GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100, ORLANDO 75NBA FINALS

LOS ANGELES—Finally. It’s taken time, but it seems the team many expected the Lakers to be—a big, strong bunch capable of dominat-ing at both ends—has arrived for good.

That version of the Lakers has made only cameo appearances this postseason, but in The Finals opener, the Lakers were back, winning handily, 100-75.

As Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said, “We were totally dominated at both ends of the floor and on the boards.”

Three things we learned

1. The Magic will reconsider the plan on Kobe Bryant.

Orlando attempted to put Bryant in single coverage,

focusing on stopping the players around him. But Bryant killed Orlando’s defense in pick-and-rolls , tallying 40 points, and the Magic couldn’t keep L.A.’s supporting cast in check. “Offensively, Kobe was amazing tonight,” forward Lamar Odom said. “Defensively, too.”

2. Jameer Nelson will be a factor. Nelson’s return to action after more than three

months off was a bit of a surprise in Game 1,

and he carried himself well, scoring six points and giving out four assists in 23 minutes.

3. The Lakers will lean on their bigs. L.A. did a terrific job shutting down Orlando’s front

line, and the Lakers outscored the Magic in the paint, 56-22. “We’ve got to keep that up,” forward Pau Gasol said. “No let-up. This is just the first game.”

sdeveney@sportingnews.com

PITTSBURGH—After the game, Sidney Crosby could admit it. It felt good to get that first goal of the Stanley Cup finals. The fact that it was the game-winner? Even better.

With their 4-2 win over Detroit, the Penguins evened the finals, 2-2, and seized momentum in a series that once looked like a Detroit lock.

“Both teams held serve at home, now it’s a best of three,” Pittsburgh’s Mark Eaton said.

Three things we learned

1. Pittsburgh’s stars are clicking: Crosby had his

best game of the series with a goal and a pretty assist on Tyler Kennedy’s goal in the second period. “I was happy

to see one go in,” Crosby said. Evgeni Malkin scored his 14th goal of the playoffs and, at times, was the most dominant player on the ice.

2. The Red Wings are worn out: Detroit wasn’t crazy about playing back-to-back games

to open the series and looked exhausted on Thursday, the fourth game in six nights. “Tonight, they had more energy than us,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.

3. Marc-Andre Fleury has emerged: After get-ting outplayed by opposing goalie Chris

Osgood earlier in the series, Fleury was sharp in Game 4 and finished with 37 saves. “He knows when the important time is to make you a big save,” Crosby said. “He’s been huge for us.”

ccustance@sportingnews.com

Thumbs up for Cox Georgia QB Joe Cox solidified his spot as Matthew Stafford’s replacement. “It would be very difficult to

knock him out of the box,” Georgia coach Mark Richt tells

SN Today.

Pens pumped, Wings wilting, Page 13 Loss in ‘08 Finals drives Lakers, Page 10

Lakers open with domination Cup chase down to best-of-3

Sean DeveneyPRO BASKETBALL

Craig CustanceHOCKEY

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the finals as the Pens evened the series.

Kobe Bryant hit 16 of 34 shots for 40 points and added eight rebounds and eight assists in L.A.’s rout.

Richt Q&A, Page 16FRIDAY

JUNE 5, 2009

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 318

ScoreboardNBA Finals

L.A. Lakers 100, Orlando 75

(L.A. Lakers lead series 1-0)

NHL Stanley Cup finals

Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2

(Series tied 2-2)

Baseball American League

L.A. Angels 6, Toronto 5

Boston 6, Detroit 3

N.Y. Yankees 8, Texas 6

Minnesota 11, Cleveland 3

Oakland 7, Chicago White Sox 0

Tampa Bay 3, Kansas City 2

National League

Pittsburgh 11, N.Y. Mets 6

San Francisco 5, Washington 1, 1st gameSan Fran. 4, Washington 1, 6 inn., 2nd game

Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, ppd., rain

Florida 4, Milwaukee 3

Colorado 10, Houston 3

St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1

Philadelphia 3, L.A. Dodgers 0

MLB > 18 NFL > 28 NBA > 10 NHL > 13 NASCAR > 33 COLLEGE FOOTBALL > 16 COLLEGE BASKETBALL > 8 MLB DRAFT > 5QUICK LINKS:

GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4, DETROIT 2STANLEY CUP FINALSS

NFL

Full list, Page 30

Old mastersSporting News Today’s former NFL scouts rank their top defensive coordinators:

1. Dick LeBeauSteelers

2. Jim Johnson Eagles

3. Leslie FrazierVikings

4. Jim BatesBucs

5. Dom CapersPackers

Randy Johnson beats Nats, is 24th pitcher to get milestone winPage 20

ThumGeor

his spotreplace “It wknoc

GeoSN

JOHN BAZEMORE / AP

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 2See A Different GameAre you a fan with

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— all times Eastern

COLLEGE BASEBALL

NCAA Super RegionalsNoon-10:30 p.m.,

ESPN, ESPN2

After taking down unbeaten pitcher Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State and sweeping top-ranked UC-Irvine in the regionals, the Virginia baseball team can take another step toward the College World Series today. The Cavaliers, in their first trip to the NCAA super regionals, face Ole Miss at 2 p.m. on ESPN2 in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. “Confidence-wise, we’re sky-high,” Virginia sophomore Phil Gosselin said. The winners of the eight super region-als will meet in Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series, starting June 13. Other Game 1 matchups today are Arkansas-Florida State (noon, ESPN), Rice-LSU (7 p.m., ESPN) and Louisville-Cal State Fullerton (10:30 p.m., ESPN2).

—Derek Samson

GOLF

The Memorial Tournament

1 p.m., The Golf Channel

Well, so much for Jack Nicklaus making his Muirfield Village course too hard for the PGA Tour players. Rain-softened greens took care of that as Britain’s Luke Donald led the charge against par in the opening round, shooting an 8-under 64. A cast of Americans—led by Jim Furyk, who shot a first-round 67—are chasing. And what about Tiger? He’s lurking, after a first-round 69.

— Bob Hille

OFF THE FIELD

Browns’ Stallworth pleads not guilty

AUTO RACING7 a.m.SPEED—Formula One, practice for Turkish Grand Prix, at Kadikoy, Turkey

NoonSPEED—NASCAR, Sprint Cup, prac-tice for Pocono 500, at Long Pond, Pa.

3:30 p.m.SPEED—NASCAR, Sprint Cup, pole qualifying for Pocono 500, at Long Pond, Pa.

6 p.m.ESPN2—NASCAR, Nationwide Series, practice for Federated Auto Parts 300, at Lebanon, Tenn.

9 p.m.SPEED—NASCAR, Truck Series, WinStar World Casino 400, at Fort Worth, Texas

BOXING8:30 p.m.ESPN2—Welterweights, Carlos Molina (16-4-1) vs. Danny Perez (34-5-0), at Miami

COLLEGE BASEBALLNoonESPN—NCAA Division I, Super Regionals, Game 1, Arkansas atFlorida St.2 p.m.ESPN2—NCAA Division I, Super Regionals, Game 1, Virginia at Mississippi

7 p.m.ESPN—NCAA Division I, Super Regionals, Game 1, Rice at LSU

10:30 p.m.ESPN2—NCAA Division I, Super Regionals, Game 1, Louisville atCal St. Fullerton

GOLF10 a.m.TGC—European PGA Tour, Wales Open, second round, at Newport, Wales

NoonESPN2—LPGA, State Farm Classic, second round, at Springfield, Ill.

1 p.m.TGC—Nationwide Tour, Prince George’s County Open, second round, at Mitchellville, Md.

3 p.m.TGC—PGA Tour, The Memorial Tournament, second round, at Dublin, Ohio

6:30 p.m.TGC—Champions Tour, Triton Financial Classic, first round, at Austin, Texas (same-day tape)

TENNIS10 a.m.NBC—French Open, men’s semifinals, at Paris (same-day tape)

More on Super regionals, Pages 36-37

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth pleaded not guilty to DUI man-slaughter charges from a fatal Miami car crash in which a pedestrian died.

The plea was entered at a brief court hearing Thursday by defense attorney Christopher Lyons. The 28-year-old Stall-worth did not appear in court. A trial date has not been set. Stallworth faces up to 15 years if convicted.

Quick hitsColorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s

11-year-old son and his brother-in-law are free again after being kidnapped in Venezuela. Police in Venezuela said the pair were abducted on their way to the boy’s school and that the kidnap-pers demanded $466,000 in ransom. Wilmer Flores Trossel, director of Venezu-ela’s federal police, said no ransom was paid. He said police “established a circle” around the kidnappers, and the “pressure was fruitful.”

Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Jim Rice and Goose Gos-sage will usher in a new era in golf long drive competitions later this month in the Big Shots/Titans of the Tee, a team-based tournament that will air this fall on FOX. The competition tees off June 23 at the Lake of Isles course at Fox-woods Casino Resort in Ledyard, Conn. The Hall of Famers, as well as other celebrities such as Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg and Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, will compete for charity while paired with professional long drivers competing for prize money in the competition that will be shown

Sept. 20 and 27 immediately after FOX’s NFL broadcasts.

Nets owner Bruce Ratner has replaced the architect of a pricey planned arena in Brooklyn. The arena is a centerpiece of the $4 billion Atlantic Yards develop-ment of office towers and apartments. The project has been delayed by the eco-nomic downturn, years of opposition lawsuits and the near $1 billion price of the Frank Gehry-designed arena. Ratner says “the economic climate is not right” for Gehry’s design.

Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid’s 24-year-old son, Britt Reid, has grad-uated from a drug court program. Reid enrolled in the program early last year after a series of run-ins with the law.

— SportsBusiness Daily, sportsbusinessdaily.com

MARICE COHN BAND / AP

Donte Stallworth faces 15 years in prison if convicted of DUI manslaughter.

GUIDE

Federer Express:Grand slam streak

Roger Federer enters a record 20th con-

secutive Grand Slam semifinal today at Roland

Garros against No. 5-ranked Juan Martin del

Potro. During Federer’s incredible run, he has

lost to only three players: rival Rafael Nadal (six

times), Novak Djokovic (once) and Marat Safin

(once). He has a 125-8 record in the past 20

Grand Slam tournaments. Here is a breakdown

of his finishes entering today’s action:

Champion — 11 times

Runner-up — 5 times (all to Nadal)

Semifinalist — 3 times

— ATPWorldTour.com

Double digit dynamosPlayers averaging 20 points in the regular

season on NBA championship teams:

YEAR TEAM PLAYER(S), PPG AVG

2008 Celtics None (Paul Pierce, 19.6 ppg)

2007 Spurs 1 (Tim Duncan, 20.0 ppg)

2006 Heat 2 (Dwyane Wade, 27.2 ppg and Shaquille O’Neal, 20.0 ppg)

2005 Spurs 1 (Tim Duncan, 20.3 ppg)

2004 Pistons 0 (Richard Hamilton, 17.6 ppg)

2003 Spurs 1 (Duncan, 23.3 ppg)

2002 Lakers 2 (O’Neal, 27.2 ppg, Kobe Bryant, 25.2 ppg)

2001 Lakers 2 (O’Neal, 28.7 ppg, Bryant, 28.5 ppg)

2000 Lakers 2 (O’Neal, 29.7 ppg, Bryant, 22.5 ppg)

— World Features Syndicate

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ON NEWSSTANDS NOW

A Division I head basketball coach at 31? If anyone can do it, it’s Memphis’ Josh Pastner, Sporting News college hoops expert Mike DeCourcy explains in the new magazine.

