Mark DeRosa figured it was going to be one of those days. The Colorado Rockies jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and seemed to be taking batting practice against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. "Early on we were like, 'It's going to be rough,' but the way the wind was blowing you never know. They got some runs on fly balls to left field as well.
It's no surprise the Detroit Red Wings have a Swede to thank for a prime-time performance, but Mikael Samuelsson? The demoted forward busted out of a slump with two goals, and Chris Osgood stifled the Pittsburgh Penguins' young and talented stable of forwards with 19 saves to lift the Red Wings to a 4-0 victory in the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night.
Doug Davis received more than the usual pats on the back after he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. "I don't think I remember shedding a tear, but I did give him a big hug," Arizona catcher Chris Snyder said. He wasn't alone. It turned into a group hug in the Diamondbacks' dugout. Davis was relaxed and in control in his first start following his return from cancer surgery, giving up...
The Utah Jazz had plenty of chances to crumble and nearly did. They let a 12-point slip away in the last four minutes and faced overtime against league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead of wilting, Utah played its toughest defense of the playoffs and pulled out a 123-115 victory on Sunday, tying the Western Conference semifinals 2-2.
Paul Goydos would love to say he saw this coming, but he's too honest. He had never broken 70 in nine previous appearances at The Players Championship, yet a 2-under 70 on Saturday made him the only player to break par all three days on the TPC Sawgrass and gave him a one-shot lead over Kenny Perry. Since his last victory 16 months ago on the PGA Tour -- and only the second of his career -- he has...
Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Roger Clemens apologized Monday for unspecified mistakes in his personal life, a statement Brian McNamee's lawyers intend to use to attack the pitcher's credibility at trial. The Daily News reported last week Clemens had a decade-long relationship with country star Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 and an aspiring singer.
As streamers poured from the rafters at Philips Arena, Marvin Williams stood at center court with arms folded, looking defiant, even with a sore knee. Zaza Pachulia grabbed a microphone and summed up this improbable series. "We're going to Game 7! Woooooooooo!" Pachulia screamed. Game 7, indeed. Who would have believed it?
Micah Owings isn't a good hitter for a pitcher. He's a good hitter, period. Owings proved it again Wednesday with an opposite-field, pinch-hit home run that tied the game in the sixth and helped the Arizona Diamondbacks rally from four runs down to beat the Houston Astros 8-7. "I've been blessed to be able to swing it," Owings said, "so every time I get in the box I do my best to help this team."...
Two of Boston's leading hitters got the holiday off. And the Red Sox kept on winning. They beat the Texas Rangers 8-3 Monday on Patriots Day and swept the four-game series while Manny Ramirez and Sean Casey watched from the dugout. Clay Buchholz pitched six shutout innings, David Ortiz continued his surge from a horrible slump with two doubles and three RBIs and Julio Lugo went 4-for-4.
One of Dusty Baker's first questions as he got ready to manage again at Wrigley Field was this: Which way is the wind blowing? After four years as manager of the Cubs, Baker knows how it can affect the game. "The first thing you do when you get here, you check the wind," he said. It was blowing out Tuesday, and the Chicago Cubs hit three homers to beat their former manager and his Cincinnati Reds...
Manny Ramirez wasn't sure if Indians closer Joe Borowski threw him a fastball or a changeup. He was certain of one thing, however. "It was right there," he said. Then, it was over there. Ramirez hit a two-run homer -- No. 493 of his career -- and Boston, down one entering the ninth inning, rallied for three runs against Borowski for a 6-4 win Monday night over Cleveland in a stunning rerun of last...
Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers had the New Jersey Devils' number during the regular season and nothing has changed two games into the playoffs. Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery scored 23 seconds apart in the third period, and Lundqvist made 26 saves in beating the Devils yet again in a 2-1 victory Friday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Tyler Hansbrough, who topped the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring and rebounding and led North Carolina to the Final Four, was selected The Associated Press college basketball player of the year Friday. The 6-foot-9 junior forward averaged 22.8 points, the highest mark by a North Carolina player since 1970, and 10.3 rebounds for the Tar Heels (36-2), who were ranked No.
