Prado 3b 3 1 0 0 1 1 .254M.Diaz lf 3 0 1 0 1 2 .299McCann c 3 0 3 1 1 0 .326D.Ross c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263Francoeur rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .259Kotchman 1b 3 0 0 1 1 0 .278D.Hernandez ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .167Schafer cf 4 0 0 0 0 4 .205J.Vazquez p 2 0 1 0 0 0 .105Bennett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000b-Norton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .111Carlyle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000d-C.Jones ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .319Totals 33 2 6 2 4 10

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rowand cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .274Renteria ss 5 0 2 2 0 0 .246Winn rf 4 1 2 0 1 0 .283B.Molina c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .261F.Lewis lf 3 2 1 0 1 2 .279Ishikawa 1b 4 3 4 3 0 0 .250Uribe 3b 3 0 1 1 0 1 .286Burriss 2b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .257J.Sanchez p 1 1 0 0 0 1 .000J.Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-Schierholtz ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .241Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000Medders p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-J.Guzman ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .100B.Wilson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 35 8 13 8 2 5

Atlanta 000 002 000 — 2 6 0San Francisco 000 032 30x — 8 13 0

a-singled for J.Miller in the 6th. b-grounded out for Bennett in the 7th. c-grounded out for Medders in the 8th. d-flied out for Carlyle in the 9th. LOB: Atlanta 8, San Francisco 7. 2B: J.Vazquez (2), Rowand (10), Renteria (7), Winn (11). 3B: K.Johnson (2). HR: Ishikawa (1), off Carlyle. RBIs: McCann (18), Kotchman (22), Renteria 2 (20), Ishikawa 3 (15), Uribe (6), Burriss (9), Schierholtz (3). SB: Winn (8), Ishikawa (1). S: J.Sanchez. SF: Uribe. Runners left in scoring position: Atlanta 4 (Prado, Schafer 2, D.Hernandez); San Francisco 3 (F.Lewis, B.Molina, Winn). GIDP: Winn. DP: Atlanta 1 (K.Johnson, D.Hernandez, Kotchman).

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAJ.Vazquez L, 4-4 5 2⁄3 8 5 5 1 5 107 3.80Bennett 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2.25Carlyle 2 5 3 3 1 0 45 8.84San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAJ.Sanchez W, 2-4 5 4 2 2 3 6 90 4.60J.Miller H, 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 17 2.14Affeldt H, 8 1 2 0 0 0 0 21 2.11Medders 1 0 0 0 0 1 16 3.10B.Wilson 1 0 0 0 0 1 18 4.64

J.Sanchez pitched to 4 batters in the 6th. Affeldt pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Bennett 1-0, J.Miller 3-1, Medders 2-0. IBB: off Carlyle (F.Lewis). WP: J.Vazquez 2. Umpires: Home, Jerry Meals; First, Mike DiMuro; Second, Bill Miller; Third, Dale Scott. T: 3:04. A: 40,034 (41,915).

Dodgers 16, Rockies 6

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pierre lf 6 2 2 3 0 1 .385Martin c 6 2 3 2 0 1 .270Hudson 2b 5 2 2 2 1 2 .344Blake 3b 6 2 2 1 0 1 .306Kemp cf 5 2 3 3 1 1 .298Loney 1b 5 2 3 0 1 0 .291Hoffmann rf 4 1 1 2 0 1 .300J.Castro ss 5 2 3 3 0 1 .387Stults p 2 1 0 0 1 2 .077Jef.Weaver p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500Belisario p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 45 16 19 16 4 11

Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Fowler cf 3 1 1 0 2 0 .272Tulowitzki ss 2 1 0 1 2 1 .236Helton 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .338Stewart 3b-rf 1 1 0 0 2 0 .189Spilborghs lf 2 0 0 1 1 0 .266Fogg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-S.Smith ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .263Grilli p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Embree p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Corpas p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Phillips ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.000Hawpe rf 2 2 2 2 1 0 .336c-Quintanilla ph-3b 1 0 1 0 1 0 .211Atkins 3b-1b 5 0 1 1 0 0 .190Barmes 2b 3 0 1 1 2 1 .238Torrealba c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .213De La Rosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .067Jo.Peralta p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---a-Murton ph-lf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .276Totals 30 6 8 6 11 4

Los Angeles 000 700 801 — 16 19 1Colorado 000 141 000 — 6 8 1a-flied out for Jo.Peralta in the 5th. b-struck out for Fogg in the 6th. c-walked for Hawpe in the 7th. d-singled for Corpas in the 9th. E: Loney (1), Barmes (3). LOB: Los Angeles 8, Colo-rado 10. 2B: Blake (10), Hoffmann (2), Fowler (10), Hawpe 2 (13), Barmes (8), Murton (4). 3B: Pierre (2). RBIs: Pierre 3 (16), Martin 2 (20), Hudson 2 (29), Blake (29), Kemp 3 (28), Hoffmann 2 (6), J.Castro 3 (7), Tulowitzki (15), Spilborghs (20), Hawpe 2 (36), Atkins (15), Barmes (17). SB: Martin (6), Loney (3). CS: Barmes (2). S: Ohman, De La Rosa. SF: Hoffmann, Tulowitzki. Runners left in scoring position: Los Angeles 4 (J.Castro, Blake, Stults, Hoffmann); Colorado 6 (Atkins 2, Fowler, S.Smith, Murton, Barmes). DP: Los Angeles 3 (Blake, Hudson, Loney), (Blake, Hudson, Loney), (Blake, Hudson, Loney).

Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAStults 4 1⁄3 3 4 4 7 2 95 4.29Jef.Weaver 1 1⁄3 3 2 2 1 0 31 3.63Ohman W, 1-0 H, 5 1⁄3 0 0 0 2 1 17 5.11Belisario 2 0 0 0 1 0 14 2.28Mota 1 2 0 0 0 1 17 7.50Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADe La Rosa L, 0-5 3 1⁄3 7 7 7 2 6 78 5.26Jo.Peralta 1 2⁄3 3 0 0 0 2 38 4.91Fogg 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 0.00Grilli 1⁄3 2 4 4 2 0 24 5.65Embree 2⁄3 5 4 4 0 1 25 7.50Corpas 2 2 1 1 0 2 28 5.82Ohman pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. Inherited runners-scored: Jef.Weaver 3-3, Ohman 1-0, Belisario 1-0, Jo.Peralta 1-1, Embree 1-1. WP: Jef.Weaver 2, Embree. Umpires: Home, Tim McClelland; First, Andy Fletcher; Second, Scott Barry; Third, Ted Barrett. T: 3:59. A: 37,024 (50,449).

L.A. Dodgers 16,Colorado 6

San Francisco 8, Atlanta 2

Offense still scoring runs minus Manny

At last minute, Ishikawa comes up big

DENVER—Even without Manny Ramirez, the Los Angeles Dodg-ers are having no trouble scoring runs.

The Dodgers used two big innings—a seven-run fourth and an eight-run seventh—to rout Colorado 16-6 on Monday.

James Loney, Russell Martin, Juan Castro and Matt Kemp had three hits each and Juan Pierre had a bases-loaded triple for the Dodgers, who matched their sea-son high with 19 hits.

Will Ohman (1-0), the third pitcher for Los Angeles, picked up the win.

“Throughout the lineup we have guys that can hit for power and guys that can run,” Pierre said. “I don’t think pitchers like to see our lineup when we’re swinging the bats like we are.”

Ramirez was suspended for 50 games on May 7 for using a banned drug. Since then, the Dodgers are 10-7 and have scored 100 runs.

“When you look at our guys the way they’re lined up, we can score runs,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “We’re going to make contact for the most part, we’re not going to swing and miss a whole lot. We have a very deep bench and a very deep lineup. We’re going to make pitchers work to beat us.”


SAN FRANCISCO—Travis Ishikawa had a career day when he was supposed to be on the bench.

San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy decided late to go with Ishikawa at first base instead of rookie and recent callup Jesus Guzman, and for no reason in particular.

“I just made the flip,” Bochy said.Ishikawa had a three-run homer among

his career-high four hits, Jonathan San-chez won for the first time in more than a month and the Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 8-2 on Monday.

Ishikawa had yet to hit a home run this year, a rare thing for a first baseman. His bosses had brought up Guzman as insur-ance. Ishikawa very well could have been affected by all that.

“It’s good to finally get that off my shoul-ders,” he said of the homer. “My mindset’s probably different than most people’s because I’m not hitting a lot of home runs. Home runs are an overrated thing. ... I can’t control the playing time. I’m still doing the same thing I’ve been doing all year.”

Edgar Renteria hit a two-run double three batters after Emmanuel Burriss broke up a scoreless game with a fifth-inning RBI single. The Giants, who had lost five of six and nine of 11, began a six-game homestand on a positive note follow-ing a frustrating 1-5 trip in which all the losses were by one run.

This outing certainly was a boost for Sanchez (2-4), who went 0-3 over a six-start winless stretch since his last victory April 17. But he nearly saw this one get away after running into trouble in the sixth.

Ishikawa’s homer in the seventh was his first this season and fourth of his career. He scored on Burriss’ single in the

fifth off Javier Vazquez (4-4), whose wild pitch allowed Ishikawa to reach third after he stole second.

“Javy was going great. He didn’t get hit very hard, really,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said.

Both Ishikawa and Fred Lewis beat throws home from the outfield in the sixth, Lewis making it on a close slide on Juan Uribe’s shallow sacrifice to center.

Sanchez allowed only one baserunner past first before Kelly Johnson’s leadoff triple in the sixth, then loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. Brian McCann singled in Atlanta’s first run to chase San-chez with just the fourth hit by the Braves.

Justin Miller relieved and struck out Jeff Francoeur before Casey Kotchman’s bases-loaded walk made it 3-2. Miller then got Diory Hernandez to ground into a fielder’s choice, with the Giants cutting

down the runner at home, and struck out Jordan Schafer to end the inning.

“We had them and we didn’t deliver,” Cox said.

Sanchez hasn’t gone longer than 6 2-3 innings this season, and he did that in his other win. He got off to a fast start against the Braves, striking out the side in order in the first on 13 pitches. He finished with six Ks and three walks in five-plus innings. Sanchez tired after scoring from first in the fifth.

“That run got me a little bit,” he said. “I was pumped up (from the start). I had everything going on.”

The Braves completed a home inter-league sweep of the Blue Jays before mak-ing the cross-country flight for Monday afternoon’s game. Atlanta had its three-game winning streak snapped and lost for only the second time in its last seven.


DINO VOURNAS / AP

San Francisco’s Travis Ishikawa, right, not only had three runs, three RBIs and four hits, he also stole a base.



NATIONAL LEAGUEPadres 9, Diamondbacks 7, 10 innings

San Diego AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Eckstein 2b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .225Hairston cf 5 1 3 1 0 0 .333Ad.Gonzalez 1b 4 2 1 1 1 0 .281Kouzmanoff 3b 4 1 1 1 1 1 .236Mujica p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000Jo.Wilson ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167Hundley c 0 0 0 0 2 0 .250Blanco c 3 2 2 1 0 1 .176Headley lf 5 1 2 2 0 0 .234Macias rf 5 0 1 3 0 1 .294C.Burke ss-3b 5 0 0 0 0 2 .224Gaudin p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000Thatcher p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Meredith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---a-Gwynn ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .111G.Burke p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Giles ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .175E.Gonzalez 3b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .190Bell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 41 9 13 9 4 7Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.G.Parra lf-cf 4 1 1 2 0 1 .277Ojeda 2b 3 1 0 1 1 1 .256J.Upton rf 4 1 2 1 1 1 .325S.Drew ss 2 0 0 1 2 0 .190Reynolds 3b 4 0 1 0 1 2 .264Tracy 1b 4 1 0 0 1 2 .189C.Young cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .177Rauch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Zavada p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Qualls p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000T.Pena p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000c-Montero ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .227Snyder c 4 1 1 1 1 2 .233D.Davis p 3 1 1 0 0 1 .211Byrnes lf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .208Totals 35 7 7 6 7 11

San Diego 000 100 051 2 —9 13 1Arizona 005 002 000 0 —7 7 1a-popped out for Meredith in the 8th. b-doubled for G.Burke in the 9th. c-struck out for T.Pena in the 10th. E: Macias (1), S.Drew (4). LOB: San Diego 6, Arizona 8. 2B: Hairston (10), Macias (4), Giles (7), J.Upton (11), C.Young (10). 3B: D.Davis (1). HR: Ad.Gonzalez (17), off D.Davis; Headley (4), off T.Pena; Snyder (5), off Gaudin. RBIs: Hairston (20), Ad.Gonzalez (31), Kouzmanoff (17), Blanco (5), Headley 2 (17), Macias 3 (5), G.Parra 2 (10), Ojeda (4), J.Upton (27), S.Drew (13), Snyder (17). CS: Hairston (1), E.Gonzalez (2). SF: S.Drew. Runners left in scoring position: San Diego 2 (Macias, C.Burke); Arizona 4 (C.Young, S.Drew 2, Tracy). DP: San Diego 1 (Ad.Gonzalez); Arizona 1 (Reynolds, Ojeda, Tracy).

San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAGaudin 5 1⁄3 5 7 7 5 6 97 5.40Thatcher 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 16 0.00Meredith 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 3.60G.Burke 1 0 0 0 0 1 11 0.00Mujica W, 2-1 1 1 0 0 1 3 25 2.70Bell S, 13-13 1 0 0 0 0 1 11 0.47Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAD.Davis 7 1⁄3 5 4 2 4 6 115 3.77Rauch 0 2 2 2 0 0 9 7.23Zavada H, 2 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 12 0.00Qualls BS, 2-13 1 2 1 1 0 0 13 3.60T.Pena L, 4-2 1 3 2 2 0 1 24 2.01Rauch pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Thatcher 3-2, Rauch 3-2, Zavada 3-3. IBB: off Gaudin (Snyder), off Mujica (S.Drew), off Thatcher (J.Upton). HBP: by Gaudin (Ojeda), by Thatcher (G.Parra). WP: Gaudin, D.Davis. Balk: Gaudin. Umpires: Home, Eric Cooper; First, Mike Reilly; Second, Chuck Meriwether; Third, Laz Diaz. T: 3:31. A: 30,546 (48,652).

San Diego 9,Arizona 7, 10 innings

Pittsburgh 10, Chicago Cubs 8

Padres rally to pick up 10th straight

Sanchez plays, six-smacks Cubs

PHOENIX—The San Diego Padres were down by six runs with two innings to play. Their manager had been tossed. So had their starting catcher. Those old road woes seemed to be back.

Then came one big hit after another, capped by Chase Head-ley’s two-run homer in the 10th, and the Padres won their 10th straight game, beating Arizona 9-7 on Monday.

“It’s not unlike the first couple of weeks of the season,” manager Bud Black said. “We came back from 7-1 in Philadelphia ... We’ve done it before. It’s something we as coaches always remember, to remind our guys that we can do it. If you do it once, you can do it again.”

San Diego, which snapped an 11-game road losing streak, trailed 7-1 before scoring five in the eighth, one in the ninth and two in the 10th.

“It’s been a lot of fun to come to the ballpark these last 10 days,” Headley said. “We come here and we expect to win. It’s not that we come in here and hope to win, we expect to win. We just couldn’t give up today.”

Black and Padres catcher Nick Hundley weren’t around to watch the impressive finish. They were thrown out by home plate umpire Eric Cooper in the bottom of the sixth.


CHICAGO—Freddy Sanchez almost was given the night off. Unfortunately for the reeling Chicago Cubs, he played.

Sanchez had Pittsburgh’s first six-hit game in 19 years, scored four runs and drove in three Monday, leading the Pirates to a 10-8 victory and sending Chicago to its eighth straight loss.

“At the last minute when I was making out the lineup, I decided to put him in,” Pirates manager John Russell said. “I guess it was smart of me.”

And painful for the Cubs. Despite scor-ing three more runs than they did on the entire winless six-game road trip that ended Sunday, they fell to 21-22 and were booed repeatedly by their fans.

The last time the Cubs dropped eight straight was 2006, when they went on to finish 66-96, costing manager Dusty Baker and team president Andy MacPhail their jobs.

“It’s good to see the team swinging the bats and I hope that continues,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “We’ve just got to start winning a few games, that’s it.”

Sanchez hit a two-run homer, doubled and singled four times for the second six-hit game in the majors this season and the first by a Pirate since Wally Backman did it in 1990. Ian Kinsler had a six-hit effort for Texas on April 15 against Baltimore.

“Six hits ... that’s good for a series worth,” said Nate McLouth, who hit the go-ahead homer—with Sanchez on base—in the sixth inning.

Sanchez has snapped out of a 5-for-36 slump by getting nine hits in his last 15 at-bats.

“I was striking out too much before,” he said. “I shortened my swing and put the ball in play. It’s tough to get hits in this game. I just want to keep it going.”


Pirates 10, Cubs 8

Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Morgan lf 5 2 1 0 1 2 .287F.Sanchez 2b 6 4 6 3 0 0 .320McLouth cf 4 1 1 2 1 1 .269Ad.LaRoche 1b 5 1 2 2 1 0 .227Moss rf 5 0 1 1 1 1 .264An.LaRoche 3b 5 0 3 1 0 0 .298Jaramillo c 5 1 3 0 0 1 .288Ja.Wilson ss 5 1 1 1 0 0 .257Maholm p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .105b-Monroe ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .259Gorzelanny p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000Meek p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---J.Chavez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Delw.Young ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .319Grabow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Capps p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---S.Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 43 10 18 10 5 5Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.A.Soriano lf 3 2 0 0 2 1 .253Theriot ss 5 2 3 2 0 0 .273Bradley rf 5 2 2 4 0 0 .198Re.Johnson cf 4 1 1 0 1 0 .238Soto c 3 0 2 1 2 0 .214Hoffpauir 1b 4 0 0 0 1 1 .267Freel 3b 3 0 1 1 1 0 .143Miles 2b 5 1 1 0 0 2 .204Dempster p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .091a-Scales ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .257Ascanio p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000Cotts p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Heilman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Zambrano ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .238Patton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 36 8 10 8 7 6

Pittsburgh 102 303 100 — 10 18 0Chicago 103 300 100 — 8 10 1a-flied out for Dempster in the 4th. b-flied out for Maholm in the 5th. c-struck out for Heilman in the 7th. d-walked for J.Chavez in the 8th. E: Dempster (2). LOB: Pittsburgh 13, Chicago 9. 2B: F.Sanchez (17), Ad.LaRoche (14), An.LaRoche (11), Jaramillo (8), Theriot 3 (11), Bradley (3). 3B: Morgan (4). HR: F.Sanchez (4), off Dempster; McLouth (8), off Cotts; Bradley (5), off Maholm. RBIs: F.Sanchez 3 (16), McLouth 2 (31), Ad.LaRoche 2 (22), Moss (11), An.LaRoche (21), Ja.Wilson (16), Theriot 2 (20), Bradley 4 (13), Soto (11), Freel (2). SB: F.Sanchez (4). S: Maholm, Freel. Runners left in scoring position: Pittsburgh 8 (An.LaRoche, Monroe 2, Jaramillo, Moss 3, Morgan); Chicago 5 (Hoffpauir, Freel, Ascanio, Zambrano, Miles). DP: Pittsburgh 1 (F.Sanchez, Ja.Wilson, Ad.LaRoche); Chicago 2 (Freel, Miles, Hoffpauir), (Dempster, Soto, Hoffpauir).

Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMaholm 4 7 7 7 3 2 93 4.11Gorzelanny W, 2-1 2 0 1 1 2 2 27 5.40Meek H, 3 2⁄3 2 0 0 1 0 12 2.87J.Chavez H, 4 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 6 1.83Grabow H, 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 4.71Capps H, 1 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 10 6.46S.Burnett S, 1-2 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 15 3.00Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADempster 4 7 6 6 3 3 94 4.99Ascanio 1 3 0 0 0 0 21 4.05Cotts L, 0-2 BS, 1-1 1 4 3 3 0 1 25 7.36Heilman 1 2 1 1 1 0 28 5.49Patton 2 2 0 0 1 1 35 6.91Gorzelanny pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. Inherited runners-scored: Meek 1-1, J.Chavez 2-0, S.Burnett 1-0. HBP: by Dempster (McLouth). WP: Maholm, Dempster. Umpires: Home, Bob Davidson; First, Jeff Nelson; Second, Mark Carlson; Third, Tim Tschida.

PAUL BEATY / AP

Pittsburgh SS Jack Wilson (2) cleared Chicago’s Geovany Soto at second base and converted a double play.



ARIZONADIAMONDBACKS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Upton .325 .398 151 30 49 11 3 9 27 18 44 4 1 1

Roberts .324 .395 37 4 12 3 0 0 3 4 12 2 0 0

Lopez .323 .380 167 21 54 15 0 4 10 15 28 4 1 5

Parra .277 .346 47 9 13 0 2 1 10 4 6 0 2 1

Reynolds .264 .361 159 27 42 6 1 12 25 23 58 10 2 7

Ojeda .256 .350 86 11 22 4 0 1 4 11 8 1 1 3

Snyder .233 .381 90 13 21 4 0 5 17 21 24 0 0 0

Montero .227 .338 66 5 15 5 0 2 6 9 16 0 0 4

Byrnes .208 .257 125 14 26 10 0 4 16 8 15 6 2 3

Drew .190 .280 84 8 16 4 1 2 13 12 18 0 1 4

Tracy .189 .252 111 13 21 8 0 3 13 10 13 1 0 0

Jackson .182 .264 99 8 18 4 0 1 14 11 16 5 0 2

Clark .179 .258 28 3 5 1 0 2 5 3 15 0 0 1

Young .177 .219 147 16 26 10 1 3 9 7 43 4 2 0

Team Totals .235 .312 1533 189 360 90 9 49 179 166 359 37 12 38

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Zavada 1 0 0.00 3 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 2