Kobe Bryant

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 3My Profile

Brian Leetch1994 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with Rangers

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

Born: March 3, 1968, in Corpus Christi, Texas

Status: Married Alma mater: Boston CollegeWhat I’m up to these days: Enjoying spending

time with my 3 kids—Jack (9), Riley, girl (6) and Sean (3); helping out with friends’ charity events

What’s on TV: Lost, American Idol, NHL on the Fly, SportsCenter

What’s in my iPod: Pearl Jam, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews, Top 40, Beyonce

What I drive: Black ’03 GMC Yukon, black ’05 Mercedes

Favorite flicks: Stripes, Pulp Fiction, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Old School

Bookmarks: National Weather Service Marine Forecasts—offshore and coastal; ESPN.com; Canoe—SLAM! Sports—Hockey; NYPost.com; Boston.com; PGA-Tour.com

On my office shelves: Books—fiction, non-fiction and sports; photo albums—college and NHL trophies; replicas of the Stanley Cup, Norris, Conn Smythe and Calder trophies; mail that needs to be filed; baseballs; pictures of my children

Love to trade places for a day with … Eddie Vedder on the day of a concert. Would love to see if the nerves are the same pre-concert as pre-NHL game and would love to be able to sing, play guitar and feel the energy of the crowd for those 2-plus hours. Would want to see if the feeling after a concert is the same or better than after an NHL victory.

First job: Paper route, 11 or 12, Cheshire, CT. Had to deliver 35 papers over a 6-mile route. I’d bungee-cord the papers to the

back of my bike. Only had a couple crashes over the years and only was bitten by a dog once.

Talent I’d most like to have: Good singing voice, play guitar

Favorite meal: Breakfast any time of the day—French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns

Favorite athletes to watch in other sports: Tiger and LeBron

Favorite city to visit: NYC—I lived there for 18 years but now live in Boston. Otherwise, Miami.

Favorite team as a kid: YankeesFavorite physical attribute about

myself: I broke both my ankles at different times and have a plate and 9 screws in my right one. I like how the scars look running up both sides of my leg. I pretend I was bitten by a shark or survived jumping out of a plane with no parachute.

And least … My balding head and expanding waistline

Favorite value in others: Loyalty Dream date: Heidi KlumMy heroes: My mom and dadMy bucket list: 1. Attend a practice

round or Thursday round at the Masters; 2. Play golf for a week in Ireland w/ friends

— Jeff D’Alessio

had a couple crashesly was bitten by a dog

ave: Good singing

ast any time of thencakes, eggs, bacon,

ch in other sports: Tiger

YC—I lived there forin Boston. Otherwise,

Yankeesute about

ymes9

e

ing head and

Loyaltyumand dadnd a practiceound at theor a week

— Jeff D’Alessio

PETER NEWCOMB FOR TSN

THE HOT CORNER

AP

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 4Overnight Report

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Philadelphia 3, L.A. Dodgers 0

Phillies 3, Dodgers 0

Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rollins ss 5 0 0 0 0 0 .224Utley 2b 3 1 1 0 2 1 .299Werth cf 4 1 2 1 1 0 .257Howard 1b 2 0 0 1 1 1 .263Ibanez lf 4 0 1 1 0 2 .335Feliz 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .297Bruntlett rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .122Ruiz c 3 1 2 0 1 1 .303Hamels p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .154Totals 31 3 7 3 5 7

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pierre lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .367Furcal ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .239Hudson 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .324Blake 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .290Loney 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .285Martin c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .263Ethier rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .263Kemp cf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .311Kershaw p 1 0 1 0 0 0 .167Belisario p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-Loretta ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .283Wade p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Leach p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000b-Hoffmann ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .158Totals 29 0 5 0 0 5

Philadelphia 000 101 100 — 3 7 0Los Angeles 000 000 000 — 0 5 0

a-popped out for Belisario in the 6th. b-flied out for Mota in the 9th. LOB: Philadelphia 9, Los Angeles 2. 2B: Utley (9), Ibanez (14), Feliz (14), Ethier (13). RBIs: Werth (28), Howard (46), Ibanez (53). SB: Ruiz (3). S: Hamels 2. SF: Howard. Runners left in scoring position: Philadelphia 5 (Rollins 2, Bruntlett, Howard, Werth); Los Angeles 2 (Pierre, Furcal). DP: Philadelphia 2 (Rollins, Utley, Howard), (Rollins, Howard).

Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHamels W, 4-2 9 5 0 0 0 5 97 4.40Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAKershaw L, 3-4 5 1⁄3 4 2 2 3 5 105 4.26Belisario 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 4 2.18Wade 2⁄3 2 1 1 1 0 16 5.12Leach 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 8 5.19Mota 1 2⁄3 1 0 0 1 1 18 6.04

Inherited runners-scored: Belisario 2-0, Leach 2-0. IBB: off Mota (Utley), off Wade (Utley), off Kershaw (Ruiz). Umpires: Home, Chris Guccione; First, Todd Tichenor; Second, Mike Winters; Third, Tony Randazzo. T: 2:31. A: 33,839 (56,000).

Phils win 7th in row behind dominant HamelsLOS ANGELES—Cole Hamels turned back the

calendar to last October, when he and the Philadelphia Phillies left Dodger Stadium as the newly crowned National League champions.

Hamels turned in another dominant per-formance against Los Angeles on Thursday night, pitching a five-hitter for his third career shutout, and the defending World Series champions extended their winning streak to seven games with a 3-0 victory.

Hamels was the MVP of last year’s NLCS and World Series. He won both starts against Los Angeles in the playoffs, including a 5-1 decision at Chavez Ravine that wrapped up the Phillies’ first pennant since 1993.

For those wondering what the 25-year-old left-hander could possibly do for an encore this season, this was a good start.

“That’s always something that kind of gets in your mind,” said Hamels, 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA over his last seven outings. “I mean, you don’t have the type of time off to really gather your thoughts and get prepared for another season. I had a little bump in the road with the elbow soreness, and that kind of delayed some things. But I’m ready to go now.”

Hamels (4-2) threw 97 pitches, retiring 18 of his last 20 batters and allowing only two runners as far as second base—one of them on defensive indifference in the ninth. He became the first opposing pitcher to throw a shutout at Dodger Stadium since Arizona’s Brandon Webb on Aug. 5, 2007.

Hamels, whose 196 strikeouts last season were the third-most among lefties behind for-mer Cy Young Award winners CC Sabathia and Johan Santana, fanned five and walked none while lowering his ERA to 4.40.

“Sometimes I’ll have a lot of strikeouts and sometimes I won’t. But I don’t want to be the

big strikeout guy because it’s hard on you and that really pushes up your pitch count,” Hamels said. “My past three or four games I’ve been going 110 pitches and only getting through the sixth. So pitch efficiency is some-thing I’ve been trying to work on.”

The complete game was Hamels’ fifth in 94 career starts, and the first this season by the Phillies’ staff.

“This is one you just forget about, basically, and chalk it up to the fact that he pitched well,” Juan Pierre said. “He threw strikes and we couldn’t put any heat on him.”

In his May 14 start against the Dodgers at Philadelphia, Hamels gave up two runs in seven innings and settled for a no-decision in the Phillies’ 5-3 loss.

“The kid is good. What can you say? When he’s on the mound, he ain’t got time to be put-ting guys on base. He lets them make contact and he trusts his defense,” Orlando Hudson said. “He throws strikes, he doesn’t walk anybody, he trusts his offspeed pitches and does a great job of moving the ball up and down and in and out.”

— The Associated Press

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cole Hamels threw only 97 pitches and gave up just five hits for his fourth victory of the season.LORI SHEPLER / AP

Johnson wins No. 300, Page 20

Q&A with ... Tanner Scheppers, St. Paul Saints/Fresno State

‘I just kind of threw hard and that was that’Tanner Scheppers appeared on his way to being

a Top 10 selection in the 2008 draft, but a shoulder

injury at Fresno State sidelined him and he dropped

to the second round, 48th overall, to Pittsburgh.

The two sides couldn’t come to terms and he’s

back in ’09, considered a first-round choice again.

Spending some time with the Independent league

St. Paul Saints, Scheppers caught up with Sporting

News Today’s Ken Bradley to discuss his career and

Tuesday’s draft.

Q: Out of Dana Hills High School in California, you were a

shortstop. Fresno recruited you as a shortstop. How’d you become a pitcher, much less one who’s a likely first-round draft pick Tuesday?

A: My pitching coach at Fresno when I got there, Bobby Jones,

sat me down after the first month and he’s like, “you have a great arm and everything and I know we recruited you as a shortstop, but I really feel like your future is pitching and maybe you should shut down shortstop and make pitching your ideal focus. I took a few days to think about it and I wasn’t really getting too much playing time at shortstop my freshman year with Christian Vitters there at short. So I decided I’d give it a shot and start pitching.

Q: Did you pitch some in high school?

A: Yeah I did. I pitched—I think it was like 30 innings throughout

my high school career. I just kind of threw hard and that was that.

Q: Now that you’re a pitcher, you ever miss the chance to swing

the bat?

A: (Laughs) No, no. I haven’t missed that in a long, long time.

Q: So you don’t think Coach Jones was trying to get you to switch

because of your work at the plate, do you?

A: (Laughs) I don’t really know. I wasn’t good enough to play my

freshman year, so maybe …

Q: A May 2008 shoulder injury dropped you from a potential

Top 10 pick to a second-round selection last year. You didn’t sign. Why was that?

A: The Pirates gave me a program they wanted me to follow—where they

wanted me to be by the time I went to Pitts-burgh and pitch for them. During all of that, I had one of their scouts following me for about a month, videotaping me and being with me during all my workouts. To all my knowledge, I did exactly what they wanted me to do. When I went up there, they said I wasn’t where they wanted me to be, so there was some confusion there. Then we just couldn’t come to an agreement. My advisor, my agent Greg Genske advised me not to sign. So I didn’t and I’m lucky enough to play here at St. Paul.

Q: Was it difficult for you realizing you were not going to

be pitching at Fresno or in the minors for a full year? Was there any panic?

A: You know, there really wasn’t any panic on my part. In my heart I

knew my arm was fine and everything was going to be OK. Pittsburgh just didn’t want to take that chance on me and now I’m here in this current situation.

Q: What have you done the past year to stay in shape and keep

your arm strong?

A: I was at Athletes’ Performance for about four months out in Carson,

California, out in L.A. It’s a pretty respected program. A lot of big-league guys have gone through there. I worked out with (Yankees pitcher) Phil Hughes, (Blue Jays pitcher) Ricky Romero, during the offseason Chase Utley, Milton Bradley, a couple people like that. They had me on a food plan, a nutritionist—I gained 15-20 pounds and really just kind of got me ready for this season.

Q: At what point in your career did you start thinking you had what

it took to be a Major League pitcher?

A: (Laughs) Probably my junior year (at Fresno). I didn’t think too much

of it until then.

Q: How many teams and scouts have been coming to see you

pitch for the Saints?

A: Normally around 20 on average.

Q: You get the impression most are wanting to see how the

shoulder is holding up?

A: Obviously they’re watching my every move and making sure

everything is all right. It’s their job to do that and they’re more than welcome. I’ve been more than happy for them to be at all my private workouts when I wasn’t here in St. Paul. I’m definitely not hiding anything.

Q: Your bio says Ichiro is your favorite player. He’s on a

27-game hitting streak right now. Think you have an idea how to get him out?

A: I think I’d just try to challenge him and hope he makes a mistake. He’s

a tough one.

LENNY IGNELZI / AP

Tanner Scheppers was a second-round pick by the Pirates in last June’s draft, but the sides could not come to an agreement.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 5Next Gen: MLB Draft

Q&A with ... Aaron Crow, Fort Worth Cats/MissouriDraft orderFirst round1. Washington Nationals2. Seattle Mariners3. San Diego Padres4. Pittsburgh Pirates5. Baltimore Orioles6. San Francisco Giants7. Atlanta Braves8. Cincinnati Reds9. Detroit Tigers10. Washington Nationals (9B, for unsigned 2008 No. 9 overall pick Aaron Crow)11. Colorado Rockies12. Kansas City Royals13. Oakland A’s14. Texas Rangers15. Cleveland Indians16. Arizona Diamondbacks17. Arizona Diamondbacks (from Dodgers - Orlando Hudson)18. Florida Marlins19. St. Louis Cardinals20. Toronto Blue Jays21. Houston Astros22. Minnesota Twins23. Chicago White Sox24. Los Angeles Angels (from Mets—Francisco Rodriguez)25. Los Angeles Angels (from Yankees—Mark Teixeira)26. Milwaukee Brewers27. Seattle Mariners (from Phillies—Raul Ibanez)28. Boston Red Sox29. New York Yankees (28B, for unsigned 2008 No. 28 overall pick Gerrit Cole)30. Tampa Bay Rays31. Chicago Cubs32. Colorado Rockies (from Angels—Brian Fuentes)

Compensation round A33. Seattle Mariners (Raul Ibanez)34. Colorado Rockies (Brian Fuentes)35. Arizona Diamondbacks (Orlando Hudson)36. Los Angeles Dodgers (Derek Lowe)37. Toronto Blue Jays (A.J Burnett)38. Chicago White Sox (Orlando Cabrera)39. Milwaukee Brewers (CC Sabathia)40. Los Angeles Angels (Mark Teixeira)41. Arizona Diamondbacks (Juan Cruz)42. Los Angeles Angels (Francisco Rodriguez)

‘You can’t really control which team picks you’Aaron Crow is a familiar name—he was

taken ninth last year and likely will improve

on that this year after not reaching an

agreement with the Nationals. The 6-foot-3

righthander has spent some time with the

Fort Worth Cats of the American Association

independent league team recently, fine-

tuning his game for Tuesday’s MLB Draft.