The Pittsburgh Penguins picked a perfectly poor time to take a night off. Fresh off a big home win over New Jersey on Saturday and facing another key matchup with the Devils on Tuesday in the tight Atlantic Division race, the Penguins never showed up against the New York Islanders and paid for it. Bill Guerin had a goal and assist in the decisive second period for the also-ran Islanders, who...
Carolina Panthers receiver Dwayne Jarrett's difficult rookie season on the field has given way to problems off it. Jarrett, in town for the start of the team's offseason conditioning program, was arrested early Tuesday and charged with driving while impaired. Jarrett was pulled over in the Charlotte suburb of Mint Hill at 3 a.m., said police spokesman Lt.
Separated by only a few feet, Roger Clemens and his accuser were never further apart. There they sat, the star pitcher and his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, sharing a wooden witness table Wednesday while speaking to Congress under oath and facing blistering questions. For 4 1/2 hours, both men stuck to their versions of the he-said, he-said disagreement over whether McNamee injected...
Having gone more than seven years and 199 tournaments without winning, Steve Lowery had every reason to feel out of his element Sunday. He was on the 18th tee at Pebble Beach, one of the most famous spots in golf. He was in a playoff against Vijay Singh, one of golf's toughest customers. And he never felt more at ease.
After a suspenseful month of exhaustive interviews involving at least 10 candidates, the Washington Redskins decided their coach would be: none of the above. Instead, it'll be first-timer Jim Zorn taking the mantle from Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. Two weeks after being hired as the offensive coordinator, the former Seattle Seahawks quarterback was promoted to head coach Saturday night in a surprise...
Before Mike Holmgren decided to return for one -- and only one -- more season coaching the Seahawks, he signed a new pact. Not with Seattle ... with his wife. "She's making me fill out this little contract: 'Upon completion of your last game: The laundry; the garbage; the whole deal,"' Holmgren joked Tuesday when asked what he may feel like after he fulfills the final season of a two-year contract.
Allen Iverson was welcomed to the Motor City with a standing ovation so loud that the public-address announcer couldn't be heard. Then, the Boston Celtics quieted the crowd and spoiled Iverson's first game at home with the Detroit Pistons. Tony Allen scored 12 of his 23 points in the pivotal second quarter, lifting Boston to an 88-76 win on Sunday night.
The Tampa Bay Rays are giving Scott Kazmir the chance to pitch them into the World Series. The 24-year-old left-hander was moved up in the rotation so he could start in the potential AL pennant clincher against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park. The move keeps Kazmir on his regular rest and bumps scheduled starter James Shields to the if-necessary Game 6 at home Saturday.
Jason Elam stood on the sideline with head bowed, figuring he had cost the Atlanta Falcons a win. Then, a kickoff return and a quick pass gave him a second chance. In the blink of an eye, he went from goat to hero. Atoning for his miss a few minutes earlier, Elam booted a 48-yard field goal on the final play to give the Atlanta Falcons a stunning 22-20 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The Boston Red Sox brushed aside the 100-win Angels in four games, dismissing their best-in-baseball regular season as last month's news. When it turns to October, no one dominates like Boston. Moments after the Angels botched a suicide squeeze, Jason Bay slid headfirst into home plate to score on Jed Lowrie's two-out single in the ninth inning.
Candace Parker received the WNBA's most valuable player award Friday, becoming the first player to win the award along with the rookie of the year honors. The Los Angeles star was unanimously selected rookie of the year. The awards capped a big run for Parker, who was college player of the year last season for national champion Tennessee.
The trade. The Los Angeles Dodgers' late-season turnaround started with the trade, and manager Joe Torre thinks it has made all the difference in a team that spent more than four months struggling to find itself. No, not that trade. Derek Lowe held Pittsburgh to five singles over seven effective innings to remain unbeaten in his career against the Pirates, and the Dodgers edged closer to the NL West...
Kurt Warner was completing pass after pass in a flashback to his heady MVP and Super Bowl days. "When you have one of those days when everything's clicking and you feel like you can't be stopped, it brings back a lot of memories of those great years," he said. This performance came at age 37 for an Arizona team that may finally be escaping its sorry history after a 31-10 victory over Miami that has...