Pena 4 2 2.01 23 0 0 22.1 23 7 5 1 6 18

Haren 3 4 2.57 9 9 0 63.0 48 18 18 8 9 63

Gutierrez 1 2 3.28 21 0 0 24.2 22 9 9 1 10 28

Scherzer 1 3 3.50 8 8 0 43.2 39 18 17 5 19 43

Rosales 0 0 3.52 6 0 0 7.2 7 3 3 0 2 5

Qualls 1 0 3.60 18 0 11 20.0 22 8 8 1 4 22

Davis 2 6 3.77 10 10 0 62.0 54 29 26 10 25 45

Garland 4 3 4.70 9 9 0 53.2 62 30 28 7 21 20

Vasquez 1 1 5.65 12 0 0 14.1 16 10 9 1 9 11

Buckner 1 0 6.35 4 1 0 11.1 12 8 8 3 6 6

Slaten 0 0 6.75 9 0 0 5.1 8 4 4 1 1 4

Rauch 0 0 7.23 22 0 2 18.2 26 17 15 3 10 13

Petit 0 3 8.03 6 5 0 24.2 33 24 22 8 10 19

Webb 0 0 13.50 1 1 0 4.0 6 6 6 2 2 2

Gordon 0 1 21.60 3 0 0 1.2 3 4 4 0 3 0

Team Totals 19 26 4.46 45 45 13 408.0 419 218 202 54 150 314

ATLANTABRAVES


Infante .349 .389 86 13 30 4 0 1 11 6 7 1 0 2

McCann .326 .417 92 13 30 5 0 5 18 13 10 2 1 2

C. Jones .319 .444 116 22 37 6 1 4 16 26 17 1 1 6

Diaz .299 .382 77 13 23 4 2 2 15 10 20 1 0 1

Escobar .293 .367 150 23 44 10 0 4 21 14 17 1 1 4

Kotchman .278 .341 151 13 42 16 0 2 22 13 16 0 0 0

Ross .263 .382 57 9 15 4 0 3 11 11 22 0 0 0

Francoeur .259 .282 170 23 44 5 2 3 21 5 24 1 1 0

Anderson .256 .284 86 7 22 5 0 0 9 5 9 0 0 2

Prado .254 .329 63 7 16 8 0 2 7 7 6 0 1 1

Johnson .250 .320 136 21 34 6 2 5 15 12 20 2 2 2

Schafer .205 .324 146 15 30 8 0 2 8 26 55 1 1 0

Hernandez .167 .231 12 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1

Norton .111 .294 27 2 3 1 0 0 3 7 7 0 0 0

Team Totals .264 .342 1472 194 389 84 7 33 182 167 266 10 8 25


Acosta 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1

Soriano 0 0 1.37 20 0 4 19.2 10 3 3 1 7 26

Jurrjens 4 2 2.07 10 10 0 61.0 50 15 14 3 22 35

Bennett 2 1 2.25 20 0 0 20.0 25 6 5 0 12 16

O'Flaherty 0 0 2.25 21 0 0 16.0 10 5 4 0 1 11

Lowe 6 2 3.45 10 10 0 62.2 52 24 24 2 22 39

Gonzalez 2 0 3.79 22 0 7 19.0 17 9 8 2 8 25

Vazquez 4 4 3.80 10 10 0 64.0 58 29 27 6 15 78

Kawakami 3 5 4.73 8 8 0 45.2 45 27 24 5 19 42

Moylan 1 2 5.17 23 0 0 15.2 12 10 9 0 13 14

Campillo 1 0 5.40 4 0 0 3.1 6 3 2 0 3 3

Reyes 0 2 7.00 6 5 0 27.0 27 25 21 4 13 21

Carlyle 0 1 8.84 14 0 0 19.1 31 21 19 4 11 12

Medlen 0 1 15.00 1 1 0 3.0 3 5 5 0 5 3

Team Totals 23 21 4.13 44 44 11 392.2 367 197 180 28 159 340

CHICAGO CUBS


Ramirez .364 .417 66 8 24 3 0 4 16 5 8 0 0 1

Fukudome .308 .438 130 24 40 9 1 4 18 29 27 4 4 0

Hill .300 .391 40 5 12 2 0 1 6 5 11 0 0 0

Theriot .273 .335 165 24 45 11 2 5 20 15 26 7 2 4

Hoffpauir .267 .326 86 9 23 5 0 4 14 8 20 0 0 1

Scales .257 .381 35 8 9 2 1 1 5 6 10 0 0 1

Soriano .253 .318 174 35 44 9 0 12 25 15 45 4 2 3

Lee .248 .314 125 16 31 6 0 5 19 13 27 0 0 0

Johnson .238 .319 63 10 15 1 1 1 8 5 11 0 0 0

Soto .214 .331 112 8 24 4 0 1 11 18 26 0 0 1

Fontenot .208 .299 125 12 26 5 0 5 17 16 27 2 1 3

Miles .204 .250 98 13 20 6 0 0 4 6 16 3 0 1

Bradley .198 .314 101 15 20 3 0 5 13 14 23 0 0 0

Freel .154 .214 13 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1

Team Totals .244 .325 1444 195 352 69 5 49 184 161 326 21 11 26


Wells 0 1 1.50 3 3 0 18.0 14 3 3 0 6 16

Guzman 1 0 3.15 17 0 0 20.0 12 7 7 2 6 20

Marmol 0 1 3.60 22 0 3 20.0 12 9 8 1 18 23

Lilly 5 4 3.77 9 9 0 57.1 49 25 24 10 14 47

Marshall 2 3 3.96 9 6 0 36.1 36 17 16 6 11 23

Ascanio 0 0 4.05 4 0 0 6.2 7 3 3 1 0 8

Zambrano 3 2 4.64 7 7 0 42.2 43 23 22 4 18 40

Harden 4 2 4.74 8 8 0 43.2 39 24 23 8 21 53

Dempster 3 3 4.99 10 10 0 61.1 57 35 34 8 26 52

Gregg 0 1 5.40 20 0 6 18.1 21 11 11 4 10 21

Heilman 2 2 5.49 21 0 0 19.2 19 13 12 3 15 17

Patton 1 1 6.91 10 0 0 14.1 15 12 11 2 10 12

Cotts 0 2 7.36 19 0 0 11.0 14 9 9 3 9 9

Fox 0 0 135.00 2 0 0 0.1 2 5 5 0 3 0

Team Totals 21 22 4.56 43 43 9 376.2 349 199 191 52 169 349

CINCINNATIREDS


Gomes .429 .467 14 1 6 1 0 0 3 1 2 1 0 0

Votto .368 .479 117 21 43 10 0 7 31 23 22 2 1 3

Hanigan .309 .381 55 7 17 1 0 1 3 7 2 0 0 1

Janish .300 .378 40 5 12 3 0 0 3 3 7 0 0 1

Hernandez .295 .363 139 11 41 7 0 2 16 15 16 0 0 3

Nix .276 .325 76 13 21 10 1 3 9 6 24 0 0 0

Phillips .275 .337 149 20 41 7 2 7 34 16 16 4 3 3

Taveras .274 .335 164 32 45 7 1 1 8 14 25 12 2 1

Rosales .269 .356 78 12 21 4 0 2 9 9 15 0 2 2

Hairston Jr. .260 .313 123 27 32 8 1 5 12 8 19 4 0 3

Bruce .228 .307 158 25 36 5 0 12 25 16 36 3 1 1

Dickerson .228 .374 79 10 18 2 1 2 7 18 26 1 2 3

Gonzalez .215 .254 107 5 23 5 0 2 16 5 18 0 0 2

Encarnacion .127 .286 63 2 8 1 0 1 6 13 19 1 1 3

Team Totals .257 .332 1502 201 386 74 8 46 191 159 294 28 12 33


Fisher 1 0 0.00 2 0 0 3.0 1 0 0 0 3 1

Rhodes 0 0 0.56 20 0 0 16.0 9 1 1 0 6 12

Masset 1 0 1.23 11 0 0 14.2 5 2 2 0 8 12

Cordero 0 2 1.80 20 0 12 20.0 16 5 4 0 7 21

Herrera 0 1 2.12 19 0 0 17.0 18 7 4 1 8 15

Cueto 4 2 2.37 9 9 0 60.2 47 17 16 5 16 47

Weathers 0 1 2.87 18 0 0 15.2 12 5 5 1 10 11

Harang 5 4 3.36 10 10 0 64.1 69 27 24 7 15 56

Volquez 4 2 4.25 8 8 0 48.2 32 24 23 6 31 45

Owings 3 5 4.70 8 7 0 44.0 45 27 23 6 20 27

Arroyo 6 3 5.79 9 9 0 56.0 62 36 36 12 21 29

Burton 0 0 6.10 19 0 0 20.2 25 14 14 1 12 16

Lincoln 0 0 9.19 14 0 0 15.2 21 16 16 4 12 6

Team Totals 24 20 4.03 44 44 12 404.0 371 194 181 46 176 306

NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSNATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES




COLORADOROCKIES


Phillips 1.000 1.000 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Helton .338 .387 151 25 51 9 1 6 31 14 21 0 0 1

Hawpe .336 .412 131 23 44 13 2 6 36 18 23 0 1 2

Murton .276 .323 29 6 8 4 0 1 4 2 5 1 0 0

Fowler .272 .353 136 21 37 10 2 2 10 18 34 11 3 1

Spilborghs .266 .338 143 21 38 12 1 3 20 14 33 6 2 2

Smith .263 .410 80 14 21 3 1 4 10 20 14 2 0 0

Barmes .238 .306 122 23 29 8 1 4 17 10 27 3 2 3

Tulowitzki .236 .331 140 20 33 6 2 5 15 21 30 4 3 2

Iannetta .231 .350 104 15 24 5 0 8 18 18 27 0 1 1

Torrealba .213 .283 47 7 10 1 0 2 5 4 11 0 0 0

Quintanilla .211 .318 19 4 4 1 0 0 0 3 10 0 0 0

Atkins .190 .273 147 16 28 6 0 3 15 16 23 0 0 5

Stewart .189 .281 106 16 20 4 0 7 20 12 34 2 1 3

Baker .130 .167 23 0 3 0 1 0 3 1 7 1 0 1

Team Totals .251 .332 1461 218 366 84 11 51 211 174 326 30 13 28


Flores 0 0 0.00 4 0 0 3.2 3 0 0 0 0 5

Fogg 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Morales 1 0 3.38 2 2 0 8.0 7 3 3 3 1 9

Street 0 1 3.44 20 0 7 18.1 16 7 7 3 5 21

Hammel 1 3 4.10 9 6 0 37.1 51 24 17 4 12 24

Daley 0 1 4.15 9 0 0 8.2 5 4 4 0 4 7

Jimenez 3 5 4.25 9 9 0 53.0 51 25 25 2 24 48

Marquis 6 3 4.45 9 9 0 60.2 59 33 30 6 19 27

Cook 3 1 4.68 9 9 0 50.0 51 27 26 7 21 24

Speier 0 0 4.76 5 0 0 5.2 6 3 3 0 3 2

Peralta 0 0 4.91 2 0 0 3.2 6 2 2 0 0 4

De La Rosa 0 5 5.26 9 9 0 49.2 46 32 29 3 23 52

Grilli 0 1 5.65 19 0 1 14.1 18 9 9 1 9 18

Corpas 0 3 5.82 22 0 1 21.2 30 14 14 1 4 12

Embree 1 2 7.50 19 0 0 12.0 16 12 10 2 5 6

Team Totals 18 26 4.86 44 44 9 383.2 425 228 207 39 137 284

FLORIDAMARLINS


Hayes .500 .500 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Ramirez .317 .400 167 29 53 15 0 8 22 20 32 8 4 2

Baker .284 .371 116 26 33 8 0 6 19 15 27 0 0 3

Gload .279 .375 61 12 17 1 1 1 7 10 7 0 0 1

Cantu .277 .343 155 21 43 8 0 8 35 13 25 1 0 4

Hermida .275 .383 160 19 44 5 1 4 17 27 42 4 1 1

Bonifacio .258 .296 190 25 49 3 2 1 11 11 43 9 4 7

Helms .246 .302 57 5 14 2 0 1 10 4 16 0 0 2

Ross .239 .291 159 21 38 11 0 6 26 10 37 1 1 2

Paulino .233 .343 60 6 14 2 1 1 6 10 15 1 0 1

Amezaga .217 .267 69 6 15 3 0 0 5 5 16 1 1 0

Coghlan .212 .300 52 4 11 0 0 1 5 7 12 1 0 2

Uggla .200 .321 155 18 31 7 1 8 30 26 39 1 0 5

Team Totals .246 .323 1597 212 393 70 7 46 203 172 389 28 12 37


Sanches 1 0 0.00 4 0 0 6.0 2 0 0 0 1 4

Calero 1 0 2.42 27 0 0 22.1 12 6 6 0 12 28

Pinto 2 0 2.53 24 0 0 21.1 22 7 6 2 12 20

Johnson 3 1 2.67 10 10 0 67.1 58 22 20 4 16 59

Meyer 0 0 2.75 22 0 0 19.2 14 7 6 3 6 23

Nunez 2 2 3.47 23 0 0 23.1 15 9 9 3 12 19

West 0 0 3.60 1 1 0 5.0 4 2 2 0 4 5

Volstad 4 3 3.69 10 10 0 61.0 50 29 25 11 19 51

Miller 1 1 4.94 6 4 0 23.2 22 13 13 1 14 16

Badenhop 2 2 5.75 11 0 0 20.1 25 13 13 2 8 19

Sanchez 1 4 5.79 6 6 0 32.2 43 21 21 6 15 25

Lindstrom 1 1 6.16 21 0 9 19.0 17 14 13 2 15 19

Penn 1 0 6.97 14 1 0 20.2 27 21 16 2 16 26

Cr. Martinez 0 1 9.00 1 0 0 2.0 3 2 2 1 1 4

Team Totals 21 25 4.90 46 46 9 419.0 429 251 228 51 196 376

HOUSTON ASTROS


Pence .358 .429 159 24 57 8 2 5 19 21 24 5 4 0

Tejada .341 .366 176 26 60 15 0 5 26 5 11 2 1 8

Lee .319 .363 166 21 53 10 1 8 29 12 14 1 1 1

Keppinger .313 .397 64 7 20 6 1 1 3 8 4 0 0 0

Bourn .288 .360 160 27 46 7 3 1 11 17 36 15 3 1

Blum .266 .333 124 12 33 5 0 1 15 12 16 0 1 1

I. Rodriguez .260 .305 131 15 34 6 2 5 19 8 32 0 2 0

Berkman .231 .363 147 23 34 6 0 10 27 30 33 0 2 3

Matsui .219 .288 146 18 32 6 1 1 12 13 28 6 3 2

Quintero .208 .208 24 0 5 1 0 0 3 0 7 0 0 2

Michaels .182 .308 33 1 6 4 0 0 2 5 11 1 1 0

Erstad .149 .212 47 4 7 1 1 0 3 4 15 0 0 0

Maysonet .000 .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Team Totals .268 .332 1499 188 401 75 11 38 177 138 263 30 18 22


W. Rodriguez 5 3 1.71 10 10 0 63.0 53 19 12 1 18 56

Sampson 2 0 1.93 21 0 2 28.0 23 8 6 1 9 12

Byrdak 0 0 2.81 18 0 0 16.0 12 5 5 3 6 11

Hawkins 1 2 2.89 20 0 5 18.2 18 6 6 2 7 18

Fulchino 0 1 4.08 12 0 0 17.2 13 8 8 2 4 14

Oswalt 1 2 4.47 10 10 0 56.1 61 28 28 10 15 42

Brocail 1 0 4.76 7 0 0 5.2 5 3 3 2 8 4

Arias 0 0 4.82 10 0 0 9.1 7 7 5 1 4 9

Ortiz 2 2 4.88 11 4 0 31.1 34 19 17 2 25 23

Hampton 2 4 5.63 9 9 0 48.0 54 33 30 7 21 33

Valverde 0 1 5.63 8 0 2 8.0 7 5 5 3 3 11

Paulino 1 3 6.90 8 5 0 30.0 43 25 23 4 16 22

Wright 1 1 7.24 19 0 0 13.2 23 11 11 3 6 15

Geary 1 3 8.10 16 0 0 20.0 30 19 18 4 10 12

Moehler 1 3 8.31 6 6 0 26.0 42 24 24 5 7 20

Team Totals 18 25 4.62 44 44 9 391.2 425 220 201 50 159 302

LOS ANGELESDODGERS


Mientkiewicz .400 .400 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0

Castro .387 .444 31 10 12 2 0 1 7 4 8 0 0 0

Pierre .385 .458 104 21 40 9 2 0 16 12 7 9 4 0

Ausmus .346 .393 26 4 9 1 0 0 3 2 6 1 0 0

Hudson .344 .412 189 35 65 16 2 3 29 24 31 4 0 2

Loretta .333 .462 42 9 14 2 0 0 7 9 6 0 0 0

Blake .306 .376 147 27 45 10 1 9 29 15 34 0 0 4

Hoffmann .300 .273 10 2 3 2 0 1 6 0 3 0 0 0

Kemp .298 .366 171 28 51 8 4 4 28 18 46 9 2 0

Loney .291 .359 175 21 51 9 0 2 32 20 14 3 1 1

Martin .270 .380 152 21 41 8 0 0 20 25 31 6 3 1

Ethier .256 .368 160 26 41 9 0 6 30 26 31 2 0 2

Furcal .238 .299 172 24 41 8 0 1 9 15 29 3 3 7

Paul .214 .313 14 3 3 1 0 1 1 2 4 0 1 0

Team Totals .290 .373 1606 261 466 98 9 34 248 208 308 37 14 20


Broxton 5 0 1.17 20 0 11 23.0 7 3 3 0 7 35

Kuroda 1 0 1.59 1 1 0 5.2 4 1 1 0 1 2

Troncoso 1 0 2.22 18 0 2 28.1 26 7 7 0 6 16

Belisario 1 2 2.28 24 0 0 27.2 20 9 7 2 14 25

Billingsley 6 2 2.82 10 10 0 67.0 50 23 21 1 30 69

Wolf 2 1 3.02 10 10 0 62.2 51 24 21 7 19 50

Weaver 2 1 3.63 7 3 0 22.1 23 9 9 1 10 14

Stults 4 1 4.29 8 8 0 42.0 40 20 20 2 23 27

Kershaw 2 3 4.32 9 9 0 50.0 36 24 24 4 28 51

Milton 0 0 4.50 1 1 0 4.0 2 2 2 0 4 3

Ohman 1 0 5.11 20 0 1 12.1 11 7 7 4 8 7

Wade 0 3 6.14 15 0 0 14.2 19 10 10 0 6 8

Kuo 1 0 6.75 7 0 0 5.1 5 4 4 1 4 4

Leach 1 0 7.20 9 0 0 5.0 6 4 4 0 2 6

Mota 2 1 7.50 18 0 0 18.0 24 15 15 2 12 9

Team Totals 31 15 3.79 46 46 14 413.0 351 181 174 29 191 341



MILWAUKEEBREWERS


Rivera .333 .320 24 0 8 2 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0

Braun .325 .439 157 31 51 9 1 8 31 25 31 3 3 1

Counsell .311 .382 90 15 28 6 0 1 7 10 11 0 1 3

Cameron .285 .382 151 22 43 12 0 9 22 25 33 2 0 0

Weeks .272 .340 147 28 40 5 2 9 24 12 39 2 2 6

Fielder .265 .412 155 23 41 7 1 10 42 37 48 0 0 1

McGehee .265 .325 34 5 9 2 0 0 3 4 6 0 0 0

Hart .242 .319 165 29 40 11 1 4 18 19 46 3 3 2

Hardy .234 .321 141 18 33 6 1 5 23 17 28 0 0 3

Hall .230 .297 126 14 29 8 0 4 11 12 39 1 0 3

Kendall .217 .305 129 15 28 5 1 0 15 13 14 0 1 4

Gamel .211 .318 19 1 4 2 0 1 5 2 6 0 0 1

Gerut .200 .333 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Catalanotto .000 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Team Totals .250 .341 1487 215 372 77 7 53 211 189 360 11 10 26


Hoffman 0 0 0.00 13 0 11 13.0 5 0 0 0 0 10

DiFelice 3 0 1.31 20 0 0 20.2 14 3 3 2 4 20

McClung 1 1 2.57 17 0 0 21.0 15 6 6 1 15 16

Coffey 1 0 2.95 19 0 2 21.1 22 7 7 1 4 14

Gallardo 4 2 3.32 9 9 0 59.2 42 22 22 6 22 56

Bush 3 1 3.92 10 9 0 59.2 51 28 26 11 15 42

Villanueva 2 3 3.97 22 0 3 22.2 16 11 10 1 9 23

Stetter 2 0 4.15 21 0 0 13.0 9 6 6 2 7 11

Looper 4 3 4.47 9 9 0 50.1 56 29 25 10 17 28

Suppan 3 3 4.71 9 9 0 49.2 53 28 26 9 23 25

Parra 3 5 5.79 9 9 0 46.2 51 33 30 5 29 40

Julio 1 0 6.06 13 0 0 16.1 12 12 11 2 13 11

Riske 0 0 18.00 1 0 0 1.0 4 2 2 0 0 0

Team Totals 27 18 4.01 45 45 16 397.2 355 191 177 51 160 300

NEW YORKMETS


Beltran .367 .460 169 31 62 15 1 6 31 28 26 7 1 2

Wright .348 .454 161 29 56 12 3 3 30 31 44 10 7 7

Cora .333 .435 51 9 17 4 1 0 4 10 5 3 1 1

Reed .304 .347 46 3 14 1 1 0 3 3 11 0 1 1

Delgado .298 .393 94 15 28 7 1 4 23 12 20 0 0 2

Castillo .282 .364 124 23 35 3 2 0 11 17 13 6 1 4

Reyes .279 .355 147 18 41 7 2 2 15 18 19 11 2 5

Sheffield .277 .417 83 21 23 4 1 4 14 19 15 1 1 1

Tatis .276 .329 76 14 21 4 1 2 9 4 6 2 1 0

Church .272 .328 125 9 34 7 0 1 8 10 18 2 1 1

Santos .269 .303 67 9 18 3 1 2 15 5 14 0 0 0

Pagan .261 .370 23 3 6 1 0 0 1 4 7 3 0 0

Castro .253 .325 75 5 19 4 0 3 13 8 14 0 0 2

Murphy .246 .322 126 20 31 4 1 3 12 15 13 1 1 3

Schneider .143 .250 21 3 3 1 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 0

Martinez .077 .074 26 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 6 1 0 4

Team Totals .284 .365 1491 213 423 77 15 30 199 191 250 47 17 35


Rodriguez 1 0 0.83 21 0 13 21.2 12 4 2 1 10 21

Santana 6 2 1.50 9 9 0 60.0 49 17 10 4 14 75

Parnell 2 0 2.29 22 0 0 19.2 22 7 5 0 9 16

Feliciano 1 1 2.45 24 0 0 18.1 15 9 5 3 3 18

Stokes 1 2 2.89 17 0 0 18.2 20 8 6 1 5 8

Putz 1 3 3.55 24 0 2 25.1 20 10 10 1 15 18

Takahashi 0 1 3.86 8 0 0 9.1 9 4 4 1 3 6

Maine 4 3 4.18 9 9 0 51.2 42 26 24 4 30 36

Pelfrey 4 1 4.31 8 8 0 48.0 52 23 23 4 18 17

Hernandez 3 1 4.93 8 8 0 45.2 54 25 25 6 13 25

Redding 0 1 6.75 2 2 0 10.2 10 8 8 1 8 8

Green 0 2 7.36 20 0 0 18.1 24 15 15 3 11 16

Perez 1 2 9.97 5 5 0 21.2 28 24 24 3 21 20

Team Totals 24 20 3.94 44 44 15 392.2 385 193 172 33 169 302

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES


Ibanez .345 .408 168 38 58 11 1 17 43 17 26 4 0 1

Feliz .303 .373 142 19 43 11 0 2 23 17 18 0 0 2

Utley .291 .429 141 31 41 6 0 11 31 25 28 3 0 5

Ruiz .284 .400 67 3 19 6 0 1 8 13 9 1 1 1

Stairs .276 .462 29 6 8 1 0 2 7 8 8 0 0 0

Victorino .270 .317 185 30 50 9 4 4 24 13 19 6 3 0

Howard .262 .337 172 30 45 11 1 12 33 18 52 2 0 0

Werth .255 .350 153 32 39 8 1 8 26 20 39 8 1 0

Mayberry .250 .250 8 1 2 1 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0

