Fair or not, judgment has been

passed on the NFL’s class of 2006

first-round picks.

“Three years is a good baro-

meter,” said former Texans G.M.

Charley Casserly, who drafted

Mario Williams first that year. “If he

hasn’t become a starter and he’s

had three healthy years, in most

cases, it’s time to move on.”

Williams was a home run in that

draft. Other ’06 first-rounders are

pushing “bust” territory and facing

a critical year:

Dolphins DB Jason Allen. He

has never nailed down a starting

job, and the Miami secondary has

been overhauled with newcomers.

Raiders S Michael Huff. He

lost his starting job in ’08 and has

one interception in 39 starts.

49ers OLB Manny Lawson.

He’s being counted on as a key

edge rusher, but his 5 1/2 career

sacks make that iffy.

Patriots RB Laurence

Maroney. He says he’s hungry, but

his durability and consistency are

concerns.

Browns OLB Kamerion

Wimbley. His sack totals have

declined each year, and the new

staff isn’t married to him.

— Albert Breer

’06 first-roundersget one last shot

Bill Guerin and Evgeni Malkin

SUNDAY

MAY 24, 2009

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 306

ScoreboardNBA Playoffs Western Conference finals

L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97

(Lakers lead series 2-1)

NHL Playoffs Eastern Conference finals

Pittsburgh 6, Carolina 2

(Pittsburgh leads series 3-0)

Baseball Interleague

St. Louis 5, Kansas City 0

N.Y. Yankees 5, Philadelphia 4

Texas 6, Houston 3

Atlanta 4, Toronto 3

Baltimore 2, Washington 1

Colorado 4, Detroit 3

Chicago White Sox 4, Pittsburgh 0

Cleveland 7, Cincinnati 6

Minnesota 6, Milwaukee 2

N.Y. Mets 3, Boston 2

Tampa Bay 10, Florida 3

Arizona 8, Oakland 7, 11 innings

San Francisco 5, Seattle 1

L.A. Dodgers 5, L.A. Angels 4, 10 innings

National League

San Diego 3, Chicago Cubs 1

MLB > 14 NFL > 22 NBA > 11 NHL > 6 NASCAR > 26 COLLEGE FOOTBALL > 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL > 25 GOLF > 30 LACROSSE > 29QUICK LINKS:

BY MATT CROSSMANmcrossman@sportingnews.com

CHARLOTTE—Racing takes center stage today, with the runnings of the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. At the center of center stage will be Danica Patrick. Her Indy car contract is up at the end of this season, refueling speculation she will jump from the IRL to NASCAR.

Five facts to keep in mind amid the hype:

1. She is willing to do it. Many motorsports observers think

Patrick is making NASCAR noise to help her negotiating position. But asked whether she would be willing to jump to NASCAR if her precondi-tions for a winning car and right situation were met, she said, “Absolutely.”

2. She would be hired, and quickly. “If she had the right team and

the right drivers to help support her,

I think she could do really well,” said Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing.

3. She would be attractive to sponsors. “If she can do it on the racetrack,

she would be in the stratosphere in terms of ability to attract really top-rate sponsors,” said Geoff Smith, president of Roush-Fenway Racing.

4. She would struggle initially. “I would say to her, ‘I wouldn’t

try it if I were you,’” said Darrell Waltrip, a three-time Cup cham-pion. “These stock cars are pretty brutal, they’re hot, they’re hard to handle. She’s used to sitting out there in all that fresh air. Now you’ve got to sit behind an 850 horsepower monster. I’d say the monster would win.”

5. She’d have to swallow her pride.She’d have to first race at

lower NASCAR levels, as no owner she’d be willing to sign with would throw her right into a Cup car. If

anything kills a Danica-to-NASCAR deal, this will be it. “I can’t tell you I’d be excited about it,” Patrick said. “When you go from one top-tier

racing to not a top-tier racing, you’ve really got to think about that and evaluate your pros and cons. But I would be open to it.”

INDIANAPOLIS 500 Today, 1 p.m. ET, ABC

Will Danica switch to NASCAR?

CHRIS O’MEARA / AP

Today, Danica Patrick will line up for her fifth Indy 500, but her contract is up after this season.

NHL PLAYOFFSNBA PLAYOFFS

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP

Kobe Bryant, left, hit a big 3-pointer and finished with 41 points.

Kobe the closer: Bryant comes up big in L.A.’s Game 3 win. Page 11

Cleveland at Orlando: 8:30 tonight, TNTSeries tied 1-1

GERRY BROOME / AP

Pens take Game 3A late first-period flurry sparked by its two superstars helps spur Pittsburgh to a 3-0 series lead over Carolina. Page 7

Detroit at Chicago:

Today 3 p.m., ET, NBCRed Wings lead series 2-1

Custance: Crosby leads the Conn Smythe race, Page 6

She’s open to it and sponsors would flock to her

Is the Coca-Cola 600 too long? Page 26 Castroneves tries for No. 3, Page 28

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 2See a Different Game

The country’s fi rst and only daily digital sports newspaper.

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Tune In TodayA quick look at the best sports on TV

— all times Eastern

AUTO RACING

Indianapolis 5001 p.m., ABC

Ah yes, the Indy 500, where even I get

excited about the release of a gazillion bal-

loons, a drink of milk and Jim Nabors belting

out “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Polesitter

Helio Castroneves goes for his third win at

Indy, and he has shown much strength all

of this month. But of course, we all will get

excited if Danica Patrick pulls out her first

Indy win. She has consecutive top-five fin-

ishes entering this race, and has one top-five

to her credit at the Brickyard.

BASEBALL

Mets at Red Sox1:30 p.m., TBS

Every time you think 42-year-old Tim

Wakefield is going to absolutely lose it (like

after he surrendered seven earned runs in

4 2/3 innings May 17 against the Angels), he

seems to bounce back and continue to get it

done. When his knuckleball is working and

making guys hit harmless pop flys, it’s a thing

of beauty for Red Sox fans. Wakefield is 3-0

with a 1.71 ERA in three starts at Fenway Park,

which means the Mets may be in trouble.

NBA

Cavaliers at Magic8:30 p.m., TNT

The resilience of the Magic has been

remarkable, with Orlando falling down by

considerable margins in the first two games

and coming back to make incredible games

of each of them. And no doubt they feel like

they let Game 2 get away, as LeBron James’

3-pointer at the buzzer evened this series up.

Now in the Magic kingdom, the pressure is

still on the Cavs to win one game to regain

homecourt advantage. — Compiled by Roger Kuznia

GUIDE

AUTO RACING7:30 a.m.SPEED—Formula One, Monaco Grand Prix, at Monaco1 p.m.ABC—IRL, Indianapolis 5005 p.m.FOX—NASCAR, Sprint Cup, Coca-Cola 600, at Concord, N.C.

COLLEGE BASEBALL2 p.m.FSN—Big 12 Conference, champion-ship game, teams TBA, at Oklahoma City

COLLEGE SOFTBALL1 p.m.ESPN—NCAA Division I, Super Regionals, game 2 Washington at Georgia Tech6 p.m.ESPN2—NCAA Division I, Super Regionals, game 2 California at Florida

GOLF9:30 a.m.TGC—European PGA Tour, BMW PGA Championship, final round, at Surrey, EnglandNoonNBC—PGA of America, Senior Championship, final round, at Beachwood, Ohio1 p.m.TGC—PGA Tour, Byron Nelson Championship, final round, at Irving, Texas3 p.m.CBS—PGA Tour, Byron Nelson Championship, final round, at Irving, Texas7 p.m.TGC—LPGA, Corning Classic, final round, at Corning, N.Y. (same-day tape)

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL1:30 p.m.TBS—N.Y. Mets at Boston4 p.m.WGN—Chicago Cubs at San Diego8 p.m.ESPN—Milwaukee at Minnesota

NBA BASKETBALL8:30 p.m.TNT—Playoffs, Eastern Conference finals, game 3, Cleveland at Orlando

NHL HOCKEY3 p.m.NBC—Playoffs, Western Conference finals, game 4, Detroit at ChicagoTENNISNoonESPN2—French Open, early round, at Paris

The agent of Steelers linebacker James Harrison says the player’s young son is “doing well” at a Pittsburgh hospital fol-lowing an attack by a pit bull.

Agent William Parise says 2-year-old James Harrison III was bitten on the thigh after his mother let the dog out of its pen Thursday afternoon. Parise said Saturday he was with the boy at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the boy was expected to remain there for another day or two.

Parise says the woman and the player’s massage therapist also were hurt trying to help the boy, and the therapist needed three stitches.

A hospital spokesman declined com-ment Saturday, saying the family has asked that no information be released.

Coach’s wife chargedThe wife of the Connors State (Okla.)

College baseball coach has been charged with assaulting two umpires after a game in Bartlesville, Okla. Sheri Keith, the wife of Cowboys coach Perry Keith, was charged with two counts of assault and battery on athletic officials.

The charges stem from a May 9 incident in which Keith allegedly assaulted umpires Michael Lentz and John Williams after a CSC lost a game against Eastern Oklahoma State College. According to a police affida-vit, Sheri Keith barged into a locker room after the game, screamed obscenities and attacked the umpires.

Sports biz report For the second consecutive season,

Major League Baseball is participating in fundraising and awareness initiatives for the veterans’ mental health program “Welcome Back Veterans,” SportsBusiness

Daily reported. On Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and September 11, teams will wear special “Stars & Stripes” caps, which also will be sold beginning this week for $37. All proceeds go to the Wel-come Back Veterans program.

EA Sports meets Oprah Winfrey—or at least her trainer Bob Greene—as it releases “EA Sports Active,” its first fitness title and a significant attempt by the videog-ame publisher to broaden its customer base beyond its core young male following, SportsBusiness Journal’s Eric Fisher reported. The game for the Nintendo Wii—devel-oped in partnership with Greene—will compete against other videogame-based trainers such as the Wii Fit and Ubisoft’s “My Fitness Coach.”

— Compiled from staff, wire reports

OFF THE FIELD

Harrison’s son ‘doing well’ after pit bull attack

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

James Harrison’s two-year-old son will spend another day or two recuperating after a dog attack.

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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 3My Profile

Chuck TannerManaged Pirates to 1979 World Series title

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

Born: July 4, 1928, in New Castle, Pa. Status: Single What’s on TV: All sports shows, Two and a Half Men, Deal Or No Deal, cowboy

movies What’s in my iPod: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anne Murray, Jerry Vale, Jim Croce What I drive: 2005 silver Mercedes-Benz 430 Favorite flicks: Baseball movies, Chicago, The Untouchables, Glenn Close movies, Dr.

Zhivago, The Hustler, The Sting, The Thomas Crown Affair, Clint Eastwood movies What I’m reading: Baseball books Magazine subscription: Baseball America On my office walls: Pictures of Babs, my wife—she’s in heaven—and all 4 of my

boys, 11 grandchildren, my daughters-in-law and Jesus Love to trade places for a day with … No one. I’m happy with my own life. First job: Washing dishes during the summer at Washington Quick

Lunch in New Castle. I was in 8th grade and made $8 a week. Favorite meal: Sweet potato salad and salmon Favorite athlete to watch: Ted Williams hitting Favorite city to visit: Chicago for the restaurants Favorite value in others: Honesty Dream date: My wife Babs. Married 56 years. It was great. My heroes: Joe Paterno, Bob Knight, Art Rooney My greatest love: My wife and baseball My bucket list: Keep scouting and win one more World Series My motto: Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded there.

— Jeff D’Alessio

AP FILE

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Garrison Smith is tough to read sometimes—he chooses his words carefully. It’s probably driving college coaches crazy, trying to figure out what this talented

defensive tackle is going to do in the next year or so.

Nearly the entire SEC is after the 6-4, 250-pound Atlanta native. The Douglass High School star has Ala-bama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, South Carolina and Tennes-see all drooling, but he hasn’t let it get to his head. He has around 20 scholarship offers.

“Yes sir, I’m still pretty open,” Smith told Sporting News Today. “In a way, they’re all equal. It will all be about the relationship I have with the coaches ... I’m going to have to take this thing day by day, and just let God work it out to help me make the right decision.”

Smith, who is a member of the preseason Sporting News Top 100 list for the class of 2010, said one former NFL player has a style he tries to emulate.

“I don’t compare myself to any player in the NFL, because they’re much better than me; they’re already the best, and I’m just trying to get where they are,” Smith told SN Today. “I try to pattern myself after Reg-gie White. I would like to be like him on the field, but I’m a long way from that.”

Smith went on to say that he feels his greatest strength in football is his love for the game.

“Football is my drug, that’s how I get high,” Smith said with a chuckle. “I feel like God gave me gifts, and I’m just using them to the best of my ability. I don’t really like to talk about myself.”

Smith had 108 tackles as a junior, with 27 tackles for loss and 14 sacks.

North Clayton (Atlanta) LB Clarence Jackson has become Ole Miss’ most recent commitment, Rivals.com reported. The 6-1, 210-pound inside line-backer also reported a scholarship offer from East Carolina, and had interest from Tennessee, Illinois and Georgia, among others.

“I liked how they have their system going and I liked the atmosphere,” Jackson told Rivals.com. “I just felt like they had something that all the other colleges that offered me didn’t have.”

Charlotte (N.C.) Christian LB Ty Linton has com-mitted to North Carolina, Rivals.com reported. The 6-3, 200-pound outside linebacker recently had listed the Tar Heels, Duke, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Virginia as his top five. He may also play baseball for the Tar Heels.

“I just felt at peace with it,” Linton told Rivals.com. “Everything seemed to fit football- and baseball-wise. It just felt comfortable for me. I was going to wait until later on in the summer, but then I decided why not go ahead and get it over with and just focus on baseball this summer? So I went ahead and committed.”

— Brian McLaughlin

RECRUITING DISH

Heralded DT prospect Smith short on words, not options

Garrison Smith

JOHN BAZEMORE / AP

Georgia coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs had interest in LB Clarence Jackson from Atlanta, but did not land him.

BASEBALL / INTERLEAGUE

Dodgers 5, Angels 4, 10 innings

Los Angeles (A) AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Figgins 3b-lf-3b 5 0 1 0 0 0 .288E.Aybar ss 5 1 1 0 0 1 .282J.Rivera lf 5 2 3 1 0 1 .280M.Izturis lf-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .272Arredondo p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Hunter cf 4 1 2 3 1 0 .310Matthews Jr. rf 5 0 0 0 0 3 .276Kendrick 2b 5 0 2 0 0 0 .247Quinlan 1b 4 0 3 0 0 0 .214S.Shields p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Willits lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .286Mathis c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .231Lackey p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000a-K.Morales ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .278Totals 42 4 12 4 1 9

Los Angeles (N) AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pierre lf 5 0 0 1 1 2 .383Furcal ss 4 0 0 0 1 0 .240Hudson 2b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .339Ethier rf 3 2 2 0 0 0 .258Hoffmann rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000Martin c 4 0 2 2 1 0 .270Loney 1b 5 1 2 1 0 1 .283Kemp cf 5 1 1 0 0 3 .286Blake 3b 3 0 3 1 1 0 .294Wolf p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .095Belisario p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000b-Loretta ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333Broxton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-J.Castro ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .391Totals 37 5 11 5 5 7

Los Angeles (A) 000 130 000 0 — 4 12 1Los Angeles (N) 010 020 010 1 — 5 11 0

No outs when winning run scored. a-grounded out for Lackey in the 8th. b-flied out for Belisario in the 8th. c-walked for Broxton in the 10th. E: S.Shields (2). LOB: Los Angeles (A) 9, Los Angeles (N) 14. 2B: Quinlan (2), Ethier (9), Martin (8), Loney (8), Blake (8). HR: J.Rivera (4), off Wolf; Hunter (10), off Wolf. RBIs: J.Rivera (14), Hunter 3 (34), Pierre (13), Martin 2 (18), Loney (30), Blake (27). SB: Kendrick (6). S: Wolf. Runners left in scoring position: Los Angeles (A) 5 (Matthews Jr. 2, Mathis, K.Morales, Willits); Los Angeles (N) 7 (Pierre 2, Wolf, Kemp, Furcal, Loney 2).

Los Angeles (A) IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALackey 7 7 3 3 1 5 106 6.00S.Shields BS, 3-4 1 2⁄3 2 1 1 2 1 34 6.75Arredondo L, 1-1 1⁄3 2 1 1 2 1 20 4.95Los Angeles (N) IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWolf 6 1⁄3 10 4 4 0 4 95 3.02Belisario 1 2⁄3 1 0 0 1 2 31 2.45Broxton W, 5-0 2 1 0 0 0 3 30 1.17

Arredondo pitched to 4 batters in the 10th. Inherited runners-scored: Arredondo 2-0, Belisario 1-0. IBB: off Lackey (Blake), off Belisario (Hunter). HBP: by Lackey (Wolf, Ethier, Blake). WP: Lackey. Umpires: Home, Chuck Meriwether; First, Laz Diaz; Second, Eric Cooper; Third, Mike Reilly. T: 3:33. A: 55,301 (56,000).

San Diego 3, Chicago Cubs 1San Francisco 5, Seattle 1 L.A. Dodgers 5, L.A. Angels 4, 10 innings

Padres’ win streak at eightUribe’s double starts flurry Dodgers walk away with winSAN DIEGO—Coming home to

Petco Park has made a huge difference for the San Diego Padres.

Brian Giles drove in two runs for the second straight night and the Padres beat the strug-gling Chicago Cubs 3-1 Satur-day to extend their season-high winning streak to eight games, all on the current homestand.

The Padres were a down-trodden bunch after going win-less on a six-game trip through Houston and Chicago. But they came home and swept the Reds and Giants, and now can sweep the Cubs with a win today.

“We’ve definitely turned things around,” said Josh Geer, who settled down after the sec-ond inning, when he allowed Derrek Lee’s home run. “We owed these guys for what they did to us at their place.”

While the Padres are batting .198 during the winning streak, with 28 runs, their pitchers have a 1.59 ERA with 74 strike-outs and 24 walks. Starters are 6-0.

“Pitchers are throwing strikes, we’re playing good defense and getting clutch hits,” Adrian Gonzalez said. “We’re doing the little things right.”

The Cubs lost their season-high sixth straight. Right-hander Randy Wells hadn’t allowed a run in his first 20 big league innings before giving up Giles’ two-run double with two outs in the fourth inning.

— The Associated Press

SEATTLE—On a maddening streak of failing to come up with a clutch hit, Juan Uribe was the one to finally come through for San Francisco.

With two outs in the eighth inning and the frustration mounting in the Giants’ dugout, Uribe split the gap in right-cen-ter field with a bases-clearing double that started a five-run inning. Throw in Matt Cain’s complete-game effort on the mound and San Francisco’s 5-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night looked almost ordinary.

But for a Giants offense that had just three hits in their previ-ous 35 at-bats with runners in scoring position, Uribe’s hit was a critical moment where the pressure on San Francisco’s bat-ters was finally released.

“You could feel a sense of relief in the dugout,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “They were pressing and once he got that hit, you saw different at-bats after that. I thought it would take a hit to get the guys to relax a little bit. We certainly needed it.”

With two outs and the bases loaded, Uribe lined a 1-0 pitch from Seattle reliever Mark Lowe to the wall in right-center field, scoring all three runners just when it appeared the Giants were destined for another low-scoring loss.

Following Uribe’s double, Fred Lewis slugged a two-run homer off Lowe (0-2).

— The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—Juan Pierre drew a walk with the bases loaded from Jose Arredondo in the 10th inning, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.

Matt Kemp and Casey Blake opened the 10th with singles against Arredondo, and Juan Castro was sent up to bat for reliever Jonathan Broxton with the intention of bunting the runners over. But Arredondo walked him, then walked Pierre on a 3-2 pitch to force in Kemp and give the Dodgers their third game-ending walk this season.

Pierre, who grounded into a force play with the bases loaded to end the second

inning, had come to the plate without an RBI in 97 career at-bats against the Angels.

Broxton (5-0) allowed one hit over two scoreless innings for the victory.

Torii Hunter hit a go-ahead three-run homer and Juan Rivera also went deep for the Angels.

Angels righthander John Lackey allowed three runs and seven hits over seven innings, struck out five and was lifted for a pinch hitter with a 4-3 lead before James Loney greeted Scot Shields with a leadoff double in the eighth and scored the tying run on Blake’s single.

— The Associated Press

CHRIS CARLSON / AP

Los Angeles’ Chone Figgins, bottom, breaks up a double play with Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Orlando Hudson during the fifth inning.

BASEBALL / NATIONAL LEAGUE

Yankees rally again, Page 16

Padres 3, Cubs 1

Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Theriot ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .269Fukudome cf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .310Bradley rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .185D.Lee 1b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .248Hoffpauir lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .295Soto c 4 0 1 0 0 3 .208Fontenot 2b 3 0 2 0 0 1 .205Scales 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .258R.Wells p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000b-Miles ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .204Marmol p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 33 1 7 1 0 10

San Diego AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Gwynn cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .125E.Gonzalez 2b 3 1 0 0 0 1 .161Mujica p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000Ad.Gonzalez 1b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .281Hairston lf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .325Giles rf 2 0 1 2 1 0 .170Kouzmanoff 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .229Hundley c 3 1 1 0 0 0 .260C.Burke ss 3 0 1 1 0 0 .245Geer p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .182G.Burke p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---a-Headley ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .228Gregerson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Eckstein 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .229Totals 28 3 5 3 2 7

Chicago 010 000 000 — 1 7 0San Diego 000 200 10x — 3 5 0

a-struck out for G.Burke in the 7th. b-grounded out for R.Wells in the 8th. LOB: Chicago 5, San Diego 4. 2B: Giles (6). HR: D.Lee (5), off Geer. RBIs: D.Lee (19), Giles 2 (19), C.Burke (3). Runners left in scoring position: Chicago 2 (R.Wells, Soto); San Diego 1 (Kouzmanoff). GIDP: Hoffpauir, Kouzmanoff. DP: Chicago 1 (Scales, Fontenot, D.Lee); San Diego 1 (Ad.Gonzalez, C.Burke).

Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAR.Wells L, 0-1 7 5 3 3 1 7 95 1.50Marmol 1 0 0 0 1 0 16 3.60San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAGeer W, 1-1 6 2⁄3 5 1 1 0 7 107 4.91G.Burke H, 3 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 10 0.00Gregerson H, 5 1 0 0 0 0 2 11 3.91Mujica S, 1-1 1 2 0 0 0 1 14 2.82

Inherited runners-scored: G.Burke 1-0. HBP: by R.Wells (E.Gonzalez). Balk: R.Wells. Umpires: Home, Doug Eddings; First, Hunter Wendelstedt; Second, Brian Knight; Third, Dana DeMuth. T: 2:20. A: 37,798 (42,691).

Giants 5, Mariners 1

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rowand cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .272Renteria ss 4 0 0 0 1 2 .240Sandoval dh 2 0 2 0 1 0 .304b-Aurilia ph-dh 2 0 0 0 0 1 .177B.Molina c 5 1 1 0 0 1 .274Winn rf 5 1 2 0 0 1 .278J.Guzman 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .1111-Burriss pr-2b 1 1 1 0 1 0 .250Uribe 3b 3 1 2 3 0 0 .304F.Lewis lf 3 1 2 2 1 0 .278Frandsen 2b 1 0 0 0 1 0 .000a-Schierholtz ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .231Ishikawa 1b 0 0 0 0 1 0 .226Totals 35 5 12 5 6 7

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.I.Suzuki rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .315En.Chavez lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .274Beltre 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .214Griffey Jr. dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .236Branyan 1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .314Jo.Lopez 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .223Johjima c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .241Cedeno ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 .188F.Gutierrez cf 3 1 2 0 0 1 .262Totals 33 1 10 1 0 7

San Francisco 000 000 050 — 5 12 1Seattle 001 000 000 — 1 10 0

a-struck out for Frandsen in the 7th. 1-ran for J.Guzman in the 7th. E: B.Molina (2). LOB: San Francisco 10, Seattle 6. 2B: Sandoval (13), Uribe (4). HR: F.Lewis (2), off M.Lowe. RBIs: Uribe 3 (5), F.Lewis 2 (6), Beltre (16). SB: Johjima (2). CS: Sandoval (2), Burriss (4), F.Gutierrez (3). S: Uribe, En.Chavez. Runners left in scoring position: San Francisco 6 (B.Molina, Rowand 3, Aurilia 2); Seattle 3 (Branyan, Griffey Jr., Cedeno). DP: San Francisco 2 (Renteria, Frandsen, J.Guzman), (Renteria, Burriss, Ishikawa); Seattle 1 (Beltre, Jo.Lopez, Branyan).

