For much of May, the theme

of the NBA playoffs was the

ascendance of Cleveland’s LeBron

James. But, by the end of the East

finals, it was clear that theme had

changed—this was the ascendance

of Orlando center Dwight Howard.

After his 40-point, 14-rebound

effort in the series clincher, Magic

coach Stan Van Gundy said, “I don’t

know what more he could do.”

The Lakers, who face the Magic in

the Finals starting Thursday, aren’t

eager to find out if Howard can do

more. How they’ll defend Howard is

one of the key questions of the series.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson is not

one for double-teams, so it’s a safe

bet that L.A. will play Howard straight

with Andrew Bynum. But Bynum’s

injured knee has slowed him and

might force Jackson to scramble.

Tall-but-thin Pau Gasol also will

get the call on Howard and even

D.J. Mbenga might be called on for

a cameo.

— Sean Deveney

More Finals questions, Page 7

GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERSThursday, 9 p.m. ET, ABC

Defending Howard a key for LakersBY ALBERT BREER

abreer@sportingnews.com

Tom Brady said it. Bill Belichick did, too.

The two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback is ready. Physically, at least. But no one knows better than Brady that his comeback is not complete.

“The reality is, in this sport, you never really know,” Brady said. “Any day can be your last day in football.”

Here are three other linchpin types who will face tests in their comebacks from injuries:

Return game Tom Brady isn’t the only superstarbattling to get back on the field

Seahawks LT Walter Jones

THE SITUATION: Seattle could’ve drafted Eugene Monroe or Andre Smith to be the heir apparent to Jones, who’s trying to bounce back from microfracture knee surgery. A 13-year vet, Jones still hasn’t returned to the practice field but said last month, “I’m not ready to put my cleats up.”

THE CONTINGENCY PLAN: Current right tackle Sean Locklear is the logical replacement. Former Bengal Levi Jones visited and could fit on the right side, which would allow Locklear to flip to the left. The dark horse: rookie Max Unger.

Chargers OLB Shawne Merriman

THE SITUATION: The Chargers’ pass rush went from awesome to anemic when Merriman went on the shelf last September with torn ligaments in his knee. The plan is to limit him until the start of training camp. “I feel really good and things are going well, but I’m going to be smart about things,” he said.

THE CONTINGENCY PLAN: Larry English, chosen 16th overall, may have been the best pass rusher in the draft and is a natural to play opposite Shaun Phillips if Merriman experiences a setback.

Colts S Bob Sanders

THE SITUATION: A big-timer with real problems staying on the field, Sanders endured a knee injury and a high ankle sprain in 2008. The former is likely to land him on the physically unable to perform list to open training camp.

THE CONTINGENCY PLAN: If Sanders can’t go, the Colts will pair Melvin Bullitt with 2008 Pro Bowler Antoine Bethea. Bullitt improved during his nine starts last year, finishing with 72 tackles, four picks and nine passes defensed.

TOM HAUCK FOR SN JAY DROWNS / SN DARRON CUMMINGS / AP

GAME 3: TONIGHT, 8 ET, VERSUSSTANLEY CUP FINALSS

Dominating with depth The Red Wings are two games away from

another Stanley Cup title, and they’re doing it without major scoring from their big stars. Point totals from Detroit’s depth players:

Valtteri Filppula: 15 points

Dan Cleary: 14 points

Mikael Samuelsson: 9 points

Jonathan Ericsson: 6 pointsValtteri Filppula

Abdelkader shows knack for scoring clutch goals , Page 11

YOUR TURNGot something you’d like

to ask Ravens linebacker

Ray Lewis?

E-mail

your ques-

tion, along

with your

name and

hometown, to yourturn@

sportingnews.com. We’ll

pick our five favorites

and bounce them off the

10-time Pro Bowler.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Top 25 playersIt’s no surprise that Florida QB

Tim Tebow is No.

1 in Matt Hayes’

preseason rank-

ing of the top 25

players in college

football. But get

this: Oregon QB

Jeremiah Masoli, the poor man’s

Tebow, is one to watch at No. 9.

The top three:

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

2. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma

3. Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State

The complete list, Page 30

NBA FINALS

Tim Tebow

TUESDAY

JUNE 2, 2009

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 315

ScoreboardBaseball American LeagueN.Y. Yankees 5, Cleveland 2Chicago White Sox 6, Oakland 2Baltimore 1, Seattle 0

National LeaguePittsburgh 8, N.Y. Mets 5Florida 7, Milwaukee 4Houston 4, Colorado 1Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 3Philadelphia 5, San Diego 3Arizona 3, L.A. Dodgers 2

MLB > 15 NFL > 33 NBA > 7 NHL > 11 NASCAR > 35 COLLEGE FOOTBALL > 30 COLLEGE BASKETBALL > 31 GOLF > 36 NBA DRAFT > 6QUICK LINKS:

HOCKEY

Red Wings at Penguins7 p.m., Versus

Detroit star Pavel Datsyuk (foot) didn’t play

in the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals,

and it doesn’t look like he’ll be ready for Game

3. It remains to be seen if the Red Wings even

need Datysuk—guys like Justin Abdelkader and

Darren Helm are chipping in offensively and

goalie Chris Osgood has vastly outperformed

Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury. To top it all

off, each bounce is going Detroit’s way. The

Penguins still have two major trump cards in

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and they’ll

need them to come up big to avoid a 3-0 hole.

TENNIS

French OpenNoon, ESPN2

We’re not sure today’s quarterfinals matches

are made for the casual tennis viewer—Andy

Roddick and Rafael Nadal are out, and Roger

Federer is off, as are most of the big names in

the women’s field. That said, it might be worth

checking out Robin Soderling, who knocked

out Nadal, the four-time defending champ, on

Sunday. Soderling takes on on 10th-seeded

Nikolay Davydenko.

SOFTBALL

Florida vs. Washington8 p.m., ESPN2

Washington easily won the first game of the

NCAA softball World Series final, shutting out the

Gators 8-0 behind a strong pitching performance

from player of the year Danielle Lawrie. Tonight,

the Huskies will have an opportunity to clinch

the title in Game 2 of the best-of-3 series. If past

performances are any indication, though, bet on

the Gators—Monday’s loss was their first since

March 29, and came on the heels of a 63-3 regular

season.

— Compiled by Sean Gentille

Tune In TodayA quick look at the best sports on TV

— all times Eastern

Former NFL and Miami (Fla.) quarterback Bernie Kosar, his real estate and restaurant investments flounder-ing in the recession, has been hit with a $4.2 million judgment from National City Bank, the South Florida Business Journal’s Brian Bandell reported.

Kosar and related companies also lost foreclosure judgments on multi-family properties in the Tampa area, and face a pending foreclosure law-suit against a third. His Bernie Kosar’s Steakhouse was evicted from its South Miami space in November. Kosar also faces significant tax prob-lems, including $59,881 in unpaid property taxes on his Weston, Fla., home and a combined $93,647 in fed-eral tax liens against him over his personal income taxes, including

some years filed jointly with ex-wife Babette.

Kosar’s South Florida home is cur-rently listed online for sale for $3.5 million. It was purchased for almost the same amount in 2006.

Quick hits The price of baseball success?

The Brewers—having announced last month that they would reduce selected $28 tickets by $1 for every win in May—began selling Loge Out-field tickets for their June 9-11 series against the Rockies at Miller Park for $10, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The team went 18-10 in May. Meantime, burglars stole nearly $7,000 worth of Rangers jerseys, plus jackets, hats and hooded sweat-shirts from a team store in uptown

Dallas early Sunday morning, the Dallas Morning News reported.

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, in the final year of a three-year agree-ment with Andretti Green Racing, was free starting Monday to entertain offers from teams, regarding who she will drive for in 2010, The Indianapolis Star reported. NASCAR and F1 teams have been mentioned as possibilities.

For the third straight year, Phila-delphia’s Citizens Bank Park is the most vegetarian-friendly ballpark, according to PETA. San Francisco’s AT&T Park was second, followed by Colorado’s Coors Field, Atlanta’s Turner Field and Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

— SportsBusiness Daily, sportsbusinessdaily.com

GUIDE(All times Eastern)Schedule subject to change and/or blackouts.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL8 p.m.ESPN2 — World Series, finals, game 2, Florida vs. Washington, at Oklahoma City

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL7 p.m.WGN — Chicago Cubs at Atlanta

NHL HOCKEY8 p.m.VERSUS — Playoffs, Stanley Cup finals, game 3, Detroit at Pittsburgh

TENNISNoonESPN2 — French Open, men’s & women’s quarterfinals, at Paris

Kosar hit hard by recession

OFF THE FIELD

JAMIE-ANDREA YANAK / AP

Former Browns QB Bernie Kosar’s real estate and restaurant investments are in trouble.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 2See a Different Game

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Tim Salmon Angels legend

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

Born: Aug. 24, 1968 in Long Beach, Calif.Status: MarriedAlma mater: Grand Canyon UniversityWhat I’m up to: Recently graduated from college, raising four

kids and coaching their teams, lots of philanthropy, serving on boards, skiing, boating, cycling, traveling

What’s on TV: Seinfeld, The Office, The History Channel, ESPN

What’s in my iPod: Rock to country—Green Day, Rush, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Boston, Styx, AC/DC, The Eagles

What I drive: ’07 Chevy 2500 Diesel Crew Cab—to work in; ’07 Ferrari F430—to play in

Favorite flicks: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Tommy Boy, any-thing with Will Ferrell in it

What I’m reading: Epicenter, by Joel C. RosenbergMagazine subscriptions: Macworld, TIME, Huntin’ FoolBookmarks: Angelsbaseball.com, TimSalmon.com, Digg.

com, Protegesportsinc.comSuperstitions: Find any coin, pick it up and all day you’ll

have good luck. That’s it. I try not to have superstitions. It’s too much work.

Worst habit: Dessert!On my office walls: 2002 World Series pictures and memora-

bilia; 2009 bachelor degree from Grand Canyon Univer-sity—finally graduated; pictures of my family

Love to trade places for a day with … Any president of the U.S. I would like to know the answers to things like who shot JFK, Area 51 and all the rest of the top secrets the public never knows about.

First job: Paper route. I was 12 or 13, living in Houston. Delivered to an apartment complex. I think I made, like, $15 a month, getting up at 4 a.m. to roll the papers for delivery. Collecting from strangers was scary—even way back then.

Talent I’d most like to have: To play a musical instrument on stage

Favorite meal: Grilled Tri-tip (steak) with Arme-nian rice pilaf, tossed salad with Ranch and large, unsweetened iced tea

Favorite athlete to watch in another sport: Kurt Warner. Go Cards!

Favorite city to visit: Chicago Favorite team as a kid: ’70s Dallas Cowboys and L.A.

DodgersFavorite value in others: Character Favorite physical attribute about myself: Eyes. My vision is

20/20.And least … My brain. Got in the way too often. I

overthink.Dream date: My wifeMy greatest love: Jesus ChristMy bucket list: 1. Learn to fly, 2. Learn to play piano and

guitar, 3. Travel the world, 4. Drive a motorhome across the U.S.

My motto: Perseverance—Finish what you start.— Jeff D’Alessio

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

BASEBALL / NATIONAL LEAGUE BASEBALL / AMERICAN LEAGUE

Baltimore 1, Seattle 0Arizona 3, L.A. Dodgers 2 Philadelphia 5, San Diego 3

Hill, Jones, Sherrill shineBuckner, errors hurt Dodgers Phillies’ homers doom PadresSEATTLE—Rich Hill missed the

first six weeks of the season with an injured elbow. He allowed seven runs in his pre-vious start. The kid catcher calling his pitches Monday night, Matt Wieters, was in his fourth day in the major leagues.

Against the anemic Mari-ners, it just didn’t matter.

Hill allowed two hits in seven innings, Adam Jones and George Sherrill flourished against their former team and the Baltimore Orioles beat Seattle 1-0.

The Orioles sent former ace Erik Bedard to the Mariners for top outfield prospect Jones, reliever Sherrill and three other players in February 2008. While Bedard has been slowed by injuries, Jones and Sherrill have blossomed in Baltimore.

Jones doubled and scored the only run on a sacrifice fly by Aubrey Huff off Jarrod Wash-burn (3-4) in the sixth inning. After Jim Johnson struck out two in a perfect eighth, Sherrill finished for his 11th save in 13 chances. Sherrill has 42 saves and his only All-Star appear-ance since Seattle traded him.

“Boy, oh boy, I don’t know we’ll see a better pitched game than that,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley gushed. “That’s tremendous.”

Ichiro Suzuki tied the Mari-ners’ record by hitting safely in his 25th consecutive game.

— The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—Billy Buckner threw six scoreless innings and rookie Josh Whitesell hit a two-run double, leading the Ari-zona Diamondbacks to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.

The Dodgers threw five wild pitches, tying the franchise record set on July 9, 1918, at St. Louis, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Buckner (2-1) allowed four hits, struck out five and walked two. The right-hander, who began the season in the Dia-mondbacks’ bullpen, has allowed six earned runs over 18 1-3 innings in three starts since being recalled May 22 from Triple-A Reno.

Tony Pena followed Clay Zavada and Juan Gutierrez out of the bullpen and gave up RBI singles in the ninth to Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre before posting his first save of the sea-son. Closer Chad Qualls was unavailable because of stiffness in his right forearm.

The Dodgers’ bullpen was responsible for each of the wild pitches. Cory Wade, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in 14 1/3 career innings against the Dia-mondbacks, threw three in the seventh inning—one of which allowed Miguel Montero to reach after a strikeout. Two-time All-Star catcher Russell Martin wasn’t able to prevent two more wild pitches by rookie Brent Leach in the eighth.

— The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO—The back-to-back home runs allowed by Joe Blanton didn’t hurt as much as the ones Kevin Cor-reia gave up.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit consecutive home runs off Correia in the fifth inning and the Phila-delphia Phillies beat Adrian Gonzalez and the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Gonzalez hit his major league-leading 21st homer in the sixth inning off Blan-ton, followed by Scott Hair-ston’s shot that pulled the Padres to 4-3. The Phillies got an insurance run in the eighth when pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs doubled and scored on Shane Victorino’s two-out bloop double.

“Solo home runs,” Blan-ton said. “We still had the lead. Two outs, nobody on, I

was just being aggressive. No need in making another bad pitch, especially after the second one. Make another one, you’ve got a tie game. I just went back to throwing it like I did earlier.

“I knew Gonzalez was hot and just attacked him and just overthrew it. Hot hitter. He got a ball over the plate up a little bit, and that’s what happens.”

Victorino and Utley had two RBIs apiece in the opener of a three-game series. Howard struck out four times.

San Diego surprised the defending World Series champions by taking two of three games at Philadelphia in mid-April. The fourth game was rained out and was rescheduled for July 23.

San Diego’s 10-game home win streak ended.

— The Associated Press

LENNY IGNELZI / AP

Ryan Howard, above, followed Chase Utley’s homer with one of his own.

No buggin’ Joba, Page 19

Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2

Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.F.Lopez 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 .306G.Parra lf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .319J.Upton rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .322S.Drew ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 .221Reynolds 3b-1b 3 1 0 1 1 2 .263Montero c 3 1 0 0 1 1 .217C.Young cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .174Whitesell 1b 2 0 1 2 1 0 .133Zavada p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---J.Gutierrez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---e-Ojeda ph-3b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .267Buckner p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000b-R.Roberts ph-3b 1 0 0 0 1 0 .361T.Pena p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 32 3 5 3 5 11

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pierre lf 5 0 3 1 0 0 .382Loretta 3b 5 0 0 0 0 0 .293Hudson 2b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .332Loney 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .284Martin c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .266Ethier rf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .255Kemp cf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .310J.Castro ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 .341c-Furcal ph-ss 2 0 2 1 0 0 .253Kuroda p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000a-Milton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000Wade p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000d-Blake ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .300Leach p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000f-Hoffmann ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .188Totals 36 2 9 2 2 8

Arizona 020 000 010 — 3 5 1Los Angeles 000 000 002 — 2 9 1

a-grounded out for Kuroda in the 5th. b-walked for Buckner in the 7th. c-singled for J.Castro in the 7th. d-struck out for Wade in the 7th. e-doubled for J.Gutierrez in the 9th. f-flied out for Mota in the 9th. E: F.Lopez (6), Kemp (1). LOB: Arizona 7, Los Angeles 9. 2B: S.Drew (7), Whitesell (2), Ojeda (6), Hudson (17), Kemp (9). RBIs: Reynolds (31), Whitesell 2 (2), Pierre (21), Furcal (11). SB: Reynolds (11), Pierre (11). Runners left in scoring position: Arizona 5 (Buckner, F.Lopez 3, Montero); Los Angeles 7 (Loretta 3, Ethier, Martin, Pierre 2). DP: Arizona 1 (S.Drew, Whitesell); Los Angeles 1 (J.Castro, Hudson, Loney).

Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABuckner W, 2-1 6 4 0 0 2 5 92 5.24Zavada H, 3 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 6 0.00J.Gutierrez H, 2 1 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 2 23 3.00T.Pena S, 1-1 1 3 2 0 0 1 28 1.78Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAKuroda L, 1-1 5 3 2 2 3 6 86 2.53Wade 2 0 0 0 2 3 32 4.82Leach 1⁄3 1 1 1 0 2 13 5.63Mota 1 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 20 6.53

Inherited runners-scored: J.Gutierrez 1-0, Mota 2-1. IBB: off Wade (Whitesell). WP: Wade 3, Leach 2. PB: Montero. Umpires: Home, Brian Gorman; First, C.B. Bucknor; Second, Angel Campos; Third, Gerry Davis. T: 3:12. A: 32,304 (56,000).

Phillies 5, Padres 3

Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rollins ss 5 1 2 0 0 0 .230Victorino cf 5 0 2 2 0 0 .295Utley 2b 4 1 2 2 1 0 .299Howard 1b 5 1 1 1 0 4 .264Ibanez lf 5 0 2 0 0 1 .333Werth rf 4 0 0 0 1 1 .247Feliz 3b 5 0 1 0 0 2 .299Ruiz c 3 0 1 0 1 0 .305Blanton p 1 1 0 0 1 1 .071b-Dobbs ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .154S.Eyre p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Lidge p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 38 5 12 5 4 9

San Diego AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Gwynn cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .310Eckstein 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .240Ad.Gonzalez 1b 2 1 1 1 2 0 .290Hairston lf 4 2 2 1 0 1 .331Giles rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .193Kouzmanoff 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .230Hundley c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .244Jo.Wilson ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .196Correia p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .273Meredith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---a-E.Gonzalez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .177Thatcher p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Gregerson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Headley ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .235G.Burke p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 30 3 6 2 2 6

Philadelphia 002 020 010 — 5 12 0San Diego 010 002 000 — 3 6 0

a-flied out for Meredith in the 5th. b-doubled for Blan-ton in the 8th. c-struck out for Gregerson in the 8th. LOB: Philadelphia 11, San Diego 2. 2B: Rollins (13), Victorino (13), Ibanez (12), Dobbs (1). HR: Utley (12), off Correia; Howard (15), off Correia; Ad.Gonzalez (21), off Blanton; Hairston (8), off Blanton. RBIs: Victorino 2 (27), Utley 2 (35), Howard (41), Ad.Gonzalez (41), Hairston (23). CS: Gwynn (1). S: Blanton. Runners left in scoring posi-tion: Philadelphia 8 (Howard 2, Ruiz, Feliz 2, Victorino, Rollins 2). DP: Philadelphia 1 (Rollins, Utley, Howard).

Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABlanton W, 4-3 7 6 3 3 1 5 95 5.86S.Eyre H, 10 1 0 0 0 1 1 20 2.84Lidge S, 13-17 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 7.40San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACorreia L, 1-4 4 1⁄3 10 4 4 3 5 98 5.37Meredith 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 7 2.95Thatcher 2 0 0 0 0 1 29 0.00Gregerson 1 2 1 1 1 1 21 3.56G.Burke 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 1.17

S.Eyre pitched to 1 batter in the 9th. Inherited runners-scored: Lidge 1-0, Meredith 3-0. IBB: off Correia (Ruiz), off Gregerson (Utley). Umpires: Home, Bill Hohn; First, Bruce Dreckman; Second, Paul Emmel; Third, Gary Darling. T: 2:39. A: 22,825 (42,691).

Orioles 1, Mariners 0

Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Roberts 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .294Ad.Jones cf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .344Markakis rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .298A.Huff 1b 3 0 0 1 0 0 .264Mora 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .270Scott dh 4 0 1 0 0 2 .322Wieters c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .133Reimold lf 3 0 2 0 0 0 .286C.Izturis ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .262Totals 31 1 6 1 2 5

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.I.Suzuki rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .352Y.Betancourt ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .256Beltre 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .227M.Sweeney dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .230Branyan 1b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .319Jo.Lopez 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .226Balentien lf 2 0 0 0 1 2 .235Ro.Johnson c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .186F.Gutierrez cf 2 0 0 0 1 1 .255Totals 28 0 2 0 3 9

Baltimore 000 001 000 — 1 6 1Seattle 000 000 000 — 0 2 1

E: Reimold (1), Y.Betancourt (9). LOB: Baltimore 6, Seat-tle 4. 2B: Ad.Jones (14), I.Suzuki (9). RBIs: A.Huff (39). SF: A.Huff. Runners left in scoring position: Balti-more 2 (C.Izturis, Scott); Seattle 2 (M.Sweeney 2). GIDP: A.Huff, C.Izturis, Jo.Lopez. DP: Baltimore 1 (B.Roberts, C.Izturis, A.Huff); Seattle 2 (Jo.Lopez, Y.Betancourt, Branyan), (Branyan, Y.Betancourt, Branyan).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAR.Hill W, 2-0 7 2 0 0 3 7 106 4.15Ji.Johnson H, 9 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 3.04Sherrill S, 11-13 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 2.49Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWashburn L, 3-4 7 6 1 1 1 3 102 3.22Jakubauskas 2 0 0 0 1 2 25 6.17

Umpires: Home, Todd Tichenor; First, Mike Winters; Second, Tony Randazzo; Third, Chris Guccione.T: 2:13. A: 16,979 (47,878).

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 4Overnight Report

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ON SALE 6/2/09 ON SALE 6/9/09 ON SALE 6/23/09

Auburn hosted nearly two dozen top recruits for unofficial visits during the weekend, an experience RB Marcus Lattimore, Sporting News’ No. 1 prospect in the class of 2010, said was a blast.

Lattimore, from powerhouse Byrnes High (Duncan, S.C.), on Monday told Sporting News Today that he updated his list of schools while returning from Auburn, and it now includes eight: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina, Penn State and South Carolina.

“All of them are even, and I’m going to take it slow from now on,” Lattimore told SN Today. “I just got a little sheet of paper and did it com-ing back. I knew I had to do it soon. I haven’t been to Maryland or Penn State or Alabama yet, but I will.

“I just felt comfortable with all of the coaches at the schools I picked.”

Lattimore said the trip to Auburn, which was labeled Big Cat Weekend, made a favorable impression on him.

“They just didn’t want to relate anything to football; they just wanted some of the top recruits they were after to get together and meet each other and have some fun,” he said. “I had a good time, had a blast.”

The recruits watched the Lakers beat the Nuggets to advance to the NBA Finals, played pool, pingpong and video games, and had pie, watermelon and cake-eating con-tests. They even did some decorat-ing of Toomer’s Corner, rolling the trees with toilet paper like fans do

after an Auburn home victory.The school is investigating

whether NCAA secondary rules violations might have been commit-ted during the weekend. Publiciz-ing visits by prospects is prohibited.

“Somehow it got out that we all were there,” Lattimore told SN Today. “People were there at Toom-er’s Corner to support us. A lot of alumni were there, and they decided to toilet paper the trees. We definitely felt the love from Auburn. We had a great time the whole time.”SN Top 100 prospects Khairi Fortt,

Trovon Reed and Lache Seastrunk also made the trip to Auburn. Seast-runk, who is leaning heavily toward Auburn and is good friends with Lattimore, poked fun at Ala-bama coach Nick Saban during the visit. Seastrunk said on video: “What’s up, Nick Saban? Wait until we get here.”

“He’s a character,” Lattimore said of Seastrunk. “I couldn’t do that. Especially not to Nick Saban—he’s one of the best coaches ever. Lache’s a good person, and he was just joking around.”

Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy C Russell Bodine (6-4, 280) has committed to North Carolina, Rivals.com reported. He also reported scholarship offers from Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia, Vir-ginia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College and California.

“Really, (North Carolina) had kind of been my favorite since the beginning, then other schools started coming in and I still looked at them,” Bodine told Rivals.com. “… They have a great balance of everything—a great football team, and they are obviously on the rise, and academically it’s a good school, too.”

— Brian McLaughlin

RECRUITING DISH

Nation’s top prospect trims list to eight after Auburn trip

TODD VAN EMST / AP

Auburn coach Gene Chizik made a good impression on Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes RB Marcus Lattimore.

As the star of St. Mary’s College the past two years, and during a stint in the 2008 Olympics, Australian guard Patty Mills looked as impres-sive as any young guard on the planet. He spoke with the Sporting News Today ’s Dave Curtis last week about an upcoming overseas trip, just missing last year’s NCAA tournament and the end of his college career:

Q: You’re going to Italy soon for the Treviso camp with many

of the top international players. It’s a rare move for a college player. Why go?

A: Well, me being an international player, I figure it’s a good oppor-

tunity to go over and experience a different style of exposure. I can work out in the camps and have a chance to play a little. It’s somewhere I believe I can show off many of my strengths, one being my speed. There are more oppor-tunities for me to show that in the international game.

Q: Is the international game better suited for you? Would

you consider playing in Europe?

A: Not really. The goal is to play in the NBA, and I’d like to do that as

a first round pick. The experience at St. Mary’s has been great. I wouldn’t be leaving, if I go to the NBA, because of bad things there (at SMC).

Q: How much does it still sting to miss this year’s NCAA

tournament?

A: A lot. Being on the outskirts of making the NCAA hurts a lot.

But the way I see it, it can definitely be motivation. The way I see it, not being in the NCAAs, it makes you want to come to places like this and try to prove people wrong.

Q: The last star to come out of your league was Adam

Morrison, and he’s struggled in the pros. How much harder does that make it for you to prove yourself?

A: There might be something to that. Some people say there’s a differ-

ence between big schools and small schools and so on. You can only control what you can control, and that’s doing the best you can in the camp.

Q: What’s the biggest misconception about how you

play?

A: Um, not much really. People have had questions about my shooting

and my defense, but I’d say those have probably been weaknesses. I’ve tried to develop those things and get better at them. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to develop those areas and get a lot stronger.

Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague is one of the more intriguing pros-pects in this year’s draft. He’s a very talented scorer and shooter, but at 6-1 (with shoes), he has point-guard size. Convincing a team that he can run a team at the point will be the key to where he gets drafted—or, whether he gets drafted. Teague has not hired an agent and can return to school. He discussed that, as well as his NBA Finals-bound high school teammate, with Sporting News Today’s Sean Deveney.

Q: One thing that always comes up

when you are mentioned in terms of the NBA is the question of whether you’re a point guard or a shooting guard. Have you been getting that from teams as you meet with them and work out?

A: Yes, the teams have been asking me what

my position is, and I tell them, I can score. I don’t see being able to score the ball as a negative. But I let them know that I am confident in my ability to run a team and pass the ball. I can be a vocal leader, I can lead by example. I can be a point guard.

Q: Is there too much focus on trying to

define you?

A: Yes, exactly. Point guard, shooting guard,

combo guard. I don’t like to think of it that way. I tell people I am a basketball player. That’s what matters. I can do a number of things out on the court.

Q: Where have you been working out,

who has been training you?

A: I spent the first part of it working out in

Indianapolis, with Ed Schilling, he coached with Memphis. He’s a really good trainer, a good dude, he worked me really hard.

Q: You went to high school with

Courtney Lee, who is doing pretty well these days.

A: I did, yes, we were high school team-

mates. My freshman year, he was our star player and I was the point guard.

Q: So you were not the star player—you

were passing to the star player.

A: That’s what’s funny about it. People think I

am only a scorer and I can’t pass to NBA players. The beginning of my high school career, all I was doing was passing to Courtney Lee. He was a really good scorer in high school. So, I have been playing point guard for a while.

Q: Were you as good as Courtney in high

school?

A: No, not at first. Like I said, he was a great

scorer in high school. For me, I liked playing basketball, but I didn’t really get serious about it till my junior year. Before that, it was just a sport I played. But then my coach told me, “You know, if you apply yourself here, you can go to a big school, you can have a future in this.” It started then.

Q: Have you talked to Courtney much in

the playoffs?

A: After he had that breakway dunk, the

LeBron James dunk (in Game 1 of the East finals), I called him. That was nice, he went up, he knew LeBron was coming, he didn’t let him block the shot, though. I called him, but he didn’t answer. I texted him and told him, ‘Hey, that was a nice one.’ He laughed about it.

Q: Is there a point guard in the NBA

you’d like to play with?

A: There’s a lot of them, really. I want to learn

from someone. I’d like to play with a great point guard—a guy like Jason Kidd or Deron Williams or Steve Nash. When Chris Paul comes back, sometimes he will be back at Wake and I will talk with him. He helps me a lot. I want to be a great point guard at the next level, but I know I have a lot to learn. So, I’d like to be with someone I can learn from.

Q: You still have not made a decision on

what you’re going to do, as far as staying in the draft or returning to Wake Forest. Where do you stand on that now?

A: I don’t know. I haven’t hired an agent, but I

am maybe leaning toward the draft. But I am going to wait and see and, possibly, I will go back to school.

Q&A with … G Patty Mills Q&A with … G Jeff Teague

Mills trying to ‘prove people wrong’ ‘I am confident in my ability to run a team’

JAY DROWNS / SN

St. Mary’s G Patrick Mills has impressed with his speed, but still has to prove himself as a shooter and defender.

SCOTT K. BROWN / AP

Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague, left, must convince NBA teams he can play point guard.

Mills decides to stay in NBA draft, Page 31

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 6Next Gen: NBA Draft

GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS Thursday, 9 p.m. ET, ABCNBA FINALS

Glance(Best-of-7) All times, ET

Thursday,: Orlando at L.A. Lakers,

9 p.m., ABC

Sunday: Orlando at L.A. Lakers, 8

p.m., ABC

Tuesday, June 9: L.A. Lakers at

Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC

Thursday, June 11: L.A. Lakers at

Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC

Sunday, June 14: L.A. Lakers at

Orlando 8 p.m., if necessary, ABC

Tuesday, June 16: Orlando at L.A.

Lakers, 9 p.m., if necessary, ABC

Thursday, June 18: Orlando at L.A.

Lakers, 9 p.m., if necessary, ABC

Betting lineFAVORITE ..................LINE ................ UNDERDOG

at L.A. Lakers ...............6 (206) ............................ Orlando

Odds to win seriesL.A. Lakers ..............-260 Orlando ..........................+220

NBA CalendarJune 15 — NBA draft early

entry entrant withdrawal deadline

(5 p.m. ET).

June 25 — NBA draft.

Q: Will the Magic activate the LeBron plan?

A: In the conference finals, Cleveland’s LeBron

James put up astounding num-bers, with 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.0 assists. But Orlando was selective in double-teaming James, letting him get his points while focusing on guarding the Cavaliers’ sup-porting cast. It worked. The other Cavs shot 43.5 percent and the team shot a mere 32.3 percent from the 3-point line. This is almost certainly the approach that the Magic will take with Lakers star Kobe Bryant, especially with the luxury of two players—Court-ney Lee and Mickael Pietrus—who are excellent one-on-one defenders. This approach might be a tougher chore against the Lakers, because Bryant’s supporting cast is better than that of James.

Q: Who’s going to make 3-pointers?

A: If it’s the Magic, then the Lakers are in trouble.

Orlando has hoisted 23.8 3-pointers per game in the playoffs, and when they win, they make 39.2 percent of them. They shoot just 32.1 percent from the 3-point line when they lose. Defenses have a difficult time with small forward Hedo Turko-glu and power forward Rashard Lewis (both are 6-10), because they’re so big and such good shooters. The Lakers, though, have long defenders in Gasol, Bryant, Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom, and have allowed just 31.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line in the playoffs. They’ve also begun to get good perimeter shooting themselves after some early dry spells. Ariza shot 50 percent on 3s in the conference finals, and Odom made 55.6 percent.

Q: Can the Lakers exploit their size?

A: Gasol averaged 17.5 points per game against Denver in

the conference finals, but he averaged just 10 field-goal attempts per game. That was baffling—Gasol needs more shots. Now, against Orlando, Gasol will be a key, because the Magic have a tough defensive choice. They can play Lewis on him, but Gasol can easily take advantage of Lewis in the post. Or, the Magic can put Howard on Gasol, in which case, Gasol will step out to the free-throw line. That will free up the lane for cutters and allow Gasol to show off his passing skill, while potentially forcing Howard into foul trouble. Throw in Odom, who gives the Lakers a post-up option off the bench, and the Magic will have a difficult time matching up with the Lakers’ big men. Remem-ber, going against Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland, the Magic have yet to face any real post-up big men.

Q: Will we see Jameer Nelson?

A: Huh? Nelson? Well, yes, it is a possibility that the

Magic’s All-Star guard, out since February 3 after injuring his shoulder, could resurface in the

Finals. Here’s what Magic G.M. Otis Smith told the Orlando Sentinel: “It’s up in the air. We’ll see how Jameer looks the next few

days. There’s a few more things we have to get comfortable with. We’re looking at the pros and cons. Doctors will have to talk to

doctors. If we’re at a place where Jameer can help us accomplish our goals, then maybe he can play and give us some more punch.” Of course, Nelson probably wouldn’t be very effective after such a long layoff, but he would certainly provide an emotional lift. At the very least, he does have the Lakers’ number. In the Magic’s two wins over L.A. in the regular season, Nelson averaged 27.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds.

KEY QUESTIONSHow, when to double opposing team’s star will be pivotal

BY SEAN DEVENEY | sdeveney@sportingnews.com

After more than eight weeks of playoff basketball, we’ve finally come to this: Magic vs. Lakers, for the NBA championship. The series gets started Thurs-day, so in the meantime, all we have is questions …

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

Lakers F Lamar Odom can score inside or out, and will have to show the same versatility on defense.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 7NBA

GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS Thursday, 9 p.m. ET, ABCNBA FINALS

LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant is star-ing down the prospect of sharing the court with Superman again. Only this time, it’s Dwight Howard and not Shaquille O’Neal who’s wearing the cape that Bryant wants to tug on.

Bryant and the Los Angeles Lak-ers will be trying to win their first NBA title without O’Neal when the finals open Thursday against How-ard and the Orlando Magic.

They failed to do so last year, los-ing to Boston in a humiliating Game 6 defeat.

O’Neal was traded after Los Angeles lost the 2004 finals to Detroit, leaving Bryant the undis-puted leader of a team that won three straight championships at the start of the decade. Bryant still bris-tles at implications he had some-thing to do with that.