Rollins .234 .279 184 27 43 10 1 3 17 11 25 6 4 2

Coste .230 .319 61 5 14 7 0 1 6 7 14 0 0 0

Dobbs .139 .244 36 3 5 0 0 1 4 5 8 0 0 0

Bruntlett .118 .179 34 5 4 4 0 0 4 3 9 0 0 1

Team Totals .260 .343 1481 242 385 87 8 64 232 170 286 30 9 13


Condrey 4 0 2.19 23 0 1 24.2 18 6 6 3 9 16

Happ 2 0 2.60 13 1 0 27.2 18 8 8 2 9 21

Madson 2 1 2.95 21 0 1 21.1 18 7 7 0 6 23

Eyre 0 1 3.48 18 0 0 10.1 6 5 4 2 8 7

Taschner 1 1 3.66 14 0 0 19.2 18 8 8 2 14 10

Durbin 1 1 4.32 23 0 0 25.0 18 12 12 3 13 22

Myers 4 2 4.34 9 9 0 58.0 59 28 28 15 19 43

Hamels 2 2 4.68 8 8 0 42.1 50 23 22 9 9 43

Park 1 1 6.57 10 7 0 38.1 45 28 28 5 20 27

Blanton 2 3 7.11 8 8 0 44.1 57 35 35 9 17 37

Moyer 3 5 7.42 9 9 0 47.1 68 39 39 13 16 26

Lidge 0 2 9.15 21 0 8 19.2 29 20 20 6 12 21

Team Totals 24 19 5.19 43 43 10 385.1 413 224 222 69 155 302

PITTSBURGHPIRATES


Diaz .321 .357 53 5 17 3 0 1 5 1 3 0 1 1

Sanchez .320 .354 181 30 58 17 2 4 16 8 34 4 1 1

Young .319 .396 47 6 15 3 0 0 8 6 13 1 0 0

An. LaRoche .298 .365 141 15 42 11 0 2 21 12 26 2 0 5

Jaramillo .288 .390 66 6 19 8 0 0 5 11 8 1 0 1

Morgan .287 .366 167 26 48 5 4 0 17 19 31 10 5 0

McLouth .269 .371 145 24 39 6 0 8 31 20 21 6 0 0

Moss .264 .312 129 20 34 8 2 1 11 8 22 0 0 0

Monroe .259 .306 58 6 15 2 0 3 14 4 15 0 0 0

Wilson .257 .290 101 10 26 7 1 1 16 5 10 1 1 5

Hinske .254 .342 67 10 17 6 0 1 7 6 17 0 0 0

Doumit .244 .271 45 5 11 4 0 2 9 2 10 0 0 1

Ad. LaRoche .227 .315 163 26 37 14 1 7 22 21 43 0 0 1

Vazquez .190 .325 63 8 12 1 0 0 6 12 17 0 0 1

Team Totals .264 .333 1536 202 406 100 10 31 194 142 322 25 8 19


Chavez 0 1 1.83 22 0 0 19.2 15 4 4 1 7 17

Duke 5 4 2.77 9 9 0 65.0 55 22 20 4 15 39

Meek 0 0 2.87 13 0 0 15.2 12 5 5 0 14 10

Burnett 1 1 3.00 22 0 1 21.0 13 8 7 2 12 16

Maholm 3 1 4.11 10 10 0 61.1 61 29 28 3 21 34

Veal 0 0 4.15 4 0 0 4.1 2 2 2 1 9 4

Ohlendorf 5 4 4.20 9 9 0 55.2 49 27 26 9 14 27

Grabow 3 0 4.71 22 0 0 21.0 26 12 11 1 11 17

Snell 1 5 4.88 9 9 0 48.0 46 28 26 6 26 36

Karstens 1 2 5.19 8 8 0 43.1 44 26 25 8 16 18

Gorzelanny 2 1 5.40 4 0 0 5.0 4 3 3 0 2 5

Hansen 0 0 5.68 5 0 0 6.1 6 4 4 1 4 5

Capps 0 3 6.46 17 0 9 15.1 22 11 11 2 8 12

Yates 0 2 7.50 15 0 0 12.0 14 12 10 2 7 9

Team Totals 21 24 4.16 45 45 10 393.2 369 193 182 40 166 249




ST. LOUIS CARDINALS


Pujols .322 .451 152 38 49 8 0 14 38 35 13 7 1 5

Schumaker .299 .342 147 21 44 8 1 3 13 10 16 1 1 2

LaRue .280 .333 25 5 7 1 0 1 1 1 7 0 0 0

Molina .275 .348 138 14 38 4 1 3 17 15 12 2 1 0

Ludwick .274 .339 106 16 29 4 0 8 26 9 20 2 0 1

Barden .259 .315 81 12 21 3 0 4 8 5 14 0 0 3

Duncan .250 .344 140 15 35 12 2 3 24 21 32 0 1 3

Ankiel .247 .323 85 12 21 7 0 2 11 7 21 0 0 0

Ryan .241 .308 58 9 14 4 1 0 3 5 10 3 0 1

Rasmus .227 .304 132 20 30 7 0 4 17 12 27 1 0 2

Thurston .224 .336 107 14 24 8 2 1 14 18 21 2 1 4

K. Greene .208 .284 101 13 21 4 0 2 14 10 15 2 1 6

Stavinoha .207 .207 29 0 6 1 0 0 5 0 3 1 0 0

Team Totals .253 .329 1479 206 374 79 7 47 201 154 260 25 6 29


Carpenter 2 0 0.00 4 4 0 23.0 10 1 0 0 4 23

Franklin 1 0 1.53 18 0 11 17.2 10 3 3 2 4 15

McClellan 2 2 1.96 21 0 1 23.0 13 7 5 2 12 18

Perez 1 1 2.77 16 0 1 13.0 8 4 4 1 12 17

Miller 1 0 3.18 16 0 0 11.1 11 5 4 2 3 12

Wainwright 4 2 3.41 9 9 0 58.0 51 25 22 6 24 47

Motte 1 1 3.50 21 0 0 18.0 15 7 7 0 7 15

Pineiro 5 4 3.52 9 9 0 61.1 67 28 24 2 7 22

Reyes 0 1 3.55 21 0 1 12.2 10 5 5 2 5 14

Lohse 4 3 3.98 9 9 0 54.1 49 26 24 5 16 38

Thompson 0 1 4.30 9 0 0 14.2 16 7 7 1 2 6

Wellemeyer 4 4 5.19 9 9 0 52.0 63 31 30 4 24 30

Boyer 0 0 7.04 11 0 0 7.2 7 7 6 1 3 7

Team Totals 26 19 3.67 45 45 14 402.0 375 181 164 34 144 295

SAN DIEGOPADRES


Hairston .333 .393 123 13 41 10 1 5 20 11 25 5 1 0

Cabrera .308 .357 13 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0

Macias .294 .429 17 3 5 4 0 1 5 4 3 0 0 1

A. Gonzalez .281 .381 167 33 47 4 0 17 31 26 40 1 0 2

Rodriguez .256 .396 78 11 20 4 0 1 7 20 9 0 0 2

Hundley .250 .357 108 9 27 5 2 3 10 18 29 1 1 2

Kouzmanoff .236 .288 165 13 39 7 1 4 17 8 38 1 0 0

Headley .234 .306 145 14 34 7 1 4 17 14 41 6 1 1

Eckstein .225 .302 151 15 34 10 1 0 13 13 13 1 0 0

C. Burke .224 .297 58 5 13 5 0 0 3 5 12 3 1 5

E. Gonzalez .190 .273 58 9 11 2 2 3 7 5 11 0 2 2

Blanco .176 .263 51 8 9 1 0 3 5 6 13 0 0 0

Giles .175 .273 154 11 27 7 0 2 19 21 19 1 0 0

Gwynn .111 .273 9 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0

Wilson .000 .091 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1

Team Totals .234 .314 1495 175 350 75 8 47 171 165 309 21 6 19


G. Burke 0 0 0.00 6 0 0 5.1 1 0 0 0 0 4

Thatcher 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 1

Bell 2 0 0.47 19 0 13 19.1 11 1 1 0 6 24

Mujica 2 1 2.70 20 0 1 23.1 19 9 7 2 6 26

Peavy 4 5 3.48 10 10 0 67.1 51 27 26 7 23 79

Meredith 4 0 3.60 17 0 0 15.0 21 8 6 1 5 12

Gregerson 0 3 3.76 23 0 0 26.1 23 11 11 1 12 28

Correia 1 2 4.53 8 8 0 43.2 42 22 22 4 21 31

Perdomo 1 0 4.70 11 0 0 15.1 13 10 8 2 7 7

Young 4 2 4.76 10 10 0 56.2 53 31 30 6 25 44

Geer 1 1 4.91 7 6 0 40.1 42 25 22 8 7 21

Hill 1 1 5.25 3 3 0 12.0 15 7 7 1 3 7

Gaudin 1 3 5.40 6 6 0 33.1 27 20 20 1 26 27

Silva 0 0 6.52 2 2 0 9.2 10 7 7 2 7 3

Team Totals 23 22 4.31 45 45 14 403.1 374 206 193 42 179 331

SAN FRANCISCOGIANTS


Whiteside .333 .333 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Sandoval .304 .345 158 16 48 13 2 3 17 8 24 2 2 1

Uribe .286 .303 63 3 18 4 0 0 6 2 13 0 1 2

Winn .283 .341 166 23 47 11 3 2 19 15 33 8 1 0

Lewis .279 .380 140 27 39 9 1 3 7 19 45 3 2 3

Rowand .274 .340 146 17 40 10 0 5 19 13 32 2 0 1

Molina .261 .269 165 19 43 7 1 8 30 2 21 0 0 2

Burriss .257 .325 148 13 38 3 0 0 9 13 24 11 4 3

Ishikawa .250 .327 100 13 25 3 1 1 15 9 31 1 0 2

Renteria .246 .327 138 21 34 7 0 2 20 16 22 2 2 3

Schierholtz .241 .263 54 5 13 3 1 0 3 2 9 0 1 0

Torres .222 .417 9 4 2 0 0 1 1 3 3 1 0 0

Aurilia .177 .209 62 3 11 2 0 0 10 3 13 0 0 0

Guzman .100 .100 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Frandsen .000 .167 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0

Team Totals .253 .311 1498 172 379 73 9 25 161 115 322 31 13 23


Affeldt 0 1 2.11 23 0 0 21.1 19 6 5 1 10 18

Miller 1 1 2.14 18 0 0 21.0 15 5 5 2 9 15

Cain 5 1 2.40 9 9 0 60.0 54 16 16 6 25 41

Medders 2 1 3.10 19 0 0 20.1 20 7 7 1 12 17

Valdez 1 0 3.29 13 0 0 13.2 12 5 5 1 6 8

Lincecum 3 1 3.45 9 9 0 57.1 54 23 22 1 17 76

Zito 1 5 4.02 9 9 0 56.0 50 25 25 6 24 37

Howry 0 2 4.24 19 0 0 17.0 19 8 8 1 7 13

Sanchez 2 4 4.60 9 8 0 43.0 36 24 22 4 31 43

Wilson 2 3 4.64 21 0 9 21.1 20 13 11 2 9 22

Johnson 3 4 6.26 9 9 0 46.0 53 32 32 10 19 49

Martinez 1 0 6.75 2 0 0 2.2 4 2 2 0 1 2

Team Totals 21 23 3.99 44 44 9 394.1 379 182 175 38 179 347

WASHINGTONNATIONALS


Zimmerman .346 .408 188 37 65 14 0 11 35 21 32 0 0 6

Guzman .344 .353 151 27 52 9 2 2 11 2 19 1 2 6

Johnson .338 .445 157 28 53 7 1 4 25 28 29 1 0 5

Flores .311 .382 90 13 28 3 2 4 15 11 26 0 0 1

Nieves .304 .350 56 6 17 2 0 0 6 3 14 0 0 3

Harris .281 .427 64 13 18 5 1 1 9 12 14 3 0 0

Hernandez .279 .367 104 15 29 5 1 0 11 15 17 3 1 4

Dukes .277 .347 112 12 31 8 1 4 24 12 29 2 6 1

Dunn .277 .414 159 25 44 6 0 14 39 38 48 0 1 5

Bernadina .250 .400 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

Kearns .213 .341 108 15 23 6 2 3 15 18 27 1 0 0

Willingham .213 .345 94 12 20 6 0 6 9 16 23 0 1 1

Belliard .172 .221 64 4 11 1 1 1 4 4 18 0 0 2

Bard .171 .194 35 2 6 2 0 0 4 1 7 0 0 0

Maxwell .167 .286 18 1 3 1 0 0 1 3 6 3 0 0

Team Totals .271 .356 1577 223 427 80 11 51 216 197 362 17 11 45


Villone 2 0 0.00 12 0 0 11.1 6 0 0 0 4 3

Bergmann 0 0 2.45 6 0 0 7.1 4 3 2 0 5 3

Detwiler 0 0 2.45 2 2 0 11.0 5 4 3 1 4 10

Lannan 2 4 4.11 10 10 0 57.0 65 30 26 8 22 27

Martis 5 0 4.86 9 9 0 53.2 52 30 29 5 21 25

Beimel 0 3 5.00 19 0 0 18.0 23 10 10 2 6 10

Stammen 0 0 5.68 1 1 0 6.1 4 4 4 1 1 3

Zimmermann 2 1 5.71 7 7 0 41.0 46 26 26 6 12 39

Cabrera 0 5 5.85 9 8 0 40.0 48 39 26 4 35 16

Hanrahan 0 2 5.91 22 0 5 21.1 25 14 14 3 9 26

Tavarez 1 4 6.00 21 0 1 18.0 16 16 12 1 12 17

Wells 0 2 6.00 16 0 2 21.0 19 14 14 1 14 15

Olsen 1 4 7.24 8 8 0 41.0 60 36 33 8 18 29

Colome 0 0 15.00 5 0 0 3.0 7 5 5 0 1 2

Team Totals 13 31 5.60 45 45 8 400.0 446 277 249 47 198 257

NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES



BALTIMOREORIOLES


Jones .359 .416 156 38 56 13 1 10 32 12 34 4 2 4

Markakis .303 .373 178 36 54 13 1 7 38 19 23 1 1 3

Scott .303 .384 99 14 30 6 0 5 15 12 19 0 0 0

Roberts .295 .369 183 41 54 14 1 6 18 22 30 10 4 2

Huff .267 .335 172 20 46 13 1 7 37 19 24 0 3 2

Reimold .262 .311 42 3 11 1 0 2 4 3 6 0 0 0

Mora .250 .316 104 7 26 2 0 2 15 10 14 1 2 2

Izturis .238 .278 126 14 30 5 1 1 13 5 8 8 0 4

Wigginton .216 .253 139 8 30 6 0 3 15 5 19 1 1 2

Zaun .215 .328 107 13 23 8 0 1 4 16 15 0 0 3

Moeller .208 .240 48 1 10 3 1 1 1 2 6 0 0 0

Montanez .204 .273 49 4 10 4 0 1 6 4 10 0 0 0

Pie .190 .269 84 9 16 2 1 2 4 9 22 1 2 0

Andino .189 .231 37 4 7 1 0 0 1 2 10 1 0 2

Team Totals .263 .331 1547 216 407 91 7 48 204 146 248 27 15 28


Sherrill 0 1 2.75 20 0 10 19.2 18 6 6 3 7 21

Hill 1 0 3.18 2 2 0 11.1 10 4 4 1 6 12

Baez 3 1 3.28 16 0 0 24.2 14 9 9 2 12 18

Johnson 2 2 3.80 20 0 0 21.1 21 9 9 2 6 13

Uehara 2 3 4.09 9 9 0 50.2 50 26 23 6 11 38

Bass 3 1 4.45 14 0 0 30.1 36 17 15 6 9 25

Walker 0 0 4.50 19 0 0 10.0 15 6 5 3 0 9

Guthrie 4 4 4.90 10 10 0 60.2 65 36 33 11 20 35

Bergesen 1 2 5.49 7 7 0 39.1 51 26 24 6 12 18

Hendrickson 1 4 5.56 10 7 0 34.0 46 29 21 7 13 26

Albers 0 1 6.17 10 0 0 11.2 16 8 8 0 6 8

Sarfate 0 0 6.39 8 0 0 12.2 13 11 9 3 7 10

Simon 0 1 9.95 2 2 0 6.1 8 7 7 5 2 3

Ray 0 1 10.13 16 0 0 13.1 23 16 15 2 10 15

Team Totals 19 26 5.47 45 45 10 393.1 456 264 239 67 147 283

BOSTONRED SOX


Youkilis .384 .493 112 28 43 13 0 7 28 19 26 1 0 1

Pedroia .337 .428 172 37 58 14 0 1 15 26 13 6 3 2

Green .309 .369 94 11 29 8 0 1 15 4 19 1 2 8

Lowell .305 .332 177 24 54 15 1 8 33 6 23 0 0 5

Ellsbury .300 .333 190 25 57 9 1 1 13 10 19 18 6 0

Bay .289 .418 159 36 46 11 1 13 47 34 39 5 0 0

Drew .269 .380 134 27 36 11 1 6 21 23 39 0 2 1

Lugo .258 .319 66 9 17 2 1 1 4 6 8 1 0 4

Varitek .238 .315 126 15 30 9 0 8 20 13 28 0 0 1

Baldelli .233 .267 43 4 10 1 1 1 4 2 15 0 0 1

Kottaras .200 .286 35 5 7 4 0 0 5 5 12 0 0 0

Bailey .197 .329 61 9 12 2 1 3 9 8 20 0 0 2

Ortiz .195 .301 154 15 30 11 1 1 18 22 41 0 1 0

Lowrie .056 .150 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 0 0

Team Totals .278 .361 1559 246 434 110 8 52 236 182 319 32 14 30


Ramirez 4 1 0.74 22 0 0 24.1 11 2 2 1 7 14

Delcarmen 1 1 0.86 19 0 0 21.0 18 5 2 0 8 17

Bard 0 0 1.80 4 0 0 5.0 6 1 1 0 1 1

Papelbon 0 1 2.57 20 0 12 21.0 18 6 6 3 11 24

Okajima 2 0 2.70 21 0 0 20.0 12 6 6 2 9 23

Saito 0 0 3.38 16 0 2 16.0 18 6 6 2 4 13

Wakefield 6 2 3.99 9 9 0 58.2 50 26 26 5 27 33

Masterson 2 2 4.47 11 6 0 44.1 48 22 22 3 15 38

Beckett 4 2 5.01 9 9 0 55.2 61 34 31 5 24 51

Lester 3 4 5.91 9 9 0 53.1 68 35 35 10 18 58

Penny 5 1 5.96 9 9 0 48.1 60 36 32 6 17 29

Matsuzaka 0 2 10.32 3 3 0 11.1 19 13 13 4 7 9

Team Totals 27 18 4.52 45 45 14 402.1 420 213 202 44 162 324

CHICAGO WHITE SOX


Anderson .307 .381 75 12 23 2 0 1 6 9 20 2 3 1

Konerko .306 .362 157 21 48 12 0 7 29 13 24 0 0 0

Podsednik .303 .349 76 6 23 3 1 0 5 5 4 3 3 2

Pierzynski .273 .299 132 14 36 4 1 4 10 5 10 1 0 2

Dye .270 .327 148 28 40 4 0 12 30 12 37 0 2 1

Getz .250 .309 124 16 31 6 1 0 6 8 14 3 1 2

Thome .250 .387 116 22 29 6 0 8 26 26 40 0 0 0

Ramirez .243 .284 144 14 35 5 0 3 20 9 17 8 1 3

Wise .238 .238 21 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 0

Quentin .229 .325 131 20 30 6 0 8 20 11 17 1 0 1

Fields .221 .288 149 14 33 3 2 2 16 12 48 0 3 6

Betemit .214 .283 42 2 9 5 0 0 3 4 13 0 0 4

Miller .200 .263 35 5 7 3 0 0 5 3 9 0 0 0

Nix .194 .302 36 3 7 1 0 2 3 5 5 2 0 0

Team Totals .251 .320 1466 184 368 62 5 47 179 133 288 25 15 29


Dotel 1 1 1.17 18 0 0 15.1 9 2 2 1 10 17

Linebrink 1 2 1.69 16 0 0 16.0 16 3 3 0 5 16

Thornton 1 1 2.12 18 0 0 17.0 14 4 4 1 8 25

Carrasco 1 0 2.56 16 0 0 31.2 34 10 9 1 8 19

Buehrle 6 1 2.59 9 9 0 59.0 57 18 17 6 12 36

Jenks 0 2 3.38 16 0 10 16.0 15 7 6 3 5 14

Richard 1 0 3.55 15 3 0 33.0 36 14 13 3 14 23

Colon 2 4 4.23 8 8 0 38.1 45 27 18 6 16 26

Danks 4 3 4.59 9 9 0 49.0 49 27 25 6 20 45

Broadway 0 1 5.06 8 0 0 16.0 19 10 9 0 9 9

Floyd 3 4 6.54 9 9 0 52.1 62 39 38 6 25 43

Gobble 0 0 14.54 4 0 0 4.1 7 7 7 2 0 5

Team Totals 20 24 4.49 44 44 10 384.2 418 212 192 40 157 298

CLEVELANDINDIANS


Martinez .364 .439 184 32 67 14 1 7 32 26 19 0 0 2

Cabrera .316 .385 174 34 55 12 2 1 25 20 32 7 1 2

Choo .302 .419 162 27 49 9 1 5 26 30 37 6 0 3

Dellucci .275 .333 40 3 11 3 0 0 1 2 12 0 0 0

Carroll .273 .407 22 3 6 1 1 0 0 4 2 0 0 1

Hafner .270 .370 63 10 17 5 0 4 8 8 18 0 0 0

Peralta .268 .347 149 16 40 9 0 1 18 17 41 0 0 3

DeRosa .260 .327 177 28 46 9 0 7 30 16 41 0 1 7

Garko .257 .347 101 7 26 4 0 4 20 14 11 0 0 1

Francisco .248 .324 133 21 33 8 1 4 15 11 30 7 1 1

Sizemore .227 .318 185 27 42 9 1 8 29 24 46 7 6 0

Shoppach .219 .374 73 12 16 2 0 3 9 9 31 0 0 0

Valbuena .211 .286 38 6 8 6 0 0 1 4 10 0 0 1

LaPorta .190 .286 42 10 8 1 0 1 4 4 11 2 0 1

Team Totals .272 .358 1605 244 436 94 7 45 223 193 356 30 10 25


Aquino 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 5.0 4 0 0 0 3 2

Rundles 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 1

Herges 0 0 1.54 7 0 0 11.2 4 2 2 2 3 11

Lee 2 5 3.04 10 10 0 68.0 79 23 23 4 14 49

Laffey 3 1 3.93 10 4 1 34.1 32 15 15 1 19 19

Betancourt 1 1 4.01 22 0 1 24.2 22 14 11 3 12 26

Vizcaino 1 2 5.40 4 0 0 3.1 3 2 2 1 3 2

J. Lewis 2 3 5.47 19 0 1 24.2 26 16 15 7 9 22

Pavano 4 4 6.10 9 9 0 48.2 62 33 33 5 11 40

Carmona 2 4 6.42 10 10 0 54.2 56 41 39 5 35 33

Reyes 1 1 6.57 8 8 0 38.1 40 30 28 5 23 22

Smith 0 0 7.11 8 0 0 6.1 7 6 5 0 5 6

Wood 1 2 7.20 17 0 7 15.0 17 12 12 4 10 20

Sowers 1 2 7.71 3 2 0 14.0 17 12 12 3 7 5

S. Lewis 0 0 8.31 1 1 0 4.1 7 4 4 2 1 3

Huff 0 1 17.55 2 2 0 6.2 14 13 13 3 5 5

Team Totals 18 28 5.59 46 46 10 404.0 442 262 251 52 192 294

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSAMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES



DETROITTIGERS


Cabrera .378 .443 164 30 62 10 0 9 36 18 21 1 2 4

Santiago .348 .370 69 12 24 4 1 3 20 3 19 0 1 2

Everett .305 .343 95 15 29 7 0 1 16 5 13 3 1 4

Inge .280 .376 150 31 42 5 0 12 33 19 41 1 2 4

Anderson .272 .322 81 11 22 3 2 0 9 6 12 9 1 1

Thomas .269 .355 67 11 18 3 1 1 8 9 12 1 0 1

Ordonez .266 .356 143 21 38 6 0 2 18 20 24 1 0 1

Polanco .259 .303 166 20 43 13 1 0 18 10 12 0 1 1

Granderson .250 .332 176 30 44 5 1 11 27 22 37 6 2 0

Laird .246 .333 114 18 28 5 1 2 13 12 21 1 0 0

Larish .235 .375 51 13 12 0 1 4 6 12 15 0 1 0

Raburn .222 .317 36 8 8 1 0 3 10 5 7 1 0 1

Thames .222 .250 18 2 4 1 1 0 2 1 6 0 0 0

Guillen .200 .267 90 11 18 4 0 0 6 8 15 1 0 0

Sardinha .095 .091 21 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 10 0 0 0