San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACain W, 5-1 9 10 1 1 0 7 111 2.40Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAOlson 6 4 0 0 2 4 82 3.66Batista H, 3 1 2 0 0 1 1 22 2.28Lowe L,0-2 BS,2-2 2⁄3 4 5 5 2 0 28 5.32Stark 1 1⁄3 2 0 0 1 2 26 7.56

Inherited runners-scored: Stark 1-0. Umpires: Home, Bill Miller; First, Derryl Cousins; Second, Jim Joyce; Third, Brian Runge. T: 2:41. A: 33,348 (47,878).

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 5Baseball

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 6NHL

The Stanley Cup finals still are almost two weeks away, but top contenders for the Conn Smythe Trophy—awarded annually to the most valuable player in the playoffs—are starting to emerge. Here are our five favorites:

1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins. He brings con-sistency, he brings leadership and

he’s piling up some serious points. Through 15 playoff games, only teammate Evgeni Malkin had more than Crosby’s 24 points, and his consistency makes him a better Conn Smythe candidate than Malkin. But when the two are clicking, the Penguins are nearly impossible to beat. “Hopefully, we help each other,” Crosby said.

“When he’s playing like that, I think, myself and everyone else wants to follow it up.”

2. Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings. The feeling is that Lidstrom’s Norris Trophy

streak is going to come to an end after big regular seasons from Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Washington’s Mike Green. But Lidstrom is the last of the three Norris candidates still standing, and he surely would prefer a Stan-ley Cup and Conn Smythe over the Norris any day. Chicago’s Patrick Kane is getting a close look right now at the subtleties of Lid-strom’s game, which make him the best defenseman in the league. Kane still is searching for his first point of the Western Conference finals.

3. Johan Franzen, Red Wings. During their latest postseason run, the Red Wings

have gotten a majority of their goal scoring from depth players like Dan Cleary and Mikael Samuelsson. But Franzen has been the one big-name forward producing offense at a fast pace. The Mule has not gone more than two games without scoring a goal, and his nine goals lead the Red Wings. One more big game from Cleary, and he cracks this list,

too.

4. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins. He had four goals in his first two games of the

Eastern Conference finals, so Malkin appears to be raising his game when it matters the most. He entered Saturday night’s game with 25 points, more than any other player in the postseason. A little bit of a concern is that he’s

just plus-1 despite that offensive production, but Crosby has been happy with the play of Pittsburgh’s other star forward. “Every time he’s out there, he’s making something hap-pen,” Crosby said.

5. Cam Ward, Hurricanes. We feel for Ward a bit since his rough outing in Game 1

of the Eastern Conference finals came in front

of Detroit vice president Steve Yzerman, who was scouting for the Red Wings. Yzerman also happens to be the general manager for Team Canada, and until then Ward had been making a strong case for the Olympic team. But despite an up-and-down performance against Pittsburgh, Ward is the reason the Hurricanes have made it as far as they have.

“We talked about Crosby and Malkin, and our hockey team, we talk about (Eric) Staal and Ward,” Carolina coach Paul Maurice said.

ccustance@sportingnews.com

Crosby, Lidstrom top early list for Conn Smythe TrophyLinemate knows best

Since being acquired from Ana-heim, winger Chris Kunitz has played primarily with Sidney Crosby and has been properly impressed by his new teammate. Kunitz tells Sporting News Today’s Craig Custance why playing with Crosby is so special.

You gain an appreciation for his game: “Watching him was fun, you’re like ‘Wow’—all the things he does. Then you get to play with him. He’s just as good with his backhand, forehand—anywhere on the ice.”

His speed through the neutral zone: “You always have to be moving your feet to catch up to him. Even if you’re in front of him, he’s by you with the puck. You have to be on your toes to support him and help him.”

Nobody wants to win more: “He’s a 100 percent classy guy, committed to winning and wanting to win. He brings the energy of the team up every time he’s in. It’s been a lot of fun learn-ing from him and playing with him.”

His leadership: “He’s not the vocal leader, like a Billy Guerin or Hal Gill. But the way he carries himself, goes out on the ice for practice—he’s always doing it at a high compete level, the highest level there is. He doesn’t take a shift off, a drill off. It’s something everybody has to look up to.”

Craig CustanceHOCKEY

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

Between his leadership, consistency and productivity—he has 26 points in 16 playoff games—Sidney Crosby is a top-shelf Conn Smythe candidate.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 7NHL

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Pittsburgh 6, Carolina 2

RALEIGH, N.C.—Penguins left wing Ruslan Fedotenko walked to the postgame media table and sat down next to Evgeni Malkin, two spots down from Sidney Crosby. As the two stars were peppered with questions about the Penguins’ 6-2

romp over the Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Confer-ence finals, Fedo-tenko said nothing. Not one word.

He did, how-ever, say at least one in the game—he said it several

times in a row, loudly—and in the process, turned this series from a potential nailbiter into a likely four-game sweep.

That word: “Free.”Fedotenko yelled it as he trailed

Malkin, who feathered the puck lightly on his stick, into the Hurri-canes’ zone with the Penguins clinging to a 3-2 lead and just under nine minutes remaining. The Hur-ricanes had momentum—not to mention a well-earned reputation for late-game heroics.

Malkin already had scored two goals, coming on the heels of a Game 2 hat trick, and the defense natu-rally swarmed to him. Fedotenko wanted the puck, and he yelled his request at his fellow Russian, pre-sumably in their native tongue.

Instead of shooting, Malkin delivered a picture-perfect drop pass between his legs and took one

stride to his left to get out of the way. Fedotenko collected the puck and zinged a wrist shot past goalie Cam Ward. The score, suddenly, was 4-2 and, two garbage goals later, the Hurricanes were playing for pride.

The Penguins, meanwhile, seem to be playing a game of, “Can you top this?”

Crosby and Malkin are living up

to their reputation as the scariest 1-2 center combination in the game. The problem teams face defending Malkin is he’s too big for fast play-ers, too fast for big players, too strong for skill players and too skilled for strong players. And even if an opponent stops Malkin on the rush, there’s Crosby lurking around the crease with his speed, soft hands and impeccable timing.

“It’s amazing sometimes the way they find ways to score,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “I’ve got a good seat to watch them.”

If Fedotenko—known by his teammates as Tank—needed only one word to put this series away, Crosby needed only seven to explain the Penguins’ dominance: “We execute when we get the chances.”

Let’s set aside the two garbage goals. With the game still competi-tive, the Penguins scored on four of their five best chances; the stoning of center Maxime Talbot on a breakaway was the only unfulfilled opportunity.

Penguins veteran Bill Guerin, who scored late in the third period, is 38 years old, has been in the NHL since 1991, is on his eighth NHL team and in his 14th NHL postsea-son. The point is, he has been around. Asked whether this is the best offensive team he has ever been on, he neither blinked nor paused.

“They make everybody else’s talent level go up,” he added.

Also their attention levels. “Some of the plays they make,

you never get used to that,” said defenseman Rob Scuderi. “It’s key to us not to get caught watching them. You think they don’t see you and they do. When you’re on the bench, you can do more of the watching and jaw-dropping.”

And on the other bench, chins drop. And in the crowd, hearts drop.

mcrossman@sportingnews.com

Matt CrossmanHOCKEY

Pens are winners in stars’ seesaw battle

Task No. 1 for the Hurricanes if they want to extend this series: Figure out a way to neutralize the Penguins’ speed advantage. The Hurricanes simply can’t match the Penguins stride for stride, and if they allow them to play a wide-open game, Pittsburgh will dominate.

“When you open it up against that team, you’re at a distinct dis-advantage,” said Carolina coach Paul Maurice.

Forget putting the puck in the net. The Hurricanes struggled Saturday to put it on net. In the first period alone, they had 13 missed shots—and only eight shots on goal. By comparison, the Pen-guins’ numbers were two and 16.

The Hurricanes didn’t lack for chances, they lacked for accuracy. Every few minutes, a puck muffed off the side of the net or fluttered over it. Late in the third period,

with the outcome decided, a puck clanged off the post.

The numbers left Maurice frustrated.

“Forty-one times we shot the puck and had it blocked or missed the net,” he said. “We have to find a way to manage that puck and move that puck better and quicker and faster.”

MVP, MVPTwo Penguins goals in the final

minute of the opening period turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Pitts-burgh lead. The goals deflated the Hurricanes and their raucous crowd—so much so that chants of “MVP” rang through the arena after Evgeni Malkin scored his second goal of the period.

“Clearly they had their fans and momentum, and there were a couple of times when the emotions were high, you can feel hemmed in at times,” said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. “To be able to get those guys going and be able to answer with those goals … was certainly a lift for us.”

— Matt Crossman

NOTEBOOK

Hurricanes must neutralize Penguins’ speed

GERRY BROOME / AP

Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, above, and Evgeni Malkin have teammates singing their praises.

KARL B DEBLAKER / AP

Evgeni Malkin’s second first-period goal was met with ‘MVP’ chants in Raleigh.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 8NHL

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Pittsburgh 6, Carolina 2

RALEIGH, N.C.—The Pittsburgh Pen-guins are tough enough to handle when one of their young stars is playing his best. When both are clicking, they’re nearly unbeatable.

Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, Sidney Crosby added a goal and an assist, and the Penguins pushed the Carolina Hurricanes to the brink of elimination by routing them 6-2 on Saturday night.

The Penguins scored twice in the final minute of the first period, then added two more goals in 40 seconds of the third to seal their fourth straight victory and take a 3-0 series lead.

Crosby and Malkin each scored for the second straight game, helping the Penguins improve to 3-0 in these playoffs when both notch goals.

“Sid and Geno, they bring their level and they make everybody bet-ter,” right winger Bill Guerin said. “Everyone’s talent level goes up. That’s what they do for us.”

The defending Eastern Confer-ence champions can sweep the best-of-seven series Tuesday night and make a return trip to the Stanley Cup finals, where last year they lost to Detroit in six games.

“I don’t think we think that far at any point, really,” Crosby said. “Obvi-ously, we know we have an opportu-nity now, but I don’t think we’ve let ourselves get that far ahead. We’ve been focused on what we needed to do. We had a similar approach last year, but this year, maybe a little more experience helps.”

Ruslan Fedotenko, Craig Adams and Guerin each had a goal and an

assist. Adams was credited with his goal when Carolina’s Jussi Joki-nen won a draw but sent the puck down the ice into an empty net.

Matt Cullen and Sergei Samsonov scored for the Hurricanes, who haven’t lost a playoff series since Detroit beat them in the 2002 Cup finals. In their only other postsea-son appearance since, they won the

Cup in 2006.Only twice has a team rallied

from a 3-0 series deficit to win a series, and it hasn’t happened since the New York Islanders did it against Pittsburgh in 1975.

“Our challenge: We’ve got to find a way to beat them once,” Hurri-canes coach Paul Maurice said. “And then we’ll try to revisit that.”

Malkin has 16 points in six games, including nine points and at least a goal in every game of this series. He followed up his first career NHL playoff hat trick by threatening to do it again with his sixth straight multipoint game. Crosby has 10 points in his last five.

“They’ve been probably the dif-ference in this series, so far,”

Jokinen said. “We just have to find ways to keep them off the scoresheet. And if you’re letting seven or six goals, you can’t win hockey games. That’s the bottom line.”

Those two helped the Penguins pepper Cam Ward for a third straight game. The Carolina goalie turned aside 34 shots but was over-whelmed again by a Pittsburgh team that held a 40-34 shots advan-tage and outshot the Hurricanes 73-53 in the first two games.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves for the Penguins.

Malkin and Crosby scored 30 seconds apart late in the first to turn a 1-1 tie into a two-goal Pen-guins lead. Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead to stay when he beat Joni Pit-kanen to the net, took a pretty cross-ice pass from Guerin and tapped the puck past Ward with 42.2 sec-onds left.

Malkin made it 3-1 with 11.9 sec-onds remaining when he tracked the puck down in the low circle, skated up the goal line and stuffed in the puck for his second tally.

That came after he erased the Hur-ricanes’ early lead and made them pay for a fouled-up clearing attempt by Tim Gleason, using some nifty stickwork to skate in close on Ward and beat him with a wrist shot. The 22-year-old Russian’s two goals brought chants of “MVP” from the few hundred Penguins fans who infiltrated the RBC Center.

It was rocking early, with the des-perate Hurricanes feeding off an amped-up crowd of Caniacs. Cullen cashed in on that early emotional

burst, taking a pretty feed from Patrick Eaves and wristing it past Fleury’s stick.

“The way the building was the first 10 minutes, they get the lead and to be able to answer back and leave the first period 3-1 was cer-tainly a lift for us,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

— The Associated Press

Penguins’ first-period flourish leaves ’Canes in 3-0 hole

Pittsburgh 3 0 3 — 6Carolina 1 0 1 — 2

First Period: 1, Carolina, Cullen 3 (Eaves, Walker), 4:06. 2, Pittsburgh, Malkin 11 (Crosby, Gonchar), 6:50 (pp). 3, Pittsburgh, Crosby 14 (Guerin, Kunitz), 19:17. 4, Pittsburgh, Malkin 12 (Adams, Gonchar), 19:48. Penalties: Eaves, Car (slashing), 6:18; Cole, Car (roughing), 10:55.Second Period: None. Penalties: Seidenberg, Car (delay of game), 4:15.Third Period: 5, Carolina, Samsonov 5 (Cole, Pitkanen), 1:58. 6, Pittsburgh, Fedotenko 5 (Malkin), 11:29. 7, Pittsburgh, Adams 2, 18:12 (en). 8, Pittsburgh, Guerin 6 (Kunitz, Fedotenko), 18:52 (pp). Penalties: Gonchar, Pit (boarding), 7:38; Satan, Pit (interference), 16:33; Corvo, Car (tripping), 17:20; Boucher, Pit (roughing, cross-checking), 19:27; Bayda, Car (cross-checking), 19:27.Shots on Goal: Pittsburgh 16-15-9: 40. Carolina 8-8-18: 34.Power-play opportunities: Pittsburgh 2 of 4; Carolina 0 of 3.Goalies: Pittsburgh, Fleury 11-5-0 (34 shots-32 saves). Carolina, Ward 8-9-0 (39-34).A: 18,789 (18,680). T: 2:21.Referees: Eric Furlatt, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Greg Devorski, Shane Heyer.

Series glance(Pittsburgh leads series 3-0)

May 18: Pittsburgh 3, Carolina 2

Thursday: Pittsburgh 7, Carolina 4

Saturday: Pittsburgh 6, Carolina 2

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

Friday, May 29: Carolina at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m., if necessary, Versus

Sunday, May 31: Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7:30 p.m., if necessary, Versus

June 2: Carolina at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m., if necessary, Versus

KARL B DEBLAKER / AP

After a three-goal effort in Game 2, Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin opened Game 3 with two first-period goals and later added an assist.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 9NHL

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

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

Detroit at Chicago, 3 p.m., NBC

Betting lineToday

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

at Chicago ............ -110 Detroit....................-110

CHICAGO—A jarring hit from Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall, one that flattened Chicago’s Martin Havlat, has put a new spin on the Western Conference finals.

The Blackhawks’ points leader might be out for today’s Game 4 and the hit has spiked emotions between the old Original Six rivals.

“Marty didn’t have the puck,” Chicago defenseman Brian Camp-bell said. “If he hit Marty and hit him clean, that’s fine. That hap-pens. ... It’s just how he hits. You can see his forearms coming up and his hands are coming up and he’s lunging forward and jumping into the guy.”

Kronwall received a 5-minute interference penalty and was ejected from Friday night’s Game 3 in which the Blackhawks pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory to keep from going down three games to none. Camp-bell was asked if Kronwall should watch out today for retaliation.

“I don’t know what will happen to him, but I’m sure there won’t be one check not finished on him,” Campbell said.

While Havlat’s return is ques-tionable for Game 4, the Hawks might have an even bigger problem. Backup goalie Cristobal Huet might have to start in place of Nikolai Khabibulin, who left Friday night’s game with a leg injury.

Huet came in and stopped a Red Wings’ surge that produced three second-period goals and wiped out Chicago’s 3-0 lead. Huet held the Red Wings scoreless in the third period, and Patrick Sharp’s goal less than 2 minutes into overtime gave the Blackhawks the win and

cut Detroit’s series lead to 2-1.Detroit also has some injury con-

cern. Coach Mike Babcock said Kris Draper will sit today. And star center Pavel Datsyuk, who missed Game 3 with a sore foot, probably will be a game-time decision.

Havlat was looking down for the puck near the boards in the first period Friday when Kronwall hit him at full speed, smashing him to the ice in a heap. A dazed Havlat stayed down for several minutes

before he was helped off the ice. He didn’t return.

“The way I felt things happened, the puck went off the wall and he went to pick it up. I stepped in and he never saw me come. He never touched the puck, but I felt like the puck was right there,” Kronwall said.

Told that some of the Blackhawks, especially Campbell, thought it was a dirty play, Kronwall said, “I think I would have felt the same way if

someone did that to one of my team-mates. It’s unfortunate he got hurt and that’s how it is.”

Asked if he hit Havlat in the head, Kronwall said: “Maybe that’s why he got knocked out. I don’t know.”

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville didn’t directly address reports that Havlat may have lost consciousness when he first crumbled to the ice. But he did say doctors are monitor-ing his condition.

“We’re not going to discuss the

injury,” Quenneville said. “His health is going to be the first criteria before he’s even going to be consid-ered to be playing.”

Babcock reiterated his belief that Kronwall’s hit was not a cheap shot, but rather a legitimate check and not worthy of the 5-minute penalty and game misconduct.

“Coaches have bad games. Play-ers have bad games. The league doesn’t let referees have bad games. So has there ever been a bad call?

Accountability,” Babcock said.“To me, that wasn’t a head shot.

So I don’t think you should be hunt-ing anyone’s head. I think that’s real important. But I also think it’s a contact sport. And the puck was coming around the wall. He saw it coming. He turned, chose not to play it with his stick, was letting it come through his feet. Kronwall stepped up on it. That’s hockey.”

Huet got a four-year, $22.5 mil-lion deal as a free agent last sum-mer. The Blackhawks eventually put Khabibulin on waivers, but when no deal could be made to move him, he stuck around. The goalies split time for much of the regular season, but Khabibulin won the starter’s job for the play-offs. Huet’s appearance Friday was his first in the postseason this year.

“Coming (into the game) in the third (period) in a 3-3 tie wasn’t something I’d ever experienced and not something I’d recommend,” Huet said, adding that he’s expect-ing to start today, even though no announcement has been made.

“Now it’s a little different,” he added. “I’m going to have to prepare tonight knowing I’m going to play— I guess.”

— The Associated Press

Kronwall hit spikes emotions in tightening West

PAUL BEATY / AP

Martin Havlat was on the receiving end of a jarring hit from Detroit D Niklas Kronwell during Chicago’s Game 3 win, and both teams have their opinions on the play’s legality.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 10NHL

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

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

May 18: Pittsburgh 3, Carolina 2

May 21: Pittsburgh 7, Carolina 4

Saturday: Pittsburgh 6, Carolina 2

Tuesday: Pittsburgh at Carolina,

7:30 p.m., Versus

Friday: Carolina at Pittsburgh, 7:30

p.m., if necessary, Versus

Sunday, May 31: 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 2-1)

May 17: Detroit 5, Chicago 2

May 19: Detroit 3, Chicago 2, OT

May 22: Chicago 4, Detroit 3, OT

Today: Detroit at Chicago,

3 p.m., NBC

Wednesday: Chicago at Detroit,

7:30 p.m. Versus

Saturday, May 30: Detroit at

Chicago, 8 p.m., if necessary, Versus

Monday, June 1: Chicago at

Detroit, 7:30 p.m., if necessary,

Versus

INSIDE DISH

Brent Sutter, relaxing at his offsea-son home in Red Deer, reacted with surprise when informed by the Cal-gary Herald that Flames coach Mike Keenan had been fired by brother Darryl Sutter, the team’s general manager.

“I just feel bad for Mike,” he told the newspaper. “He’s a colleague.”

Sutter also was asked the inevi-table question. Was Darryl’s deci-sion to not address the firing with reporters until Tuesday a sign that another announcement might be imminent—the hiring of Brent to coach the Flames?

“I’m employed by the New Jer-sey Devils,” Brent Sutter told the Herald. “I haven’t talked to Darryl much, even as a brother, since I’ve been back home. I’m just trying to sort through some things right now to see what I want to do. Mr. (Devils G.M. Lou) Lamoriello and I have always taken this year by year.”

It’s no secret that Sutter, who guided the Devils to 51 wins and 108 points this season, would like to return to his Alberta roots. In addition to his ranch, Sutter has business ties to the Red Deer Rebels junior franchise—a team he coached to two championships—and Red Deer is only an hour away from Calgary.

“I haven’t even thought about anything like that,” Brent said, although sources in New Jersey have told the newspaper that Lam-oriella would not stand in his way if he wants to leave.

Another scenario: Darryl, who coached the Flames for three

seasons and led them to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004, could return to the bench.

Bobby Holik spent Saturday cleaning out his garage. And it was fantastic. This is exactly the kind of

stuff he wants to be doing for awhile.

Holik, 38, is retiring after 18 sea-sons, his last appropriately with a New Jersey team he helped win two Stanley Cups.

“I wanted to be able to walk away from the game and just move on,” Holik told Sporting News Today. “I like to be home and just do things regular people do.”

But most importantly, Holik wanted to retire on his own terms. He didn’t want to do it because of injury or because there wasn’t interest in him.

Still a strong veteran presence—fantastic on faceoffs and a pain to play against—Holik surely would have found a taker at the right price for next season. He said he’ll take time to relax but didn’t rule out a future in television, where the opin-ionated star would be a natural.

The Czech Republic native fin-ished with 326 career goals and 421 assists in 1,314 games with the Whalers, Devils, Rangers and Thrashers. He’s also known for the five-year, $45 million contract he signed with the Rangers in 2002. So yeah, he’ll be doing all right in retirement.

“It was time,” he said. “I’ve done everything I wanted and probably a lot more than I ever thought I would. It’s time to be a husband and father full time.”

—Craig Custance

The Toronto Star reports that Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie’s $212.5 million bid for the Phoenix Coyotes has generated qualified

support from SOF Investments, the single-largest secured creditor in the team’s bankruptcy case.

But that doesn’t mean SOF Investments expects Balsillie’s bid to receive approval. The company, in fact, seems resigned to the possi-bility the Coyotes will play in Glen-dale, Ariz., next season and is urging the team to start marketing itself as if that’s the case.

According to the Star, SOF Invest-ments lent $75 million to Jerry Moyes to keep the team afloat. SOF said in court papers that it believes Balsil-lie’s bid “would result in substantial recovery of the amounts owed to the debtors’ creditors, including SOF, which would be paid in full in cash.”

The Denver Post reports that Colorado is in the running to sign Swedish star Jonas Gustavsson, who generally is considered one of the best goaltenders in the world not playing in the NHL.