“People that really know basket-ball know that that stuff means nothing,” Bryant said Monday, deflecting questions on O’Neal. “It’s nonsensical actually. You want to win just to win it.”

Bryant, who turns 31 in August, is completing his 13th season. He kept to himself around his older teammates early in his career. Although he teamed with O’Neal to lead the Lakers to three straight championships, the two frequently zinged each publicly.

Adding a fourth NBA champion-ship to the gold medal he helped the United States win at last year’s Bei-jing Olympics would burnish Bry-ant’s still developing legacy.

“You’re thankful to be in this

position,” he said. “A lot of players never get to this position once in a career and I’ve been fortunate to be here for six times now. It’s been very, very lucky.”

Like O’Neal, Lakers coach Phil Jackson also departed after the 2003-04 season, and later wrote a book in which he called Bryant “uncoachable.” Jackson then returned after taking a season off and has had a seamless relationship with Bryant ever since.

But there have been big bumps in the road.

Bryant implored the Lakers to surround him with better players in the summer of 2007, then demanded a trade.

The team responded by adding Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, and Los Angeles reached the finals last year for the first time since 2004. Bryant also won his first league MVP award a year ago.

Jackson initially noticed a change in Bryant’s outlook two years ago.

“He ended up just racing away with the scoring championship on an incredible run of about 15 games in a row,” the coach recalled. “When we came back the next year we just said we don’t want that type of ball to happen again. We want more inclusiveness. There was a whole issue about us getting better talent around him and that’s happened over the last two years and here we are.”

Bryant often talks about his love for his teammates and the ways in which he’s counseled them on improving their games. Derek

Fisher’s return last season clearly benefited Bryant on and off the court. They were teammates on the Lakers from 1996-04 before Fisher left for three years.

“He’s continued to recognize that in order for him to accomplish some of his individual goals, the team

goals have to match or exceed his own goals,” Fisher said. “That means other guys around him have to perform at a high level. Things he can share with them, he knows how important that is, and how well we take it when he does. He’s done a great job at it the last couple of

years.”And when his teammates strug-

gle, well, Bryant can always just take over games himself. He did so in the Western Conference finals opener against Denver, scoring 40 points and making six free throws in the final 30 seconds to cinch the

victory after the Lakers trailed most of the game.

“He’s just gotten more comfort-able with where he is in terms of what he’s capable of doing on the floor and knows he can always come back to that,” Fisher said.

After losing the 2004 finals, the Lakers didn’t make the playoffs the following season. They failed to get out of the first round in 2006 or ’07, increasing Bryant’s feelings of frus-tration and impatience.

“It’s been a long haul to get back here for all of us,” he said. “I cer-tainly appreciate it even more. Once you have that celebration and that feeling of winning, of accomplish-ment, you want to have it again.”

— The Associated Press

Ratings significantly up from a year ago

NEW YORK—TV viewership is way up for the NBA playoffs.

Ratings for the Western Conference finals on ESPN increased 32 percent from the network’s conference finals coverage last year. The East-ern Conference finals on TNT were up 30 percent from its conference finals coverage in 2008.

For the entire playoffs, TNT’s ratings were up 19 per-cent from a year ago. ESPN’s increased 12 percent.

— The Associated Press

Bryant getting another chance to impact his legacy

CHRIS CARLSON / AP

On the verge of embarking on his sixth NBA Finals, 30-year-old Kobe Bryant is still trying to prove he can win a title as the first option on his team.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 8NBA

GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS Thursday, 9 p.m. ET, ABCNBA FINALS

ORLANDO—Jameer Nelson can shoot again. His injured right shoulder can take contact, and he’s been cleared by doctors to practice.

Though that doesn’t add up to Orlando’s All-Star point guard being healthy enough to play in the NBA finals, it does create a dilemma for the Magic’s front office.

Nelson said Monday that he has been playing full-court games, participating in contact drills and will practice with the Magic for the first time since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Feb. 2 against the Dallas Mavericks.

“I’m a competitor,” Nelson said. “No matter what the situation is, I always think I can go out there and get contact.”

He had what was then called season-ending surgery Feb. 19. Nelson’s rehabilitation was sup-posed to take at least another two months. Game 1 of the finals is Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Magic general manager Otis Smith and coach Stan Van Gundy expressed doubt Monday whether Nelson could seriously return for the finals. Smith, who had repeat-edly said Nelson will not play this season, said Monday a quicker recovery and the chance of win-ning a championship has forced him to at least take a look at Nelson.

“It’s still no in my mind,” Smith said, adding that the team will explore the idea even if Nelson doesn’t return for Game 1. “There’s a very smidgen of a chance he can

play.”Orlando was 2-0 against the

Lakers this season. Nelson was Orlando’s leading scorer in both those games, averaging 27.5 points. He has been lobbying the Magic for a chance at playing since the playoffs began, with each round the team advances the idea—and the talk—of him returning growing.

But Nelson would likely just be a shell of his All-Star form. He hasn’t played in four months, and even he admits it will be difficult to con-vince the training staff and coaches that he isn’t risking future damage.

“A miracle has to happen,” Nel-son said.

The Magic had the best record in the NBA in January behind Nel-son, who was having a career sea-son. He averaged 16.7 points, 5.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 42 games this season.

But their title hopes took a major hit after he was injured. A trade-deadline deal that brought Rafer Alston from Houston largely saved the Magic’s season, allowing the rotation to remain the same and Anthony Johnson to continue to provide solid play as Alston’s backup.

The formula was enough to win only the franchise’s second East-ern Conference championship, knocking off the defending cham-pion Boston Celtics and eliminat-ing MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Van Gundy said disrupting that chemistry would be a concern.

“You always worry about that,” Van Gundy said. “But that’s just the decision that I’ll have to make after a couple of days and he’s prac-ticing. ... But to me, four months is a long time to be out to have two practices and play in the NBA finals.”

Nelson has been lauded by play-ers and coaches during the playoffs for his leadership. He has been sit-ting between the coaching staff and players on the Magic bench, offering pointers during timeouts and acting like “a fifth or sixth assistant coach,” Smith said.

But Smith worried from the beginning that Nelson would feel excluded. The two met before the playoffs to make sure Nelson wasn’t tempted to rush back early.

“I just told him, ‘Don’t fall prey to the trap,’ ” Smith said. “The trap is, you want your team to do well, but you don’t want them to do too well because you feel like you’re not needed or missed.”

Teammates say they would wel-come his return.

Dwight Howard, one of Nelson’s closest friends, said Nelson is a “fearless” player who always wants to do what’s best for the team. But even Howard said Nel-son’s comeback might be taking too much of a chance.

“I just want him healthy,” How-ard said. “He doesn’t have to play if he doesn’t feel up to it. I’d rather see him healthy more than any-thing because his career in the long run is more important. This is just one series.”

— The Associated Press

Healing ahead of schedule, All-Star PG yearns to play

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

Magic All-Star PG Jameer Nelson (14) has returned to practice after missing more than three months with a shoulder injury.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 9NBA

INSIDE DISH

Rebounds

Assists

G OFF DEF TOT AVG

Howard, ORL 18 81 196 277 15.4

Boozer, UTA 5 12 54 66 13.2

Noah, CHI 7 28 64 92 13.1

Perkins, BOS 14 51 111 162 11.6

Gasol, LAL 18 58 145 203 11.3

Nowitzki, DAL 10 12 89 101 10.1

Rondo, BOS 14 32 104 136 9.7

Odom, LAL 18 54 117 171 9.5

James, CLE 14 19 109 128 9.1

Haslem, MIA 7 13 48 61 8.7

G AST AVG

Williams, UTA 5 54 10.8

Paul, NOR 5 52 10.4

Rondo, BOS 14 137 9.8

James, CLE 14 102 7.3

Billups, DEN 16 109 6.8

Parker, SAN 5 34 6.8

Iguodala, PHL 6 40 6.7

Rose, CHI 7 45 6.4

Blake, POR 6 37 6.2

Kidd, DAL 10 59 5.9

Playoff leaders

G FG FT PTS AVG

James, CLE 14 159 149 494 35.3

Bryant, LAL 18 184 137 533 29.6

Wade, MIA 7 68 50 204 29.1

Parker, SAN 5 59 22 143 28.6

Anthony, DEN 16 146 119 435 27.2

Nowitzki, DAL 10 88 86 268 26.8

Roy, POR 6 56 40 160 26.7

Gordon, CHI 7 52 49 170 24.3

Howard, ORL 18 140 110 390 21.7

Iguodala, PHL 6 44 30 129 21.5

Miller, PHL 6 48 28 127 21.2

Pierce, BOS 14 95 85 294 21.0

Billups, DEN 16 90 106 330 20.6

Boozer, UTA 5 38 27 103 20.6

Williams, UTA 5 29 34 101 20.2

Duncan, SAN 5 41 17 99 19.8

Rose, CHI 7 59 20 138 19.7

Aldridge, POR 6 51 14 117 19.5

Lewis, ORL 19 126 80 368 19.4

R. Allen, BOS 14 83 55 256 18.3

Scoring Average

The post-mortem on the Cavaliers’ season didn’t feature many unexpected surprises. C Zydrunas Ilgauskas said that he was not planning on opting out of the final year of his contract. PF Anderson Varejao, who did not meet with the media, will opt out of his contract and hit the free-agent market this summer, according to The (Cleveland) Plain-Dealer. And SF LeBron James, of course, wasn’t giv-ing out a firm commitment about signing an extension with the team.

“I haven’t thought about it just yet,” James told reporters. “I’m just going to take time off from basketball and not think about contracts or the game period. I’ll relax with my family we’ll figure out once it comes from them.”

Perhaps the only surprise came from PF Ben Wal-lace, who suggested that he might retire. That could be good news for the Cavs—it would give Cleveland a bit of salary relief, which could be used to either sign Varejao or pursue another forward.

James won’t be fined for blowing off report-ers after Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, ESPN.com reported Monday.

The NBA’s MVP stormed out of Orlando’s Amway Arena without speaking to the media Saturday night after the Cleveland Cavaliers were ousted from the playoffs 103-90 by the Magic.

“We are not going to fine LeBron for that,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank told ESPN radio. “We haven’t had any issues with him before at all.”

Everyone is fairly certain about what the Clip-pers plan to do with the No. 1 pick—select PF Blake Griffin. But after that, the draft is wide open, and it appears that the key to the whole thing is Mem-phis, holding the No. 2 pick. Already, the rumor mill has the Grizzlies taking C Hasheem Thabeet. Or taking PG Ricky Rubio. Or trading the pick to Sacra-mento for the No. 4 pick and a player. Or trading the pick for an established, veteran big man.

“Honestly, I find all of it funny,” G.M. Chris Wal-lace told SN Today. “All we can do is go about our business. It’s understandable and I appreciate the interest people have in it. But, we are evaluating

this thing on a few different tracks right now. Do we use the second pick? Do we move back in the draft? Do we move it for a veteran? Do we use our other picks, No. 27 and 36, or try to bundle them? There are so many things going on and we are still looking at all of our options. We have plenty of time before the draft. The rumors are very, very premature at this point.”

— Sean Deveney

The Sixers introduced their new coach, Eddie Jordan, who takes over after being fired by the Wiz-ards at the start of the season. Sixers G.M. Ed Stefan-ski, who had worked with Jordan in New Jersey, said that the team had given legitimate consideration to several other candidates, including Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau, former Timberwolves coach Dwayne Casey and Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis. What sealed the hiring of Jordan was the second interview, in which Jordan talked inside strategy. “We came away wowed,” Stefanski said. “This is the guy for us. He fits our need as a leader from a communica-tion standpoint. He fits our need as an X and O guy and the development of young players.”

Perhaps it should not be a big surprise that teams so often flub the NBA draft. Consider what Davidson G Stephen Curry told Sporting News’ Chris Littman about his interviews with NBA front-office executives during the draft combine, which took place in Chicago last week.

“One team asked who my dad was and what his name was, which was kind of funny,” Curry said. “I figured that was a given, but that was good.”

Curry’s dad, of course, is Dell Curry, a 16-year NBA veteran and former Sixth Man of the year.

A woman in Denver filed suit in civil court against Lakers G Shannon Brown, alleging a sex-related incident that took place in January, before Brown was traded to the Lakers. Brown denied any wrongdoing and said there was nothing to the incident. “The truth is going to come out,” he told reporters. “I didn’t do nothing. I’m innocent. I’m just going to let it take its course.”

Varejao opting out, LeBron non-committal about future

AMY SANCETTA / AP

Cavs F Anderson Varejao, left, said he plans to opt out of the final year of his contract and test the market.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 10NBA

GAME 3: DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH Tonight, 8 ET, VersusSTANLEY CUP FINALSS

DETROIT—Following a team meeting on Monday, the Detroit Red Wings met with the media before heading to Pitts-burgh for tonight’s Game 3 of the Stan-ley Cup finals. The moment Justin Abdelkader appeared in front of his locker room stall, the rush of cameras

and media quickly closed in around him.

And nobody was surprised.

Stars like Marian Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg could have walked by and it wouldn’t have mat-tered. On Monday, Abdelkader was the

story.The kid from Muskegon, who grew

up a Michigan State and Red Wings fan, is outscoring Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin—combined. His two goals double the total of the Penguins’ two stars.

Jimmy Howard, the Red Wings goalie of the future and Abdelkader’s teammate for most of the season in the AHL, looked at the crowd and smiled.

None of it will faze the player team-mates call Abby.

“He’s pretty low key,” Howard said. “This shouldn’t bother him too much. He’s a good guy.”

Abdelkader’s Game 1 and Game 2 goals have been monumental for the Red Wings. Both came at nearly the same moment of the third period and both opened two-goal leads. At this point in the season, wrestling a two-goal lead away from the veteran Red Wings is next to impossible.

But Abdelkader drew some raised

eyebrows when he was asked where his first NHL playoff goal ranked among the big goals he’s scored in his life.

He thought for a moment. “It’s right up there,” he answered.

Right up there? He had never scored an NHL goal, and the one that sealed a Stanley Cup final game was only “right up there?”

Turns out, scoring big goals is noth-ing new for the 22-year-old center. Rick Comley still knows exactly the time that remained on the scoreboard when Abdelkader scored the goal he consid-ers his biggest: 18.9 seconds.

That was a goal against Boston Col-lege in the 2007 Frozen Four that won Abdelkader’s Michigan State Spartans a national championship.

So when Comley, Michigan State’s coach, sees Abdelkader scoring big goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs, he’s not surprised. Abdelkader was a win-ner in high school and in college, and he could be helping the Red Wings win another Stanley Cup.

Winning, and big goals, seem to fol-low this kid. And Comley thinks he knows why.

“The passion,” Comley told Sporting News Today. “He works hard, he’ll block shots, he doesn’t complain, he loves the game…. His willingness to throw his body around is the perfect tonic right now.”

Comley especially appreciated that the Michigan State fight song was played over the Joe Louis Arena sound system after Abdelkader scored Sun-day night.

Not that East Lansing needed a rea-son to root for the Red Wings, but Com-ley said the area is getting especially

swept up in this Cup run, thanks to Abdelkader’s part in it.

And everyone seems to be calling and texting Abdelkader to share support. “I guess I’ll have to return those at a later date,” Abdelkader said.

“I think he’ll probably shut his phone off now,” Comley joked.

Abdelkader is the third Red Wings player who spent a majority of the sea-son in the AHL and now is making a major contribution during the playoffs.

First, Jonathan Ericsson emerged as a legitimate top four defenseman in the first round against the Blue Jackets. Of the 59 games Ericsson played in the regular season this year, 40 were in Grand Rapids.

Darren Helm emerged after Ericsson and might be the only player during this run to get a standing ovation for single-handedly killing a penalty against the Blackhawks. Helm played 55 games this season in Grand Rapids.

And now there’s Abdelkader. He played 76 games in Grand Rapids, scor-ing 24 goals.

Both Abdelkader and Helm still are looking for their first career regular-sea-son NHL goals. Remarkably, they’ve now combined for seven career NHL playoff goals—five during this postseason.

Give credit to the patience of Detroit general manager Ken Holland and to Grand Rapids coach Curt Fraser, who is a former NHL head coach. But most of all, give credit to the kids making the most of an incredible opportunity.

“I’m just going about my daily busi-ness,” Abdelkader said. “Maybe in the summer I can reflect on everything. I’m just trying to live in the moment.”

ccustance@sportingnews.com

Surprising Abdelkader has knack for scoring big goals

Craig CustanceHOCKEY

FRANK GUNN / AP

Justin Abdelkader spent most of his season in the AHL, but that didn’t stop him from scoring key goals in the final’s first two games.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 11NHL

GAME 3: DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH Tonight, 8 ET, VersusSTANLEY CUP FINALSS

PITTSBURGH—Hart Trophy finalist Pavel Datsyuk, who has missed five games with a foot injury, is likely to remain out of Detroit’s lineup in Game 3. Datsyuk was the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer with 97 points during the season.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock said the most recent exam of Datsyuk’s foot was encouraging.

“Everything seems to be good,” Babcock said after the Red Wings arrived in Pittsburgh on Monday. “So now it’s a matter of when he’s ready.”

Four-time Stanley Cup winner Kris Draper of Detroit is healthy enough to play in Game 3, so it won’t be his groin injury that likely keeps him off the ice.

“I’m not a big-change guy, espe-cially when things are going good,” Babcock said. “We’ll see.”

If the Red Wings put Draper in the lineup, they would likely have to scratch one of their young play-ers such as Justin Abdelkader or Ville Leino.

“Do I want to play? Absolutely,” said Draper, who has appeared in four playoff games this spring. “It doesn’t get any better than this, it’s the greatest time of year. But all I’m going to do is support whatever the call is either way.”

What others might see as frus-tration, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma sees as determination.

Each of his stars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, showed some exasperation while the Penguins were losing the first two games of

the finals in Detroit by 3-1 scores on Saturday and Sunday. Crosby screamed at former teammate Mar-ian Hossa and used his stick on Kirk Maltby’s foot in Game 1, while Malkin fought with Henrik Zetter-berg at the end of Game 2.

“You worry as a coach about frus-tration, and frustration is when you can’t let go of previous events,” Bylsma said. “I think, for the most part, our guys have been able to. They’re emotionally attached. They want to do well, they want to drive. Detroit is doing a good job of resist-ing that and being on our guys.”

Because Pittsburgh gets to make the final line change at home, Bylsma is certain to separate Crosby from Zetterberg, which might cre-ate more room—and less frustra-tion—for Crosby.

“We may give him different looks depending on the situation,” Bylsma said.

Even with his rooting interest, Detroit coach Mike Babcock has found the Crosby vs. Zetterberg “game within a game” matchup to be intriguing.

“Fantastic to watch just as a fan of the sport, with how hard they’re competing against each other,” Bab-cock said. “It’s great to see in (Pitts-burgh’s Jordan) Staal and Helm, and what a battle it’s been thus far.”

Last spring, Crosby was held without a point in the first two games in Detroit, but scored two goals as Pittsburgh got back into the series by winning 3-2 in Game 3 at home. The Penguins went on to lose in six games.

— The Associated Press

NOTEBOOK

Datsyuk likely out; Draper could sitDETROIT—Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood

and general manager Ken Holland have known each other for more than two decades.

If Osgood isn’t a Hall of Famer in another 20 years, Holland will be surprised.

“He’s certainly making a case,” Holland said Monday.

No doubt.Osgood helped the Detroit beat the Pittsburgh

Penguins 3-1 Sunday night, taking a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals.

He improved to 10-2 when an NHL title is on the line, lowered his goals-against average to 1.47 and raised his save percentage to .937 in his 13th appearance.

“I think he’s playing the best hockey of his career,” Holland said.

In the Stanley Cup finals, he’s playing excep-tionally well. No other goalie in the past 20 years has a better record in his first 12 games, accord-ing to STATS, LLC. Martin Brodeur, who back-stopped the New Jersey Devils to Cup wins in 1995 and 2000. won nine of his first dozen. He’s 15-9 in the finals, behind Patrick Roy at 14-8.

But they both still trail Osgood.Osgood had an NHL-best 1.55 GAA during

the playoffs last year when he helped Detroit hoist the Cup one decade after being its No. 1 goalie in the 1998 championship season.

He’s been pretty good in the regular season, too, even though he gave up more than three goals a game for the first time in his 15 seasons.

Osgood, from Peace River, Alberta, has won 389 games in the regular season, tying him with former teammate Dominik Hasek for 10th on the all-time list and trailing just Martin Brodeur and Curtis Joseph among active goalies.

By the time Osgood’s current contract expires in two years, he’ll have a chance to pass Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall and Grant Fuhr on the wins list.

“When I’m done playing, I’ll look back at what I’ve done,” Osgood said. “Players always get appreciated more when they’re retired than

actually still playing.”Osgood seems to be the perfect example. When

the Red Wings win, his contributions rarely are highlighted. When they lose, he often takes the blame. Does he get enough respect?

“That’s something that’s been overplayed,” he said. “It’s not a tough place to play goal. It’s a fun place to play.”

The Penguins hope to take the fun out of Osgood’s outlook, starting with Game 3 tonight in Pittsburgh.

They want to put more pucks on him and bod-ies around him.

“We had a few pucks laying around him last

game,” forward Chris Kunitz said.After Osgood hangs up his skates for good—

and that might not be anytime soon—his body of work will be put to the test by those who enshrine hockey’s best in Toronto.

Holland has a rebuttal waiting for critics who discount Osgood’s accomplishments because he plays for a dominant franchise.

“I chuckle when I hear people say, ‘Well, he just plays on a good team,’” Holland said. “Does everybody think the Hall of Fame goalies played on bad teams, and Osgood is the only guy who played on a good team?”

— The Associated Press

Osgood challenges critics with Cup excellence

PAUL SANCYA / AP

After two series-opening wins, Red Wings G Chris Osgood is now 10-2 with a 1.47 GAA in the Stanley Cup finals.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 12NHL

PITTSBURGH—Bill Guerin was in limbo as the NHL trade deadline approached.

It was clear his days with the last-place New York Islanders were done, and just a matter of time before he was unloaded. When the chance came to join the Pittsburgh Penguins and play alongside Sid-ney Crosby, Guerin was ready.

“Playing with Sid has been great,” said Guerin, who is 38 and in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1995. “He has really forced me to pick up my game, which has been nice. He has done a lot for me.”

Guerin scored five goals and added seven assists in 17 regular-season games after the March 4 trade as the Penguins rose from out of the playoff picture to the No. 4 seed in the East.

In 19 playoff games, Guerin has chipped in seven more goals and 15 points—making him Pittsburgh’s third-highest scorer.

“Coming to Pittsburgh and being involved in games that, I hate to use ‘mean something’ because all the games mean something, but right away my first game with the Pen-guins in Florida we were fighting for our playoff lives,” Guerin said. “My second game was in Washing-ton, so it was the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry. It just felt really good to be involved in big games again and having a significant role in those.

“I definitely needed it because I am an emotional player. When games just start being games and not mean-ing much, I think it affects me.”

That is exactly what happened on

Long Island, where Guerin was in the last season of a two-year deal but suddenly caught up in a youth movement. Rookie coach Scott Gor-don joined the Islanders from the AHL, and by the time Christmas came, it was obvious New York would be near the bottom of the standings all season.

Gordon gave his up-and-coming

youngsters more ice time at the expense of veterans like Guerin, who had 16 goals and 20 assists in 61 games with New York.

When Guerin became expend-able, Penguins general manager Ray Shero jumped at the chance to land a scoring forward—a position unfilled since Marian Hossa left the Penguins for the Red Wings last

summer.All it took was a conditional draft

pick. In his first game with the Pen-guins, Guerin earned his 800th NHL point by assisting on Crosby’s goal.

“We had scouted him quite a bit the last month, month-and-a-half or so,” Shero said. “He certainly was not at the top of his game.

“We just felt that given the cost to

acquire him, that in the hole that we had, could he rekindle the magic and enthusiasm for the game? Because we thought he could still skate. Obviously, he’s answered that question and he’s done a great job. He’s always had a winning background, no different than Rus-lan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan.”

Fedotenko and Satan were also lost in New York’s transition and left the Islanders as free agents before this season. Satan was forced to go to the minors upon Guerin’s arrival to free salary cap space. He has returned and put up a goal and five assists during the playoffs.

Fedotenko had scored in three straight games before being blanked by the Wings in Game 2.

Guerin, who can become a free agent this summer, is no stranger to being a rental player. It didn’t work out when he was sent from St. Louis to San Jose in 2007. He had no play-off goals and two assists, and the Sharks didn’t make a long run.

“He’s brought a lot certainly on the ice,” Crosby said. “He’s played great. He’s got a great shot. He’s a big body out there. He can make smart, simple plays.

“Off the ice he’s provided a lot of leadership and provided that experi-ence for us. For me, personally, he’s been a guy I can lean on ... bounce things off of. He keeps things pretty loose. He’s a guy that’s fun to be around, so he’s really helped.”

— The Associated Press

GAME 3: DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH Tonight, 8 ET, VersusSTANLEY CUP FINALSS

Playoff scoring leaders (Through May 31)

GP G A PTS

Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh 19 13 17 30

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh 19 14 14 28

Alexander Ovechkin, Washington 14 11 10 21

Johan Franzen, Detroit 18 11 9 20

Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit 18 9 10 19

Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim 13 4 14 18

Eric Staal, Carolina 18 10 5 15

Bill Guerin, Pittsburgh 19 7 8 15

Martin Havlat, Chicago 16 5 10 15

Nicklas Backstrom, Washington 14 3 12 15

Valtteri Filppula, Detroit 18 2 13 15

Patrick Kane, Chicago 16 9 5 14

Corey Perry, Anaheim 13 8 6 14

Daniel Cleary, Detroit 18 8 6 14

Marian Hossa, Detroit 18 6 8 14

For Pens’ Guerin, Cup finals are a long way from Long Island

GERRY BROOME / AP

Though the Red Wings have held him to one point in the finals so far, Bill Guerin has left his mark on the Penguins since arriving midseason.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 13NHL

Listen on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 127, online at SportingNews.com or check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

WEEKDAYS 10AM–1PM ET

It was an opportunity Jacques Martin couldn’t pass up.

The St. Pascal, Ont., native is leav-ing his job as general manager of the Florida Panthers to become the new coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Martin admitted the decision didn’t take long to make.

“The challenge, the opportunity to come back to my roots, French-Cana-dian, knowing the passion that exists in this market,” he told a news confer-ence in Montreal Monday. “This is a tremendous opportunity to join this organization. When you look at the players who are in the organization, there is a strong nucleus, a strong base to build a winning team and I’m really looking forward with excitement to leading this team next year.”

Martin is a former coach of the Blues, Senators and Panthers, who he guided for four seasons before taking over as G.M. in 2006. Martin has a career coaching record of 517-406-119 and a .551 winning percentage.

Martin, who won the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year with Ottawa in 1999, replaces G.M. Bob Gainey, who finished the season as coach after firing Guy Carbonneau on March 9. Carbonneau’s dismissal was part of a roller-coaster season that began with Stanley Cup hopes but ended with a disappointing first-round playoff exit.

Martin and Gainey already have discussed the future.

“I really believe this organization is rich in people and that is a very important ingredient,” Martin told reporters. “We had the opportunity to discuss at length, to talk about phi-losophy, talk about operations, talk about players, talk about the league.

“I was really excited by those con-versations with Bob. It’s good chemistry.”

The Toronto Star reports that Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky could lose as much as $9.3 million if BlackBerry CEO Jim Balsillie loses his bid to buy the financially troubled Phoenix Coyotes and move them to southern Ontario.

Balsillie and Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes will co-apply to the NHL today to move the team to Hamilton—and court documents reveal that the Great One has a lot at stake.

They also reveal that the team itself says it’s worth $67 million with debts totaling $244 million, according to the Star. Part of that debt is the $9.3 million owed to Gretzky, which makes him one of the team’s largest creditors.

And that begs the question: Why did Gretzky, as reported, give his bless-ing to a lesser offer from Chicago sports magnate Jerry Reinsdorf? Balsillie has offered $212.5 million for the team.

Gretzky is listed as an unsecured and nonpriority creditor, which means he will be at the back of the line when other creditors are paid after a sale. The newspaper says

Gretzky is owed the money because he deferred salary to help the team.

Monday night, Balsillie’s spokes-man told The Canadian Press late that Balsillie filed an application with the league office detailing why he believes the NHL should consider his proposal to purchase the Coyotes for $212.5 million and bring it to Ontario.

The Sabres have signed F Paul Byron to a three-year, entry level con-tract prior to a 5 p.m. Monday dead-line which would have sent himback into the draft. The 20-year-old Byron, Buffalo’s sixth-round selection in 2007, had 33 goals in 64 games with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Que-bec Major Junior Hockey League.

Instructional gaming site Poker-Stars.net is adding to the Vegas cachet of the NHL’s June 18 postseason awards gala with a league sponsor-ship and an NHL $150,000 Charity Shootout Poker Tournament on June 17 that will include current and retired NHL players, along with celebrities and professional poker players.

The tourney will be telecast later on ESPN2, ESPN Classic, NHL Network and TSN. It will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, which also is hosting the World Series of Poker.

Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Con-vention and Visitors Bureau signed a three-year deal that helped bring the awards from Canada to Las Vegas. As

part of that agreement, the NHL is developing ancillary events to attract tourism, so the Stanley Cup and the rest of the league’s silver collection will be on display in and around the NHL awards gala.

The poker tournament will include Alex Ovechkin, Mats Sundin, Pat LaFontaine and Luc Robitaille. Every participant will receive money for his or her own affiliated charity.

The new awards show has gener-ated more than $1.5 million in incre-mental sponsorship. Corporate sponsors also are putting marketing dollars behind the league’s awards show like never before.

—Terry Lefton, SportsBusiness Journal

Martin returns to his roots, becomes new Canadiens coach

Series glance(Best-of-7), All times ET

(Detroit leads series 2-0)

May 30: Detroit 3,Pittsburgh 1

May 31: Detroit 3,Pittsburgh 1

Today: Detroit at Pittsburgh, 8

p.m., Versus

Thursday: Detroit at Pittsburgh, 8

p.m., Versus

Saturday: Pittsburgh at Detroit, 8

p.m., if necessary, NBC

Tuesday, June 9: Detroit at

Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., if necessary,

NBC

Friday, June 12: Pittsburgh at

Detroit, 8 p.m., if necessary, NBC

INSIDE DISH

GRAHAM HUGHES / THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP

Jacques Martin had spent the last three seasons as the Panthers’ general manager.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 14NHL

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 15Baseball

Texas OF Josh Hamilton was sched-uled to have a MRI on Monday on his midsection and will meet with Dr. John Preskitt today, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Preskitt performed surgery on Ian Kinsler’s sports hernia last sea-son. Rangers G.M. Jon Daniels told the Morning News that Hamilton was meeting with Preskitt to rule out a hernia. Hamilton plans to join the Rangers after Tuesday’s meet-ing and avoid a second stop on the disabled list this season.

“We’ll know in the next couple of days,” Hamilton said. “Right now I’m hurt and sore and can’t run.”

Indians OF Grady Sizemore could need arthroscopic surgery if two more weeks of rest don’t calm his inflamed left elbow. Sizemore, placed on the disabled list Sunday, would likely not return to the lineup until late July if surgery is needed.

The Indians are hoping that the rest will be enough to calm the inflammation that has hampered Sizemore for much of the season.

The All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner is batting .223, with nine home runs and 31 RBIs. He set career-highs last year with 33 hom-ers, 90 RBIs and 38 stolen bases.

Sizemore will be reevaluated when he is eligible to come off the disabled list. If the elbow is still sore, he will then have the surgery, which comes with a scheduled recovery time of four to six weeks.

Suspended slugger Manny Ramirez has dropped in the latest round of fan voting for the All-Star game, falling to fifth among N.L.

outfielders.Ramirez was fourth last week in

the first set of results, about 24,000 votes behind the New York Mets’ Car-los Beltran for a starting spot. He is serving a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy. He is eligible to return July 3, 11 days before the All-Star game in St. Louis.

In results released Monday, the Dodgers star had received 635,530 votes. He trailed Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (908,745), Philadelphia’s Raul Ibanez (817,849), the Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano (775,319) and Beltran (741,875).

Relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday by the Indians due to a strained right groin and left-hander Tony Sipp was recalled from Class AAA Columbus.

Betancourt left Sunday’s game against the Yankees in the middle

of the eighth inning with the leg injury, giving the Indians eight players on the disabled list. Only the Rays have more, with nine.

Betancourt is 1-1 with a save and a 3.71 ERA. His 25 appearances are the most on the team and tied for second in the league. His 29 strike-outs rank third among relievers.

Sipp has split the year between the Indians and Class AAA. He had a 4.26 ERA in nine appearances (6 1/3 innings) for the Indians this season.

The Indians are now without CF Grady Sizemore, DH Travis Hafner, three relievers and starters Scott Lewis and Anthony Reyes.

The Pirates recalled right-handed reliever Steven Jackson from Class AAA Indianapolis on Monday He was scheduled to be in their bullpen for the opener of a four-game series against the Mets.

Jackson, who was claimed off

waivers from the Yankees on May 18, was 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA in four appearances for Indianapolis after going 0-0 with a 1.88 ERA in seven games (one start) for the Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate in Scranton.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Braves are interested in bringing back Mark DeRosa, who played in Atlanta from 1998-2004. The report says the Indians want pitch-ing and the Braves are unlikely to part with any of their top arms. That would likely mean Cleveland would have to look at Kris Medlen, Jo-Jo Reyes or Charlie Morton.

Also, Tom Glavine will make his final scheduled rehab start tonight for Class A Rome, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He could join the big-league club—and the rotation—after that when the Braves return home today. “His arm strength last time was improved; he felt great,” Braves manager Bobby Cox told the AJC of Glavine’s start last Thursday. “We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Despite Ben Zobrist filling in for 2B Akinori Iwamura, who’s lost for the season, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon isn’t ready to give Zobrist the job.

Maddon likes Zobrist’s versatility too much, The Tampa Tribune reports.

“As of right now, I’m thinking that as everybody gets healthy, he’ll give the second baseman a day off, the shortstop a day off or the right fielder—like he had been doing before,” Maddon told the Tribune.

Zobrist has played in 45 games at six different positions.

THE LAUNCHING PADWhat to expect in the major leagues today

Porcello on the prowlAfter winning a spot in the Tigers’ rotation this spring, 20-year-old right-

hander Rick Porcello has done nothing but prove he deserved it. In five May starts, Porcello went 5-0 with a 1.50 ERA, though he didn’t face an elite offense (Twins, Indians, A’s, Rockies, Royals). He’ll get a real test tonight with the Red Sox in town. Boston batters are known for their patience and ability to drive up pitch counts, and Porcello has thrown more than 90 pitches just once in his nine starts this season. The rookie must get ahead in the count often against the Red Sox’s veteran hitters.