Vijay Singh ended up beating Sergio Garcia on a gopher hole. Yes, a gopher. Or maybe a mole. Singh won The Barclays for a record fourth time Sunday, matching Garcia's long birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff and finishing off his Spanish friend on the second extra hole after Garcia got a lucky break from the furry critter.
The Chicago White Sox dropped out of first place for the first time since May 16, but they didn't go down without a fight. There was a bench-clearing brawl in the fifth inning and five ejections total in Chicago's 14-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Mike Aviles went 4-for-4 with a home run and Zack Greinke pitched well into the seventh inning before he was among those sent to the...
Phil Mickelson has won 35 times around the world, starting with a PGA Tour event when he was still in college. His collection includes three major championships, and he is solidly entrenched at No. 2 in the world rankings. That must make him the best player to have never won a World Golf Championship. Mickelson got a chuckle out of the playful suggestion after making a mid-round adjustment Saturday...
By the time Chipper Jones pulled up lame, the Atlanta Braves already had plenty of runs for Tim Hudson. Then Hudson departed with a tender elbow. Jones strained his left hamstring, and Hudson left after six shutout innings with tightness in his right elbow, tempering the glow of the Braves' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.
On this night, it was Mike Pelfrey who looked like the emerging young ace while All-Star Tim Lincecum struggled to find his way. Pelfrey won his fifth straight start, Carlos Beltran drove in four runs and the surging New York Mets beat Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants 7-0 on Tuesday. "I think that him being so good, that's going to bring the best out of other people," Pelfrey said.
Jason Giambi and the New York Yankees had an emphatic response to Hank's latest edict. Giambi hit a grand slam and drove in a season-best six runs, Alex Rodriguez added a three-run shot and New York pounded the Texas Rangers 18-7 Wednesday night to avoid a series sweep. The Yankees had been struggling at the plate, scoring just seven runs and batting .172 in losing three of their last four games,...
Minnesota was down 3-0 against the lowly San Diego Padres for the second time in less than 24 hours when Justin Morneau hit an impressive two-run homer. An inning later, the game was tied. One more and the Twins had gone ahead. That's how it's been going for the streaking Twins, who beat the Padres 4-3 on Thursday for their ninth straight win, all against NL teams.
Tony Clark took a smooth swing and let Billy Wagner supply the power. Clark connected for a pinch-hit, three-run homer off Wagner with two outs in the eighth inning Sunday, sending the San Diego Padres to an 8-6 victory and a four-game sweep of the New York Mets. The 6-foot-7 Clark drove a 96 mph fastball over the center-field fence to help San Diego extend its season-high winning streak to five...
The Atlanta Hawks, looking for new experienced front-office leadership after ending their playoff drought this season, hired Rick Sund as general manager on Wednesday. Sund has worked in NBA front offices for more than 30 years, including stints with Milwaukee, Dallas, Detroit and most recently the Seattle SuperSonics.
John Terry ran up to the ball, with Chelsea needing only a successful penalty kick to win its first European Champions League title. The Blues captain slipped on the wet turf of Luzhniki Stadium and his shot glanced off a post. Terry fell to the ground and bent over, his head between his knees, and Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar raised his arms in triumph.
Tom Glavine plans to keep his eyes off the scoreboard next time he takes the mound. Glavine pitched 5 2-3 effective innings to earn his first win for Atlanta in six years and the Braves held on for an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night. "The mistake I made is when I went out there in the sixth inning, I pitched to the score," Glavine said.
The Tennessee Titans finally washed their hands of suspended cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones on Wednesday, agreeing in principle to trade him to the Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple confirmed the teams had an agreement, but no terms had been filed with the NFL office, which already had closed for the day.
Lucas Glover's tired of keeping his frustrations to himself. Two more rounds like this at the Verizon Heritage and he won't have to. Glover shot his second straight 66 to move to 10-under and take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Boo Weekley (64) at Harbour Town Golf Links. Anthony Kim (67) was alone in third at 8 under, with two-time Verizon Heritage winner Stewart Cink (68), Cliff Kresge...