Treanor .000 .071 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0

Team Totals .271 .342 1457 235 395 68 9 49 225 151 271 25 11 19


Perry 0 1 2.33 18 0 0 19.1 11 7 5 0 15 18

Jackson 4 2 2.55 9 9 0 60.0 50 21 17 5 16 48

Zumaya 1 0 3.38 10 0 1 13.1 13 5 5 2 1 12

Rodney 0 0 3.50 18 0 8 18.0 14 7 7 1 5 13

Porcello 5 3 3.55 8 8 0 45.2 42 19 18 6 15 28

Verlander 5 2 3.55 10 10 0 63.1 51 28 25 3 19 85

Willis 1 1 3.57 3 3 0 17.2 16 7 7 1 8 9

Seay 0 1 4.73 18 0 0 13.1 11 7 7 0 3 8

Miner 3 1 4.76 10 4 0 28.1 37 20 15 4 15 22

Robertson 1 0 5.25 9 0 0 12.0 11 7 7 0 7 8

Galarraga 3 4 5.74 9 9 0 47.0 49 30 30 9 24 35

Lyon 1 3 5.95 17 0 0 19.2 19 13 13 4 11 9

Team Totals 25 18 3.87 43 43 9 381.1 356 187 164 41 152 315

KANSAS CITYROYALS


Maier .314 .429 35 7 11 2 1 0 0 7 7 2 1 0

Callaspo .309 .365 152 21 47 16 1 2 16 14 11 0 0 3

Bloomquist .298 .371 84 14 25 2 2 1 6 11 12 8 1 2

Guillen .291 .409 110 12 32 5 0 3 20 17 14 1 0 1

Butler .285 .357 151 23 43 14 0 3 20 17 28 0 0 0

Jacobs .261 .335 142 18 37 7 0 9 25 14 44 0 0 2

Teahen .261 .335 161 20 42 10 0 5 16 14 35 1 0 2

DeJesus .242 .293 161 18 39 8 3 3 18 10 30 1 1 0

Crisp .236 .347 161 29 38 8 5 3 14 27 18 11 2 3

Buck .235 .315 81 7 19 4 3 3 19 10 20 0 0 4

Olivo .234 .265 94 7 22 4 1 3 12 2 34 1 1 1

Aviles .183 .208 120 10 22 3 1 1 8 4 26 1 0 4

Hernandez .125 .222 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

Gordon .095 .269 21 2 2 0 0 1 3 3 8 1 0 1

Hulett .000 .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Pena Jr. .000 .083 11 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1

Team Totals .254 .329 1506 191 383 85 17 37 180 152 295 27 6 28


Bale 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 2

Colon 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3

Greinke 7 1 0.82 9 9 0 66.0 48 7 6 0 12 73

Soria 1 0 2.08 8 0 7 8.2 8 3 2 0 4 10

Tejeda 0 0 2.65 12 0 0 17.0 13 5 5 0 13 23

Bannister 4 1 2.79 7 7 0 42.0 39 16 13 2 15 25

Cruz 3 0 3.15 18 0 2 20.0 11 7 7 1 12 13

Wright 0 1 3.86 18 0 0 23.1 27 17 10 2 7 17

Farnsworth 1 3 3.94 17 0 0 16.0 15 7 7 2 4 16

Mahay 1 0 4.32 18 0 0 16.2 24 10 8 2 8 17

Waechter 0 0 4.50 3 0 0 4.0 5 2 2 2 1 3

Meche 2 5 4.55 10 10 0 55.1 63 33 28 1 20 41

Davies 2 3 4.78 9 9 0 52.2 48 28 28 6 23 40

Ponson 1 5 6.49 10 6 0 43.0 54 33 31 4 16 24

Ramirez 0 2 7.36 15 1 0 18.1 24 16 15 3 10 11

Team Totals 22 23 3.99 45 45 9 397.0 396 199 176 27 153 321

LOS ANGELESANGELS


Hunter .319 .400 160 33 51 11 1 10 39 22 24 10 3 0

Abreu .303 .410 145 18 44 7 2 0 16 27 17 15 0 2

Figgins .294 .374 170 28 50 7 2 0 12 23 27 19 3 5

Napoli .293 .392 123 16 36 8 0 6 18 19 30 2 3 2

Rivera .286 .331 140 15 40 5 0 4 16 10 12 0 0 0

Morales .283 .328 159 20 45 13 1 8 28 12 32 0 2 2

Aybar .282 .304 117 11 33 7 2 1 11 5 12 1 1 3

Matthews Jr. .270 .324 100 17 27 4 1 1 14 9 23 0 0 1

Izturis .269 .307 93 17 25 3 0 0 11 5 12 5 1 2

Kendrick .243 .287 148 21 36 6 1 4 20 6 29 6 1 2

Quinlan .243 .243 37 3 9 3 0 0 2 0 7 1 0 0

Mathis .224 .293 67 8 15 1 0 0 12 7 21 0 0 2

Guerrero .222 .282 36 3 8 0 0 1 3 3 4 0 0 0

Team Totals .279 .342 1520 214 424 75 10 35 203 149 258 60 14 25


Oliver 1 0 2.18 12 1 0 20.2 19 5 5 0 5 14

Weaver 3 2 2.52 9 9 0 60.2 49 18 17 7 16 45

Saunders 6 2 3.17 9 9 0 59.2 53 23 21 7 16 29

Moseley 1 0 4.30 3 3 0 14.2 20 8 7 3 3 8

Fuentes 0 2 4.32 18 0 12 16.2 18 8 8 1 6 19

Palmer 5 0 4.71 6 6 0 36.1 28 20 19 5 15 21

Arredondo 1 1 5.14 22 0 0 21.0 25 12 12 0 9 25

Loux 2 3 5.40 8 6 0 38.1 52 24 23 2 14 14

Bulger 2 1 5.60 16 0 0 17.2 16 11 11 3 9 18

Speier 0 1 5.89 15 0 0 18.1 18 12 12 2 8 16

Lackey 1 0 6.00 3 3 0 12.0 14 9 8 1 1 8

Shields 1 3 6.75 19 0 1 17.1 16 14 13 1 14 12

R. Rodriguez 0 0 7.71 7 0 0 14.0 25 15 12 2 4 6

Santana 0 2 7.82 3 3 0 12.2 21 11 11 1 6 9

Team Totals 23 21 4.77 44 44 13 389.0 419 222 206 41 146 261

MINNESOTATWINS


Mauer .444 .530 81 25 36 5 0 11 31 16 11 0 0 0

Morneau .341 .422 173 37 59 13 1 13 41 24 28 0 0 1

Kubel .340 .377 144 23 49 11 1 5 24 9 27 0 0 0

Span .302 .390 172 26 52 5 2 3 21 22 26 9 3 1

Cuddyer .286 .373 168 29 48 9 3 8 31 24 31 4 1 3

Redmond .259 .322 54 2 14 3 0 0 3 5 7 0 0 0

Harris .255 .294 102 12 26 4 0 2 8 6 16 0 0 0

Young .253 .296 91 10 23 1 0 1 14 4 28 2 2 2

Crede .240 .304 125 17 30 7 0 8 21 11 20 0 0 1

Gomez .225 .293 89 16 20 5 2 0 2 8 20 4 3 0

Tolbert .197 .265 61 9 12 2 0 1 8 6 17 2 0 1

Buscher .186 .319 59 5 11 2 1 1 7 11 15 0 0 0

Punto .181 .290 116 16 21 2 0 0 11 18 22 4 1 3

Team Totals .276 .351 1572 243 434 73 11 53 228 176 292 27 10 17


Swarzak 1 0 0.00 1 1 0 7.0 5 0 0 0 2 3

Mijares 0 1 2.57 13 0 0 14.0 12 5 4 1 5 13

Nathan 1 1 2.76 17 0 6 16.1 13 5 5 2 5 18

Dickey 1 0 3.42 12 1 0 26.1 30 10 10 4 12 16

Blackburn 3 2 3.83 9 9 0 56.1 59 28 24 4 17 25

Guerrier 1 0 4.03 21 0 0 22.1 16 10 10 4 4 15

Slowey 6 1 4.23 9 9 0 55.1 73 27 26 8 4 39

Ayala 1 1 4.79 18 0 0 20.2 28 12 11 2 7 13

Henn 0 0 4.91 3 0 0 3.2 3 2 2 0 2 1

Perkins 1 3 5.36 8 8 0 47.0 50 28 28 6 12 26

Baker 2 5 6.32 8 8 0 47.0 50 33 33 12 10 35

Liriano 2 6 6.42 10 10 0 54.2 60 40 39 8 25 47

Crain 2 2 7.62 16 0 0 13.0 12 11 11 3 7 8

Team Totals 22 24 4.99 46 46 6 407.1 438 235 226 60 129 276




NEW YORKYANKEES


Cabrera .323 .368 133 20 43 6 0 5 20 10 19 4 2 1

Cano .315 .349 184 31 58 12 1 8 27 10 13 2 1 2

Damon .312 .382 170 37 53 11 2 10 29 19 28 4 0 1

Posada .312 .402 77 10 24 6 0 5 20 12 19 1 0 1

Cervelli .306 .324 36 4 11 1 0 0 3 1 6 0 1 0

Nady .286 .310 28 4 8 4 0 0 2 1 6 0 0 0

Jeter .284 .358 183 29 52 10 0 7 21 19 26 9 1 2

Molina .273 .333 44 5 12 2 0 1 6 4 6 0 0 1

Teixeira .273 .387 161 31 44 10 0 13 36 27 34 0 0 0

Rodriguez .259 .411 58 11 15 3 0 7 17 13 11 0 0 1

Gardner .253 .324 91 17 23 4 2 2 8 9 14 6 2 0

Pena .246 .290 65 9 16 2 1 0 4 4 12 2 0 3

Matsui .241 .325 133 12 32 8 1 5 14 15 23 0 0 0

Swisher .225 .360 142 26 32 9 1 9 27 29 43 0 0 3

Cash .182 .174 22 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0

Ransom .180 .226 50 4 9 5 1 0 6 3 15 1 0 2

Berroa .167 .167 12 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2

Team Totals .276 .351 1589 254 438 94 9 72 241 176 283 29 7 20


Aceves 3 0 1.84 7 0 0 14.2 11 3 3 2 3 13

Rivera 0 1 2.75 19 0 9 19.2 20 6 6 5 1 24

Bruney 2 0 3.00 10 0 0 9.0 3 3 3 0 2 13

Sabathia 4 3 3.42 10 10 0 71.0 60 29 27 3 21 48

Chamberlain 2 1 3.70 8 8 0 41.1 42 20 17 5 21 41

Tomko 0 1 4.15 5 0 0 4.1 5 2 2 1 2 0

Coke 1 2 4.19 20 0 1 19.1 15 12 9 4 7 12

Pettitte 4 1 4.30 9 9 0 58.2 64 30 28 8 18 33

Hughes 3 2 5.16 6 6 0 29.2 32 18 17 6 14 25

Burnett 2 2 5.28 9 9 0 58.0 56 34 34 10 27 50

Veras 3 1 5.59 20 0 0 19.1 15 12 12 2 13 15

Marte 0 1 15.19 7 0 0 5.1 9 9 9 3 3 6

Wang 0 3 25.00 4 3 0 9.0 29 25 25 3 7 4

Team Totals 26 19 5.03 45 45 10 408.1 419 243 228 65 176 324

OAKLANDATHLETICS


Kennedy .441 .507 59 6 26 6 0 2 13 7 7 3 1 2

Suzuki .290 .335 155 20 45 13 0 2 16 9 15 1 1 1

Holliday .264 .350 159 22 42 5 1 6 27 18 28 2 1 0

Cust .255 .354 153 25 39 6 0 7 25 23 42 1 0 1

Garciaparra .250 .275 48 7 12 1 0 2 8 2 10 0 0 0

Sweeney .250 .306 168 20 42 7 0 2 13 14 25 3 2 1

Cabrera .240 .282 175 18 42 4 0 2 15 11 14 1 3 8

Giambi .217 .357 138 25 30 6 0 5 20 27 29 0 0 3

Crosby .213 .333 94 14 20 3 2 0 9 16 17 1 0 5

Powell .211 .295 38 4 8 4 0 1 11 5 9 0 0 2

Buck .210 .281 81 9 17 2 0 2 7 8 17 1 1 0

Ellis .206 .265 63 6 13 2 0 0 9 5 10 2 1 2

Hannahan .196 .260 46 5 9 5 0 1 5 4 14 0 0 0

Davis .167 .242 30 4 5 0 0 0 0 3 11 5 2 0

Chavez .100 .129 30 0 3 1 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 0

Team Totals .244 .318 1478 189 360 67 3 32 181 153 263 20 12 30


E. Gonzalez 0 0 1.80 1 1 0 5.0 4 1 1 0 2 4

Cameron 0 0 1.93 8 0 1 14.0 10 3 3 0 3 11

Wuertz 2 1 1.96 22 0 2 23.0 15 6 5 1 4 20

Bailey 3 0 2.20 20 0 1 28.2 15 7 7 3 12 35

Outman 2 0 2.90 9 7 0 40.1 32 16 13 5 18 31

Casilla 1 1 3.50 15 0 0 18.0 14 8 7 1 10 13

Braden 3 5 3.67 9 9 0 54.0 61 24 22 5 17 36

Ziegler 0 1 3.72 17 0 5 19.1 25 9 8 0 8 13

Breslow 0 1 3.86 2 0 0 2.1 2 1 1 0 0 2

Cahill 2 4 4.62 9 9 0 48.2 52 26 25 7 23 19

Anderson 2 4 4.98 8 8 0 43.1 49 34 24 8 13 24

Springer 0 1 5.19 21 0 0 17.1 23 11 10 4 7 19

Giese 0 3 5.32 7 1 0 22.0 22 13 13 5 9 11

Team Totals 17 25 4.27 42 42 9 388.0 404 209 184 43 159 273

SEATTLEMARINERS


Suzuki .335 .365 170 16 57 4 1 4 13 7 16 7 3 1

Branyan .305 .393 141 25 43 11 0 10 20 19 45 2 0 3

Gutierrez .265 .344 136 19 36 3 0 3 17 16 33 2 3 0

Chavez .264 .323 121 11 32 2 0 1 9 11 17 6 1 1

Betancourt .259 .291 143 10 37 5 1 2 14 7 12 3 0 8

Johjima .250 .275 88 10 22 3 0 3 10 3 5 2 0 1

Balentien .244 .286 90 12 22 8 0 1 6 6 20 1 0 0

Griffey Jr. .232 .363 112 13 26 4 0 5 12 23 22 0 0 0

Sweeney .232 .276 82 7 19 5 0 2 9 3 10 0 0 2

Lopez .221 .265 172 18 38 7 0 3 21 10 22 0 2 8

Beltre .211 .246 180 19 38 10 0 3 19 8 33 5 2 7

Cedeno .188 .250 48 7 9 1 1 2 5 3 15 1 1 1

Johnson .188 .219 69 4 13 3 1 0 8 3 20 0 1 1

Team Totals .251 .306 1565 171 393 66 4 39 163 120 273 29 13 38


Rowland-Smith 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 3.1 4 2 0 0 4 1

Aardsma 1 1 1.25 21 0 6 21.2 11 3 3 1 13 24

Vargas 1 0 1.29 5 3 0 21.0 17 4 3 3 7 15

Kelley 1 1 1.54 10 0 0 11.2 11 2 2 2 1 11

White 1 0 2.01 16 0 0 22.1 15 6 5 2 12 8

Batista 2 0 2.28 17 0 0 23.2 24 10 6 1 14 22

Bedard 2 2 2.64 8 8 0 47.2 41 16 14 5 13 49

Olson 0 1 3.66 6 2 0 19.2 21 9 8 4 9 12

Hernandez 5 3 3.76 10 10 0 64.2 65 31 27 6 19 66

Washburn 3 3 3.86 8 8 0 51.1 47 23 22 5 15 37

Lowe 0 2 5.32 21 0 0 22.0 28 17 13 2 9 18

Stark 0 1 6.30 8 0 0 10.0 12 8 7 2 10 7

Jakubauskas 3 5 6.45 10 8 0 44.2 49 34 32 5 16 18

Morrow 0 3 6.91 13 0 6 14.1 14 12 11 3 13 18

Corcoran 1 0 7.27 8 0 0 8.2 13 7 7 0 9 4

Silva 1 3 8.48 6 6 0 28.2 38 27 27 5 9 10

Team Totals 21 25 4.05 46 46 12 415.1 410 211 187 46 173 320

TAMPA BAYRAYS


Bartlett .373 .418 161 32 60 11 2 7 30 12 25 14 1 4

Longoria .330 .401 176 34 58 20 0 11 49 21 44 2 0 4

Crawford .316 .376 190 35 60 11 3 1 22 17 34 29 0 2

Iwamura .310 .377 155 19 48 13 1 0 16 17 30 8 1 5

Hernandez .297 .333 37 3 11 2 0 1 10 2 5 2 1 0

Zobrist .286 .385 105 19 30 9 1 8 24 17 22 3 1 0

Gross .274 .391 73 15 20 4 0 3 14 14 17 2 1 0

Aybar .263 .370 76 13 20 5 0 2 10 13 14 0 0 0

Burrell .250 .349 108 9 27 4 0 1 17 16 25 1 0 0

Riggans .250 .250 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1

Pena .244 .383 164 35 40 9 1 15 39 35 59 0 1 5

Brignac .222 .222 9 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1

Navarro .221 .252 136 17 30 6 0 2 11 3 21 1 0 1

Upton .194 .291 165 29 32 8 1 2 9 23 52 14 3 0

Kapler .190 .278 63 6 12 7 0 0 3 8 11 2 0 1

Team Totals .276 .357 1646 273 454 110 9 55 259 200 370 78 9 28


Cormier 0 1 2.12 17 0 1 34.0 27 8 8 1 9 13

Howell 0 2 2.86 22 0 1 22.0 19 7 7 1 8 24

Garza 4 2 3.41 9 9 0 60.2 43 24 23 5 27 53

Shields 3 4 3.63 10 10 0 67.0 72 30 27 9 19 47

Shouse 1 1 3.77 19 0 0 14.1 17 6 6 2 3 9

Niemann 4 3 4.53 9 9 0 47.2 51 27 24 8 22 26

Wheeler 1 1 4.86 20 0 0 16.2 15 10 9 4 5 13

Nelson 1 0 5.21 21 0 2 19.0 21 14 11 5 14 19

Price 0 0 5.40 1 1 0 3.1 4 2 2 1 5 6

Balfour 2 0 5.75 22 0 1 20.1 20 13 13 1 14 19

Isringhausen 0 1 6.00 4 0 0 3.0 3 2 2 0 4 2

Thayer 0 0 6.23 2 0 1 4.1 8 5 3 0 1 0

Percival 0 1 6.35 14 0 6 11.1 14 8 8 3 5 7

Sonnanstine 3 4 6.60 9 9 0 46.1 63 35 34 6 14 26

Kazmir 4 4 7.69 9 9 0 45.2 60 41 39 7 29 35

Choate 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0.0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Team Totals 23 24 4.68 47 47 12 415.2 437 233 216 53 179 299



SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 34BaseballSPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball

TEXASRANGERS


Vizquel .372 .413 43 7 16 4 1 0 6 3 5 2 0 0

Young .337 .384 172 27 58 16 0 7 18 13 27 3 1 3

Cruz .294 .343 160 23 47 9 0 12 32 13 38 8 1 3

Jones .290 .438 69 14 20 7 0 4 12 18 15 1 0 0

Andrus .285 .326 130 21 37 4 4 3 9 8 16 6 0 7

Byrd .282 .302 142 16 40 15 0 2 19 5 19 2 0 0

Kinsler .278 .347 180 32 50 11 1 12 33 18 28 10 1 3

Hamilton .260 .310 104 17 27 4 2 6 20 8 24 3 0 0

Saltalamacchia .252 .305 119 15 30 5 0 5 19 9 43 0 1 1

Blalock .245 .280 147 22 36 9 1 11 25 5 29 1 0 0

Murphy .229 .320 83 15 19 5 0 2 9 12 22 2 2 0

Teagarden .225 .311 40 3 9 2 0 0 4 4 17 0 0 1

Davis .200 .259 150 21 30 4 0 10 21 10 66 0 0 0

Team Totals .271 .327 1548 233 419 95 9 74 227 126 352 38 6 22


Francisco 1 0 0.00 15 0 10 15.2 8 0 0 0 4 15

O'Day 2 0 1.64 13 0 1 11.0 7 2 2 1 2 11

Millwood 4 4 3.12 9 9 0 66.1 59 25 23 9 17 35

Wilson 2 2 3.50 20 0 3 18.0 20 12 7 1 9 11

Feldman 3 0 4.04 9 6 0 42.1 35 19 19 5 14 24

Jennings 1 1 4.12 13 0 0 19.2 18 11 9 2 8 12

McCarthy 4 2 4.67 9 9 0 54.0 57 29 28 10 20 39

Padilla 3 2 4.71 8 8 0 49.2 50 27 26 4 20 26

Holland 1 1 4.82 8 1 0 18.2 18 10 10 3 6 10

Harrison 4 4 5.43 9 9 0 54.2 68 33 33 7 16 29

Guardado 0 1 5.59 15 0 0 9.2 13 6 6 2 4 4

Eyre 0 0 6.23 3 0 0 4.1 5 3 3 0 3 1

Madrigal 0 0 7.71 5 0 0 4.2 3 4 4 0 5 2

Benson 1 1 8.50 5 2 0 18.0 28 18 17 4 8 9

Team Totals 26 18 4.56 44 44 14 392.1 403 211 199 51 142 230

TORONTOBLUE JAYS


Hill .348 .383 207 30 72 7 0 11 35 12 31 2 1 5

Rolen .303 .371 152 22 46 13 0 3 15 15 18 2 0 4

Barajas .301 .336 133 16 40 12 0 3 23 8 19 0 0 4

Bautista .293 .426 82 16 24 5 0 1 7 18 24 3 0 0

Lind .291 .362 179 26 52 15 0 7 35 19 37 0 1 1

Millar .286 .321 77 11 22 5 0 3 14 4 11 0 0 1

Scutaro .280 .396 186 37 52 11 1 5 22 36 22 4 2 1

Overbay .274 .378 113 15 31 10 1 5 22 20 18 0 0 0

Wells .266 .323 199 30 53 12 1 5 22 17 18 8 0 0

Rios .260 .317 200 23 52 10 2 5 21 14 34 3 1 1

Chavez .242 .242 33 1 8 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1

McDonald .222 .222 18 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Barrett .167 .211 18 3 3 0 0 1 2 1 5 0 0 0

Inglett .000 .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Team Totals .284 .350 1703 245 483 106 5 52 232 171 270 23 5 22


Wolfe 1 0 1.42 5 0 0 6.1 7 1 1 0 1 6

Romero 2 0 1.71 3 3 0 21.0 19 4 4 1 4 13

Downs 0 0 1.86 18 0 5 19.1 13 5 4 1 2 22

Halladay 8 1 2.52 10 10 0 75.0 68 23 21 5 9 63

Frasor 4 0 2.70 19 0 1 16.2 12 5 5 1 2 11

Carlson 1 3 3.38 24 0 0 24.0 19 9 9 2 6 12

Richmond 4 2 3.63 9 9 0 52.0 49 23 21 8 17 43

Tallet 2 3 4.31 12 8 0 54.1 44 27 26 7 25 41

League 1 1 4.35 18 0 0 20.2 19 10 10 1 8 16

Janssen 0 1 4.50 1 1 0 6.0 8 3 3 0 1 0

Camp 0 2 5.40 15 0 0 16.2 19 11 10 2 9 10

Ryan 1 0 8.71 11 0 2 10.1 14 10 10 3 8 10

Litsch 0 1 9.00 2 2 0 9.0 14 9 9 4 1 8

Team Totals 27 21 4.04 48 48 8 429.2 407 208 193 51 142 327

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

TEAM BATTING AND FIELDING(Through Monday’s Games)

CLUB BA SLG OBP G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBIToronto .284 .443 .350 48 1703 245 483 165 106 5 52 232