Halladay goes for No. 9Toronto’s six-game home winning streak came to an end Sunday, but,

more importantly, its nine-game losing streak came to an end Friday. The Blue Jays’ nine-game homestand continues tonight against the Angels, and they’ll have ace Roy Halladay on the mound. In early May, Halladay tossed eight innings of one-run ball in Toronto’s 13-1 win over Los Angeles. The slumping Angels salvaged the final game of their six game homestand Sunday by rallying for a 9-8 win over Seattle, after falling behind 8-1, but still trail the first-place Rangers by 4 ½ games in the A.L. West.

Nationals’ deficitNothing is easy for the last-place Nationals, whose 13 wins are by far the

fewest in the majors. On the heels of an 0-6 road trip, they return tonight to Nationals Park, where they went 2-9 in their most recent homestand. Overall, Washington has lost 18 of its past 21 games. On Wednesday, the Nationals will face a motivated Randy Johnson in search of career win No. 300. Tonight, they’ll have to deal with reigning N.L. Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, who has allowed one earned run in his past 15 innings.

— Chris Bahr

INSIDE DISH

Hamilton hopes to rule out sports hernia

ROB CARR / AP

Rangers OF Josh Hamilton is looking to avoid a second trip to the disabled list this season.

ORLIN WAGNER / AP

Rick Porcello had a stellar May (5-0, 1.50 ERA), but tonight he faces the Red Sox.

Disabled listThrough May 28

AMERICAN LEAGUEBaltimoreOF Luis Montanez, May 23RHP Dennis Sarfate, May 2RHP Alfredo Simon, April 15RHP Koji Uehara, May 24

BostonRHP Miguel Gonzalez-x, March 27OF Mark Kotsay, March 27SS Jed Lowrie, April 12RHP John Smoltz, March 27

ChicagoNone

Cleveland1B Travis Hafner, April 29LHP Aaron Laffey, May 23LHP Scott Lewis-x, April 11RHP Anthony Reyes-x, May 23RHP Joe Smith, April 29RHP Jake Westbrook-x, March 26

DetroitRHP Jeremy Bonderman, March 30SS Carlos Guillen, May 5OF Marcus Thames, April 19C Matt Treanor-x, April 24

Kansas CitySS Mike Aviles, May 243B Alex Gordon, April 16SS Tony Pena, May 3RHP Joakim Soria, May 8RHP Robinson Tejeda, May 21RHP Doug Waechter, April 18

Los AngelesRHP Kelvim Escobar-x, April 4RHP Shane Loux, May 17RHP Dustin Moseley, April 18C Robert Shields, May 27

MinnesotaRHP Boof Bonser, March 27RHP Pat Neshek-x, Feb. 21LHP Glen Perkins, May 19

New YorkRHP Brian Bruney, May 20LHP Damaso Marte, April 26C Jose Molina, May 8OF Xavier Nady, April 15C Jorge Posada, May 5SS Bryan Ransom-x, April 25

Oakland3B Eric Chavez-x, April 25RHP Joey Devine-x, April 4RHP Justin Duchscherer-x, March 272B Mark Ellis-x, April 29SS Nomar Garciaparra, May 24RHP Dan Giese, May 16

SeattleRHP Roy Corcoran, April 29LHP Ryan Feierabend-x, March 15LHP Cesar Jimenez-x, March 29C Kenji Johjima, May 26RHP Shawn Kelly, May 6LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith, April 11RHP Carlos Silva, May 7

Tampa BaySS Jason Bartlett, May 25RHP Chad Bradford, March 27OF Pat Burrell, May 11INF Akinori Iwamura-x, May 25LHP Scott Kazmir, May 21RHP Troy Percival, May 22CF Fernando Perez-x, March 27C Shawn Riggans, April 10LHP Brian Shouse, May 25

TexasRHP Joaquin Benoit-x, April 5RHP William Eyre, April 23RHP Eric Hurley-x, April 5RHP Dustin Nippert-x, March 27RHP Vincente Padilla, May 17

TorontoC Michael Barrett, April 18RHP Jesse Litsch, April 14RHP Shaun Marcum, March 27RHP Dustin McGowan, March 27RHP Robert Ray, May 22

NATIONAL LEAGUEArizona1B Tony Clark, May 5RHP Tom Gordon, May 41B Conor Jackson, May 12RHP Yusmeiro Petit, May 9RHP Brandon Webb, April 7

AtlantaRHP Buddy Carlyle, May 26LHP Tom Glavine, April 2RHP Tim Hudson-x, Feb. 24SS Omar Infante, May 21LHP Jo-Jo Reyes, May 21

ChicagoRHP Chad Fox, May 10INF-OF Ryan Freel, May 28RHP Rich Harden, May 182B Aaron Miles, May 263B Aramis Ramirez, May 9

Cincinnati3B Edwin Encarnacion, April 28RHP Edinson Volquez, May 17

ColoradoINF Jeff Baker-x, April 27RHP Taylor Buchholz-x, March 27RHP Matt Daley, May 18LHP Jeffrey Francis-x, March 27C Chris Iannetta, May 24LHP Franklin Morales, April 22RHP Ryan Speier, April 19

FloridaSS Alfredo Amezaga, May 17LHP Renyel Pinto, May 23RHP Scott Proctor-x March 27RHP Anibal Sanchez, May 8RHP Henricus Vandenhurk-x, March 29

Houston3B Aaron Boone-x March 27RHP Doug Brocail, May 4RHP Geoff Geary, May 14RHP Jose Valverde, April 27

Los AngelesLHP Hong-Chih Kuo, April 30RHP Hiroki Kuroda, April 71B Doug Mienkiewicz-x, April 17OF Xanvier Paul, May 21RHP Jason Schmidt, March 30RHP Claudio Vargas-x, April 6

MilwaukeeRHP David Riske, April 102B Rickie Weeks, May 18

New YorkOF Ryan Church, May 23INF Alex Cora, May 181B Carlos Delgado, May 11LHP Oliver Perez, May 3SS Jose Reyes, May 21C Brian Schneider, April 16LHP Billy Wagner, March 27

PhiladelphiaNone

PittsburghC Ryan Doumit, April 20LHP Phil Dumatrait-x, March 27RHP Craig Hansen, April 20RHP Tyler Yates, May 16

St. LouisLHP Jaime Garcia, March 273B Troy Glaus, March 27

San DiegoRHP Mike Adams-x, April 1RHP Cha Seung Baek-x, March 30SS Everth Cabrera-x, April 20OF Cliff Floyd, April 5RHP Shawn Hill, April 262B Luis Rodriguez, May 14RHP Mark Worrell-x, April 1San FranciscoLHP Noah Lowry-x, March 26RHP Joseph Martinez-x, April 10RHPSergio Romo, March 26

WashingtonCF Roger Bernadina-x, April 19LHP Matt Chico-x, March 27OF Elijah Dukes, May 18C Jesus Flores, May 10LHP Scott Olsen, May 171B Dmitri Young, April 1RHP Terrell Young, March 27

(x-60-day; all others are 15-day)

BY JOHN OURANDSportsBusiness Journal

MLB ratings have been essentially flat through the first two months of the regular season.

Through May 16, Fox was averaging a 2.1 rat-ing/3.14 million viewers for six telecasts, even with last year’s 2.1/3.06 million for seven tele-casts. TBS games were averaging a 0.5 U.S. rat-ing/699,000 viewers through seven telecasts, flat with last year’s 0.5/694,000 viewers.

Through 20 telecasts, ESPN and ESPN2 were averaging a 1.1 U.S. rating and 1.57 mil-lion viewers, down 15 percent and nearly 18 percent, respectively, from last year’s 1.3 and 1.91 million viewers. Ratings for the network’s exclusive Sunday night window dipped 10 percent to a 1.8/2.71 million viewers from a 2.0/2.97 million.

Locally, RSN ratings are down 2 percent col-lectively, but more than half of the league’s teams have posted ratings increases. The big-gest jump is in Texas, where the Rangers have seen ratings more than double (up 111 percent) on Fox Sports Southwest. Sitting atop the AL West division, the Rangers boast a 2.28 rat-ing/57,000 homes.

“The Rangers’ quick start has created a buzz for baseball in the marketplace,” said Jon Heidtke, Fox Sports Southwest senior vice president and general manager. “You can cer-tainly see the uptick in the increased ratings. Fans are starting to believe in the team, and it’s reflected in a larger television audience.”

The beleaguered Washington Nationals logged the second-biggest increase in the majors, rebounding from last year’s dismal ratings. Though the team has the league’s worst record, lowest local TV ratings and low-est average number of homes watching each game, ratings for its games on MASN and MASN2 have increased 56 percent in the first two months of the season. Nats games are pull-ing a 0.53 rating/12,000 homes so far this season.

The league’s biggest drop has come in Oak-land, where Comcast SportsNet California’s

coverage of A’s games has dropped 63 percent. The A’s have the league’s second-lowest local rating and second-lowest average number of homes.

The A’s ratings most likely have been affected by the team’s move to a new RSN this year, as the club migrated from CSN Bay Area to CSN California. But the A’s ratings have also been hit by the team’s poor play: Oakland has the worst record in the American League.

“Ratings rise and fall each season depending on team performance, but even with the A’s decline our collective MLB numbers are up, led by double-digit increases for four of our six teams,” CSN said in the statement.

Meanwhile, Boston has a good-news-bad-

news situation, with Red Sox games on NESN pulling the league’s highest ratings at 8.67, but its 27 percent drop from last year is the league’s fourth largest.

MLB’s overall ratings mostly steady at start

MLB national ratingsNetwork (No. of telecasts)

Avg rating (change)

Avg. no. of viewers (change)

FOX (6) 2.1 (0.0% 3.14 million (+2.6%)

ESPN/ESPN2 (20) 1.1 (-15.4%) 1.57 million (-17.6%)

TBS (7) 0.5 (0.0%) 699,000 (+0.7%)

Note: Fox games through May 16, ESPN and TBS games through May 24; measured against comparable periods last year.Sources: The networks

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP

Television ratings for Major League Baseball have been flat for networks, with the most currently watching FOX.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 16Baseball

TONY DEJAK / AP

Mark Teixeira’s hot hitting is one reason why the Yankees have moved up six spots.

BY RYAN FAGANrfagan@sportingnews.com

And just like that, the Yankees are in first place in the A.L. East.

Didn’t seem too likely a few weeks ago, when they had fallen to 6½ games off the pace after a 5-1 loss to Toronto on May 12. Mark Teixeira was batting a measly .191. Phil Hughes was coming off a horrible start—eight earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Chien-Ming Wang was in the minors trying to figure out how to get anybody out after three disas-trous starts to open the season. And those weren’t the only issues.

Since that game, though, every-thing’s turned around. The Yankees are 14-4 since that day, the best record in the majors over that time span. Teixeira is batting .413 with nine homers. Hughes is 2-0 with a 3.91 ERA. Wang has a 2.25 ERA in 8 innings out of the bullpen and looks ready to rejoin the rotation (if there’s room). And those other issues seem relatively irrelevant at the moment.

The Yankees spent a grand total of two days in first place during their forgettable 2008 campaign. They’ve already doubled that total in a 2009.

Power Poll

1. Dodgers (last week: 1) The Dodgers have won five more games than any other team, despite Manny Ramirez’s suspension and, since May 7, Andre Ethier has hit just .171 with zero homers.

2. Brewers (4) Trevor Hoffman has yet to allow a run in a Brewers’ uniform, though he did issue his first walk of the season on Sunday night, raising his WHIP to 0.47.

3. Yankees (9) What’s more impressive: Mark Teixeira’s 20 RBIs in his past 13 games or the Yankees going 17 consecutive games without an error?

4. Rangers (2) Even without a fully healthy Josh Hamilton or a productive Chris Davis (77 strikeouts in 165 at-bats), the Rangers have a solid grasp on first in the A.L. West.

5. Cardinals (5) Chris Carpenter finally allowed an earned run this week, but that 3-0 record and 0.62 ERA looks awfully shiny atop the Cardinals’ rotation.

6. Red Sox (3) Is it time to sit Big Papi? Put him on the D.L. with a wrist ailment and let him clear his head? All those pop-ups can have an adverse on even the most confident of hitters.

7. Phillies (8) Jamie Moyer, finally, showed flashes of his 42-year-old self with six innings of dominance against the Nationals on Sunday, allowing just three hits and one earned run.

8. Mets (11) For all the criticism Francisco Rodriguez took in the offseason, he’s been dynamite for the Mets thus far—14 saves and a 0.73 ERA.

9. Tigers (6) Edwin Jackson (5-3, 2.30 ERA) has been exactly what the Tigers needed—a consistent winner in the middle of the rotation.

10. Blue Jays (7) The Jays ended their nine-game losing streak with a couple of wins against the Red Sox, the team that started the entire slide.

11. Reds (13) Big week in the N.L. Central for the Reds, with four games in St. Louis and three at home with the Cubs.

12. Angels (10) Tough road trip coming up for the Angels, with three in Toronto, three in Detroit and three in Tampa Bay.

13. Cubs (18) The Cubs gave up five runs in the first inning Sunday against the Dodgers, which was one less than the total they had surrendered in their previous five games.

14. Braves (12) The trip out West, through San Francisco and Phoenix, landed only two wins in six contests.

15. Twins (16) For all the magic Joe Mauer has produced at the plate, the Twins are only 13-15 in games he’s played this season. They have to figure out how to fix Francisco Liriano.

16. White Sox (25) The Sox have won four consecutive series—including a sweep of the Royals—after stumbling through that 1-7 stretch early in May. They’re home for their next 12.

17. Padres (14) Adrian Gonzalez enters June with 20 homers, tops in the majors.

18. Giants (19) The Giants are back over .500, which is nice. A far cry from playoff contention, but nice nonetheless.

19. Rays (15) How’s this for an odd stat: The Rays’ top four pitchers are all 4-4 on the season. (Andy Sonnanstine is 3-5).

20. Mariners (20) The M’s were in position to sweep the Angels in Anaheim, but blowing an 8-1 lead on Sunday will sting for a while.

21. Marlins (21) All things considered, a 3-3 trip through Philadelphia and New York isn’t too shabby.

22. Orioles (23) Biggest news in Oriole land this week was the debut of Matt Wieters. Tell your friends.

23. Diamondbacks (26) From May 1-28, Justin Upton hit .402 with seven homers and 21 RBIs. That’s the type of production Diamondbacks fans have been hoping to see.

24. Royals (17) Since peaking at 18-11 and capturing the imagination of underdog-rooters everywhere, the Royals have gone 5-16.

25. Indians (28) Very impressive four-game sweep of the Rays was followed by at least salvaging a game against the Yankees, who have been steamrolling everyone lately.

26. Pirates (22) This weekend, the Pirates did what everyone seems to be doing these days—winning a series against the Astros.

27. Astros (24) Is this the week Cecil Cooper gets Hurdled?

28. Rockies (27) Something had to be done. Too much talent on the roster to have the team wallowing at the bottom of the division.

29. Athletics (29) Adam Kennedy is crushing the ball right now—the four homers he has in 21 games with the Athletics is one fewer than he had in two seasons (202 games) with the Cardinals.

30. Nationals (30) The Nats only have 13 wins this season. The A’s, the second-worst team in baseball, have 19.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 17Baseball

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 18Baseball

American League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayNew York 30 21 .588 — — 6-4 W-1 14-9 16-12Boston 29 22 .569 1 — 4-6 W-1 17-6 12-16Toronto 29 24 .547 2 1 2-8 L-1 18-7 11-17Tampa Bay 25 28 .472 6 5 4-6 L-1 13-11 12-17Baltimore 24 28 .462 6½ 5½ 7-3 W-1 16-13 8-15

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayDetroit 28 21 .571 — — 5-5 W-2 15-7 13-14Chicago 25 25 .500 3½ 3½ 8-2 W-4 13-10 12-15Minnesota 25 27 .481 4½ 4½ 6-4 W-1 19-11 6-16Kansas City 23 27 .460 5½ 5½ 2-8 L-4 15-15 8-12Cleveland 22 31 .415 8 8 6-4 L-1 12-14 10-17

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayTexas 30 20 .600 — — 7-3 L-1 18-9 12-11Los Angeles 25 24 .510 4½ 3 5-5 W-1 14-12 11-12Seattle 24 28 .462 7 5½ 5-5 L-2 12-13 12-15Oakland 19 30 .388 10½ 9 4-6 L-1 11-13 8-17

National League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayPhiladelphia 29 20 .592 — — 7-3 W-4 12-14 17-6New York 28 22 .560 1½ ½ 7-3 L-1 17-9 11-13Atlanta 25 25 .500 4½ 3½ 5-5 W-1 11-12 14-13Florida 24 28 .462 6½ 5½ 5-5 W-1 10-14 14-14Washington 13 36 .265 16 15 2-8 L-6 7-16 6-20

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayMilwaukee 30 21 .588 — — 4-6 L-1 16-9 14-12St. Louis 29 22 .569 1 — 5-5 L-2 17-10 12-12Cincinnati 27 23 .540 2½ 1½ 6-4 W-1 13-12 14-11Chicago 25 24 .510 4 3 4-6 L-1 16-10 9-14Pittsburgh 23 28 .451 7 6 4-6 W-1 13-11 10-17Houston 21 28 .429 8 7 3-7 W-2 10-15 11-13

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayLos Angeles 35 18 .660 — — 6-4 L-1 18-6 17-12San Francisco 25 24 .510 8 3 6-4 W-1 18-9 7-15San Diego 25 26 .490 9 4 6-4 L-1 17-7 8-19Arizona 23 29 .442 11½ 6½ 5-5 W-1 12-19 11-10Colorado 20 30 .400 13½ 8½ 4-6 L-2 9-14 11-16

z-first game was a win

Pitching Matchups Today’s Games (All times Eastern)

American League The Line

Boston (Matsuzaka 0-3) at Detroit (Porcello 6-3), 7:05 p.m. at Det -130, Bos +120

Texas (Padilla 3-2) at N.Y. Yankees (A.Burnett 3-2), 7:05 p.m. at NYY -170, Tex +160

L.A. Angels (Saunders 6-3) at Toronto (Halladay 8-1), 7:07 p.m. at Tor -165, LAA +155

Kansas City (Davies 2-4) at Tampa Bay (Sonnanstine 3-5), 7:08 p.m. at TB -145, KC +135

Cleveland (D.Huff 0-1) at Minnesota (Slowey 7-1), 8:10 p.m. at Min -150, Cle +140

Oakland (Mazzaro 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (B.Colon 3-4), 8:11 p.m. at ChW -150, Oak +140

Baltimore (Da.Hernandez 1-0) at Seattle (Bedard 3-2), 10:10 p.m. at Sea -150, Bal +140

National League The Line

N.Y. Mets (J.Santana 7-2) at Pittsburgh (Duke 5-4), 7:05 p.m. NYM -180, at Pit +170

San Francisco (Lincecum 4-1) at Washington (Stammen 0-1), 7:05 p.m. SF -140, at Was +130

Chicago Cubs (R.Wells 0-2) at Atlanta (Kawakami 3-6), 7:10 p.m. at Atl -120, ChC +110

Milwaukee (M.Parra 3-6) at Florida (A.Sanchez 1-4), 7:10 p.m. Mil -110, at Fla +100

Colorado (Jimenez 3-6) at Houston (F.Paulino 1-4), 8:05 p.m. Col -130, at Hou +120

Cincinnati (Arroyo 7-3) at St. Louis (B.Thompson 0-1), 8:15 p.m. at StL -115, Cin +105

Philadelphia (Bastardo 0-0) at San Diego (Peavy 5-5), 10:05 p.m. at SD -190, Phi +180

Arizona (Haren 4-4) at L.A. Dodgers (Wolf 3-1), 10:10 p.m. at LAD -120, Ari +110

MORE COVERAGE Get everything you need to

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

Fantasy Focus Start ’em or Sit ’em

Start ’em Rick Ankiel, OF, Cardinals. Ankiel has

struggled since returning from a neck injury, but he is 5-of-13 (.385) with three homers against Cincin-nati’s Bronson Arroyo.

Kevin Slowey, SP, Twins. Slowey is shooting for win No. 8, and he’s 6-0 this season at the Metrodome. Slowey also pitched eight innings of one-run ball against the Indians on April 25.

Andre Ethier, OF, Dodgers. Ethier is hitting .211 in May, but he’s .412 (7-of-17) with a homer against Arizona’s Dan Haren.

Sit ’em Jayson Werth, OF, Phillies. Werth is

7-of-40 (.175) with 12 strikeouts over his last 10 games, and he’s 1-of-11 (.091) with seven strikeouts against San Diego’s Jake Peavy.

Nick Swisher, OF, Yankees. Swisher is 1-of-15 (.067) with five strikeouts against Texas’ Vicente Padilla.

Bronson Arroyo, SP, Reds. Arroyo has pitched well lately, but he has a sketchy track record against the Cardinals (5-6, 4.40) and at Busch Stadium (2-2, 5.00).

— Bill Bender

LEAGUE LEADERSBatting Average

Runs

RBIs

HIts

Doubles

Home Runs

Stolen Bases

Pitching (5 decisions)

Strikeouts

Saves

A.L.

Player Team

AHill Toronto 77

VMartinez Cleveland 70

Crawford Tampa Bay 69

ISuzuki Seattle 69

Morneau Minnesota 67

Five tied 65

N.L.

Player Team

Hudson Los Angeles 71

Tejada Houston 71

Zimmerman Washington 66

FSanchez Pittsburgh 65

Ibanez Philadelphia 64

Three tied 62

A.L.

Player Team

Verlander Detroit 90

Greinke Kansas City 88

Lester Boston 74

FHernandez Seattle 72

Halladay Toronto 68

Garza Tampa Bay 66

Two tied 59

N.L.

Player Team

JVazquez Atlanta 86

JSantana New York 86

Peavy San Diego 84

Lincecum San Francisco 84

Billingsley Los Angeles 76

Haren Arizona 71

Gallardo Milwaukee 65

A.L.

Player Team

Fuentes Los Angeles 13

Papelbon Boston 13

Jenks Chicago 12

Sherrill Baltimore 11

MaRivera New York 11

FFrancisco Texas 11

Rodney Detroit 10

N.L.

Player Team

Bell San Diego 15

FrRodriguez New York 14

Cordero Cincinnati 14

Hoffman Milwaukee 13

Lidge Philadelphia 13

Three tied 12

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 55

Bay Boston 49

Morneau Minnesota 47

Teixeira New York 44

TorHunter Los Angeles 42

CPena Tampa Bay 41

Markakis Baltimore 40

N.L.

Player Team

Fielder Milwaukee 48

Ibanez Philadelphia 46

Pujols St. Louis 43

Dunn Washington 42

AdGonzalez San Diego 41

Howard Philadelphia 41

Two tied 39

A.L.

Player Team

BRoberts Baltimore 43

Scutaro Toronto 43

AdJones Baltimore 41

Crawford Tampa Bay 40

Damon New York 40

Morneau Minnesota 40

Pedroia Boston 39

N.L.

Player Team

Pujols St. Louis 42

Ibanez Philadelphia 40

Zimmerman Washington 39

AdGonzalez San Diego 38

Hudson Los Angeles 38

ASoriano Chicago 36

Utley Philadelphia 36

A.L.

Player Team

Bartlett Tampa Bay .373

MiCabrera Detroit .355

ISuzuki Seattle .352

VMartinez Cleveland .348

AdJones Baltimore .344

Morneau Minnesota .342

Two tied .333

N.L.

Player Team

Tejada Houston .353

Beltran New York .352

Hawpe Colorado .345

Pence Houston .341

Pujols St. Louis .339

HaRamirez Florida .337

Ibanez Philadelphia .333

A.L.

Player Team

CPena Tampa Bay 17

Teixeira New York 16

Bay Boston 15

NCruz Texas 14

Morneau Minnesota 14

Four tied 13

N.L.

Player Team

AdGonzalez San Diego 21

Ibanez Philadelphia 17

Dunn Washington 16

Pujols St. Louis 16

Howard Philadelphia 15

Bruce Cincinnati 14

Reynolds Arizona 13

A.L.

Player Team

Crawford Tampa Bay 30

Ellsbury Boston 21

Figgins Los Angeles 20

Abreu Los Angeles 15

BUpton Tampa Bay 15

Bartlett Tampa Bay 14

Two tied 11

N.L.

Player Team

Bourn Houston 16

Kemp Los Angeles 12

Taveras Cincinnati 12

DWright New York 12

Six tied 11

A.L.

Player Team

Palmer Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Halladay Toronto 8-1 .889

Greinke Kansas City 8-1 .889

Slowey Minnesota 7-1 .875

Buehrle Chicago 6-1 .857

Penny Boston 5-1 .833

Pettitte New York 5-1 .833

N.L.

Player Team

Broxton Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Cain San Francisco 6-1 .857

Martis Washington 5-1 .833

JoJohnson Florida 4-1 .800

LiHernandez New York 4-1 .800

Lincecum San Francisco 4-1 .800

Pelfrey New York 4-1 .800

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 20

MYoung Texas 19

Byrd Texas 18

Callaspo Kansas City 17

Lowell Boston 17

Three tied 16

N.L.

Player Team

Tejada Houston 20

FSanchez Pittsburgh 18

Hudson Los Angeles 17

HaRamirez Florida 17

Kotchman Atlanta 16

AdLaRoche Pittsburgh 16

Three tied 15

TOM GANNAM / APSt. Louis OF Rick Ankiel

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 19Baseball

AMERICAN LEAGUE

White Sox 6, Athletics 2

Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.O.Cabrera ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .232Kennedy 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .372Cust dh 4 1 1 0 0 2 .251Holliday lf 4 1 2 2 0 1 .275Giambi 1b 3 0 0 0 1 3 .216K.Suzuki c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .278R.Sweeney cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .251Cunningham rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .083Hannahan 3b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .188Totals 32 2 5 2 3 12

Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Podsednik lf 3 2 0 0 2 0 .288Al.Ramirez ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .253Dye rf 2 1 1 1 1 0 .280Thome dh 4 1 2 3 0 1 .263Konerko 1b 3 1 0 0 1 0 .303Pierzynski c 4 1 2 1 0 1 .305Fields 3b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .238Wise cf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .179a-Bri.Anderson ph-cf 1 0 0 0 1 0 .272J.Nix 2b 3 0 0 1 1 1 .191Totals 30 6 6 6 6 6

Oakland 200 000 000 — 2 5 1Chicago 100 010 04x — 6 6 0

a-flied out for Wise in the 7th. E: Kennedy (4). LOB: Oak-land 6, Chicago 7. 2B: Holliday (7). HR: Holliday (7), off G.Floyd; Pierzynski (5), off Cahill; Thome (9), off S.Casilla. RBIs: Holliday 2 (30), Dye (35), Thome 3 (32), Pierzynski (12), J.Nix (6). SB: J.Nix (3). SF: Dye. Runners left in scoring position: Oakland 3 (R.Sweeney, O.Cabrera 2); Chicago 4 (Podsednik 3, Pierzynski).

Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACahill 5 2⁄3 3 2 2 2 3 98 4.33Breslow L, 1-4 1 1⁄3 0 1 1 1 2 19 5.14S.Casilla 1⁄3 2 3 3 1 0 17 6.05K.Cameron 2⁄3 1 0 0 2 1 25 3.44Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAG.Floyd 7 4 2 2 3 8 107 5.75Thornton W, 3-1 1 0 0 0 0 3 12 1.71Linebrink 1 1 0 0 0 1 21 1.93

Breslow pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Breslow 2-0, S.Casilla 1-1, K.Cameron 1-1. Umpires: Home, Phil Cuzzi; First, Tom Hallion; Second, Jerry Crawford; Third, Dan Bellino. T: 2:46. A: 26,038 (40,615).

Yankees 5, Indians 2

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Jeter ss 3 1 2 0 2 0 .311Swisher rf 4 1 2 2 1 0 .236Teixeira 1b 3 0 1 0 2 1 .282A.Rodriguez dh 4 0 1 2 1 2 .259Posada c 4 0 0 0 1 1 .297Cano 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .308Me.Cabrera lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .316Berroa 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .143a-H.Matsui ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .2631-R.Pena pr-3b 1 1 0 0 0 1 .242Gardner cf 2 2 0 0 2 1 .265Totals 30 5 6 4 11 7

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.A.Cabrera ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .312B.Francisco cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .268V.Martinez dh 4 1 1 1 0 0 .348Choo rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .301Jh.Peralta 3b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .266DeRosa lf 3 0 0 1 0 1 .262Garko 1b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .252J.Carroll 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .294Shoppach c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .204Totals 29 2 4 2 2 5

New York 001 000 400 — 5 6 0Cleveland 000 100 100 — 2 4 0

a-walked for Berroa in the 7th. 1-ran for H.Matsui in the 7th. LOB: New York 9, Cleveland 2. 2B: Swisher 2 (11). HR: V.Martinez (8), off Chamberlain. RBIs: Swisher 2 (31), A.Rodriguez 2 (19), V.Martinez (37), DeRosa (34). SB: Gardner (10), Choo 2 (8). CS: J.Carroll (1). Runners left in scoring position: New York 6 (Posada 2, Cano 3, Jeter); Cleveland 1 (DeRosa). DP: New York 1 (Cham-berlain, Jeter); Cleveland 2 (Jh.Peralta, J.Carroll, Garko), (Garko, A.Cabrera, Garko).

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAChamberlain W, 3-1 8 4 2 2 2 5 106 3.71Ma.Rivera S, 11-12 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 2.49Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERASowers 5 3 1 1 5 3 85 6.16Aquino L, 1-1 1 1⁄3 1 4 4 4 1 32 4.32Vizcaino 1 2⁄3 1 0 0 2 1 30 1.54J.Lewis 1 1 0 0 0 2 24 5.33

Sowers pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored: Aquino 3-0, Vizcaino 3-2. IBB: off Aquino (Teixeira). WP: Vizcaino. Umpires: Home, Mark Carlson; First, Tim Tschida; Second, Bob Davidson; Third, Jeff Nelson. T: 3:13. A: 23,651 (45,199).

Chicago White Sox 6, Oakland 2N.Y. Yankees 5, Cleveland 2

Thome connects on No. 550Indians, midges don’t bug ChamberlainCHICAGO—A.J. Pierzynski

has watched Jim Thome come through in the clutch so many times, he never worries about the slugger when the pressure is on.

Thome hit the 550th homer of his career in the eighth inning to put the White Sox ahead and Chicago went on to beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2 on Monday night.

Pierzynski also homered and Scott Podsednik scored two runs for the White Sox, who won for the fourth straight time and have won 10 of its last 13 overall.

Oakland reliever Craig Breslow (1-4) allowed a lead-off walk to Scott Podsednik in the eighth inning. After Alexei Ramirez popped up a bunt attempt, Jermaine Dye singled off Santiago Casilla. On a 1-2 pitch, Thome hit an opposite field home run to left-center to put the White Sox up 5-2.

“He’s got almost 600 home runs so he’s done it a million times. He’s been up there so many times that I don’t think it phases him. The guy made a mistake and Jim hit it. The one thing about Jim if he gets the barrel on the ball it can go out to any part of the park. That’s why he’s got 550 hom-ers,” said Pierzynski.

Thome is 13th on the career homers list and has nine this season.

— The Associated Press

CLEVELAND—The midges didn’t affect Joba Chamberlain in his first start in Cleve-land—and neither did the Indians’ hitters.

Chamberlain allowed two runs in a career-high eight innings and the New York Yankees set a record for consecutive games without making an error in a 5-2 victory against Cleveland on Monday.

Chamberlain (3-1) retired the first 11 batters before Victor Martinez’s home run in the fourth. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five. He showed great velocity, still hitting 97 mph on the radar gun in the eighth.

“Maybe he’s mad at the midges,” Yan-kees manager Joe Girardi said.

Bugs headlined Chamberlain’s relief appearance in the American League Divi-sion Series two years ago, when they swarmed and distracted him while he walked Grady Sizemore and threw two wild pitches that enabled Cleveland to tie—and ultimately win—the game. The Indians went on to eliminate New York in four games.

Monday night was Chamberlain’s first start at Progressive Field, and the bugs resurfaced in the eighth. Just not to the extent of two years ago.

“I started to see them coming, I’ll be honest,” Chamberlain said. “I actually swallowed one when I was walking around the mound to start (the eighth).”

Chamberlain made a dazzling defensive play in the fifth, highlighting a milestone game for the New York’s fielders. The Yankees played error free for the 18th straight game, surpassing Boston’s major league mark of 17 set in 2006. New York’s last error came on May 13 at Toronto when shortstop Ramiro Pena misplayed a ground ball.

With runners on first and second and

nobody out, Chamberlain’s diving catch of a popped up bunt by Kelly Shoppach turned into a double play when he stood and threw to second to get Ryan Garko, capping the play with a shout and fist pump. Jamey Carroll was thrown out try-ing to steal second to end the inning.

“It was quite a belly flop,” Girardi said. “It’s an unbelievable play. It changed the game.”

The Yankees are 14-4 during the error-less streak.

“I’m proud of what they’ve done, I’m proud of what our staff has put in. They work hard all the time, every position they work hard defensively,” Girardi said. “I just want us to make the plays we should make. Don’t give extra baserunners. If

you do that, it’s going to help our club tremendously.”

The Yankees squandered one bases-loaded scoring chance off Greg Aquino (1-1), but not the second.

Aquino walked the bases loaded in the seventh before Nick Swisher doubled home a pair of runs against him and Alex Rodriguez singled home two more. Before Swisher’s at-bat, he stepped out of the box and had to laugh at Derek Jeter’s forecast-ing ability, since a storm was approaching the Cleveland area.

“(Jeter) told me a couple of innings before it was going to start raining and it wasn’t going to stop, so we need to score right now,” Swisher said.

— The Associated Press

MARK DUNCAN / AP

A battle with midges two years ago in Cleveland highlighted Jaba Chamberlain’s season ... but not on Monday.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 20Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Marlins 7, Brewers 4

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Hart rf 5 0 1 1 0 1 .254Hall 3b 5 0 1 0 0 2 .221Braun lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .309Coffey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000McClung p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000c-Gamel ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .207Villanueva p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333Fielder 1b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .271M.Cameron cf 1 1 1 0 2 0 .288Julio p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Catalanotto lf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .300Hardy ss 5 1 2 0 0 1 .241McGehee 2b 5 1 2 1 0 1 .256Kendall c 3 0 2 1 1 0 .217Suppan p 0 0 0 1 1 0 .125a-Gerut ph-cf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .210Totals 38 4 11 4 4 8Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Coghlan lf 4 1 1 1 1 0 .214B.Carroll rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182Bonifacio 3b 4 1 0 0 1 1 .245Ha.Ramirez ss 5 2 3 1 0 0 .337Cantu 1b 4 0 2 2 0 0 .271Hermida rf-lf 5 0 2 1 0 1 .267Uggla 2b 2 1 0 1 3 0 .206Jo.Baker c 5 0 1 0 0 3 .259C.Ross cf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .254A.Miller p 2 0 1 0 0 1 .091Cr.Martinez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Hayes ph 1 1 0 0 0 1 .250Sanches p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 36 7 11 6 5 9Milwaukee 030 010 000 — 4 11 1Florida 110 005 00x — 7 11 2a-grounded out for Suppan in the 6th. b-was hit by a pitch for Cr.Martinez in the 6th. c-grounded out for McClung in the 8th. E: Fielder (3), Ha.Ramirez (4), Bonifacio (8). LOB: Milwaukee 12, Florida 12. 2B: Ha.Ramirez (17). RBIs: Hart (20), McGehee (4), Kendall (16), Suppan (2), Coghlan (6), Ha.Ramirez (24), Cantu 2 (39), Hermida (23), Uggla (35). CS: Fielder (1). S: Sup-pan. Runners left in scoring position: Milwaukee 6 (Braun 2, Hall, Kendall, Fielder, Gerut); Florida 6 (Ha.Ramirez 2, C.Ross, Jo.Baker, Hayes 2).