He recently caught up with Sporting News

Today’s Ken Bradley to talk about the draft.

Q: You were the ninth overall pick last year by

the Washington Nationals but never reached an agreement. Do you still feel good about your decision to sit out and re-enter the draft this year?

A: I’m happy with where I’m at right now. I’m enjoying my

time in Fort Worth. The time between now and last August, I’ve gotten in a lot better shape, put on some weight. I’m just glad to be back playing again.

Q: Did things really start coming together in the

Cape Cod League in 2007 when you were dominant (3-1, 0.67 ERA) playing for Falmouth?

A: Playing up in Cape Cod was awesome. It was probably the

best team I’ve ever played on—we had like five guys on that team taken in the first round and (then-Mis-souri teammate) Kyle Gibson. It was a real confidence booster going into my last season.

Q: What happened between your first year at Mizzou

(1-4, 4.06 ERA, 60 strikeouts in 77-plus innings) to 2008 when you were 13-0 with a 2.35 ERA

and 127 strikeouts in 107.1 innings and Big 12 pitcher of the year?

A: When I was a freshman, the thing was repeating my

delivery. I was throwing strikes, but they were belt high all the time. The whole time I was in college, I was working out and getting better and stronger. My delivery was getting better. By my sophomore year, I was throwing harder and my location was better. It was a progression—I made a pretty big jump from my freshman to junior years.

Q: When it became reality that you weren’t going to

sign, what went through your mind—you were finished at Missouri, wouldn’t be in the minors anywhere. What went through your mind?

A: The thing I realized this past year is that you can’t really

control which team picks you. You just go out and put together the best body of work you can—you can’t control the rest. Whoever drafts me this year, I’m sure they’ll be happy with what I can do.

Q: Who’s the one major leaguer you’re looking

forward to getting the opportunity to face?

A: The first one who comes to mind is Albert Pujols

because he’s the best hitter in baseball. His numbers are stupid—he’s the best hitter I’ve seen in my whole life. It would be great to say I had a chance to pitch against a guy who’s going to be in the Hall of Fame one day.

DAVID ADAME / AP

Aaron Crow went from 1-4 as a freshman to 13-0 in his sophomore season at Missouri.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 6Next Gen: MLB Draft

Q&A with ... SG Marcus Thornton Q&A with ... G Stephen Curry

‘I am blessed to be in this position’ Curry sees himself at point, as a KnickMarcus Thornton might be the embodi-

ment of a bubble player in this year’s

draft—he has first-round talent, is a very

good shooter and averaged 21.1 points

for LSU this year. But, because he’s only

6-4, most scouts consider him a late

first-rounder, or possibly an early second-

rounder. Sporting News Today’s Sean

Deveney talked to Thornton about han-

dling the workout circuit, and about his

attempts to prove some of his detractors

wrong.

Q: You have something in the range of 4 percent

body fat. Do you only eat salads, or what?

A: No, no, it’s nothing like that. I eat like a kid.

Snacks, candy, all of that. My mom always warns me about that. But I don’t put a whole lot of weight on, for some reason.

Q: You went to junior college and then to LSU

and now you’re trying to get drafted. You’ve kind of done this the hard way. Can that be beneficial now, as you go through the process?

A: I took the long route, but I don’t think that is a bad

thing. I had to prepare myself to get to this position. But obviously it worked out for the best, and I am blessed to be in this position. Going to junior college, that’s not the usual path, but I think, school-wise, it worked out for me, and in the end, it has made me become a better man. I am grateful for that.

Q: Do you hear the things scouts say about you,

the negative things?

A: I see all of that. I can take constructive criticism, that

is how I look at it. That motivates me every day, to see the things that people think I can’t do. I saw a couple of things, like my ballhan-dling. OK, when the time comes, I will show them that I can do that.

Q: Is there a team you want to go to?

A: Any team that needs scoring. Any team that

needs a guy to go to when they need a basket. Any team that needs a winner, too. I feel I can help any team that needs that. Whatever

team gets me, I can say this: They’ll be getting a special player.

Q: Have you been able to speak much to your old

friend and former LSU player Tyrus Thomas?

A: Yes, I talked to him. When I have free time, I go to his

house and hang out and joke around. We grew up together, so it’s good to have him behind me. Going through this process, he is like my big brother. He has been telling me the ins and outs of all the stuff I am going through, because he went through it, too.

In three years, Stephen Curry went from

too skinny for the ACC to more than ready

for the NBA draft. Curry recently spoke

with Sporting News Today’s Dave Curtis

and other reporters about his pedigree,

his recruitment, and his potential future

destinations:

Q: How much has your dad (former NBA player

Dell Curry) influenced your basketball career?

A: He’s meant so much. From the beginning, I’ve tried to

follow his model in a lot of ways. I remember being 7 years old and going to his practices, throwing up NBA 3s and trying to be like my dad. In high school and college, I went to him for advice so many times.

Q: Given how everything turned out for you, are

you surprised you weren’t recruited harder out of high school?

A: Not really. You know, I probably wasn’t that

attractive to a lot of the bigger schools. If I was a coach, and I was recruiting a guy like myself—scrawny, 150 pounds—as an ACC coach, it would be tough to take a chance on a guy like that. … Physically, I’m sure they thought, “could he get through the season?”

Q: What’s your biggest memory from the NCAA

Tournament run in 2008?

A: The best part was probably seeing that sea of red at Ford

Field. You would look up into the crowd, and it really sunk in, what we were doing and how big it was.

Q: What about a position in the NBA? Where do you

see yourself?

A: I’m a true point guard. It’s something I’ve been

working toward, and I’ve really focused on my ballhandling and my shooting to be able to do that.

Q: Everybody’s linking you to the Knicks, including

yourself. What’s the lure?

A: Mike D’Antoni’s system. They run, get up and down,

and that’s what I’ve done my whole life. They need a point guard who can shoot. And the other part is

playing in the Garden 41 games every year. That’s a legacy. How can you beat that?

Q: What’s most appealing about the Garden?

A: All the great players who have played there before.

The great games, the crowds, the big city. When we played there in college, it was so much fun. And I played maybe the worst 35 min-utes of basketball before I made some shots down the stretch and we ended up beating West Vir-ginia. Maybe I can pick up right where I left off.

MORE COVERAGE from sportingnews.com

Video of Curry’s putback dunk in Bobcats workout: sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline

JEFF SINER / AP

BILL FEIG / AP

Stephen Curry, a projected Top 10 pick in the draft, doesn’t fault ACC schools for passing on him.

LSU’s Marcus Thornton had to go the junior-college route, but feels it made him a better man.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 7Next Gen: NBA Draft

RECRUITING DISH COLLEGE BASKETBALL

INSIDE DISH

Five-star CB Milliner chooses Crimson Tide

Stanhope Elmore (Millbrook, Ala.) CB Demarcus Milliner committed to Alabama during a press confer-ence Thursday afternoon.

Listed as a five-star prospect by two recruiting services, Milliner (6-1, 180) said he chose the Crim-son Tide over Auburn, LSU, Geor-gia and South Carolina.

“I am going to be wearing that Crimson jersey,” Milliner told The Tuscaloosa News. “I love the tradi-tion of the program. I will get a great education at Alabama. I will have a great opportunity for play-ing time. Those were some of the main reasons I decided to commit to Alabama.”

As a junior, Milliner had seven interceptions and scored two touchdowns on returns. He also had 57 tackles and returned three kicks for scores.

“He has so much range that he can cover a large amount of ground and be dangerous from any part of the field,” Stanhope Elmore coach Jeff Foshee, a former Alabama player, told the newspaper. “He’s basically the air traffic controller coming out of the defensive backfield.

“Demarcus can cover receivers and also be a sure tackler.”

Another four-star offensive lineman is heading to Happy Valley. North Allegheny (Wexford, Pa.) OL Thomas Ricketts has committed to Penn State, he told Sporting News Today.

Ricketts (6-6, 265) is the son of Tom Ricketts, who played college football for Pitt in the late 1980s and went on

to a five-year NFL career.The younger Ricketts said his

final choices were Penn State, Maryland and Pitt. His final top six also included Boston College, Florida State and Stanford.

“I’m excited,” Ricketts told SN Today. “From this point on, it’s the start of something big. I’m really excited for what the future holds.

“... In the end, this was going to be the school I picked. I was always sure that I wanted to be at Penn State when I visited.”

Ricketts said fellow Penn State OL recruits Miles Dieffenbach and

Luke Graham had been working on getting him to commit to the Nit-tany Lions. Dieffenbach made his announcement earlier this week.

Ricketts and Dieffenbach are rated four-star prospects by Scout.com.

“Aggressiveness is something I like to pride myself on,” Ricketts told SN Today. “I like being in the other guy’s face; I’m mean on the field.

“I’d like to get better as an ath-lete—stronger, faster.”

Jake Heaps of Skyline (Samma-mish, Wash.), Sporting News’ top-rated quarterback for 2010, made his commitment to BYU official Thursday during a press confer-ence in Salt Lake City.

What wasn’t expected were com-mitments to BYU from two other highly-touted prospects.

Ross Apo, a wide receiver from Oakridge School in Arlington, Texas, dropped his commitment to Texas and announced he was going to BYU during the same press con-ference that Heaps revealed his decision. Apo is rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com.

Zac Stout, a linebacker out of Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) also committed to the Cougars. Stout is rated a four-star recruit by two recruiting services. He is a high school teammate of QB Nick Montana, son of Joe Montana, and SN100 players Erik Kohler (OL) and Malcolm Jones (RB).

Heaps, Apo and Stout are partici-pating in junior day at BYU today.

— Brian McLaughlin

Mizzou’s Anderson joins USA Basketball staffMissouri coach Mike Anderson will

work as a USA Basketball assistant after leading the Tigers to a school-record 31 wins in the 2008-09 sea-son. Anderson will help train 40 athletes trying to earn spots on the national teams for the U19 World Championship and the World Uni-versity Games.

Team trials take place later this month at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Anderson’s fellow assistant coaches include John Beilein of Michigan, Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Herb Sendek of Arizona State. Pitts-burgh’s Jamie Dixon is the under-19 team’s coach, with Bo Ryan of Wis-consin leading the university team.

Also, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will stay involved with the U.S. Olympic Team and may be Team USA’s head coach in London in 2012, The Charlotte Observer reported.

“I’m going to be with the Olym-pic Team in some capacity,” Krzyzewski said during his K Academy camp at Duke.

Washington State’s Charlie Enquist has been awarded a scholar-ship for next season after he spent last season as a walk-on. The Cou-gars also announced that Fabian Boeke will end his playing career due to continuing back problems and freshman Nick Witherill has been released from his scholarship.

Two former Oklahoma players are returning to campus to join coach Jeff Capel’s staff. Former Sooners C Joszef Szendrei will be the team’s new

strength and conditioning coach while former G Michael Neal will serve as a graduate assistant manager.

Szendrei played mostly as a reserve for Oklahoma on teams that made it to the Final Four in 2002 and Elite Eight in 2003. Neal was a starter in the Sooners’ back-court from 2005 to 2007.