“I think Colorado would be a great fit,” former Avalanche star Peter Forsberg told Swedish reporters about his countryman. “It’s a great city to play hockey in, even if they had a rough season. I think it would be less pressure for him there than Toronto or Philadelphia or New York.”

Gustavsson, 24, is a 6-3, 192-pounder who led Farjestads to the championship of the Swedish Elite League this year, posting a 1.96 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in the regular sea-son. He has said he’s ready to jump to the NHL.

With Keenan gone, Calgary job has a Sutter feel to it

BILL KOSTROUN / AP

Could Brent Sutter leave the Devils to work with his brother Darryl, Calgary’s general manager?

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97Series glance(Lakers lead series 2-1)

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

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

Saturday: L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97

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

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

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

Sunday, May 31: Denver at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m., if necessary

L.A. Lakers 26 22 23 32 — 103Denver 28 24 27 18 — 97

L.A. LAKERS Min FG FT Reb A PF PTSAriza 32:03 5-8 3-4 1-4 2 4 16Gasol 42:53 7-12 6-8 1-11 1 2 20Bynum 20:47 2-6 3-6 0-4 0 3 7Fisher 26:13 2-6 0-2 2-3 2 2 4Bryant 41:13 12-24 15-17 1-6 5 4 41Odom 29:53 2-5 4-6 3-7 1 4 8Walton 13:38 0-1 0-2 0-3 1 0 0Farmar 13:32 1-3 0-0 0-2 3 2 2Vujacic 11:33 1-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 3Brown 8:15 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 1 2Totals 240:00 33-72 31-45 8-43 15 24 103

Percentages: FG .458, FT .689. 3-Point Goals: 6-19, .316 (Ariza 3-5, Bryant 2-5, Vujacic 1-3, Farmar 0-1, Fisher 0-1, Brown 0-2, Odom 0-2). Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turnovers: 13 (14 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (Bynum 3, Ariza, Brown, Gasol, Vujacic). Turnovers: 12 (Farmar 3, Fisher 2, Gasol 2, Ariza, Bryant, Bynum, Odom, Vujacic). Steals: 7 (Fisher 3, Ariza 2, Bryant 2). Technical Fouls: Fisher, 6:30 third; Farmar, 10:12 fourth.

DENVER Min FG FT Reb A PF PTSAnthony 37:29 4-13 12-14 0-5 3 6 21Martin 34:36 3-10 0-0 2-7 1 6 6Nene 31:15 5-9 3-4 1-6 1 5 13Billups 40:06 5-15 6-7 0-6 7 1 18Jones 17:28 4-6 2-2 1-2 1 5 10Smith 26:21 4-15 0-0 2-3 6 4 10Andersen 23:55 6-9 3-4 2-7 0 2 15Carter 15:00 0-1 0-0 1-1 1 2 0Kleiza 13:49 2-6 0-0 2-6 1 0 4Totals 239:59 33-84 26-31 11-43 21 31 97

Percentages: FG .393, FT .839. 3-Point Goals: 5-27, .185 (Bil-lups 2-7, Smith 2-10, Anthony 1-7, Carter 0-1, Kleiza 0-2). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 11 (13 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Andersen 3, Martin 2). Turnovers: 11 (Anthony 4, Billups 4, Nene, Martin, Smith). Steals: 10 (Anthony 3, Billups 2, Carter, Nene, Jones, Kleiza, Smith). Technical Fouls: Kleiza, 0:07.9 second; Carter, 1:53 third; Smith, 12:00 fourth.A: 19,939 (19,155). T: 2:53. Officials: Dan Crawford, Derrick Stafford, James Capers.

Ariza’s late swipe steals series back to LakersDENVER—Trevor Ariza’s clutch

steals are punching a dagger in Denver’s season just as much as Kobe Bryant’s big baskets.

For the second time in three games, Ariza stole an inbounds pass in the final minute to help Los Angeles beat the Nuggets, this time 103-97 at the Pepsi Center for a 2-1 lead that restored the Lakers’ home-court advantage in the Western Conference finals.

Ariza, whose steal of Anthony Carter’s lazy lob sealed the Lakers’ win in the series opener, sliced in front of Carmelo Anthony to swipe Kenyon Martin’s inbounds pass with the Lakers clinging to a two-point lead with 36 seconds left.

Anthony fouled out to prevent the breakaway basket and Ariza sank both free throws for a 99-95 lead.

“Trevor, he’s very crafty, he’s long, he’s fast, he’s quick and he’s a ball hog,” said Bryant, who scored 41 points. “He does a good job of reading those things. It’s a great defensive play.”

As he did in the first game, Lamar Odom guarded the inbounds, only this time it wasn’t the shortest player on the team he was facing, but the 6-foot-9 Martin trying to get the ball in over the Lakers’ 6-10 forward.

“He’s long, look at him,” Sasha Vujacic said of Odom. “He’s very long. He’s athletic. He’s got eyes behind his ears. He knows how to jump all around the ball.”

Hounded, K-Mart called timeout, but on the redo, he wasn’t so lucky as he led ‘Melo too much with the

pass and Ariza snatched away both the ball and Denver’s shot at a win for the second time in five nights.

“It was kind of deja vu from Game 1,” Anthony said.

Ariza thought so, too.“It was kind of funny,” he said. “It

was pretty much the same thing, different players. But we got the steal. We got a win, that’s the most important thing.”

Bryant made four free throws in the final 22 seconds to seal the win after sinking a 3-pointer over J.R. Smith with 1:09 left to put Los Angles ahead for good at 96-95.

“Kobe does that time and time and time and time and time again for game winners,” Odom said of Bryant’s 3-pointer. “It is routine—for him.”

Pau Gasol added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

“I think Gasol was the key to them winning tonight,” Anthony said. “Getting him going and him making shots, it made it hard to double-team him and still try to guard Kobe out there.”

Anthony scored 21 points but just three after halftime, and Denver lost at home for the first time since March 9.

“I don’t really think they did any-thing different tonight. But I missed some easy shots,” said Anthony, who had averaged 35 points in his previous five games but went just 4-for-13.

Before Saturday night, the Nug-gets, who had won 16 straight games at home, had been dominant in Denver in the playoffs. They ran

away with all six games at Pepsi Center against New Orleans and Dallas by an average of 17.5 points.

The Nuggets led most of the game but were done in by poor decisions and a failure to keep their compo-sure. They shot just 5-for-27 on 3-pointers and committed three technical fouls.

Game 4 is Monday night, when the Lakers and Nuggets will have the Pepsi Center to themselves after World Wrestling Entertainment moved Monday Night Raw to the Staples Center in Los Angeles because of the double booking.

That doesn’t mean the crowd in Denver won’t see some elbows, forearms and more trash talking like they did Saturday night, when there were five technicals called, including one on Smith for taunting Vujacic after swishing a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer.

The Nuggets took a 79-71 lead on Smith’s bucket. Vujacic, who had just hit a 3-pointer of his own, his first points of the game, nearly stole Billups’ pass, but Smith snared it, spun and swished the 3-pointer as the backboard lit up in red and he fell to the floor with the crowd going crazy.

Caught up in the moment, Smith jumped up jawing at Vujacic and was T’d up.

After Bryant swished the techni-cal free throw, Denver would miss its first nine shots of the fourth quarter, finally putting a shot through the hoop on Martin’s dunk with 6:34 left.

—The Associated Press

JACK DEMPSEY / AP

Kobe Bryant’s 41 points were big, but Trevor Ariza’s defense in the clutch may have been bigger.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 11NBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

ORLANDO—As if once wasn’t enough, the Orlando Magic were forced to watch LeBron James’ amazing buzzer-beater all day Saturday.

The Magic were witnesses all right. Again. And again. And again.

James’ stunning fadeaway 3-pointer in Game 2 that tied the Eastern Conference finals was replayed countless times on TV sets from Cleveland to Orlando. It was also a fixture in the minds of Cava-liers fans basking in the win, and in the thoughts of Magic players won-dering what could have been.

“It’s tough when you got to go home and watch it on TV over and over again,” Magic center Dwight Howard said.

The shot saved the Cavaliers from a daunting 0-2 hole, and already was being talked about as one of the greatest moments in Cleveland sports history. There’s just one downside for the Cavs.

“It is over and done with,” James said.

For all the drama and emotion surrounding the riveting shot, the Cavaliers have plenty to fix if they want to reclaim home-court advan-tage when the series shifts to Orlando for Game 3 tonight.

The Magic ripped their defense apart, exposed their lack of depth and roared back from a double-digit deficit for the second straight game. Now the NBA’s top-seeded team heads to Orlando, where it lost both games this season, including a 29-point blowout in April in which it trailed by as many as 41.

But one shot made all of that seem

like a distant memory.“To go on the road, 1 second from

being down 0-2, going to Orlando and from zero seconds the shot goes in to being 1-1 going on the road, it is a good feeling for us,” James said. “We can carry this momentum.”

It’s an all too familiar feeling for Orlando.

The Magic have been last-second losers four times this postseason. Boston’s Glen Davis hit a jumper as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round series. Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young each hit a shot in the final seconds for wins in the opening round, forcing the Magic to again watch another team celebrate as they walked slowly to the locker room in defeat.

Any carry-over seems unlikely.Orlando responded well after

each of the previous heartbreakers, winning the following games against Philadelphia and nearly taking Game 5 against the Celtics before blowing a big fourth-quarter lead.

“How many times have I been asked that in the postseason so far?” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Game 1 in Philly we lose at the buzzer. Is there going to be carry-over? OK. Game 3 in Philly, they beat us at the buzzer. Is there going to be carry-over? Game 4 against Boston, is there going to be carry-over? I mean, you know, I’ve heard that the entire postseason.”

The Magic, a streaky shooting team that can dazzle at times and disappear during some games, overcame a 23-point deficit in Game 2 as skittish Cleveland fans covered

their mouths in disbelief, with Hedo Turkoglu hitting a 12-footer in the lane to put Orlando ahead by two with 1 second left.

Cleveland called timeout and drew up a play for James. The league’s MVP darted toward the basket, cut back near the top of the

circle, caught the ball and let loose a shot over Turkoglu that sent those same fans hugging and cheering in an all-too-good state of shock.

An encore won’t be easy.The Magic have been a matchup

nightmare at times for the Cavs, who have lost nine of the last 13

games to Orlando. The Magic, with their bevy of 3-point shooters and Howard inside, have picked apart Cleveland’s defense for long stretches.

Orlando has started slow in the first two games, and Cleveland likely won’t be able to count on such

a cushion tonight at Amway Arena, where the Magic usually start fast.

But the Cavs did show some posi-tive signs in the win.

Unlike Game 1, when Orlando emerged on a late 3-pointer by Rashard Lewis, it wasn’t just the LeBron show. Mo Williams had 19 points and made some big shots late. Cleveland also got 12 points apiece from Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Delonte West.

Sasha Pavlovic scored nine points in 21 minutes but most of Cleve-land’s reserves again provided little support.

The Cavs know they’ll have to win at least one in Orlando to earn a spot in the NBA finals, and they’re hoping to take advantage if they get another break.

“You can’t go through the playoffs without having some lucky bounces here and there,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “They got one, quote-unquote, lucky bounce in Game 1, if you want to say that with Rashard’s shot. We got one in Game 2. Let’s get ready for Game 3 now.”

— The Associated Press

‘Magic’ shot by James has Cavs breathing new lifeToday’s gameConference finals(Best-of-7), all times ET

Cleveland at Orlando,

8:30 p.m., TNT

Betting lineToday

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

at Orlando ................1½ .... (190) .............. Cleveland

Orlando’s Dwight Howard (12) reacts after a 3-point shot by Cleveland’s LeBron James won Game 2 as time expired Friday night.

DAVID RICHARD / AP

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 12NBA

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 13NBA

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

EASTERN CONFERENCECleveland vs. Orlando(Series tied 1-1)

May 20: Orlando 107, Cleveland 106

May 22: Cleveland 96, Orlando 95

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

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

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

Saturday, May 30: 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(Lakers lead series 2-1)

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

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

Saturday: L.A. Lakers 103, Denver 97

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

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

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

Sunday, May 31: 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

Before the 2008 Olympics, when the Americans reclaimed the gold medal in men’s basketball, concerns over injuries and fatigue were a convenient excuse for uninterested players looking to dodge playing for their country. Not only has that excuse been utterly debunked, but it could be argued that the Olympic experience helped toughen up everyone who participated.

With that in mind, a new wave of players is very interested in lining up with Team USA. There will be a minicamp in Las Vegas in July, and already 19 of the 24 players invited have accepted. Among them will be Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo, Devin Harris and Blake Griffin. As Durant said earlier this season: “It’s an honor even to be considered. When you look at the guys who won (the gold medal)—Kobe (Bryant), LeBron (James), Dwyane Wade—those are guys you want to be associated with.”

— Sean Deveney

Spain has won the right to host the men’s basketball world championship in 2014. The board of governing body FIBA picked Spain on Saturday ahead of rival candidates China and Italy.

The 24-team tournament will be played in Madrid plus Bilbao, Granada, Seville, and Las Palmas on the Canary Islands from Aug. 30-Sept. 14, 2014.

Spain won the 2006 worlds in Japan when Pau Gasol—then a Memphis Grizzlies player and now with the Los Angeles Lakers—was the tournament MVP. Spain beat Greece 70-47 in the final. The United States defeated Argentina in the bronze-medal match.

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer is reporting that Michael Jordan is seriously look-ing at buying controlling interest in the Bob-cats now that majority owner Bob Johnson is looking to sell the team.

The Observer mentioned two sources,

speaking on condition of anonymity, that Jor-dan has interest and the financial backing to pursue the team. The question is at what cost. Johnson would like to set the value at $325 million or more and has hired sports invest-ment banker Sal Galatioto to find a buyer, according to the Observer.

A source told the newspaper that interest in buying the team, which wrapped up its fifth season, comes from out-of-town suitors. The source said the interested parties are not looking to move the team.

Since arriving in Phoenix, Shaquille O’Neal has sung the praises of the Suns’ training staff. Now, O’Neal says he believes he can play three more years, thanks in part to his routine with them.

“These guys that have been working on me, they have another technique,” O’Neal told Sporting News Radio. “And you know, even though I’ve been playing 17 years on paper, if you subtract the games that I missed, I missed three years. (That) tells you I have three years to play.”

In his first full year with the Suns, O’Neal averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds over 75 games, the most he’s played since 1999-00 with the Lakers.

Andrew Bynum wants to play more min-utes, and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jack-son has just the solution: Play better defense.

“If he plays well, he’ll have more time,” Jackson said Saturday, several hours before Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the Denver Nuggets.

Bynum criticized the Lakers’ defensive scheme after getting yanked from Game 2 early in the second half for his lackadaisical play that led to an easy bucket for Denver. Jackson was displeased that Bynum didn’t hustle downcourt after failing to get a pass in the post, which allowed Nuggets center Nene to make a layup and draw a foul from Bryant. So, Bynum took a seat with 7:14 left in the third quarter and never returned.

Before Game 3, Bynum said he hadn’t dis-cussed his criticism with his coach but he alternately stuck by his assertion and backed

away from it.

Bryant and his wife are suing their for-mer housekeeper, accusing her of violating her contract by talking to the media about the family’s private affairs. The housekeeper ini-tially sued the Los Angeles Lakers star and his wife, contending they harassed and humiliated her.

The Clippers have said they’ll take PF Blake Griffin with the No. 1 pick. But several publications have reported that the Clippers will be open to trading down from the top spot. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Thunder are one of the teams expected to go after that pick, using the third pick and one of their young core players (Jeff Green or Russell Westbrook) as part of the deal.

ESPN.com reported that the Clippers would be open to trading the pick if they can secure SG Ricky Rubio in the process. ESPN also reported that a number of general man-agers “insist” that the Clippers want to move PG Baron Davis and his large contract.

In a conference call with season-ticket holders, Warriors general manager Larry Riley said PG Monta Ellis can’t run a team yet, and Golden State is looking for someone who can pass, the Contra Costa Times reported. Riley also said that G Jamal Crawford isn’t a good fit for the team, so expect him to be among the players shopped this summer.

Heat G Dwyane Wade said any fears about him leaving the franchise in 2010 are mis-placed—as long as the team shows a commit-ment to winning. “I’ve said this since Day 1 and I will continue to say it, this is where I want to be,” Wade told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “My main thing, and I will continue to say it, would be winning. I want to get to the point where I know that every year we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to win.”

Playing for Olympic team could again be hip thing

ERIC GAY / AP

The next Team USA men’s basketball squad could have a wave of new faces to join members of the 2008 club.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 14Baseball

The Mets’ offense has already been hampered by injuries. Now, their bullpen is feeling the pain.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez was struck by a violent series of back spasms before their game against Boston, and setup man J.J. Putz has battled neck stiffness all week.

“I’ve never experienced some pain like the way that I have right now,” Rodriguez said after the game. “The pain is strong, even to walk.”

1B Carlos Delgado (hip), SS Jose Reyes (calf), OF Ryan Church (hamstring) are also struggling with injuries.

In addition, a sore knee likely will continue to limit OF Carlos Beltran to DH duty. Although a second MRI exam on Reyes’ calf again revealed only tendinitis, Reyes said the injury feels worse now than ever. Mean-while, general manager Omar Minaya told the newspaper that P Oliver Perez (knee) is expected to make a minor league rehab start next week.

Out since his opening day start, Dodgers P Hiroki Kuroda (oblique) had an encouraging rehab outing Friday. In 3 2/3 innings, he struck out three and allowed one hit and no earned runs. Kuroda will make another rehab start Wednesday, and man-ager Joe Torre told the Los Angeles Times that he could rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation in early June.

There also is good medical news to report for the crosstown Angels. According to the Los Angeles Times, OF Vladimir Guerrero (chest) could wrap up his rehab assignment this afternoon and be back in L.A.’s lineup Monday. And P Kelvim Escobar (shoulder) allowed only one hit and no earned runs in 4

2/3 innings in his first rehab start Fri-day. He struck out four, and his fastball was clocked between 91-95 mph.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, P Scott Kazmir, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a quad injury Friday, is expected to be out longer than two weeks. In fact, the newspaper speculated he might be out for months. The team blamed the quad injury for a change in his mechanics, which led to Kazmir’s struggles (7.69 ERA) this season.

Yes, that was Andruw Jones mak-ing his first career start at 1B for the Rangers on Friday. And according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he should be there again this afternoon.

Manager Ron Washington told the newspaper that he likes Jones’ pres-ence in the lineup behind OF Josh Hamilton, but Jones’ newfound versa-tility also likely is linked to the ongo-ing offensive struggles of 1B Chris Davis. In other Rangers news, mlb.com reported 3B Michael Young showed up to the ballpark on crutches Saturday after injuring his right foot/ankle in Friday’s game. Despite the injury, Young lobbied to start Saturday. Finally, slumping 2B Ian Kinsler was given the day off Saturday, with Omar Vizquel taking his place.

The fading Royals desperately need some relief, but they won’t be getting any from P Joakim Soria in the near future. Manager Trey Hillman

told the team’s website that Soria will miss another 10-14 days as he works his way back from a strained rotator cuff. Soria threw 25 pitches off the mound before Saturday’s game and reported no problems, but Hillman said he will be cautious with his closer because he wants him to return at 100 percent. Mean-while, The Kansas City Star reported 3B Alex Gordon took some light swings this week for the first time since his hip surgery on April 17. The Royals should get an idea about a timetable for his return this week.

According to a report on WEEI.com, the Red Sox “immedi-ately shot down” the Nationals’ recent trade offer of 1B Nick Johnson for P Manny Delcarmen.

More bad news for the strug-gling Indians. On Saturday, they placed Ps Anthony Reyes (elbow) and Aaron Laffey (oblique) on the 15-day disabled list. As a result, the team called up P Jeremy Sowers to take Reyes’ place in the rotation and P Rich Rundles to replace Laffey in the bullpen.

After yet another poor start, the Marlins decided they had seen enough. The Miami Herald reported the Marlins optioned P Ricky Nolasco to Class AAA following his start Friday. In that game, Nolasco allowed eight earned runs on eight hits (two homers), rais-ing his ERA to a season-high 9.07. Marlins C John Baker told the newspa-per that Nolasco had spent countless hours in the video room trying to spot a flaw in his delivery, and manager Fredi Gonzalez said Nolasco hadn’t reported any physical problems.

THE LAUNCHING PADWhat to expect in the major leagues today

Escape from L.A.The battle for Los Angeles bragging rights will resume next month during

the second leg of interleague play, but the Angels and Dodgers will wrap up their weekend series at Dodger Stadium this afternoon. Dodgers ace Chad Billingsley, who has yet to allow more than three earned runs in any of his nine starts, will try to become the N.L’s first seven-game winner. He could use a bit of support from outfielder Andre Ethier, who has hit the skids after a tremendous April. Luckily for the Dodgers, outfielder Juan Pierre has picked up the slack.

Hit the highwayThat’s what both the Royals and Cardinals—separated by a couple

hundred miles on Interstate 70—will do following this afternoon’s game. Kansas City will go home to face first-place Detroit, while St. Louis will head to Milwaukee for a first-place battle of its own. First, the Royals will have to find a way to solve Cardinals Joel Pineiro, who is coming off perhaps the best start of his career (a complete-game, three-hit shutout against the Cubs). However, the Royals’ outfielders Coco Crisp, David DeJesus and Jose Guillen have hit a combined .358 (19-for-53) with two homers and eight RBIs against Pineiro.

Yesterday and todayThough he’ll undoubtedly enter the Hall of Fame with a Braves cap on

his plaque someday, Atlanta skipper Bobby Cox managed the Blue Jays from 1982-85 (with a 355-292 record). That was sandwiched between his two stints with Atlanta (1978-81, 1990-present). Cox has spent this weekend managing against the Jays, and his team did the near-impossible Friday by finding a way to win a game started by Roy Halladay. Today, he’ll try to rally his offense to provide some run support for righthander Jair Jurrjens, who has only four wins despite a 1.96 ERA.

— Chris Bahr

INSIDE DISH

Injuries continue to mount for shorthanded Mets

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

Cards P Joel Pineiro is looking to string together consecutive solid starts.