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERASuppan 5 7 2 2 3 5 100 5.09Julio L, 1-1 BS, 1-1 0 2 5 4 1 0 20 7.79Coffey 1 1 0 0 1 3 26 2.49McClung 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 2.63Villanueva 1 0 0 0 0 1 18 3.60Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAA.Miller 4 1⁄3 6 4 3 4 4 97 4.76Cr.Martinez W, 1-1 1 2⁄3 2 0 0 0 2 26 4.91Sanches H, 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 20 0.00Nunez H, 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 3.38Lindstrom S, 10-12 1 1 0 0 0 2 12 5.82Julio pitched to 6 batters in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored: Coffey 3-2, Cr.Martinez 2-1. HBP: by Julio (Hayes, Cantu). Umpires: Home, Mike DiMuro; First, Dale Scott; Second, Jerry Meals; Third, Damien Beal. T: 3:15. A: 10,509 (38,560).

Reds 5, Cardinals 3

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Dickerson cf 4 1 1 0 1 1 .240A.Rosales 3b 3 0 0 1 1 1 .239B.Phillips 2b 4 0 1 1 1 2 .280Bruce rf 3 1 0 0 2 2 .225R.Hernandez 1b 5 1 1 1 0 0 .283L.Nix lf 4 0 2 2 0 1 .274Ale.Gonzalez ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .219Hanigan c 4 2 2 0 0 0 .333Volquez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .063Lincoln p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000a-W.Castillo ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .500Herrera p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Masset p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Gomes ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .353Rhodes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Cordero p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 33 5 8 5 5 9St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Schumaker 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .300Rasmus cf 4 2 3 1 0 0 .243Pujols 1b 3 0 1 1 1 0 .339Duncan lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .256Ankiel rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .221LaRue c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .250d-Y.Molina ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .271Thurston 3b 3 1 3 0 1 0 .258Wellemeyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .150T.Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Boyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---D.Reyes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Stavinoha ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250C.Perez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---McClellan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000e-Ludwick ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .254Br.Ryan ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .269Totals 30 3 7 2 3 5

Cincinnati 000 310 100 — 5 8 1St. Louis 101 000 100 — 3 7 1a-singled for Lincoln in the 5th. b-grounded out for D.Reyes in the 7th. c-struck out for Masset in the 8th. d-grounded out for LaRue in the 9th. e-flied out for McClellan in the 9th. E: R.Hernandez (4), Ankiel (1). LOB: Cincinnati 9, St. Louis 5. 2B: L.Nix (11), Rasmus (9), Pujols (10), Thurston 2 (13). HR: Rasmus (6), off Lincoln. RBIs: A.Rosales (10), B.Phillips (37), R.Hernandez (21), L.Nix 2 (12), Rasmus (20), Pujols (43). SB: Dickerson (2). S: Herrera, Wellemeyer 2. SF: A.Rosales. Runners left in scoring position: Cincinnati 4 (Ale.Gonzalez, Bruce, Gomes, R.Hernandez); St. Louis 3 (LaRue, Schumaker, Br.Ryan). DP: Cincinnati 3 (B.Phillips, Ale.Gonzalez, R.Hernandez), (A.Rosales, B.Phillips, R.Hernandez), (Dickerson, Ale.Gonzalez, R.Hernandez, B.Phillips).Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAVolquez 1 2 1 1 1 2 24 4.35Lincoln W, 1-0 3 2 1 1 2 1 38 8.10Herrera 2 2 1 0 0 1 19 1.74Masset H, 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 1.00Rhodes H, 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.50Cordero S, 14-14 1 1 0 0 0 1 15 1.64St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWellemeyer L, 5-5 5 5 4 3 2 4 89 5.05T.Miller 1 1 0 0 0 1 15 2.84Boyer 2⁄3 2 1 1 1 0 12 9.24D.Reyes 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 8 3.77C.Perez 1 0 0 0 0 2 12 2.16McClellan 1 0 0 0 2 1 23 1.80Herrera pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. Inherited runners-scored: Masset 1-1, D.Reyes 2-0. HBP: by C.Perez (Ale.Gonzalez). WP: C.Perez, McClellan. PB: Hanigan. Umpires: Home, Jim Joyce; First, Brian Runge; Second, Derryl Cousins; Third, D.J. Reyburn

Florida 7, Milwaukee 4Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 3

Five-run sixth lifts MarlinsBullpen provides relief for RedsMIAMI—Hanley Ramirez and

the Florida Marlins got into the Milwaukee Brewers’ thin bull-pen and emerged with a victory.

Ramirez and Jeremy Her-mida had RBI singles in Flori-da’s five-run sixth and the Marlins rallied to beat the Brewers 7-4 on Monday night.

Jorge Cantu had two RBIs for Florida. Ramirez finished with three hits.

Eleven Marlins batted in the sixth, with the first eight reach-ing base safely. Jorge Julio (1-1) faced six batters and allowed five runs, four earned.

Julio hit two, including one with the bases loaded. Cody Ross scampered home when first baseman Prince Fielder committed an error on Emilio Bonifacio’s grounder and Todd Coffey walked Dan Uggla to force in another run in the wild inning.

“It happens sometimes on the major league level, it really does,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “I’m glad we were on the end of scoring runs.”

Ramirez followed Fielder’s error with an infield single to tie it at 4. After Jorge Cantu was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Hermida singled to left off Coffey.

“I was trying to get a ground-ball from Bonifacio for a double play but no luck—that hap-pens,” Julio said.

— The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS—The Cincinnati Reds looked to be in deep trouble after Edinson Volquez lasted only one inning in his first start after coming off the 15-day disabled list.

“One of the finest young pitchers in our game and he leaves after one inning and the bullpen’s got to pitch eight,” St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “I mean, that’s a great opportunity for us.”

Instead, Mike Lincoln and four other Cincinnati relievers allowed one earned run in eight innings of a 5-3 victory against the Cardinals on Monday night.

Volquez left after experiencing numb-ness in the fourth and ring fingers of his pitching hand and was set to return to Cincinnati for an examination today, but

had no symptoms after the game and was unconcerned.

“That’s crazy,” Volquez said. “I don’t feel anything.”

Lincoln (1-0) gave up only Colby Ras-mus’ sixth homer in three innings of relief and Francisco Cordero worked the ninth for his 14th save in 14 chances and 28th in a row dating to last July.

“That’s a huge thing to ask of them, when the starter goes only one inning,” outfielder Chris Dickerson said. “It says a great deal about our bullpen.”

Volquez, a 17-game winner last year, allowed a run on two hits in his first start after a D.L. stint because of back spasms. He said the numbness began on a fastball to Rasmus, the second hitter of the game.

The rest of the inning he avoided the last two fingers by leaning on a curveball that normally he uses two or three times a game.

“Today I threw like 10, in 20 pitches,” Volquez said. “Everybody was wonder-ing ‘What’s wrong with you?’”

Cincinnati rebounded after getting swept in a three-game series at Milwau-kee and ended a six-game road losing streak while Lincoln won for the first time since July 11, 2008 at Milwaukee. Reds relievers weren’t exactly rested coming in after Micah Owings lasted 5 2/3 innings on Sunday in Milwaukee and Aaron Harang was chased after 4 1/3 innings on Saturday.

— The Associated Press

JEFF ROBERSON / AP

Cincinnati’s Chris Dickerson, right, is safe at second with a stolen base as the throw gets past St. Louis 2B Skip Schumaker during the fourth inning.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 21Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pittsburgh 8, N.Y. Mets 5Houston 4, Colorado 1

Pirates rally against Mets’ ’penSolid outing has Oswalt feeling much betterPITTSBURGH—Andy LaRoche

and the Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of a rare off night for the New York Mets’ refur-bished bullpen.

LaRoche had three RBIs and Pittsburgh scored five runs in the eighth inning of an 8-5 win on Monday.

Adam LaRoche and Jack Wilson had three hits apiece for the Pirates, who came back from a 5-0 deficit to win for only the second time in six games.

“Late in the game we came up with some big hits with run-ners on base,” Adam LaRoche said. “That’s what we’ve been missing. A lot of these games, we’ve been getting some oppor-tunities and not taking advan-tage of them, and we did tonight.”

Wilson Valdez had two hits and a career-high three RBIs for the Mets, who fell to 22-2 when leading after seven innings. Jeremy Reed added two hits and scored two runs.

The bottom of the eighth had to stir up bad memories of last season for Mets fans, but bull-pen implosions have been rare this season. New York entered the game leading the majors with a 2.95 team ERA for its relievers.

“You know what, this wasn’t our game plan going in,” Andy LaRoche said, “because they’ve pretty much had a sturdy bull-pen all year.”

— The Associated Press

HOUSTON—Roy Oswalt admits that he hasn’t had a great season so far. Maybe Monday’s outing will turn it around.

The Houston ace had a season-high eight strikeouts, Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer and the Astros snapped a four-game losing skid at home with a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Oswalt (2-2) improved to 7-1 in 10 career starts against Colorado and earned a deci-sion for just the second time in 10 starts this season. He allowed six hits and two walks in seven innings to match his longest outing of the season.

Oswalt had allowed at least three runs in his previous five starts, an unusually mediocre stretch for a pitcher who’s averaged 17 wins over the last five seasons. But Oswalt said he never worried that he’d suddenly lost it.

“No matter how long you play this game, you’re going to run into a skid where you’re not doing too well,” said Oswalt. “I think some of the guys in the Hall of Fame actually ran into a few skids here and there.

“You’re only human,” he said. “A lot of people go through a lot of things. The good ones come out of it.”

Todd Helton hit a solo homer for the Rockies,

who’ve lost five of their last seven. They’re 2-2 since Jim Tracy replaced Clint Hurdle as manager on Friday.

Helton said Oswalt threw mostly fastballs, rarely using his other main weapon, a nasty curve. Oswalt threw 102 pitches, 70 for strikes.

“He has great stuff,” Helton said. “He basicially just

dominated us with his fast-ball. He came right at us.”

Aaron Cook (3-3) lost his second straight start, allow-ing nine hits in six innings.

Lance Berkman gave the Astros a 1-0 lead with a two-out, RBI single in the first inning.

Oswalt gave up five hits but no runs through four

innings, while Cook retired the next six hitters after Berkman’s hit, five on groundouts.

Hunter Pence led off the Houston fourth with a single, went to third on Lee’s blooper and scored on Berkman’s sacrifice fly to left for a 2-0 Astros lead.

Helton hit a solo homer over the right-field wall, just out of Pence’s reach, in the fifth. Helton’s seventh homer of the season was the 12th allowed by Oswalt in 2009.

Miguel Tejada singled to left in the Houston sixth to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the NL. One out later, Lee lined a homer into the left-field seats, his ninth of the season.

Lee had not driven in a run since May 16, his longest span without an RBI since he joined the Astros in 2007.

“I would say these last two weeks have been the tough-est two weeks of my career,” said Lee, batting .319 after going 3-for-3 on Monday. “I’ve always been able to get an RBI here or there. These last two weeks have been really tough. I felt great at the plate (on Monday). I don’t know how that happened.”

Lee’s home run allowed Oswalt to relax for his final inning of work.

— The Associated Press

Astros 4, Rockies 1

Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Spilborghs cf 5 0 0 0 0 1 .261Barmes 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .262Helton 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .312Atkins 3b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .196Hawpe rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .345S.Smith lf 4 0 3 0 0 0 .278Tulowitzki ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .221Torrealba c 3 0 0 0 1 1 .230Cook p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .190a-Murton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .256Fogg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Embree p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Stewart ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .180Totals 35 1 8 1 2 9

Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Bourn cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .286Tejada ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 .353Pence rf 3 2 1 0 1 1 .341Ca.Lee lf 3 1 3 2 1 0 .319Berkman 1b 3 0 1 2 0 0 .232I.Rodriguez c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .265Keppinger 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .282Maysonet 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .391Oswalt p 2 0 1 0 0 0 .136b-Erstad ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .140Sampson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Hawkins p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 29 4 10 4 2 4

Colorado 000 010 000 — 1 8 0Houston 100 102 00x — 4 10 0

a-grounded out for Cook in the 7th. b-grounded out for Oswalt in the 7th. c-grounded out for Embree in the 9th. LOB: Colorado 9, Houston 4. 2B: Barmes (11). HR: Helton (7), off Oswalt; Ca.Lee (9), off Cook. RBIs: Helton (34), Ca.Lee 2 (31), Berkman 2 (31). CS: Bourn (4), Tejada (2). SF: Berkman. Runners left in scoring position: Colorado 4 (Atkins, Cook, Hawpe, Tulowitzki). DP: Colorado 2 (Tulowitzki, Barmes, Helton), (Torrealba, Torrealba, Tulowitzki).

Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACook L, 3-3 6 9 4 4 1 2 98 4.94Fogg 1 0 0 0 0 1 14 0.00Embree 1 1 0 0 1 1 16 6.60Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAOswalt W, 2-2 7 6 1 1 2 8 102 4.28Sampson H, 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 16 2.03Hawkins S, 7-9 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 2.49

WP: Cook. Umpires: Home, Randy Marsh; First, Marvin Hudson; Second, James Hoye; Third, Lance Barksdale. T: 2:31. A: 24,016 (40,976).

Pirates 8, Mets 5

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.L.Castillo 2b 5 0 0 0 0 0 .284F.Martinez lf 3 1 1 0 2 0 .211Dan.Murphy 1b 4 0 0 0 1 0 .243Sheffield rf 3 1 0 1 1 0 .283D.Wright 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .328Reed cf 4 2 2 0 0 1 .291W.Valdez ss 4 1 2 3 0 0 .364Schneider c 3 0 1 1 1 0 .185Li.Hernandez p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .100Parnell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Putz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Stokes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Tatis ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .267Totals 32 5 7 5 6 2

Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Morgan lf 4 0 2 0 1 2 .280F.Sanchez 2b 5 0 0 1 0 0 .325McLouth cf 4 0 0 1 0 3 .250Ad.LaRoche 1b 5 2 3 0 0 0 .242Hinske rf 2 1 0 0 2 0 .270An.LaRoche 3b 4 2 2 3 0 1 .304Jaramillo c 4 1 2 1 0 0 .269Ja.Wilson ss 4 1 3 1 0 0 .263Snell p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .150R.Vazquez ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .232S.Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000S.Jackson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Gorzelanny p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Delw.Young ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 .298Capps p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 35 8 13 8 3 8

New York 023 000 000 — 5 7 1Pittsburgh 000 300 05x — 8 13 1

E: W.Valdez (1), Jaramillo (2). LOB: New York 7, Pittsburgh 8. 2B: Reed 2 (3), W.Valdez (1), Ad.LaRoche 2 (16). 3B: W.Valdez (1), An.LaRoche (1). RBIs: Shef-field (20), W.Valdez 3 (3), Schneider (4), F.Sanchez (18), McLouth (33), An.LaRoche 3 (25), Jaramillo (7), Ja.Wilson (17), Delw.Young (10). SB: F.Martinez 2 (2), Morgan (11). S: Li.Hernandez, Snell. SF: McLouth. Runners left in scoring position: New York 5; Pittsburgh 5. DP: New York 1; Pittsburgh 1

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALi.Hernandez 5 2⁄3 7 3 3 2 5 103 4.33Parnell H, 11 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 11 2.08Feliciano H, 9 1 1⁄3 1 1 1 0 2 24 2.53Putz L, 1-4 BS, 2-4 0 4 4 3 1 0 12 4.76Stokes 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 7 2.66Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERASnell 6 6 5 5 5 2 104 5.64S.Burnett 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 5 3.18S.Jackson 1 0 0 0 1 0 14 0.00Gorzelanny W, 3-1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 5 7.50Capps S, 11-13 1 1 0 0 0 0 21 5.94

Inherited runners-scored: Parnell 2-0, Putz 1-1, Stokes 3-2, Gorzelanny 1-0. IBB: off Putz (Morgan). Umpires: Home, Scott Barry; First, Ted Barrett; Sec-ond, Tim McClelland; Third, Adrian Johnson. T: 3:08. A: 11,812 (38,362).

PAT SULLIVAN / AP

Houston P Roy Oswalt struck out eight and gave up six hits to the Rockies.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 22Baseball

BALTIMOREORIOLES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Jones .344 .400 186 41 64 14 1 11 36 14 38 4 2 4

Scott .322 .401 121 21 39 6 0 11 29 15 24 0 0 0

Markakis .298 .362 208 38 62 16 1 7 40 20 26 1 1 3

Roberts .294 .364 211 43 62 16 1 6 22 25 35 10 4 2

Reimold .286 .328 63 7 18 2 0 5 11 4 11 0 0 1

Mora .270 .338 126 12 34 3 0 2 15 13 16 1 2 3

Huff .264 .332 197 24 52 14 1 8 39 21 30 0 4 2

Izturis .262 .296 145 16 38 5 1 1 13 5 10 8 0 5

Andino .256 .304 43 6 11 1 0 0 2 3 11 1 1 2

Wigginton .226 .261 146 9 33 8 0 3 15 5 19 1 1 2

Montanez .204 .273 49 4 10 4 0 1 6 4 10 0 0 0

Zaun .203 .309 118 14 24 8 0 1 4 16 19 0 0 4

Pie .195 .271 87 9 17 2 1 2 4 9 23 1 2 0

Wieters .133 .133 15 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 0

Team Totals .268 .333 1788 251 480 103 8 59 239 163 292 27 17 33

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Hernandez 1 0 1.59 1 1 0 5.2 5 1 1 0 4 3

Berken 1 1 2.25 2 2 0 12.0 11 3 3 1 5 5

Sherrill 0 1 2.49 22 0 11 21.2 18 6 6 3 7 21

Johnson 2 2 3.04 24 0 1 26.2 22 9 9 2 9 18

Baez 4 1 3.77 18 0 0 28.2 18 12 12 3 13 20

Walker 0 0 3.97 21 0 0 11.1 16 6 5 3 0 9

Bass 3 1 4.05 16 0 0 33.1 38 17 15 6 10 26

Uehara 2 3 4.09 9 9 0 50.2 50 26 23 6 11 38

Hill 2 0 4.15 4 4 0 21.2 18 11 10 1 12 22

Guthrie 4 4 4.86 11 11 0 66.2 72 39 36 13 21 45

Bergesen 2 2 4.94 8 8 0 47.1 58 28 26 6 12 21

Albers 0 2 5.63 13 0 0 16.0 21 11 10 1 8 10

Hendrickson 1 4 5.66 11 7 0 35.0 47 30 22 7 14 26

Sarfate 0 0 6.39 8 0 0 12.2 13 11 9 3 7 10

Simon 0 1 9.95 2 2 0 6.1 8 7 7 5 2 3

Team Totals 24 28 5.13 52 52 12 458.1 509 288 261 72 172 326

BOSTONRED SOX

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Youkilis .366 .478 131 31 48 13 0 9 31 24 35 1 0 1

Pedroia .326 .416 193 39 63 15 0 2 20 28 14 8 4 3

Lowell .308 .332 198 25 61 17 1 8 35 6 27 0 0 5

Ellsbury .299 .335 214 28 64 10 1 1 15 11 19 21 6 0

Green .298 .360 104 12 31 10 0 1 15 5 21 1 3 8

Bay .288 .415 177 38 51 13 1 15 49 37 44 5 0 0

Lugo .276 .345 76 9 21 2 1 1 4 8 8 1 0 4

Drew .248 .359 153 28 38 11 1 7 23 26 42 0 2 1

Baldelli .244 .277 45 5 11 1 1 2 6 2 15 0 0 2

Varitek .239 .327 138 19 33 9 0 10 22 17 31 0 0 1

Kottaras .205 .275 44 6 9 5 0 0 5 5 14 0 0 1

Bailey .188 .309 69 10 13 3 1 3 9 8 21 0 0 2

Ortiz .185 .284 178 16 33 13 1 1 18 23 48 0 1 0

Lowrie .056 .150 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 0 0

Team Totals .274 .356 1756 267 481 122 8 61 256 204 356 37 16 33

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Bard 0 0 1.08 6 0 0 8.1 7 1 1 0 3 7

Delcarmen 1 1 1.23 21 0 0 22.0 20 6 3 0 9 18

Ramirez 4 2 1.38 24 0 0 26.0 14 4 4 1 9 14

Okajima 2 0 2.45 23 0 0 22.0 14 6 6 2 9 24

Papelbon 0 1 2.45 21 0 13 22.0 19 6 6 3 11 25

Saito 0 0 3.00 18 0 2 18.0 19 6 6 2 4 17

Masterson 2 2 4.25 13 6 0 48.2 52 23 23 4 17 39

Wakefield 6 3 4.55 10 10 0 63.1 59 32 32 5 31 38

Beckett 5 2 4.60 10 10 0 62.2 64 35 32 6 28 59

Penny 5 1 5.63 10 10 0 54.1 70 39 34 7 17 34

Lester 4 5 5.65 11 11 0 65.1 77 41 41 11 24 74

Matsuzaka 0 3 8.82 4 4 0 16.1 28 16 16 4 10 15

Team Totals 29 22 4.46 51 51 15 452.1 474 236 224 48 186 378

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Pierzynski .305 .335 151 18 46 6 1 5 12 7 12 1 0 2

Konerko .303 .357 178 24 54 12 0 7 33 15 28 0 0 0

Podsednik .288 .336 104 12 30 4 2 0 8 7 8 3 3 2

Dye .280 .342 168 33 47 5 1 13 35 16 42 0 2 1

Anderson .272 .356 92 14 25 4 0 1 6 12 27 2 3 1

Thome .263 .389 137 25 36 7 0 9 32 29 45 0 0 0

Ramirez .253 .299 170 16 43 5 0 3 23 12 19 9 2 3

Getz .248 .309 137 20 34 6 1 0 10 10 17 5 1 2

Fields .238 .304 168 17 40 5 2 2 20 14 53 1 3 6

Quentin .229 .325 131 20 30 6 0 8 20 11 17 1 0 1

Betemit .209 .277 43 2 9 5 0 0 3 4 13 0 0 4

Nix .191 .291 47 5 9 1 0 4 6 6 8 3 0 0

Wise .179 .179 28 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 2 0

Team Totals .256 .324 1673 218 428 71 7 52 213 157 330 30 17 30

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Dotel 1 1 1.04 20 0 0 17.1 10 2 2 1 12 20

Thornton 3 1 1.71 21 0 0 21.0 16 4 4 1 9 30

Linebrink 2 2 1.93 19 0 1 18.2 19 4 4 1 5 19

Carrasco 1 0 2.56 16 0 0 31.2 34 10 9 1 8 19

Buehrle 6 1 2.71 10 10 0 66.1 64 21 20 7 12 42

Jenks 0 2 3.00 18 0 12 18.0 16 7 6 3 5 15

Richard 2 0 3.38 16 4 0 40.0 42 16 15 4 15 30

Colon 3 4 3.80 9 9 0 45.0 49 28 19 7 16 29

Danks 4 3 4.80 10 10 0 54.1 58 31 29 6 22 50

Floyd 3 5 5.75 11 11 0 67.1 73 44 43 7 30 59

Gobble 0 0 11.81 5 0 0 5.1 7 7 7 2 2 5

Team Totals 25 25 4.28 50 50 13 437.2 462 228 208 45 170 347

CLEVELANDINDIANS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Martinez .348 .424 201 34 70 15 1 8 37 28 21 0 0 2

Cabrera .312 .372 205 38 64 13 2 2 27 20 39 7 1 3

Choo .301 .413 183 31 55 9 1 7 31 33 43 8 0 4

Carroll .294 .429 34 5 10 1 1 0 2 7 4 0 1 1

Hafner .270 .370 63 10 17 5 0 4 8 8 18 0 0 0

Francisco .268 .343 157 24 42 11 1 5 20 14 33 9 1 1

Peralta .266 .352 173 17 46 9 0 1 21 21 45 0 0 4

DeRosa .262 .333 195 34 51 9 0 8 34 19 45 0 1 7

Garko .252 .350 119 11 30 4 0 5 23 15 17 0 0 2

Sizemore .223 .309 206 29 46 11 1 9 31 25 52 7 6 0

Shoppach .204 .333 93 14 19 3 0 4 10 9 40 0 0 0

Valbuena .188 .250 48 6 9 6 0 0 1 4 15 0 1 1

Crowe .184 .262 38 6 7 2 0 0 4 3 9 1 0 1

Team Totals .269 .355 1826 276 491 103 7 54 255 214 410 34 12 29

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Herges 1 0 1.13 10 0 0 16.0 7 2 2 2 4 14

Vizcaino 1 2 2.25 6 0 1 8.0 5 2 2 1 5 7

Lee 2 6 3.16 11 11 0 74.0 88 26 26 4 16 54

Betancourt 1 1 3.71 25 0 1 26.2 23 14 11 3 14 29

Laffey 3 1 3.93 10 4 1 34.1 32 15 15 1 19 19

Sipp 0 0 4.26 9 0 0 6.1 4 3 3 2 8 9

Aquino 1 1 4.32 5 0 0 8.1 7 4 4 0 9 5

Pavano 5 4 5.29 11 11 0 63.0 73 37 37 7 13 50

J. Lewis 2 3 5.33 21 0 1 27.0 30 17 16 8 9 25

Ohka 0 0 5.40 1 0 0 5.0 5 3 3 0 1 3

Wood 2 2 6.00 20 0 8 18.0 19 12 12 4 11 21

Sowers 1 2 6.16 4 3 0 19.0 20 13 13 3 12 8

Reyes 1 1 6.57 8 8 0 38.1 40 30 28 5 23 22

Carmona 2 5 6.60 11 11 0 58.2 64 48 43 7 38 35

Smith 0 0 7.11 8 0 0 6.1 7 6 5 0 5 6

S. Lewis 0 0 8.31 1 1 0 4.1 7 4 4 2 1 3

Huff 0 1 10.97 3 3 0 10.2 18 13 13 3 6 7

Perez 0 1 14.66 15 0 0 11.2 20 19 19 1 9 5

Team Totals 22 31 5.36 53 53 12 467.0 506 293 278 58 222 341

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSAMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 23Baseball

DETROITTIGERS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Cabrera .355 .419 183 32 65 11 0 10 37 19 26 1 2 4

Santiago .308 .329 78 12 24 4 1 3 20 3 20 0 1 2

Everett .284 .331 109 17 31 7 0 1 17 6 14 3 1 4

Thomas .282 .365 85 13 24 5 1 3 13 11 14 1 0 1

Ordonez .280 .360 168 23 47 7 0 2 19 21 27 1 0 1

Anderson .277 .320 94 12 26 3 2 0 10 6 12 10 1 1

Inge .269 .362 171 32 46 6 0 12 33 20 45 1 2 4

Raburn .267 .340 45 9 12 1 0 3 12 5 10 1 1 1

Granderson .258 .339 198 35 51 5 1 13 30 25 40 8 2 0

Polanco .255 .295 188 22 48 15 1 1 21 10 13 0 1 1

Larish .250 .387 60 13 15 2 1 4 7 14 19 0 1 0

Laird .225 .320 129 21 29 5 1 2 14 15 24 1 0 0

Thames .222 .250 18 2 4 1 1 0 2 1 6 0 0 0

Guillen .200 .267 90 11 18 4 0 0 6 8 15 1 0 0

Sardinha .083 .080 24 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 12 0 0 0

Treanor .000 .071 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0

Team Totals .268 .337 1656 256 443 77 9 55 244 165 303 28 12 21

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Jackson 5 3 2.30 11 11 0 74.1 59 25 19 5 18 57

Perry 0 1 2.66 20 0 0 20.1 12 8 6 1 16 19

Zumaya 1 0 2.81 12 0 1 16.0 14 5 5 2 2 15

Rodney 0 0 3.00 21 0 10 21.0 17 7 7 1 6 17

Porcello 6 3 3.48 9 9 0 51.2 46 21 20 7 16 32

Verlander 6 2 3.63 11 11 0 69.1 60 31 28 4 20 90

Robertson 1 0 4.50 11 0 0 14.0 12 7 7 0 9 10

Miner 3 1 4.55 11 4 0 29.2 37 20 15 4 15 23

Galarraga 3 5 5.50 10 10 0 54.0 59 33 33 11 25 39

Seay 0 1 5.52 21 0 0 14.2 13 9 9 0 4 9

Willis 1 2 5.56 4 4 0 22.2 26 14 14 3 10 10

Lyon 1 3 6.43 18 0 0 21.0 21 15 15 5 12 9

Team Totals 28 21 3.87 49 49 11 432.1 408 211 186 49 166 350

KANSAS CITYROYALS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Callaspo .307 .363 166 22 51 17 1 2 16 15 11 0 0 3

Butler .291 .354 172 24 50 15 0 4 23 17 30 0 0 1

Pena .286 .286 7 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

Teahen .285 .357 179 23 51 11 0 6 17 16 40 1 0 3

Bloomquist .284 .358 95 16 27 2 3 1 6 12 15 8 1 2

Maier .280 .379 50 8 14 3 2 0 6 8 9 2 1 0

Guillen .269 .375 130 13 35 5 0 4 22 17 19 1 0 1

Jacobs .248 .330 157 19 39 9 0 9 25 17 50 0 0 2

Olivo .239 .265 109 10 26 4 1 4 15 2 38 1 1 1

DeJesus .236 .286 178 21 42 9 4 3 20 11 33 1 1 0

Crisp .233 .344 163 29 38 8 5 3 14 27 19 11 2 3

Buck .226 .313 84 7 19 4 3 3 19 11 22 0 0 5

Hernandez .217 .280 23 1 5 0 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 0

Aviles .183 .208 120 10 22 3 1 1 8 4 26 1 0 4

Gordon .095 .269 21 2 2 0 0 1 3 3 8 1 0 1

Hulett .000 .000 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Pena Jr. .000 .083 11 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1

Team Totals .253 .325 1673 209 424 92 20 41 198 163 331 27 6 32

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Colon 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 2.1 1 0 0 0 1 3

Greinke 8 1 1.10 11 11 0 82.0 62 12 10 0 12 88

Soria 1 0 2.08 8 0 7 8.2 8 3 2 0 4 10

Tejeda 0 0 2.65 12 0 0 17.0 13 5 5 0 13 23

Wright 0 1 3.51 20 0 0 25.2 29 17 10 2 7 19

Farnsworth 1 3 3.57 19 0 0 17.2 16 7 7 2 4 18

Bannister 4 2 3.64 8 8 0 47.0 48 23 19 3 16 29

Cruz 3 1 3.97 21 0 2 22.2 16 10 10 1 14 14

Mahay 1 0 4.08 19 0 0 17.2 25 10 8 2 9 17

Meche 2 5 4.33 11 11 0 62.1 68 35 30 1 22 48

Waechter 0 0 4.50 3 0 0 4.0 5 2 2 2 1 3

Davies 2 4 5.09 10 10 0 58.1 58 36 33 8 25 41

Ponson 1 5 7.27 11 6 0 43.1 58 37 35 4 17 24

Ramirez 0 2 7.36 16 1 0 18.1 25 16 15 3 10 11

Bale 0 1 8.10 4 0 0 3.1 3 3 3 0 3 2

Team Totals 23 27 4.13 50 50 9 442.0 452 231 203 30 165 353

LOS ANGELESANGELS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Hunter .313 .396 179 37 56 12 1 12 42 24 29 10 3 0

Rivera .310 .353 155 16 48 7 0 5 19 11 13 0 0 0

Figgins .296 .378 189 32 56 7 2 0 12 26 29 20 3 5

Abreu .295 .395 166 21 49 8 2 1 21 28 21 15 0 2

Morales .280 .332 175 20 49 13 1 8 30 15 33 0 2 2

Aybar .279 .309 129 12 36 8 2 1 12 6 13 1 1 3

Napoli .274 .368 135 17 37 8 0 7 19 19 33 2 3 3

Matthews Jr. .269 .322 104 18 28 4 1 1 15 9 24 0 0 1

Izturis .260 .303 100 19 26 3 0 0 12 6 12 5 1 2

Guerrero .246 .279 57 4 14 2 0 1 5 3 9 0 0 0

Mathis .233 .296 73 9 17 1 0 0 12 7 23 0 0 2

Quinlan .231 .231 39 3 9 3 0 0 2 0 8 1 0 0

Kendrick .225 .266 160 21 36 6 1 4 20 6 32 6 1 2

Team Totals .276 .339 1686 233 466 82 10 40 222 161 287 61 14 26

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Oliver 1 0 1.99 14 1 0 22.2 21 5 5 0 5 15

Weaver 4 2 2.36 10 10 0 68.2 53 19 18 7 18 53

Thompson 0 0 2.70 3 0 0 3.1 4 1 1 1 1 3

Saunders 6 3 3.26 10 10 0 66.1 60 26 24 9 19 33

Palmer 5 0 4.06 8 7 0 44.1 34 21 20 5 17 27

Moseley 1 0 4.30 3 3 0 14.2 20 8 7 3 3 8

Bulger 2 1 4.87 18 0 0 20.1 18 11 11 3 9 19

Fuentes 0 2 5.30 20 0 13 18.2 22 11 11 2 6 19

Speier 1 1 5.31 17 0 0 20.1 20 12 12 2 9 17

Arredondo 1 2 5.32 23 0 0 22.0 27 13 13 0 10 25

Loux 2 3 5.40 8 6 0 38.1 52 24 23 2 14 14

Lackey 1 1 6.05 4 4 0 19.1 24 14 13 2 3 10

Shields 1 3 6.62 20 0 1 17.2 16 14 13 1 15 12

R. Rodriguez 0 0 7.36 8 0 0 14.2 27 15 12 2 4 6

Santana 0 2 9.50 4 4 0 18.0 31 19 19 3 9 11

Team Totals 25 24 4.72 49 49 14 435.0 470 244 228 47 161 286

MINNESOTATWINS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Mauer .414 .500 99 27 41 7 1 11 32 19 16 0 0 0