L.A. Angels .279 .411 .342 44 1520 214 424 137 75 10 35 203

Boston .278 .459 .361 45 1559 246 434 195 110 8 52 236

Minnesota .276 .438 .351 46 1572 243 434 167 73 11 53 228

N.Y. Yankees .276 .482 .351 45 1589 254 438 164 94 9 72 241

Tampa Bay .276 .454 .357 47 1646 273 454 192 110 9 55 259

Cleveland .272 .423 .358 46 1605 244 436 183 94 7 45 223

Detroit .271 .431 .342 43 1457 235 395 101 68 9 49 225

Texas .271 .487 .327 44 1548 233 419 130 95 9 74 227

Baltimore .263 .424 .331 45 1547 216 407 188 91 7 48 204

Kansas City .254 .407 .329 45 1506 191 383 174 85 17 37 180

Chicago White Sox .251 .396 .320 44 1466 184 368 163 62 5 47 179

Seattle .251 .373 .306 46 1565 171 393 158 66 4 39 163

Oakland .244 .358 .318 42 1478 189 360 120 67 3 32 181

CLUB SH SF HBP BB IBB SO SB CS GDP LOB SHO E DP TPToronto 12 15 11 171 11 270 23 5 49 716 1 22 47 0

L.A. Angels 14 17 6 149 11 258 60 14 25 552 2 25 39 0

Boston 0 12 26 182 16 319 32 14 47 657 1 30 30 0

Minnesota 12 19 15 176 8 292 27 10 41 649 3 17 36 0

N.Y. Yankees 14 12 15 176 9 283 29 7 36 607 0 20 43 0

Tampa Bay 10 14 15 200 13 370 78 9 24 686 2 28 48 0

Cleveland 14 11 30 193 6 356 30 10 40 715 3 25 56 0

Detroit 13 11 12 151 6 271 25 11 44 556 2 19 37 0

Texas 9 14 10 126 4 352 38 6 19 591 2 22 46 1

Baltimore 4 8 14 146 8 248 27 15 23 551 1 28 37 0

Kansas City 15 7 18 152 11 295 27 6 38 586 3 28 49 0

Chicago White Sox 5 9 19 133 3 288 25 15 33 590 6 29 34 0

Seattle 21 11 9 120 11 273 29 13 45 562 4 38 38 0

Oakland 8 13 14 153 3 263 20 12 29 585 4 30 41 0

TEAM PITCHING(Through Monday’s Games)

CLUB W L ERA G CG SHO SV INN H R ERDetroit 25 18 3.87 43 1 6 9 381.1 356 187 164

Kansas City 22 23 3.99 45 4 4 9 397.0 396 199 176

Toronto 27 21 4.04 48 2 3 8 429.2 407 208 193

Seattle 21 25 4.05 46 1 4 12 415.1 410 211 187

Oakland 17 25 4.27 42 0 0 9 388.0 404 209 184

Chicago White Sox 20 24 4.49 44 0 4 10 384.2 418 212 192

Boston 27 18 4.52 45 2 0 14 402.1 420 213 202

Texas 26 18 4.56 44 5 3 14 392.1 403 211 199

Tampa Bay 23 24 4.68 47 0 1 12 415.2 437 233 216

L.A. Angels 23 21 4.77 44 4 4 13 389.0 419 222 206

Minnesota 22 24 4.99 46 0 1 6 407.1 438 235 226

N.Y. Yankees 26 19 5.03 45 2 2 10 408.1 419 243 228

Baltimore 19 26 5.47 45 1 1 10 393.1 456 264 239

Cleveland 18 28 5.59 46 0 1 10 404.0 442 262 251

CLUB HR HBP BB IBB SO WP BKDetroit 41 7 152 7 315 13 1

Kansas City 27 14 153 9 321 21 2

Toronto 51 17 142 7 327 13 0

Seattle 46 13 173 4 320 23 1

Oakland 43 6 159 12 273 9 0

Chicago White Sox 40 8 157 13 298 16 1

Boston 44 27 162 8 324 10 1

Texas 51 20 142 5 230 13 4

Tampa Bay 53 14 179 7 299 18 1

L.A. Angels 41 17 146 8 261 16 2

Minnesota 60 13 129 6 276 17 2

N.Y. Yankees 65 26 176 8 324 18 1

Baltimore 67 17 147 15 283 9 1

Cleveland 52 15 192 12 294 16 1

American League National LeagueTEAM BATTING AND FIELDING(Through Monday’s Games)

CLUB BA SLG OBP G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBIL.A. Dodgers .290 .426 .373 46 1606 261 466 155 98 9 34 248N.Y. Mets .284 .416 .365 44 1491 213 423 137 77 15 30 199Washington .271 .432 .356 45 1577 223 427 189 80 11 51 216Houston .268 .408 .332 44 1499 188 401 196 75 11 38 177Atlanta .264 .398 .342 44 1472 194 389 188 84 7 33 182Pittsburgh .264 .403 .333 45 1536 202 406 176 100 10 31 194Philadelphia .260 .459 .343 43 1481 242 385 126 87 8 64 232Cincinnati .257 .409 .332 44 1502 201 386 158 74 8 46 191San Francisco .253 .364 .311 44 1498 172 379 132 73 9 25 161St. Louis .253 .411 .329 45 1479 206 374 140 79 7 47 201Colorado .251 .428 .332 44 1461 218 366 151 84 11 51 211Milwaukee .250 .418 .341 45 1487 215 372 144 77 7 53 211Florida .246 .385 .323 46 1597 212 393 173 70 7 46 203Chicago Cubs .244 .400 .325 43 1444 195 352 131 69 5 49 184Arizona .235 .401 .312 45 1533 189 360 153 90 9 49 179San Diego .234 .389 .314 45 1495 175 350 135 75 8 47 171

CLUB SH SF HBP BB IBB SO SB CS GDP LOB SHO E DP TPL.A. Dodgers 16 19 16 208 27 308 37 14 40 681 0 20 41 0N.Y. Mets 28 18 11 191 22 250 47 17 40 628 1 35 34 0Washington 20 9 18 197 10 362 17 11 36 719 1 45 36 0Houston 21 16 14 138 8 263 30 18 36 577 5 22 46 0Atlanta 21 16 15 167 13 266 10 8 36 594 4 25 36 0Pittsburgh 20 10 20 142 10 322 25 8 24 602 6 19 50 1Philadelphia 14 15 24 170 4 286 30 9 29 558 2 13 28 0Cincinnati 30 14 17 159 14 294 28 12 30 579 1 33 41 0San Francisco 17 14 18 115 14 322 31 13 33 572 2 23 45 0St. Louis 27 17 21 154 17 260 25 6 28 557 2 29 42 0Colorado 19 17 12 174 6 326 30 13 35 561 3 28 37 0Milwaukee 15 16 24 189 9 360 11 10 38 619 1 26 37 0Florida 26 9 14 172 13 389 28 12 23 631 2 37 24 0Chicago Cubs 11 10 17 161 6 326 21 11 28 583 4 26 35 0Arizona 10 13 13 166 15 359 37 12 22 605 3 38 45 1San Diego 25 9 14 165 12 309 21 6 31 567 3 19 43 0

TEAM PITCHING(Through Monday’s Games)

CLUB W L ERA G CG SHO SV INN H R ERSt. Louis 26 19 3.67 45 2 4 14 402.0 375 181 164L.A. Dodgers 31 15 3.79 46 1 3 14 413.0 351 181 174N.Y. Mets 24 20 3.94 44 0 2 15 392.2 385 193 172San Francisco 21 23 3.99 44 2 5 9 394.1 379 182 175Milwaukee 27 18 4.01 45 1 3 16 397.2 355 191 177Cincinnati 24 20 4.03 44 1 6 12 404.0 371 194 181Atlanta 23 21 4.13 44 0 3 11 392.2 367 197 180Pittsburgh 21 24 4.16 45 2 4 10 393.2 369 193 182San Diego 23 22 4.31 45 1 1 14 403.1 374 206 193Arizona 19 26 4.46 45 1 4 13 408.0 419 218 202Chicago Cubs 21 22 4.56 43 0 1 9 376.2 349 199 191Houston 18 25 4.62 44 0 2 9 391.2 425 220 201Colorado 18 26 4.86 44 2 2 9 383.2 425 228 207Florida 21 25 4.90 46 1 0 9 419.0 429 251 228Philadelphia 24 19 5.19 43 0 0 10 385.1 413 224 222Washington 13 31 5.60 45 1 0 8 400.0 446 277 249

CLUB HR HBP BB IBB SO WP BKSt. Louis 34 17 144 3 295 9 4L.A. Dodgers 29 20 191 21 341 23 1N.Y. Mets 33 12 169 16 302 11 7San Francisco 38 12 179 16 347 17 3Milwaukee 51 24 160 9 300 17 0Cincinnati 46 20 176 9 306 11 1Atlanta 28 18 159 16 340 16 1Pittsburgh 40 19 166 10 249 11 1San Diego 42 14 179 20 331 15 2Arizona 54 9 150 8 314 22 1Chicago Cubs 52 15 169 11 349 18 4Houston 50 17 159 8 302 11 1Colorado 39 15 137 11 284 12 1Florida 51 12 196 19 376 19 2Philadelphia 69 23 155 9 302 7 1Washington 47 21 198 13 257 26 2


Listen on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 127, online at SportingNews.com or check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

WEEKDAYS 10AM–1PM ET

Q&A with ... Bengals QB Carson Palmer

‘I think the true team concept was somewhat lacking’Before this season’s out, Bengals quarterback

Carson Palmer will turn 30. And the shine on the

Orange County Golden Boy isn’t what it once was.

The last time he made it through a full season,

two years ago, he threw 20 interceptions. In ‘08,

an elbow injury cost Palmer 12 games. And the

Bengals haven’t had a winning season since ‘05.

Add it all up, and there aren’t exactly scores of

fans in Southwestern Ohio holding out hope for

a big comeback year in Bengal-land. But those

on the inside, perhaps buoyed by Palmer’s own

defiant confidence, are ready to deliver on the

promise this team has always seemed to have.

With that outlook, Palmer joined Sporting

News Today’s Albert Breer to explain his health,

his relationship with Chad Johnson and his opti-

mism for 2009.

Q: How’s the elbow holding up? Do you feel like you’re near

where you were before the injury?

A: I’ve only thrown a few long ones (in spring workouts), but it feels

like before I ever hurt my elbow. My arm feels great, and my elbow is not a factor.

Q: In retrospect, how much did it take from your game—

when you were on the field last year—and do you regret trying to fight through it through the season? (Note: The injury occurred Sept. 21; he sat out one week, played Oct. 5 and then missed the rest of the season.)

A: I tried to fight through it for a few weeks. I didn’t want to be

out of the lineup. It was frustrating sitting out, but as the season went on I became more resigned to the fact that I just had to let it rest.

Q: Where have things slipped since ’05 for the Bengals,

aside from just injuries? And what will it take to get back to the playoffs?

A: We had a very talented team, but after 2005 we couldn’t come

together like we needed to. I think the true team concept was somewhat lacking. You’ve got to love being a part of this team and sacrifice some indi-vidual goals for the team.

Q: How does this team feel different than those high-

flying groups a few years back?

A: This team is going to be good. I’m sure of that, and I want all

my teammates to know I’m sure of it. We have a different locker room and a better work ethic. It’s not only about having the best talent. We’ve got plenty of talent, don’t get me wrong, but the key is going to be working hard every day and believing in each other.

Q: Why should Bengals fans be excited about the ’09 team?

A: Besides what I just talked about, I think our fans should be

excited about the moves we’ve made and the draft we had. I think they are

excited. I know there will still be a lot of fans who are going to make us prove it first, but that’s fine. That’s what it’s all about. They have every right to feel that way, and I’m excited about bringing all of them on board.

Q: With all the changes in personnel, how has your role

within the team changed?

A: My role change is to be more of a leader than ever: To be con-

scious of always leading by example and to lead vocally when the need is there. I don’t have a problem with any of that. That’s part of your job as a quarterback.

Q: How are your feelings on Johnson, a.k.a. “Ochocinco,”

coming back? And do the plusses still outweigh the minuses?

A: Chad is a great talent, but he hasn’t been here (at offseason

workouts), and I’m focusing on the guys who are trying, just like they should be, to take his position. Our coaches will decide which receivers are going to be in the game. Whoever they are, it’s my job to get the ball to them. I’m not obsessing about any one individual.

Q: How are your goals different now than when you were 25

or 26?

A: My goals are no different. Win the Super Bowl.

BILL KOSTROUN / AP

Bengals QB Carson Palmer (9), who will turn 30 in the upcoming season, believes he needs to be more of a leader than ever.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 35NFL


http://www.sportingnews.com/radio/player.php

Scouts’ views

Inside linebacker rankings: Urlacher will bounce back in ’09Tackles are the stat of choice for the guys who

play in the middle of the field. But more and

more, middle linebackers, particularly in Tampa-2

schemes, are asked to play more in coverage, so

their ability to diagnose plays quickly becomes

more critical. Inside linebackers generally are

the smartest and most instinctive players on the

defensive side of the ball.

RealScouts, SN Today’s team of former NFL

scouts, rank their top 20 inside linebackers for ‘09:

1. Brian Urlacher, Bears. He recorded 90-plus tackles for the eighth time

in his nine-year career but didn’t make as many impact plays in ’08. That has a lot to do with the lack of production from the defensive line. That will change, and Urlacher will play with renewed energy after being left off the Pro Bowl roster.

2. Patrick Willis, 49ers. Willis has made 315 tackles in his two NFL seasons,

the most in the league during that span. He shows great range and a nose for the ball, and he now has experience. He likely will take the top spot from Urlacher a year from now.

3. Karlos Dansby, Cardinals. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis is talking

about using a straight 3-4 scheme this season, but the Cardinals might not have the personnel to do it. Dansby aligns inside sometimes in the 3-4—but that’s only about 30-40 percent of the time. His best asset is versatility, an ability to line up anywhere on the field and make plays in every facet of the game.

4. Ray Lewis, Ravens. As long as he is protected by big guys like Kelly

Gregg, Justin Bannan and Haloti Ngata, Lewis can do what he does best—attack the ballcarrier. Lewis is a good tackler and run defender, and in ’08 he proved he is surprisingly effective in coverage.

5. Jon Beason, Panthers. Beason has 278 tackles in his first two seasons,

showing no struggles in filling Dan Morgan’s role. Beason is a tremendous athlete with great range and an aggressive style of play.

6. DeMeco Ryans, Texans. Ryans’ tackle numbers have gone down in each of

his three seasons, but he still is highly productive. He is great at diagnosing plays and gets to the ball quickly. He is an outstanding athlete with great range and instincts.

7. James Farrior, Steelers. Age doesn’t seem to be catching up to Farrior, 34. He set

a career high in sacks in ’07 with 6 1/2 and has 115-plus tackles in three of the last four seasons. He also is durable, having started every game but two since ’02. He is an every-down player, even this late in his career.

8. E.J. Henderson, Vikings. He had put together back-to-back 100-plus

tackle seasons and was playing at a Pro Bowl level in ’08 when a foot injury ended his season in Week 4. He plays with a mean streak and is an excellent run defender who benefits from the double-teams drawn by Kevin and Pat Williams in front of him.

9. Barrett Ruud, Buccaneers. He has improved every season and is a

tenacious and versatile linebacker who never comes off the field. He is a tough-minded player who plays hurt and prob-ably is the best player on a good defense.

10. Kirk Morrison, Raiders. He has recorded at least 116 tackles in

each of his four seasons and is excellent in coverage. He always hustles and shows great range and intelligence, making all the defensive calls. He is a natural leader.

11. Antonio Pierce, Giants. Pierce didn’t have his best year in ’08 and

likely is looking forward to a fresh start this season. He is a smart, instinctive player who flows quickly to the ball and will be helped a great deal by the improve-ments along the line.

12. Bart Scott, Jets. He is strong and versatile, a big hitter and can be

an effective blitzer. However, while the Jets have some good players, Scott won’t be surrounded by the same kind of support-ing cast he had in Baltimore. The knock on Scott has been his inability to make an impact on his own. We’ll see.

13. A.J. Hawk, Packers. He moves to a full-time gig inside in ’09. We

like his chances with big bodies Cullen Jenkins, Justin Harrell and rookie B.J. Raji in front of him. An intense and competitive player, Hawk loves contact and is a fero-cious tackler. He should put up career numbers in the linebacker-friendly 3-4 scheme.

14. London Fletcher, Redskins. The undersized Fletcher has made a

career of using his quickness, instincts and athleticism to make plays. He has recorded 100-plus tackles in nine consecutive seasons, and with Albert Haynesworth occupying multiple blockers up front another 100-tackle campaign is a lock.

15. D’Qwell Jackson, Browns. Jackson led the NFL in tackles in ’08 with

154. He makes plays all over the field and always is around the ball. New coach Eric Mangini uses a scheme similar to the one used by former coach Romeo Crennel.

16. Jerod Mayo, Patriots. The Defensive Rookie of the Year in ‘08, Mayo

made an immediate impact on the Patriots. That’s saying something in Bill Belichick’s complex matchup scheme. Now comfort-able in the system, he could fly up this list.

17. Nick Barnett, Packers. Barnett is at his best when playing forward.

He wraps up ballcarriers, particularly between the tackles, which makes the move to a 3-4 system a good fit.

18. Curtis Lofton, Falcons. His tackling ability earned him the starting

spot on running downs. He has spent the offseason working on his play in coverage, which means he’ll be on the field on third down in ’09. He will be better in Year 2 and make more impact plays.

19. Paul Posluszny, Bills. Posluszny, who missed 13 games of his rookie year

after tearing his ACL, came on strong in ‘08 and surely benefitted from the presence of DT Marcus Stroud. Posluszny attacks the line and is a good tackler—in tight quarters and in the open field. As he improves in zone coverage, he will climb the list.

20. Jonathan Vilma, Saints. Coming back from knee surgery, he didn’t miss

a snap last season and made a team-high 132 tackles. New coordinator Gregg Williams’ scheme will help Vilma even more, allowing him to use his speed and athleticism to run to the ball and make plays sideline-to-sideline.— RealScouts, a team of former NFL scouts, analyze NFL and college

players, coaches and teams exclusively for Sporting News Today.

NFL calendar June 1—Deadline for old clubs to send

tender to unsigned unrestricted free agents to receive exclusive negotiating rights for rest of season if player is not signed by another club by July 22. Deadline for old clubs to send tender to unsigned restricted free agents or to extend qualifying offer to retain exclusive negotiating rights.

June 15—Deadline for old clubs to with-draw original qualifying offer to unsigned restricted free agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights by substituting tender of 110 percent of previous years salary.

July 22—Signing period ends at 4 p.m. EDT for unrestricted free agents who received June 1 tender.

Aug. 9—Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, Canton, Ohio.

Aug. 13-17—First preseason weekend.

Sept. 1—Roster cutdown to maximum of 75 players.

Sept. 5—Roster cutdown to maximum of 53 players.

Sept. 10—Season opener.

BOB LEVERONE / SN

Brian Urlacher didn’t make the Pro Bowl last year and should be energized by the snub this season.



Goodwill, goodbye: NFL, union return to typical bickeringBY DANIEL KAPLAN & LIZ MULLEN

SportsBusiness Journal

Any flickering hope that new NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith could quickly help settle the burgeoning labor dustup between the NFL and the players died quickly last week.

Smith’s calls for the league to open its finan-cial books as an initial gesture of partnership were rebuffed in near-derisive terms by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

“There is a very clear understanding of our economics. If De being new to the situa-tion needs a better understanding of our economics, we will certainly be willing to go through that with him,” Goodell said last week, a comment seen in some quarters as a not-so-subtle dig at Smith.

A source close to the league accused Smith of using the financial transparency issue to gin up a phony campaign against the league.

“De is using the owners’ reluctance to disclose every single item in their books as a P.R. weapon,” said the source, who requested anonymity because the person is not authorized to speak publicly.

Taken together, the comments mean it has taken about two months since Smith got his job to return to the type of back-and-forth public disagreement, often in cynical terms, that marked the terrain of league and union discourse prior to the August death of former executive director Gene Upshaw.

It also means the collective-bargaining talks expected to begin early next month almost certainly will yield little and might not even move to the owners’ core issue of the players’ percentage take of league revenues.

Smith, who took his position in mid-March and talked soon after optimistically about reaching a deal, has in recent weeks tempered his remarks. Gone are the com-ments about his new friend Goodell and predictions of reaching a deal. Instead, Smith has begun saying it would not be the

players’ fault if the owners locked them out in 2011.

Asked how he would respond if the own-ers did refuse to back down on the finan-cial issue, Smith told the Sports Lawyers Association last week, “If we can’t get to a point where we understand the importance of financial disclosure as the bedrock of those negotiations, then I guess that is where we start.

“When we understand the profit-loss per team, we will be partners,” Smith said. “When we understand the average rate of return per game per team, we will truly be partners.”

Said Denver’s Pat Bowlen, the lead owner on the league’s labor negotiating commit-tee, “The idea we are all going to open our books and let the NFLPA have a look at them, that is not the way we operate.”

Smith spoke at the lawyers association meeting in Chicago before traveling to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to speak directly with owners gathered there for their spring meeting.

The league’s position is the union knows all its revenues and a majority of costs because of player salaries. Goodell also contends the union knows about the league’s stadium costs, though union

representatives previously have said that was only partially true.

Notably, Smith’s comments are focused on how NFL teams have performed the last 10 years, a sure sign he will not be impressed with the league’s talk of shrinking profit margins in the last few years. The union’s position is that if the league wants major changes to player compensation, the NFL has to prove why that is necessary.

Additionally, Smith sent a letter to Goodell last week asking for an explanation of the league’s decision last year to opt out of the agreement, ending the CBA two years early.

“We would like to get a better understand-ing of why they opted out,” said Scott Fujita, linebacker and player representative for Saints. “Players want to be involved now more than ever, and they recognize the importance of a CBA and getting a deal done.”

The CBA expires after the 2010 season, though if a deal is not reached by early next year that final campaign will have no sal-ary cap.

The full makeup of the negotiating teams remains uncertain. On the NFL side, the top negotiators are Goodell, general coun-sel Jeffrey Pash and outside counsel Bob Batterman. Three years ago, the two key owners were Pittsburgh’s Dan Rooney, who is now U.S. ambassador to Ireland, and Carolina’s Jerry Richardson, who is recovering from heart transplant surgery earlier this year.

Bowlen said he presumed he would be at the talks, but Goodell apparently has not chosen the owners he wants at the table. Pash said not to count out Richardson, whose health is improving.

On the union side, in addition to Smith, general counsel Richard Berthelsen and outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler are expected to be there. NFL players are also expected to be at the table.—Daniel Kaplan and Liz Mullen are staff writers for SportsBusiness

Journal. E-mail them at [email protected] and

[email protected].

GARY HE / AP

New NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith called for the league to open its financial books last week and received a brusque response from commissioner Roger Goodell.





INSIDE DISHRemaining free agents A quick look at the remaining NFL free agents by position

(R-restricted free agent, F-franchise tagged player):

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks—Brooks Bollinger, Dallas; Ken Dorsey,

Cleveland; Gus Frerotte, Minnesota; Charlie Frye, Seattle;

Drew Henson, Detroit; Quinn Gray, Kansas City; Trent Green,

St. Louis; Rex Grossman, Chicago; Brad Johnson, Dallas; J.P.

Losman, Buffalo; Jamie Martin, San Francisco; Craig Nall,

Houston; Marques Tuiasosopo, Oakland; Anthony Wright, NY

Giants.

Running backs—Darian Barnes, New Orleans; Tatum Bell,

Denver; Brian Calhoun, Detroit; Jesse Chatman, NY Jets; P.J.

Daniels, Baltimore; Reuben Droughns, NY Giants; Warrick

Dunn, Tampa Bay; DeShaun Foster, San Francisco; Samkon

Gado, St. Louis; Nick Goings, Carolina; Ahman Green, Houston;

Andre Hall, Denver; Kay-Jay Harris, NY Giants; Maurice Hicks,

Minnesota; Edgerrin James, Arizona; Rudi Johnson, Detroit;

Deuce McAllister, New Orleans; Travis Minor, St. Louis; Chris

Perry, Cincinnati; Andrew Pinnock, Denver; Michael Pittman,

Denver; P.J. Pope, Denver; Cecil Sapp, Houston; Aaron Stecker,

New Orleans; Selvin Young, Denver.

Wide receivers—Drew Bennett, St. Louis; Marty

Booker, Chicago; Drew Carter, Oakland; Jason Carter;

Carolina; Keary Colbert, Detroit; Jayson Foster, Denver; D.J.

Hackett, Carolina; Dante Hall, St. Louis; Marvin Harrison,

Indianapolis; Ike Hilliard, Tampa Bay; Darrell Jackson,

Denver; Nate Jackson, Denver; Matt Jones, Jacksonville;

Joe Jurevicius, Cleveland; Ashley Lelie, Oakland; Brandon

Lloyd, Chicago; Dane Looker, St. Louis; Marcus Maxwell,

Baltimore; Anthony Mix, Tampa Bay; Ben Obomanu (R),

Seattle; Tab Perry, Miami; Jerry Porter, Jacksonville; Kevin

Robinson, Kansas City; Koren Robinson, Seattle; Edell

Shepherd, Denver; Travis Taylor, Detroit; Amani Toomer,

NY Giants; Kelley Washington, New England; Todd Watkins

(R), Oakland; Harry Williams, Houston; Reggie Williams,

Jacksonville; Wallace Wright (R), NY Jets.