CHARLES KRUPA / AP

SS Jose Reyes, one of several Mets sidelined with injuries, is battling tendinitis in his calf.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 15Baseball

American League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayToronto 27 19 .587 — — 4-6 L-5 16-6 11-13Boston 25 18 .581 ½ — 4-6 L-2 16-6 9-12New York 25 18 .581 ½ — 9-1 W-1 14-8 11-10Tampa Bay 23 22 .511 3½ 3 7-3 W-3 11-10 12-12Baltimore 18 25 .419 7½ 7 4-6 W-2 11-11 7-14

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayDetroit 24 17 .585 — — 7-3 L-1 15-6 9-11Kansas City 21 22 .488 4 4 3-7 L-4 14-10 7-12Minnesota 21 23 .477 4½ 4½ 4-6 W-3 16-9 5-14Chicago 19 23 .452 5½ 5½ 4-6 W-2 12-9 7-14Cleveland 17 27 .386 8½ 8½ 5-5 W-1 7-11 10-16

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayTexas 25 17 .595 — — 7-3 W-2 14-6 11-11Los Angeles 22 20 .524 3 2½ 5-5 L-1 12-8 10-12Seattle 20 24 .455 6 5½ 4-6 L-1 11-12 9-12Oakland 15 25 .375 9 8½ 3-7 L-3 8-12 7-13

National League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayPhiladelphia 23 18 .561 — — 7-3 L-1 8-12 15-6New York 23 19 .548 ½ 2½ 5-5 W-2 12-8 11-11Atlanta 22 20 .524 1½ 3½ 6-4 W-2 10-12 12-8Florida 19 25 .432 5½ 7½ 2-8 L-4 8-14 11-11Washington 12 30 .286 11½ 13½ 1-9 L-2 6-16 6-14

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayMilwaukee 26 17 .605 — — 7-3 L-2 12-7 14-10St. Louis 26 17 .605 — — 6-4 W-5 17-8 9-9Cincinnati 22 20 .524 3½ 3½ 4-6 L-1 9-12 13-8Chicago 21 20 .512 4 4 4-6 L-6 12-7 9-13Pittsburgh 19 24 .442 7 7 5-5 L-3 11-9 8-15Houston 18 23 .439 7 7 4-6 L-3 9-14 9-9

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayLos Angeles 30 14 .682 — — 8-2 W-1 18-4 12-10San Diego 21 22 .488 8½ 5 8-2 W-8 16-6 5-16San Francisco 20 22 .476 9 5½ 2-8 W-1 13-8 7-14Arizona 19 24 .442 10½ 7 6-4 W-4 9-15 10-9Colorado 17 25 .405 12 8½ 4-6 W-1 7-10 10-15

z-first game was a win

Pitching Matchups Today’s Games (All times Eastern)

Interleague The Line

Colorado (Hammel 0-3) at Detroit (Willis 1-0), 1:05 p.m. at Det -140, Col +130

Philadelphia (Hamels 2-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 4-3), 1:05 p.m. at NYY -160, Phi +150

Cleveland (Cl.Lee 2-5) at Cincinnati (Cueto 4-2), 1:10 p.m. Cle -115, at Cin +105

Tampa Bay (J.Shields 3-4) at Florida (Jo.Johnson 3-1), 1:10 p.m. at Fla -105, TB -105

Baltimore (Bergesen 1-2) at Washington (Martis 5-0), 1:35 p.m. at Was -130, Bal +120

N.Y. Mets (Redding 0-0) at Boston (Wakefield 5-2), 1:35 p.m. at Bos -180, NYM +170

Toronto (Richmond 4-2) at Atlanta (Jurrjens 4-2), 1:35 p.m. at Atl -150, Tor +140

Pittsburgh (Karstens 1-2) at Chicago White Sox (Buehrle 6-1), 2:05 p.m. at ChW -170, Pit +160

Texas (McCarthy 3-2) at Houston (Hampton 2-3), 2:05 p.m. Tex -110, at Hou +100

Kansas City (Bannister 3-1) at St. Louis (Pineiro 5-3), 2:15 p.m. at StL -140, KC +130

Arizona (Garland 4-2) at Oakland (Outman 1-0), 4:05 p.m. at Oak -125, Ari +115

L.A. Angels (Palmer 5-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley 6-1), 4:10 p.m. at LAD -180, LAA +170

San Francisco (Zito 1-4) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 4-3), 4:10 p.m. at Sea -165, SF +155

Milwaukee (Bush 3-0) at Minnesota (S.Baker 1-5), 8:05 p.m. at Min -120, Mil +110

National League The Line

Chicago Cubs (Lilly 5-3) at San Diego (C.Young 3-2), 4:05 p.m. at SD -120, ChC +110

MORE COVERAGE Get everything you need to

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

Fantasy Focus PItcher Rankings

Rejoice, David Price owners—he’s back. And he is the biggest riser in this week’s pitcher rankings.

Risers▲ SP Justin Verlander, Tigers. Ver-lander gets two starts this week (at Kansas City, at Baltimore) to improve his A.L.-leading strike-out total.▲ SP David Price, Rays. Price will get two chances (at Cleveland, vs. Minnesota) to (hopefully) appease his patient fantasy owners. ▲ RP Santiago Casilla, A’s. With closer Brad Ziegler and setup man Andrew Bailey struggling, Casilla could start getting save chances.

Fallers▼ SP Francisco Liriano, Twins. Given how poorly Liriano is pitching, having two starts this week (vs. Boston, at Tampa Bay) doesn’t help his value.▼ SP Chris Young, Padres. Young has an 8.03 ERA on the road this season, and San Diego travels to Colorado for his next start.▼ RP Juan Cruz, Royals. With Joakim Soria nearing a return and Cruz struggling, owners should look elsewhere for cheap saves.

— Matt Lutovsky

LEAGUE LEADERSBatting Average

Runs

RBIs

Doubles

Triples

Home Runs

Stolen Bases

Pitching (4 decisions)

Strikeouts

Saves

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 19

Callaspo Kansas City 16

Lind Toronto 15

MYoung Texas 15

Four tied 14

N.L.

Player Team

Kotchman Atlanta 16

FSanchez Pittsburgh 16

Hudson Los Angeles 15

FLopez Arizona 15

HaRamirez Florida 15

Three tied 14

A.L.

Player Team

Verlander Detroit 77

Greinke Kansas City 73

Halladay Toronto 63

Lester Boston 58

FHernandez Seattle 56

Garza Tampa Bay 53

Beckett Boston 51

N.L.

Player Team

Peavy San Diego 79

Lincecum San Francisco 76

JSantana New York 75

JVazquez Atlanta 73

Haren Arizona 63

Billingsley Los Angeles 63

Two tied 53

A.L.

Player Team

Fuentes Los Angeles 12

Papelbon Boston 11

Jenks Chicago 10

FFrancisco Texas 10

Sherrill Baltimore 9

MaRivera New York 9

Rodney Detroit 8.

N.L.

Player Team

FrRodriguez New York 12

Bell San Diego 12

Cordero Cincinnati 11

Broxton Los Angeles 11

Franklin St. Louis 11

Qualls Arizona 11

Hoffman Milwaukee 11.

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 48

Bay Boston 44

CPena Tampa Bay 38

Markakis Baltimore 36

Morneau Minnesota 36

Three tied 35

N.L.

Player Team

Ibanez Philadelphia 42

Fielder Milwaukee 40

Pujols St. Louis 38

Cantu Florida 35

Hawpe Colorado 34

Phillips Cincinnati 34

Zimmerman Washington 34

A.L.

Player Team

BRoberts Baltimore 37

AdJones Baltimore 36

Markakis Baltimore 36

Scutaro Toronto 36

Morneau Minnesota 35

Bay Boston 34

Damon New York 34

N.L.

Player Team

Pujols St. Louis 38

Ibanez Philadelphia 37

Zimmerman Washington 35

ASoriano Chicago 33

Werth Philadelphia 32

Braun Milwaukee 31

Taveras Cincinnati 31

A.L.

Player Team

VMartinez Cleveland .379

Bartlett Tampa Bay .376

MiCabrera Detroit .370

AdJones Baltimore .362

AHill Toronto .348

MYoung Texas .345

Morneau Minnesota .343

N.L.

Player Team

Beltran New York .364

CGuzman Washington .357

DWright New York .353

Pence Houston .351

Ibanez Philadelphia .350

Zimmerman Washington .348

Hudson Los Angeles .343

A.L.

Player Team

CPena Tampa Bay 15

Bay Boston 13

Inge Detroit 12

Morneau Minnesota 12

Teixeira New York 12

Seven tied 11

N.L.

Player Team

Ibanez Philadelphia 17

AdGonzalez San Diego 16

Pujols St. Louis 14

Bruce Cincinnati 12

Dunn Washington 12

Reynolds Arizona 12

ASoriano Chicago 12

A.L.

Player Team

Crawford Tampa Bay 26

Figgins Los Angeles 19

Ellsbury Boston 18

Abreu Los Angeles 15

BUpton Tampa Bay 14

Bartlett Tampa Bay 13

Crisp Kansas City 11

N.L.

Player Team

Bourn Houston 14

Taveras Cincinnati 12

JosReyes New York 11

Five tied 10

A.L.

Player Team

Palmer Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Frasor Toronto 4-0 1.000

Halladay Toronto 8-1 .889

Greinke Kansas City 7-1 .875

Buehrle Chicago 6-1 .857

Slowey Minnesota 6-1 .857

RRamirez Boston 4-1 .800

N.L.

Player Team

Martis Washington 5-0 1.000

Meredith San Diego 4-0 1.000

Broxton Los Angeles 4-0 1.000

Billingsley Los Angeles 6-1 .857

Cain San Francisco 5-1 .833

TPena Arizona 4-1 .800

Pelfrey New York 4-1 .800

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

14 tied 2

N.L.

Player Team

Kemp Los Angeles 4

Victorino Philadelphia 4

Bourn Houston 3

Morgan Pittsburgh 3

JUpton Arizona 3

Winn San Francisco 3

DWright New York 3

David Price

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 16Baseball

INTERLEAGUE

Mets 3, Red Sox 2

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Dan.Murphy 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .248Pagan rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .316Beltran dh 4 1 1 0 0 1 .364Sheffield lf 3 1 1 1 1 0 .260D.Wright 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .353Reed cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .317Santos c 4 1 2 2 0 0 .270R.Martinez ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .100Castillo 2b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .274Totals 33 3 6 3 2 7

Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Ellsbury cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .298Pedroia 2b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .327D.Ortiz dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 .201Youkilis 1b 3 0 1 2 1 0 .388Bay lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .287J.Drew rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .250Lowell 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .281Varitek c 3 0 1 0 0 2 .248N.Green ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .303Totals 32 2 6 2 2 7

New York 100 000 002 — 3 6 0Boston 200 000 000 — 2 6 1

E: Beckett (1). LOB: New York 5, Boston 5. HR: Santos (2), off Papelbon. RBIs: Sheffield (10), Santos 2 (15), Youkilis 2 (23). SB: R.Martinez (1), Ellsbury (18), Pedroia (5). Runners left in scoring position: New York 2 (Dan.Murphy, Castillo); Boston 1 (D.Ortiz). GIDP: N.Green. DP: New York 1 (Castillo, R.Martinez, Dan.Murphy).

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAPelfrey 7 6 2 2 1 6 111 4.31Feliciano W, 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 1 13 2.65Putz S, 2-3 1 0 0 0 1 0 15 3.75Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABeckett 8 5 1 0 1 5 117 5.01Papelbon L, 0-1 BS, 1-12 1 1 2 2 1 2 15 1.80

Umpires: Home, Joe West; First, Ed Rapuano; Second, Chad Fairchild; Third, Paul Nauert. T: 2:49. A: 37,871 (37,373).

Yankees 5, Phillies 4

Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rollins ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .234Utley 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .299Werth lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .271Howard 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .252Ibanez dh 4 1 1 1 0 0 .350Victorino cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .261Feliz 3b 1 1 0 0 2 0 .306Mayberry rf 3 1 2 3 0 0 .667Coste c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .230Totals 31 4 6 4 2 5

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Jeter ss 4 1 1 1 0 2 .277Damon lf 3 1 0 0 1 1 .304Teixeira 1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .263A.Rodriguez dh 4 1 1 2 0 0 .204Cano 2b 4 2 2 0 0 0 .314Me.Cabrera cf 3 0 1 1 0 1 .317Swisher rf 3 0 0 1 0 1 .226Cervelli c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .303a-Gardner ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .244Berroa 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167R.Pena 3b 2 0 0 0 0 2 .254b-H.Matsui ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250Cash c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .063Totals 31 5 8 5 1 9

Phil 010 030 000 — 4 6 0New York 010 001 003 — 5 8 0

One out when winning run scored. a-doubled for Cervelli in the 8th. b-struck out for R.Pena in the 8th. LOB: Philadelphia 2, New York 3. 2B: Mayberry (1), Cano (12), Gardner (4). HR: Ibanez (17), off Pettitte; Mayberry (1), off Pettitte; Jeter (7), off Happ; A.Rodriguez (7), off Lidge. RBIs: Ibanez (42), Mayberry 3 (3), Jeter (21), A.Rodriguez 2 (13), Me.Cabrera (19), Swisher (24). SB: Damon (4), Cano (2). S: Me.Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position: Philadelphia 1 (Coste); New York 1 (Jeter). DP: Philadelphia 1 (Feliz, Utley, Howard); New York 2 (R.Pena, Cano, Teixeira), (R.Pena, Cano, Teixeira).

Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHapp 6 4 2 2 0 4 75 2.60Durbin H, 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 4.50Madson H, 8 1 1 0 0 0 3 22 3.05Lidge L, 0-2 BS, 3-11 1⁄3 3 3 3 1 1 24 9.16New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAPettitte 7 5 4 4 2 5 114 4.30Coke 1 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 21 4.19Veras W, 3-1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 2 5.89

Umpires: Home, Lance Barksdale; First, Mike Esta-brook; Second, Randy Marsh; Third, Mike Winters. T: 2:33. A: 46,889 (52,325).

N.Y. Mets 3, Boston 2N.Y. Yankees 5, Philadelphia 4

Replay hands Santos key homerA-Rod, Yankees score three off Lidge BOSTON—Baseball’s oldest ballpark met the sport’s newest innovation, and the New York Mets came away with a come-from-behind victory.

Omir Santos’ long fly off the top of the Green Monster—ini-tially ruled a double—became the game-winning homer after the first replay review in Fen-way Park history on Saturday night, and the Mets rallied against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon for a 3-2 victory.

“That’s what the replay is for,” Mets manager Jerry Man-uel said. “We could have easily gotten out of there without the two runs and could have had a loss.”

The “lyric little bandbox” lauded by John Updike as “a compromise between Man’s Euclidean determinations and Nature’s beguiling irregulari-ties” found a way to account for technology’s latest innovation with two outs in the ninth and Boston leading 2-1.

Santos hit the first pitch from Papelbon high to left, where third base umpire Paul Nauert lost it in the lights. Nauert ruled it a double, holding the runners at second and third and briefly preserving Boston’s lead.

But the umpires conferred and went into the tunnel for the TV replay, which showed that the ball bounced first off the ledge in front of the Monster Seats, then off the top of the 37-foot wall itself and back onto the field.

— The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Alex Rodriguez is batting .204—and making his hits count.

Rodriguez hit a tying homer off Brad Lidge in the ninth inning and Melky Cabrera capped the three-run rally with an RBI single, giving the New York Yan-kees a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

In 15 games since returning from hip surgery, Rodriguez has 10 hits. Seven are home runs, however, and the Yan-kees are 12-3 during that span.

“Right now, I’m probably the happiest .200 hitter in baseball,” Rodriguez said.

John Mayberry Jr. hit a three-run homer in his major-league debut and Raul Ibanez also connected, helping the Phillies build a 4-2 lead for new starter J.A. Happ.

Lidge (0-2) came on in the ninth and immediately got in trouble. Johnny Damon drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After Mark Teixeira struck out, Rodriguez smacked a full-count pitch over the short porch in right.

“We went fastball away after throw-ing six sliders in a row,” Lidge said. “It was pretty impressive that he was able to do what he did. We didn’t expect him to hit it.”

Robinson Cano followed with a single, stole second and scored without a play on Cabrera’s single to right-center.

It was the third game-ending hit of the year for Cabrera, who has won back his center-field job after losing it last season.

“He’s doing great,” Cano said. “Last year he was really down, but he has worked hard to bring himself back.”

Cabrera raised his arms as he rounded first and dashed with glee all the way

across the diamond as jubilant team-mates chased him down to celebrate.

The Yankees have won 10 of 11 and are making a habit of these walk-off vic-tories. They had three straight against Minnesota last weekend, and capped this one the same way: pitcher A.J. Bur-nett pelted Cano and Cabrera with a pie in the face as they waited to do an on-field interview—even getting some whipped cream on a radio broadcaster.

For Rodriguez, it was his sixth homer

in eight games and No. 560 of his career, three shy of Hall of Famer Reggie Jack-son for 11th place.

“We had the last punch,” Rodriguez said. “We’re at home and we feel very comfortable.”

Lidge, who converted all 48 save chances in 2008—including the post-season—during his first year in Phila-delphia, has blown three of 11 opportunities this season.

— The Associated Press

FRANK FRANKLIN II / AP

Melky Cabrera was hoisted by Yankees teammates after hitting his third game-ending hit of the season.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 17Baseball

INTERLEAGUE

Rangers 6, Astros 3

Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Vizquel 2b 5 1 2 0 0 0 .372Dav.Murphy lf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .232Hamilton cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .237N.Cruz rf 4 2 2 4 0 1 .285Blalock 3b 4 1 3 1 0 0 .250C.Davis 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .203Saltalamacchia c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .252Andrus ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .290Feldman p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000O’Day p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Guardado p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Byrd ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .289C.Wilson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 36 6 11 5 0 9

Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Bourn cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .291Tejada ss 4 1 2 1 0 0 .329Berkman 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .232Ca.Lee lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .325Pence rf 3 1 2 0 1 0 .351Blum 3b 4 1 1 2 0 0 .264I.Rodriguez c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .262K.Matsui 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .229Moehler p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000Byrdak p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---a-Maysonet ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000W.Wright p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Erstad ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .156Fulchino p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 32 3 6 3 3 6

Texas 000 312 000 — 6 11 1Houston 100 000 200 — 3 6 1

a-grounded out for Byrdak in the 6th. b-walked for W.Wright in the 7th. c-grounded out for Guardado in the 9th. E: Feldman (1), Ca.Lee (1). LOB: Texas 4, Houston 5. 2B: Dav.Murphy (5), Hamilton (2), Blalock (9). HR: N.Cruz 2 (11), off Moehler 2; Blalock (11), off Moehler; Tejada (5), off Feldman; Blum (1), off Feldman. RBIs: N.Cruz 4 (30), Blalock (25), Tejada (25), Blum 2 (15). CS: Pence (3). S: Feldman. Runners left in scoring position: Texas 3 (Saltalamacchia, Hamilton, Vizquel); Houston 1 (Bourn).

Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAFeldman W, 3-0 6 2⁄3 5 3 3 2 5 107 4.04O’Day H, 3 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 8 1.29Guardado H, 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 5.59C.Wilson S, 3-4 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 3.50Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMoehler L, 1-3 5 9 6 6 0 4 68 8.31Byrdak 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 3.00W.Wright 1 0 0 0 0 2 16 7.24Fulchino 2 2 0 0 0 2 22 4.60

Moehler pitched to 2 batters in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored: O’Day 1-0. Umpires: Home, Brian O’Nora; First, Fieldin Culbreth; Second, Gary Cederstrom; Third, Jim Wolf. T: 2:48. A: 36,019 (40,976).

Cardinals 5, Royals 0

Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Crisp cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .234DeJesus lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .242Butler 1b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .280J.Guillen rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .291Teahen 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .271Callaspo 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .315Olivo c 3 0 2 0 0 1 .233Aviles ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .183Mahay p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Hochevar p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000Bloomquist ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 .312Totals 32 0 5 0 0 8

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Schumaker 2b-rf 5 1 2 1 0 0 .297Rasmus cf 5 0 0 1 0 0 .232Pujols 1b 2 1 1 0 2 0 .331Duncan lf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .258Stavinoha rf 3 0 1 2 0 0 .250Br.Ryan 2b 1 1 1 0 0 0 .241Y.Molina c 3 0 2 0 0 0 .285Barden 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .276Lohse p 2 1 1 0 0 0 .250C.Perez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---T.Greene ss 2 0 0 1 1 0 .263Totals 29 5 9 5 5 1

Kansas City 000 000 000 — 0 5 0St. Louis 201 000 11x — 5 9 0

LOB: Kansas City 6, St. Louis 9. 2B: Olivo 2 (3), Stavinoha (1), Br.Ryan (4). HR: Schumaker (3), off Hochevar. RBIs: Schumaker (13), Rasmus (17), Stavinoha 2 (5), T.Greene (4). SB: Pujols (7), Y.Molina (2). S: Y.Molina, Lohse, T.Greene. Runners left in scoring position: Kansas City 4 (Aviles, Hochevar, Teahen, Callaspo); St. Louis 5 (Y.Molina, T.Greene, Duncan, Rasmus 2).

Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHochevar L, 0-2 6 1⁄3 7 4 4 2 1 92 10.80Mahay 1 2⁄3 2 1 1 3 0 45 3.45St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALohse W, 4-3 8 4 0 0 0 6 98 3.98C.Perez 1 1 0 0 0 2 16 2.77

Inherited runners-scored: Mahay 1-1. IBB: off Mahay (Pujols). HBP: by Mahay (Lohse), by Lohse (J.Guillen). Umpires: Home, Chris Guccione; First, Todd Tichenor; Second, Jerry Layne; Third, Tony Randazzo. T: 2:34. A: 43,829 (43,975).

Texas 6, Houston 3St. Louis 5, Kansas City 0

Cruz thrives again in cleanup roleLohse the latest Cards starter to shine HOUSTON—Nelson Cruz made a strong argument Saturday for regular time in the cleanup spot of the Texas Rangers’ lineup.

Cruz homered twice and Hank Blalock also connected to lead the Rangers to a 6-3 vic-tory over the Houston Astros.

Cruz, who lifted Texas to a 6-5 victory over the Astros with a 10th-inning homer Fri-day night, batted fourth for only the second time this sea-son. He finished with four RBIs.

“I like to just be in the lineup,” said Cruz, who has batted sixth 20 times and fifth in 11 games this year. “It doesn’t matter to me where I hit.

“I found out (about the cleanup spot) when I got here today. I didn’t get excited. Being in the lineup is the thing. That’s the main difference, knowing you’ll be there regardless of what you do.”

Cruz is batting .314 (22-for-70) over his last 18 starts, and manager Ron Washington said he could see more time in the fourth spot.

“If he can lay off bad break-ing balls, there’s no reason he can’t hit there,” Washington said. “He has been hitting pretty well lately.”

Scott Feldman pitched a sea-son-high 6 2/3 innings and Bla-lock finished with three hits for the Rangers, who won their second straight in this season’s Lone Star series. C.J. Wilson picked up his third save.

— The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS—Tony La Russa is in his 32nd year as a manager. He can’t remember any of his pitching staffs being virtually untouchable this long.

Kyle Lohse threw eight innings of four-hit ball and the St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Kansas City Royals 5-0 for the second straight game Saturday, giv-ing the rotation its fifth straight domi-nant outing.

Lohse (4-3) struck out six and walked none, shaking off three straight losses. Cardinals starters have allowed one run in 36 2/3 innings during a five-game winning streak in which St. Louis has outscored its opponents 18-2. Joel Pineiro turned in a complete game and Adam Wainwright went 8 2/3 innings in another start during this dazzling stretch.

“This would probably be the best I’ve had a chance to watch,” La Russa said. “How do you explain it? Just enjoy it.”

The streak is the franchise’s best since 1973 when St. Louis had three shutouts and allowed one run twice in the final five games.

Before the run, the starters walked 23 while getting swept in a three-game series against the Brewers.

“We’ll just try to keep it going,” Lohse said. “You don’t want to be the guy that messes up this string of starts we’ve got.”

Nick Stavinoha drove in two runs in the first for the second straight day, pro-viding a fast start for a club that had lost seven of nine before the pitching staff took over. Skip Schumaker added his third homer, all in a span of 30 at-bats, in the third.

Miguel Olivo doubled twice, but no runner made it past second for the

Royals, who have lost 11 of 14 to fall one game below .500 (21-22) for the first time since they were 2-3 on April 11. Kansas City has been shut out three times, all in the last 13 games, and has 10 hits the last two games.

“When things go bad, they go bad in a hurry and usually in all areas,” manager Trey Hillman said.

The Royals had only three runners in scoring position against Lohse, who retired the side in order four times. He looked impressive after struggling on short rest in a makeup game against the Brewers on Monday, allowing four runs

in four innings.Lohse was taken out after being struck

on the right elbow by Ron Mahay in the eighth, loading the bases. Lohse, who stayed in to run, had been squaring to bunt and wasn’t happy, although after the game he said he didn’t think Mahay hit him on purpose.

“There wasn’t really anywhere to go on that one,” Lohse said. “It was right at my chest. It would have been better if it hit me there instead of the arm.”

La Russa overruled pitching coach Dave Duncan and trainer Barry Wein-berg, who were in favor of letting Lohse start the ninth with the righthander at 98 pitches.

“He got blasted,” La Russa said. “I said ‘Nothing to gain from it.’ He’s going to be all pumped up, and we had a long inning, and everything’s against it.”