Morneau .342 .419 196 40 67 15 1 14 47 26 35 0 0 1

Kubel .317 .366 161 24 51 12 1 5 25 13 34 0 0 0

Span .299 .389 194 30 58 5 2 3 22 25 30 11 3 1

Cuddyer .276 .363 185 30 51 11 3 9 33 25 38 4 1 3

Harris .274 .321 124 15 34 7 0 3 10 8 22 0 0 0

Redmond .267 .323 60 2 16 3 0 0 3 5 7 0 0 0

Crede .239 .304 134 18 32 7 0 9 22 12 24 0 0 1

Young .239 .282 109 10 26 1 0 1 14 5 37 2 2 2

Gomez .220 .282 100 16 22 5 2 0 3 8 23 4 3 0

Tolbert .189 .265 74 10 14 2 0 1 8 8 21 2 0 1

Buscher .188 .321 64 6 12 2 1 1 7 12 17 0 0 0

Punto .187 .290 123 17 23 3 0 0 12 18 22 5 1 5

Casilla .161 .220 93 6 15 1 1 0 5 6 18 2 0 3

Team Totals .272 .347 1769 261 481 84 12 57 245 196 351 30 10 19

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Swarzak 1 1 2.08 2 2 0 13.0 10 3 3 2 6 6

Mijares 0 1 2.16 16 0 0 16.2 14 5 4 1 7 14

Nathan 1 1 2.33 20 0 9 19.1 14 5 5 2 5 21

Dickey 1 0 3.26 13 1 0 30.1 32 11 11 5 14 19

Blackburn 5 2 3.50 11 11 0 69.1 74 32 27 6 20 33

Guerrier 1 0 3.60 25 0 0 25.0 16 10 10 4 6 19

Henn 0 0 3.60 6 0 0 5.0 3 2 2 0 2 1

Slowey 7 1 4.11 10 10 0 61.1 79 29 28 9 5 44

Ayala 1 1 4.37 19 0 0 22.2 29 12 11 2 7 13

Perkins 1 3 5.36 8 8 0 47.0 50 28 28 6 12 26

Baker 2 6 6.32 9 9 0 52.2 57 37 37 14 10 39

Liriano 2 7 6.60 11 11 0 58.2 67 44 43 9 28 50

Crain 2 2 7.36 18 0 0 14.2 14 12 12 3 8 9

Team Totals 25 27 4.78 52 52 9 459.1 486 254 244 69 147 311

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSAMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 24Baseball

NEW YORKYANKEES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Cabrera .316 .365 136 20 43 6 0 5 20 11 19 4 2 1

Jeter .311 .385 209 32 65 12 0 7 25 23 28 10 1 2

Cano .308 .338 211 35 65 13 1 9 31 10 15 2 2 2

Damon .301 .367 193 40 58 12 2 10 31 20 32 5 0 1

Posada .297 .389 91 11 27 7 0 6 21 14 22 1 0 1

Cervelli .286 .302 42 4 12 1 0 0 4 1 6 0 1 0

Nady .286 .310 28 4 8 4 0 0 2 1 6 0 0 0

Teixeira .282 .386 188 36 53 12 0 16 44 29 37 0 0 0

Molina .273 .333 44 5 12 2 0 1 6 4 6 0 0 1

Gardner .265 .339 113 24 30 4 2 2 8 12 19 10 2 0

Matsui .263 .351 152 16 40 11 1 7 19 18 27 0 0 0

Rodriguez .259 .412 81 11 21 4 0 7 19 19 14 0 0 1

Pena .242 .286 66 10 16 2 1 0 4 4 13 2 0 3

Swisher .236 .373 161 31 38 11 1 10 31 35 48 0 0 3

Ransom .180 .226 50 4 9 5 1 0 6 3 15 1 0 2

Berroa .143 .143 14 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 2

Team Totals .280 .356 1805 288 505 108 9 80 274 204 316 35 8 20

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Robertson 0 0 2.45 9 0 0 7.1 5 3 2 0 5 10

Rivera 0 1 2.49 21 0 11 21.2 21 6 6 5 1 26

Aceves 3 1 2.75 9 0 0 19.2 16 6 6 2 3 18

Bruney 2 0 3.00 10 0 0 9.0 3 3 3 0 2 13

Sabathia 5 3 3.46 11 11 0 78.0 65 32 30 4 24 56

Chamberlain 3 1 3.71 10 10 0 53.1 50 25 22 7 27 51

Pettitte 5 1 4.10 10 10 0 63.2 70 31 29 8 23 34

Tomko 0 1 4.15 5 0 0 4.1 5 2 2 1 2 0

Burnett 3 2 4.78 10 10 0 64.0 59 34 34 10 31 57

Coke 1 3 4.79 22 0 1 20.2 16 14 11 5 9 12

Hughes 3 2 5.45 7 7 0 34.2 37 22 21 6 15 31

Veras 3 1 6.97 22 0 0 20.2 19 16 16 4 14 16

Marte 0 1 15.19 7 0 0 5.1 9 9 9 3 3 6

Wang 0 3 16.07 6 3 0 14.0 32 25 25 3 8 9

Team Totals 30 21 4.88 51 51 12 460.2 461 265 250 71 200 372

OAKLANDATHLETICS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Kennedy .390 .462 82 9 32 7 0 4 15 10 12 5 1 3

Suzuki .285 .333 172 22 49 15 0 2 17 11 15 1 1 1

Holliday .270 .366 178 23 48 6 1 6 28 23 29 4 1 0

Petit .261 .261 23 2 6 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1

Cust .252 .346 163 25 41 6 0 7 26 23 43 1 0 1

Garciaparra .250 .275 48 7 12 1 0 2 8 2 10 0 0 0

Sweeney .250 .316 184 20 46 8 0 2 15 18 27 4 2 1

Cabrera .236 .280 199 22 47 6 0 2 16 13 16 1 3 8

Buck .235 .301 85 10 20 2 0 3 9 8 17 1 1 0

Giambi .220 .357 159 27 35 6 0 6 23 30 35 0 0 3

Ellis .206 .265 63 6 13 2 0 0 9 5 10 2 1 2

Crosby .204 .308 113 15 23 3 2 1 10 16 20 1 0 5

Hannahan .194 .265 62 6 12 5 0 1 5 6 17 0 0 0

Powell .186 .265 43 4 8 4 0 1 11 5 11 0 0 2

Davis .146 .205 41 5 6 0 0 0 0 3 14 5 2 0

Chavez .100 .129 30 0 3 1 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 0

Cunningham .050 .095 20 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 0

Team Totals .241 .316 1673 205 403 74 3 37 195 175 294 25 12 32

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Breslow 0 1 1.69 6 0 0 5.1 3 1 1 0 0 5

Bailey 4 0 2.23 23 0 2 32.1 20 8 8 3 12 38

Wuertz 2 1 2.59 24 0 2 24.1 16 8 7 1 7 23

Outman 2 0 3.06 10 8 0 47.0 35 19 16 6 21 40

Cameron 0 0 3.57 10 0 1 17.2 14 7 7 1 4 14

Braden 4 5 3.63 11 11 0 67.0 75 29 27 5 20 43

Ziegler 0 1 3.92 19 0 5 20.2 26 10 9 0 9 13

Cahill 2 5 4.45 10 10 0 54.2 58 29 27 8 24 24

Casilla 1 2 4.74 17 0 0 19.0 17 11 10 3 11 14

Giese 0 3 5.32 7 1 0 22.0 22 13 13 5 9 11

E. Gonzalez 0 1 5.40 2 2 0 10.0 12 6 6 0 5 8

Anderson 2 5 5.70 9 9 0 47.1 57 40 30 10 15 27

Springer 0 1 6.98 23 0 0 19.1 30 16 15 4 9 22

Team Totals 19 29 4.53 48 48 10 439.0 465 247 221 50 179 317

SEATTLEMARINERS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Suzuki .352 .383 196 19 69 9 1 5 16 9 16 8 4 1

Branyan .319 .412 160 30 51 13 0 11 23 23 48 2 0 5

Chavez .289 .338 135 15 39 2 1 2 13 11 19 8 1 1

Betancourt .256 .286 164 12 42 6 1 2 16 8 14 3 0 9

Gutierrez .255 .330 157 20 40 5 0 3 19 17 35 2 3 1

Johjima .250 .275 88 10 22 3 0 3 10 3 5 2 0 1

Quiroz .250 .250 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0

Balentien .235 .280 98 13 23 9 0 1 6 7 24 1 0 0

Sweeney .230 .272 87 7 20 6 0 2 10 3 11 0 0 2

Beltre .227 .260 207 22 47 11 0 3 21 8 37 6 2 7

Lopez .226 .270 190 21 43 8 0 5 26 11 24 0 2 8

Griffey Jr. .208 .327 130 15 27 5 0 5 14 24 25 0 0 0

Johnson .186 .228 86 6 16 6 1 0 8 5 25 0 1 1

Cedeno .173 .232 52 7 9 1 1 2 5 3 18 1 1 1

Team Totals .255 .308 1767 197 450 84 5 44 189 133 305 33 14 42

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Rowland-Smith 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 3.1 4 2 0 0 4 1

Kelley 1 1 1.54 10 0 0 11.2 11 2 2 2 1 11

Vargas 2 0 1.65 6 4 0 27.1 21 6 5 4 9 17

White 1 0 1.75 19 0 0 25.2 16 6 5 2 12 11

Aardsma 1 2 2.13 25 0 8 25.1 15 6 6 1 18 26

Bedard 3 2 2.48 9 9 0 54.1 46 17 15 6 15 54

Washburn 3 4 3.22 10 10 0 64.1 59 24 23 5 17 44

Hernandez 5 3 3.41 11 11 0 71.1 71 32 27 6 20 72

Batista 3 1 3.76 20 0 0 26.1 30 15 11 1 16 23

Lowe 0 2 4.68 24 0 0 25.0 29 17 13 2 10 19

Olson 0 1 4.68 7 3 0 25.0 26 14 13 6 9 15

Jakubauskas 3 5 6.17 11 8 0 46.2 49 34 32 5 17 20

Stark 0 1 6.30 8 0 0 10.0 12 8 7 2 10 7

Corcoran 1 0 7.27 8 0 0 8.2 13 7 7 0 9 4

Morrow 0 3 7.63 14 0 6 15.1 17 14 13 3 14 18

Silva 1 3 8.48 6 6 0 28.2 38 27 27 5 9 10

Team Totals 24 28 3.95 52 52 14 469.0 457 231 206 50 190 352

TAMPA BAYRAYS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Bartlett .373 .418 161 32 60 11 2 7 30 12 25 14 1 4

Longoria .327 .396 199 38 65 20 0 13 55 23 50 2 0 5

Crawford .324 .383 213 40 69 11 3 3 25 19 39 30 1 2

Iwamura .310 .377 155 19 48 13 1 0 16 17 30 8 1 5

Zobrist .304 .412 125 21 38 13 2 8 26 23 25 5 2 1

Hernandez .289 .319 45 4 13 2 0 1 10 2 6 2 1 0

Aybar .263 .359 99 15 26 6 0 3 13 15 18 0 0 1

Brignac .250 .250 20 3 5 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 1

Burrell .250 .349 108 9 27 4 0 1 17 16 25 1 0 0

Riggans .250 .250 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1

Gross .247 .360 85 15 21 4 0 3 14 15 18 2 1 0

Joyce .231 .333 13 2 3 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0

Pena .231 .367 186 37 43 9 1 17 41 38 66 0 1 5

Navarro .212 .241 151 17 32 6 0 2 11 3 24 1 0 1

Upton .204 .297 186 32 38 8 1 2 9 25 60 15 3 0

Dillon .200 .273 10 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0

Kapler .178 .274 73 6 13 7 0 0 5 10 12 2 1 1

Team Totals .274 .354 1847 294 506 117 10 64 279 221 413 82 12 32

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Cormier 0 1 2.19 18 0 1 37.0 29 9 9 1 10 17

Howell 0 2 2.45 25 0 1 25.2 20 8 7 1 9 31

Choate 0 0 3.00 4 0 2 3.0 1 2 1 1 0 4

Price 1 0 3.00 2 2 0 9.0 9 3 3 1 7 17

Isringhausen 0 1 3.18 6 0 0 5.2 5 2 2 0 5 3

Shields 4 4 3.53 11 11 0 74.0 79 32 29 10 20 52

Garza 4 4 3.67 11 11 0 73.2 55 31 30 9 28 66

Shouse 1 1 3.77 19 0 0 14.1 17 6 6 2 3 9

Niemann 4 4 4.44 10 10 0 50.2 56 28 25 8 23 30

Wheeler 1 1 4.67 21 0 0 17.1 15 10 9 4 6 14

Balfour 2 0 5.48 23 0 1 23.0 21 14 14 1 15 22

Nelson 1 0 6.23 23 0 2 21.2 25 18 15 6 16 21

Percival 0 1 6.35 14 0 6 11.1 14 8 8 3 5 7

Sonnanstine 3 5 7.66 10 10 0 49.1 72 43 42 7 16 29

Kazmir 4 4 7.69 9 9 0 45.2 60 41 39 7 29 35

Team Totals 25 28 4.59 53 53 14 466.2 486 260 238 61 193 357

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 25BaseballSPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Baseball

TEXASRANGERS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Vizquel .333 .370 51 7 17 4 1 0 6 3 6 2 0 0

Young .333 .376 195 30 65 19 0 7 21 14 29 4 1 3

Byrd .304 .325 158 22 48 18 0 4 24 6 20 2 0 0

Cruz .296 .360 179 29 53 11 0 14 36 19 43 9 1 3

Andrus .283 .325 145 23 41 4 4 3 11 9 19 6 1 7

Jones .282 .415 85 16 24 9 0 5 14 19 22 1 0 0

Kinsler .279 .361 201 38 56 12 2 13 39 25 29 10 1 4

Blalock .258 .294 159 26 41 10 1 12 28 6 30 1 0 1

Teagarden .256 .347 43 4 11 2 0 0 6 5 17 0 0 2

Saltalamacchia .255 .309 137 18 35 7 0 5 23 11 53 0 1 1

Hamilton .240 .290 125 20 30 5 2 6 24 9 31 3 0 0

Murphy .226 .336 93 15 21 5 0 2 10 16 23 2 3 0

Davis .194 .253 165 23 32 4 0 12 23 11 77 0 0 0

Team Totals .272 .331 1745 271 474 110 10 83 265 153 402 40 8 26

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Moscoso 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 1

Francisco 1 1 0.48 18 0 11 18.2 11 1 1 1 5 19

O'Day 2 0 1.38 15 0 1 13.0 8 2 2 1 3 12

Wilson 3 2 3.05 23 0 4 20.2 20 12 7 1 10 12

Millwood 4 4 3.23 11 11 0 78.0 73 30 28 12 23 43

Jennings 2 1 3.52 16 0 0 23.0 21 11 9 2 10 14

Feldman 4 0 3.91 10 7 0 48.1 40 21 21 5 17 26

McCarthy 5 2 4.35 10 10 0 60.0 60 30 29 10 23 41

Guardado 0 1 4.38 18 0 0 12.1 14 6 6 2 5 5

Padilla 3 2 4.71 8 8 0 49.2 50 27 26 4 20 26

Harrison 4 4 5.43 9 9 0 54.2 68 33 33 7 16 29

Holland 1 2 5.96 10 2 0 25.2 32 18 17 5 8 18

Eyre 0 0 6.23 3 0 0 4.1 5 3 3 0 3 1

Madrigal 0 0 7.71 7 0 0 7.0 5 6 6 1 6 3

Benson 1 1 8.53 6 2 0 19.0 30 19 18 5 9 10

Team Totals 30 20 4.46 50 50 16 446.1 460 234 221 60 167 263

TORONTOBLUE JAYS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Hill .333 .368 231 33 77 7 0 12 37 13 33 2 1 5

Scutaro .305 .408 210 43 64 15 1 5 25 37 24 5 3 1

Rolen .303 .380 165 25 50 15 0 3 18 19 21 2 0 4

Lind .288 .365 198 28 57 16 0 8 38 23 43 0 1 1

Barajas .285 .317 151 17 43 12 0 3 26 8 25 0 0 4

Rios .276 .333 217 26 60 14 2 6 25 15 36 4 1 1

Overbay .274 .374 124 16 34 12 1 5 23 21 20 0 0 0

Bautista .269 .404 93 17 25 6 0 1 8 20 29 3 0 0

Millar .267 .327 90 13 24 5 0 3 16 8 16 0 0 1

Wells .266 .321 218 33 58 14 1 5 25 19 22 9 0 0

Chavez .250 .250 36 1 9 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 1

McDonald .211 .211 19 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Barrett .167 .211 18 3 3 0 0 1 2 1 5 0 0 0

Inglett .100 .182 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0

Team Totals .283 .350 1883 270 533 122 5 55 257 192 311 26 6 22

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Downs 0 0 2.35 22 0 7 23.0 19 7 6 1 2 23

Frasor 4 0 2.41 20 0 1 18.2 13 5 5 1 3 15

Halladay 8 1 2.63 11 11 0 82.0 76 26 24 6 11 68

Richmond 4 2 3.50 10 9 0 54.0 50 23 21 8 18 44

League 1 1 3.97 20 0 0 22.2 19 10 10 1 8 18

Janssen 1 1 4.15 2 2 0 13.0 19 6 6 1 3 2

Romero 2 2 4.15 5 5 0 30.1 36 14 14 6 10 21

Tallet 3 3 4.26 13 9 0 61.1 47 30 29 8 29 47

Ray 1 2 4.44 4 4 0 24.1 23 15 12 4 6 13

Carlson 1 3 4.85 26 0 0 26.0 22 14 14 2 7 14

Camp 0 2 5.29 16 0 0 17.0 20 11 10 2 9 11

Wolfe 1 1 7.56 7 0 0 8.1 13 7 7 3 2 8

Ryan 1 0 8.74 13 0 2 11.1 15 11 11 3 9 10

Litsch 0 1 9.00 2 2 0 9.0 14 9 9 4 1 8

Team Totals 29 24 4.28 53 53 10 475.0 465 241 226 62 161 361

AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

TEAM BATTING AND FIELDINGThrough Monday’s Games

CLUB BA SLG OBP G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBIToronto .283 .441 .350 53 1883 270 533 183 122 5 55 257

N.Y. Yankees .280 .483 .356 51 1805 288 505 184 108 9 80 274

L.A. Angels .276 .408 .339 49 1686 233 466 153 82 10 40 222

Boston .274 .457 .356 51 1756 267 481 216 122 8 61 256

Tampa Bay .274 .452 .354 53 1847 294 506 210 117 10 64 279

Minnesota .272 .430 .347 52 1769 261 481 178 84 12 57 245

Texas .272 .489 .331 50 1745 271 474 147 110 10 83 265

Cleveland .269 .422 .355 53 1826 276 491 207 103 7 54 255

Baltimore .268 .434 .333 52 1788 251 480 200 103 8 59 239

Detroit .268 .425 .337 49 1656 256 443 125 77 9 55 244

Chicago White Sox .256 .400 .324 50 1673 218 428 181 71 7 52 213

Seattle .255 .383 .308 52 1767 197 450 177 84 5 44 189

Kansas City .253 .406 .325 50 1673 209 424 200 92 20 41 198

Oakland .239 .354 .315 49 1705 207 408 142 75 3 38 197

CLUB SH SF HBP BB IBB SO SB CS GDP LOB SHO E DP TPToronto 12 17 12 192 12 311 26 6 52 792 1 22 51 0

N.Y. Yankees 16 13 17 204 10 316 35 8 44 707 0 20 48 0

L.A. Angels 15 18 8 161 14 287 61 14 32 597 2 26 44 0

Boston 2 15 28 204 18 356 37 16 52 735 1 33 34 0

Tampa Bay 10 14 15 221 14 413 82 12 28 770 2 32 50 0

Minnesota 16 20 18 196 10 351 30 10 43 742 3 19 43 0

Texas 9 17 11 153 6 402 40 8 22 665 2 26 59 1

Cleveland 17 14 36 214 6 410 34 12 44 793 3 29 61 0

Baltimore 5 11 16 163 9 292 27 17 32 645 2 33 43 0

Detroit 17 11 14 165 6 303 28 12 52 625 2 21 44 0

Chicago White Sox 5 14 19 157 5 330 30 17 38 672 6 30 42 0

Seattle 29 16 11 133 14 305 33 14 50 635 5 42 47 0

Kansas City 18 7 18 163 12 331 27 6 43 644 3 32 58 0

Oakland 8 13 16 178 3 306 25 12 38 676 4 33 45 0

TEAM PITCHINGThrough Monday’s Games

CLUB W L ERA G CG SHO SV INN H R ERDetroit 28 21 3.87 49 1 7 11 432.1 408 211 186

Seattle 24 28 3.95 52 1 4 14 469.0 457 231 206

Kansas City 23 27 4.13 50 5 4 9 442.0 452 231 203

Chicago White Sox 25 25 4.28 50 1 4 13 437.2 462 228 208

Toronto 29 24 4.28 53 2 3 10 475.0 465 241 226

Boston 29 22 4.46 51 2 0 15 452.1 474 236 224

Texas 30 20 4.46 50 5 3 16 446.1 460 234 221

Oakland 19 30 4.57 49 0 0 10 447.0 471 253 227

Tampa Bay 25 28 4.59 53 0 1 14 466.2 486 260 238

L.A. Angels 25 24 4.72 49 4 4 14 435.0 470 244 228

Minnesota 25 27 4.78 52 0 1 9 459.1 486 254 244

N.Y. Yankees 30 21 4.88 51 2 2 12 460.2 461 265 250

Baltimore 24 28 5.13 52 1 2 12 458.1 509 288 261

Cleveland 22 31 5.36 53 0 1 12 467.0 506 293 278

CLUB HR HBP BB IBB SO WP BKDetroit 49 8 166 8 350 15 1

Seattle 50 15 190 6 352 26 1

Kansas City 30 14 165 10 353 26 2

Chicago White Sox 45 8 170 14 347 18 2

Toronto 62 19 161 10 361 14 0

Boston 48 31 186 11 378 18 1

Texas 60 24 167 5 263 14 5

Oakland 52 6 185 14 323 10 0

Tampa Bay 61 16 193 7 357 20 1

L.A. Angels 47 19 161 11 286 18 2

Minnesota 69 14 147 7 311 19 2

N.Y. Yankees 71 31 200 9 372 19 1

Baltimore 72 19 172 15 326 9 1

Cleveland 58 15 222 13 341 17 2

American League National LeagueTEAM BATTING AND FIELDINGThrough Monday’s Games

CLUB BA SLG OBP G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBIL.A. Dodgers .287 .415 .369 53 1846 289 529 171 109 10 36 273N.Y. Mets .280 .412 .363 50 1688 239 472 158 92 16 33 225Houston .270 .409 .334 50 1695 209 458 219 88 12 41 198Washington .266 .426 .351 50 1742 240 463 225 84 12 57 232Philadelphia .265 .468 .346 49 1692 272 448 137 109 11 71 260Pittsburgh .264 .396 .332 51 1721 222 455 210 108 11 32 213Atlanta .262 .394 .337 50 1687 220 442 209 101 7 36 207San Francisco .258 .369 .316 49 1655 193 427 138 84 11 26 181Cincinnati .256 .412 .331 50 1697 227 434 174 80 10 55 217St. Louis .256 .419 .332 51 1682 231 430 162 96 8 54 224Chicago Cubs .251 .409 .330 49 1627 218 408 148 82 7 54 206Milwaukee .251 .414 .339 51 1689 239 424 159 82 8 59 235Colorado .248 .420 .330 50 1656 239 411 168 92 14 55 229Florida .245 .382 .322 52 1807 238 443 191 84 8 49 227Arizona .241 .403 .314 52 1777 220 428 180 111 12 51 210San Diego .239 .395 .318 51 1700 203 406 163 81 10 55 195

CLUB SH SF HBP BB IBB SO SB CS GDP LOB SHO E DP TPL.A. Dodgers 19 20 19 233 27 358 44 14 50 791 1 22 51 0N.Y. Mets 33 18 14 216 24 284 53 18 44 712 1 38 42 0Houston 24 18 15 156 9 291 31 21 43 646 5 23 51 0Washington 21 9 22 211 10 410 17 12 42 789 1 48 39 0Philadelphia 16 16 27 193 7 326 39 9 32 675 2 17 32 0Pittsburgh 21 12 20 160 12 362 27 8 29 684 6 23 57 1Atlanta 24 16 16 182 13 316 11 8 41 672 5 28 41 0San Francisco 21 16 21 126 14 346 34 14 39 626 2 25 46 0Cincinnati 33 15 20 177 14 345 29 13 34 654 1 35 49 0St. Louis 30 20 22 180 22 302 27 8 34 642 2 33 48 0Chicago Cubs 12 11 19 180 8 367 23 12 37 668 4 30 43 0Milwaukee 18 17 26 207 9 406 11 11 40 711 1 30 44 0Colorado 22 19 13 199 8 367 32 16 38 652 3 31 46 0Florida 26 12 17 193 14 443 30 13 25 712 2 45 28 0Arizona 12 15 14 181 17 420 41 15 27 692 3 43 54 1San Diego 25 10 16 185 14 355 24 8 38 641 4 23 48 0

TEAM PITCHINGThrough Monday’s Games

CLUB W L ERA G CG SHO SV INN H R ERSt. Louis 29 22 3.61 51 2 4 15 454.0 426 200 182L.A. Dodgers 35 18 3.72 53 1 3 15 474.0 406 203 196San Francisco 25 24 3.81 49 2 6 12 439.1 418 196 186N.Y. Mets 28 22 3.88 50 1 2 16 447.2 435 216 193Milwaukee 30 21 4.03 51 1 3 18 450.2 407 218 202Cincinnati 27 23 4.05 50 2 6 14 455.0 421 219 205Atlanta 25 25 4.11 50 0 3 11 445.0 428 224 203Pittsburgh 23 28 4.25 51 3 4 12 442.2 427 221 209Chicago Cubs 25 24 4.28 49 1 2 11 426.2 391 213 203San Diego 25 26 4.31 51 1 1 16 455.0 430 235 218Arizona 23 29 4.51 52 1 4 16 473.0 492 256 237Houston 21 28 4.51 50 1 2 11 442.2 476 242 222Florida 24 28 4.63 52 1 0 11 472.1 479 270 243Colorado 20 30 4.84 50 2 3 10 436.2 488 259 235Philadelphia 29 20 4.98 49 0 0 15 439.1 457 248 243Washington 13 36 5.69 50 1 0 8 440.0 500 308 278

CLUB HR HBP BB IBB SO WP BKSt. Louis 35 21 158 3 338 11 4L.A. Dodgers 34 22 222 24 402 29 2San Francisco 40 13 194 19 383 19 3N.Y. Mets 36 14 189 17 357 12 7Milwaukee 59 27 186 11 353 19 0Cincinnati 54 21 194 10 340 13 1Atlanta 29 20 171 17 383 18 2Pittsburgh 43 20 189 10 274 14 1Chicago Cubs 54 17 190 12 394 20 4San Diego 46 15 197 24 370 15 2Arizona 59 12 170 9 377 23 1Houston 57 18 173 8 343 13 1Florida 54 13 215 20 410 22 2Colorado 44 16 159 12 319 14 1Philadelphia 77 26 170 10 354 7 1Washington 52 26 221 15 294 27 3

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 26Baseball

ARIZONADIAMONDBACKS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Roberts .361 .420 61 9 22 6 0 0 5 6 15 3 0 0

Upton .322 .396 174 33 56 12 4 9 29 21 49 6 1 2

Parra .319 .367 72 11 23 3 3 1 16 5 9 0 2 2

Lopez .306 .364 180 21 55 15 0 4 10 16 30 4 2 6

Ojeda .267 .348 101 12 27 6 0 1 4 11 10 1 1 3

Reynolds .263 .354 186 32 49 10 1 13 31 25 72 11 3 7

Snyder .240 .374 100 14 24 6 0 5 17 21 25 0 0 0

Drew .221 .292 113 12 25 7 1 2 15 13 27 0 1 4

Montero .217 .330 83 9 18 5 0 2 6 12 20 0 0 4

Byrnes .214 .263 140 17 30 10 1 4 18 8 17 6 3 3

Tracy .203 .262 118 14 24 8 0 4 17 10 14 1 0 0

Jackson .182 .264 99 8 18 4 0 1 14 11 16 5 0 2

Clark .179 .258 28 3 5 1 0 2 5 3 15 0 0 1

Young .174 .215 167 17 29 11 1 3 12 8 49 4 2 0

Whitesell .133 .278 30 0 4 2 0 0 2 6 8 0 0 1

Team Totals .241 .314 1777 220 428 111 12 51 210 181 420 41 15 43

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Schlereth 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 1

Zavada 1 0 0.00 7 0 0 5.1 4 0 0 0 0 7

Pena 5 2 1.78 25 0 1 25.1 26 9 5 1 6 20

Haren 4 4 2.54 10 10 0 71.0 55 20 20 8 9 71

Gutierrez 1 2 3.00 24 0 1 30.0 27 10 10 1 11 34

Qualls 1 0 3.43 19 0 12 21.0 22 8 8 1 4 23

Davis 2 6 3.65 11 11 0 69.0 61 31 28 10 27 51

Scherzer 2 4 4.47 10 10 0 54.1 55 28 27 8 22 57

Buckner 2 1 5.24 6 3 0 22.1 23 13 13 4 9 16

Rosales 0 0 5.73 8 0 0 11.0 11 7 7 0 6 6

Garland 4 4 5.75 10 10 0 56.1 71 39 36 8 24 21

Rauch 0 0 5.96 25 0 2 22.2 28 17 15 3 11 16

Vasquez 1 1 6.11 15 0 0 17.2 21 13 12 1 11 16

Petit 0 3 8.03 6 5 0 24.2 33 24 22 8 10 19

Webb 0 0 13.50 1 1 0 4.0 6 6 6 2 2 2

Gordon 0 1 21.60 3 0 0 1.2 3 4 4 0 3 0

Team Totals 23 29 4.51 52 52 16 473.0 492 256 237 59 170 377

ATLANTABRAVES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Infante .349 .389 86 13 30 4 0 1 11 6 7 1 0 2

McCann .318 .422 107 15 34 6 0 5 18 18 12 2 1 2

C. Jones .316 .434 136 24 43 8 1 5 21 28 26 1 1 6

Escobar .299 .370 164 26 49 13 0 5 26 15 18 1 1 4

Diaz .284 .366 88 14 25 4 2 2 15 11 21 1 0 1

Kotchman .277 .340 173 15 48 16 0 2 24 14 18 0 0 0

Ross .274 .392 62 10 17 4 0 3 11 12 24 0 0 0

Anderson .266 .294 109 9 29 7 0 1 15 6 11 0 0 2

Johnson .256 .316 160 28 41 12 2 5 18 12 27 2 2 4

Francoeur .250 .271 192 24 48 5 2 3 23 5 30 1 1 0

Prado .247 .321 73 8 18 8 0 2 7 8 7 0 1 1

Schafer .204 .313 167 18 34 8 0 2 8 27 63 2 1 0

Hernandez .167 .200 24 2 4 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 1

Norton .129 .289 31 2 4 2 0 0 3 7 8 0 0 0

Team Totals .262 .337 1687 220 442 101 7 36 207 182 316 11 8 28

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Soriano 0 0 1.25 22 0 4 21.2 11 3 3 1 7 29

Acosta 0 0 1.93 4 0 0 4.2 4 1 1 0 0 2

Jurrjens 5 2 2.59 11 11 0 66.0 58 20 19 4 23 40

Bennett 2 2 2.70 24 0 0 23.1 30 8 7 0 12 17

O'Flaherty 0 0 3.00 25 0 0 18.0 14 7 6 0 1 13

Gonzalez 2 0 3.27 24 0 7 22.0 18 9 8 2 10 31

Lowe 6 3 3.49 11 11 0 69.2 62 29 27 2 22 41

Vazquez 4 4 3.58 11 11 0 70.1 65 31 28 6 16 86

Campillo 1 0 4.15 5 0 0 4.1 7 3 2 0 3 3

Kawakami 3 6 4.73 9 9 0 51.1 54 31 27 5 23 44

Moylan 1 2 5.09 26 0 0 17.2 16 11 10 0 14 15

Medlen 1 2 6.28 3 3 0 14.1 11 10 10 0 8 15

Reyes 0 2 7.00 6 5 0 27.0 27 25 21 4 13 21

Carlyle 0 1 8.84 14 0 0 19.1 31 21 19 4 11 12

Team Totals 25 25 4.11 50 50 11 445.0 428 224 203 29 171 383

CHICAGO CUBS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

J. Fox .429 .429 7 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0

Ramirez .364 .417 66 8 24 3 0 4 16 5 8 0 0 1

Fukudome .309 .439 136 26 42 10 1 5 20 31 28 4 4 0

Johnson .295 .364 78 13 23 3 1 3 14 6 11 1 0 0

Theriot .293 .355 181 28 53 11 2 5 22 16 27 7 3 4

Hill .289 .396 45 6 13 2 0 2 7 7 14 0 0 0

Hoffpauir .281 .333 96 9 27 7 0 4 16 8 21 0 0 1

Lee .248 .325 141 17 35 8 0 5 19 16 28 0 0 0

Soriano .246 .307 199 36 49 11 0 12 25 16 54 5 2 4

Scales .239 .352 46 10 11 2 1 2 6 7 13 0 0 2

Bradley .224 .343 116 19 26 3 1 5 14 18 25 0 0 0

Fontenot .224 .307 143 14 32 7 1 5 20 17 30 2 1 3

Soto .216 .336 125 9 27 4 0 1 12 21 29 0 0 2

Miles .204 .250 98 13 20 6 0 0 4 6 16 3 0 1

Freel .167 .211 18 0 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 0 1

Blanco .111 .111 9 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

Team Totals .251 .330 1627 218 408 82 7 54 206 180 367 23 12 30

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Waddell 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 2

Wells 0 2 1.80 4 4 0 25.0 22 5 5 0 7 23

Guzman 1 0 2.82 20 0 0 22.1 13 7 7 2 6 21

Marmol 1 1 3.13 25 0 3 23.0 13 9 8 1 21 27

Lilly 6 4 3.50 10 10 0 64.1 53 26 25 11 17 52

Ascanio 0 0 3.52 6 0 0 7.2 8 3 3 1 2 9

Zambrano 3 2 4.22 8 8 0 49.0 50 25 23 4 21 46

Dempster 4 3 4.48 11 11 0 68.1 60 35 34 8 27 57

Gregg 0 1 4.64 23 0 8 21.1 23 11 11 4 13 24

Marshall 3 4 4.73 11 8 0 45.2 48 26 24 7 14 31

Harden 4 2 4.74 8 8 0 43.2 39 24 23 8 21 53

Heilman 2 2 4.98 23 0 0 21.2 20 13 12 3 16 18

Patton 1 1 6.46 11 0 0 15.1 16 12 11 2 11 14

C. Fox 0 0 135.00 2 0 0 0.1 2 5 5 0 3 0

Team Totals 25 24 4.28 49 49 11 426.2 391 213 203 54 190 394

CINCINNATIREDS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Castillo .500 .500 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Votto .357 .464 126 23 45 10 0 8 33 23 25 2 1 3