Tight ends—Courtney Anderson, Houston; Adam Bergen,

Denver; Mark Bruener, Houston; Scott Chandler, San Diego;

Owen Daniels (R), Houston; Nate Lawrie, Cincinnati; Michael

Merritt, Kansas City; Martrez Milner, NY Giants; Chad Mustard,

Denver; Jeff Robinson, Seattle; Derek Schouman (R), Buffalo;

Stephen Spach (R), Arizona; Daniel Wilcox, Baltimore; Kris

Wilson, San Diego.

Offensive tackles—Tyson Clabo (R), Atlanta; Anthony

Davis, St. Louis; Jon Dunn, Detroit; Wayne Gandy, Atlanta;

Kwame Harris, Oakland; Jonas Jennings, San Francisco;

Levi Jones, Cincinnati; James Marten (R), Oakland;

Fred Miller, Chicago; Rob Petitti, St. Louis; Jon Runyan,

Philadelphia; Charles Spencer, Jacksonville; Barry Stokes,

New England; Mark Tauscher, Green Bay; Mark Wilson (R),

Oakland.

Guards—Lennie Friedman, Cleveland; Pete Kendall,

Washington; Matt Lentz, Detroit; Terrence Metcalf, Chicago;

Edwin Mulitalo, Detroit; Chris Naeole, Jacksonville; Grey

Ruegamer, NY Giants; Kendall Simmons, Pittsburgh; Rob Sims

(R), Seattle; Jason Whittle, Buffalo.

Centers—Brennen Carvalho, Green Bay; Jean-Philippe

Darche, Kansas City; Melvin Fowler, Buffalo; Matt Lehr, New

Orleans; Andy McCollum, Detroit; Jeremy Newberry, San

Diego; Scott Peters, Arizona; Cory Withrow, St. Louis.

DEFENSE

Defensive ends—Kevin Carter, Tampa Bay; Earl Cochran,

Houston; Sean Conover, NY Jets; Nick Eason, Pittsburgh;

Kalimba Edwards, Oakland; Ebenezer Ekuban, Denver;

John Engelberger, Denver; Simon Fraser, Atlanta; Roderick

Green, San Francisco; Travis LaBoy, Arizona; Jayme Mitchell,

Minnesota; Jerome McDougle, NY Giants; Julius Peppers

(F), Carolina; Josh Savage, New Orleans; Anthony Weaver,

Houston; James Wyche, Jacksonville.

Defensive tackles—Kenderick Allen, Minnesota; Gary

Gibson, Carolina; La’Roi Glover, St. Louis; Vonnie Holliday,

Miami; Antwan Lake, New Orleans; Langston Moore, Detroit;

Kindal Moorehead, Atlanta; Dewayne Robertson, Denver;

Orpheus Roye, Pittsburgh; Hollis Thomas, New Orleans; Josh

Thomas, Indianapolis; John Thornton, Cincinnati; Darwin

Walker, Carolina; Ellis Wyms, Minnesota; Brian Young, New

Orleans; Jeff Zgonina, Houston.

Linebackers—Rufus Alexander, Indianapolis; Jason Babin,

Kansas City; Rocky Boiman, Kansas City; Derrick Brooks, Tampa

Bay; Khary Campbell, Washington; Anthony Cannon, Detroit;

Dan Cody, Baltimore; Rosevelt Colvin, New England; Donte’

Curry, Carolina; Donnie Edwards, Kansas City; Keith Ellison (R),

Buffalo; Troy Evans, New Orleans; Gilbert Gardner, Chicago;

Curtis Gatewood, Kansas City; Morlon Greenwood, Houston;

Marques Harris, San Diego; Napoleon Harris, Minnesota;

Abdul Hodge (R), Cincinnati; Mike Humpal, Pittsburgh; Brad

Kassell, NY Jets; Jason Kyle, Carolina; Teddy Lehman, Buffalo;

Paris Lenon, Detroit; Wesly Mallard, Seattle; Jim Maxwell,

Cincinnati; Willie McGinest, Cleveland; Marques Murrell (R), NY

Jets; Ryan Nece, Detroit; Shantee Orr, Cleveland; Antwan Peek,

Cleveland; Carlos Polk, Dallas; Junior Seau, New England; Matt

Sinclair, Washington; Gary Stills, St. Louis; Terrell Suggs (F),

Baltimore; Dontarrious Thomas, Minnesota; Pisa Tinoisamoa,

St. Louis; Marcus Washington, Washington; Nate Webster,

Denver.

Cornerbacks—David Barrett, NY Jets; Fakhir Brown, St. Louis;

Terry Cousin, Cleveland; Jason Craft, St. Louis; Travis Fisher,

Detroit; Reynaldo Hill, Tennessee; Roderick Hood, Arizona;

William James, Jacksonville; Michael Lehan, New Orleans; Sam

Madison, NY Giants; Ricky Manning Jr., St. Louis; Derrick Martin

(R), Baltimore; Chris McAlister, Baltimore; Mike McKenzie,

New Orleans; R.W. McQuarters, NY Giants; Deltha O’Neal, New

England; Dunta Robinson (F), Houston; Lewis Sanders, New

England; Duane Starks, Jacksonville; Brandon Sumrall, NY

Giants; DeJuan Tribble, San Diego; Jason Webster, New England;

Jimmy Williams, Houston; Stanley Wilson, Detroit.

Safeties—Oshiomogho Atogwe (F), St. Louis; Michael

Boulware, Minnesota; Mike Brown, Chicago; Oliver Celestin,

Kansas City; Corey Chavous, St. Louis; Will Demps, Houston;

Mike Doss, Cincinnati; Hiram Eugene, Oakland; Mike Green,

Washington; Rodney Harrison, New England; Terrence Holt,

New Orleans; Dexter Jackson, Cincinnati; Sammy Knight, NY

Giants; Marquand Manuel, Denver; Marlon McCree, Denver;

Lawyer Milloy, Atlanta; Chad Nkang, Jacksonville; Jarrad Page

(R), Kansas City; Pierson Prioleau, Jacksonville; Chris Reis (R),

New Orleans; Dwight Smith, Detroit; Jimmy Williams, San

Francisco; Cameron Worrell, Chicago.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kickers—John Carney, NY Giants; Matt Stover, Baltimore.

Punters—Mitch Berger, Pittsburgh; Mike Dragosavich,

Indianapolis; Sam Koch (R), Baltimore; Kyle Larson, Cincinnati;

Ryan Plackemeier, Cincinnati.

Crable could solve Patriots’ pass-rush woes; Vikes want Favre answer soonPatriots OLB Shawn Crable, a

2008 third-round pick, hasn’t played a down in the NFL but could be the solution to the team’s need to upgrade its pass rush. Crable (6-5, 243) fought a shin injury much of last season but is healthy now and could play a lot opposite Adalius Thomas, the Patri-ots’ only proven pass rusher.

Crable said his year off allowed him to add bulk and to improve his knowledge of the defensive system. “I had a lot of meetings, a lot of work-outs and things like that, so I’m just hoping to be smarter this year,” he told The Providence Journal.

Even if he loses the battle with Pierre Woods and Tully Banta-Cain to start, Crable figures to be at least a pass-rush specialist.

Vikings officials have told Sports Illustrated that they expect retired QB Brett Favre to make a decision this week on his latest comeback dalliance. The decision reportedly hinges on Favre’s will-ingness to have arthroscopic sur-gery to sever the torn biceps tendon, which could relieve the pain in his throwing arm.

Vikings coach Brad Childress wants Favre on board sooner than later, even during the 4-6 weeks needed to rehab from such a surgery. The Vikings’ official minicamp runs Friday through Sunday, and the club has other offseason practices scheduled for June 2-5, June 8-11 and June 15-16.

New Bengals S Roy Williams says he is as good as ever, such as when he went to five Pro Bowls as a mem-ber of the Cowboys. Williams, who turns 29 in August, said via the

team’s website that “you can still see I haven’t lost anything, I haven’t lost a step.” Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer concurred.

“He’s done a great job with low body position, great knee bend, coming out of his breaks and he’s really taking to the system,” safe-ties coach Louie Cioffi said. “He’s shown the ability to cover receiv-ers and tight ends in this camp.”

Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell found a silver lining to Michael Vick missing two seasons while imprisoned for his role in a dogfighting ring.

“It was a good time for him as far as sitting down and his body healing,” Russell told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I know he’s in tip-top shape.”

Titans MLB Ryan Fowler, fully healed after two shoulder surger-ies last offseason, wants the start-ing job back that he lost to Stephen Tulloch in the ’08 training camp.

“More than anything, I got a lit-tle too complacent,” Fowler told The Tennessean. “I thought that I could sort of coast through the off-season. Not to say I didn’t train,

but I probably didn’t train with the same kind of passion that I had in the past.”

Fowler has regained much of his lost bulk during the surgeries and rehab and says he is in the best shape of his career, moving with more speed and quickness.

Lions DE Jared DeVries has been with the team since 1999 but is learning new tricks as part of new coach Jim Schwartz’s scheme. Schwartz wants the ends to align wide, outside the offensive tackles, and funnel ballcarriers into the middle. Previous coach Rod Marinelli wanted the ends to fill gaps and force ballcarriers to the outside.

“This is the first time I’ve played out wide like that,” DeVries told the Detroit Free Press. “You get down to it, it’s the total opposite (from last year). Instead of making the corners make the tackles, you make the linebackers make the tackles.”

Steelers defensive coordina-tor Dick LeBeau, the godfather of the 3-4 scheme that’s sweeping the league, never rests, never stops thinking of new wrinkles—even after winning the Super Bowl.

“He gave us a new defense today that he thought about last night when he was in bed,” linebacker James Farrior said last week via the team’s website. “He drew some-thing up for us today. We expect stuff like that from coach LeBeau.

“This offseason is no different. We probably have about 10 new calls right now. They are going to keep coming. It’s the same every year, new calls in and tweaking stuff to make us better. He has a great mind.”

JAY DROWNS / SN

We may finally get a final decision this week as to whether Brett Favre will be returning.



We’ve seen upsets in college bas-ketball before. George Mason reach-ing the Final Four. Davidson knocking off Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin in succession. Has any group ever been more over-matched, though, than the new ethics

coalition devel-oped by the NCAA and its Division I coaches?

There are some really sharp guys on that panel: Michigan’s John Beilein, Boston College’s Al Skin-ner and Vander-

bilt’s Kevin Stallings among them. But they are taking on a monumen-tal job in trying to lead college bas-ketball coaches to exercise more principled standards in recruiting future players.

“In some ways, it may be an unre-alistic mountain to climb,” Stallings said. “We might look back in sev-eral years and all have to admit it was a runaway train that never came back to the station.

“It’s still very much at an infancy stage. I think there are some guys who feel strongly about where the culture of our game has gotten to and would like to do some things to make it better.”

There will be 14 members of the panel, eventually, though 11 were announced. There aren’t any sur-prises on the list, which also included Butler’s Brad Stevens, Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel and Stan-ford’s Johnny Dawkins.

Stallings said among the goals is to influence younger coaches who are getting started in the business to resist the call of the dark side.

“There are young guys getting into this business and they’re watching how this coach does things or that guy does things,” Stallings said. “They quickly become convinced the only means of having any kind of success is to skirt the spirit of the rules. I think there are a lot of people on this com-mittee and a lot of people in college basketball that are examples of that clearly not being the case.”

It can be argued that if you’re paying a coach millions, you want him to bend the rules to his pro-gram’s advantage, like a rich guy would want his tax attorney to exploit every available loophole.

Author Marc Isenberg’s book Money Players is a guide for young athletes seeking to make wise choices in dealing with amateurism issues and pursuing professional careers, and he frequently lectures teams about such matters.

“I’ll be talking to them at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, but these decisions aren’t made by the light of day,” Isen-berg said. “It’s good to have coaches talking, but there is a set of incentives that makes it very difficult for every-body to be on the same page.”

Perhaps the fundamental prob-lem with ethics commission is it’s a little bit like asking the autoworker bolting the tires on a car why the

engine was constructed so sloppily.Certainly there are coaches who

aren’t conflicted about further cor-rupting the players they recruit. There is another segment of coaches, probably much larger, that has grown willing to accept that many players have long since been adopted by agents or their runners and hope this reality does not even-tually damage their programs.

In either case, the problem exists long before it reaches the college level. And it’s not certain what a panel of coaches talking about eth-ics can do about it.

It’s been a half-dozen years since the National Association of Basket-ball Coaches convened its ethics summit in Chicago, and nothing has improved. Scandals in college basketball have not ceased.

There have been so many press conferences and press releases at which various constituencies gath-ered to promise they would better the game. In spring 2007, a group of top AAU coaches and college coaches held a press conference at which they promised a coalition to change how summer basketball operated. It’s still the same.

Last year, the NBA and NCAA held a joint press conference and promised to form a joint corporation that would develop youth basketball

initiatives. The product of their col-laboration has not been obvious.

Isenberg used the term “reform by press release,” and that’s kind of where all this seems to stand.

“It’s pretty evident that the cul-ture of it has gotten away from us,” Stallings said. “It’s still a great game played by great kids at great uni-versities before great fans, but the

culture of it is really in danger. I think some people think, ‘Well that’s just the culture so I’ll figure out how to survive in it.’ And other people might think about what they can do to change it.

“I do know that we’re not going to fix all problems. That’s very unre-alistic. But I think it’s going to take some committed people to affect

change. Some of our issues, some of our problems, are the result of things we, at this juncture, have no control over.”

If there’s an ethics panel that can fix all this, college basketball will have a new standard for the historic upset. Chaminade won’t seem like that big a deal.

[email protected]

Corruption in recruiting poses great challenge for ethics panel

Mike DeCourcyCOLLEGE BASKETBALL

There are young guys getting into this business and they’re watching how this coach does things or that guy does things. They quickly become convinced the only means of having any kind of success is to skirt the spirit of the rules.

— Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings

“”

CHRIS O’MEARA / AP

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, who is on an NCAA committee designed to clean up recruiting, isn’t sure if such a mountain can be climbed.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 39College Basketball



SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 40College Basketball / Horse Racing

LOUISVILLE, KY.—Preakness win-ner Rachel Alexandra worked a half mile at Churchill Downs, but the filly’s owner says it may be another week before he decides whether to enter her in the Bel-mont Stakes.

Jess Jackson said Monday that Rachel Alexandra is “progress-ing well” and will work again next week before a decision is made on the third leg of the Triple Crown on June 6.

Jackson and Harold McCor-mick bought Rachel Alexandra after she won the Kentucky Oaks by 20 1⁄4 lengths May 1. She became the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness on May 16, with jockey Calvin Borel guiding her to victory over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

“She’s recovering nicely and I think, for the time that’s elapsed, only nine days, she’s right on—but we can’t make a decision until we know,” said Jackson, who owns Stonestreet Stable. “My concern is her attitude. She thinks she can run through a brick wall, so her attitude has to be monitored. If anything, we have to hold her back a little bit because she’s so eager to run.”

Rachel Alexandra worked the half mile in 50.20 seconds under exercise rider Dominic Terry over a sloppy track. Also, Mine That Bird worked the same dis-tance in 51 seconds under Borel.

If Rachel Alexandra does not run in the Belmont, which would give her a shot at becoming the first filly to win two-thirds of the Triple Crown, Jackson said the Mother Goose Stakes for fillies at Belmont

Park on June 27 is an option.“It might not be as soon as you’d

want but we’re still considering the Belmont,” Jackson said. “The Mother Goose would give her a little extra time if she needs it. The Belmont would be a full (effort) for her right now.”

With the no-decision, Mine That Bird trainer Chip Woolley also gave Borel more time to decide which horse he’ll ride in the Belmont. Woolley had set a Monday deadline for the jockey.

“He won me a Derby, he deserves the time it takes for him to make the conscious, right decision,” Woolley said. “And nobody knows really if that filly’s going to be run-ning in the Belmont, so it could work out where that’s not even a decision for him. I think a little bit of time’s not too much to ask.”

If Borel chooses Mine That Bird, then Jackson will go with Robby Albarado if the filly runs in the Belmont.

“Calvin is a great jockey and I hope he’d be willing to go with her,” Jackson said. “He has to make his decision for himself and if we’re in there together and he’s not on our horse it’ll probably be Robby Albarado, who was with us with Curlin.”

Albarado is one of the top rid-ers used by Steve Asmussen, who took over as the filly’s trainer after the horse was sold.

Jackson said Rachel Alexandra will give him a sign whether or not the Belmont is next.

“We have to monitor her and make sure that we preserve her because she’s so special; the prin-cipal concern is the horse herself keeping her sound and letting the public enjoy her,” he said. “It’s not necessary that she go in the Bel-mont, she’s got a whole season ahead. She’s been running the whole year so we have to monitor that very carefully.”


Maryland junior G Greivis Vasquez said he’s in no hurry to make a decision about his basketball future. And he doesn’t have to until June 15.

Vasquez is working out for NBA teams and getting a feel for whether he’ll remain in the NBA draft or return to Maryland for his senior season. He worked out for the Washington Wizards late last week and was scheduled to work out with the Minnesota Timberwolves before attending a pre-draft combine later this week in Chicago.

His first two workouts were for the Cleveland Cava-liers and San Antonio Spurs.

“I’m a junior, and I don’t have any pressure. I’m just trying to learn,” Vasquez told The Baltimore Sun. “You can tell if you watch me shooting the ball, I’m getting better. Defensively, I’m getting more comfortable.”

Vasquez, who was Maryland’s leading scorer (17.5) and rebounder (5.4) last season, made nine of 14 uncon-tested shots from behind the three-point line during one drill late in the workout with the Wizards, accord-ing to the newspaper. He also used his height (6-6) to take smaller guards inside.

Others working out were Kentucky G Jodie Meeks, Mississippi G David Huertas and LSU G Marcus Thornton.

Vasquez wouldn’t say what kind of evaluation it might take for him to remain in the draft, according to the Sun. Meeks, also a junior, told the newspaper he would probably return to Kentucky if he didn’t believe he would be drafted.

The Kentucky era under new coach John Calipari will officially begin with a game against … Morehead State.

Morehead State is excited about the Friday the 13th (Nov.) matchup. Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall got the ball rolling. He called the UK offices and spoke to assistant John Robic, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Robic told Tyndall that Calipari wanted non-conference opponents to have an RPI of 140 or better.

“He asked me point-blank how good we’d be,” Tyn-dall told the newspaper. Tyndall said he thought the Eagles could win between 17 and 20 games.

Georgia, which voted last week to spend $40 mil-lion to improve football facilities, has no plans to replace 45-year-old Stegeman Coliseum, though there is a pos-sibility of renovations in the future.

And new coach Mark Fox says he’s fine with that. He says it’s the atmosphere inside the building that’s important.

“The building is perfect. It’s intimate; it’s got nice seats; it’s got access to our campus,” Fox told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “… If we can get the students back and get the fans back and improve our team, then Stegeman is going to be a wonderful place to play college basketball.”

D.J. Magley, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center who started on Western Kentucky’s Sweet 16 team two years ago, is transferring to the University of Tulsa.

TU coach Doug Wojcik announced the transfer on Monday. Magley will have to sit out the upcoming sea-son, and then will have two seasons of eligibility.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL HORSE RACING

INSIDE DISH BELMONT STAKES, Saturday, June 6, 5 p.m. (post time 6:30 p.m.), ET, ABC

Rachel Alexandra trains, no decision made yetTerps’ Vasquez feels working out for NBA teams helps him improve

REED PALMER PHOTOGRAPHY

JOHN BAZEMORE / AP

Rachel Alexandra, the first filly in 86 years to win the Preakness, is ‘recovering nicely.’

Maryland G Greivis Vasquez is still deciding if he will remain in the draft.


FRENCH OPEN ResultsMondayAt Stade Roland GarrosParisPurse: $21.8 million (Grand Slam)Surface: Clay-Outdoor

SinglesMenFirst RoundNikolay Davydenko (10), Russia, def. Stefan Koubek, Austria, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, def. Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, 7-6 (2), 6-1, 6-4.Stanislas Wawrinka (17), Switzerland, def. Nicolas Devilder, France, 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.Potito Starace, Italy, def. Mischa Zverev, Germany, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 1-0, retired.Robin Soderling (23), Sweden, def. Kevin Kim, United States, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-2.Nicolas Massu, Chile, def. Daniel Koellerer, Austria, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 6-3.Nicolas Kiefer, Germany, def. Ilia Bozoljac, Serbia, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, def. Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (4).Victor Hanescu (30), Romania, def. Steve Darcis, Belgium, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Marcos Daniel, Brazil, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.Fernando Gonzalez (12), Chile, def. Jiri Vanek, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.Rui Machado, Portugal, def. Kristof Vliegen, Belgium, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3.Roger Federer (2), Switzerland, def. Alberto Martin, Spain, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.Paul-Henri Mathieu (32), France, def. Laurent Recouderc, France, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.Guillaume Rufin, France, def. Eduardo Schwank, Argentina, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, def. Albert Montanes, Spain, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4.Feliciano Lopez (28), Spain, def. Franco Ferreiro, Brazil, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-2.Teimuraz Gabashvili, Russia, def. Igor Kunitsyn, Russia, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1.Pablo Andujar, Spain, def. Robby Ginepri, United States, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3).Simone Bolelli, Italy, def. Tomas Berdych (19), Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3.Jose Acasuso, Argentina, def. Santiago Ventura, Spain, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0, 6-3.Jurgen Melzer (24), Austria, def. Sergio Roitman, Argentina, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0.Andy Roddick (6), United States, def. Romain Jouan, France, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.Jeremy Chardy, France, def. Thiago Alves, Brazil, 6-2, 7-6 (10), 6-3.Martin Vassallo Arguello, Argentina, def. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 5-5, retired.Diego Junqueira, Argentina, def. Paul Capdeville, Chile, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3.Ivo Minar, Czech Republic, def. Oscar Hernandez, Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3.Igor Andreev (25), Russia, def. Fabio Fognini, Italy, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

WomenFirst RoundAravane Rezai, France, def. Ai Sugiyama, Japan, 6-3, 6-2.Dinara Safina (1), Russia, def. Anne Keothavong, Britain, 6-0, 6-0.Agnes Szavay (29), Hungary, def. Corinna Dentoni, Italy, 6-3, 6-4.Tamarine Tanasugarn, Thailand, def. Camille Pin, France, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.Polona Hercog, Slovenia, def. Alisa Kleybanova (23), Russia, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium, def. Stephanie Foretz, France, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.Venus Williams (3), United States, def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, def. Sabine Lisicki, Germany, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic, def. Yvonne Meusburger, Austria, 6-1, 6-2.Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portugal, def. Melanie South, Britain, 0-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.Carla Suarez Navarro (22), Spain, def. Edina Gallovits, Romania, 6-1, 6-4.Zheng Jie (15), China, def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, France, 6-1, 6-3.Dominika Cibulkova (20), Slovakia, def. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.Olga Govortsova, Belarus, def. Katie O’Brien, Britain, 6-1, 6-1.Maria Sharapova, Russia, def. Anastasiya Yakimova, Belarus, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.Jill Craybas, United States, def. Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, 7-5, 6-2.Mariya Koryttseva, Ukraine, def. Patricia Mayr, Austria, 6-1, 6-1.Akgul Amanmuradova, Uzbekistan, def. Irena Pavlovic, France, 6-3, 6-4.Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spain, def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic, 6-1, 4-6, 9-7.Marion Bartoli (13), France, def. Pauline Parmentier, France, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.Alexa Glatch, United States, def. Flavia Pennetta (14), Italy, 6-1, 6-1.Mariana Duque Marino, Colombia, def. Anna Chakvetadze (26), Russia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.Olivia Rogowska, Australia, def. Maria Kirilenko, Russia, 6-4, 6-4.Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, def. Patty Schnyder (17), Switzerland, 6-4, 6-3.Agnieszka Radwanska (12), Poland, def. Rossana de Los Rios, Paraguay, 6-3, 6-1.Jarmila Groth, Australia, def. Kinnie Laisne, France, 6-4, 6-3.Tathiana Garbin, Italy, def. Ayumi Morita, Japan, 7-5, 7-5.Vera Dushevina, Russia, vs. Caroline Wozniacki (10), Denmark, 6-4, 5-7, susp., darkness.