Lohse faced the Royals for the first time since 2006 and beat them for the first time since a 12-0 shutout for the Twins on July 7, 2004. Chris Perez allowed a hit in the ninth.

Luke Hochevar (0-2) retired the first two batters he faced before running into trouble. Albert Pujols walked and stole his seventh base without a throw. Chris Duncan also walked before Stavinoha doubled just inside the third-base line.

Stavinoha had a two-run single in the first inning of Friday’s 5-0 win and has five RBIs while making seven straight starts in place of injured right fielder Ryan Ludwick.

Hochevar allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings in his third start of the season, and best by far. He totaled 5 1/3 innings his first two outings, allowing 10 earned runs.

— The Associated Press

KYLE ERICSON / AP

Kyle Lohse didn’t get a shot at a complete game after taking a pitch off his right elbow in the 8th.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 18Baseball

INTERLEAGUERays 10, Marlins 3

Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Upton cf 4 1 2 1 1 0 .196Crawford lf 5 3 1 0 1 0 .319Longoria 3b 5 0 2 1 0 0 .3311-Brignac pr-2b 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500W.Aybar 1b 3 0 1 1 1 1 .282Howell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Balfour p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Gross ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .271Wheeler p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Sonnanstine ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250Isringhausen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Bartlett ss 5 1 2 3 0 1 .376Zobrist 2b-rf 5 1 3 1 1 1 .292Kapler rf 2 0 0 0 1 0 .190a-C.Pena ph-1b 1 1 0 0 2 0 .244M.Hernandez c 4 1 2 2 1 0 .297Niemann p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000Iwamura 2b-3b 1 1 0 0 1 1 .298Totals 39 10 13 9 9 8

Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Bonifacio 3b 5 0 1 0 0 1 .261Hermida rf 5 0 1 1 0 1 .260Ha.Ramirez ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .323Cantu 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .272Uggla 2b 4 1 1 1 0 2 .208C.Ross cf 3 1 0 0 1 1 .240R.Paulino c 4 0 2 0 0 2 .232Coghlan lf 2 1 0 0 2 0 .143West p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000Badenhop p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Meyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000b-Gload ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .255Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Penn p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---e-Helms ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 .216Totals 33 3 7 3 3 9

Tampa Bay 000 110 116 — 10 13 0Florida 000 100 200 — 3 7 3a-walked for Kapler in the 7th. b-singled for Meyer in the 7th. c-struck out for Balfour in the 8th. d-struck out for Wheeler in the 9th. e-was hit by a pitch for Penn in the 9th. 1-ran for Longoria in the 9th. E: Uggla (5), Lindstrom (1), Cantu (4). LOB: Tampa Bay 15, Florida 8. 2B: B.Upton (8), Longoria (19), Bartlett (11), Zobrist (8). HR: Uggla (8), off Niemann. RBIs: B.Upton (8), Longoria (48), W.Aybar (10), Bartlett 3 (29), Zobrist (23), M.Hernandez 2 (10), Hermida (17), Uggla (30), Gload (6). SB: Crawford (26), Bartlett (13), Bonifacio (9), Ha.Ramirez (8). S: B.Upton, Niemann, West. SF: Bartlett. Runners left in scor-ing position: Tampa Bay 10 (Bartlett 2, Niemann 2, Zobrist 2, B.Upton, M.Hernandez 2, C.Pena); Florida 6 (Cantu, Hermida 4, Ha.Ramirez).Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERANiemann 6 4 1 1 1 5 90 4.53Howell BS, 3-4 2⁄3 2 2 2 2 1 29 3.00Balfour W, 2-0 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 5 5.03Wheeler H, 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 5.06Isringhausen 1 1 0 0 0 1 24 0.00Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWest 5 4 2 2 4 5 91 3.60Badenhop 1 2⁄3 3 1 1 1 0 33 5.75Meyer 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 13 2.95Nunez L, 2-2 1 1 1 1 1 1 21 3.38Lindstrom 1⁄3 3 4 4 1 1 17 6.75Penn 2⁄3 2 2 2 1 1 25 6.97Inherited runners-scored: Balfour 2-0, Meyer 2-0, Penn 1-1. IBB: off Badenhop (Zobrist). HBP: by Isringhausen (Helms), by Penn (Longoria). Balk: Lindstrom. Umpires: Home, Mark Carlson; First, Tim Tschida; Second, Bob David-son; Third, Jeff Nelson.

Braves 4, Blue Jays 3

Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Scutaro ss 5 0 1 2 0 0 .271A.Hill 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .348Rios rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .260V.Wells cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .257Lind lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .302Rolen 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .311Overbay 1b 2 1 1 1 2 0 .264Barajas c 3 1 1 0 1 1 .302Janssen p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-Inglett ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000B.J.Ryan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Wolfe p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Millar ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .289Totals 31 3 7 3 5 3

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg.K.Johnson 2b 4 2 2 1 0 0 .238Kotchman 1b 4 0 1 2 0 0 .290G.Anderson lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .253McCann c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .282Prado 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .268Francoeur rf 4 1 3 0 0 0 .265D.Hernandez ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 .000Schafer cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .209D.Lowe p 3 1 2 1 0 0 .235Moylan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000M.Gonzalez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---R.Soriano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 34 4 11 4 1 2

Toronto 002 000 001 — 3 7 0Atlanta 002 100 10x — 4 11 0

a-grounded out for Janssen in the 7th. b-struck out for Wolfe in the 9th. LOB: Toronto 7, Atlanta 7. 2B: Scutaro (11), Lind (15), Rolen (13), Kotchman (16), Francoeur (5). HR: K.Johnson (4), off B.J.Ryan. RBIs: Scutaro 2 (22), Overbay (21), K.Johnson (12), Kotchman 2 (21), D.Lowe (1). S: Janssen. Runners left in scoring position: Toronto 4 (Rios, Barajas, Scutaro 2); Atlanta 3 (McCann, K.Johnson, Schafer). DP: Toronto 1 (Rolen, A.Hill, Overbay); Atlanta 2 (D.Hernandez, Kotchman), (D.Hernandez, K.Johnson, Kotchman).

Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAJanssen L, 0-1 6 8 3 3 1 0 78 4.50B.J.Ryan 1 1 1 1 0 1 17 7.45Wolfe 1 2 0 0 0 1 16 1.80Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAD.Lowe W, 6-2 7 1⁄3 5 2 2 2 2 97 3.45Moylan H, 7 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 10 5.28M.Gonzalez H, 2 1⁄3 2 1 1 2 0 24 3.79R.Soriano S, 4-5 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 7 1.45

Inherited runners-scored: R.Soriano 3-0. Umpires: Home, Gerry Davis; First, Brian Gorman; Second, C.B. Bucknor; Third, Mike Everitt. T: 2:31. A: 27,377 (49,743).

Tampa Bay 10, Florida 3Atlanta 4, Toronto 3

Group effort gets Rays above .500

Lowe makes his own breaks, wins sixth game

MIAMI—An imprint in the pat-tern of baseball stitches was visible on Evan Longoria’s upper left arm, a souvenir from an inside pitch he failed to avoid in the ninth inning.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ latest win eased the pain.

Longoria hit a tiebreaking single in eighth to pad his major league-leading RBI total Satur-day, and the Rays beat the hap-less Florida Marlins 10-3.

Tampa Bay improved to 23-22 with its third consecutive win. The reigning A.L. cham-pions are above .500 for the first time since April 13.

“That’s how we played all last year,” Longoria said. “The belief is back. In tight games we believe firmly we can win those games now. As long as we keep believing that, we’re going to be pretty good.”

Longoria came out of the game in the bottom of the ninth to ice his arm but said he was fine.

“It hit me right in the meat,” he said. “That’s a good spot.”

While Longoria collected his 48th RBI, Jason Bartlett had three RBIs and two hits to hike his aver-age to .376 and Jeff Niemann allowed one run in six innings.

“Everybody is going to leave tonight feeling like they had a part in it, which is really a won-derful thing,” manager Joe Mad-don said. “I like our fight.”

—The Associated Press

ATLANTA—Derek Lowe put Atlanta in position to win with his arm and his bat. Rafael Soriano stepped in when it looked as if Lowe’s effort wouldn’t be enough.

Lowe pitched into the eighth inning and drove in the go-ahead run with one of his two hits, leading the Braves to a 4-3 victory over the slumping Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.

Lowe (6-2) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings to move into a tie for the N.L. lead in wins. He has allowed two runs or less in seven of his 10 starts.

Lyle Overbay’s RBI single off Mike Gonzalez cut Atlanta’s lead to 4-3 in the ninth. Rod Barajas then walked to load the bases but Soriano struck out pinch-hitter Kevin Millar and retired Marco Scutaro on a flyball to left to earn his fourth save.

“Soriano came in and did an unbeliev-able job,” Lowe said. “I think that’s the benefit of having two guys who are com-fortable closing. Clearly Gonzalez is our closer. But when the situation come about it’s very comforting to everybody to see a guy come in like that. Because you see now he’s very comfortable in that role.”

Gonzalez earned his seventh save in Friday night’s 1-0 win over Toronto but left the tying run on third base.

Kelly Johnson hit a seventh-inning homer off B.J. Ryan as the Braves (22-20) moved two games over .500 for the first time since April 15, when they were 5-3.

The Braves have won 11 of 16 and are 5-3 on their nine-game homestand. They began the stretch at Turner Field with the worst home record in the majors.

“We needed to starting playing better at home, I think that’s the most impor-tant thing,” Lowe said.

“It starts with starting pitching. You’ve got to be able to keep your team

in the game. I think that’s what we’ve been able to do.”

The A.L. East-leading Blue Jays have lost five straight, all on the road. It’s their longest streak since losing seven straight from June 14-21, 2008.

“We haven’t shown up so far in this series,” manager Cito Gaston said. “These guys have got to start swinging their bats like they did before this road trip. ... You have long streaks like this.

You just have to keep going.”Toronto right-hander Casey Janssen

(0-1) gave up three runs and eight hits over six innings in his first start since 2006 and his first appearance since 2007. Janssen missed last season recov-ering from a torn labrum.

“I could have made some better pitches,” Janssen said. “I’m back. That was my goal.”

—The Associated Press

GREGORY SMITH / AP

Braves P Derek Lowe allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings and drove in the game-winning run.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 19Baseball

INTERLEAGUE

Rockies 4, Tigers 3

Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Fowler cf 3 2 2 0 0 1 .262Tulowitzki ss 3 0 1 1 0 0 .239Helton 1b 4 1 1 2 0 2 .340Hawpe rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .326Iannetta c 3 1 2 1 0 0 .2311-Torrealba pr-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250S.Smith lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .266Spilborghs lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273Atkins dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .188Stewart 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .188Barmes 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .243Totals 32 4 7 4 2 5

Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Granderson cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .246Polanco 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .264Thomas rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .267Mi.Cabrera 1b 3 1 1 1 1 1 .370Ordonez dh 3 1 1 0 1 2 .2572-J.Anderson pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276Inge 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .271Raburn lf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .229a-Larish ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .239Laird c 4 0 3 1 0 1 .245Everett ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .301Totals 32 3 6 2 3 7

Colorado 111 001 000 — 4 7 1Detroit 010 020 000 — 3 6 0

a-walked for Raburn in the 9th. 1-ran for Iannetta in the 6th. 2-ran for Ordonez in the 9th. E: Iannetta (1). LOB: Colorado 5, Detroit 5. 2B: Iannetta (5), Laird (5). 3B: Fowler (2). HR: Iannetta (8), off Galarraga; Helton (6), off Galarraga; Mi.Cabrera (9), off Marquis. RBIs: Tulowitzki (14), Helton 2 (29), Iannetta (18), Mi.Cabrera (33), Laird (11). SB: Ordonez (1), J.Anderson (9), Raburn (1). S: Fowler. SF: Tulowitzki. Runners left in scoring position: Colorado 3 (Hawpe, Stewart, Helton); Detroit 2 (Everett, Laird). DP: Colorado 1 (Tulowitzki, Helton).

Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMarquis W, 6-3 7 2⁄3 6 3 2 1 4 103 4.45R.Flores H, 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0.00Street S, 6-6 1 0 0 0 2 2 19 3.63Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAGalarraga L, 3-4 5 1⁄3 6 4 4 1 2 79 5.74N.Robertson 2 1 0 0 1 1 25 5.25Lyon 1 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 27 6.27

Inherited runners-scored: N.Robertson 1-0. Umpires: Home, Wally Bell; First, Marty Foster; Second, D.J. Reyburn; Third, John Hirschbeck. T: 2:33. A: 37,035 (41,255).

Twins 6, Brewers 2

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Counsell ss 5 0 0 0 0 0 .317McGehee 2b 3 1 2 0 1 0 .308Braun lf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .336Fielder 1b 3 0 2 1 1 1 .270M.Cameron cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .287Gamel dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 .308Hall 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .230Gerut rf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .222Kendall c 4 0 1 1 0 0 .222Totals 34 2 8 2 3 5

Minnesota AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Span lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .302Mauer c 3 3 3 2 1 0 .429Morneau 1b 2 0 2 1 0 0 .343Cuddyer rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .292Crede 3b 4 1 2 2 0 0 .228Buscher dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .208B.Harris ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .265Gomez cf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .222Tolbert 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .196Totals 31 6 10 5 3 1

Milwaukee 000 000 011 — 2 8 1Minnesota 003 110 10x — 6 10 0

E: Braun (1). LOB: Milwaukee 8, Minnesota 6. 2B: Ken-dall (5). 3B: Gomez (2). HR: Crede (7), off Looper; Mauer (9), off Looper. RBIs: Fielder (40), Kendall (15), Mauer 2 (28), Morneau (36), Crede 2 (20). SF: Morneau. Runners left in scoring position: Milwaukee 3 (M.Cameron, Gamel, Counsell); Minnesota 4 (Cuddyer, Crede, Tolbert, Buscher). DP: Milwaukee 2 (Hall, McGehee, Fielder), (Hall, McGehee, Fielder); Minnesota 1 (B.Harris, Tolbert, Morneau).

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALooper L, 4-3 6 9 5 4 1 1 90 4.47Swindle 1⁄3 1 1 1 1 0 8 13.50Julio 1 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 21 6.06Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERASwarzak W, 1-0 7 5 0 0 2 3 98 0.00Guerrier 1 2 1 1 0 1 20 4.03Mijares 1 1 1 1 1 1 23 2.57

Inherited runners-scored: Julio 2-1. HBP: by Looper (Morneau). Umpires: Home, Charlie Reliford; First, Adrian Johnson; Second, Dan Iassogna; Third, Sam Holbrook. T: 2:34. A: 40,547 (46,632).

Colorado 4, Detroit 3Minnesota 6, Milwaukee 2

Rockies survive fluky playSwarzak, with some help, turns in solid debutDETROIT—The Colorado Rock-

ies had several chances to lose Saturday night’s game.

That only made it more enjoy-able for Clint Hurdle when they didn’t.

“That was definitely a gutty win,” the Rockies manager said after his team ended the Detroit Tigers’ seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory. “We had to deal with a lot of adver-sity in this one.”

Hurdle was especially happy that a flukey play in the sixth didn’t cost his team more than an insurance run.

With the Rockies having just taken a 4-3 lead on Todd Helton’s homer, Garrett Atkins hit what appeared to be a two-out RBI sin-gle to center. As Chris Iannetta rounded third, Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson mis-played the ball in an attempt to get off a rushed throw to the plate.

Iannetta, however, strained his right hamstring and could only limp back to third as Granderson retrieved the ball.

“That’s one of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen,” Hurdle said. “The kid hits a routine RBI single and we’ve got a run-ner already around third with the ball laying five feet behind the center fielder, and we don’t get the run.”

Fortunately, four runs were enough for Jason Marquis and the Colorado bullpen.Marquis (6-3) allowed three runs on six hits and a walk in 7 2/3 innings.

—The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS—Anthony Swarzak found a fine way to make a major league debut: Throw to Joe Mauer, then watch him build you a lead between innings.

Mauer had three hits, a homer and two RBIs to help Swarzak win his first start, pushing the Minnesota Twins past the Brewers 6-2 on Saturday and ensuring Milwaukee’s first series loss in five weeks.

“He came up here and showed he belongs,” said Mauer, who helped keep the 23-year-old Swarzak calm by calling for the right pitches in the right places and checking on the rookie’s composure with a couple of well-timed jogs to the mound.

Swarzak sprinkled five singles over seven shutout innings, walking two and striking out three. He had runners on with one out or less in five different innings, but used an effective sinker to escape without damage and consistently threw first-pitch strikes.

“That’s the Twins’ motto for sure. I’ve heard it for many years,” Swarzak said.

With more than a dozen friends and family members up from Florida to watch, Swarzak couldn’t have imagined a better night. He gave teammates high fives for routine catches and spoke after-ward what an “honor” it was to have Mauer as his catcher.

“That’s pretty special to step into the big leagues with that performance in a jam-packed stadium,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The Brewers had won eight of their last 10 series, splitting two, while surg-ing to the top of the N.L. Central follow-ing a 4-9 start. This is their first two-game losing streak since the first two days of May.

With thousands of Wisconsinites fill-ing out the crowd of 40,547, a chant of “Let’s Go Brewers!” began when Ryan

Braun’s first-inning pop-up fell in for a one-out single to put runners on first and second with Prince Fielder at the plate.

Twins fans started to boo, and Swarzak gave them the noise advantage

back.“I threw that strike in there, and they

went crazy,” he said. “That was a good feeling. I will never forget that.”

—The Associated Press

JIM MONE / AP

Twins starter Anthony Swarzak got the shaving-cream treatment after his scoreless, seven-inning debut.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 20Baseball

INTERLEAGUE

White Sox 4, Pirates 0

Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Morgan lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .280F.Sanchez 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .294McLouth cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .270Monroe dh 3 0 1 0 1 1 .245Ad.LaRoche 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .222Delw.Young rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .333An.LaRoche 3b 3 0 2 0 1 0 .288Jaramillo c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .262a-Moss ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .267Ja.Wilson ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .250Totals 31 0 5 0 4 13

Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Podsednik cf-lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .269Al.Ramirez ss 4 1 1 2 0 0 .224Dye rf 4 2 1 1 0 1 .266Thome dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 .248Konerko 1b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .311Quentin lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .222Bri.Anderson cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273Pierzynski c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .270Fields 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .214Getz 2b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .243Totals 30 4 6 4 2 4

Pittsburgh 000 000 000 — 0 5 1Chicago 000 120 01x — 4 6 0

a-struck out for Jaramillo in the 9th. E: Ja.Wilson (5). LOB: Pittsburgh 8, Chicago 4. 2B: F.Sanchez (16), Pierzynski (4). HR: Al.Ramirez (3), off Ohlendorf; Dye (11), off Ohlendorf. RBIs: Al.Ramirez 2 (17), Dye (26), Konerko (28). SB: An.LaRoche (2). CS: Fields (3). Run-ners left in scoring position: Pittsburgh 4 (Jaramillo, Delw.Young, Morgan, Moss); Chicago 1 (Al.Ramirez). DP: Pittsburgh 1 (Jaramillo, Jaramillo, Ja.Wilson); Chicago 1 (Fields, Getz, Konerko).

Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAOhlendorf L, 5-4 7 2⁄3 6 4 3 2 4 114 4.20Meek 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 2 3.00Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERARichard W, 1-0 6 4 0 0 3 8 107 3.55Dotel H, 7 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 22 0.63Thornton H, 8 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 3 13 2.12Linebrink 1 1 0 0 0 2 18 1.69

Inherited runners-scored: Meek 1-0, Thornton 1-0. Umpires: Home, Gary Darling; First, Bruce Dreckman; Second, Paul Emmel; Third, Angel Campos. T: 2:34. A: 32,389 (40,615).

Indians 7, Reds 6

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.A.Cabrera ss 3 1 1 3 2 1 .320Sizemore cf 4 1 0 0 1 0 .215V.Martinez c 5 0 0 0 0 1 .379Choo rf 3 1 2 0 2 0 .303DeRosa 1b 4 1 2 4 1 0 .260LaPorta lf 4 1 1 0 1 0 .211Valbuena 2b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .182J.Carroll 3b 2 1 1 0 1 0 .333D.Huff p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---a-Dellucci ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .256Aquino p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-B.Francisco ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .248Vizcaino p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Garko ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .240R.Betancourt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---K.Wood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 32 7 8 7 9 5

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Taveras cf 4 1 1 0 1 0 .279Hairston Jr. 3b-ss 5 1 1 0 0 0 .254Votto 1b 4 2 2 4 1 0 .371Phillips 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .275e-Hanigan ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .327Gomes lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .400Weathers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---A.Rosales 3b-2b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .261Bruce rf 4 1 0 0 1 1 .235R.Hernandez c-3b 4 1 2 2 1 1 .279Ale.Gonzalez ss 3 0 1 0 0 1 .206Herrera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000c-Dickerson ph-lf 0 0 0 0 1 0 .237H.Bailey p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000Burton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Janish ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 .289Rhodes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Lincoln p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 38 6 11 6 5 4

Cleveland 040 020 010 — 7 8 1Cincinnati 150 000 000 — 6 11 2a-struck out for D.Huff in the 4th. b-struck out for Aquino in the 6th. c-was intentionally walked for Herrera in the 7th. d-walked for Vizcaino in the 8th. e-flied out for Phillips in the 8th. E: DeRosa (6), Hairston Jr. (3), R.Hernandez (3). LOB: Cleveland 9, Cincinnati 10. 2B: Choo (9), Valbuena (4). HR: DeRosa (7), off H.Bailey; Votto 2 (7), off D.Huff 2; R.Hernandez (2), off D.Huff. RBIs: A.Cabrera 3 (25), DeRosa 4 (30), Votto 4 (31), R.Hernandez 2 (16). SB: LaPorta (2), Taveras (12), Gomes (1). CS: A.Cabrera (1). S: J.Carroll, D.Huff. Runners left in scoring position: Cleveland 6 (Dellucci, LaPorta 2, A.Cabrera, Sizemore, Valbuena); Cincinnati 4 (Ale.Gonzalez 2, Phillips, Janish). DP: Cleveland 1 (A.Cabrera, Valbuena, DeRosa); Cincinnati 1 (Hairston Jr., Phillips, Votto).Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAD.Huff 3 7 6 6 1 3 63 17.55Aquino 2 2 0 0 1 0 37 0.00Vizcaino W, 1-1 2 0 0 0 3 1 36 1.35R.Betancourt H, 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 19 4.37K.Wood S, 7-9 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 7.20Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAH.Bailey 4 1⁄3 3 6 6 6 3 95 12.46Burton 1 1⁄3 2 0 0 0 1 19 5.49Herrera 1 1⁄3 1 0 0 1 1 26 2.12Weathers L, 0-1 1⁄3 1 1 1 1 0 11 3.07Rhodes 1 1 0 0 0 0 12 0.60Lincoln 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 12 9.19Inherited runners-scored: Burton 3-2, Herrera 1-0, Rhodes 2-1, Lincoln 1-0. IBB: off Vizcaino (Votto, Dickerson), off Aquino (R.Hernandez), off Herrera (DeRosa). Umpires: Home, Rob Drake; First, Mark Wegner; Second, Tim Tim-mons; Third, Jeff Kellogg.

Chicago White Sox 4, Pittsburgh 0Cleveland 7, Cincinnati 6

Richard leads another shutoutCabrera helps spoil Votto’s big nightCHICAGO—A strange feeling

hit Clayton Richard like a fast-ball as the Jake Peavy saga unfolded, so he did the only thing he could do.

He focused, locked in.Richard struck out a career-

high eight over six innings, Alexei Ramirez homered in his second straight game and the Chicago White Sox shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates again, 4-0 on Saturday.

“It was something I had never been a part of, so it was a little bit different,” said Rich-ard, who reportedly would have gone to San Diego had Peavy not blocked the trade Thursday. “It just made me appreciate what I have here.”