Gomes .353 .421 17 1 6 1 0 0 4 2 4 1 0 0

Hanigan .333 .420 69 11 23 2 0 1 4 11 4 0 0 1

Janish .300 .378 40 5 12 3 0 0 3 3 7 0 0 1

Hernandez .283 .348 159 13 45 7 0 3 21 16 19 0 0 4

Phillips .280 .348 161 22 45 7 2 9 37 18 19 4 3 3

Nix .274 .327 95 15 26 11 1 4 12 8 32 0 0 1

Taveras .266 .325 173 33 46 7 1 1 8 14 26 12 2 1

Hairston Jr. .262 .318 141 31 37 8 1 7 16 10 23 4 1 3

Dickerson .240 .373 96 13 23 2 2 2 8 20 29 2 2 3

Rosales .239 .327 92 12 22 4 0 2 10 10 20 0 2 2

Bruce .225 .302 182 29 41 5 1 14 30 18 45 3 1 1

Gonzalez .219 .263 128 6 28 7 0 2 16 6 21 0 0 2

Encarnacion .127 .286 63 2 8 1 0 1 6 13 19 1 1 3

Team Totals .256 .331 1697 227 434 80 10 55 217 177 345 29 13 35

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Fisher 1 0 0.00 3 0 0 4.0 2 0 0 0 3 3

Rhodes 0 0 0.50 22 0 0 18.0 9 1 1 0 6 13

Masset 2 0 1.00 14 0 0 18.0 6 2 2 0 8 15

Cordero 0 2 1.64 22 0 14 22.0 18 5 4 0 7 22

Herrera 0 1 1.74 22 0 0 20.2 22 8 4 1 9 17

Cueto 4 3 2.53 10 10 0 67.2 50 20 19 7 20 50

Weathers 0 1 2.55 20 0 0 17.2 12 5 5 1 10 12

Harang 5 5 4.19 11 11 0 68.2 81 35 32 10 15 61

Volquez 4 2 4.35 9 9 0 49.2 34 25 24 6 32 47

Owings 3 6 5.10 10 9 0 54.2 59 35 31 7 27 35

Arroyo 7 3 5.12 10 10 0 65.0 67 37 37 12 22 32

Lincoln 1 0 8.10 17 0 0 20.0 25 18 18 6 16 8

Team Totals 27 23 4.05 50 50 14 455.0 421 219 205 54 194 340

Team Totals 26 23 4.10 49 49 13 446.0 414 216 203 53 191 335

NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSNATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 27Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSNATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

COLORADOROCKIES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Hawpe .345 .413 145 25 50 14 2 7 39 18 26 0 1 2

Helton .312 .371 173 28 54 10 1 7 34 18 25 0 0 1

Phillips .286 .444 7 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0

Smith .278 .425 90 16 25 3 2 4 11 23 17 2 0 0

Barmes .262 .323 145 28 38 11 2 5 19 11 33 5 2 3

Spilborghs .261 .330 161 24 42 12 1 4 23 15 35 6 3 2

Fowler .258 .346 155 22 40 11 2 2 10 22 39 11 4 1

Murton .256 .310 39 7 10 5 0 1 4 3 6 1 0 0

Iannetta .231 .350 104 15 24 5 0 8 18 18 27 0 1 1

Torrealba .230 .304 61 7 14 1 0 2 7 6 14 0 0 0

Tulowitzki .221 .313 163 21 36 6 3 5 16 23 36 4 4 2

Quintanilla .211 .348 19 4 4 1 0 0 0 4 10 0 0 0

Atkins .196 .275 168 18 33 6 0 3 17 18 26 0 0 6

Stewart .180 .287 111 16 20 4 0 7 20 14 35 2 1 3

Baker .130 .167 23 0 3 0 1 0 3 1 7 1 0 1

Team Totals .248 .330 1656 239 411 92 14 55 229 199 367 32 16 31

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Flores 0 0 0.00 5 0 0 4.0 4 0 0 0 0 5

Fogg 0 0 0.00 4 0 0 5.1 1 0 0 0 1 3

Peralta 0 0 3.18 3 0 0 5.2 7 2 2 0 1 5

Morales 1 0 3.38 2 2 0 8.0 7 3 3 3 1 9

Street 1 1 3.38 23 0 8 21.1 17 8 8 4 5 24

Marquis 7 3 3.93 10 10 0 68.2 65 33 30 6 23 33

Daley 0 1 4.15 9 0 0 8.2 5 4 4 0 4 7

Jimenez 3 6 4.37 10 10 0 59.2 60 30 29 2 26 53

Speier 0 0 4.76 5 0 0 5.2 6 3 3 0 3 2

Hammel 1 3 4.83 10 7 0 41.0 59 30 22 5 12 27

Cook 3 3 4.94 11 11 0 62.0 68 36 34 8 25 28

De La Rosa 0 6 5.43 10 10 0 54.2 52 36 33 4 26 57

Grilli 0 1 5.89 21 0 1 18.1 27 12 12 2 12 21

Corpas 0 3 6.35 24 0 1 22.2 31 16 16 1 5 12

Embree 1 2 6.60 22 0 0 15.0 19 13 11 2 8 8

Team Totals 20 30 4.84 50 50 10 436.2 488 259 235 44 159 319

FLORIDAMARLINS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Ramirez .337 .411 184 32 62 17 0 8 24 20 32 8 4 4

Cantu .271 .332 181 23 49 10 0 8 39 13 29 1 0 5

Gload .270 .373 63 13 17 1 1 1 8 11 7 0 0 1

Hermida .267 .363 187 20 50 6 1 5 23 27 48 4 1 1

Baker .259 .346 135 26 35 8 0 6 19 17 36 0 0 3

Ross .254 .306 181 26 46 13 0 7 28 11 41 2 1 2

Hayes .250 .400 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0

Bonifacio .245 .289 216 28 53 5 2 1 12 14 49 9 4 8

Helms .242 .297 66 5 16 2 0 1 11 5 18 1 1 3

Paulino .239 .338 67 6 16 3 1 1 7 10 17 1 0 2

Amezaga .217 .267 69 6 15 3 0 0 5 5 16 1 1 0

Coghlan .214 .356 70 10 15 1 1 1 6 16 14 1 0 2

Uggla .206 .324 175 22 36 9 1 9 35 30 45 1 0 5

Carroll .182 .250 22 2 4 1 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 0

Team Totals .245 .322 1807 238 443 84 8 49 227 193 443 30 13 45

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Sanches 1 1 0.00 6 0 0 7.1 6 1 0 0 1 5

Calero 1 0 2.16 30 0 0 25.0 14 6 6 0 14 32

West 0 0 2.25 2 2 0 12.0 8 3 3 1 5 7

Meyer 0 0 2.35 25 0 0 23.0 14 7 6 3 6 24

Pinto 2 0 2.53 24 0 0 21.1 22 7 6 2 12 20

Johnson 4 1 2.66 11 11 0 74.1 63 24 22 4 18 64

Nunez 2 2 3.38 27 0 1 26.2 16 10 10 4 13 21

Volstad 4 4 3.71 11 11 0 68.0 56 32 28 11 21 54

Miller 1 2 4.76 8 6 0 34.0 35 21 18 1 22 24

Cr. Martinez 1 1 4.91 2 0 0 3.2 5 2 2 1 1 6

Badenhop 3 2 4.97 12 1 0 25.1 30 14 14 3 9 22

Sanchez 1 4 5.79 6 6 0 32.2 43 21 21 6 15 25

Lindstrom 1 1 5.82 24 0 10 21.2 22 15 14 2 17 22

Penn 1 0 6.97 14 1 0 20.2 27 21 16 2 16 26

Team Totals 24 28 4.63 52 52 11 472.1 479 270 243 54 215 410

HOUSTON ASTROS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Maysonet .391 .440 23 4 9 2 0 1 5 2 3 0 0 0

Tejada .353 .380 201 28 71 20 0 5 29 6 12 2 2 8

Pence .341 .417 179 26 61 8 2 5 19 25 26 5 4 0

Lee .319 .370 188 25 60 11 1 9 31 16 15 1 1 1

Bourn .286 .356 182 28 52 8 3 1 12 19 42 16 4 1

Keppinger .282 .358 85 9 24 7 1 2 5 9 6 0 1 0

Blum .266 .333 124 12 33 5 0 1 15 12 16 0 1 1

I. Rodriguez .265 .306 147 17 39 7 2 5 22 8 35 0 2 0

Quintero .258 .258 31 0 8 1 0 0 4 0 7 0 0 3

Berkman .232 .359 168 25 39 7 1 10 31 34 38 0 2 3

Matsui .219 .288 146 18 32 6 1 1 12 13 28 6 3 2

Michaels .179 .289 39 2 7 5 0 0 2 5 11 1 1 0

Erstad .140 .200 50 4 7 1 1 0 3 4 15 0 0 0

Team Totals .270 .334 1695 209 458 88 12 41 198 156 291 31 21 23

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Sampson 2 0 2.03 24 0 2 31.0 27 9 7 1 10 14

W. Rodriguez 5 4 2.26 11 11 0 67.2 62 24 17 1 21 62

Hawkins 1 2 2.49 23 0 7 21.2 19 6 6 2 7 21

Byrdak 0 1 3.50 20 0 0 18.0 14 7 7 4 7 13

Fulchino 0 1 3.79 13 0 0 19.0 13 8 8 2 6 15

Oswalt 2 2 4.28 12 12 0 69.1 74 33 33 12 19 55

Arias 0 0 4.35 11 0 0 10.1 9 7 5 1 4 11

Brocail 1 0 4.76 7 0 0 5.2 5 3 3 2 8 4

Ortiz 2 2 4.88 11 4 0 31.1 34 19 17 2 25 23

Hampton 3 4 5.07 10 10 0 55.0 57 34 31 8 22 36

Valverde 0 1 5.63 8 0 2 8.0 7 5 5 3 3 11

Moehler 2 3 6.43 7 7 0 35.0 49 25 25 5 9 24

Paulino 1 4 6.75 9 6 0 36.0 50 30 27 7 16 26

Geary 1 3 8.10 16 0 0 20.0 30 19 18 4 10 12

Backe 0 0 18.00 1 0 0 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 1

Team Totals 21 28 4.51 50 50 11 442.2 476 242 222 57 173 343

LOS ANGELESDODGERS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Mientkiewicz .400 .400 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0

Pierre .382 .444 136 26 52 10 3 0 21 13 12 11 4 0

Ausmus .344 .400 32 6 11 1 0 0 3 2 6 1 0 0

Castro .341 .400 44 12 15 2 0 1 7 5 10 0 0 0

Hudson .332 .409 214 38 71 17 2 3 31 30 37 4 0 2

Kemp .310 .377 197 32 61 9 4 6 30 21 51 12 2 1

Blake .300 .376 160 27 48 12 1 9 33 18 39 0 0 4

Loretta .293 .414 58 11 17 3 0 0 10 11 7 0 0 0

Loney .284 .349 204 23 58 11 0 2 38 22 21 3 1 1

Martin .266 .377 173 23 46 9 0 0 20 29 35 7 3 1

Ethier .255 .361 184 30 47 11 0 6 30 27 35 3 0 3

Furcal .253 .315 186 26 47 8 0 1 11 17 30 3 3 7

Paul .214 .313 14 3 3 1 0 1 1 2 4 0 1 0

Hoffmann .188 .167 16 2 3 2 0 1 7 0 5 0 0 0

Team Totals .287 .369 1846 289 529 109 10 36 273 233 358 44 14 22

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Broxton 5 0 1.44 22 0 11 25.0 8 4 4 0 10 39

Troncoso 1 0 1.89 21 0 3 33.1 31 7 7 0 10 22

Belisario 1 2 2.30 26 0 0 31.1 22 10 8 2 15 30

Kuroda 1 1 2.53 2 2 0 10.2 7 3 3 0 4 8

Billingsley 6 3 2.80 11 11 0 74.0 58 25 23 2 32 76

Wolf 3 1 2.84 11 11 0 69.2 57 25 22 8 20 57

Milton 2 0 3.14 3 3 0 14.1 15 5 5 1 5 10

Kershaw 3 3 4.34 10 10 0 56.0 40 27 27 5 32 55

Weaver 2 1 4.38 8 3 0 24.2 26 12 12 2 15 16

Stults 4 2 4.80 9 9 0 45.0 46 24 24 2 25 30

Wade 0 3 4.82 18 0 0 18.2 19 10 10 0 9 13

Leach 1 0 5.63 13 0 0 8.0 7 5 5 0 4 10

Ohman 1 0 5.84 21 0 1 12.1 12 8 8 4 8 7

Mota 2 1 6.53 20 0 0 20.2 26 15 15 2 12 10

Kuo 1 0 6.75 7 0 0 5.1 5 4 4 1 4 4

Team Totals 35 18 3.72 53 53 15 474.0 406 203 196 34 222 402

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MILWAUKEEBREWERS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Counsell .324 .387 111 17 36 6 0 1 8 11 14 0 1 3

Rivera .323 .313 31 1 10 3 0 0 2 0 5 0 0 0

Braun .309 .420 178 34 55 10 1 9 32 26 38 3 3 1

Catalanotto .300 .300 10 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0

Cameron .288 .388 170 26 49 12 0 11 27 29 40 2 0 1

Weeks .272 .340 147 28 40 5 2 9 24 12 39 2 2 6

Fielder .271 .411 177 28 48 7 1 12 48 40 51 0 1 3

McGehee .256 .320 43 6 11 2 0 0 4 5 7 0 0 0

Hart .254 .325 185 31 47 11 1 5 20 19 50 3 3 2

Hardy .241 .319 162 22 39 7 1 5 24 18 29 0 0 3

Hall .221 .288 140 15 31 9 0 4 12 13 44 1 0 3

Kendall .217 .310 143 16 31 6 1 0 16 16 17 0 1 4

Gamel .207 .324 29 1 6 2 0 1 6 4 8 0 0 1

Gerut .091 .167 11 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0

Team Totals .251 .339 1689 239 424 82 8 59 235 207 406 11 11 30

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Hoffman 0 0 0.00 15 0 13 15.0 6 0 0 0 1 14

DiFelice 3 0 1.16 22 0 0 23.1 15 3 3 2 4 23

Coffey 1 0 2.49 23 0 2 25.1 26 7 7 1 5 18

McClung 2 1 2.63 20 0 0 27.1 20 8 8 2 18 20

Gallardo 5 2 3.18 10 10 0 65.0 49 24 23 7 24 65

Villanueva 2 3 3.60 24 0 3 25.0 16 11 10 1 9 26

Stetter 2 0 3.94 25 0 0 16.0 10 7 7 2 10 15

Looper 5 3 4.24 10 10 0 57.1 58 31 27 11 19 32

Bush 3 1 4.38 11 10 0 63.2 58 33 31 13 18 45

Suppan 3 4 5.09 11 11 0 58.1 67 35 33 12 27 32

Parra 3 6 5.57 10 10 0 53.1 58 36 33 5 34 46

Julio 1 1 7.79 15 0 0 17.1 15 17 15 2 15 13

Riske 0 0 18.00 1 0 0 1.0 4 2 2 0 0 0

Team Totals 30 21 4.03 51 51 18 450.2 407 218 202 59 186 353

NEW YORKMETS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Valdez .364 .417 11 2 4 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 1

Beltran .352 .447 176 31 62 15 1 6 31 29 28 7 1 2

Cora .333 .435 51 9 17 4 1 0 4 10 5 3 1 1

Pagan .333 .429 42 7 14 3 0 0 3 7 9 4 0 0

Wright .328 .429 183 31 60 12 3 3 30 32 54 12 7 7

Delgado .298 .393 94 15 28 7 1 4 23 12 20 0 0 2

Reed .291 .328 55 5 16 3 1 0 3 3 15 0 1 1

Castillo .284 .383 141 28 40 4 2 0 11 24 13 6 2 4

Sheffield .283 .427 99 26 28 5 1 5 20 24 17 2 1 1

Reyes .279 .355 147 18 41 7 2 2 15 18 19 11 2 5

Santos .275 .303 80 11 22 5 1 3 18 5 14 0 0 0

Church .272 .328 125 9 34 7 0 1 8 10 18 2 1 1

Tatis .267 .327 90 14 24 4 1 2 11 4 7 2 1 1

Murphy .243 .321 140 21 34 5 1 4 17 17 14 1 1 4

F. Martinez .211 .318 19 2 4 2 0 0 3 2 3 2 0 0

Schneider .185 .313 27 4 5 1 0 0 4 5 1 0 0 0

R. Martinez .150 .167 40 0 6 2 0 0 4 1 9 1 0 4

Team Totals .280 .363 1688 239 472 92 16 33 225 216 284 53 18 38

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Rodriguez 1 0 0.73 24 0 14 24.2 14 5 2 1 11 27

Santana 7 2 1.77 10 10 0 66.0 52 20 13 5 20 86

Parnell 2 0 2.08 26 0 0 21.2 25 7 5 0 9 20

Feliciano 2 1 2.53 28 0 0 21.1 16 10 6 3 3 22

Stokes 1 2 2.66 19 0 0 20.1 21 8 6 1 5 9

Takahashi 0 1 2.92 9 0 0 12.1 10 4 4 1 4 8

Maine 5 3 3.75 10 10 0 57.2 45 26 24 4 32 41

Pelfrey 4 1 3.88 9 9 0 55.2 57 24 24 4 19 23

Hernandez 4 1 4.33 10 10 0 60.1 70 29 29 7 16 36

Putz 1 4 4.76 28 0 2 28.1 26 16 15 1 19 19

Green 0 2 6.98 21 0 0 19.1 25 15 15 3 11 18

Redding 0 2 9.20 3 3 0 14.2 18 15 15 2 10 10

Perez 1 2 9.97 5 5 0 21.2 28 24 24 3 21 20

Team Totals 28 22 3.88 50 50 16 447.2 435 216 193 36 189 357

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Ibanez .333 .394 192 40 64 12 2 17 46 19 32 4 0 1

Ruiz .305 .430 82 6 25 10 0 2 10 16 9 2 1 1

Feliz .299 .360 167 19 50 13 1 2 27 17 22 0 0 2

Utley .299 .434 164 36 49 8 0 12 35 29 29 5 0 5

Victorino .295 .343 210 35 62 13 4 4 27 16 20 8 3 0

Stairs .281 .465 32 7 9 1 0 3 8 9 10 0 0 0

Howard .264 .336 197 33 52 13 2 15 41 20 62 2 0 1

Coste .254 .356 63 6 16 7 0 2 7 9 14 0 0 0

Werth .247 .338 178 34 44 10 1 8 26 22 46 9 1 1

Rollins .230 .273 213 32 49 13 1 3 18 12 26 9 4 3

Mayberry .222 .222 9 1 2 1 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 0

Dobbs .154 .267 39 5 6 1 0 1 4 6 9 0 0 0

Bruntlett .118 .179 34 5 4 4 0 0 4 3 9 0 0 1

Team Totals .265 .346 1692 272 448 109 11 71 260 193 326 39 9 17

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Escalona 1 0 0.00 3 0 0 2.1 1 0 0 0 0 2

Condrey 4 0 2.20 26 0 1 28.2 20 7 7 4 9 20

Madson 2 1 2.49 25 0 1 25.1 20 7 7 0 8 28

Eyre 0 1 2.84 22 0 0 12.2 8 5 4 2 9 8

Happ 3 0 3.00 14 2 0 33.0 21 11 11 3 12 26

Taschner 1 1 3.92 15 0 0 20.2 20 9 9 2 15 11

Durbin 1 1 4.50 25 0 0 26.0 21 16 13 3 15 23

Myers 4 3 4.66 10 10 0 63.2 66 33 33 17 20 46

Hamels 3 2 5.21 9 9 0 48.1 58 29 28 10 10 50

Blanton 4 3 5.86 10 10 0 58.1 68 38 38 11 20 53

Park 1 1 6.57 10 7 0 38.1 45 28 28 5 20 27

Moyer 4 5 6.75 10 10 0 53.1 71 40 40 14 16 30

Lidge 0 2 7.40 26 0 13 24.1 30 20 20 6 13 26

Team Totals 29 20 4.98 49 49 15 439.1 457 248 243 77 170 354

PITTSBURGHPIRATES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Sanchez .325 .364 200 31 65 18 2 4 18 11 34 4 1 1

Diaz .311 .338 61 5 19 3 0 1 8 1 4 0 1 2

An. LaRoche .304 .374 161 19 49 13 1 2 25 15 28 2 0 6

Young .298 .375 57 7 17 3 0 0 10 7 18 1 0 1

Morgan .280 .362 186 28 52 5 4 0 17 22 37 11 5 0

Hinske .270 .372 74 12 20 6 0 1 7 9 17 0 0 0

Jaramillo .269 .360 78 7 21 8 0 0 7 11 8 1 0 2

Wilson .263 .290 118 12 31 9 1 1 17 5 12 1 1 5

Moss .262 .307 141 21 37 9 2 1 12 8 26 0 0 0

McLouth .250 .346 164 26 41 6 0 9 33 21 29 7 0 0

Doumit .244 .271 45 5 11 4 0 2 9 2 10 0 0 1

Ad. LaRoche .242 .332 178 30 43 16 1 7 22 24 45 0 0 1

Monroe .235 .278 68 6 16 2 0 3 15 4 16 0 0 0

Vazquez .232 .349 69 8 16 1 0 0 7 12 19 0 0 1

Team Totals .264 .332 1721 222 455 108 11 32 213 160 362 27 8 23

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Jackson 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Meek 0 0 2.60 15 0 0 17.1 13 5 5 0 14 10

Duke 5 4 2.75 10 10 0 72.0 63 24 22 4 17 42

Chavez 0 2 2.86 25 0 0 22.0 20 7 7 2 7 17

Burnett 1 1 3.18 25 0 1 22.2 15 9 8 2 12 17

Maholm 3 2 3.82 11 11 0 68.1 69 31 29 3 23 38

Veal 0 0 4.26 5 0 0 6.1 5 3 3 1 10 6

Ohlendorf 5 5 4.45 10 10 0 60.2 57 31 30 10 17 32

Grabow 3 0 4.50 23 0 0 22.0 27 12 11 1 12 17

Karstens 2 2 4.83 9 9 0 50.1 50 28 27 8 17 22

Snell 1 6 5.64 11 11 0 59.0 60 39 37 7 35 42

Hansen 0 0 5.68 5 0 0 6.1 6 4 4 1 4 5

Capps 0 3 5.94 19 0 11 16.2 23 11 11 2 9 12

Gorzelanny 3 1 7.50 6 0 0 6.0 5 5 5 0 4 5

Yates 0 2 7.50 15 0 0 12.0 14 12 10 2 7 9

Team Totals 23 28 4.25 51 51 12 442.2 427 221 209 43 189 274

NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSNATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 29Baseball

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Pujols .339 .468 171 42 58 10 0 16 43 42 18 7 2 6

Schumaker .300 .344 170 23 51 10 1 3 16 12 18 1 1 2

Molina .271 .349 155 14 42 4 1 3 17 18 14 3 1 1

Ryan .269 .333 78 13 21 6 1 0 3 7 10 3 1 1

Thurston .258 .370 124 19 32 13 3 1 15 21 23 3 1 4

Duncan .256 .346 160 16 41 13 2 4 27 23 38 0 1 3

Ludwick .254 .323 118 17 30 4 0 8 27 11 23 2 0 1

LaRue .250 .294 32 5 8 1 0 1 2 1 9 0 0 0

Stavinoha .250 .261 44 3 11 4 0 1 10 1 4 1 0 0

Rasmus .243 .311 148 23 36 9 0 6 20 12 31 1 0 2

Barden .239 .297 92 13 22 3 0 4 8 6 17 0 0 3

Ankiel .221 .299 95 12 21 7 0 2 11 8 26 0 0 1

K. Greene .200 .287 105 13 21 4 0 2 14 12 17 2 1 7

Team Totals .256 .332 1682 231 430 96 8 54 224 180 302 27 8 33

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Carpenter 3 0 0.62 5 5 0 29.0 16 3 2 0 5 28

Franklin 1 0 1.35 20 0 12 20.0 12 3 3 2 5 15

McClellan 2 2 1.80 23 0 1 25.0 15 7 5 2 14 20

Perez 1 1 2.16 21 0 1 16.2 9 4 4 1 13 21

Miller 1 0 2.84 18 0 0 12.2 12 5 4 2 3 13

Motte 1 1 3.00 23 0 0 21.0 16 7 7 0 7 19

Wainwright 5 3 3.38 11 11 0 72.0 66 30 27 7 28 59

Reyes 0 1 3.77 25 0 1 14.1 13 6 6 2 5 16

Pineiro 5 5 3.86 10 10 0 65.1 73 32 28 2 8 25

Lohse 4 3 3.98 9 9 0 54.1 49 26 24 5 16 38

Thompson 0 1 4.30 9 0 0 14.2 16 7 7 1 2 6

Wellemeyer 5 5 5.05 11 11 0 62.1 74 37 35 4 27 39

Boyer 0 0 5.56 14 0 0 11.1 10 8 7 1 4 8

Team Totals 29 22 3.61 51 51 15 454.0 426 200 182 35 158 338

SAN DIEGOPADRES

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Hairston .331 .390 145 21 48 10 1 8 23 13 32 6 1 1

Gwynn .310 .375 29 8 9 1 1 0 1 3 6 1 1 1

Cabrera .308 .357 13 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0

A. Gonzalez .290 .401 183 38 53 4 0 21 41 33 41 1 1 2

Rodriguez .256 .396 78 11 20 4 0 1 7 20 9 0 0 2

Hundley .244 .340 123 10 30 6 2 3 10 18 34 1 1 2

Eckstein .240 .320 175 21 42 11 1 0 15 16 16 2 0 0

Headley .235 .307 162 14 38 7 1 4 19 16 50 6 1 1

Kouzmanoff .230 .282 187 13 43 8 1 4 20 9 42 1 0 1

C. Burke .206 .270 68 6 14 5 0 1 4 5 14 3 1 5

Giles .193 .281 176 12 34 8 1 2 19 22 21 1 0 0

E. Gonzalez .177 .257 62 9 11 2 2 3 7 5 13 0 2 2

Blanco .172 .273 58 8 10 1 0 3 6 8 13 0 0 0

Wilson .150 .190 20 1 3 2 0 0 1 1 4 0 0 2

Floyd .000 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Team Totals .239 .318 1700 203 406 81 10 55 195 185 355 24 8 23

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Thatcher 0 0 0.00 5 0 0 4.1 1 0 0 0 2 2

G. Burke 0 0 1.17 9 0 0 7.2 3 1 1 0 0 5

Bell 2 1 1.27 22 0 15 21.1 14 3 3 0 6 26

Mujica 2 1 2.49 22 0 1 25.1 21 9 7 2 6 28

Meredith 4 0 2.95 20 0 0 18.1 23 8 6 1 6 13

Gregerson 0 3 3.56 27 0 0 30.1 27 12 12 1 16 31

Peavy 5 5 3.67 11 11 0 73.2 59 31 30 7 24 84

Young 4 3 4.45 11 11 0 62.2 55 34 31 6 31 46

Perdomo 1 0 4.70 11 0 0 15.1 13 10 8 2 7 7

Gaudin 2 3 4.76 7 7 0 39.2 34 22 21 1 26 36

Geer 1 1 5.17 8 7 0 47.0 48 31 27 9 8 24

Hill 1 1 5.25 3 3 0 12.0 15 7 7 1 3 7

Correia 1 4 5.37 10 10 0 53.2 61 32 32 7 25 41

Team Totals 25 26 4.31 51 51 16 455.0 430 235 218 46 197 370

SAN FRANCISCOGIANTS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Sandoval .308 .350 169 18 52 14 2 3 20 8 24 2 2 1

Uribe .304 .325 79 4 24 4 1 0 8 3 15 0 1 2

Whiteside .286 .286 7 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Rowand .283 .344 166 23 47 15 0 5 22 13 35 3 0 1

Lewis .276 .376 156 30 43 10 2 3 8 21 48 4 3 3

Winn .275 .333 182 25 50 12 3 2 20 17 35 8 1 0

Burriss .271 .331 166 15 45 5 0 0 11 13 28 11 4 5

Ishikawa .262 .339 107 15 28 3 1 1 15 10 33 1 0 2

Molina .254 .265 181 19 46 8 1 8 32 2 23 0 0 2

Torres .250 .400 12 4 3 0 0 1 2 3 5 1 0 0

Renteria .247 .335 154 21 38 7 0 2 23 20 24 3 2 3

Schierholtz .241 .262 58 5 14 3 1 0 4 2 9 0 1 0

Aurilia .200 .229 65 5 13 2 0 1 11 3 13 0 0 0

Team Totals .258 .316 1655 193 427 84 11 26 181 126 346 34 14 25

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

Affeldt 0 1 1.96 26 0 0 23.0 20 6 5 1 11 20

Cain 6 1 2.31 10 10 0 66.1 60 18 17 6 27 46

Miller 1 1 2.42 19 0 0 22.1 17 6 6 3 10 16

Valdez 2 0 2.76 15 0 0 16.1 13 5 5 1 7 9

Medders 2 1 2.78 22 0 0 22.2 20 9 7 1 15 20

Lincecum 4 1 3.03 10 10 0 65.1 59 23 22 1 19 84

Howry 0 2 3.79 21 0 0 19.0 19 8 8 1 7 13

Zito 1 6 4.02 10 10 0 62.2 60 28 28 7 26 43

Wilson 2 3 4.07 24 0 12 24.1 22 13 11 2 9 23

Sanchez 2 4 4.75 10 9 0 47.1 42 27 25 4 34 45

Johnson 4 4 5.71 10 10 0 52.0 56 33 33 10 19 54

Martinez 1 0 6.75 2 0 0 2.2 4 2 2 0 1 2

Romo 0 0 27.00 1 0 0 0.2 3 2 2 0 0 2

Team Totals 25 24 3.81 49 49 12 439.1 418 196 186 40 194 383

WASHINGTONNATIONALS

BATTERS AVG OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Johnson .331 .435 178 28 59 7 1 4 26 30 31 1 1 5

Guzman .329 .341 164 28 54 10 2 2 12 3 24 1 2 6

Zimmerman .319 .386 207 39 66 14 0 11 35 24 41 0 0 6

Flores .311 .382 90 13 28 3 2 4 15 11 26 0 0 1

Nieves .281 .324 64 7 18 3 0 0 8 3 17 0 0 3

Gonzalez .278 .333 54 6 15 3 1 1 6 4 2 1 0 6

Dukes .277 .347 112 12 31 8 1 4 24 12 29 2 6 1

Hernandez .273 .350 121 15 33 5 1 0 13 15 21 3 1 5

Dunn .270 .399 178 27 48 6 0 16 42 39 55 0 1 7

Harris .264 .400 72 13 19 5 1 1 9 12 15 3 0 0

Willingham .252 .376 111 18 28 6 0 9 12 17 27 0 1 1

Bernadina .250 .400 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

Kearns .226 .355 115 17 26 6 2 3 15 20 30 1 0 0

Bard .174 .208 46 3 8 4 0 0 5 2 8 0 0 0

Belliard .174 .230 69 5 12 1 1 2 6 5 18 0 0 2

Team Totals .266 .351 1742 240 463 84 12 57 232 211 410 17 12 48

PITCHERS W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO

MacDougal 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 1.0 2 2 0 0 1 1

Villone 2 0 0.00 15 0 0 13.0 8 0 0 0 6 3

Bergmann 0 0 3.97 10 0 0 11.1 8 6 5 1 6 6

Lannan 2 5 4.21 11 11 0 62.0 69 33 29 9 26 34

Detwiler 0 1 4.80 3 3 0 15.0 15 9 8 1 5 12

Beimel 0 3 4.87 21 0 0 20.1 26 11 11 2 8 11

Hanrahan 0 2 5.40 24 0 5 23.1 28 14 14 3 11 30

Tavarez 1 4 5.40 24 0 1 20.0 17 16 12 1 14 19

Stammen 0 1 5.56 2 2 0 11.1 11 7 7 1 3 5

Martis 5 1 5.62 10 10 0 57.2 59 37 36 7 23 26

Zimmermann 2 2 6.07 8 8 0 46.0 54 31 31 7 14 47

Wells 0 2 6.26 19 0 2 23.0 20 16 16 1 15 16

Olsen 1 4 7.24 8 8 0 41.0 60 36 33 8 18 29

Colome 0 0 9.00 7 0 0 5.0 9 5 5 0 2 7

Team Totals 13 36 5.69 50 50 8 440.0 500 308 278 52 221 294

NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAM STATSTHROUGH MONDAY’S GAMES

It’s June, everyone. The time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to … preseason polls.

They’re out in full force now—from preseason magazines to blogs to that annoying talk radio guy who scans the Internet to come up with

“his” top 25.This poll sees

the season for what it is: the players.

And there are rules to my annual summer splash of the top 25 players in the nation:

It has nothing to do with NFL value.

It has everything to do with col-lege value.

Now that we have that squared away, on with the show.

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida. I said it last year and everyone thought I was an idiot (some still do): When his career is complete, Tebow will be the greatest amateur player ever in a team sport. No one affects the game like he can.

2. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma. Performs off the charts in three critical areas for a quarterback: mental toughness, accuracy/arm strength, leadership.

3. Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State. Deep speed for big plays, physical frame for tough catches—an absolute nightmare in man cov-erage. One more thing: Don’t even punt to him.

4. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas. Sees plays develop before they do and throws on the run better than any-one in a long, long time.

5. Taylor Mays, S, USC. An

enforcer who can change passing games with one big hit; and plays like a fourth linebacker in run support.

6. George Selvie, DE. South Flor-ida. Forget about his injury-marred 2008. When healthy, he’s a disrup-tive, unblockable force.

7. Jahvid Best, RB, California. The fastest player in the game blos-somed as a runner last fall. Now he has added muscle mass.

8. Eric Berry, S, Tennessee. At some point, the new Tennessee staff must find a way to get Berry 10 plays a game on offense.

9. Jeremiah Masoli, QB, Oregon. More of a run threat last season, watch how he develops in the pass-ing game in Year 2 under new coach Chip Kelly.

10. Kendall Hunter, RB, Oklahoma State. Best pure tailback in the game; could reach 2,000 yards with the most balanced offense in the nation.

11. Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama. When McClain was a freshman, one AFC scout told me he was the best linebacker in the SEC. That was two years ago.

12. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska. Suh isn’t your typical, beefy nose-guard: athletic and powerful, he’s also a dangerous pass rusher.

13. Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Georgia Tech. Think about this: Dwyer said that by the end of an impressive 2008 season, he still didn’t com-pletely comprehend Tech’s triple option offense.

14. Jermaine Gresham, TE, Okla-homa. A matchup problem for any defense, he will dominate with more physical play after the catch.

15. Julio Jones, WR, Alabama. Had a brilliant freshman season despite

average quarterback play. What happens if/when the Tide gets an athletic quarterback with a strong arm?

16. Jerry Hughes, DE, TCU. Former high school tailback continues to add rush moves to his game and no longer is just a speed guy off the edge.

17. Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida. Fiery, emotional, big-hitting run stuffer with invaluable leadership skills.

18. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State. You better believe this raw project is among the best in the nation. Or as former USC linebacker Rey

Maualuga said last September: “He’s going to be unreal.”

19. Ciron Black, OT, LSU. The best pass blocker in the game; he’s a wall to get around.

20. Jevan Snead, QB, Ole Miss. First season as a starter was remarkable, especially considering he sat out 2007 after transferring from Texas.

21. Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame. Explosive, tough athlete is a break-away threat in any route on the field—and with kick returns.

22. Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma. Prototypical interior run-stuffer finally put it all together last year—and smartly stayed in school for one more run at a national title and to improve his draft stock.

23. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State. Diminutive ‘Quizz would’ve been the first freshman to lead the Pac-10 in rushing had a shoulder injury not limited him the last three games of the season.

24. Joe Haden, CB, Florida. The best cover corner in the game. For-mer high school quarterback gets terrific breaks on the ball because of his passing game knowledge.

25. Arrelious Benn, WR, Illinois. Illini quarterback Juice Williams regressed last year, but the dynamic Benn continued to put up big numbers.

Ten on the outside: Robert Grif-fin, QB, Baylor; Jason Worilds, DE, Virginia Tech; Syd’Quan Thomp-son, CB, California; Zac Robinson, QB, Oklahoma State; Carlos Dun-lap, DE, Florida; Sergio Kindle, DE/LB, Texas; Damian Williams, WR, USC; Navorro Bowman, LB, Penn State; Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama; Stevenson Sylvester, LB, Utah.

mhayes@sportingnews.com

This preseason top 25 belongs to game’s best players

Matt HayesCOLLEGE FOOTBALL

AP PHOTOS

In December, Heisman voters rewarded Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, above, for his toughness, leadership and raw skills. Now, in June, he’s second in our list of the country’s top 25 players.

Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh, right, has the athletic ability necessary to do more than clog the middle—last season against San Diego State, he returned an interception for a touchdown.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 30College Football

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 31College Football / College Basketball

Arizona junior PG Nic Wise likely won’t decide whether to stay in the NBA draft until close to the June 15 deadline—even though he wasn’t one of 52 players invited to the pre-draft combine last week in Chicago.

Former teammate Chase Budinger, who waited until the deadline last season before announcing his return to the Wildcats, said he and Wise have stayed in touch.

“Maybe not as close as me, but he’ll be pretty close,” Budinger told the Arizona Daily Star of Wise’s timetable.

Wise has worked out for sev-eral teams, including his hometown Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs, according to the newspaper.

“He’s doing nothing wrong and everything right,” Arizona coach Sean Miller told the news-paper. “He’s working out for NBA teams, he has the name in the draft and doesn’t have an agent. … I think he’s doing a really good job of handling it.”

Wise’s father and former high school coach, Greg Wise, has been working with his son and communicating with Miller, according to the news-paper. Nic Wise averaged 15.7 points and 4.6 assists last sea-son as a junior.

New Alabama coach Anthony Grant recently said he sought advice from Florida coach Billy Donovan before tak-ing the job. Grant was an assis-tant at Florida for 10 years.

“We talked, but Anthony is his own man and makes his own decisions,” Donovan told The Gainesville Sun. “I told him I really thought Alabama would be a great situation and a great fit for him. I like their team, I like the people they had there. It seems they made a very strong commitment (to basketball) for Anthony.”

Arkansas sophomore G Marcus Britt was arrested early Saturday and charged with first-offense DWI, driving with a suspended license, no insurance, failure to appear and running a stop sign.

The Times-Herald of Forrest City, Ark., reported Monday that Britt, 21, was stopped at 2:40 a.m. Saturday after failing to stop for a stop sign. He aver-aged 3.7 points last season.

St. Mary’s sophomore PG Patty Mills said Monday he will forgo his final two years of col-lege eligibility and keep his name in the NBA draft.

He averaged 18.7 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals last year.

Missouri and Illinois have agreed to call off their series in St. Louis after opening the next two seasons there.

After the 2010 game, there will be a “hiatus,” Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther told the News-Gazette of Champaign. The teams opened each of the past two seasons in St. Louis, with Missouri winning both games.

“Eventually, we might resume it on a home-and-home basis, or per-haps return to St. Louis, but we have been leaning toward games on campus at some point in the future,” Guenther told the newspaper.

Illinois would like to play seven or eight home games each year, Guenther said, because the season ticket and suite holders deserve it. He said that playing a game at a neutral site makes that goal more difficult to achieve.

Florida starting CB Janoris Jen-kins was arrested early Saturday after he was involved in a street fight and an officer used a Taser on him, according to Gainesville police.

Police used a Taser on Jenkins, a freshman All-American last year, after he failed to comply with requests to stop fighting with five other people, according to Alachua County jail records. Jenkins was arrested on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest without violence.

Gainesville attorney Huntley John-son, who is representing Jenkins, told the Orlando Sentinel he believes his client did nothing wrong during the weekend skirmish and simply defended himself.

East Carolina coach Skip Holtz says WR Jamar Bryant and RB Jona-than Williams likely will return to the team this fall after missing much of last season because of suspensions for violating team policies.

“At this point, if they keep doing what they’re doing, I would expect them to be back,” Holtz told The News & Observer.

Bryant was suspended after five games and Williams after seven. Bryant, who had 19 receptions, par-ticipated in spring practice, but Williams, who led the team with 5.1 yards per carry, did not.

“They made a 30-second bad decision,” Holtz told the newspaper. “As I told them, our prisons are full of good people who made a 30-sec-ond bad decision.”

Kelvin Grady might be staying at Michigan.

After leaving the basketball team two months ago with the intention of transferring to another school, Grady is consid-ering a future in football, possibly at Michigan.

He has talked with members of the Michigan coaching staff, according to the Detroit Free Press. He could play this fall if he decided to stay at Michigan and would have three years of football eligibility remaining.

Grady (5-10) rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 28 touch-downs as a running back his senior season in high school.

His brother, Kevin Grady, is a senior running back for the Wolverines.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COLLEGE BASKETBALL

INSIDE DISH INSIDE DISH

Arizona PG may push draft decision to limit

Top 100 countdownSporting News Today is counting down its Top 100 college football teams for 2009, featuring one team each day leading into the season opener Thursday, Sept. 3. Go to SportingNews.com for the previous teams.

SAN JOSE STATE 2008 record: 6-6 overall, 4-4 WAC Coach: Dick Tomey Outlook: The Spartans needed

help offensively last season, and they’re hoping new quarterbacks coach Terry Malley of the Arena Football League will provide it. Malley’s challenge is helping QB Kyle Reed reach his potential. Reed will benefit from the return of wideout Kevin Jurovich, who caught a school-record 85 passes in 2007 before missing last season with mono.

— Derek Samson

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ / AP

San Jose State WR Kevin Jurovich, who missed 2008 with mono, caught 85 passes in 2007.

94Illinois, Missouri taking ‘hiatus’

JEFF ROBERSON / AP

WR Jeremy Maclin, left, now in the NFL, helped the Tigers win their last two meetings with Illinois.

Talor Battle averaged 16.7 points and

5.0 assists as a sophomore point guard for

the Penn State Nittany Lions. He scored 29

points in a road victory against the Final

Four bound Michigan State Spartans. And

he played all but seven minutes of a pos-

sible 205 in his team’s triumph at the 2009

NIT.

It was quite a season for Battle, but not

quite enough to make him a household

name. Remember, he plays at Penn State,

which still is trying to prove it is a serious

player in hoops. PSU has only eight NCAA

Tournament appearances in its history, just

three since the bracket expanded in 1985,

and none since 2001.

A 5-11 junior-to-be from Albany, N.Y.,

Battle will take another step toward estab-

lishing Penn State as a basketball school

when he tries out for the United States

team that will compete at this summer’s

World University Games in Serbia. The trials

begin June 16 in Colorado Springs.

Battle recently chatted with Sporting

News’ Mike DeCourcy.

Q: Were you surprised to get the call from USA

Basketball?

A: Surprised? Not really. I wasn’t really thinking about

it. I was excited when I got the call. I’m really looking forward to going out and trying to play well.

Q: Is getting the chance to wear your country’s

colors something you’d hoped to accomplish?

A: Definitely. That’s cool—a once-in-a-lifetime experi-

ence. I’m going to go out there with a great mindset and try to do really well to make the team. That would be a great feeling for myself and

just everyone around me.

Q: Did the success of the “Redeem Team” from

last summer’s Olympics have any bearing on your interest in playing for the U.S.?

A: No, not really. Those guys—the U.S. should win

every year. They’ve got the greatest players in the world. I was happy to see them win, but it wasn’t a surprise.

Q: How much do you know about Serbia?

A: I don’t know anything about Serbia. Nothing at all.

Q: Are you going to study up on it at all?

A: Absolutely not. If I make the team, I’ll go out there

and find out what it’s all about.

Q: Some college players have turned down

invitations because of summer school or “to work on their games.” Did you give any thought to either?

A: I figure I work hard enough and have plenty of time to

work even harder when I’m done with these games. The season’s a long time away. Playing with a team is an opportunity to meet new people, play against the best guys in college.

Q: Concerned about the altitude in Colorado

Springs?

A: I’m trying not to think about that. Everybody

keeps saying that to me. I’m just going to go out there and play.

I’ve seen all the football games, and people are getting the oxygen. But I saw my man Kobe out there in Denver taking care of biz. I think I’ll be all right.

Q: Although Penn State got some NIT airtime, there

still are a lot of people who don’t know how good you are. Is this a chance to show a few more?

A: No matter where I’m playing, I play for that same

purpose. You never know who’s watching. You could come to my high school and watch me work out, and it’s the same as if there’s a whole bunch of NBA scouts

watching. I’m not really trying to impress people, but I want to go out and play my game and hopefully they like it.

Q: Your brother, Taran Buie, recently

committed to Penn State. Should we take that to mean you’ve been pleased with your college choice?

A: Regardless of what my brother did, Penn State has

been a great fit for me. I knew that going in. My first year we strug-gled, and now we won the NIT. We were right there at getting into the tournament. It’s turned out great.

Q: Tell me something about coach (Ed) DeChellis

that I might not know.

A: You probably know as much as I know. He’s just

busy. I don’t really see him that much—practice and games. I don’t really know any secrets about him.

Q: How good will Penn State be next season?

A: I’ll let you know after the season. I can’t tell you

before. We lose a couple guys, Jamelle (Cornley) and Danny (Morrissey). And they played a big part in our success. I know just about as much as you do about what’s going to happen. I know we’re going to work hard, and hopefully we’ll have another great year.

Q: You were pretty good last season. Anything

you’ll be better at when we next see you in a PSU uniform?

A: I want to improve on every aspect of my game. Then I’ll

really know I got better–not just better in certain areas. I want to defend the ball better. I want to shoot a higher percentage. I want to make a whole lot more free throws. I’m just busting my butt to improve and really make my team succeed.

Q&A with ... Penn State G Talor Battle

‘I want to improve on every aspect of my game’

CAROLYN KASTER / AP

Penn State PG Talor Battle (12) averaged 16.7 points and 5.0 assists as a sophomore last season, leading his team to the NIT title.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 32College Basketball

The Lions may follow the lead of the Falcons (Matt Ryan) and Ravens (Joe Flacco) and try to cash in immedi-ately on their big quarterback invest-ment. The idea of starting rookie Matthew Stafford right way seems to be gaining momentum with coach Jim Schwartz, SI.com reported.

“We’ve got two criteria for when Matthew will play,’’ Schwartz told SI.com. “One is he’ll play when he’s ready. The second is when he’s the best quarterback for us. But so far, whatever the opposite of buy-ers’ remorse is, that’s what we have. We knew he had the terrific NFL arm. But we’ve found out his release is just textbook classic.’’

Schwartz indicates the team’s last minicamp in June will be key in the competition between Stafford and veteran Daunte Culpepper. “We’re going to have an arms race,” Schwartz said. Before the draft, the Lions signed Stafford, the first over-all pick, to a six-year contract that includes $41.7 million guaranteed.

Titans QB Vince Young, cur-rently backing up Kerry Collins, said in an interview with a Baltimore TV station that he either wants to play or move on.

“I definitely want to get back out there playing ball and picking up where I left off, winning games and having a good time with my teammates and with the fans,” Young said. “At the same time, if them guys don’t want me to be in there, it’s time for me to make a career change for myself. Because the fact is I’m ready to play ball. If they’re not ready for me to play ball, then somebody is.”

Young suffered a knee injury in the first game of the season last year. Collins stepped in and kept the job, leading the Titans to a 13-3 record and the playoffs.

Jets RB Leon Washington returned to the team Monday after boycotting practice the last three weeks in a contract dispute. Wash-ington, selected for his first Pro Bowl last season as a kick returner, was back on the field to start New York’s final week of team activities.

Agent Alvin Keels wrote on his Twitter page that Washington returned “while we continue to work on a contract extension for him. A move of good faith.” Wash-ington is due to earn $535,000 this

season, the final year of his rookie deal. He’s believed to be looking for about $6 million a year, similar to deals that Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew and San Diego’s Darren Sproles have received.

Cardinals G.M. Rod Graves says he looks forward to negotiat-ing with Tom Condon, the new agent for disgruntled WR Anquan Boldin. Condon has not confirmed multi-ple reports that he has been hired by Boldin, but Graves ended any doubt with his comments after the Cardinals’ practice Monday.

“I look forward to working with him on this deal whenever we can get the opportunity to concentrate on it,” Graves said. Graves said he

has already had contact with Con-don. “I anticipate a meeting with him sometime later this month,” Graves said.

Boldin, embroiled in a long contract fight with the Cardinals, fired Drew Rosenhaus last month. Boldin sat out a May minicamp, citing a sore hamstring. He has been a no-show in the subsequent voluntary workouts.

49ers S Mark Roman plans to report to the team today and play out the final year of his contract. Earlier in the offseason, he received permission to seek a trade, but nothing materialized.

Roman sought the trade because the club planned

to promote third-year S Dashon Goldson to play next to Michael Lewis in the secondary. But Roman has decided to stay in San Francisco in more of a nickel back-type role and to test free agency in 2010.

— Albert Breer

Bengals CB Leon Hall has pleaded to a reduced charge in his drunken driving case, allowing him to avoid jail time. Hall pleaded guilty on Monday to a misdemeanor charge of reckless operation of a vehicle. He must attend a three-day program that deals with how alcohol and drugs affect driving and perform 64 hours of community service.

The Eagles added former Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart to their coaching staff on Monday. Stewart will be a spe-cial assistant to the defense, work-ing primarily with the secondary. Sean McDermott, the secondary coach last season, is running the defense while defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is on an indefinite leave of absence to continue treatment for a cancerous tumor on his spine.

The Lions cut OT George Fos-ter and signed OT Jon Jansen after Jansen passed a physical Mon-day. Jansen, cut by the Redskins on Friday, insists he can still con-tribute after battling injuries in recent years. Jansen started all but one game over seven seasons after being drafted from Michi-gan a decade ago, but he didn’t play in 2004 or in 2007 and was limited to 11 starts last season.

Labor talks to kick off this week

BY LIZ MULLEN & DANIEL KAPLANSportsBusiness Journal

The NFL and the NFL Players Associa-tion will begin long-awaited labor negotia-tions this week, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell warned not to expect a reso-lution any time soon.

Goodell confirmed that talks for a new collective-bargaining agreement would begin this week. Questioned about what kind of progress could be made given that the league has publicly rejected the union’s request that NFL owners open their books, Goodell said, “It is a long process.”

The comment is a signal of how large the gulf is between the two sides. This week’s formal bargaining session has been three years in coming: NFL owners have been complaining that the players got too rich a deal since the two sides agreed to it in 2006.

The CBA, which ushered in free agency and the salary cap, was signed in 1993 and was subsequently extended five times under the leadership of late NFLPA execu-tive director Gene Upshaw and former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

This week’s meeting marks a new gener-ation of leadership on both sides of the table. It will be the first labor deal negotiated by new NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, who was elected to the position in March. It also will be the first time that Goodell leads the CBA talks, though he was the No. 2 executive to Tagliabue during many of the previous CBA extensions.

It is not clear whether the NFL, which is pushing for changes in the current deal, will present a formal proposal. Typically, the first session of bargaining involves set-ting the ground rules and schedules for future meetings. One source said the meet-ing was set for Wednesday.

— lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com,

dkaplan@sportsbusinessjournal.com

INSIDE DISH

Stafford could start sooner rather than later

CARLOS OSORIO / AP

Detroit likes what they see from Matthew Stafford, and they expect him to vie for the starting job through at least the end of minicamp.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 33NFL

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—J.J. Arrington, Denver; Darian Barnes,

New Orleans; Tatum Bell, Denver; Jon Bradley, Detroit;

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, Caro-

lina; 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; Owen Daniels (R), Houston;

Nate Lawrie, Cincinnati; Michael Merritt, Kansas City; Chad

Mustard, Denver; Rob Myers, NY Jets; 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; George Foster, Detroit;

Wayne Gandy, Atlanta; Kwame Harris, Oakland; Jonas

Jennings, San Francisco; Levi Jones, Cincinnati; Kyle Link, NY

Jets; 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; Brian Johnston, Kansas City; 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; Casey Tyler,

Dallas; 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; 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;

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; 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; 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.

ENGLEWOOD, COLO.—Tony Scheffler has no beef with Broncos coach Josh McDaniels and insists he’s on board even after the team traded his good buddy, Jay Cutler.

Any friction that might have existed dissipated after a recent chat with his head coach.

Scheffler and McDaniels sat down to discuss the tight end’s role with the team. The conversation was cathartic.

“Everything’s fine,” Scheffler said last week during the team’s passing camp. “It’s not about me. It’s not about any individual on this team right now. We’re really focused on the team and moving forward. I think we’re doing a lot of good things.”

There were rumors swirling in the offseason that Denver was shopping Scheffler, not sure how he would fit into the new, intricate offense McDaniels was implementing. The meeting with McDaniels staunched those.

As for frayed feelings, there are none. “Water off a duck’s back—move forward and move to the next day,” said Scheffler, who caught 40 passes for 645 yards and three touchdowns last season. “You can’t really have hurt feelings in this league or else you’ll get left behind in a hurry.”

These days, McDaniels is envi-sioning a big role for his reliable receiving tight end, who’s looks slim-mer and sleeker. “Tony’s a very, very highly skilled player,” McDaniels said. “He can do a lot of things. He can run, he can catch, he can block. We’re going to take advantage of every skill that he has. He’s made a good impression on our team here.”

McDaniels admits he’s never coached a tight end quite like

Scheffler, one with the ability to stretch the field with a combination of speed and athleticism.

“Tony is probably the most skilled pass-receiving tight end that I’ve had an opportunity to be around,” McDaniels said. “That’s a weapon for us that we can move around on the field. We’re going to try to feature him in that role.”

If Scheffler can just stay healthy. That has been the knock on Schef-fler, who missed three games with a groin injury last season and was

bothered by a broken foot before the 2007 season.

“The whole hurt label is kind of overrated with me,” he said. “It’s frustrating, don’t get me wrong, but at the same time it’s something you’ve got to battle through and learn from. I think I’ve done that. It makes you really appreciate being on the field and being out there with the guys.”

Scheffler and Cutler formed quite the connection after the two were taken in the same draft class.

Scheffler was a frequent target for the strong-armed quarterback when Cutler found himself in a jam. How-ever, that came to a halt when Cutler was traded to the Bears in the offsea-son after deciding he didn’t want to play for McDaniels.

Scheffler and Cutler remain close, frequently texting and talking. “I’m sure Jay is going to have a lot of suc-cess, a ton of success, in Chicago,” Scheffler said.

McDaniels understands the loy-alty. “I’m sure there were quite a few players that had relationships with Jay,” McDaniels said. “But they’ve done a great job of saying, ‘You know what? This is our team now, these are our quarterbacks.’ ”

Those quarterbacks would be Chris Simms and former Bear Kyle Orton, who are in a hotly contested tussle to land Cutler’s spot. McDan-iels prefers to wait and see who gains the upper hand through minicamps.

“I think the (players) have embraced both Chris and I,” Orton said. “We’ve come in here, worked hard and pretty much kept our mouths shut and tried to improve every day.”

So far, Scheffler likes what he sees from both of them. “We’ve got two pretty darn good quarterbacks,” he said.

Scheffler’s unsure what his pre-cise role will be, only that he’s hoping to find himself locked up in coverage by a linebacker.

“Those are the matchups I’ve got to win,” Scheffler said. “There’s a lot of weapons on the field, so when your number is called you’ve got to step up and make a play or else you don’t know when the next one’s going to come.”

—The Associated Press

Scheffler, McDaniels smooth out any differences

JULIE JACOBSON / AP

Denver TE Tony Scheffler (88) says he has no problems with new coach Josh McDaniels.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 34NFL

Team owner Richard Petty said the Chrysler bankruptcy has put cash flow from the manufacturer to the Richard Petty Motorsports organization he co-owns with George Gillett “in a holding pattern.”

“They’ve stopped everything,” Petty said. “They went into bank-ruptcy, and they’re sort of in a floating stage right now. They’re trying to see where they come out of this at. … They’re in a holding pattern right now.”

Walter Czarnecki, vice chairman of Penske Racing, which also fields Dodges, said his organization has felt a similar pinch. “In the legal procedure, you have to file what’s called a ‘Cure Letter’ that lists all the things that you are owed. And when it’s submitted and approved, they’ll pay. We have money that was due April 30 that has not been received yet and probably won’t be received for several weeks.”

Mike Accavitti, director of brand marketing and strategy for Chrysler, acknowledged the reor-ganization has affected the flow of cash from Chrysler but affirmed the company remains committed to Cup racing and that at-track services provided to the teams continue to be available.

“The amount of engineering and other technical services, along with supply of racing

components we provide to the Dodge factory-backed teams has not changed,” Accavitti said in a statement to Sporting News Today. “NASCAR remains a strategic part of our marketing plan and the Dodge brand. … We have com-mitments to the sport and our teams and plan to continue our sponsorship into the foreseeable future.

“During our Chapter 11 reorga-nization, Chrysler has strictly fol-lowed each and every step of the court-supervised process accord-ing to bankruptcy law. Interrup-tion to the normal course of business, including supplier pay-ments, is inherent during this process.”

— Reid Spencer

Trevor Bayne will drive in eight Nationwide Series races this sea-son for Michael Waltrip Racing, the team announced Monday.

Bayne, 18, a development driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc., will drive the No. 99, beginning with this weekend’s race at Nashville Superspeedway.

— Lee Montgomery, SceneDaily.com

Memphis Motorsports Park officials announced the track’s June 27 Camping World Truck Series race will be titled the Mem-phis Travel.com 200 under terms of a sponsorship agreement with the Memphis Convention & Visi-tors Bureau. The track also said O’Reilly Auto Parts will be the presenting sponsor.

— SceneDaily.com

DOVER, DEL.—Stressed out and unable to sleep during the week of his crew-chief change, Dale Earn-hardt Jr. must have responded to one of those late-night Rosetta Stone infomercials.

In Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover, he was already speaking a different language.

With Brian Whitesell and Lance McGrew on his pit box, Earn-hardt abandoned the often coarse and sometimes vit-

riolic radio chatter that had become a way of life with longtime crew chief Tony Eury Jr., his cousin.

At times, Earnhardt sounded more like Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, calmly providing feedback to his brain trust. More talkative on the radio than usual, Earnhardt was describ-ing the handling of his car at specific points in the corners on a scale of one to 10. In short, he was speaking the language other Hendrick driv-ers have been using—a noticeable departure from the familiar “Junior Speak” he shared with Eury.

Team owner Rick Hendrick cer-tainly noticed.

“I think it pressed Junior to explain what the car was doing,” Hendrick said. “I think it challenged Junior, and he did a super job. I am extremely proud of the way he worked on the radio with Lance, and the communication sounded to me like they’ve been together for years. … I think Tony was really kind of letting Junior make the deci-sions and he would give some input,

but then they would lock up. All I can tell you is that I’m pleased with what happened.”

From his tone voice during the race, it was clear that Earnhardt also was pleased—make that elated. The No. 88 Chevrolet started 22nd but soon was shuffled farther back when he made his second pit stop on Lap 45, while most of the lead-lap cars stayed on the track.

An adjustment made during that stop, however, brought Earnhardt’s car to life, and he drove through traffic toward the front of the field. The off-sequence pit stop paid divi-dends during a subsequent cycle of green-flag stops that trapped a sub-stantial portion of the field either a lap down or on the tail end of the

lead lap, after John Andretti slapped the wall on Lap 116 to cause the third caution of the race.

Able to postpone his third stop until the caution flew, Earnhardt restarted seventh on Lap 124. Before the race reached halfway, he had run down and passed Matt Kenseth for fifth.

“Bad ass!” Earnhardt exulted as he made the pass. Some of the self-doubt and shaken confidence that had to have accrued to Earnhardt during a dismal start to the season had fallen away. You could hear it in his voice, even through the radio static.

Lest we get carried away, how-ever, it’s important to note the han-dling of the No. 88 deteriorated during the second half of the race, a

problem that had become chronic with Earnhardt and Eury. Never-theless, Earnhardt brought the car home in 12th position, 10 spots bet-ter than he started.

Be wary, too, of assessing a major change to a team less than a week after it happens. Change inevitably brings an adrenaline boost to a race team. Whether it’s destined to last is something to evaluate two months from now.

There were enough positives in Sunday’s race, however, to give Earnhardt and his fans substantial hope that the new pairing will pro-duce the desired results—even if hope sometimes comes in a foreign language.

rspencer@sportingnews.com

Petty: Chrysler bankruptcy difficult for Dodge teams

INSIDE DISH

Reid SpencerTHE COOL DOWN LAP

Dover race shows promise for Earnhardt

ROB CARR / AP

A calmer and more responsive Dale Earnhardt Jr. can only lead to good things for his team, his fans and NASCAR as a whole.

AP

Richard Petty

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 35NASCAR

PGA Tour scheduleJan. 8-11—Mercedes-Benz Championship (Geoff Ogilvy)Jan. 15-18—Sony Open in Hawaii (Zach Johnson)Jan. 21-25—Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (Pat Perez)Jan. 29-Feb. 1—FBR Open (Kenny Perry)Feb. 5-8—Buick Invitational (Nick Watney)Feb. 12-15—AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (Dustin Johnson)Feb. 19-22—Northern Trust Open (Phil Mickelson)Feb. 25-March 1—WGC-Accenture Match Play Champion-ship (Geoff Ogilvy)Feb. 25-March 1—Mayakoba Golf Classic (Mark Wilson)March 5-8—The Honda Classic (Y.E. Yang)March 12-15—WGC-CA Championship, (Phil Mickelson)March 12-15—Puerto Rico Open (Michael Bradley)March 19-22—Transitions Championship (Retief Goosen)March 26-29—Arnold Palmer Invitational (Tiger Woods)April 2-5—Shell Houston Open (Paul Casey)April 9-12—The Masters (Angel Cabrera)April 16-19—Verizon Heritage (Brian Gay)April 23-26—Zurich Classic of New Orleans (Jerry Kelly)April 30-May 3—Quail Hollow Championship (Sean O’Hair)May 7-10—The Players Championship (Henrik Stenson)May 14-17—Valero Texas Open (Zach Johnson)May 21-24—HP Byron Nelson Championship (Rory Sab-batini)May 28-31—Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (Steve Stricker)Thursday-Sunday—The Memorial Tournament, Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, OhioJune 11-14—Stanford St. Jude Championship, TPC South-wind, Memphis, Tenn.June 18-21—U.S. Open, Bethpage State Park (Black Course), Farmingdale, N.Y.June 25-28—Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.July 2-5—AT&T National, Congressional CC (Blue Course), Bethesda, Md.July 9-12—John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill.July 16-19—The Open Championship, Turnberry (Ailsa Course), Turnberry, ScotlandJuly 16-19—U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Brown Deer Park GC, MilwaukeeJuly 23-26—RBC Canadian Open, Glen Abbey GC, Oakville, OntarioJuly 30-Aug. 2—Buick Open, Warwick Hills G and CC, Grand Blanc, Mich.Aug. 6-9—WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Firestone CC, Akron, OhioAug. 6-9—Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, Montreux G and CC, Reno, Nev.Aug. 13-16—PGA Championship, Hazeltine National GC, Chaska, Minn.Aug. 20-23—Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, N.C.Aug. 27-30—The Barclays, Liberty National GC, Jersey City, N.J.Sept. 4-7—Deutsche Bank Championship, TPC Boston, Norton, Mass.Sept. 10-13—BMW Championship, Cog Hill GC, Lemont, Ill.Sept. 24-27—The Tour Championship, East Lake GC, AtlantaOct. 1-4—Turning Stone Restort Chamnpionship, Atunyote GC at Turning Stone Resort, Verona, N.Y.Oct. 8-11—The Presidents Cup, Harding Park GC, San FranciscoOct. 15-18—Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Chil-dren Open, TPC Summerlin, Las VegasOct. 22-25—Frys.com Open, Grayhawk GC, Scottlsdale, Ariz.Oct. 29-Nov. 1—Viking Classic, Annandale GC, Madison, Miss.Nov. 12-15—Children’s Miracle Network Classic, Walt Disney World Resort (Magnolia Course, Palm Course), Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

DUBLIN, OHIO—Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods will play together in the Memo-rial Skins Game, only the second time they have competed against each other in the same group.

The Memorial Skins Game is Wednesday at Muirfield Village and involves four players in two groups. Nicklaus and Woods will be joined by Stewart Cink and Kenny Perry, the

defending champion at the Memorial. The other group will have Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk and Camilo Villegas.

The only other time Nicklaus and Woods played in the same group was the 2000 PGA Championship, which Woods won for his third straight major.

— The Associated Press

DUBLIN, OHIO—Phil Mickelson plans a brief return to the PGA Tour in time to play in the U.S. Open.

The world’s No. 2 player suspended his schedule indefinitely upon announcing two weeks ago that his wife, Amy, has been diag-nosed with breast cancer. Recent tests have given them hope the cancer has been caught early, with more tests over the next month.

Mickelson intends to return next week at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn., then play the following week in the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, according to a person informed of the plans.

The person spoke on condition of anonym-ity because Mickelson had not announced his decision.

“We heard there was a possibility he would play,” St. Jude Championship spokesman Phil Cannon. “That would be great.”

Mickelson is a sentimental favorite at every U.S. Open, where at age 38 he already has tied the record for most runner-up finishes with four. He is especially popular in New York, and his presence at Bethpage Black figured to bring an emotional and raucous response.

He has never finished worse than fourth in his four U.S. Opens held in New York.

But his return might not last long.Mickelson first thought surgery for his

37-year-old wife could happen as early as a few weeks since the announcement, but that has been pushed back for another month.

Her treatment and recovery will dictate whether he plays in the British Open, or how much he plays at all the rest of the summer. Mickelson already has won twice this year and is No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Amy Mickelson is among the most popular wives in golf, mingling with friends and fans with equal ease as she follows him around the course. The support has been overwhelming, with phone calls and messages from players, and visible support on tour.

Saturday at Colonial, the PGA Tour Wives Association worked with the tour and title sponsor Crowne Plaza to promote “Pink Out,”

in which players, wives, officials and fans were encouraged to wear pink.

Ian Poulter was dressed in pink from head-to-toe, and most players wore some form of pink. Vijay Singh, one of Mickelson’s fierce rivals, wore a pink shirt. Even the CBS Sports crew wore the color in support.

“We have been home watching the golf at Colonial surrounded by loved ones,” Amy wrote Saturday on her husband’s Web site. “Every time we see a player, caddy, announcer or fan wearing pink, we are overwhelmed by the love and support we feel. ... The 11 days since we received the diagnosis have been very difficult, but this incredible gesture helps us feel so much stronger.”

Mickelson typically plays the week before a major to work into a competitive mode, but he has not done that in the last two years when Memphis moved into that spot on the schedule.

The last time he has played the St. Jude Championship was in 2001, when he missed the cut.

Mickelson was treated like a rock star in his last appearance at Bethpage Black, a public golf course on Long Island. It was held nine months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and Mickelson had yet to win a major.

Starting the final round five shots behind, Mickelson got to within two shots of Tiger Woods on the back nine before Woods pulled away for a three-shot victory. Mickelson won the first of his three majors at the 2004 Mas-ters, and he finally delivered for the New York area in 2005 when he won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol in northern New Jersey.

A native of San Diego, Lefty has become so smitten with New York that he takes a trip there every year with his family, and recently joined Liberty National, across the Hudson River in New Jersey.

“I love all that’s going on there,” he said last month. “It’s a very sports-minded city, a very cultural city, an energetic city.”

— The Associated Press

Nicklaus, Woods to play Skins together Wednesday

Mickelson to play in U.S. Open

ED REINKE / AP

Phil Mickelson will play in the St. Jude Championship and the U.S. Open while wife Amy, right, battles cancer.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 36Golf

FRENCH OPEN

PARIS—Roger Federer knows full well, of course, that Rafael Nadal is no longer around this year to befuddle him, to beat him, to stand between him and a French Open title.

Federer insists he is not thinking about that, not thinking ahead. Still, Federer sure did play as if preoccupied for the better part of two hours Mon-day, dropping the first two sets of his fourth-round match against 63rd-ranked Tommy Haas of Germany.

One point from letting Haas serve for the victory, Federer conjured up one particularly spectacular forehand that managed to change the entire flow of things. That shot spurred a run of nine consecutive games for Federer, sending him to a 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Haas and a berth in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

“I knew I was going to look back on that shot. That saved me,” Federer said. “I was in quite some danger.”

But he escaped. With two more vic-tories, Federer will reach a fourth con-secutive final at the French Open, the only Grand Slam championship he hasn’t won. Federer lost to Nadal in each of the past three finals and in the 2005 semifinals, but the Spaniard’s 31-match winning streak at the clay-court major tournament ended Sun-day against Robin Soderling.

“You’re aware of it,” Federer said. “Definitely changes it up, if I were to make the final. But we’re not there yet, so honestly it hasn’t changed a whole lot for me.”

Federer now tries to reach the semi-finals at a 20th Grand Slam event in a row, which would extend his own record, when he meets 11th-seeded Gael Monfils of France, a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 6 Andy Roddick, the

last American man in the tournament.

Federer is 4-0 against Monfils, including a victory in the French Open semifinals a year ago. Monfils domi-nated Roddick, even out-acing him 17-4, and Roddick began complaining in the second set that it was too dark to see.

“Don’t tell me what’s OK and what’s not,” the 2003 U.S. Open champion snapped at chair umpire Enric Molina. “You’re not the one playing.”

It was the day’s last match on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and the start was delayed by No. 5 Jelena Jankovic’s loss to the 41st-ranked Sorana Cirstea of Romania 3-6, 6-0, 9-7, which lasted 2 hours, 44 minutes.

“It wasn’t easy at the end,” said

Cirstea, two points from defeat when Jankovic served for the match at 5-4, 30-love in the third set. “I saw she was tired, also. So I knew it was also a little bit mental: Who is going to stay stronger?”