Tom Green, who won more than 400 games in 26 seasons as basket-ball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson, has been fired, the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., reported. No decision has been made yet on a replacement. Green took over as Fairleigh Dickinson’s coach in 1983 and who guided the team to seven 20-win seasons, four NCAA Tournament berths, and two appearances in the NIT. He leaves with a career record of 407-35.

Former Kentucky walk-on Landon Slone wants to appeal the NCAA requirement that he sit out the upcoming season following a transfer to Morehead State, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Slone said the transfer is invol-untary, forced on him by the new coaching staff.

“It was kind of set on me,” he told the newspaper. “I had to leave.”

Wisconsin-Platteville, a Division III school, is interviewing Will Ryan, a North Dakota State assistant and the son of Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, for its head coaching job. Bo Ryan compiled a 353-76 record at Wisconsin-Platte-ville with four NCAA Division III national championships from 1984 to 1999. The basketball floor is called “Bo Ryan Court.”

ANDRES LEIGHTON / AP

Missouri coach Mike Anderson will help train players trying to make the U19 team.

BETH HALL / AP

Tide coach Nick Saban has landed CB Demarcus Milliner, who had seven picks as a junior.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 8Next Gen: Recruiting / College Basketball

Lee an example of NCAA’s superior developmentCourtney Lee was a star in high

school, no question about that. As a junior, he was a key member of a state championship team at Indianapolis Pike. He was second-team all-state as a senior and played for Indiana in its traditional all-star series against the

best players from Kentucky.

But all that got him a ticket to the Sun Belt Confer-ence, where he played four years for Western Ken-tucky. Why? Because at the time there

appeared to be better prospects for the big-timers to pursue. Talent scout Dave Telep remembers Lee as a “three-star recruit … thought he’d be good, but not top 100.”

So how does Lee go from maybe the 120th player in his high school class to the No. 22 pick in the 2008 NBA draft to the sixth-leading scorer for the Orlando Magic, who opened the NBA Finals on Thurs-day night?

Hard work, athletic gifts, quality coaching and, for the purposes of this discussion, the too-often-over-looked developmental value of NCAA basketball.

“He needed time to mature, like probably every 18-year-old—over-all, not just as a player,” said Darrin Horn, who coached Lee’s four

seasons with the Hilltoppers and now is South Carolina’s head coach.

“The other thing is he got in a sit-uation that was great for him. And I think that can be different for every kid. He got to contribute right away and developed while playing and gained confidence by producing.”

The story of Lee’s ascendance is not entirely uncommon here in the United States. Jameer Nelson was not an elite recruit but exploded to excellence in four years at Saint Joseph’s, where he became national player of the year. After missing much of the season with injury, Nelson joins Lee for the Magic in their series against the Lakers.

Delonte West, an essential part of Cleveland’s league-best regular sea-son, was even less esteemed upon entering St. Joe’s than Nelson. Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade was not a top-100 prospect out of high school but became an NBA great after three years under Tom Crean at Marquette. Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was ranked No. 75 by Rivals.com in his high school class. Upon leading Florida to consecutive NCAA titles, he became the No. 9 selection in the 2007 draft.

They’re not working this sort of magic—oops, sorry—anywhere else in the world. There suddenly is a fantasy being pitched to particular young players that signing profes-sional contracts in Europe is a supe-rior means of preparing for an NBA

career. Point guard Brandon Jen-nings played last season in Italy. Big man Jeremy Tyler is passing up his senior year of high school to pursue a pro deal overseas.

Aside from the obvious lure of being paid to play, what is stressed most often as Europe’s advantage is the unrestricted practice time the players experience. But all that practice isn’t turning out an over-whelming number of excellent NBA

players. There are important play-ers in these Finals, certainly, that have been imported from that sys-tem. But what you’re getting is basi-cally the absolute best from a variety of nations: Spain (Pau Gasol), Tur-key (Hedo Turkoglu), Poland (Mar-cin Gortat).

Practice drills can help to improve skill, and the NCAA certainly needs to abandon its archaic rules against coaches working with their

players during summer months. What college offers, though, is the opportunity to play important min-utes in meaningful games. There is no substitute for that experience, and college puts young players in that position more frequently.

The better European leagues are not built for development. These are professional teams trying to win meaningful championships. That’s why the average age of

Jennings’ teammates with Roma was 28. The two players younger than him, both from Italy, played a combined 52 minutes all season.

The basic U.S. structure—high school to college to pro—frequently transforms young men such as Lee from prospects into players.

“By the time he was a junior, he was on the NBA’s radar. Not a can’t-miss, but definitely on the radar,” Horn said. “As a senior, it wasn’t his game so much. It was, ‘We just want to see him dominate. We want to see him mature. We want to see him be aggressive.’ And as a senior, he was finally able to take that step.

“I think there’s LeBron, D-Wade, Kobe and those guys—and every-body else is trying to make a living. You might never dominate a game, but if you can’t prove you can domi-nate a game on the college level and change games you’re going to strug-gle to make an impact in the league.”

Lee went from Pike’s state cham-pionship to Western Kentucky’s 2008 Sweet 16 appearance to the NBA Finals in his rookie season.

“I don’t think he’s ever been on a team that didn’t win a bunch of games,” Horn said.

Had Lee tried his luck as a teen-ager in Spain, that sentence might have been translated to: I don’t think he’s ever been on a team where he didn’t watch them win a bunch of games.

See the difference?decourcy@sportingnews.com

Mike DeCourcyCOLLEGE BASKETBALL

DAVID RICHARD / AP

While some preps are opting for Europe over college, Orlando’s Courtney Lee (11) has proven his four years at Western Kentucky made him NBA ready.

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

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 9College Basketball

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 10NBA

GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100 ORLANDO 75NBA FINALS

Last year’s Finals loss still driving LakersLOS ANGELES—The Lakers had been

waiting for this for nearly a year. They remembered, all too well, the sting of losing the NBA Finals to Bos-ton last year, a six-game series that included a 39-point loss in the finale.

“It definitely made us hungry,” said forward Pau Gasol. “We’re mad, obvi-ously. We’re upset about losing in The Finals, especially the way we lost.”

And so there was something cathartic about finally getting a shot at redemp-tion, starting Tues-

day night in Game 1 of this year’s NBA Finals. Certainly, the Lakers played like a team with a year’s worth of frustration tugging at their shoulders, crushing Orlando, 100-75, in a game that was as much about erasing the pain of last year as it was taking a 1-0 lead in this year’s series.

“Of course last year is something that still motivates us,” forward Lamar Odom said. “That is some-thing we had talked about since train-ing camp.”

Which made this an especially sat-isfying win for the Lakers. They dominated in every facet. They held the Magic to 29.9 percent shooting. They outrebounded the Magic, 55-41. They were credited with 18 assists, compared to just 10 for Orlando. They held Dwight Howard—who scored 40 in his last outing—to a measly 12 points on 1-for-6 shooting, and lim-ited the deep-shooting tandem of

Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu to just three 3-pointers. In the paint, the Lakers outscored the Magic, 56-22.

Most of all, though, it was Kobe Bryant’s night. Bryant has been espe-cially short with the media lately, and he admits that his kids are calling him “Grumpy” at home. “Like in the seven dwarfs,” Bryant said. “I have been a grouch.”

He’s been a grouch because he’s made this series all about erasing the sting of last year’s Finals. “I just want it so bad, that’s all,” Bryant said.

He got off to a good start. He scored 40 points, adding eight rebounds and eight assists. He was as intense as he’s been in the playoffs. At one point, Bryant committed a reaching foul on Dwight Howard in the third quarter, which caused him to grimace, slam his foot and chirp at referee Dan Crawford. His reaction might have been expected in the heat of a tight game. But the Lakers were up by 25 at that point.

“We understand how much he wants this,” Odom said. “We all know how badly he wants this championship.”

And, because of that, there won’t be much dwelling on the blowout win in Game 1. The Lakers are well aware that Orlando has a history of digging holes and climbing out of them, hav-ing bounced back from a 2-1 deficit in the first round and a 3-2 deficit in the second. The Lakers were dominant, they were looking like themselves again and they were able to start mak-ing amends for last year’s Finals

performance. But there’s still a long way to go.

“The best thing we can do with this win is forget about it,” Bryant said.

“We have to move on. This is a resil-ient Orlando Magic team. We still have a lot of work to do.”

sdeveney@sportingnews.com

Pau Gasol, right, and the Lakers are hungry to redeem their poor showing against Boston.

CHRIS CARLSON / AP

NOTEBOOK

Playing Nelson a tough decisionMagic coach Stan Van Gundy agonized over the decision

to activate point guard Jameer Nelson and use him in the Finals—choosing to play him was, according to Van Gundy, actually the more difficult way to go. “The easiest decision, the one that would create no problems, would have been not to play him,” Van Gundy said. “He would have under-stood, it wouldn’t have upset our rotation or any of our players and I wouldn’t open myself to any criticism not playing him.”

What was especially difficult was moving point guard Anthony Johnson to third on the point guard depth chart, and bumping Tyronn Lue onto the inactive list. “I tell you what, it was really, really tough to take two great veteran guys and tell them, to take Ty Lue and tell him he was going to be on the inactive list and to tell Anthony Johnson that, at least in the beginning here, I am going to play Jameer ahead of him,” Van Gundy said. “That’s a very, very difficult thing to do.”

Nelson played 23 minutes in Game 1, finishing with six points and four assists. Johnson did not play.

Jackson knows Magic’s situationSpeaking of Nelson, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was in a

similar situation last year, when he brought back small for-ward Trevor Ariza from a broken foot and played him in the conference finals and The Finals. Ariza did not play more than nine minutes in any game, however. “I didn’t think (Ariza) felt comfortable, otherwise we probably would have played him more,” Jackson said.

LeBron: My badNBA commissioner David Stern spoke to the media before

the game, and he said Cavs star LeBron James understood why he was fined $25,000 for skipping his media obligation after Cleveland lost the conference finals.

“He expressed to me that when the left the building and did not meet the media or did not congratulate the Magic, he was wrong,” Stern said.

Always time for sportsVan Gundy did see that President Obama picked the Lak-

ers to win The Finals in six games. “I hope that President Obama, with what’s going on with our economy and over-seas, I hope he’s got a lot more things to be concerned about,” Van Gundy said.

— Sean Deveney

Sean DeveneyPRO BASKETBALL

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 11NBA

GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100 ORLANDO 75NBA FINALS

‘Black Mamba’ lethal, sparks blowout with 40LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant has

waited a year, a long year, for another chance at NBA title. He’s not about to let this one slip away.

The Olympic gold medal was nice. Not nearly enough.

He covets another golden trophy.“I just want it so bad, that’s all,”

Bryant said. “I just want it really bad.”

Bryant, playing like a man pos-sessed, scored 40 points and the Los Angeles Lakers, who have waited nearly one year for a chance to erase bitter memories of a Bos-ton beatdown and a championship they felt belonged to them, pounded the Orlando Magic 100-75 in Game 1 on Thursday night.

This year, nothing short of a 15th title will do for the Lakers.

And with the sensational Bryant out front, they may be on their way.

Game 2 is Sunday night at star-studded Staples Center, where actors Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and rapper Kanye West had front-row seats to see another virtuoso performance by Bryant, who scored 18 points in the third quarter as the Lakers opened a 26-point lead and embarrassed the Magic.

The last time the Lakers were seen in the finals, they were head-ing toward their locker room in Boston last June and summer break after being drubbed by 39 points in a series-ending Game 6 by the Celt-ics. The renewed rivalry between the league’s superpowers never panned out.

Bryant and his teammates have

used that humiliation to motivate them all season and throughout these playoffs.

They are on a mission.The Magic, who went 2-0 against

the Lakers in the regular season, appeared a touch overwhelmed in their first finals appearance since 1995. Not even the return of All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson from a four-month layoff following shoulder surgery could help the Eastern Conference champions.

Orlando center Dwight Howard was engulfed by two and three Lakers every time he touched the ball and scored 12 points—10 on free throws—on just 1-of-6 shooting.