Richard insisted the thought never crossed his mind: Would his next appearance be with the White Sox or the Padres?

“I try to keep that out of my mind,” he said.

The Pirates would have loved to keep him out of sight.

Richard (1-0) allowed four hits for his first victory since last August, and the White Sox won for the fourth time in five games. They haven’t allowed a run since that fran-chise record-tying 20-1 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.

While manager Ozzie Guil-len tended to his ailing father-in-law in Venezuela, the White Sox turned in a performance he would have liked.

— The Associated Press

CINCINNATI—Joey Votto returned from a week in doctors’ rooms and homered in his first two at-bats. A pair of young starters took turns melting down. After nearly four hours of back-and-forth, a very strange game was decided on a rou-tine groundball.

Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning on Saturday night, overshadowing Votto’s remarkable return from a week of medi-cal tests—homers in his first two at-bats—and rallying the Cleveland Indians to a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

“Yeah, that happens in this game,” Cabrera said, referring to the irony of how it ended.

Cabrera’s run-scoring groundout—his third RBI of the game—completed a rally that started against David Weathers (0-1). Cabrera, who has been Cleveland’s leadoff hitter for the past week in place of the slumping Grady Sizemore, also had a two-run single.

Luis Vizcaino (1-1) got the win, and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for his seventh save in nine chances. For the second day in a row, Cleveland’s bullpen was called into the game early. This time, it came through without allowing a run in seven innings.

“I think it’s starting to come together,” manager Eric Wedge said of his bullpen, which has been a work in progress. “We’ve got to make sure the starters and the bullpen work together. That’s what has to happen next.”

Cleveland snapped its five-game los-ing streak at Great American Ball Park and evened the weekend intrastate series at one game apiece.

Mark DeRosa homered and drove in four runs for the Indians, who overcame

Votto’s impressive return to the lineup. An inner-ear infection left Votto dizzy during a West Coast trip and led to three days of medical tests to reach the diag-nosis. After a week of waiting, Votto needed only two at-bats to make the Indians feel a little dazed.

Votto hit a full-count pitch into the stands in left-center field in the first inning off rookie David Huff, rounded the bases and was congratulated by dis-believing teammates. Catcher Ramon Hernandez had a wide-eyed look as he bumped fists with Votto in the dugout.

Votto’s night would get better.

On his first swing in his next at-bat, Votto hit a three-run shot deep into the seats in right field. Huff did a double-take, looking back at the stands to see how far up it landed. The 35,821 fans demanded a curtain call from Votto for the third multihomer game of his career.

“That’s him,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He’s got that short stroke. That was a great comeback game for Joey.”

Hernandez also had a two-run homer off Huff, a 24-year-old pitcher who has been pounded in his first two big league starts.

— The Associated Press

TOM UHLMAN / AP

Cleveland’s Luis Valbuena slides safely into home for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 21Baseball

INTERLEAGUE

Diamondbacks 8, Athletics 7, 11 innings

Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.F.Lopez 2b 3 0 2 0 0 0 .3231-R.Roberts pr-2b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .364G.Parra lf 6 2 1 0 0 0 .300J.Upton rf 5 2 3 0 1 1 .315S.Drew ss 4 2 3 2 1 1 .203Reynolds 3b 6 1 2 2 0 3 .270Montero c 4 0 1 0 1 0 .219Byrnes dh 5 1 1 2 1 2 .208Tracy 1b 5 0 1 2 0 1 .189C.Young cf 5 0 0 0 0 2 .171Totals 46 8 15 8 4 11

Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.O.Cabrera ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 .241K.Suzuki c 5 1 2 0 0 1 .300Cust rf 3 1 2 2 0 0 .262R.Davis cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167a-T.Buck ph-rf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .216Holliday lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 .268Giambi dh 5 2 2 1 0 0 .218Garciaparra 1b 5 2 2 1 0 2 .250Kennedy 2b 4 1 3 2 1 1 .400R.Sweeney cf-rf-cf 5 0 1 1 0 0 .248Hannahan 3b 5 0 1 0 0 3 .167Totals 44 7 14 7 1 10

Arizona 100 000 040 03 —8 15 0Oakland 200 201 000 02 —7 14 0

a-flied out for R.Davis in the 8th. 1-ran for F.Lopez in the 5th. LOB: Arizona 11, Oakland 5. 2B: F.Lopez (15), J.Upton (9), Reynolds (6), Tracy (8), K.Suzuki (13), Kennedy (4), Hannahan (4). HR: Cust (7), off Haren; Giambi (4), off Haren; Kennedy (2), off Haren; Garciaparra (2), off Haren. RBIs: S.Drew 2 (11), Reynolds 2 (25), Byrnes 2 (16), Tracy 2 (13), Cust 2 (25), Giambi (19), Garciaparra (8), Kennedy 2 (9), R.Sweeney (13). SB: Holliday (2). CS: Kennedy (1). SF: S.Drew. Runners left in scoring position: Arizona 7 (Reynolds 2, Byrnes 2, Tracy 2, R.Roberts); Oakland 3 (Garciaparra, K.Suzuki, Hannahan). DP: Arizona 2 (Reyn-olds, F.Lopez, Tracy), (S.Drew, R.Roberts, Tracy); Oakland 1 (O.Cabrera, Garciaparra).

Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHaren 7 9 5 5 0 7 108 2.57J.Gutierrez 2 0 0 0 1 1 23 3.28T.Pena W, 4-1 1 1 0 0 0 2 15 1.27Qualls S, 11-12 1 4 2 2 0 0 18 3.32Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAE.Gonzalez 5 4 1 1 2 4 88 1.80Wuertz H, 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 28 1.99Ziegler 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 3.93Springer 0 3 3 3 0 0 12 5.19A.Bailey BS, 2-3 2 3 1 1 0 4 33 2.20Breslow L, 1-3 1 2⁄3 2 1 1 0 2 32 5.94S.Casilla 1⁄3 3 2 2 1 0 15 3.50

E.Gonzalez pitched to 2 batters in the 6th. Springer pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Wuertz 2-0, A.Bailey 3-3, S.Casilla 1-1. IBB: off S.Casilla (Montero). HBP: by E.Gonzalez (Montero). Umpires: Home, Dale Scott; First, Scott Barry; Second, Jerry Meals; Third, James Hoye.

Baltimore 2, Washington 1Arizona 8, Oakland 7, 11 innings

Three hits enough for O’sDiamondbacks steal thunder from GiambiWASHINGTON—The Baltimore

Orioles bucked the odds and made the most of three hits in another victory over the Wash-ington Nationals.

Aubrey Huff drove in the tie-breaking run with a pinch-hit triple in the seventh inning, and Baltimore capitalized on another poor performance by the Nationals bullpen in a 2-1 win Saturday night.

With the score 1-all, Huff stepped to the plate against left-hander Ron Villone with a run-ner on first and two outs in the seventh. Huff didn’t start because he was mired in a 1-for-18 slump and was batting .157 against lefties this season.

Throw in the fact that Balti-more pinch hitters were 1 for 18 this season, and the chances of Huff getting the winning hit seemed remote.

“I’ve been struggling the last four or five games,” Huff acknowledged. “To be able to get that hit against a lefthander was a little bit more satisfying because I haven’t hit well against them this year.”

Although the Orioles are in the A.L. East cellar and Wash-ington owns the worst record in the majors, the Nationals drew their second-largest crowd of the season (31,833) for this inter-league matchup of teams located 40 miles apart on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

The Orioles will seek to com-plete a three-game sweep today.

— The Associated Press

OAKLAND—Jason Giambi couldn’t thor-oughly appreciate his latest accomplish-ment, not with the way his Oakland Athletics are playing these days.

On the night Giambi hit his 400th career home run and should have been celebrating, he was left to ponder another one-run defeat.

Stephen Drew singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks won their sea-son-high fourth straight game, beating the A’s 8-7 on Saturday night.

“Right now it really doesn’t mean that much,” Giambi said. “Individual accom-plishments are nice, but I’d rather have some wins and get the team on track. We’ve got to stop giving away games. We’ve got to get on the same page. ... Hopefully we can turn it around before we bury ourselves.”

Giambi became the 44th player in major league history to reach 400 hom-ers. Jack Cust, Adam Kennedy and Nomar Garciaparra also connected as the A’s pounded former ace Dan Haren, but still couldn’t pull out the win.

Mark Reynolds added a two-run dou-ble in the 11th off Santiago Casilla, Oak-land’s seventh pitcher, and Tony Pena (4-1) pitched the 10th for the victory. Arizona rallied against Craig Breslow (0-1) and improved to 6-2 during its three-city road trip that winds up today.

“Come-from-behind victories are always fun. This road trip we’ve gotten our swagger back and our determina-tion that we’re never out of it,” D-backs manager A.J. Hinch said.

Chad Qualls finished for his 11th save in 12 chances, but not before giving up Kennedy’s run-scoring double followed by Ryan Sweeney’s infield RBI single. Jack Hannahan then grounded into a

game-ending double play with the tying run on third.

“It’s not any secret what you want to do in the situation,” Qualls said. “You take a look and you realize you can’t let the guy score. You think ‘How will I get out of this?’ I took a deep breath and went to the sinker.”

Giambi connected for the milestone drive leading off the fourth inning, hit-ting a 3-2 off-speed pitch into the right-field bleachers and watching the ball as it sailed out. Haren’s four homers were a career high and doubled his previous season total.

The 38-year-old Giambi received a warm ovation from the crowd of 21,295 and then came back out of the dugout for

a curtain call at the Coliseum. The solo shot put the A’s up 3-1, then Kennedy homered two batters later. Garciaparra’s sixth-inning solo shot made it 5-1.

That instant offense helped stake Edgar Gonzalez to a nice cushion in his Oakland debut while facing his former club, but the bullpen couldn’t hold a four-run lead. Gonzalez made 35 starts for Arizona from 2003-2008, then signed a minor league deal with the A’s in February. He had seven starts for Triple-A Sacramento before his callup Tuesday.

“I hoped to fight for the win, especially because it was the Diamondbacks,” Gon-zalez said.

—The Associated Press

Orioles 2, Nationals 1

Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Roberts 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .291Ad.Jones cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .362Markakis rf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .314Mora 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .257Wigginton 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .221Reimold lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .278Zaun c 3 1 1 0 1 0 .210C.Izturis ss 3 1 0 0 0 0 .230Uehara p 0 0 0 0 1 0 ---Bass p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000a-A.Huff ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .261Albers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Ji.Johnson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Sherrill p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 30 2 3 2 4 4

Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.C.Guzman ss 4 1 1 1 0 0 .357N.Johnson 1b 2 0 1 0 2 1 .338Zimmerman 3b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .348Dunn lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .278Kearns rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .212W.Harris 2b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .263J.Bard c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .171Maxwell cf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .176Detwiler p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000Tavarez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Villone p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Willingham ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .213Bergmann p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Hanrahan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 31 1 7 1 3 9

Baltimore 001 000 100 — 2 3 0Washington 000 010 000 — 1 7 1

a-tripled for Bass in the 7th. b-grounded out for Vil-lone in the 7th. E: Zimmerman (6). LOB: Baltimore 5, Washington 7. 2B: Zaun (8), N.Johnson (7). 3B: A.Huff (1). HR: C.Guzman (2), off Bass. RBIs: Markakis (36), A.Huff (35), C.Guzman (11). S: W.Harris. Runners left in scoring position: Baltimore 3 (Mora 2, B.Roberts); Washington 5 (Maxwell, Kearns 3, Dunn). GIDP: Kearns, J.Bard. DP: Baltimore 2 (B.Roberts, C.Izturis, Wiggin-ton), (B.Roberts, C.Izturis, Wigginton); Washington 1 (W.Harris, N.Johnson).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAUehara 3 3 0 0 2 3 56 4.09Bass W, 3-1 3 3 1 1 0 2 33 4.45Albers H, 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 6.17Ji.Johnson H, 7 1 1 0 0 1 0 16 3.80Sherrill S, 9-11 1 0 0 0 0 3 14 2.89Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADetwiler 6 1 1 1 4 4 96 2.45Tavarez L, 1-4 2/3 1 1 1 0 0 9 6.00Villone 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 6 0.00Bergmann 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 2.57Hanrahan 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 6.20

Inherited runners-scored: Villone 1-1. Umpires: Home, Tim Welke; First, Jim Reynolds; Second, Angel Hernandez; Third, Bill Welke. T: 2:31. A: 31,833 (41,888).

BEN MARGOT / AP

Arizona’s Stephen Drew, top right, is congratulated by teammates Justin Upton (10) and Miguel Montero after scoring against Oakland in the 11th inning. Drew earlier drove in the go-ahead run.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 22NFL

Q&A with ... Bills DE Aaron Schobel

When healthy, Aaron Schobel is one of the game’s most productive pass-rushing ends. Last season, he battled a Lisfranc foot injury that required surgery and caused him to miss 11 games. Back at 100 percent, Schobel talked to Sporting News Today’s Vinnie Iyer about Buffalo’s notable newcomers, the art of rushing the passer and his relatives in the NFL.

Q: How are you feeling?

A: I’m doing pretty well. Every-thing’s feeling right so far.

Physically, you just have to put in the work to come back in shape. Mentally, it’s a bit tougher because you’ve now got to come back from eight months off.

Q: What is the atmosphere in practice like with Terrell

Owens?

A: It’s no different at all. All I’ve seen is, he comes in and works

hard like the rest of us. Last year, I came in excited by the young talent we had. This year, he’s just another guy who can help make us better.

Q: In the past decade, you’re right up there with Jason

Taylor, who’s coming back to your division, in producing sacks. What does it take to be a consistently good pass rusher in the NFL?

A: Jason has been doing it well for a long time, and it takes hard work.

You study how to use an offensive tackle’s long arms to your advantage. You watch where he’s weak in his game for you to exploit. From what you see on film, it shows where you should attack. You try to do everything you can to get to the passer because you know your team is depending on you to come through.

Q: The Bills drafted Penn State’s Aaron Maybin in the

first round to help you on the pass rush. What are your first impressions?

A: He’s obviously fast. He looks like he can eventually become a

pretty darn good player.

Q: Your brother Matt is a tight end with the Eagles. Your

cousin Bo, a defensive end, also has played in the NFL. What was it like in the Schobels’ younger football days?

A: We were a pretty normal football family growing up. Like with

every group of guys, we did some stupid stuff, but we all learned from it.

Q: What sports do you like outside of football?

A: I don’t watch all the games, but I like baseball. My team is the

Houston Astros. I also have gotten addicted to playing golf, and I’m getting a lot better at it.

Q: The Bills played a regular-season game in Toronto last

season and will play another game there this year. What do you think about playing in Toronto?

A: I like playing at home. It (a game in Toronto) has more of a feel of

an away game because we have to pack up and go. I’ve been there only in the preseason; I missed last year’s game. I mean they have a nice locker room and stadium. It’s just different, but in the end, we’re just playing football and I’m ready to do that wherever.

Schobel has everything ‘feeling right so far’

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DAVID DUPREY / AP

Coming off a foot injury that cost him 11 games last year, Aaron Schobel is working his way back.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 23NFL

INSIDE DISH

The NFL is formally investigat-ing a charge by the Titans that the Redskins tampered with DT Albert Haynesworth before the start of free agency, according to a Yahoo! Sports report.

The Titans believe Washington interfered with their opportunity to re-sign Haynesworth before the free-agency period opened Feb. 27. The Yahoo report said the NFL has interviewed at least two people associated with the situation after the Titans complained to the league in April that Washington contacted Haynesworth and agent Chad Speck before the start of free agency.

Haynesworth signed a seven-year, $100 million contract with the Redskins, which includes $41 mil-lion guaranteed, in the opening hours of free agency. If the investi-gation proves the Redskins con-tacted Haynesworth early, the team could lose a draft pick.

The Bears intend to take advan-tage of QB Jay Cutler’s ability to get outside the pocket to make plays. Cutler moves around very well for a 6-3, 233-pounder and was sacked only 11 times while throwing 616 passes last season.

“We will have some designed movement plays,” offensive coordi-nator Ron Turner said via chicago-bears.com. “We’re moving the pocket with him, and then he has the ability to create things on his own when it’s not there—if the cov-erage isn’t what we wanted or if there’s a protection breakdown. That’s something the receivers will

have to get used to and something we’ll work on definitely more than what we’ve done.”

Chiefs coach Todd Haley is encouraged by the offseason per-formance of RB Larry Johnson, who slumped to eight rushing touch-downs over the past two years after totaling 37 in 2005 and ’06.

“He made some runs in the last practice I thought were pretty spe-cial,” Haley said during the team’s workouts last week. “I was very

encouraged by a couple of those. Those flashed at me and the coaches to where you say, ‘That was pretty good.’ If Larry continues to work and stay on point and do the things asked of him, he’ll definitely have a chance to help us.”

The Dolphins expect new C Jake Grove to improve the running game. In his final season with the Raiders, Grove played well against the big inside players in the AFC East: New England’s Vince Wilfork,

the Jets’ Kris Jenkins and Buffalo’s Marcus Stroud. The Raiders rushed for 116 yards against New England, 153 against the Jets and 98 at Buffalo.

“Obviously, if I hadn’t played well against them, I don’t think I’d be here,” Grove told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “There’s not a bad team in this division, especially right up the center where those nose tackles are. They’re Pro Bowl guys who have made a lot of money in this league. I got to bring my ‘A’ game, too. I am ready to go.”

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said Grove “displays outstanding first-step quickness and the ability to play at the second level very, very well.”

QB Drew Brees likes what he sees of the Saints’ defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams. “I think his style of football is one that breeds confidence and almost bor-derline arrogance out there that ‘We’re going to come after you and get you,’ ” Brees told ESPN.com. “I love that attitude.”

The attitude adjustment is Job 1 for Williams. Job 2 is getting the Saints to apply more pressure and thereby create more turnovers. Only seven teams had fewer take-aways than the Saints’ 22 last sea-son. Williams likes to get pressure from his front four but doesn’t hesi-tate to blitz linebackers and defen-sive backs.

“They’ve been flying around and you can see that there’s a big empha-sis in turning the ball over, getting your hands on the ball …,” coach

Sean Payton told ESPN.com. “Any-thing that’s on the ground, they’re doing a good job of getting to the ball and I think that’s a big first step in playing good defense.”

It’s unlikely the Cowboys will find a trade partner for OLB Greg Ellis, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. All indications are Dallas will cut Ellis if it can’t deal him, so it’s unlikely a team will give up a draft pick and assume his $4.15 million salary for 2009 when it can get him for nothing and at a much-reduced salary after he’s released.

According to the Star-Telegram and ESPN.com, teams that could have interest in signing Ellis are the Patriots, Bengals, Eagles, Panthers, Redskins, Dolphins and Bucs.

Bills coach Dick Jauron was impressed by WR Terrell Owens dur-ing the team’s first week of OTAs. “He looks like a guy that’s caught a lot of passes in our game and knows what he’s doing and knows how to do it,” Jauron said. “He clearly pres-ents a very good target and knows how to play coverages, how to play defenders and he plays with a lot of confidence. He’ll do a lot of things for our offense.”

The Raiders signed former Cowboy Keith Davis to add needed depth at safety. Davis has made 31 starts and played 84 games in his career, with 72 tackles and six passes defensed.

Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan, who was promoted from

linebackers coach after Steve Spaguolo left for St. Louis, is excited about his unit. “I have to feel we have a very sound defense, maybe one of the best in the league. Getting Osi (Ume-nyiora) back was a great thing and signing the guys we signed was more than I could have hoped for.”

Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis said he has fully recovered from the knee injury that cost him the final four games last season. During non-contact drills without pads, Mathis showed no signs of being bothered by last season’s injury, The Florida Times-Union reported.

“I’ve been out there running full speed,” Mathis said during OTAs last week. “All that is behind me. I don’t even think about it. I’m not wearing a knee brace or anything.”

LT Max Starks, the Steelers’ fran-chise player, told the Pittsburgh Tri-bune-Review he and the team are far apart in negotiations on a long-term contract. Starks is scheduled to make $8.4 million in 2009 as the franchise player.

“It appears to be at a standstill,” Starks said. “I thought I was a pri-ority before. Then, they did James Harrison’s deal when he had one year left. So apparently, I’m a lower man on the totem pole than I thought.”

Former Chicago Cardinals OL David Glenn Lunceford has died after a lengthy illness. He was 75.

Lunceford died Saturday in a nursing home in Texas, said a funeral home spokeswoman. He reportedly had Alzheimer’s.

League reportedly investigates Haynesworth tampering charge

ALEX BRANDON / AP

The NFL could take away a draft pick if Washington improperly contacted Albert Haynesworth.

Remaining 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.

NASHVILLE—Chris Johnson may be a little soft-spoken. He certainly isn’t bashful.

The only rookie voted to the Pro Bowl last season, the Tennessee running back wasn’t happy when he lost the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award to Atlanta quar-terback Matt Ryan. Johnson, who finished a distant second, called the voting bogus even though Ryan led an 11-5 team to the playoffs.

Now Johnson is setting his sights a little higher for his second season: Lead the NFL in rushing. And, oh yeah, league MVP.

“I want to be the best,” Johnson said. “I never set a goal to be like, ‘I’m going to set my goal this high so if I get close, it’ll still be good.’ I set my goal as high as I can set it, so I want to accomplish that. When I set my goal for offensive rookie of the year, I was upset. That’s why I said it was bogus. When I set a goal, I really want to accomplish it.”

A running back hasn’t been named MVP since LaDanian Tomlinson in 2006, and only Shaun Alexander (2005) and Marshall Faulk (2000) have kept that award away from quarter-backs in the past decade. Steve McNair was the last player with Tennessee to be named MVP, and he shared that award with fellow quarterback Peyton Manning in 2003.

Titans assistant coach Earnest Byner never talked about his per-sonal goals when he played. But he said he has talked with John-son often about what the running back wants to do.

“I try to set the bar as high as he

likes and try to push him to that,” Byner said. “With having those goals, it’s going to take a special

effort. But it also takes a special man. It’s probably going to take some adjustments in some of the

things that he does for him to really get to that goal.”

The Titans surprised most everybody by drafting Johnson with the 24th pick overall out of East Carolina in April 2008. He proved he could translate his 4.24 speed in the 40-yard dash into production.

Johnson didn’t play in a mean-ingless regular-season finale, but he still finished third in the AFC and eighth in the NFL with 1,228 yards rushing on 251 carries while sharing the running load with LenDale White. Johnson scored 10 touchdowns rushing and fin-ished second on the team with 43 catches.

Only Houston’s Steve Slaton and Matt Forte of Chicago had more yards rushing among rook-ies, but both had more carries than Johnson. Slaton had 17 more carries but only 54 more yards.

Johnson put his dazzling speed and moves on display with 21 plays of 15 yards or longer and 40 for 10 yards or longer. He had 168 yards rushing at Kansas City on Oct. 19, second only in franchise history by a rookie to Earl Camp-bell’s 199-yard game in 1978.

Johnson isn’t alone in expecting more out of his second season.

“Often times, a rookie year ends up being kind of a blur, and then you come back the second year and you have a much better feel for things,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “He is a very instinctive player, but we are looking for him to work on the little aspects of his game.”

That involves providing better pass protection, especially on blitzes.

—The Associated Press

Goal-oriented Johnson thinks he can be MVP

Three for the showRookies Steve Slaton, Matt Forte and Chris Johnson ranked 6-7-8 in the NFL in rushing yards last season and also were productive in the passing game. Here’s how their seasons compared:

ATT. YDS. AVG. TD REC. YDS. AVG. TD

Slaton, Texans 268 1,282 4.8 9 50 377 7.5 1

Forte, Bears 316 1,238 3.9 8 63 477 7.6 4

Johnson, Titans 251 1,228 4.9 9 43 260 6.0 1

MARK HUMPHREY / AP

Chris Johnson, above, finished second to Matt Ryan for top offensive rookie in ‘08.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 24NFL

Former Kansas F Quintrell Thomas is transferring to UNLV.