Elsewhere, 2002 champion Serena Williams beat No. 24 Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-1, 6-2; No. 7 Svet-lana Kuznetsova defeated No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 1-6, 6-1; and No. 30 Samantha Stosur beat Virginie Razzano of France 6-1, 6-2.

“This,” Williams said, “is when everything counts.”

No one knows that better than Federer, whose 13 major championships are one shy of Pete Sampras’ record. With Nadal, Roddick and No. 4 Novak Djokovic all gone, Federer is the only

man left with a Grand Slam title.“For a lot of players,” Federer said, “I

think it must be quite a big opportu-nity, and their heads must be spinning right now.”

The other matchup on his half of the draw is No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina against No. 16 Tommy Robredo of Spain—two men who are a combined 0-6 in Grand Slam quarter-finals. Del Potro beat No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4, and Robredo eliminated No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Federer won the first 24 points on his serve, but Haas hung around.

“We both knew there was a chance for me to finish him off,” Haas said. “Just got to tip your hat and say, ‘That’s why he’s Roger Federer.’”

— The Associated Press

ResultsAt Stade Roland GarrosParisPurse: $21.8 million (Grand Slam)Surface: Clay-Outdoor

SinglesMenFourth RoundRoger Federer (2), Switzerland, def. Tommy Haas, Germany, 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.Tommy Robredo (16), Spain, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber (29), Germany, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2.Juan Martin del Potro (5), Argentina, def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9), France, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4.Gael Monfils (11), France, def. Andy Roddick (6), United States, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

WomenFourth RoundSerena Williams (2), United States, def. Aleksandra Wozniak (24), Canada, 6-1, 6-2.Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Russia, def. Agnieszka Radwanska (12), Poland, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Jelena Jankovic (5), Serbia, 3-6, 6-0, 9-7.Samantha Stosur (30), Australia, def. Virginie Razzano, France, 6-1, 6-2.

DoublesMenQuarterfinalsWesley Moodie, South Africa, and Dick Norman, Belgium, def. Jose Acasuso, Argentina, and Fernando Gonzalez, Chile, walkover.Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Leander Paes (3), India, def. Bruno Soares, Brazil, and Kevin Ullyett (5), Zimbabwe, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

WomenQuarterfinalsVictoria Azarenka, Belarus, and Elena Vesnina (12), Russia, def. Yan Zi and Zheng Jie (16), China, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual (3), Spain, def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, and Patty Schnyder (11), Switzerland, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

MixedSecond RoundAnna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, and Mark Knowles, def. Lisa Raymond, United States, and Marcin Matkowski (3), Poland, 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 tiebreak.

QuarterfinalsLiezel Huber and Bob Bryan (1), United States, def. Ai Sugiyama, Japan, and Andre Sa (5), Brazil, 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 tiebreak.Vania King, United States, and Marcelo Melo, Brazil, def. Sybille Bammer, Austria, and Lukasz Kubot, Poland, 6-3, 7-5.

GlancePARIS—A look at the

French Open on Monday:

Weather: Sunny. High of 75

degrees.

Attendance: 26,211.

Men’s Fourth Round: No. 2

Roger Federer def. Tommy Haas

6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; No. 5

Juan Martin del Potro def. No. 9

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1,

6-4; No. 11 Gael Monfils def. No. 6

Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; No. 16

Tommy Robredo def. No. 29 Philipp

Kohlschreiber 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Women’s Fourth Round:

No. 2 Serena Williams def. No.

24 Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-2;

Sorana Cirstea def. No. 5 Jelena

Jankovic 3-6, 6-0, 9-7; No. 7

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. No. 12

Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 1-6,

6-1; No. 30 Samantha Stosur def.

Virginie Razzano 6-1, 6-2.

Stat of the Day: 5 — Career

comebacks from two-set deficits

for Federer, who has done it once

at each of the past two Grand Slam

tournaments.

Quote of the Day: “It just shows

that we’re all human.” — Federer,

speaking about Rafael Nadal’s loss

to Robin Soderling.

Today’s Quarterfinals:

No. 3 Andy Murray vs. No. 12

Fernando Gonzalez, No. 10 Nikolay

Davydenko vs. No. 23 Robin

Soderling; No. 1 Dinara Safina

vs. No. 9 Victoria Azarenka, No.

20 Dominika Cibulkova vs. Maria

Sharapova.

Today’s Forecast: Sunny. High

of 77 degrees.

Today’s TV: Tennis Channel, 8

a.m.-noon EDT; ESPN2, noon-6:30

p.m. EDT.

Roger Federer’s rallies from down 0-2

2000 U.S. Open (R128) — def. Peter

Wessels, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-4, retired.

2001 French Open (R64) — def.

Sargis Sargsian, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 9-7.

2005 Key Biscayne (F) — def. Rafael

Nadal, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1.

2009 Australian Open (R16) — def.

Tomas Berdych, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4,

6-2.

2009 French Open (R16) — def.

Tommy Haas, 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

Federer needs five sets to squeak by unheralded Haas

LIONEL CIRONNEAU / AP

After dropping the first set, Sorana Cirstea rebounded to eliminate fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 37Tennis

College Baseball

At Clark-LeClair StadiumGreenville, N.C.May 29South Carolina 11, George Mason 3South Carolina 11, George Mason 3May 30East Carolina 11, Binghamton 7Binghamton 11, George Mason 6, George Mason eliminatedSouth Carolina 12, East Carolina 2May 31East Carolina 16, Binghamton 9, Binghamton eliminatedEast Carolina 8, South Carolina 6MondayEast Carolina 10, South Carolina 9, 10 innings, East Carolina advances

At Boshamer StadiumChapel Hill, N.C.May 29Coastal Carolina 11, Kansas 3North Carolina 5, Dartmouth 2May 30Kansas 16, Dartmouth 0, Dartmouth eliminatedNorth Carolina 14, Coastal Carolina 5 May 31Kansas 5, Coastal Carolina 1, Coastal Carolina eliminatedNorth Carolina 12, Kansas 1, North Carolina advances

At Doug Kingsmore StadiumClemson, S.C.May 29Oklahoma State 10, Alabama 6Clemson 5, Tennessee Tech 4May 30Tennessee Tech 6, Alabama 2, Alabama eliminatedOklahoma State 3, Clemson 2 May 31Clemson 10, Tennessee Tech 0, Tennessee Tech eliminatedClemson 15, Oklahoma State 1MondayClemson 6, Oklahoma State 5, Clemson advances

At Russ Chandler StadiumAtlantaMay 29Southern Mississippi 17, Elon 15Georgia Tech 9, Georgia State 3 May 30Georgia State 4, Elon 3, Elon eliminatedSouthern Mississippi 10, Georgia Tech 7

May 31Georgia Tech 8, Elon 4, Elon eliminatedGeorgia Tech 10, Southern Mississippi 3MondaySouthern Mississippi 12, Georgia Tech 8, Southern Miss advances

At McKethan StadiumGainesville, Fla.May 29Miami 9, Jacksonville 4Florida 8, Bethune-Cookman 7 May 30Jacksonville 8, Bethune-Cookman 7, Bethune-Cookman eliminatedFlorida 8, Miami 2 May 31Miami 4, Jacksonville 0, Jacksonville eliminatedFlorida 16, Miami 5, Florida advances

At Dick Howser StadiumTallahassee, Fla.May 29Georgia 24, Ohio State 8Florida State 16, Marist 4 May 30Ohio State 6, Marist 4, Marist eliminatedFlorida State 8, Georgia 2 May 31Ohio State 13, Georgia 6, Georgia eliminatedFlorida State 37, Ohio State 6, Florida St. advances

At Jim Patterson StadiumLouisville, Ky.May 29Middle Tennessee 5, Vanderbilt 4Louisville 8, Indiana 2 May 30Vanderbilt 10, Indiana 0, Indiana eliminatedLouisville 3, Middle Tennessee 2 May 31Vanderbilt 6, Middle Tennessee 0, Middle Tenn. eliminatedVanderbilt 8, Louisville 4MondayLouisville 5, Vanderbilt 2, Louisville advances

At Oxford-University StadiumOxford, Miss.May 29Western Kentucky 11, Missouri 5Mississippi 8, Monmouth, N.J. 1 May 30Missouri 9, Monmouth, N.J. 0, Monmouth, N.J. eliminated

Mississippi 7, Western Kentucky 4 May 31Western Kentucky 11, Missouri 6, Missouri eliminatedWestern Kentucky 10, Mississippi 9MondayMississippi 4, Western Kentucky 1, Mississippi advances

At Alex Box StadiumBaton Rouge, La.May 29LSU 10, Southern U. 2Baylor 5, Minnesota 0 May 30Minnesota 11, Southern U. 8, Southern U. eliminatedLSU 3, Baylor 3, 10 innings May 31Minnesota 15, Baylor 12, Baylor eliminatedLSU 10, Minnesota 3, LSU advances

At L. Dale Mitchell ParkNorman, Okla.May 29Arkansas 10, Washington State 3Oklahoma 5, Wichita State 4May 30Washington State 3, Wichita State 2, Wichita St. eliminatedArkansas 17, Oklahoma 6May 31Oklahoma 7, Washington State 2, Washington St. eliminatedArkansas 11, Oklahoma 0, Arkansas advances

At Reckling ParkHoustonMay 29Kansas State 16, Xavier 8Rice 5, Sam Houston State 2 May 30Xavier 9, Sam Houston State 6, Sam Houston eliminatedKansas State 7, Rice 6, 10 innings May 31Rice 12, Xavier 5, Xavier eliminatedRice 8, Kansas State 0MondayRice 13, Kansas State 4, Rice advances

At Lupton Baseball StadiumFort Worth, TexasMay 29Oregon State 9, Texas A&M 8TCU 6, Wright State 3 May 30Texas A&M 6, Wright State 4, 11 innings, Wright St. eliminated

TCU 13, Oregon State 1May 31Oregon State 13, Texas A&M 5, Texas A&M eliminatedTCU 5, Oregon State 4, TCU advances

At UFCU Disch-Falk FieldAustin, TexasMay 29Boston College 8, Texas State 7Texas 3, Army 1 May 30Army 7, Texas State 4, Texas St. eliminated Texas 3, Boston College 2, 25 inningsMay 31Army 4, Boston College 3, Boston College eliminatedTexas 14, Army 10, Texas advances

At Packard StadiumTempe, Ariz.May 29Oral Roberts 13, Cal Poly 3 Arizona State 17, Kent State 6May 30Kent State 10, Cal Poly 9, Cal Poly eliminated Arizona State 4, Oral Roberts 1May 31Oral Roberts 15, Kent State 10, Kent St. eliminatedArizona State 8, Oral Roberts 3, Arizona State advances

At Anteater BallparkIrvine, Calif.May 29Virginia 5, San Diego State 1UC Irvine 4, Fresno State 2May 30San Diego State 4, Fresno State 1, Fresno St. eliminated Virginia 5, UC Irvine 0May 31UC Irvine 14, San Diego State 3, San Diego State eliminatedVirginia 4, UC Irvine 1, Virginia advances

At Goodwin FieldFullerton, Calif.May 29Gonzaga 19, Georgia Southern 10Cal State Fullerton 18, Utah 2 May 30Utah 11, Georgia Southern 10, Georgia Southern eliminated Cal State Fullerton 7, Gonzaga 4May 31Utah 9, Gonzaga 7, Gonzaga eliminatedCal State Fullerton 16, Utah 3, Cal State Fullerton advances

NCAA Division I regionals glance All times ET, double elimination

NCAA REGIONAL ROUNDUP

GREENVILLE, N.C.—Devin Harris singled home Kyle Roller in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift East Carolina past South Carolina 10-9 on Monday night in an NCAA regional final.

Harris, who forced extra innings with a three-run homer in the ninth, finished with four hits and five RBIs for the top-seeded Pirates (46-18). East Carolina will play North Carolina in a best-of-three super regional series.

In the 10th, Roller doubled, Brandon Hen-derson was intentionally walked, and two bat-ters later, Harris sent Sam Dyson’s 3-1 pitch up the middle for the win.

Scott Wingo and Jackie Bradley Jr. homered for South Carolina (40-23), which led 6-0 in the fifth.

Louisville (Ky.) RegionalLouisville 5, Vanderbilt 3

Ryan Wright hit a go-ahead three-run homer and Tony Zych threw six solid innings to lift Louisville past Vanderbilt in the deciding game of their regional series.

The top-seeded Cardinals (47-16) advanced to the super regionals, where they’ll face Cal State Fullerton (45-14) this weekend.

Wright, 2 for 4 with a run scored, hit his homer in the fourth, while John Dao and Chris Dominguez also drove in runs for Louisville. Zych (6-2) allowed two runs and six hits in just his third start of the season, while ace starter Justin Marks pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.

Mike Minor gave up three earned runs in 3 2-3 innings, and Aaron Westlake homered for the Commodores (37-27).

Clemson (S.C.) RegionalClemson 6, Oklahoma St. 5

Kyle Parker’s two-run single in the eighth inning lifted Clemson to a comeback victory over Oklahoma State in the deciding game of their regional.

Parker drove in Ben Paulsen and John Nester with a liner to left field off Cowboys closer Randy McCurry, who came in for starter Tyler Lyons (7-6). Chris Epps’ two-out, two-run homer after an error by the Cowboys (34-24), who led 5-1 through six innings, sparked the rally.

Matt Vaughn (4-1) pitched the final 3 2-3 innings for the Tigers (44-20), who advanced to play at Arizona State in the super regionals this weekend.

Atlanta RegionalSouthern Miss 12, Georgia Tech 8

B.A. Vollmuth hit two second-inning homers off Georgia Tech ace Deck McGuire to power Southern Mississippi past the Yellow Jackets and send the Eagles to their first NCAA super regional.

Southern Miss (38-24) will play Florida in the best-of-three super regional in Gainesville, Fla.

Vollmuth hit a two-run homer high off the scoreboard in left field to open the scoring. His

three-run homer capped the nine-run inning, the most runs McGuire (11-2) has allowed for Georgia Tech (38-19-1). Only four of the runs were earned.

Todd McInnis (9-4) gave up two runs in 4 1-3 relief innings.

Oxford (Miss.) RegionalMississippi 4, W. Kentucky 1

Drew Pomeranz took a no-hitter into the sev-enth inning and tied a school record with 16 strikeouts to lead Mississippi past Western Kentucky and into the super regionals.

Pomeranz, 2-0 in the regionals with 26 strikeouts in 17 innings, allowed two infield hits in his complete game as the Rebels (43-18) advanced to their fourth super regional in five seasons.

The first hit for the Hilltoppers (42-20) came on a questionable call at first base after Matt Smith bobbled a fairly routine grounder with one out in the seventh. An error later in the inning helped Western Kentucky tie it at 1.

Smith atoned for the bobble in the next inning with a two-run triple that put Ole Miss ahead.

Houston RegionalRice 13, Kansas St. 4

Diego Seastrunk hit a three-run homer and Rick Hague drove in three runs to help Rice defeat Kansas State and advance to the super regionals.

Michael Fuda and Jimmy Comerota each had four of the 20 hits for the Owls (43-16), who’ll face LSU in the best-of-three super regionals next weekend. Rice used a six-run fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead. Matthew Reckling (2-2) allowed two runs and three hits in four innings of relief.

Sophomore Thomas Rooke (5-2) gave up four hits and four runs in the first career start for Kansas State (43-18-1).

— The Associated Press

East Carolina 10, South Carolina 9, 10 innings

Harris plays hero, lifts ECU over Gamecocks

JIM R. BOUNDS / AP

ECU’s Devin Harris, right, celebrates his game-winning RBI single in the 10th, set up by his three-run homer in the ninth.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 38

At Dick Howser StadiumTallahassee, Fla.FridayArkansas (37-22) vs. Florida State (45-16), NoonSaturdayArkansas vs. Florida State, NoonSundayArkansas vs. Florida State, Noon, if necessary

At Alex Box StadiumBaton Rouge, La.FridayRice (43-16) vs. LSU (49-16), 7 p.m.SaturdayRice vs. LSU, 5 p.m.SundayRice vs. LSU, 7 p.m., if necessary

At UFCU Disch-Falk FieldAustin, TexasSaturdayTCU (39-16) vs. Texas (44-13-1), 6 p.m.SundayTCU vs. Texas, 3 p.m.

MondayTCU vs. Texas, 1 or 7 p.m., if necessary

At McKethan StadiumGainesville, Fla.SaturdaySouthern Mississippi (38-24) vs. Florida (42-20), 3 p.m.SundaySouthern Mississippi vs. Florida, 7 p.m.MondaySouthern Mississippi vs. Florida, 1 or 7 p.m., if necessary

At Boshamer StadiumChapel Hill, N.C.SaturdayEast Carolina (46-18) vs. North Carolina (45-16), NoonSundayEast Carolina vs. North Carolina, NoonMondayEast Carolina vs. North Carolina, 1 or 7 p.m., if necessary

At Packard StadiumTempe, Ariz.SaturdayClemson (44-20) vs. Arizona State (47-12), 9 p.m.

SundayClemson vs. Arizona State, 10 p.m.Monday, June 8Clemson vs. Arizona State, 7 p.m., if necessary

At Oxford-University StadiumOxford, Miss.FridayVirginia (46-12-1) vs. Mississippi (43-18), 2 p.m.SaturdayVirginia (46-12-1) vs. Mississippi (43-18), NoonSundayVirginia (46-12-1) vs. Mississippi (43-18), 3 p.m., if necessary

At Goodwin FieldFullerton, Calif.FridayLouisville (47-16) vs. Cal State Fullerton (45-14), 10:30 p.m.SaturdayLouisville vs. Cal State Fullerton, 5 p.m.SundayLouisville vs. Cal State Fullerton, 10 p.m., if necessary

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.—When Arkansas went to the College World Series in 2004, the Razorbacks beat Florida State to get there. Arkansas will have to go through the Seminoles again to reach the tournament this year.

The Razorbacks got off to a strong start this season, winning eight of their first nine games. They built a 24-6 record and were voted No. 1 by one national poll. Then came the heart of the Southeastern Confer-ence season, in which the Razor-backs were swept by Vanderbilt, Alabama and Ole Miss, and lost series to LSU and Georgia.

Vandy and LSU advanced to super regionals, as did Florida, a team the Razorbacks swept during the regu-lar season and beat twice for the Razorbacks’ only victories in the SEC tournament.

Those wins in the tournament fol-lowed a 1-9 finish to the regular sea-son and provided the freshmen-heavy team with some much needed expe-rience and confidence.

The Seminoles (45-16) enter the super regional with some momen-tum, too. They beat Ohio State 37-6 on Sunday while the Razorbacks (37-22) were dismissing Oklahoma 11-0.

Florida State will host the super regional, which starts Friday.

After he watched Arkansas fresh-man Drew Smyly (3-1) take a no hit-ter into the ninth on Sunday, Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway said his team didn’t suffer from a lack of effort.

“I think we played a team that was getting hot in all phases of the game,” Golloway said.

Following the Seminoles’ rout of

the Buckeyes, Ohio State coach Bob Todd said his crew also ran into a hot team.

“Everything they did was right,” Todd said. “Everything we did was wrong.”

Arkansas’ Andy Wilkins went 5-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs against Oklahoma on Sunday. He leads the team in homers (17), RBIs (55), runs scored (49) walks (45) and batting average (.329).

Wilkins, a sophomore first base-man is tied with shortstop Ben Tschepikow for the team lead in hits, with 70 apiece. Tschepikow has come on strong late in the season. He leads the team with 16 steals in 21 attempts, has 46 RBIs and a .317 bat-ting average. Tschepikow trails Wilkins by one run with 48 runs scored.

During the regional, Wilkins bat-ted .750, and Tschepikow batted over .400.

“He’s hot,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of Wilkins. “You try to get into a little bit of a groove and the confidence level goes up. The tal-ent’s already there.”

Van Horn started as many as eight freshmen in tournament play and wants the group to stay in that same groove.

Dallas Keuchel, (7-3), team leader in wins and ERA (4.12), didn’t get a decision in the Razorbacks’ opening 10-3 victory over Washington State. But he pitched seven solid innings, giving up three runs. Brett Eibner (5-4) picked the victory in Arkansas’ first victory over Oklahoma in the regional and takes a 4.25 ERA into Tallahassee.

— The Associated Press

NCAA Division I super regionals glance All times ET (Best-of-3)

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P Drew Smyly (33) helped Arkansas reach the super regionals by carrying a no-hitter into the ninth against Oklahoma Sunday.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 39College Baseball

Razorbacks slumped late, pulled it together

JOHN CLANTON / AP

COLLEGE SOFTBALL HORSE RACING

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 40Horse Racing / College Softball

LOUISVILLE, KY.—Calvin Borel is back on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and he’s thinking about another Triple Crown victory.

“We’re gonna win, no questions asked,” Borel predicted after a workout Monday at Churchill Downs, where the gelding did a half-mile in 50 seconds.

That was his Derby-winning formula.

“He worked in :50 and out in 1:02, just like before the Derby. He is doing everything the same,” the jockey said. “After those two hard races (the Derby and Preakness), I think the (gelding) is very happy.”

It seems like everybody in Mine That Bird’s camp is happy these days.

That starts with Borel.He would have ridden Kentucky

Oaks and Preakness Stakes win-ner Rachel Alexandra if the filly had entered the Belmont Stakes. But Barbara Banke, wife of co-owner Jess Jackson, says they’re looking out for her future and passed on the race. Borel said he is committed to ride the horse for the next year.

So Borel is back on Mine That Bird, with a chance to win all three legs of the Triple Crown on two horses, something no jockey has done.

He’s already way past his dream of just winning the Kentucky Derby. He’s done that twice, the first time aboard Street Sense in 2007.

And what do he and Mine That Bird need for a win Saturday?

“We just gotta get lucky,” he said, wearing a Mine That Bird hat, before the horse’s morning work. “Me and the horse fit good.”

The horse was still bouncing and kicking when he came off the track on his way to a cool-down walk and bath under the watch of trainer Chip Woolley.

“He’s just a happy camper,” Borel said.

Woolley thinks his horse may be

even better now after a second-place finish in the Preakness in which he was closing on Rachel Alexandra.

“I was thinking last week, he’s probably training better than he did going into the Derby,” Woolley said. “Calvin got the work I wanted out of him this morning. ... They just looked like they were bread and butter.”

Even Banke is going to be on

Mine That Bird’s side when the gates open Saturday.

“I’m hoping Calvin gets the Cal-vin Triple Crown,” she said.

It was only Friday that Jackson announced the filly would not run in the Belmont, making Borel available for Mine That Bird. Borel’s agent, Jerry Hissam, said there were never any hard feel-ings between the two teams and rider.

“We had to go the way we went, and (Woolley) was very comfort-able with it,” Hissam said. “It’s all been real good teamwork between two camps and ourselves.”

Meanwhile, one of the horses Mine that Bird beat in the Derby, Nowhere to Hide, also worked Monday but won’t be competing in the Belmont.

Trainer Nick Zito said in a state-ment released by the New York Racing Association that he and owner Len Riggio have “decided to pass on the Belmont and look for another spot for him.”

Nowhere to Hide, who worked a half-mile in 49.92 on a training track at Saratoga, was 17th in the Derby.

Borel was scheduled to fly to New York on Monday. He’ll do a round of television appearances and ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange during the week leading to the Belmont. And, according to him, it’s just luck.

“I got the best filly and the best (gelding) in the world,” Borel said. “I can’t go wrong.”

— The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY—Two months ago, Jenn Salling was a woman without a team.

One month ago, she was mired in a slump that left her with a .100 bat-ting average.

Now, she and an Olympic team-mate are on the brink of leading Washington to its first NCAA soft-ball title.

Salling hit a two-run single that turned into a whole lot more in the third inning as the Huskies routed top-seeded Florida 8-0 Monday night in Game 1 of the Women’s Col-lege World Series finals. Florida’s 29-game winning streak was snapped.

Salling’s single brought in four runs when catcher Kristina Hilbreth tried to catch a runner at second. Her throw sailed into center field.

“We’ll take it,” Salling said.Washington loaded the bases

with a walk and two infield ground-ers before Salling lined a single through the infield that Kim Waleszonia fielded in shallow cen-ter. She fired home too late to get Ashley Charters, and Hilberth then zipped a throw back toward second that sailed over even Waleszonia as she made a leaping attempt to catch it.

Two more runs scored as the ball rolled into deep center field, giving Washington a 4-0 edge.

A member of the Canadian Olym-pic team, Salling joined the Huskies late in the season before playing a key role in their postseason push. After transferring from Oregon, she wasn’t allowed to play until April because of NCAA rules and started her abbreviated season 0-for-13. Over her first month with Wash-

ington, she was hitting .100.But in the final two weeks of the

season, Salling turned it around she’s hitting at a .413 clip (19-for-46) since May 7.

“My teammates have helped me immensely. It was tough at the beginning, and they’ve helped me through everything with that strug-gle from the beginning,” Salling said. “Picked me up when I felt down, picked me up when the con-fidence was down, picked me up when I didn’t know if I was the one who could do that job at that time.”

Now, she and national player of the year Danielle Lawrie, her team-mate from the Olympics, have the third-seeded Huskies (50-12) within one win the national championship.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is tonight.

Lawrie (41-8) threw a two-hitter to set a Washington record with her 41st career shutout. Jennifer Spedi-acci, who pitched the Huskies to their last championship appearance in 1999, held the old record with 40.

Ashley Charters added a two-run home run off reliever Stephanie Brombacher in the sixth inning, set-ting a school record with her 95th hit of the season in the process.

— The Associated Press

BELMONT STAKES Saturday 6:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Borel confident about his Triple Crown chance

GARRY JONES / AP

Calvin Borel was back on Mine That Bird preparing for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.

Championship series(Best-of-3)

Monday: Washington 8, Florida 0Today: Florida (63-4) vs. Washington (50-12), 8 p.m.Wednesday: Florida vs. Washington, 8 p.m., if necessary

Huskies one win from first title

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2009 41Back Page

NEW YORK—Following the lead of inter-national sports, the Phoenix Mercury have become the first WNBA team to put a sponsor’s name on their jerseys.

Under the three-year deal with Life-Lock announced Monday, the identity theft protection company’s name will replace the “Phoenix” and “Mercury” across the road and home uniforms, respectively. The team’s logo will appear above the “LifeLock” on the left side.

The Mercury are the first team to final-ize an agreement under the league’s new initiative aimed at increasing revenue and marketing opportunities. WNBA president Donna Orender expects more teams to reach similar deals.

“There are very positive discussions going on in the marketplace right now and I would estimate there could be another one this season,” she said.

NBA commissioner David Stern believes such agreements are important to the continued growth and success of the WNBA.

“This groundbreaking deal represents the next step in the financial health of the WNBA,” he said, “and it serves most importantly as a blueprint because I’m sure there will be more, for other teams to assure their financial health.”

Mercury star Diana Taurasi stressed the confidence the deal showed in the future viability of the WNBA.

“I think it’s very important,” Taurasi told The Associated Press. “Things are down, people are struggling. You don’t have many companies venturing out and doing different things. For LifeLock to step up and recognize the WNBA is something they can invest in and be very positive and productive in women’s sports is huge.”

SoccerNASSAU, BAHAMAS—European soccer

officials will abstain if a vote is taken by the sport’s worldwide body this week to restrict teams to a maximum of five for-eign players in starting lineups.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter backs the plan, which is supported by many of his organization’s members and could dras-tically change the makeup of many of the world’s best-known clubs, such as ones in the English Premier League.

The European Union, however, insists such a rule discriminates on the grounds of nationality. And that disagreement could easily put members of Europe’s soccer federation in a delicate spot if a vote is called during FIFA’s annual meet-ing Wednesday.

“I am in the middle,” said UEFA presi-dent Michel Platini, a former star mid-fielder for France’s national team and the

Italian club Juventus. “I always play in the middle.”

UEFA members support certain parts of the so-called 6+5 plan, but decided Monday at its own meeting that its mem-bers shouldn’t vote on the matter until the legal questions are answered. That’s a process with no end in sight.

“We can only do it when it’s legal,” Bel-gian federation president Francois De Keersmaecker said.

The EU favors UEFA’s “homegrown” proposal that would require clubs to carry a quota of players on their roster who were trained in that country, regard-less of nationality.

LONDON—Carlo Ancelotti was appointed Chelsea’s fifth manager in less than two years Monday, given the task of putting the Blues back on top of the Pre-mier League and delivering a first Cham-pions League title.

The 49-year-old Italian, who had been linked to the Chelsea post for weeks, signed a three-year contract a day after quitting as coach of AC Milan.

Ancelotti succeeds Guus Hiddink, who led Chelsea on a caretaker basis this season after the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Blues finished third in the Premier League and won the FA Cup, beating Everton 2-1 in Saturday’s final.

Ancelotti won two Champions League titles and one Serie A championship dur-ing his eight years as Milan coach. Chel-sea won two Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho, but has never won the Champions League—Russian owner Roman Abramovich’s No. 1 ambition.

“There will be the same pressure because Chelsea and Milan are great teams in Europe and they want to win all the competitions, so I think there will be the same pressure,” Ancelotti told Chel-sea TV.

Track and fieldHENGELO, NETHERLANDS—Haile Gebrse-

lassie fell short of his own one-hour world record Monday, running 463 meters behind his previous best.

Gebrselassie ran 12.77 miles—21,285 meters to be exact—in an hour at the IAAF Grand Prix Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic two years ago.

The 36-year-old Ethiopian—who has set 25 world records in his career—was hampered by strong winds and a 10-min-ute rain spell during Monday’s record attempt at the FBK Games.

“It’s a strange day today,” Gebrselassie said. “It’s a sunny day so I didn’t expect the rain. I really wanted to break the record for the people.”

Gebrselassie, who broke four records at Hengelo meets, said he intends to run the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics.

— The Associated Press

pro scout, Chris Prescott southwest

regional scout and Jason DesJarlais

midwest regional scout.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: Named

Brian Stewart special assistant to

the defense.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

BUFFALO SABRES: Signed F Paul

Byron to a three-year contract.

MONTREAL CANADIENS: Named

Jacque Martin coach.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS: Re-signed LW

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond.

OTTAWA SENATORS: Signed F Ryan

Keller to a one-year contract.International Hockey League

KALAMAZOO WINGS: Announced the

team is withdrawing from the IHL.ECHL

ELMIRA JACKALS: Promoted senior

sales executive Donald Lewis to

assistant general manager.

COLLEGE

ALCORN STATE: Named Brenda T.

Square interim athletics director.

ARKANSAS: Suspended G Marcus

Britt indefinitely from all basketball

team activities for a violation of

team rules.

BELMONT ABBEY: Announced the

resignation of softball coach Kenny

Terry, effective June 25.

DUKE: Named Trisha Stafford-Odom

women’s assistant basketball coach.

LONG BEACH STATE: Announced

men’s volleyball coach Alan Knipe

will coach the USA volleyball team

through 2012. Named Andy Read

interim men’s volleyball coach.

LOYOLA, MD.: Named Sarra Moller

women’s assistant soccer coach and

Elise Paulson assistant director of

academic affairs for varsity student-

athletes/compliance coordinator.

MOLLOY: Named Eric Petrullo men’s

lacrosse coach.

QUEENS, N.Y.: Named Tom Sowinski

baseball coach.

TOLEDO: Named Abbey Szlanfucht

women’s assistant volleyball coach.

UNC WILMINGTON: Announced

the resignation of men’s assistant

basketball coach Joe Redmond.

WRIGHT STATE: Named Andy

Riesenberg women’s assistant vol-

leyball coach.

BASEBALLAmerican League

CLEVELAND INDIANS: Placed RHP

Rafael Betancourt on the 15-day DL.

Recalled LHP Tony Sipp from Columbus

(IL). Released OF David Dellucci.National League

CINCINNATI REDS: Activated RHP

Edinson Volquez from the 15-day

DL. Optioned RHP Jared Burton to

Louisville (IL).Eastern League

READING PHILLIES: Announced RHP

Kyle Drabek has been called up from

Clearwater (FSL).

TRENTON THUNDER: Assigned OF Seth

Fortenberry to Staten Island (NYP).Southern League

CAROLINA MUDCATS: Added INF Yonder

Alonzo from Sarasota (FSL).Midwest League

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS: Trans-

ferred RHP Deryk Hooker to extended

spring training.American Association

EL PASO DIABLOS: Released RHP Baron

Short.

FORT WORTH CATS: Signed RHP Tyler

Pearson and C Adam Miller. Released

RHP Kelly Casares.

GRAND PRAIRIE AIRHOGS: Acquired

RHP John Wesley from Laredo (United)

for a player to be named. Released LHP

Justin Garcia.

SIOUX FALLS CANARIES: Signed RHP

Ryan Sheldon.Can-Am League

QUEBEC CAPITALES: Released RHP

Deibis Gomez and INF Mark Charrette.United League

RIO GRANDE VALLEY WHITEWINGS:

Signed OF Omar Rosario, 3B Joaquin

Rodriguez, 2B Antonio Arias, RHP Juan

Trinidad, LHP Tim Karkatselos, LHP Tray

Neal and RHP Shand Hill.

SAN ANGELO COLTS: Signed RHP Matt

Duff.

BASKETBALLWomen’s National Basketball Association

CONNECTICUT SUN: Released G Ketia

Swanier and G Ashley Hayes.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

DETROIT LIONS: Released OT George

Foster. Signed OT Jon Jansen.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: Named Brian

Simmons and Jeff Gooch to the team’s

player personnel staff, Chris Driggers

TRANSACTIONSIN BRIEF

Major League SoccerEASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAChicago 5 1 6 21 20 16Kansas City 4 4 4 16 16 14D.C. 3 2 7 16 18 17Toronto FC 4 4 4 16 16 19Columbus 2 2 7 13 15 17New England 3 3 4 13 10 17New York 2 7 3 9 12 16

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAChivas USA 7 2 3 24 17 9Houston 5 2 3 18 14 7Seattle 4 2 5 17 15 9Colorado 4 2 4 16 16 13Los Angeles 1 1 9 12 13 13Real Salt Lake 3 6 2 11 15 15FC Dallas 2 6 3 9 12 17San Jose 2 7 2 8 12 22NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

May 30 GamesColorado 3, New York 2New England 2, D.C. United 1Houston 3, Toronto FC 0Seattle FC 1, Columbus 1, tieLos Angeles 1, Kansas City 1, tieSan Jose 2, Real Salt Lake 1May 31 GamesFC Dallas 3, Chicago 0Thursday’s GameChivas USA at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s GameHouston at Chicago, 9 p.m.Saturday’s GamesLos Angeles at Toronto FC, 3:30 p.m.Columbus at Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.Colorado at Real Salt Lake, 10 p.m.Seattle FC at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m.Sunday’s GamesSan Jose at FC Dallas, 3 p.m.Chivas USA at New England, 6 p.m.

WNBA’s Mercury ink deal to advertise on jerseys

BEBETO MATTHEWS / AP

Mercurcy star Diana Taurasi said she was in favor of Phoenix’s decision to replace their team and city names on jerseys with a corporate sponsor.