And the Magic’s outside shoot-ers, so deadly while eliminating MVP LeBron James and the Cleve-land Cavaliers in the conference finals, were off the mark.

The Magic went just 8-of-23 on 3s and shot only 30 percent overall.

“We’ve never had a shooting night this bad,” Howard said. “We’ve just got to come out and play a lot harder than we did tonight.”

Orlando is facing some daunting odds, too.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, seek-ing a record 10th title, is 43-0 in series in which his team wins Game 1.

Bryant, who added eight rebounds and eight assists, knows the Magic are still dangerous.

“This is a resilient team,” he said. “They’ve been through a lot of

adverse situations before. This is nothing new to them. We’ve got to forget about this and move on.”

On the dry-erase board in Orlan-do’s locker room, coach Stan Van Gundy, in handwriting as neat as a schoolteacher’s, devoted two sec-tions on how he wanted his team to defend Bryant.

Nothing worked.The self-proclaimed “Black

Mamba” slithered around Magic defenders with ease. Bryant scored an effortless 18 points in the first half and then took over in the third quarter, scoring 18 of L.A.’s 29 points with an assortment of jump-ers, fadeaways and layups.

“He was great. He was tremen-dous,” said Van Gundy, who felt his team did a poor job defending the Lakers’ pick and roll. “We were giving him too much space on his pull-up jumpers and he did a good job of attacking us. I know this: We are a lot better than we showed.”

— The Associated Press

Kobe Bryant, right, and the Lakers stayed a step ahead of Dwight Howard and the Magic, dominating the visitors after the first quarter.

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

Orlando 24 19 15 17 — 75L.A. Lakers 22 31 29 18 — 100

ORLANDO Min FG FT Reb A PF PTSTurkoglu 33:05 3-11 6-6 0-4 2 2 13Lewis 35:32 2-10 2-2 2-5 0 4 8Howard 34:58 1-6 10-16 5-15 2 3 12Alston 24:32 2-9 2-2 0-2 1 1 6Lee 22:45 3-10 0-0 1-1 0 3 7Pietrus 32:25 5-13 1-3 1-3 0 4 14Battie 5:24 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 2Gortat 20:06 2-4 0-0 1-8 0 3 4Nelson 23:28 3-9 0-0 0-2 4 1 6Redick 7:45 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 3Totals 240:00 23-77 21-29 10-41 10 21 75

Percentages: FG .299, FT .724. 3-Point Goals: 8-23, .348 (Pietrus 3-5, Lewis 2-4, Redick 1-1, Turkoglu 1-3, Lee 1-4, Nelson 0-2, Alston 0-4). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 8 (11 PTS). Blocked Shots: 8 (Gortat 4, Howard 2, Battie, Turkoglu). Turnovers: 8 (Turkoglu 4, Howard 2, Lee, Nelson). Steals: 8 (Gortat 2, Howard 2, Alston, Lee, Redick, Turkoglu). Technical Fouls: None.

L.A. LAKERS Min FG FT Reb A PF PTSAriza 23:47 1-4 0-0 1-2 2 3 3Gasol 37:18 7-12 2-2 3-8 3 3 16Bynum 22:23 3-8 3-4 3-9 0 4 9Fisher 32:00 4-6 0-0 1-3 1 3 9Bryant 37:58 16-34 8-8 1-8 8 1 40Odom 31:39 5-11 1-2 2-14 0 3 11Walton 24:13 4-5 1-2 1-2 2 3 9Farmar 12:32 0-3 0-0 0-2 1 1 0Vujacic 5:18 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 0Powell 2:50 1-2 0-0 2-4 0 0 3Brown 8:12 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0Mbenga 1:50 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0Totals 240:00 41-89 15-18 15-55 18 23 100

Percentages: FG .461, FT .833. 3-Point Goals: 3-9, .333 (Fisher 1-1, Powell 1-1, Ariza 1-2, Bryant 0-1, Farmar 0-1, Odom 0-3). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 9 (8 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (Bryant 2, Gasol 2, Ariza, Bynum, Odom). Turnovers: 8 (Gasol 2, Odom 2, Bryant, Farmar, Mbenga, Vujacic). Steals: 4 (Bryant 2, Odom, Wal-ton). Technical Fouls: None.

A: 18,997 (18,997). T: 2:28. Officials: Dan Crawford, Joe DeRosa, Ken Mauer.

Glance(Best-of-7) All times, ET(L.A. Lakers lead series 1-0)

Thursday: L.A. Lakers 100,

Orlando 75

Sunday: Orlando at L.A. Lakers,

8 p.m., ABC

Tuesday: 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

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 12NBA

GAME 1: L.A. LAKERS 100 ORLANDO 75NBA FINALSINSIDE DISH

Bosh planning free-agent route

Raptors PF Chris Bosh doesn’t plan to sign a contract extension this summer and is preparing to become a free agent at the end of next season.

Bosh is in the final year of a deal that will pay him $15.7 million. While Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo has spoken optimistically in the past about signing Bosh to an extension this summer, Bosh said that isn’t his intention.

“(When) I signed a three-year (extension in 2006)... I had a goal in mind, and that was to put myself in the best position (in 2010) ... I’m thinking I just want to stick to my goal, stick to what I was doing,” Bosh told reporters. “That’s a part of the plan ... I just want to address things (after) next season. There’s a reason why I did things the way I did them back then.”

Before Game 1 of The Finals, commissioner David Stern defended the work of the referees, adding they will eventually be helped by expanded instant replay, and said the technical foul system in which players are suspended a game in the postseason after accu-mulating seven, is working. However, NBA president Joel Litvin told ESPN.com that he anticipates an inter-nal re-evaluation after the season to determine if that number should be increased.

“Certainly given the attention that this rule has received, I have no doubt that we’ll be discussing this after the playoffs,” Litvin said.

Celtics PF Kevin Garnett’s recovery from knee surgery apparently is going well—so well that he’s making bold statements about the Celtics’ future. According to The Boston Globe, Garnett told team owner Wyc Grousbeck that the Celtics would bring home titles the next two seasons.

“I talked to (Garnett) and he guaranteed the cham-pionship in 2010 and in 2011,” Grousbeck said. “He was as fired up as he’s ever been.”

Garnett isn’t the only one making title predic-tions. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert told reporters, “We will win a championship in Cleveland, Ohio. It will hap-pen.” Gilbert said he met with general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown all day on Wednesday as

the organization begins to review the season and look ahead to the draft, free agency and next season.

Gilbert, who said the team was in the “break-even neighborhood” financially, pledged to do whatever it will take to win that title.

Stern said LeBron James has been fined $25,000 for skipping the postgame news conference after Cleveland lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals. Stern said Thursday night that he spoke with the Cavaliers star on Wednesday and that James admitted he was wrong to not congratulate Orlando’s players and coaches after the loss.

Heat G Dwyane Wade has sued a former business partner for $100 million, claiming the man maligned his reputation by making false allegations of illegal drug and steroid use in an e-mail to team president Pat Riley.

Wade’s lawsuit accuses Richard von Houtman of libel and slander. According to the lawsuit, von Houtman accused Wade and other unnamed Heat players in a March 15 message of smoking marijuana and using cocaine and steroids. Wade flatly denies the allegations.

Pacers G Mike Dunleavy had minor arthroscopic sur-gery on his left hip. The team said the operation was done to clean up a long-standing injury and was not related to Dunleavy’s rehabilitation of his right knee, which forced him to miss all but 18 games last season. Dunleavy also had surgery in March to remove a bone spur that had damaged the patellar tendon in the knee.

Hornets G Devin Brown has exercised a player’s option in his contract to return to New Orleans next season. The team did not release financial terms of the contract. Brown averaged 5.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.8 minutes for the Hornets last season.

AMY SANCETTA / AP

LeBron James was fined $25,000 for skipping postgame interviews.

LOS ANGELES—Rashard Lewis clanged jumpers, Dwight Howard was anything but Super.

And once their two top threats couldn’t get going, the Orlando Magic had nowhere to look for offense.

The Magic shot just 29.9 percent from the field in their return to the NBA finals and were overmatched by the Los Angeles Lakers in a 100-75 loss in Game 1 on Thursday night.

“Our effort tonight, it just wasn’t there,” Howard said. “Nobody’s effort was there. We didn’t go for any loose ball, we just weren’t fight-ing. That’s not Magic basketball.”

Orlando led early, sparked by the return of Jameer Nelson, but the momentum was quickly lost under a flurry of missed shots. The Magic weren’t far from the worst shooting effort in finals history, Syracuse’s 27.5 percent performance against Fort Wayne in 1955.

Nelson was a rusty 3-of-9, but that counts as a good night for the guys in blue uniforms.

Howard had 12 points and 15 rebounds, but was only 1-of-6 from the floor. Lewis managed only eight points, going 2-of-10.

Howard averaged 25.8 points in the conference finals against Cleve-land, capped by a 40-point perfor-mance in Orlando’s Game 6 clincher. The Lakers never let him get going in Game 1, sending two or three defend-ers anytime Superman caught the ball too close to the basket.

He took only two shots, missing both, and scored two points in the

pivotal third quarter, when the Lakers extended a 10-point half-time lead to as much as 26.

Orlando’s offense flows best when Howard forces teams to double him, so he can kick it out to the Magic’s plethora of perimeter threats. But he didn’t have many options when he threw it back out Thursday.

Hedo Turkoglu was 3-of-11, Courtney Lee 3-of-10, Rafer Alston 2-of-9, and Mickael Pietrus 5-of-13.

“I thought Dwight made some good passes out. Second half we weren’t able to make any shots out of that,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. “But I thought we had a lot of trouble getting the ball

inside. I thought they did a good job making that difficult, and we’ve got to find a way to get better ball movement.”

Lewis was averaging 19.4 points in the postseason, causing matchup nightmares for opponents as a 6-foot-10 3-point threat.

The Lakers forced Lewis to put the ball on the floor, and he’s not as comfortable shooting off the drib-ble. He made two 3-pointers but was 0-for-6 inside the arc.

“It’s only one game. Game 2 we’re going to go back, watch film, figure out a way to move the ball a lot better.”

— The Associated Press

Howard: ‘We just weren’t fighting’

Dwight Howard was held to 12 points Thursday after averaging 25.8 in the previous series.

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

Craig CustanceHOCKEY

Exhausted Wings can’t catch energized PenguinsPITTSBURGH—It was something he has

seldom seen from the Detroit players, and Brooks Orpik is getting to know these Red Wings pretty well.

On their way to a series squaring 4-2 win, the Penguins took a one-goal lead when Sidney Crosby scored his first goal

of the Stanley Cup finals.

Fellow defenseman Mark Eaton nudged Orpik and told him to check out Detroit’s bench after Crosby’s goal.

The players were slumped over. Exhausted. Nothing close to the dominant,

immovable force the Penguins saw last year.

“They looked frustrated, looked like they had no energy,” Orpik said. “When you see that, you feed off it.”

When Tyler Kennedy scored to open the Pittsburgh lead to two goals later in that same period, Orpik saw something else from the Red Wings he had never seen. They were talking more, mixing it up after the whistle. The kind of stuff opponents like to do to Detroit, but some-thing in which the veteran, professional Red Wings rarely engage. Even worse, Orpik said he noticed Red Wings players getting on each other.

“Which you never see out of those guys,” he said. “It’s something you don’t expect from them or see too often. I guess, a good sign for us.”

Yes, a good sign. There were a lot of good signs in that pivotal second period.

It started with Jordan Staal’s short-handed goal, the first one the Red Wings

have allowed during these playoffs. The period also marked the return to form of Sidney Crosby, who scored his first goal of the finals and made a pass few others can make in feeding Kennedy for the fourth goal of the game.

But most telling, it was the period in which Orpik noticed that the reigning champs were starting to crack—for the first time in a long time.

If the Penguins go on to win the Cup, it’ll be because of Thursday’s second period.

“If you do the math, it definitely shifted the game, and by winning this game some of the momentum has shifted,” Eaton said.

Yeah, some. How about all of it?After losing the first two games, the

Penguins maintained they were a confi-dent team and this was similar to the second-round series they won in seven games over the Washington Capitals after dropping the first two games.