GlancePARIS—A look at the French Open on Monday:Weather: Sunny. High of 86 degrees.Attendance: 36,016.Men’s seeded winners: No. 1 Rafael Nadal, No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 6 Andy Roddick, No. 10 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 17 Stanislas Wawrinka, No. 23 Robin Soderling, No. 24 Jurgen Melzer, No. 25 Igor Andreev, No. 28 Feliciano Lopez, No. 30 Victor Hanescu, No. 32 Paul-Henri Mathieu.Men’s Seeded Loser: No. 19 Tomas Berdych.Women’s seeded winners: No. 1 Dinara Safina, No. 3 Venus Williams, No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 13 Marion Bartoli, No. 15 Zheng Jie, No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova, No. 22 Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 29 Agnes Szavay.Women’s seeded losers: No. 14 Flavia Pennetta, No. 17 Patty Schnyder, No. 23 Alisa Kleybanova, No. 26 Anna Chakvetadze.Stat of the day: 29—Consecutive wins at the French Open for Nadal, a record for men and tying the overall tournament mark set by Chris Evert.Quote of the day: “I’m definitely a third-set player.”—Venus Williams, who struggled in the middle of her 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.On court today: No. 4 Novak Djokovic vs. Nicolas Lapentti, No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro vs. Michael Llodra, No. 15 James Blake vs. Leonardo Mayer; No. 2 Serena Williams vs. Klara Zakopalova, No. 4 Elena Dementieva vs. Chanelle Scheepers, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic vs. Petra Cetkovska.Today’s forecast: Windy and rainy in the morning, sunny spells in the afternoon. High of 64 degrees.Today’s TV: Tennis Channel, 5 a.m.-noon EDT; ESPN2, noon to 6:30 p.m. EDT.

ShowcaseScheduleAt Stade Roland GarrosParisPlay begins at 5 a.m. EDTCourt Philippe Chatrier

Jelena Jankovic (5), Serbia, vs. Petra Cetkovska, Czech RepublicNicolas Lapentti, Ecuador, vs. Novak Djokovic (4), SerbiaJulien Benneteau, France, vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9), FranceAlize Cornet (21), France, vs. Maret Ani, EstoniaCourt Suzanne LenglenSvetlana Kuznetsova (7), Russia, vs. Claire Feuerstein, FranceBobby Reynolds, United States, vs. Gael Monfils (11), FranceKlara Zakopalova, Czech Republic, vs. Serena Williams (2), United StatesFabrice Santoro, France, vs. Christophe Rochus, BelgiumCourt 1Juan Martin del Potro (5), Argentina, vs. Michael Llodra, FranceVirginie Razzano, France, vs. Daniela Hantuchova, SlovakiaChanelle Scheepers, South Africa, vs. Elena Dementieva (4), RussiaJames Blake (15), United States, vs. Leonardo Mayer, Argentina

PARIS—Those unmistakable shrieks punctuating point after point on Court 1 at the French Open on Monday trumpeted Maria Sharapova’s return to the Grand Slam stage.

There were other ways Sharapova made her presence felt—the big groundstrokes off both wings; the tough-as-nails turnaround after a slow start; the prematch accesso-ries of buttoned-up blue jacket and oversized white purse; the post-match victory waves and blown kisses.

Sharapova’s tennis is not yet back to her lofty standards, as one might expect after shoulder surgery in October and four singles matches in the past 10 months. The 64th-ranked Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus is not the sort of opponent who would normally trouble a top-of-her-game Sharapova, yet there was trouble Monday.

Still, a win is a win, and Sharapo-va’s first match at a major tourna-ment in nearly a year ended with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Yakimova and a spot in the French Open’s second round. It will take more than that performance for Sharapova to erase the uncertainty that comes with such a long layoff.

“This is the first time in my career where I can really say I don’t have any expectations,” the three-time major champion said. “I don’t know how things are going to work out. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, how my shoul-der is going to feel.”

Because of her time away, Sharapova is ranked 102nd and unseeded at Roland Garros, which might help lower others’

expectations, too. A year ago, after all, she was No. 1.

“If I was a mentally weak person or individual,” Sharapova said, “I think I wouldn’t be here today.”

The pressure to produce has not affected Rafael Nadal in the least, and he extended his French Open winning streak to a record 29

matches Monday by beating Mar-cos Daniel of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.

Nadal is trying to become the first player to win five titles in a row in Paris, and the man he beat in the past three finals, Roger Federer, also won easily Monday. More noteworthy, perhaps, was

Andy Roddick’s 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 vic-tory over French wild-card entry Romain Jouan, the American’s first victory in the tournament since 2005.

“I’m just glad I finally won a match out there,” Roddick said.

The only seeded man to exit was No. 19 Tomas Berdych, but there were more surprises on the wom-en’s side, including 116th-ranked American Alexa Glatch’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 14 Flavia Pennetta of Italy. No. 17 Patty Schnyder, No. 23 Alisa Kleybanova and No. 26 Anna Chakvetadze all lost. Third-seeded Venus Williams beat Bethanie Mattek in three sets, while No. 1 Dinara Safina shut out Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-0, 6-0.

When they met at the net, accord-ing to Safina, Keothavong told her, “At least you could give me one game.”

Nadal’s accomplishment wasn’t exactly heralded with much fan-fare. There was no announcement over the loudspeakers, no on-court presentation of a plaque, no wild celebration from the Spaniard. He simply yanked off his yellow head wrap — the one that matched his neon wristbands and accompanied his bright pink shirt — and went to the net to shake Daniel’s hand.

“It’s better than dress the same color every week, no?” Nadal said.

He and Bjorn Borg had shared the men’s mark of 28 consecutive victo-ries at Roland Garros; Nadal now shares the overall tournament mark with Chris Evert. Nadal did have a few wobbles, getting broken while serving for the first set at 5-4 and again to fall behind 3-1 in the second.


Sharapova uneven in return to major play

MICHEL EULER / AP

Maria Sharapova, unseeded after October shoulder surgery, won her first-round match.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 41Tennis


ATP top 10 rankings

CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP

Rafael Nadal has a chance to become the first man ever to win five straight French Opens. Roger Federer, ranked No. 2 in the world, defeated Nadal in their last meeting on May 17.

Players 6-10, Page 43

Here’s an updated look at the Top 10 players in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings as of Monday with their French Open history. The top eight players in the Nov. 17 rank-ings qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London to be held Nov. 23-29. The ATP World Tour Champion will be named the No. 1 player at the end of the season.

— ATPWorldTour.com

1. Rafael Nadal, Spain

French Open history: The four-time defending champion (29-0) is trying to become the first man to win five straight titles in Paris. … He and Bjorn Borg (1978-81) are the only players to win four in a row. … Has never been extended to a fifth set.

Year in review: The ATP World Tour No. 1 has won an ATP World Tour-best five titles in seven finals en route to a 41-4 record (19-1 on clay). … He captured his sixth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, his first on hard courts, with a five-set victory over Federer. ... Also won titles in Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo, Barce-lona and Rome. … His 33-match win-ning streak on clay ended with his loss to rival Federer in the final of Madrid on May 17. … It was also only his second loss in a clay final in his career (26-2), both coming to Federer. … In the semifinals won the longest three-set singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era, prevail-ing in four hours and three minutes (d. Djokovic). … Has a 151-5 clay mark since 2005.

2. Roger Federer, Switzerland

French Open history: The Swiss native entered with a 32-10 career mark, reaching the final the past three years, losing to Nadal each

time. … Trying to become the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in his career.

Year in review: The 27-year-old star has compiled a 27-6 record (10-2 on clay). … He broke nearly a seven-month title drought by earning his 15th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Madrid over Nadal on May 17. … Broke a five-match losing streak to the Spaniard with his 58th career title in his 80th final. … Has won at least one title for nine straight years. … He reached the final at the Austra-lian Open (l. to Nadal in five sets), his first loss in a Grand Slam hard court final (8-1). … He’s one title short of tying Pete Sampras’ all-time record of 14 Slam titles. … Also reached the semifinals in Doha (l. to Murray), Miami (l. to Djokovic) and Rome (l. to Djokovic).

3. Andy Murray, Great Britain

French Open history: The 22-year-old Scot is 2-2 with his best result the third round last year (l. to Almagro).

Year in review: The British star is off to a career-best 31-5 start, includ-ing an 8-3 mark vs. Top 10 oppo-nents (losing twice to Nadal and once to No. 5 del Potro). … In his first nine tournaments, he’s won three ATP World Tour titles (Doha, d. Roddick; Rotterdam, d. Nadal;

Miami, d. Djokovic) and reached another final, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to Nadal). ... He opened the season by defending his title in Doha with back-to-back wins over No. 2 Federer (SF) and No. 8 Roddick (F). … In March, reached the final in Indian Wells, falling to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. … His best clay results are the semifinals in Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal) and the quarterfinals in Madrid (l. to del Potro).

4. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

French Open history: The Belgrade native is 15-4 lifetime,

reaching the semifinals the past two years and quarterfinals in 2006, losing to Nadal each time.

Year in review: The 22-year-old Serb has a 37-11 match record on the season (15-5 on clay) and 2-3 in finals. … He has reached the final in four of his past five tournaments (Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Bel-grade). … He picked up his first ATP World Tour title of the year on Feb. 28 in Dubai (d. Ferrer). … On clay reached the final at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Nadal). … Then advanced to the final in Rome (l. to Nadal) before winning title in his hometown of Belgrade (d. Kubot). …

In his last tournament, reached the semifinals in Madrid where he lost to Nadal after holding three match points in the final set tie-break. … The four hour and three minute match was the longest three-set singles match in the Open Era.

5. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina

French Open history: Has an 1-3 career mark, reaching the sec-ond round last year.

Year in review: The 20-year-old Argentine is the youngest player in the Top 10 and he’s off to a career-best 24-8 start, reaching the quar-terfinals or better in eight of nine

tournaments. … He began the sea-son by capturing his fifth career ATP World Tour title in Auckland (d. Querrey) ... He followed by advancing to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open (d. Cilic, l. to Federer). ... In March, reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells (l. to Nadal) and followed with semifinal in Miami where he beat No. 1 Nadal (l. to Murray). … On clay, reached the quarterfinals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Djokovic) and semifinals in Madrid (d. No. 3 Murray, l. to Federer)



http://ATPWorldTour.com

6. Andy Roddick, United States

French Open History: The top American is 4-7 in his career, winning back-to-back matches only once, in his 2001 debut (d. Chang, ret. vs. Hewitt). … His last win came four years ago.

Year in Review: The Austin, Texas resi-dent has a 27-6 record on the ATP World Tour. … He opened the season by reaching the final in Doha (l. to Murray) and advancing to his fourth semifinal at the Australian Open (d. No. 3 Djokovic, l. to Federer) … In February, reached semifi-nal in San Jose (l. to Stepanek) and won title in Memphis (d. Hewitt in SF, Stepanek in F). ... Improved his title streak to nine consecutive years. … In March, he led the U.S. to a 4-1 first round Davis Cup victory over Switzerland with two wins . … Then reached the semifinals (l. to Nadal) in Indian Wells and quarterfinals in Miami (l. to Federer). … Made his clay debut in Madrid and reached quarterfinals (l. to Federer in three sets). … Married Brook-lyn Decker on April 17 in Austin, Texas.

7. Gilles Simon, France

French Open History: The 24-year-old is 1-4 lifetime in Paris, reaching the second round in 2007.

Year in Review: The top Frenchman has compiled an 18-16 record (4-7 on clay) and advanced to the quarterfinals or better four times this season. … In January reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Aus-tralian Open (l. to eventual champion Nadal). … Then advanced to back-to-back semifinals in Marseille (l. to Llodra) and Dubai (l. to eventual champion Djokovic). … In March, reached the fourth round (after a bye) in Miami with wins over former ATP World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 29 seed Rainer Schuettler (l. to Tsonga). … On clay, reached the third round in Rome and fol-lowed with quarterfinals showing in Esto-ril, losing to eventual champion Albert Montanes and third round in Madrid.

8. Fernando Verdasco, Spain

French Open History: The Madrid native is 8-5 in his career, reaching the fourth round the past two years, losing to Djokovic and Nadal, respectively.

Year in Review: The Spaniard is off to a career-best 23-8 start and ranked a career-high No. 7 on Apr. 20. … Has advanced to the quarterfinals or better in all eight tour-naments. … He opened January by winning nine of 11 matches, highlighted by his first ATP World Tour hard court final in Bris-bane (l. to Stepanek). … Then followed with a career-best SF showing at Australian Open. ... Posted back-to-back wins over No. 4 Murray in five sets in 4th Rd. and No. 6 Tsonga in QF before falling in an epic five-set marathon to Nadal. ... Played longest singles match in tournament history (5:14) and afterwards broke into Top 10 for first time at No. 9 (from No. 15) on Feb. 2. … Also quarterfinalist in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and home-town in Madrid.

9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France

French Open History: The 24-year-old is making his second appearance, his first since 2005 when he lost to Roddick in the 1st Rd.

Year in Review The No. 2 Frenchman has advanced to the quarterfinals or bet-ter in seven of 10 tournaments this season en route to a 26-7 match record, which is tied for sixth on the ATP World Tour. … Last year he didn’t win his 26th match until late-October in Lyon…Has already captured titles in Johannesburg (d. Chardy) and Marseille (d. Llodra) in the first two months. ... In March, reached the quarterfinals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami, defeating country-man Gilles Simon in three sets before fall-ing to eventual finalist Novak Djokovic. … In his season clay court debut in Rome, lost in the first round to countryman Richard Gasquet and lost in the second

round in Madrid.

10. Gael Monfils, France

French Open History: The 22-year-old Frenchman has a 10-4 career record, reaching the semifinals last year (l. to Federer) and 4th Rd. in 2006.

Year in Review: Monfils has been both-ered by a right knee injury the past two months. … Has a 15-8 match record and one of two players (Verdasco) to crack the Top 10 for the first time this year...He opened the season with a SF in Doha (d.

No. 1 Nadal) before losing to Roddick. … Followed with 4th Rd. at the Australian Open where he retired with a right wrist injury (after three sets) against Simon. … He broke into the Top 10 for first time on Feb. 23 and reached final in Acapulco (l. to Almagro), his sixth straight runner-up. … He advanced to the 4th Rd. in Miami, saving two match points in win over Marat Safin before losing to Roddick. … Has withdrawn from last three clay tour-naments, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, due to knee injury.

ATP top 10 rankings: 6-10 ATP World Tour schedule/winnersJan. 4-11 — Brisbane International, HO (Radek Stepanek)Jan. 5-10 — Qatar ExxonMobil Open, HO (Andy Murray)Jan. 5-11 — Chennai Open, HO (Marin Cilic)Jan. 12-17 — Medibank International, HO (David Nalbandian)Jan. 12-17 — Heineken Open, HO (Juan Martin del Potro)Jan. 19-Feb. 1 — Australian Open, HO (Rafael Nadal)Feb. 2-8 — Movistar Open, CO (Fernando Gonzalez)Feb. 2-8 — PBZ Zagreb Indoors, HI (Marin Cilic)Feb. 2-8 — SA Open, HO (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga)Feb. 9-14 — Brasil Open, CO (Tommy Robredo)Feb. 9-15 — SAP Open, HI (Radek Stepanek)Feb. 9-15 — ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, HI (Andy Murray)Feb. 15-22 — Open 13, HI (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga)Feb. 16-22 — Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, HI (Andy Roddick)Feb. 16-22 — Copa Telmex, CO (Tommy Robredo)Feb. 23-28 — Abierto Mexicano Telcel, CO (Nicolas Almagro)Feb. 23-28 — Barclays Dubai Championships, HO (Novak Djokovic)Feb. 23-March 1 — Delray Beach International Championships, HO (Mardy Fish)March 2-8 — Davis Cup IMarch 12-22 — BNP Paribas Open, HO (Rafael Nadal)March 25-April 5 — Sony Ericsson Open, HO (Andy Murray)April 6-12 — U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships, CO (Lleyton Hewitt)April 6-12 — Grand Prix Hassan II, CO (Juan Carlos Ferrero)April 12-19 — Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, CO (Rafael Nadal)April 20-26 — Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, CO (Rafael Nadal)April 27-May 3 — Internazionali BNL d’Italia, CO (Rafael Nadal)May 3-10 — Estoril Open, CO (Albert Montanes)May 3-10 — BMW Open, CO (Tomas Berdych)May 4-10 — Serbia Open, CO (Novak Djokovic)May 10-17 — Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid, CO (Roger Federer)May 17-23 — Interwetten Austrian Open, CO (Guillermo Garcia-Lopez)May 17-23 — ARAG ATP World Team Championship, CO (Serbia)Through-June 7 — Roland Garros, Paris, COJune 8-14 — Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, GOJune 8-14 — AEGON Championships, London, GOJune 14-20 — Ordina Open, Den Bosch, Netherlands, GOJune 14-20 — AEGON International, Eastbourne, England, GOJune 22-July 5 — The Championships, Wimbledon, England, GOJuly 6-12 — Davis Cup IIJuly 6-12 — Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, GOJuly 13-19 — Catella Swedish Open, Bastad, Sweden, COJuly 13-19 — Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany, COJuly 19-26 — Indianapolis Championships, Indianapolis, HOJuly 26-Aug. 2 — Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland, COJuly 27-Aug. 2 — LA Tennis Open, Los Angeles, HOJuly 27-Aug. 2 — Studena Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia, COAug. 2-9 — Legg Mason Classic, Washington, HOAug. 10-16 — Rogers Cup, Montreal, HOAug. 16-23 — Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, Mason, Ohio, HOAug. 23-29 — Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, Connecticut, HOAug. 31-Sept. 13 — U.S. Open, New York, HOSept. 14-20 — Davis Cup IIISept. 21-27 — Open de Moselle, Metz, France, HISept. 21-27 — BCR Open Romania, Bucharest, Romania, COSept. 29-Oct. 4 — Thailand Open, Bangkok, Thailand, HIOct. 5-11 — China Open, Beijing, HOOct. 5-11 — Japan Open, Tokyo, HOOct. 12-18 — Shanghai ATP Masters, Shanghai, China, HOOct. 19-25 — If Stockholm Open, Stockholm, Sweden, HIOct. 19-25 — Kremlin Cup, Moscow, HIOct. 25-Nov. 1 — St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia, HIOct. 26-Nov. 1 — Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Lyon, France, HIOct. 26-Nov. 1 — Bank Austria Tennis Trophy, Vienna, Austria, HINov. 2-8 — Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel, Basel, Switzerland, HINov. 2-8 — Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, Valencia, Spain, HINov. 8-15 — BNP Paribas Masters, Paris, HINov. 22-29 — Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London, HINov. 30-Dec. 5 — Davis Cup Final

BERNAT ARMAGUE / AP

Andy Roddick, ranked No. 6, is the United States’ best hope, but he has a 4-7 career record at Roland Garros.



ROME—About 5,000 ticketless fans are expected for the Champi-ons League final this week between Manchester United and Barcelona.

Thousands of law enforcement officers will patrol the area around Olympic Stadium and the city center as well as airports and sub-way stations, officials said Mon-day after a security meeting. The patrols will begin Tuesday, a day before the final.

Bans on alcohol sales will be imposed from Tuesday until the early hours of Thursday.

“Everything that could be done to avoid incidents has been done,” Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said.

An estimated 67,000 fans are to attend the game, including 30,000 from England and 20,000 from Spain. Many are expected to arrive through Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci and Ciampino airports starting Tuesday.

About 5,000 ticketless fans are expected from England, including a few dozen hard-core supporters, and a few dozen from Spain, said Rome police chief Giuseppe Caruso.

Another official, Prefect Giuseppe Pecoraro, warned against counterfeit tickets. He said police had seized fake tickets, although he declined to give numbers, citing an ongoing investigation.

The security plan includes deploying 1,000 stewards inside the stadium. About 500 volun-teers of the Civil Protection Department and 1,500 traffic officers will beef up the police and

Carabinieri contingent.Caruso declined to give an over-

all number of police forces involved. About 30 police officers evenly split from England and Spain will help the Italians.

Barcelona’s Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta took part in the team’s final training session Monday before leaving for the Champions League final against Manchester United.

The Spanish champion said on its Web site that neither player trained fully at the Camp Nou due to leg injuries but would likely be available for Wednesday’s final at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

“They’re working hard and the overall impression is good,” Bar-celona midfielder Xavi Hernan-dez said. “I think they will be able to play.”

Henry injured his right knee in a 6-2 win at Real Madrid on May 2, while Iniesta hurt his right thigh in a 3-3 draw with Villarreal a week later.

Henry has scored 25 goals this season but missed the 1-1 semifi-nal draw at Chelsea, where Inies-ta’s injury-time equalizer sent Barcelona through.

Barcelona is looking to become only the fifth team to win three major trophies in one season after having also won the Copa del Rey.

“It comes at the best moment—physically and psychologically,” Xavi said of the final.


Champions League Final: Barcelona vs. Manchester United, 2:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, ESPN

NOTEBOOK

Rome readies security for Champions League final

ROME—Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?Forget about which team wins Wednesday’s

Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona, the debate over who really is the best player in the world could be decided on the field rather than by ballot.

Ronaldo has the official title right now, given to him by FIFA after his 42 league and cup goals last season helped Man United win both the domestic Premier League title and the Champions League.

Having won the English league again with Ronaldo contributing 18 goals, United could repeat its double when it faces newly crowned Spanish champion Barca at Rome’s Stadio Olim-pico in a final that has long been desired by neu-tral football fans.

It’s a final that pits probably the two best strike-forces in club football. Yet the Ronaldo-Messi comparison stands out.

For the past five years, both players have been mesmerizing defenders with their footwork, hammering home goals on a regular basis and setting up chances for their teammates.

Different in build, they have contrasting ways of beating opponents.

Ronaldo, famed for his step-overs and long-range shooting power, uses speed to get past defenders. Messi, much smaller and with a stac-cato gait, plays as if the ball is glued to his feet and manages to squeeze through gaps that don’t appear to be there.

Both stars can also cause so much distraction with their dribbling skills that defenders leave their teammates wide open in front of goal. They are invaluable to their teams and would command huge transfer fees if either team decided to sell them.

But which one is better?It’s no surprise that Man United’s French

defender, Patrice Evra, favors his teammate. He has faced Messi before and successfully kept him quiet when United knocked Barca out in last sea-son’s semifinals before going on to win the title.

“I was confident before the games because I train every day against players like Ronaldo, (Carlos) Tevez and (Wayne) Rooney,” the left back

said, referring to his United teammates. “You have a lot of quality there.”

But he knows how dangerous Messi can be, given just one chance.

“Messi is a player who you can block 10 times,” Evra said. “But, if he passes you once and scores a goal, everyone says: ‘Evra played very badly against Messi.’

“I need that challenge and I love to focus on that. He does amazing things. He’s one of the best play-ers in the world. Ronaldo won the (FIFA award), he scored 42 goals last season and won the Cham-pions League. This is important. I can show

Ronaldo is the best player in the world if I play well against Messi.”

Perhaps Carlos Tevez, a teammate of Ronaldo’s with United and of Messi’s with Argentina, summed it up best.

“Everybody considers them to be the best foot-ball players in the world,” Tevez said. “Some peo-ple will say Messi is the best and some people will say Ronaldo is the best.

“For me, they are both as special as each other. To have them both on the same pitch should be great entertainment for the fans.”