“I just thought about how good we would be once I started playing,” Thomas told the Las Vegas Sun. “It’s one of the primary entertainment places in the country. We start winning, we could turn Vegas upside down.”

Thomas won’t be eligible until the 2010-11 season, per NCAA rules. But he’ll be one of a handful of talented transfers suiting up for the Rebels that season, a list that includes Chace Stanback, Derrick Jasper and Tre’von Willis.

Thomas, of Elizabeth, N.J., was a three-star prospect coming out of St. Patrick High when he chose Kansas over Maryland, Rut-gers and UNLV. But the 6-8 Thomas aver-aged just 1.5 points and two rebounds in limited action. He likely would have found himself again buried in a Kansas rotation that included twins Marcus and Markieff Mor-ris, and All-American candidate Cole Aldrich.

PG Nick Calathes will forgo his junior season at Florida to play professionally in Greece, according to several reports.

Citing sources, The Gainesville Sun reported that Calathes signed a three-year deal with with reigning Euroleague Basketball champion Panathinaikos. The deal, with incentives, could pay Cal-athes up to $2 million per season.

Calathes, who led Florida in scoring each of his two seasons, has an option to leave after the first year of the deal if he chooses to pursue a career in the NBA.

A slip of the tongue? Asked by Yahoo! Sports his opinion of new Ken-tucky coach John Calipari, Wildcats star G Jodie Meeks said, “He seems like a great guy. I can’t wait to play for him.”

After pausing, Meeks clarified with,

“If I come back.”Meeks, who averaged 23.7 points last

year, has entered the draft but did not hire an agent, meaning he could with-draw his name and return to school.

After 81 years, the famed raised wooden floor at Minnesota’s Williams Arena is being replaced.

Gophers basketball games will be played this winter on a new surface for the first time since “The Barn” opened in 1928. The arena has been renovated, and the floor itself has been sanded, repainted and waxed numerous times. But this is the first time it has been torn up.

The total cost of the project is $600,000. Wood will again be used for the surface but it will have a different look for the 2009-10 season. The floor will still be raised above the team’s benches.

Kentucky DE Jeremy Jarmon was ruled ineligible for his senior season by the NCAA because of a failed drug test. He said at a news conference Saturday he had inadvertently taken a banned substance that turned up positive during a random NCAA test in February. An appeal was denied, in effect end-ing his college football career.

Jarmon did not identify the substance and took no questions.

Jarmon took the supplement while recovering from a shoul-der injury and was not taking part in activities. He had been taking the supplement for 15 days before checking with the training staff, who told him to stop taking it.

“But it was too late,” Jarmon said, reading from a prepared statement.

Jarmon said his goal in the offseason was to become leaner. He bought a dietary supplement while shopping for vitamins on the recommendation of a worker at a nutrition store, not knowing that it contained a banned substance.

“I do not need to cheat to be successful,” he said.

Jarmon has the third-most sacks in Kentucky history. He was an honorable mention on last season’s AP All-SEC team.

The NCAA recently sent an inquiry to Ole Miss detailing possible violations by Houston Nutt and several UM assistants

of the NCAA rules that prohibit coaches of speaking publicly about prospects before they have signed letters of intent, according to The (Jackson) Clar-ion-Ledger.

Nutt’s comments were made in a story posted on the Internet site Rivals.com on Jan. 28, about a week before the national sign-ing day for football prospects.

The violation was considered minor and usually does not affect scholarships or practice time.

“Rules are rules,” Nutt said. “The difficult thing is I didn’t think we were doing anything wrong. But the good thing is we won’t make the same mistake again.”

Oregon QB Justin Roper has

been granted his release, according to Scout.com. Roper, who opened last season as the starter before an injury side-lined him, looked solid in spring drills. In the spring game, he went 22 of 34 for 301 yards and three touchdowns.

The report did not indicate reasons for Roper’s departure or his future plans. He was, however, slotted to be Jeremiah Masoli’s backup.

Many Kansas State donors are so disgusted over the secret agreement to funnel more than $3 million to fired coach Ron Prince they’re closing their checkbooks and vowing, “No more.”

When Jon Wefald revealed the

shocking news to the state Board of Regents on Wednesday, the longtime Kansas State president actually teared up.

As shamed and humiliated as the Wildcats were in the late 1970s when NCAA sleuths caught them hiding 30 football players who weren’t supposed to be on scholarship, this may be worse. Now they’re reeling over what appears to be a secret sweetheart agreement that for-mer athletic director and long-time Wefald sidekick Bob Krause entered into with Prince.

Discovered by accident this month by university lawyers, the agreement says the school must pay a limited liability company established by Prince $3.2 mil-lion starting in 2015. That would be in addition to the $1.2 million buyout he already received after being dismissed last November with a 17-20 record.

It’ll be up to the courts to decide how much money, if any, is paid. But there’s no doubt incoming president Kirk Schulz and incoming athletic director John Currie have a gigantic prob-lem staring them in the face.

“K-Staters are very surprised and very sad,” Dan Lykins, a promi-nent Topeka attorney and Kansas State grad, told The Associated Press. “We’re in a mess.”

Wefald, who retires next month after 23 years, says he didn’t know anything about the agreement until it was acciden-tally discovered.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COLLEGE BASKETBALL

INSIDE DISH INSIDE DISH

Kentucky star ineligible after failing drug test Former Kansas forward transfers

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 25College Football / College Basketball

ED REINKE / AP

Jeremy Jarmon, right, said a dietary supplement triggered his positive test.

ORLIN WAGNER / AP

Quintrell Thomas, right, is heading for UNLV but isn’t eligible to play until the 2010-11 season.

Ask.com went from nowhere to everywhere in NASCAR seem-ingly overnight. The company is on the hood of Bobby Labonte’s No. 96 car, has commercials in heavy rotation and is NASCAR’s official Internet search engine. Labonte talked with Sporting News Today’s Matt Crossman

about Internet safety, being a sex symbol and rac-ing for 600 miles.

Q: You visited an elementary school promoting Ask.com’s

Safe Search program, which teaches kids Internet safety. Why is that important to you?

A: It is what we’re going through today in life, as far as the Internet

and computers go. Fifteen years ago, it wasn’t that big of a deal. But the way things are today, as great as the Internet is, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong. Trying to teach kids the right thing at their age is huge. I have two kids at home, so I understand the right and wrong of it.

Q: I don’t want to get carried away, but you’re almost a sex

symbol in some of those Ask.com ads. What’s that like?

A: (Laughs.) I don’t know. It’s all good.

Q: Looking forward to tonight’s Coca-Cola 600—how hard is

it to concentrate for 600 miles?

A: It’s a long race. The last 100 kind of get going pretty fast. It doesn’t

seem like it takes too-too long to get through with it. For some reason, at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, between mile makers 500 and 600, it goes faster than you think. Darlington the other night, felt like it was 650 miles.

Q: There’s been a lot of talk about NASCAR drug policy in

the last few weeks. Should NASCAR release what substance it thinks Jeremy Mayfield took?

A: I think it’s up to them. I can’t say they should or shouldn’t. There’s

things we probably should know more about, and there’s probably things we don’t need to know about. We definitely don’t need to know everything. NASCAR does a great job. They instituted this program last year. I think it’s a great way they’re doing it. It’s great for our sport. They could’ve brushed it under the carpet, but they didn’t.

Q: You’re a Yates satellite driver. What’s that team need to get

back to the top?

A: We could use a little bit of luck. It’s still relatively a new program.

There’s some things we’ve done right his year, and there’s some things we haven’t done right this year. To get from point A to point Z, you could jump a letter here and there, but you’ve really got to go one step at a time to make sure you do it right. You want to go from A to Z as fast as you can, but it’s important that we learn as much as we can about each other getting there.

We have to make sure we’re as consis-tent as possible. Make sure we get our cars handling the best we can. When we have a 15th-place car, make sure we finish 15th, not 30th. It’s usually not one big thing, it’s a lot of little things to make the difference.

BY JARED TURNERSceneDaily.com

CONCORD, N.C.—Six hundred miles around any Sprint Cup Series track is a long trip. Well over four hours of racing, no matter the conditions or day of the week, is a long time. But that’s exactly what drivers will face in today’s 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The race, advertised at 600 miles and 400 laps, is the lon-gest on the Cup schedule by a full 100 miles. Like a handful of others, it begins in the heat of the day and ends under cooler night-time temperatures.

The event, like no other on the 36-race schedule, is a test of stamina and endurance and equipment.

But in this age of short atten-tion spans and slipping ticket sales and TV ratings for Cup races, are 600 miles still war-ranted? Tradition suggests so. So do a lot of drivers—even ones who subscribe to the popular premise that many races merit shorter distances than their present length.

“To me there’s 500-mile races at certain tracks that are too long. Six hundred miles here, the thing I like about it that it stands out (is) it’s unique, and I think that was the whole purpose behind making it 600 miles,” said Hendrick Motor-sports driver Jeff Gordon, who notched his first Cup here 15 years ago this weekend. “Is it too long? Heck yeah, it’s too long.

“I mean, 600 miles is a long way, but would I like to see it change? I don’t think so. In his-tory, it has just played such an important role in our sport.”

From Bobby Allison to Dale Earnhardt to defending three-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, winners of this race match a who’s-who list of NASCAR’s all-time greats. Yet at the same time, the 600 also has had a proclivity over the years for producing first-time winners.

The annual Memorial Day weekend classic is not only NASCAR’s longest races, but it’s also one of the most prestigious.

For many, going to victory lane here takes a backseat only

to winning the Daytona 500 or the Allstate 400 at the Brick-yard. That Lowe’s Motor Speed-way is practically in the backyard of the Charlotte-area race shops that most teams call home makes winning here all the more special.

But would the race still rank as high if it were not 600 miles?

“I believe it would lose a bit of its strength as one of the crown jewels (of NASCAR),” Penske Racing driver Kurt Busch said. “This is a very prestigious race because it is here in Charlotte and because there is 600 miles attached to it. … In my opinion, it’s the right length.”

jturner@streetandsmiths.com

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 26NASCAR

Q&A with ... Cup driver Bobby Labonte

‘We could use a little bit of luck’

Bobby Labonte

Drivers: 600 length shouldn’t changeCoca-Cola 600At Lowe’s Motor SpeedwayWhen: Today, 5:45 p.m. ETTV: FOX, 5 p.m. ETRadio: PRN/Sirius XM Satellite Ch. 128Track layout: 1.5-mile ovalRace distance: 400 laps/600 miles2008 winner: Kasey Kahne2008 polesitter: Kyle Busch

Starting lineup(Car number in parentheses)1. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 188.4752. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188.2583. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 188.1934. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 188.1665. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 187.8206. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 187.4937. (09) Mike Bliss, Dodge, 187.4228. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 187.3969. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 187.18810. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 187.16911. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 187.16212. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 186.91613. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.86414. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 186.83215. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 186.82516. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 186.73517. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 186.59918. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 186.57419. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 186.54820. (96) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 186.47721. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 186.36822. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 186.23323. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 186.22024. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 186.18125. (66) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 186.01426. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 185.97027. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 185.82928. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 185.77829. (71) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 185.70730. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 185.60531. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 185.59332. (13) Max Papis, Toyota, 185.43333. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 185.31934. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 185.17235. (12) David Stremme, Dodge, 185.09636. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 184.70437. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 184.59038. (44) A J Allmendinger, Dodge, 184.33839. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 183.94940. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 183.28141. (34) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, Owner Points42. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, Owner Points43. (36) Scott Riggs, Toyota, 184.433.Failed to Qualify44. (41) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 184.09345. (73) Mike Garvey, Dodge, 182.45746. (64) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 182.42647. (06) David Starr, Dodge, 179.081

MIKE MCCARN / AP

Jeff Gordon wants the Coca-Cola 600 to stay as it is because of its place in history.

While team owners and drivers will meet next week to talk about issues in the sport, Sprint Cup Series director John Darby says that he would not like to make any changes to the rules of NASCAR’s new car.

The car, in its second full year of competition, has been blamed for not-so-stellar racing at some venues and the drop in television ratings, but Darby said ear-lier this week that he liked what he has seen in the last few races.

“We know in the last month, we’ve seen three-wide competition at racetracks that we have never, ever seen it at before,” Darby said. “…So, right now, the indica-tions are that the cars are competitive.”

— Bob Pockrass, SceneDaily.com

After double-file restarts of lead-lap cars were used in last Saturday’s non-points-paying Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, discussion has resur-faced that NASCAR should use the procedure for all events going forward.

Juan Pablo Montoya, though, doesn’t agree with some of his competitors that double-file restarts make the rac-ing more exciting. In fact, the former Formula One driver and 2000 Indianapolis 500 champion doesn’t think they are fair.

“I think if you’re racing for points it’s crazy. I think if you’re racing for money it’s OK, because nobody cares,” said Montoya, who is 14th in the series standings. “I think if you have a dominant car all day, it’s kind of frustrating to go double-side race starts. If you’re running first, the guy second just pins you down and you get really loose and you end up fourth or something like that.”

— David Exum, SceneDaily.com

Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith said Saturday that his relationship with former SMI president H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler soured when Smith turned down Wheeler’s request for a $5-million exit bonus dur-ing meetings about Wheeler’s impending retirement.

Smith maintained his treatment of Wheeler, widely regarded as racing’s quintessential impresario, was con-sistently generous. Wheeler asserted in a statement in response to Smith’s remarks that he earned everything he made through his association with SMI and Lowe’s Motor

Speedway, where Wheeler served as track president.— Reid Spencer

NASCAR announced a tweak to the rule of remov-ing equipment from the pit box during the Nationwide Series prerace drivers meeting Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

In the past, the penalty was a stop-and-go. Now the penalty will be the tail end of the longest line (if it occurs under caution).

The change means that a lapped-down car, which might not receive that big of a penalty with a stop-and-go under caution if there are several cars more than a lap down, now will incur a slightly more severe penalty.

Removing equipment from the pit box most often occurs when the catch can remains attached to the rear of the car when the driver speeds out of his pit.

— Bob Pockrass

Bristol Motor Speedway, which has sold out a record 54 consecutive Sprint Cup Series events, will be making an unusual move for the popular half-mile track by putting tickets for its August night race on sale beginning June 9.

This year’s Sharpie 500 Cup event is scheduled for Aug. 22.

Track president Jeff Byrd said the economic climate has forced corporate partners to limit their involvement with regard to ticket purchases.

The track faced a similar situation earlier this year for the Food City 500. That race did sell out, keeping the track’s long-running streak intact.

— SceneDaily.com

INSIDE DISH

Darby doesn’t want to see changes to cars

MIKE MCCARN / AP

Juan Montoya does not favor double-file restarts for lead-lap cars.

BY REID SPENCERrspencer@sportingnews.com

CONCORD, N.C.—Superior fuel mileage got Mike Bliss out front late in Saturday night’s Carquest Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Rain did the rest. Three laps after Bliss took the lead from runner-up Brendan Gaughan on Lap 167, NASCAR red-flagged the race because of rain and made Bliss’ win official by calling the event 30 laps short of its scheduled distance of 200 laps.

Bliss’ only other win in the series also came at Char-lotte, on Oct. 15, 2004. The second-place finish was a career-best for Gaughan.

Where Kyle Busch charged to the front after chang-ing an engine, Bliss used fuel mileage to compensate for his engine change. He and Gaughan were the only two drivers who remained on the track during a cycle of green-flag pit stops that started on Lap 144.

“We stayed out as long as we could, and it paid off,” said Bliss, who gave team owner James Finch his sec-ond unlikely victory in a month. Brad Keselowski won the Sprint Cup event at Talladega in April driv-ing a car owned by Finch and powered by a Hendrick Motorsports engine. “I knew we had a pretty good car in practice and kind of worked our way into the top 10. We stretched our fuel mileage quite a bit, and that’s why I’m here, I guess.”

Asked whether he felt as if he had stolen the race, Bliss chuckled, “Yeah, I did—but from a guy who wins too much (Busch)—and nobody likes him.”

Gaughan felt he had an eighth-to-12th-place car but wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“The only thing that could have been better for us was for (the rain) to come about three laps earlier, after we passed Mike Bliss,” said Gaughan, who got past Bliss in traffic on Lap 165 but surrendered the lead two laps later.

The two best cars in the race, the Toyotas of Busch and Brian Vickers, finished third and fourth. Busch led a race-high 98 laps after streaking from the rear of the field to the front in the first 41 laps. Joey Logano was fifth, followed by Jason Leffler, David Ragan and Keselowski.

Jeff Burton and polesitter Carl Edwards completed the top 10.

— Reid Spencer writes for the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Bliss stretches fuel, wins rain-shortened race

Carquest 300 resultsFINISH START CAR DRIVER MAKE

1 40 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet

2 15 62 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet

3 38 18 Kyle Busch Toyota

4 5 32 Brian Vickers Toyota

5 8 20 Joey Logano Toyota

6 22 38 Jason Leffler Toyota

7 2 6 David Ragan Ford

8 34 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet

9 9 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet

10 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford

MORE COVERAGE from sportingnews.com

Results: sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=552338

Standings: sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=552348

CHUCK BURTON / AP

Mike Bliss’ two career Nationwide wins have come at Charlotte.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 27NASCAR

IRLSPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 28INDIANAPOLIS 500 Today, 1 p.m. ET, ABC

INDIANAPOLIS—Helio Castroneves understands better than most how hard it is to win the Indianapolis 500.

The charismatic Brazilian won as a rookie in 2001 and then backed it up with a victory the next year, becoming only the fifth driver in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway to win two in a row.

Since then, six years have passed with no fence-climbing celebrations at Indy for “Spiderman.”

“The first year was pretty tough,” Castroneves said. “The second year was even tougher. The third year, I had like a bullet. This car was incredible, supersonic. I finished second. So, I learned that you can’t let opportunities go by. You’ve got to go for it. That’s what we’re going to do this Sunday.”

A win this year would be particu-larly significant for Castroneves. On Friday, federal prosecutors dropped the remaining tax evasion conspiracy charge against him and his sister, clearing Castroneves of all the charges that once threatened to derail his career.

In just his third race since return-ing to the series, Castroneves will start from the pole today, with Pen-ske Racing teammate Ryan Briscoe next to him in the middle of the front row. That 1-2 punch gives team owner Roger Penske a good shot at his 15th Indy win.

“We’ve got a good chance this year with two cars on the front row,” said Penske, who last visited Victory Lane with Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006. “But, to win here,

everything has to work perfectly, everything.”

Penske had a 1-2 finish in 2003, with Gil de Ferran outdueling Cas-troneves. This time, Castroneves would love to give the team another sweep—only with himself out front. Rising star Briscoe could make that difficult.

Although Castroneves is the oddsmakers’ favorite, Briscoe is the one who could give Penske a new

face on the Borg Warner Trophy.“Winning this race comes from

the preparations and the leadup to it, what you’ve done in the three weeks here,” the Australian driver said. “I honestly feel as though we couldn’t have done a better job this month. We’ve really got a good feel-ing with the car setup and what we need to do going into the race.”

Good enough to go 1-2-3?Penske has a third entry for the

first time since 1994, when Al Unser Jr. gave him a win. Will Power, hired to fill in for Castro-neves until his legal problems were resolved, was rewarded with a drive at Indy after Castroneves returned to the cockpit.

The Aussie, starting from the outside of the third row, might be the most motivated of the Penske drivers as the team has not guaran-teed him any more races.

The people’s favorite is IndyCar glamour girl Danica Patrick. Unlike past years, she hasn’t been very vis-ible this month, never among the fastest drivers in practice and 10th on the grid after a disappointing qualifying effort.

“I really think I’ve got a great shot,” she said. “I’ve got more expe-rience, which I really think does pay off here.”

Dixon receives ringScott Dixon, the Indy 500 and

IndyCar series champion last year, received the winner’s ring Satur-day. He’ll start fifth today.

The 28-year-old Dixon also received the American Dairy Asso-ciation of Indiana’s Louis Meyer Award, named for the driver who started the Victory Lane milk-drinking tradition more than 70 years ago, and an 18-inch sterling silver replica of the Borg-Warner Trophy. Car owner Chip Ganassi also received a “Baby Borg.”

Matos, Kanaan busyThe busiest drivers ahead of

today’s race were rookie Raphael Matos, who logged 524 laps in his primary and backup cars during the past two weeks of practice, and Tony Kanaan, who had a combined 513 laps in five different cars.

Kanaan’s total included 150 laps in his primary car, 331 in his backup, five laps in teammate Marco Andretti’s car, seven laps in teammate Danica Patrick’s car and 20 laps in teammate Hideki Mutoh’s car.

Raindrops possibleThe National Weather Service is

forecasting a 30 percent chance of rain for the Indianapolis 500, with highs in the upper 70s.

— The Associated Press

Castroneves seeks third Indy title, but first since ’02NOTEBOOK

Indianapolis500 lineupRow 11. (3) Helio Castroneves, 224.8642. (6) Ryan Briscoe, 224.0833. (10) Dario Franchitti, 224.010ROW 24. (02) Graham Rahal, 223.9545. (9) Scott Dixon, 223.8676. (11) Tony Kanaan, 223.612ROW 37. (5) Mario Moraes, 223.3318. (26) Marco Andretti, 223.1149. (12) Will Power, 223.028ROW 410. (7) Danica Patrick, 222.88211. (99) Alex Lloyd, 222.62212. (2) r-Raphael Matos, 223.429ROW 513. (15) Paul Tracy, 223.11114. (14) Vitor Meira, 223.05415. (18) Justin Wilson, 222.903ROW 616. (27) Hideki Mutoh, 222.80517. (20) Ed Carpenter, 222.78018. (4) Dan Wheldon, 222.777ROW 719. (41) A.J. Foyt IV, 222.58620. (16) Scott Sharp, 222.16221. (67) Sarah Fisher, 222.082ROW 822. (44) Davey Hamilton, 221.95623. (06) r-Robert Doornbos, 221.69224. (8) Townsend Bell, 221.195ROW 925. (17) Oriol Servia, 220.98426. (19) Tomas Scheckter, 221.49627. (24) r-Mike Conway, 221.417ROW 1028. (43) John Andretti, 221.31629. (13) E.J. Viso, 221.16430. (23) Milka Duno, 221.106ROW 1131. (00) r-Nelson Philippe, 220.75432. (21) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 220.59733. (36) r-Alex Tagliani, 221.115r-Rookie

DARRON CUMMINGS / AP

Helio Castroneves, above, will lead the field to the green flag today. He is trying to give team owner Roger Penske his 15th Indy 500 victory.

Lacrosse

MORE COVERAGE For Tournament coverage, go to: InsideLacrosse.com

1988 all over again Cornell and Syracuse are meeting in the

NCAA title game for the first time since 1988. Ironically, Cornell advanced to that game with a lopsided victory over Virginia in the semifi-nals, just as it did this year.

Drawing a crowd? The semifinals on Saturday drew 36,594, the

smallest attendance since the Final Four moved to NFL stadiums in 2003. The attendance was down 24 percent from last year’s semifinal total of 48,000. Also, media credentials for the semifinals were down nearly 30 percent.

They’ve met before Syracuse defeated Cornell, 15-10, in the regu-

lar season. Sophomore Stephen Keogh and junior Chris Daniello each scored three goals for the Orange. Freshman Rob Pannell had a goal and four assists for the Big Red.

All over the place On Saturday, Cornell senior midfielder had

John Glynn one assist, five groundballs and won 10 face-offs. He is hoping to lead the Big Red to their first national title since 1977.

Defense rules Syracuse and Cornell each rode their defense

to the title game. Syracuse senior Sid Smith held Duke senior Ned Crotty, the nation’s leader in assists, without a point over the final 49-plus minutes. Cornell senior Matt Moyer, playing with injuries in both knees, held Vir-ginia’s Danny Glading to two goals and one assist, though both of Glading’s goals came when he was being defended by someone else.