The Red Wings aren’t the Capitals, but the Penguins are treating them the same way.

Factor in the feeling that Pittsburgh actually outplayed Detroit and deserved to win one of the first two games at Joe Louis Arena, and this series could easily be a 3-1 Pittsburgh advantage.

But they’ll take 2-2 and the momentum, especially with the way everything came together Thursday.

With Crosby’s arrival on the scoresheet, both Pittsburgh stars—Crosby and Evgeni Malkin—are playing at a high level.

Detroit, meanwhile, is still waiting for Pavel Datsyuk’s finals debut and a Stan-ley Cup finals goal from Marian Hossa.

“We have the luxury of having two

very, very good players that can, on any given night, get two points and add to the win,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said.

“If we play the right way, we give our-selves a pretty good chance to win.”

ccustance@sportingnews.com

Penguins D Mark Eaton could sense the Wings were missing their usual jump.

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

NOTEBOOK

Datsyuk warms up,but is held out again

Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk said his injured foot continues to feel better and was hoping to play Thursday night. But even though he went through a brief warmup before the game, he was held out again.

Datsyuk hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

“Pavel was pushing it to try to go,” coach Mike Babcock said. But the Hart Trophy candidate ultimately didn’t get clearance from the team’s medical staff.

Datsyuk had an extended skating session dur-ing the morning skate and afterward said he felt as good as he had since injuring it.

“I feel much better today,” Datsyuk said.His optimism and quality time in practice left

teammates to believe Datsyuk should be ready to go in Game 5 Saturday.

“We’re hoping to get him back in the next game,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “If he comes back for the next one, he just adds that extra dimension to our team. He works really hard defensively. He’s just tough to play against.”

Draper returnsThe Red Wings got one of their injured play-

ers back on the ice when veteran center Kris Draper replaced rookie Justin Abdelkader in the lineup. Draper had been out with a groin injury that has limited him throughout this playoff run.

Draper played 8:10 in his first game back, skating primarily with Kirk Maltby and Ville Leino. He won 55 percent of his faceoffs.

The veteran admitted that all the practice time in the world doesn’t simulate playing in a Stan-ley Cup finals game.

“There’s nothing like going out and doing it in a game,” Draper said before taking the ice. “Especially in this atmosphere.”

— Craig Custance

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 13NHL

GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4 DETROIT 2 STANLEY CUP FINALSS

Staal’s goal starts comebackPITTSBURGH—The Pittsburgh Pen-

guins’ fresh legs and fast feet changed the Stanley Cup finals in a flash, and now a series that looked to be over is only getting started.

Jordan Staal’s shorthanded goal during back-to-back Detroit power plays started Pittsburgh’s comeback, and the Penguins scored three goals in less than 6 minutes of the second period Thursday night to win 4-2 and tie the series at 2.

Evgeni Malkin, enjoying the best postseason scoring run since Wayne Gretzky’s in 1993, and Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist each to help rally the Penguins from a 2-1 deficit a year to the day Detroit raised the Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh by win-ning Game 6.

Tyler Kennedy also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury, with his second successive excellent game, made 37 saves. All the Penguins’ goal scorers are 22 or younger—Sid isn’t their only kid—and it may have made a big difference as the older Red Wings played their fourth game in six nights.

“It seemed like all their guys were really slumped over tired and looked like they were frustrated, really,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “When you see that you just kind of feed off of it.”

Until Game 4, the finals followed the same pattern as last year’s: Detroit won the first two at home, then dropped Game 3 in Pittsburgh. But the Red Wings couldn’t follow up their 2-1 road victory in Game 4 of last year, one decided largely when

they killed off a lengthy Pittsburgh 5-on-3 advantage, and now these finals are the best-of-three.

Game 5 is Saturday night in Detroit, with Game 6 in Pittsburgh on Tues-day night after the series’ first two-day break. Game 7 would be June 12 in Detroit.

“It’s a race to four (wins) now,” Pittsburgh’s Pascal Dupuis said.

The Red Wings certainly lost all the races in Game 4, done in by a bad second period and dreadful special teams. Pittsburgh has converted on 4 of 9 power plays, and this game swung when the Penguins scored—and the Red Wings didn’t—during 3:59 of continuous Detroit power-play time. Detroit was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

With Detroit up 2-1 following goals by Darren Helm and Brad Stuart less than 3 minutes apart to end the first and start the second, Staal—who had only two goals in 20 playoff games—got loose after Max Talbot’s up-ice pass.

The 6-foot-4 Staal used his lengthy stride to thread defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski and beat Chris Osgood at 8:35 of the sec-ond. Staal had a record-tying seven short-handed goals as an 18-year-old rookie in 2006-07, but had only one since.

“Max made a great play. I saw Lid-strom and Rafalski both kind of flat-footed,” Staal said. “I kind of just buried my head, went for it and kind of snuck it in.”

Staal’s goal instantly changed a major opportunity by Detroit to seize

control not only of the game but the series into a tie game, and the 17,132 jammed into a suddenly rocking Mel-lon Arena sensed how big the play might be.

“That was a big momentum changer for us,” Talbot said. “The building was so loud, it gave us a lot

of emotion.”Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said,

“They have a chance to go up 3-1, but Jordan speeds up ice, makes a strong move to the net like he can with his big body and scores a great goal for us ... and kind of got us rolling.”

The Penguins killed the second

power play and, less than a minute later, Crosby and Malkin—their sig-nature stars—worked a 2-on-1 rush for Crosby’s 15th of the playoffs and 30th point.

Kennedy, a Staal linemate who had no goals in five games, finished it off with Pittsburgh’s third goal in a span

of 5:37 by scoring off two quick passes by Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Ken-nedy won the race to a loose puck with Henrik Zetterberg, who may be wearying from shadowing Crosby and Malkin shift after shift.

“They had some 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s, and we can’t do that against them because they’re too skilled,” Zetter-berg said.

On the Detroit bench, a sour-faced Mike Babcock had the look of a coach wondering if the compressed schedule is favoring the younger Penguins.

“We were playing all right, but the power play hurt us for sure,” Babcock said. “It sucked the life out of us.”

— The Associated Press

Jordan Staal’s second-period, shorthanded goal tied the game and, ‘was a big momentum changer for us,’ teammate Max Talbot said.

FRANK GUNN / AP

Detroit 1 1 0 — 2Pittsburgh 1 3 0 — 4

First Period: 1, Pittsburgh, Malkin 14 (Letang, Staal), 2:39 (pp). 2, Detroit, Helm 4, 18:19. Penalties: Kronwall, Det (tripping), 1:12; Eaton, Pit (cross-checking), 11:09; Ericsson, Det (high-sticking), 16:27; Guerin, Pit (high-sticking), 16:37.Second Period: 3, Detroit, Stuart 3 (Zetterberg, Rafalski), :46. 4, Pittsburgh, Staal 3 (Talbot, Eaton), 8:35 (sh). 5, Pittsburgh, Crosby 15 (Malkin), 10:34. 6, Pittsburgh, Kennedy 4 (Crosby, Kunitz), 14:12. Penalties: Malkin, Pit (hooking), 5:44; Orpik, Pit (tripping), 7:43.Third Period: None. Penalties: Kronwall, Det (hooking), 18:27; Cleary, Det (tripping), 20:00; Orpik, Pit (roughing), 20:00.Shots on Goal: Detroit 19-9-11: 39. Pittsburgh 11-11-9: 31.Power-play opportunities: Detroit 0 of 4; Pittsburgh 1 of 3.Goalies: Detroit, Osgood 14-6-0 (31 shots-27 saves). Pittsburgh, Fleury 14-7-0 (39-37).A: 17,132 (16,940). T: 2:31.Referees: Marc Joannette, Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Steve Miller, Jean Morin.

Stanley Cup finals(Best-of-7), All times ET

(Series tied 2-2)

May 30: Detroit 3,Pittsburgh 1

May 31: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 1

June 2: Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2

Thursday: Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2

Saturday: Pittsburgh at

Detroit, 8 p.m., NBC

Tuesday: Detroit at

Pittsburgh, 8 p.m., NBC

Friday, June 12: Pittsburgh at

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

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 14NHL

GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4 DETROIT 2 STANLEY CUP FINALSS

INSIDE DISH

Fast-moving Avalanche hire Sacco as coachJoe Sacco envisions himself as the

coach of a fast and feisty team that attacks and stays aggressive—in other words, an extension of the way he played the game for five NHL teams over 13 seasons.

Sacco was introduced as the new coach of the Colorado Avalanche Thursday, a day after the club fired Tony Granato and shook up its front office.

Flanked by newly appointed general manager Greg Sherman and new assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre, Sacco talked about carving out a new identity for a team coming off its worst finish since moving to Denver in 1995.

“We want to be a team that plays with a lot of energy. We want to play on our toes, we don’t want to play on our heels,” Sacco said. “We want to be a team that attacks, we want to be a team that doesn’t sit back.”

Most of all, Sacco wants this team to return to the glory associ-ated with Avalanche teams that have consistently challenged for Stanley Cups. Sherman shares that vision.

“We all want the Avalanche to return to the standards that made this franchise so successful,” he said. “There will be no shortcuts to return to those standards.”

Sacco, 40, was promoted from the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. He coached the Lake Erie Monsters for the last two seasons and has been employed by the franchise for

four seasons.

Boston G.M. Peter Chiarelli told The Boston Globe that star F David Krejci had successful hip surgery Thursday—only a few days after Krejci signed a three-year, $3.75 million contract extension.

‘’In the old days, it would have been a far more major, invasive operation,’’ Chiarelli told the newspaper.

“But they were able to noodle the scope into the joint and knock out the impingement fairly easily.’’

Still, Krejci will be sidelined at least four months and probably miss the first few weeks of the

regular season.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, citing sources, reported that Todd Richards appears to be the leading candidate for the Wild’s coaching vacancy.

But G.M. Chuck Fletcher also has interviewed former Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish and shown interest in Peter Laviolette and Detroit assistant Paul MacLean.

The newspaper also said Fletcher flew to California last week to inter-view Richards, an assistant under San Jose coach Todd McLellan and a former University of Minnesota star. Fletcher reportedly has had

additional contact with Richards. According to the Toronto Sun, if

Maple Leafs G.M. Brian Burke’s efforts to move up in the draft and grab projected No. 1 pick John Tavares fail, he might instead try to move up high enough to get C Brayden Schenn, the younger brother of Leafs’ young D Luke Schenn.

Brayden Schenn, who played last season for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, projects as a top five pick, which means Burke still would have to move up at least two slots from No. 7.

“We would have interest in (the Schenn) scenario,” Burke admitted to the newspaper. “But it’s not our top priority right now.”

Buffalo G Patrick Lalime told read-ers on the Sabres’ website Wednes-day that his 2008-09 season ended early because of injuries that resulted in two postseason surgeries.

Lalime, commenting for the first time since coach Lindy Ruff ruled him out for the final three weeks of the season, said he had a sports hernia procedure after first undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his hip.

“A couple of surgeries back-to-back, but we’re doing good now,” said Lalime, who said he should be ready for training camp. “We’re two months in, basically, and we’re looking at another month before we can play and feel good again.”

Lalime was 5-13-3 in his first Buf-falo season with a 3.10 goals-against average.

Joe Sacco, left, served the past four seasons with three of the Avalanche’s minor-league affiliates.DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / AP

Fleury takes back seat to offense in 2nd period

PITTSBURGH—Marc-Andre Fleury saved the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

His offense took care of him in Game 4.

Just 46 seconds into the middle frame Thursday night, Detroit’s Brad Stuart scored through a double screen to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. Two nights ear-lier, Fleury kept the Penguins locked in a 2-2 tie despite Pitts-burgh being outshot 14-4.

They called it their worst period in the playoffs, but because Fleury was on top of his game, Pittsburgh pulled out a 4-2 win in Game 3.

The Penguins rallied from a hole this time and took over with three quick goals that changed the game.

“Well, you can’t really compare them,” Penguins forward Bill Guerin said of the two second periods. “One was awful, one was really good. It’s something that we’ve tried to work on because we’ve had that problem before—a good first but a bad second.