Ronaldo, Messi dueling for world’s best player

PAULO DUARTE / AP MATT DUNHAM / AP

One season after leading Manchester United to a Champions League title, former FIFA player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, left, has them back in the spotlight. Saturday, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, right, will attempt to lock down those honors himself.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 44Soccer


PGA Tour scheduleJan. 8-11 — Mercedes-Benz Championship (Geoff Ogilvy)Jan. 15-18 — Sony Open in Hawaii (Zach Johnson)Jan. 21-25 — Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (Pat Perez)Jan. 29-Feb. 1 — FBR Open (Kenny Perry)Feb. 5-8 — Buick Invitational (Nick Watney)Feb. 12-15 — AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (Dustin Johnson)Feb. 19-22 — Northern Trust Open (Phil Mickelson)Feb. 25-March 1 — WGC-Accenture Match Play Champion-ship (Geoff Ogilvy)Feb. 25-March 1 — Mayakoba Golf Classic (Mark Wilson)March 5-8 — The Honda Classic (Y.E. Yang)March 12-15 — WGC-CA Championship, (Phil Mickelson)March 12-15 — Puerto Rico Open (Michael Bradley)March 19-22 — Transitions Championship (Retief Goosen)March 26-29 — Arnold Palmer Invitational (Tiger Woods)April 2-5 — Shell Houston Open (Paul Casey)April 9-12 — The Masters (Angel Cabrera)April 16-19 — Verizon Heritage (Brian Gay)April 23-26 — Zurich Classic of New Orleans (Jerry Kelly)April 30-May 3 — Quail Hollow Championship (Sean O’Hair)May 7-10 — The Players Championship (Henrik Stenson)May 14-17 — Valero Texas Open (Zach Johnson)May 21-24 — HP Byron Nelson Championship (Rory Saba-tini)Thursday-Sunday — Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, TexasJune 4-7 — The Memorial Tournament, Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, OhioJune 11-14 — Stanford St. Jude Championship, TPC South-wind, Memphis, Tenn.June 18-21 — U.S. Open, Bethpage State Park (Black Course), Farmingdale, N.Y.June 25-28 — Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.July 2-5 — AT&T National, Congressional CC (Blue Course), Bethesda, Md.July 9-12 — John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill.July 16-19 — The Open Championship, Turnberry (Ailsa Course), Turnberry, ScotlandJuly 16-19 — U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Brown Deer Park GC, MilwaukeeJuly 23-26 — RBC Canadian Open, Glen Abbey GC, Oakville, OntarioJuly 30-Aug. 2 — Buick Open, Warwick Hills G and CC, Grand Blanc, Mich.Aug. 6-9 — WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Firestone CC, Akron, OhioAug. 6-9 — Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, Montreux G and CC, Reno, Nev.Aug. 13-16 — PGA Championship, Hazeltine National GC, Chaska, Minn.Aug. 20-23 — Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, N.C.Aug. 27-30—The Barclays, Liberty National GC, Jersey City, N.J.Sept. 4-7 — Deutsche Bank Championship, TPC Boston, Norton, Mass.Sept. 10-13 — BMW Championship, Cog Hill GC, Lemont, Ill.Sept. 24-27 — The Tour Championship, East Lake GC, AtlantaOct. 1-4 — Turning Stone Restort Chamnpionship, Atunyote GC at Turning Stone Resort, Verona, N.Y.Oct. 8-11 — The Presidents Cup, Harding Park GC, San Fran-ciscoOct. 15-18 — Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, TPC Summerlin, Las VegasOct. 22-25 — Frys.com Open, Grayhawk GC, Scottlsdale, Ariz.Oct. 29-Nov. 1 — Viking Classic, Annandale GC, Madison, Miss.Nov. 12-15 — Children’s Miracle Network Classic, Walt Disney World Resort (Magnolia Course, Palm Course), Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Talk about a flair for the dramatic.

Peter Hanson of Sweden grabbed the last of the 11 places available with a hole-in-one at the second playoff hole Monday in final inter-national qualifying for next month’s U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.

Raphael Jacquelin and Simon Khan shot 9-under totals of 135 over 36 holes in Tadworth, England, to head final international qualifying.

“This game is just so stupid some-times,” Hanson said. “Obviously I am delighted to get through, but to do it like that is unbelievable.”

Jacquelin went 67-68 and Khan 68-67 over the Old and New Courses at Walton Heath, south of London. They finished a stroke clear of Simon Dyson, who added a 70 to his morning’s-best 66 to finish at 8-under.

Thomas Levet of France and Andrew McLardy were at 137 with European Tour rookie David Horsey a stroke back.

Seventy-five players were com-peting for 11 places over two rounds on the two courses. There was fur-ther drama as seven players shot 139 and played off for five spots.

Jose-Manuel Lara, Jean-Francois Luc-quin, Johan Edfors and Francesco Moli-nari birdied the first playoff hole, leaving Hanson, Richard Bland and Stephen Gallacher to battle for the last spot.

Hanson grabbed it with the ace on the second playoff hole, the 206-yard 17th on the Old Course.

“We were between clubs on the tee, but I thought that I would go

for a full 6-iron and play for the middle of the green,” he said. “You need a bit of luck with any hole-in-one, and I got my share today.”

This will be Jacquelin’s first U.S.Open after he failed to qualify four times. “I played fantastically today,” he said. “I hope I can play the tournament the same way because I hit the ball very straight today, and I am going to have to do that in America.

“I am delighted to be going—the Majors are the tournaments we all want to play in.”

David Toms missed the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas over the weekend yet made it into the next two majors.

The top 50 in the world rankings after this week are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black and the British Open at Turnberry. Toms slipped only three spots to finish at No. 50, by three-hundredths of a point over Aaron Baddeley, who chose not to play the Nelson and fell two spots to No. 51.

Toms will get to skip 36-hole qualifying June 8 for the U.S. Open.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain birdied the 18th hole at Wentworth for a 68 to tie for 11th in the BMW PGA Championship on the Euro-pean tour, earning enough points to move up 11 spots to No. 49. It will be his first U.S. Open.

Other players exempt from the world ranking are Irish tenn Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Alvaro Quiros, Adam Scott and Justin Rose.

The U.S. Open also exempts the

top 10 from the PGA Tour money list through the Byron Nelson Championship. That group includes Sean O’Hair, Nick Watney, Rory Sabbatini, Paul Casey and Dustin John-son. They also would have been eli-gible through the top 50 in the world.

John Daly’s suspension on the PGA Tour is over, and the two-time major champion plans to return in three weeks for the St. Jude Cham-pionship and U.S. Open qualifying.

Daly was suspended for six months in November after a series of off-course incidents that brought negative publicity, the most recent a photo of him in an orange jail suit with his eyes half-closed after being locked up overnight in North Carolina to get sober.

Daly hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the Buick Invitational five years ago, and he has not kept his card the last two years, having to rely on sponsor exemptions and tournaments where he won, such as the British Open and PGA Championship.

He said he has received a spon-sor’s exemption to the St. Jude Championship on June 11-14 in Memphis, near his home. Daly said he also has received an exemption from the Buick Open the last week in July, and he is hopeful of others.

PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said the tour does not comment on player discipline; it never con-firmed that Daly was suspended, and now cannot confirm that a suspension has been lifted.

Daly told The Associated Press over the Christmas holidays that

he had been suspended for the sec-ond time in his career, and he said he found out two weeks ago while playing in Ireland that he had been reinstated.


INSIDE DISH

Hole-in-one puts Swede in field for U.S. Open

Peter Hanson used a hole-in-one at the second playoff hole to lock up a spot in the U.S. Open.

TOM HEVEZI / AP

U.S. Open qualifyingAt Old and New Courses at Walton HeathTadworth, EnglandPar: 72(q-qualified; x-elimated in playoff)q-Raphael Jacquelin, France 67-68 — 135q-Simon Khan, England 68-67 — 135q-Simon Dyson, England 66-70 — 136q-Thomas Levet, France 70-67 — 137q-Andrew McLardy, South Africa 71-66 — 137q-David Horsey, England 72-66 — 138q-Jose Manuel Lara, Spain 72-67 — 139q-Francesco Molinari, Italy 71-68 — 139q-Jean-Francois Lucquin, France 68-71 — 139q-Johan Edfors, Sweden 73-66 — 139q-Peter Hanson, Sweden 71-68 — 139x-Richard Bland, England 68-71 — 139x-Stephen Gallacher, Scotland 70-69 — 139Other scoresNick Dougherty, England 71-69 — 140Brett Romford, Australia 69-71 — 140Markus Brier, Austria, 70-70 — 140Alastair Forsyth, Scotland 71-70 — 141Wade Ormsby, Australia 74-67 — 141Simon Griffiths, England 72-69 — 141Richie Ramsey, Scotland 71-70 — 141Paul McGinley, Ireland 74-68 — 142OLiver Fisher, England 71-71 — 142Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, France 72-70 — 142Gareth Maybin, Northern Ireland 73-69 — 142Marcus Fraser, Australia 71-72 — 143Chris Wood, England 73-70 — 143Gregory Bourdy, France 72-71 — 143Phillip Archer, England 74-69 — 143Daniel Vancsik, Argentina 70-73 — 143Jamie Donaldson, Wales 73-70 — 143Peter Hedblom, Sweden 72-71 — 143Sam Hutsby, am, England 69-74 — 143Scott Strange, Australia 71-73 — 144Miguel Rodriguez, Argentina 71-73 — 144Richard Finch, England 72-72 — 144Paul Waring, England 72-72 — 144Francois Delamontagne, France 72-72 — 144

At Ryugasaki CC, Ibaraki Prefecture, JapanPar: 72(q-qualified)q-David Smail, New Zealand 68-65 — 133q-Angelo Que, Philippines 70-68 — 138q-Sang Moon Bae, Korea 68-71 — 139q-Kaname Yokoo, Japan 71-68 — 139q-Shintaro Kai, Japan 70-69 — 139Other scoresPrayad Marksaeng, Thailand 66-74 — 140Ryo Ishikawa, Japan 74-70 — 144Brendan Jones, Australia 73-72 — 145

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 45Golf


http://Frys.com

Collegiate Baseball pollTUCSON, ARIZ.—The Collegiate Baseball poll with records through May 24, points and previous ranking. Voting is done by coaches, sports writers and sports informa-tion directors:

Rcrd Pts Pvs

1. U.C. Irvine 43-13 490 1

2. Louisiana St. 46-16 489 2

3. Arizona St. 44-12 488 3

4. Cal. St. Fullerton 42-14 482 5

5. Texas 41-13-1 480 6

6. Florida St. 42-16 478 7

7. North Carolina 42-16 477 4

8. Rice 39-15 474 11

9. Mississippi 40-17 471 8

10. Florida 39-20 469 9

11. Oklahoma 41-18 464 10

12. Louisville 44-15 462 17

13. Virginia 43-12-1 459 21

14. Alabama 37-19 457 12

15. Clemson 40-19 456 13

16. Georgia Tech 35-17-1 453 14

17. Missouri 34-25 450 15

18. Miami, Fla. 36-20 448 16

19. East Carolina 42-17 447 18

20. Coastal Carolina 46-14 445 26

21. Texas Christian 36-16 441 19

22. South Carolina 38-21 440 20

23. Kansas St. 41-16-1 437 22

24. Washington St. 31-23 434 27

25. Oregon St. 35-17 432 —

26. Cal Poly 37-19 428 25

27. Minnesota 38-17 426 24

28. Texas St. 41-15 423 29

29. Texas A&M 36-22 421 —

30. Elon 40-16 419 —

Baseball America Top 25DURHAM, N.C.—The top 25 teams in the Baseball America poll with records through May 24 and previous ranking (voting by the staff of Baseball America):

Rcrd Pvs

1. UC Irvine 43-13 1

2. Louisiana State 46-16 2

3. Arizona State 44-12 3

4. Cal State Fullerton 42-14 4

5. Texas 41-13 5

6. Rice 39-15 11

7. Virginia 43-12 16

8. North Carolina 42-16 6

9. Oklahoma 41-18 8

10. Florida State 42-16 12

11. Florida 39-20 9

12. Mississippi 40-17 7

13. Texas Christian 36-16 10

14. Kansas State 41-16 17

15. Louisville 44-15 20

16. Clemson 40-19 13

17. Georgia Tech 35-17 14

18. East Carolina 42-17 15

19. Gonzaga 35-16 NR

20. Alabama 37-19 18

21. Minnesota 38-17 21

22. Elon 40-16 22

23. Missouri 34-24 24

24. Coastal Carolina 46-14 NR

25. Middle Tennessee 43-16 NR

Tournament No. 1 seeds

A list of No. 1 overall seeds since the

NCAA expanded the tournament field to

64 teams in 1999, with eventual College

World Series winners in parentheses:

2009: Texas (TBD)

2008: Miami (Fresno State)

2007: Vanderbilt (Oregon State)

2006: Clemson (Oregon State)

2005: Tulane (Texas)

2004: Texas (Cal State Fullerton)

2003: Florida State (Rice)

2002: Florida State (Texas)

2001: Cal State Fullerton (Miami)

2000: South Carolina (LSU)

1999: Miami (Miami)

Baseball regionalsGlanceNote: Game times TBADouble EliminationAt Clark-LeClair StadiumGreenville, N.C.FridayGame 1 — South Carolina (38-21) vs. George Mason (42-12)Game 2 — East Carolina (42-17) vs. Bingham-ton (29-20)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Boshamer StadiumChapel Hill, N.C.FridayGame 1 — North Carolina (42-16) vs. Dart-mouth (27-16)Game 2 — Coastal Carolina (46-14) vs. Kansas (37-22)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Doug Kingsmore StadiumClemson, S.C.FridayGame 1 — Alabama (37-19) vs. Oklahoma State (32-22)Game 2 — Clemson (40-19) vs. Tennessee Tech (30-22-1)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Russ Chandler StadiumAtlantaFridayGame 1 — Elon (40-16) vs. Southern Mississippi (35-23)Game 2 —Georgia Tech (35-17-1) vs. Georgia State (39-20)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt McKethan StadiumGainesville, Fla.FridayGame 1 — Miami (36-20) vs. Jacksonville (36-20)Game 2 — Florida (39-20) vs. Bethune-Cookman (32-26)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Dick Howser Stadium

Tallahassee, Fla.FridayGame 1 — Georgia (37-22) vs. Ohio State (40-17)Game 2 — Florida State (42-16) vs. Marist (31-26)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Jim Patterson StadiumLouisville, Ky.FridayGame 1 — Middle Tennessee (43-16) vs. Van-derbilt (34-25)Game 2 — Louisville (44-15) vs. Indiana (32-25)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Oxford-University StadiumOxford, Miss.FridayGame 1 — Missouri (34-25) vs. Western Ken-tucky (39-18)Game 2 — Mississippi (40-17) vs. Monmouth, N.J. (32-23)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Alex Box StadiumBaton Rouge, La.FridayGame 1 — Minnesota (38-17) vs. Baylor (29-24)Game 2 — LSU (46-16) vs. Southern U. (30-15)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt L. Dale Mitchell ParkNorman, Okla.FridayGame 1 — Arkansas (34-22) vs. Washington State (31-23)Game 2 — Oklahoma (41-18) vs. Wichita State (30-25)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Reckling ParkHoustonFridayGame 1 — Kansas State (41-16-1) vs. Xavier (38-19)Game 2 — Rice (39-15) vs. Sam Houston State (36-22)Saturday

Game 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Lupton Baseball StadiumFort Worth, TexasFridayGame 1 — Texas A&M (36-22) vs. Oregon State (35-17)Game 2 — TCU (36-16) vs. Wright State (33-28)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt UFCU Disch-Falk FieldAustin, TexasFridayGame 1 — Texas State (41-15) vs. Boston Col-lege (33-24)Game 2 — Texas (41-13-1) vs. Army (34-19)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Packard StadiumTempe, Ariz.FridayGame 1 — Oral Roberts (31-13) vs. Cal Poly (37-19)Game 2 — Arizona State (44-12) vs. Kent State (42-15)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Anteater BallparkIrvine, Calif.FridayGame 1 — Virginia (43-12-1) vs. San Diego State (40-21)Game 2 — UC Irvine (43-13) vs. Fresno State (32-28)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessaryAt Goodwin FieldFullerton, Calif.FridayGame 1 — Georgia Southern (42-15) vs. Gon-zaga (35-16)Game 2 — Cal State Fullerton (42-14) vs. Utah (26-29)SaturdayGame 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winnerSundayGame 5 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loserGame 6 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winnerMondayGame 7 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, if necessary

The University of Texas was selected Monday as the top seed for the 64-team Division I base-ball tournament.

The Longhorns (41-13-1), who won the Big 12 tournament for the fourth time, will host one of 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals that begin Friday. It’s the second time Texas, coached by Division I career victories leader Augie Garrido, has been the No. 1 overall seed.

“It’s an honor to be the No. 1 seed, but we know all too well that being named No. 1 by some-one doesn’t get you anything,” Garrido said. “You have to go play the games to earn the No. 1 that means something.”

The other national seeds, in order, are: Cal State Fullerton (42-14), LSU (46-16), North Car-olina (42-16), Arizona State (44-12), UC Irvine (43-13), Oklahoma (41-18) and Florida (39-20).

Defending national champion Fresno State, the first team to win it all as a No. 4 seed in a bracket, will play UC Irvine in the first round of the Irvine, Calif., regional. UC Irvine is ranked No. 1 in most national polls, but is in arguably the tour-nament’s toughest bracket. It includes ACC champion Virginia and Tony Gwynn’s San Diego State squad, with ace right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the likely No. 1 overall draft pick.

Strasburg is 13-0 with a 1.24 ERA.

The Big 12—Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Okla-homa, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M—and South-eastern Conference—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, South Caro-lina and Vanderbilt—each received eight berths.


Texas selected top seed for NCAA tournament

AP

Texas’ Austin Wood (44), who has a 5-1 record and 2.58 ERA, helps make up a pitching staff that is regarded as the deepest in college baseball this season.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 46College Baseball


SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 47Back Page

BASEBALL

American League

LOS ANGELES ANGELS: Activated OF Vladimir Guerrero from

the 15-day DL. Optioned OF Reggie Willits to Salt Lake

(PCL).

NEW YORK YANKEES: Placed RHP Brian Bruney on the 15-

day DL, retroactive to May 20.

TAMPA BAY RAYS: Signed manager Joe Maddon to a three-

year contract extension through 2012. Placed 2B Akinori

Iwamura and LHP Brian Shouse on the 15-day DL. Recalled

LHP David Price from Durham (IL). Transferred OF Fernando

Perez to the 60-day DL. Purchased the contract of LHP

Randy Choate from Durham.

National League

COLORADO ROCKIES: Purchased the contract of RHP Josh

Fogg from Colorado Springs (PCL). Designated RHP Matt

Belisle for assignment.

FLORIDA MARLINS: Placed LHP Renyel Pinto on the 15-day

DL. Purchased the contract of RHP Cristhian Martinez from

Jacksonville (SL).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS: Purchased the contract of OF Frank

Catalanotto from Huntsville (SL). Optioned LHP R.J. Swindle

to Nashville (PCL).

HOCKEY

National Hockey League

NHL: Fined Chicago coach Joel Quenneville $10,000 for

public comments critical of League officiating following the

May 24 game against Detroit.

TRANSACTIONSIN BRIEF

LOS ANGELES—Wesley Korir didn’t know what to expect at the Los Angeles Marathon.

The University of Louisville runner just wanted to post a good time in his first elite marathon. He did that and more Monday, setting a course record in capturing the title, the 11th straight year a Kenyan man has won.

“I felt good all the way,” he said.Russia’s Tatiana Petrova was

the top woman, breaking away from the pack after 19 miles.

Korir covered the 26.2 miles in a personal best of 2 hours, 8 min-utes, 24 seconds. Ethiopia’s Tariku Jafar was second in 2:09:32 and Kenya’s Laban Kip-kemboi was third in 2:10:29.

Paul Kosgei of Kenya was taken to a hospital for dehydration but was expected to be OK, race offi-cials said. He finished in 2:21:10.

Korir averaged a 4:53.9 mile and broke the 2:08:40 course record set by Kenya’s Benson Cherono in 2006. He took the pace after 15 miles. He and Jufar exchanged the lead several times down the stretch, but Korir stepped up the tempo when he passed the wom-en’s field after 24 miles.

“I just felt really good and said it was time to go,” he said.

He sprinted past the line and didn’t look fatigued, flashing smiles and shaking hands with fans. He earned $100,000 as part of The Challenge, a battle-of-the-sexes format that allowed the top women to start nearly 17 minutes ahead of the men. He also picked up an additional $60,000 for time bonuses.

In college, Korir ran 5,000-meter

races. He turned heads in his 2008 marathon debut when he finished in 2:13:53 and also won three straight half marathons in 2008-09.

Kipkemboi held the pace with Korir until about 20 miles, then told his countryman to run ahead.

“At the beginning I was feeling OK,” Kipkemboi said. “But after 20 miles, I felt tired so I didn’t keep going with these guys. I ran at my own pace. I told him if he felt really strong to keep pushing.”

TennisCOLLEGE STATION, TEXAS—Mississip-

pi’s Devin Britton and Duke’s Mallory Cecil overcame their inexperience on the final day of the NCAA Division I tennis tournament.

The unseeded Britton became the youngest men’s singles cham-pion ever, while fellow freshman Cecil claimed the women’s singles title at the Mitchell Tennis Center at Texas A&M on Monday.

Britton ended Ohio State senior Steven Moneke’s 22-match win streak with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. Cecil continued her run against Miami players, outlasting Laura Vallverdu 7-5, 6-4 in a 2-hour, 20-minute match.

“It’s and awesome feeling, great for Mississippi tennis,” said Brit-ton, who turned 18 on March 17. “I definitely surprised myself and didn’t see this coming. I just took it one match at a time and didn’t have any mental lapses.”

Moneke broke Britton once and won the first set in a swift 26 minutes.

Moneke continued to put the pressure on Britton early in the

second, gaining break points at 2-2, but once Britton escaped that game, he went on to win five straight games, including the first of the decisive set.

“I definitely picked up my serve in the second and third sets and was able to attack his second serve,” Britton said. “I started mixing up the slice a little bit and just got better and better as the match went on.”

CyclingMONTE PETRANO, ITALY—Tour de

France champion Carlos Sastre of Spain won the 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Monday, a gruel-ing route made even tougher by 100-degree heat.

Denis Menchov of Russia kept the leader’s pink jersey. Levi Leipheimer of the United States was the day’s big loser, cracking on the final climb and dropping from third to sixth in the overall standings.

Leipheimer finished 11th, 2:51 behind Sastre. The Montana rider is 3:21 behind Menchov and acknowl-edged he would have lost even more time if not for Lance Armstrong. The seven-time Tour winner was up ahead with the other favorites but dropped back to escort Leipheimer up most of the climb.

“I would have lost much, much more time. He saved me minutes and minutes,” Leipheimer said of Armstrong’s help. “You see the difference between a seven-time Tour winner like Lance. He was stronger and had to wait for me today. I just didn’t feel like I had it today.”


Major League SoccerEASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAChicago 4 0 6 18 17 11D.C. 3 1 7 16 17 15Toronto FC 4 3 4 16 16 16Kansas City 4 4 3 15 15 13New England 2 3 4 10 8 16Columbus 1 2 6 9 12 15New York 2 6 3 9 10 13

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAChivas USA 7 1 3 24 15 6Seattle 4 2 4 16 14 8Houston 4 2 3 15 11 7Colorado 3 2 4 13 13 11Real Salt Lake 3 5 2 11 14 13Los Angeles 1 1 8 11 12 12FC Dallas 1 6 3 6 9 17San Jose 1 6 2 5 9 19

NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

May 23 GamesToronto FC 3, New England 1D.C. United 0, Real Salt Lake 0, tieKansas City 1, Chivas USA 1, tieFC Dallas 1, Los Angeles 1, tieHouston 3, San Jose 1Colorado 2, Seattle FC 2, tieMay 24 GameChicago 1, New York 0Wednesday’s GameSan Jose at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.Thursday’s GameChicago at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday’s GamesColorado at New York, 7:30 p.m.D.C. United at New England, 7:30 p.m.Toronto FC at Houston, 8:30 p.m.Columbus at Seattle FC, 10:30 p.m.Kansas City at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.Real Salt Lake at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.Sunday, May 31FC Dallas at Chicago, 3 p.m.

University of Louisville runner wins L.A. marathon

JASON REDMOND / AP

Wesley Korir beat the rest of the field at the L.A. marathon with a 2:08:24 time.


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