The minutes didn't matter. The Denver Nuggets were just encouraged to see a uniform draping Nene's beefy body again, and that great smile splashed across his face once more. The big Brazilian forward played the final 77 seconds of the Nuggets' 118-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, marking his return to the court 2 1/2 months after surgery to remove a malignant testicular tumor.
Dirk Nowitzki started to grab the part of his left leg that hurt the most, then stopped. He might not have known what to rub first. So the reigning league MVP dejectedly put a hand on his head. Then pounded the court. Nowitzki was injured on an ugly looking fall in the third quarter of Dallas' 88-81 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, but left the arena without knowing how bad it is.
Donovan McNabb expected to keep playing until someone scored, no matter how long it took. Mercifully, the NFL's rules set a time limit on terrible play. Eagles 13, Bengals 13. It couldn't have ended any other way. McNabb fumbled and threw three interceptions in regulation Sunday, and the Bengals botched the only scoring chance in overtime, leaving the equally inept teams with the NFL's first tied...
Randy Johnson filed for free agency on Thursday after failing to reach a contract agreement to return to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 45-year-old lefty is five wins shy of 300 and "hopes to find a team where he can continue to pitch at a high level and contribute to another world championship," agents Barry Meister and Alan Nero said in a statement.
Joe Maddon easily won the American League Manager of the Year award Wednesday after guiding the Tampa Bay Rays from baseball's basement to the World Series. Lou Piniella of the Chicago Cubs took the NL honor. Maddon, who succeeded Piniella as Tampa Bay manager in 2006, was a runaway winner in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Trevor Hoffman's record-setting run as San Diego Padres closer is almost certainly over after the team withdrew its contract offer for 2009. Hoffman, baseball's career saves leader and the face of the franchise since Tony Gwynn retired following the 2001 season, was upset with the abrupt, impersonal way the club ended contract talks, agent Rick Thurman said Tuesday.
Tyrone Willingham's ouster Monday as Washington's football coach surprised only his players. Two days after the Huskies fell to 0-7, athletic director Scott Woodward sat next to Willingham at the coach's weekly news conference and announced Willingham will be replaced after the season. A move that seemed seasons in the making was actually days in the making.
They rushed toward the mound, these remarkable Rays, and immediately formed a circle. Jumping together like fraternity brothers, they resembled party regulars in the postseason. Worst in the majors last year, Tampa Bay will play for a spot in the World Series. "It means everything. We've been at the bottom of the barrel for so long," B.J.
Folks in San Francisco and Philadelphia must be loving this: Even though the Dallas Cowboys tried getting the ball to Terrell Owens on one-third of the plays last Sunday, he still wasn't satisfied. Is this the beginning of the end of his blissful relationship with Tony Romo? Are the Cowboys about to be divided, quarterback supporters on this side, receiver supporters on the other?
Tight end Jeremy Shockey, the Saints' second-leading receiver through three games, is expected to be out for three to six weeks because of a sports hernia. Shockey, who was acquired from the New York Giants in a trade shortly before training camp, had 16 receptions for 151 yards during the Saints' first three regular-season games.
The New York Giants are off to their best start since 2000, thanks in large part to a little tiptoeing in overtime by Amani Toomer and the sure leg of 44-year-old John Carney. Carney kicked a 22-yard field goal with 8:39 left in the extra session after Toomer danced the sideline on a 31-yard reception, and the Super Bowl champions overcame a strong effort by the winless Cincinnati Bengals for a...
Alex Rodriguez did his part to help make New York's final homestand at Yankee Stadium milestone week. Rodriguez became the first player with 35 home runs and 100 RBIs in 12 seasons -- one more than Babe Ruth -- and the New York Yankees slowed the Chicago White Sox's pursuit of the AL Central crown with a 5-1 victory Wednesday night.
Vijay Singh kept pouring in birdie putts, 35 feet on one hole and 60 feet on the next, as cheers turned from disbelief to sheer amazement. That might be the last bit of excitement for this edition of the FedEx Cup. Despite a volatile new points system designed to give more players a chance, Singh took the suspense out of the PGA Tour Playoffs with an 8-under 63 on Monday to win the Deutsche Bank...