“We’re just trying to focus and play 60 minutes because the sec-ond period is so big and (creates) momentum for the third period.”

It appeared Fleury wouldn’t be able to steal another second period when Stuart’s shot from the right point sailed past Pittsburgh’s Ser-gei Gonchar and Guerin, who blocked his view, and found the net. The Penguins’ early 1-0 lead was gone as Detroit connected twice in a 2:27 span bridging the first two periods.

Jordan Staal turned it around

with a short-handed goal at 8:35 that tied it. Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy also scored to complete the surge of three goals in 5:37 that built the Penguins’ edge to 4-2.

“We want to make sure we make life on him as easy as possi-ble,” Crosby said of Fleury. “We don’t always do that, but you know we try to. We did a good job of putting a lot of pressure in the offensive zone and creating some good chances. That’s a big key for our team. That’s where we want to play.

“We definitely owed him one for sure.”

The final 20 minutes were scoreless and the Penguins skated off with their second straight 4-2 victory. They sent the series back to Detroit tied 2-2 and guaranteed it would return to Pittsburgh for Game 6.

“They took a lead 2-1 early in the second, and to see my team-mates respond and get three goals against that team in the second was huge,” Fleury said

After the early hiccup on Stu-art’s drive, Fleury finished the second with eight saves. His task wasn’t nearly as difficult in this middle period because the offense kept the puck at the other end of the ice for the majority of it.

“They got that goal in the first minute of the second period, and I’m sure there were more people than myself thinking, ‘Oh good-ness,’ ” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “Give credit to our guys.

— The Associated Press

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 15NHL

GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 4 DETROIT 2 STANLEY CUP FINALSS

Q&A with ... Georgia coach Mark Richt

In SEC, ‘We all know we have to win, but it’s pretty civil’ Mark Richt has averaged 10 wins a

season in eight years as coach at Georgia,

including SEC Championships in 2002 and

2005. This fall, he begins his ninth season

as the longest tenured coach in the league

(at the same school). Sporting News Today

college football columnist Matt Hayes

recently caught up with Richt:

Q: The quarterback situation this season looks very

familiar to a few years ago when a senior (Joe Tereshinki) started and was eventually replaced by a high-profile freshman (Matt Stafford). Do one or both of the freshmen—Aaron Murray, Zach Mettenberger—have enough to push starter Joe Cox?

A: Not to say Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger

aren’t fine quarterbacks, but I really believe Joe Cox’s situation is where it would be very difficult to knock him out of the box.

Q: Has the team rallied around Cox?

A: He played against Colorado a couple of years ago and led us

to a big win, and that adds to his credibility with the staff and his teammates. They know he under-stands the system well, they know he puts team first and they can see how accurate of a passer he is every day in practice. They believe in Joe. We have exit meetings with each player after spring practice to talk about strengths and weaknesses. And we always ask the question: Who are the leaders on this team? They could write one guy or five guys, and 107 guys wrote Joe Cox. Here’s a guy who started one game in his career three

years ago, and everyone on the team says he’s the guy.

Q: Has too much been made of the offseason bickering

between coaches in the SEC?

A: The first SEC meetings I went to, I thought I’d just

keep my mouth shut and listen and learn. It’s a little intimidating for any coach walking into the great-est conference in America. But

there’s a camaraderie I didn’t think would exist. I thought it would be more intense. It’s just a bunch of guys doing a very diffi-cult job, and we need to watch what we say. We all have a huge

responsibility. We all know that any given day, something could happen that could change our professional lives in a hurry. We all know we have to win, but it’s pretty civil.

Q: You were a highly regarded assistant at

Florida State. Was it a matter of waiting for the right job to come along?

A: I didn’t plan it; I just put it to prayer. Five years prior to me

taking the job, I really believed that I was going to be a head coach. I felt the spirit tell me that. I had an offer to coach Pitt five years earlier, but to me, God was saying, “You’re not ready. But you better get ready, because your time is coming.” So I had time to think about what was the right place, a place that you didn’t look at as a steppingstone. I wanted to make one move from Florida State, and that’s it. I wasn’t in a rush to become a head coach because I know it comes with a price.

Q: FSU is appealing the 14 wins stripped from

Bobby Bowden’s record because of NCAA sanctions stemming from academic fraud. Is it fair to punish a coach for the misdeeds of players?

A: I hate that for Coach Bowden. I love Coach

Bowden. I haven’t followed it, and I don’t know exactly what hap-pened. But there’s a little precedent there. At Oklahoma a couple of years ago, the NCAA was getting ready to strip wins, and they appealed and it was overturned.

Maybe FSU will have the same kind of success in their appeal.

Q: You vote in the coaches poll. We hear stories of

coaches having others vote for them and other shenanigans. What’s your process, and would you mind the vote being public?

A: I vote myself. I don’t give it to a graduate assistant. I

usually don’t sleep after a game, anyway. I might call in my vote at 1 or 2 in the morning sometimes. I try to make it make sense. I want to be able to defend it every week whether it’s public or not. But obviously what you don’t want is to have to defend it every week. If that happened, I’m out. Not because I’m worried about my integrity; it’s more about defend-ing it every week: Why did you vote this way or that way, or for that team over this team, or that team ahead of us? You just don’t have time for it all week long.

Q: You began last season ranked No. 1 in the

nation. Is that a good or bad thing for teams in that position?

A: I’d just as soon not be preseason No. 1. But I guess

if you’re around there every year you get used to it. I’d really be for voting after four or five games have been played. It’s a better starting point for the polls. As a voter, I’d like that. But as a fan, I can see where it generates a fair amount of interest.

MORE COVERAGE

More with Richt: sportingnews.com

ED REINKE / AP

Mark Richt said he turned down Pitt’s offer five years before taking the Georgia job because he didn’t think he was ready to be a head coach.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 16College Football

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Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy still hasn’t signed a contract extension that was approved last December and bumped his com-pensation to more than $2.2 mil-lion per season through 2015.

Athletic director Mike Holder said in an e-mail to Tulsa World that there would be no problems with Gundy signing the contract.

“The process is ahead of sched-ule. (Gundy’s) original contract agreed upon in January of 2005 was not signed until October or November of 2005,” Holder wrote in the e-mail. “I remember because I signed it as athletic director, but it was negotiated when I was coaching golf. There are no issues, and it will be signed in the next few weeks.”

Gundy is 27-23 in four seasons at his alma mater.

Former Florida LB John Jones is transferring to Tennessee State and will be eligible to play this fall.

He told The Tennessean he wants more playing time. Jones played in 11 games for the Gators last season and had 18 tackles.

The NCAA denied a request by Florida State to release its response to the school’s appeal of sanctions from an academic cheating scandal, according to university president T.K. Wetherell.

“It’s not us, it’s the NCAA” Wetherell said in a report by the Tallahassee Democrat. “We don’t want to keep it private.”

Betty Steffens, the school’s general counsel, told the newspaper she had not seen the document, but her

understanding is that the NCAA did not move from its position that Florida State must vacate victories in 10 sports, including as many as 14 in football.

Nebraska’s Sept. 19 game at Virginia Tech will be televised regionally by ABC. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. ET.

North Carolina C/G Aaron Stahl has decided to forego his final year of eligibility. He graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science.

Stahl played in all 13 games last season and started six at either center or guard. He had shoulder surgery in January.

New Wyoming coach Dave Christensen won’t get to face Mis-souri, where he was offensive coordinator, in 2011 as was previ-ously scheduled because the Cowboys are moving the two-game series to 2017 and 2018.

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.

IOWA STATE 2008 record: 2-10 overall, 0-8 Big 12 Coach: Paul Rhoads Outlook: The coach swap—Au-

burn took Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik and the Cyclones answered by hiring Rhoads, Auburn’s defensive coordinator—is the primary story line in Ames. QB Austen Arnaud returns after throwing for 2,792 yards last year (32nd in the nation). Unfortunately for the Cyclones, he ranked ninth in the passing-crazed Big 12, which devoured ISU’s secondary.

— Derek Samson

91

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL / AP

Despite throwing for nearly 2,800 yards, QB Austen Arnaud ranked ninth in the Big 12.

INSIDE DISH

Gundy to sign extension

MATT SLOCUM / AP

Oklahoma State’s A.D. expects coach Mike Gundy to re-up soon.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 18Baseball

The Mets got a double dose of bad news Thursday: injured SS Jose Reyes now has a tear in his right hamstring and reliever J.J. Putz is experiencing pain in his elbow.

Reyes, who has been on the dis-abled list since May 21 with right calf tendinits, felt the hamstring injury Wednesday during a rehabilitation game.

“(An) MRI revealed a small tear in his right hamstring tendon, a new injury. Reyes will rest for two days and then resume treatment,” the Mets said in a statement.

Putz will leave the team and return to New York to be examined by team doctors today after experiencing “sharp pain” in his right elbow while pitching in a game against the Pitts-burgh Pirates on Thursday.

Putz, acquired in an offseason trade with Seattle to be a dominant eighth-inning presence, has given up eight runs and nine hits in a com-bined 1 1/3 innings during his past three outings, seeing his ERA climb to 5.22.

Yankees SP A.J. Burnett was sus-pended six games Thursday for throwing high and tight to the Rang-ers’ Nelson Cruz earlier this week. Bur-nett, 4-2 with a 4.69 ERA in 11 starts, appealed Major League Baseball’s penalty, which was to have taken effect immediately. He can continue to pitch until a hearing is conducted.

“You kind of expect something to happen when the ball comes that close,” Burnett said Thursday before the Yankees’ series finale against the Rangers.

Burnett sailed a fastball near Cruz’s head in a 12-3 win Tuesday.

Earlier in the game, Texas P Vicente Padilla twice had hit Mark Teixeira. Burnett and Padilla were fined undisclosed amounts by MLB.

Meanwhile, the Rangers have placed Padilla on outright waivers, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The move was supposed to be confidential, but the newspaper’s sources indicated that the Rangers could have two motives: to free up money that could be used later in the season to upgrade the team, and to rid themselves of Padilla’s incon-sistent competitiveness on the mound.

Still, Padilla (3-3 with a 5.57 ERA) remains on Texas’ active roster and is scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Red Sox.

Rangers CF Josh Hamilton (abdominal strain) will meet with a hernia specialist Monday in Phila-delphia for a second opinion. Ham-ilton, placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, is resting and taking anti-inflammatory medication with the hope that he can avoid surgery. If surgery is required, Hamilton could be out until September.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that P Jose Contreras would return from the minors to start one game of Monday’s split doubleheader against the Tigers and that he would stay on the major-league ros-ter if he pitches well.

Mike Scioscia won’t promise a permanent spot in the rotation to SP Ervin Santana, 0-2 with a 9.50 ERA in four starts since coming off

the D.L., but the Angels manager won’t yank him after today’s game in Detroit, even if he pitches poorly for a third consecutive game, the Los Angeles Times reported. “One and done? That’s not the case,” Sci-oscia told the newspaper.

Within hours of P Tom Glavine’s release Wednesday by the Braves, three clubs had contacted the lefthander’s agent, FOXSports.com reported. But Glavine—who has 305 career victories and had gotten his arm strength back enough to throw his typical 83-86 mph in his minor league rehab starts—is not sure he wants to continue pitching.

Friend and former Atlanta team-mate John Smoltz, now pitching for the Red Sox after a less-than-friendly breakup with the Braves, told

FOXSports.com that it was unfair to release Glavine after his minor league rehab assignments but before he had a chance to show what he could do with the big club. “That’s not how you treat people. He didn’t have a chance to fail at that level.”

Rays 3B Evan Longoria, who left Tuesday’s game with tightness in his left hamstring, is likely to return to the lineup by Saturday in New York. Longoria didn’t start for the second straight day Thursday against Kansas City but said before the game that he’d be ready in “a day or two.”

Miguel Cabrera (.351, 10 HRs, 38 RBIs) left the Tigers’ game Thurs-day against the Red Sox with a left hamstring injury.