High school high Both Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni and Syra-

cuse coach John Desko is graduated from West Genessee (NY) High.

— Christian Swezey

STORYLINES FOR MONDAY’S FINAL

Cornell vs. Syracuse, 1 p.m., ESPN

BY CHRISTIAN SWEZEYInsideLacrosse.com

One of the most challenging aspects of the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse tour-nament is the schedule for the semifinalist winners, who close out their seasons with two games in three days. This time, the two teams that advanced to the title game—Syracuse and Cornell—did so after estab-lishing big leads, then resting key personnel in the late stages of their games on Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.

Second-seeded Syracuse defeated No. 3 Duke, 17-7, in the first semifinal. Yet the sentiment of the “Real Men Wear Orange” T-shirts popular among Syracuse fans was disproven at least in part in the second semifinal.

There, top-seeded Virginia—clad in the same colors as Syracuse—lost to No. 5 Cor-nell, 15-6. The games, played at Gillette Stadium, drew more than 36,000 fans, the smallest attandance since the event moved to NFL stadiums in 2003.

Cornell (13-3) and Syracuse (15-2) met in the regular season, a 15-10 Orange victory on April 7.

Syracuse put away its game against Duke (15-4) with a four-goal run late in the third quarter that culminated in a score by senior Pat Perritt for a 14-6 lead with 26 seconds left in the quarter.

Perritt finished with four goals, as did senior attackman Kenny Nims. Duke entered with senior attackman Ned Crotty, who led the nation in assists. Yet he was held scoreless over the final 49 minutes 32 seconds by senior defenseman Sid Smith.

“We couldn’t get the ball to Ned up top,” said junior attackman Max Quinzani, who finished with three goals. “I think they laid off the pressure, but we didn’t have long enough possessions to even see what

they were doing. That’s a testament to their face-off game, their possessions on the offensive side.”

In the second semifinal, Cornell took the field in two single-file lines and left the field the same way. It also used an orderly approach to dispatch the Cavaliers (15-3).

Cornell used diagonal passes to disect the Virginia defense, which was consid-ered a talented but risk-taking unit. The

diagonal passes found Big Red players right on top of junior goalie Adam Ghitel-man. The Big Red shooters scored on 15 of their 20 shots on goal and their passers finished with nine assists.

Freshman Rob Pannell finished with three goals and three assists for Cornell. Senior Danny Glading and freshman Steele Stanwick each had two goals and one assist for the Cavaliers, but Ghitelman

had only five saves. The Big Red took leads of 3-0 and 6-1

and the Cavaliers did not get closer than four goals.

“We knew we weren’t going to have a whole lot of believers out there who thought we could beat a talented team like Virginia,” Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni said. “We needed to believe first and get off to a good start.”

Syracuse, Cornell advance to title game

JAMES SCHAFFER / INSIDE LACROSSE

Tim Desko, right, and the Orange jumped on Duke early and managed to rest key players for the end stages of their 17-7 semifinal win.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 29

LeaderboardSaturday at TPC Four Seasons ResortIrving, TexasPurse: $6.5 million; Yardage: 7,166; Par: 70Third RoundRory Sabbatini 68-64-65—197 -13John Mallinger 67-65-65—197 -13D.A. Points 68-66-65—199 -11Dustin Johnson 68-65-66—199 -11Brian Davis 68-65-66—199 -11Kevin Streelman 67-69-64—200 -10Glen Day 69-66-65—200 -10Briny Baird 69-64-67—200 -10Marc Leishman 68-70-63—201 -9James Nitties 65-68-68—201 -9Charley Hoffman 71-66-65—202 -8Jeff Maggert 71-66-65—202 -8Bryce Molder 68-68-66—202 -8George McNeill 69-67-66—202 -8Fred Couples 69-66-67—202 -8James Driscoll 67-66-69—202 -8Mike Weir 66-71-66—203 -7Michael Letzig 68-68-67—203 -7Scott McCarron 66-69-68—203 -7Charles Howell III 66-69-68—203 -7Charlie Wi 73-66-64—203 -7Nicholas Thompson 73-66-64—203 -7Justin Leonard 75-63-66—204 -6Steve Marino 69-69-66—204 -6Jonathan Byrd 68-70-66—204 -6John Senden 71-68-65—204 -6Jesper Parnevik 67-68-69—204 -6Robert Allenby 67-67-70—204 -6Alex Cejka 69-69-67—205 -5J.J. Henry 71-68-66—205 -5Robert Garrigus 70-66-69—205 -5Brad Adamonis 66-70-69—205 -5Y.E. Yang 69-67-69—205 -5Danny Lee 69-67-69—205 -5Ted Purdy 74-65-66—205 -5Kris Blanks 68-71-66—205 -5Nathan Green 70-69-66—205 -5Brian Bateman 69-70-66—205 -5Ken Duke 65-69-71—205 -5Tommy Armour III 67-71-68—206 -4John Rollins 72-66-68—206 -4Davis Love III 73-64-69—206 -4Vijay Singh 70-67-69—206 -4Tim Wilkinson 69-67-70—206 -4Greg Chalmers 68-69-69—206 -4Hunter Mahan 71-68-67—206 -4David Mathis 72-67-67—206 -4Colt Knost 67-72-67—206 -4Jeff Klauk 72-66-69—207 -3Aaron Watkins 67-71-69—207 -3Chris Riley 71-68-68—207 -3Matt Kuchar 70-69-68—207 -3Greg Owen 68-71-68—207 -3Martin Laird 72-67-68—207 -3Matt Weibring 67-69-71—207 -3Joe Ogilvie 69-70-68—207 -3Notah Begay III 73-65-70—208 -2Troy Matteson 68-69-71—208 -2Chris DiMarco 67-69-72—208 -2Ricky Barnes 69-70-69—208 -2Rod Pampling 72-67-69—208 -2Steve Flesch 70-69-69—208 -2Jimmy Walker 71-68-69—208 -2David Berganio, Jr. 72-65-72—209 -1Todd Hamilton 71-67-71—209 -1Shaun Micheel 72-67-70—209 -1Harrison Frazar 73-66-71—210 EJay Williamson 68-71-71—210 EBen Crane 71-68-71—210 EKent Jones 67-70-74—211 +1Bob Heintz 68-70-73—211 +1Mark Calcavecchia 68-70-75—213 +3James Oh 71-68-74—213 +3Cliff Kresge 70-69-74—213 +3

IRVING, TEXAS—Rory Sabbatini has already won at Hogan’s Alley. Now he shares the lead going into the final round at Byron Nelson’s tournament.

“Anything associated with his name would be an absolute honor,” Sabbatini said after a 5-under 65 Saturday to keep a share of the lead at the Byron Nelson Championship.

Two years after his last vic-tory, at the Colonial where Ben Hogan’s larger-than-life statue is prominent, Sabbatini is in position to win again after five birdies in a seven-hole stretch midway through his third round.

Sabbatini and John Mall-inger, who entered the third round tied as co-leaders, both shot 65 to get to 13-under 197. That is two strokes ahead of three other players.

“Obviously got off to a good start, just putting the ball in the right spots, putting it on the greens, hitting some good putts,” Sabbatini said. “And then never really got anything going until No. 5.”

Even for the day until he got to the 174-yard fifth hole, Sab-batini’s pin-high tee shot rolled back and lipped the cup to set up a 3-foot birdie. He also had three consecutive birdies before making the turn, capped by a 41-footer on the 427-yard ninth hole.

Mallinger, without a win in his first 76 PGA Tour events, had his second consecutive 65. The bogey-free round was much different from Friday, when he had two eagles, four

birdies and three bogeys.“Today was the type of golf

that I like to play. Normally, that’s my game,” Mallinger said. “I kind of had a game plan going in and I stuck with it. I executed, and that was the biggest thing. Being the leader, it was always a little different feeling.”

Dustin Johnson struggled after going 6 under through eight holes. He shot 66 to get in at 11 under with D.A. Points (65) and Brian Davis (66). At 10 under were Kevin Streel-man (64), Glen Day (65) and Briny Baird (67), who was 5 under through seven holes before three bogeys in a five-hole stretch.

Sabbatini, playing only a few miles from his home this week and next at the Colonial, had a season-low round of 64 Friday. Now he has the best two-round stretch of the season.

After his only bogey, when he missed fairway at No. 14 and had to punch out short of the water, Sabbatini got that stroke back with an 11-foot birdie at No. 15.

Sabbatini wore a pink rib-bon atop his cap, the symbol for breast cancer awareness. Phil Mickelson this week indefinitely suspended his golfing schedule following wife Amy’s diagnosis.

“Phil and Amy Mickelson are definitely forefront in everyone’s thoughts out here,” Sabbatini said. “We all know that she’s a strong and

determined person, and she’ll pull through it.”

Mallinger made a 9-foot birdie at the 528-yard third, and tapped in for par on the next hole after missing an 8-footer. Consecutive birdies followed, and his only other birdies after that came at Nos. 14 and 15.

Sabbatini had supporters wearing black T-shirts that read “Rory’s Rowdy Roadies” on the

front and “Team Sabo” on the back. One of the supporters in Mallinger’s gallery was his ten-nis-playing buddy Mark Knowles, who delayed his trip to Paris for doubles competition at the French Open.

“He was supposed to take off (Saturday), and we had a bet if I got in the leader group he had to change his flight,” said Mallinger, who has to go

to Paris if Knowles makes the finals.

Because of the threat of thun-derstorms, players teed off in threesomes off Nos. 1 and 10 and everyone was done by mid-afternoon without any delays or rain. There will be normal tee times with twosomes off No. 1 in the final round.

Davis (66) was in the last-group threesome that included the leaders. He had two bird-ies the first three holes before the first of his four bogeys.

Johnson was 13 under when he capped a streak of four con-secutive birdies with a 9-footer at the 461-yard No. 8 after hit-ting his approach from the rough.

But Johnson then went right and then left on consecutive wayward tee shots, taking penalty strokes on both. The tee shot at the 427-yard ninth hole went into the water and his 33-foot par putt slid just right of the cup.

After hitting his drive at the 435-yard 10th way left into an unplayable lie near more water, Johnson momentarily stood on the box staring ahead. Once he got to his ball, he took a drop in an adjacent fairway and knocked the approach to 3 feet to save par.

He had three bogeys the final six holes, including the par-5 16th.

“Turning on the back I struggled with my tee balls a lot,” Johnson said. “I ended up with 66, so that’s never bad. I’m right there in it.”

— The Associated Press

Byron Nelson ChampionshipSite: Irving, Texas

Course: TPC Four Seasons

Resort Las Colinas (7,166

yards, par 70)

Purse: $6.5 million. Winner’s

share: $1,152,000

TV: Golf Channel (1-2:30

p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.) and

CBS (3-6 p.m.)

Sabbatini still in position to break two-year skid

MATT SLOCUM / AP

John Mallinger, left, and Rory Sabbatini traded shots all day but stayed tied for the lead after the third round.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 30Golf

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 31Tennis

PARIS—Even though it’s the only Grand Slam site where he hasn’t won a champi-onship, Roger Federer feels quite comfort-able in the City of Lights.

That’s in part because he’s fluent in French, just one of his many languages, a list that includes English and Swiss German.

“Everything here is very natural, very easy,” Federer said.

What about when he goes to Spain, the land of his rival, Rafael Nadal? That’s another story.

“I felt like it’s hard to get around some-times in Madrid, for instance, where I don’t speak the language,” Federer said. “I don’t go to many countries where, you know, I don’t speak the language.”

He has lost in the last three French Open finals, each time to Nadal. But Federer did end a five-match losing streak to Nadal—which included the championship matches at Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year, and the Australian Open this year—by beating him in the Madrid Open final last weekend.

That victory gave Federer his first title of 2009. And as good as he’s been over the past several years, collecting 13 Grand Slam titles, he does take time to assess the state of his game.

“I always question myself, you know. I’ve questioned myself in the best of times, when I was winning four, five titles in a row. ‘What can I improve?’ ‘What can I change to get better?’ I think it’s important to do that when you’re on top of your game, but also again when things were not going so well,” Federer said.

“There are certain times during the year where you just have to sit down and ana-lyze: Are you happy with what’s going on? Could you do more? Should you do less?”

Early exitSixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva has

withdrawn from the French Open because of an ankle injury.

The Russian injured her ankle chasing a ball last month at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. She pulled out of the sea-son’s second Grand Slam tournament on Saturday, a day before play begins on the red clay at Roland Garros.

Zvonareva had been scheduled to face Olga Govortsova of Belarus in the first round, but lucky loser Katie O’Brien of Britain will take her spot in the draw.

Another Russian is back after a lengthy injury. Maria Sharapova returned to the tour this week after missing nearly 10 months.She was wearing white tape on her surgically repaired right shoulder as she practiced at Roland Garros on Saturday.

New approachFor years, Amelie Mauresmo would

come to the French Open as the host coun-try’s best hope for a homegrown champion.

For years, those expectations were too much for her to handle. She managed to win Grand Slam titles at the Australian

Open and Wimbledon, and reach No. 1 in the rankings, but the best she fared at Roland Garros was reaching the quarterfinals.

“I’ve been trying different kinds of prep-arations, different ways of arriving here for the French Open. Nothing really seemed to be working,” said Mauresmo, who is seeded 16th this year and plays Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the first round today. “I’m just trying to accept the pres-sure that is on every French tennis player coming here.”

— The Associated Press

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Glance Schedule: The tournament is 15 days,

with play beginning today. The women’s singles final is June 6, the men’s singles final is June 7.

2008 Men’s Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal of Spain

2008 Women’s Singles Champion: Ana Ivanovic of Serbia

Last Year: Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the final, the most lopsided Grand Slam loss of Federer’s career. Ivanovic won

her first major title to briefly rise to No. 1 in the rankings.

Key Statistic: 28-0—Nadal’s career record at Roland Garros. He is trying to become the first man to win the French Open five years in a row.

Prize Money: At the current exchange rate, the total is about $21.8 million, with about $1.4 million each to the men’s and women’s singles champions.

TV: Today, noon, ESPN2

On the Web: rolandgarros.com/en_FR/index.html

French Open scheduleAt Roland Garros, ParisPlay began on all courts at 5 a.m. EDTMen’s SinglesCourt Philippe ChatrierAlexandre Sidorenko, France, vs. Marat Safin (20), RussiaWayne Odesnik, United States, vs. Gilles Simon (7), FranceCourt Suzanne LenglenFlorent Serra, France, vs. Fernando Verdasco (8), SpainAndy Murray (3), Britain, vs. Juan Ignacio Chela, ArgentinaCourt 1Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, vs. Ivo Karlovic (26), CroatiaRadek Stepanek (18), Czech Republic, vs. Gaston Gaudio, ArgentinaCourt 2Marcel Granollers, Spain, vs. Josselin Ouanna, FranceErnests Gulbis, Latvia, vs. Sam Querrey, United StatesCourt 3Nicolas Almagro (31), Spain, vs. Agustin Calleri, ArgentinaFrederico Gil, Portugal, vs. David Ferrer (14), SpainCourt 6Denis Gremelmayr, Germany, vs. Andrey Golubev, KazakhstanJan Hernych, Czech Republic, vs. Marin Cilic (13), CroatiaCourt 7Yen-Hsun Lu, Taiwan, vs. ll-Mathieu Montcourt, Franceq-Daniel Brands, Germany, vs. Robert Kendrick, United StatesCourt 17Dudi Sela, Israel, vs. q-Jean-Rene Lisnard, Monacoq-Peter Polonsky, Canada, vs. Philipp Petzschner, Germany

Women’s SinglesCourt Philippe ChatrierSara Errani, Italy, vs. Ana Ivanovic (8), SerbiaAnna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, vs. Amelie Mauresmo (16), FranceCourt Suzanne LenglenVitalia Diatchenko, Russia, vs. Mathilde Johansson, FranceNadia Petrova (11), Russia, vs. Lauren Embree, United StatesCourt 1Elena Vesnina, Russia, vs. Severine Bremond Beltrame, FranceVictoria Azarenka (9), Belarus, vs. Roberta Vinci, ItalyCourt 2wc-Emilie Loit, France, vs. Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerlandwc-Olivia Rogowska, Australia, vs. Maria Kirilenko, RussiaCourt 3Ioana Raluca Olaru, Romania, vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27), RussiaNuria Llagostera Vives, Spain, vs. Julie Coin, FranceCourt 6q-Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan, vs. Kaia Kanepi (19), EstoniaMaria-Emilia Salerni, Argentina, vs. Kristina Barrois, GermanyCourt 7Li Na (25), China, vs. Marta Domachowska, PolandIveta Benesova (32), Czech Republic, vs. Julia Goerges, GermanyCourt 17Tamira Paszek, Austria, vs. Gisela Dulko, ArgentinaVarvara Lepchenko, United States, vs. Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia

FRENCH OPEN NOTEBOOK

Win over Nadal encouraging to Federer

CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP

The French Open is the first tournament for Maria Sharapova since shoulder surgery 10 months ago.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009 32Back Page

BOLOGNA, ITALY—Simon Gerrans of Australia won the 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia with a long breakaway Saturday while Denis Menchov of Russia kept the overall leader’s pink jersey.

Menchov remained 34 seconds in front of Danilo Di Luca of Italy. U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer dropped three seconds in an uphill finish and trails Menchov by 43 seconds in third place.

Gerrans was timed in 4 hours, 16 minutes, 48 seconds over the hilly 107-mile leg from Campi Bisenzio to Bologna. Rubens Bertogliati of Swit-zerland was the runner-up, 12 seconds behind. Francesco Gavazzi of Italy was third, 18 sec-onds back.

Gerrans was part of a 14-man group that that broke away from the main pack 7½ miles into the stage. The Cervelo team rider left behind his final breakaway companions shortly before the finish. Gerrans won a stage in last year’s Tour de France with a similar breakaway and uphill finish.

Lance Armstrong, who is still regaining his form after 3½ years of retirement and breaking his collarbone in March, finished 1:58 back and dropped from 12th to 14th overall, 7:28 behind Menchov.

Armstrong is supporting Leipheimer in his bid to win the Giro. It was unusual to see the seven-time Tour de France winner in such a role, carrying water bottles from the team car to Leipheimer and another teammate late in the stage.

SoftballTUSCALOOSA, ALA.—Alabama sophomore Kelsi

Dunne became the first player to throw back-to-back no-hitters in NCAA postseason play.

Dunne held Jacksonville State hitless for the second straight day in a 9-0 softball victory Sat-urday. She led the Crimson Tide to a Super Regional championship and a spot in the Wom-en’s College World Series.

The two no-hitters ties the NCAA postseason record. It was Dunne’s fourth of the season and gave her a school-record six for her career.

Horse racingINGLEWOOD, CALIF.—Move over, Rachel Alexandra

and make room for undefeated filly Zenyatta.Zenyatta pulled away to a 1¾-length victory

over Life Is Sweet in Saturday’s $150,000 Milady Handicap, improving to 10-0 in her career.

Ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, Zenyatta rallied from six lengths off the pace to win at Hollywood Park in her first start after a seven-month layoff.

Kentucky Oaks and Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra has generated much of the buzz in racing over the past few weeks. But Zenyatta was making headlines last year. She was 2008 champion older female, having won the Breed-ers’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita in Octo-ber. That race could be the setting this fall for a possible matchup between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, who became the first filly in 85 years to beat the boys last weekend in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

GolfBEACHWOOD, OHIO—Michael Allen, winless in 271

PGA Tour events, shot a 3-under 67 to take a one-shot lead over Jeff Sluman and Tom Kite through three rounds in the Senior PGA Championship.

Allen, who turned 50 in January and is mak-ing his senior debut, had a 3-under 207 total at Canterbury in the Champions Tour’s first major championship of the year.

Sluman had the lead to himself before bogeying the 16th and 18th holes, completing a 70 that left him tie with Kite (69). Larry Mize (71), Gil Morgan (707) and Tim Simpson (68) were 1 under.

CORNING, N.Y.—Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato matched the tournament record with a 10-under 62 for a share of the third-round lead with South Korea’s Soo-Yun Kang in the final LPGA Corning Classic.

Kang had a 65 to match the 19-year-old Miyazato at 17-under 199. They tied the tourna-

ment 54-hole record.South Korea’s Yani Tseng was a stroke back

after a 62. Michelle Wie was 8 under after a 68.

VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND—England’s Paul Casey shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 to stretch his lead to three strokes after the third round of the BMW PGA Championship,

Casey, who missed 4-foot birdie chances on the last two holes, Casey had a 13-under 203 total at Wentworth. Ernie Els was even par after a 70, and John Daly was 5 over after a 77.

Formula OneMONACO—Formula One championship leader

Jenson Button earned the pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Brawn GP driver will start first on the grid for the fourth time after setting a fastest lap of 1 minute, 14.902 seconds around the famous street circuit.

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, who won in Monaco last year, crashed during the first ses-sion to place 16th. But he was demoted to last on the grid for the first time in his career because the team had to change his gearbox.

— The Associated Press

BASEBALL

American League

CLEVELAND INDIANS: Placed RHP

Anthony Reyes and LHP Aaron Laffey

on the 15-day DL. Recalled LHP Rich

Rundles and LHP Jeremy Sowers from

Columbus (IL).

National League

FLORIDA MARLINS: Purchased the

contract of LHP Sean West from

Jacksonville (SL). Recalled RHP Chris

Leroux from Jacksonville. Optioned

RHP Ricky Nolasco to New Orleans

(PCL). Designated LHP David David-

son for assignment.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS: Signed RHP

Ji-Mo Lee to a minor league contract.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES: Extended the

affiliation with Altoona of the Eastern

Leagus through 2014.

Eastern League

TRENTON THUNDER: Announced OF

Noah Hall has been assigned to the

team and RHP Jason Stephens and

OF Seth Fortenberry was transferred

to Staten Island (NYP).

Midwest League

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS:

Announced OF Jairo Martinez has

been transferred to the team from

extended spring training.

American Association

EL PASO DIABLOS: Released LHP Zach

Piccola.

SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS: Released RHP

Mike Koons.

Can-Am League

AMERICAN DEFENDERS: Signed INF

Chris Kelly.

NEW JERSEY JACKALS: Released OF

Josh Cox. Signed C Chris Chiarappa.

Northern League

WINNIPEG GOLDEYES: Signed C Hank

Lanto.

SOCCER

Women’s Professional Soccer

SKY BLUE FC: Suspended coach

and general manager Ian Sawyers

indefinitely. Named Kelly Lindsey

interim coach.

COLLEGE

KENTUCKY: Announced DE Jeremy

Jarmon was ruled ineligible for his

senior season by the NCAA because

of a failed drug test.

WHEATON, ILL.: Named Jim Gruen-

wald wrestling coach.

TRANSACTIONSIN BRIEF Major League Soccer

EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAD.C. 3 1 7 16 17 15Toronto FC 4 3 4 16 16 16Chicago 3 0 6 15 16 11Kansas City 4 4 2 14 14 12New England 2 3 4 10 8 16New York 2 5 3 9 10 12Columbus 1 2 6 9 12 15

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAChivas USA 7 1 2 23 14 5Seattle 4 2 3 15 12 6Colorado 3 2 3 12 11 9Houston 3 2 3 12 8 6Real Salt Lake 3 5 2 11 14 13Los Angeles 1 1 7 10 11 11San Jose 1 5 2 5 8 16FC Dallas 1 6 2 5 8 16

NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.All times ETSaturday’s 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, tieToday’s GamesChicago at New York, 3 p.m.Wednesday’s GamesSan Jose at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday’s GamesChicago at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.Saturday, May 30Colorado 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.

Leipheimer, Armstong fall further behind pace

MICHAEL E. PALMER / AP

Alabama P Kelsi Dunne celebrates after pitching a five-inning no-hitter, which set an NCAA postseason record.