THE LAUNCHING PADWhat to expect in the major leagues today

Price vs. pinstripesLast September, Rays phenom David Price made his major league debut

at Yankee Stadium, pitching 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball in relief. Tonight, Price will make his new Yankee Stadium debut. The Rays won both of their games at the new park in early May. The first was a 10th-inning win, and the second came after Tampa Bay scored twice in the ninth inning (with two solo homers off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera). New York will counter with an exceptional lefthander of its own, with CC Sabathia scheduled to start. After a slow start with his new team, Sabathia has won his past four decisions.

Mr. AutomaticWe won’t be treated to a classic Cy Young showdown between Zack

Greinke and Roy Halladay in this weekend’s Royals-Blue Jays series, but Greinke will try to tie Halladay for the major league lead in wins (nine) tonight. Greinke fanned eight Blue Jays en route to a win in late April (at the time, both teams had at least a share of first place in their respective divisions). Kansas City won three of the four games in that series, which was played at Kauffman Stadium. Greinke leads the majors with five complete games and still hasn’t allowed a home run this season.

Going streakin’These days, only a scheduled off day can slow down Mariners outfielder

Ichiro Suzuki. Seattle was off Thursday, but Ichiro will take his 27-game hit-ting streak into tonight’s game against Minnesota. Ichiro already has set a Mariners record with his streak and is just three games shy of this season’s longest hitting streak (Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit in 30 consecutive games from April 8-May 16). On the mound for the Twins will be struggling lefthander Francisco Liriano, against whom Ichiro is 6-for-15 (.400) in his career.

— Chris Bahr

INSIDE DISH

Mets say Reyes has hamstring tear, Putz hurting

KATHY WILLENS / AP

TONY DEJAK / AP

Yankees P A.J. Burnett would miss one start if MLB upholds his suspension.

David Price will test the homer-happy new Yankee Stadium tonight.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 19Baseball

American League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayBoston 32 22 .593 — — 6-4 W-4 17-6 15-16New York 32 22 .593 — — 7-3 W-1 16-10 16-12Toronto 30 26 .536 3 3 3-7 L-2 19-9 11-17Tampa Bay 28 28 .500 5 5 5-5 W-3 16-11 12-17Baltimore 24 30 .444 8 8 6-4 L-2 16-13 8-17

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayDetroit 28 24 .538 — — 4-6 L-3 15-10 13-14Minnesota 27 28 .491 2½ 5½ 5-5 W-1 21-12 6-16Chicago 25 28 .472 3½ 6½ 6-4 L-3 13-13 12-15Kansas City 23 30 .434 5½ 8½ 2-8 L-7 15-15 8-15Cleveland 23 33 .411 7 10 5-5 L-1 12-14 11-19

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayTexas 31 22 .585 — — 5-5 L-1 18-9 13-13Los Angeles 27 25 .519 3½ 4 5-5 W-2 14-12 13-13Seattle 26 28 .481 5½ 6 6-4 W-2 14-13 12-15Oakland 22 30 .423 8½ 9 5-5 W-3 11-13 11-17

National League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayPhiladelphia 32 20 .615 — — 8-2 W-7 12-14 20-6New York 28 24 .538 4 2 5-5 L-3 17-9 11-15Atlanta 26 26 .500 6 4 4-6 L-1 12-13 14-13Florida 26 29 .473 7½ 5½ 6-4 W-1 12-15 14-14Washington 14 38 .269 18 16 2-8 L-2 8-18 6-20

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayMilwaukee 31 23 .574 — — 5-5 L-1 16-9 15-14St. Louis 31 23 .574 — — 5-5 W-1 19-11 12-12Cincinnati 28 25 .528 2½ 2½ 5-5 L-1 13-12 15-13Chicago 26 25 .510 3½ 3½ 5-5 W-1 16-10 10-15Pittsburgh 25 28 .472 5½ 5½ 6-4 W-3 15-11 10-17Houston 23 29 .442 7 7 5-5 L-1 12-16 11-13

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str Home AwayLos Angeles 37 19 .661 — — 6-4 L-1 20-7 17-12San Francisco 27 25 .519 8 3 7-3 W-2 18-9 9-16San Diego 25 28 .472 10½ 5½ 4-6 L-3 17-9 8-19Arizona 23 31 .426 13 8 4-6 L-2 12-19 11-12Colorado 21 32 .396 14½ 9½ 3-7 W-1 9-14 12-18

z-first game was a win

Pitching Matchups Today’s Games (All times Eastern)

American League The Line

L.A. Angels (E.Santana 0-2) at Detroit (Verlander 6-2), 7:05 p.m. at Det -165 LAA +155

Tampa Bay (Price 1-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 5-3), 7:05 p.m. at NYY -200 TB +185

Kansas City (Greinke 8-1) at Toronto (R.Romero 2-2), 7:07 p.m. KC -130 at Tor +120

Texas (Millwood 4-4) at Boston (Penny 5-1), 7:10 p.m. at Bos -135 Tex +125

Cleveland (Pavano 5-4) at Chicago White Sox (Danks 4-3), 8:11 p.m. at ChW -140 Cle +130

Baltimore (Guthrie 4-4) at Oakland (Braden 4-5), 10:05 p.m. at Oak -125 Bal +115

Minnesota (Liriano 2-7) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 5-3), 10:10 p.m. at Sea -150 Min +140

National League The Line

N.Y. Mets (Redding 0-2) at Washington (Martis 5-1), 7:05 p.m. at Was -125 NYM +115

Chicago Cubs (Zambrano 3-2) at Cincinnati (Owings 3-6), 7:10 p.m. ChC -135 at Cin +125

San Francisco (Zito 1-6) at Florida (Volstad 4-4), 7:10 p.m. at Fla -160 SF +150

Milwaukee (Gallardo 5-2) at Atlanta (Jurrjens 5-2), 7:35 p.m. at Atl -130 Mil +120

Pittsburgh (Karstens 2-2) at Houston (Hampton 3-4), 8:05 p.m. at Hou -125 Pit +115

Colorado (De La Rosa 0-6) at St. Louis (Wainwright 5-3), 8:15 p.m. at StL -175 Col +165

Arizona (D.Davis 2-6) at San Diego (Gaudin 2-3), 10:05 p.m. at SD -115 Ari +105

Philadelphia (Moyer 4-5) at L.A. Dodgers (Milton 2-0), 10:10 p.m. at LAD -130 Phi +120

MORE COVERAGE Get everything you need to

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

Fantasy Focus Start ’Em, Sit ’Em

Start Jason Varitek, C, Red Sox. Some

owners haven’t noticed Varitek has 10 homers, just three off his total from 2008. He also is 10-for-24 (.417) lifetime against Texas’ Kevin Millwood.

Pedro Feliz, 3B, Phillies. Feliz’s average is hovering around .300, and he is 6-of-11 (.545) with a homer against Los Angeles’ Eric Milton.

David Price, SP, Rays. The Yan-kees are hitting .308 against left-ies, but Price had success against New York in a relief appearance last season. Don’t bench a poten-tial 10-strikeout performance.

Sit Michael Cuddyer, OF, Twins. Cud-

dyer is nursing a finger injury, and he is 2-for-18 (.222) against Seat-tle’s Felix Hernandez.

Chone Figgins, 3B, Angels. Figgins is 1-for-11 (.091) with seven strike-outs in his past encounters with Detroit’s Justin Verlander.

Ervin Santana, SP, Angels. Don’t start the struggling Angels pitcher. He’s 2-2 with a 7.17 ERA in four career starts at Comerica Park.

— 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 74

Crawford Tampa Bay 73

Morneau Minnesota 72

ISuzuki Seattle 72

Ellsbury Boston 70

MYoung Texas 70

N.L.

Player Team

Tejada Houston 76

Hudson Los Angeles 71

Ibanez Philadelphia 69

Zimmerman Washington 69

HaRamirez Florida 67

FSanchez Pittsburgh 67

Two tied 65

A.L.

Player Team

Verlander Detroit 90

Greinke Kansas City 88

Halladay Toronto 82

Lester Boston 74

FHernandez Seattle 72

Beckett Boston 68

Garza Tampa Bay 66

N.L.

Player Team

Lincecum San Francisco 91

JSantana New York 89

JVazquez Atlanta 86

Billingsley Los Angeles 85

Peavy San Diego 84

Haren Arizona 78

JoJohnson Florida 72

A.L.

Player Team

Fuentes Los Angeles 14

Papelbon Boston 14

Jenks Chicago 12

MaRivera New York 12

FFrancisco Texas 12

Sherrill Baltimore 11

Two tied 10

N.L.

Player Team

Bell San Diego 15

Cordero Cincinnati 14

FrRodriguez New York 14

Hoffman Milwaukee 14

Four tied 13

A.L.

Player Team

Longoria Tampa Bay 55

Bay Boston 53

Morneau Minnesota 50

Teixeira New York 47

TorHunter Los Angeles 43

CPena Tampa Bay 42

Two tied 41

N.L.

Player Team

Ibanez Philadelphia 53

Fielder Milwaukee 52

Pujols St. Louis 48

Howard Philadelphia 46

AdGonzalez San Diego 43

Dunn Washington 42

Three tied 41

A.L.

Player Team

Crawford Tampa Bay 43

Damon New York 43

Morneau Minnesota 43

Pedroia Boston 43

BRoberts Baltimore 43

Scutaro Toronto 43

AdJones Baltimore 42

N.L.

Player Team

Ibanez Philadelphia 44

Pujols St. Louis 43

Zimmerman Washington 40

AdGonzalez San Diego 39

Hudson Los Angeles 39

Utley Philadelphia 39

Victorino Philadelphia 38

A.L.

Player Team

Bartlett Tampa Bay .373

MiCabrera Detroit .354

ISuzuki Seattle .353

Morneau Minnesota .348

VMartinez Cleveland .346

AdJones Baltimore .345

MYoung Texas .338

N.L.

Player Team

Beltran New York .356

Tejada Houston .350

Hawpe Colorado .348

Pujols St. Louis .346

HaRamirez Florida .342

Pence Houston .339

Ibanez Philadelphia .335

A.L.

Player Team

CPena Tampa Bay 17

Bay Boston 16

NCruz Texas 16

Teixeira New York 16

Morneau Minnesota 15

Dye Chicago 14

Kinsler Texas 14

N.L.

Player Team

AdGonzalez San Diego 22

Ibanez Philadelphia 19

Pujols St. Louis 17

Dunn Washington 16

Howard Philadelphia 16

Bruce Cincinnati 14

Three tied 13

A.L.

Player Team

Crawford Tampa Bay 34

Ellsbury Boston 22

Figgins Los Angeles 20

BUpton Tampa Bay 17

Abreu Los Angeles 15

Bartlett Tampa Bay 14

Span Minnesota 12

N.L.

Player Team

Bourn Houston 18

DWright New York 13

Kemp Los Angeles 12

Taveras Cincinnati 12

Six tied 11

A.L.

Player Team

Palmer Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Feldman Texas 5-0 1.000

Halladay Toronto 9-1 .900

Greinke Kansas City 8-1 .889

Slowey Minnesota 8-1 .889

Penny Boston 5-1 .833

Baez Baltimore 4-1 .800

N.L.

Player Team

Broxton Los Angeles 5-0 1.000

Cain San Francisco 7-1 .875

Martis Washington 5-1 .833

JoJohnson Florida 5-1 .833

LiHernandez New York 4-1 .800

Lincecum San Francisco 4-1 .800

Gallardo Milwaukee 5-2 .714

A.L.

Player Team

Lind Toronto 21

Longoria Tampa Bay 20

MYoung Texas 20

Byrd Texas 19

Callaspo Kansas City 17

Lowell Boston 17

Morneau Minnesota 17

N.L.

Player Team

Tejada Houston 20

FSanchez Pittsburgh 19

AdLaRoche Pittsburgh 18

Hudson Los Angeles 17

HaRamirez Florida 17

Three tied 16

ELISE AMENDOLA / AP

Jason Varitek has 10 homers this season.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 20Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

San Francisco 5, Washington 1, 1st game; San Francisco 4, Washington 1, 6 innings, 2nd gameGiants 5, Nationals 1

First Game

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rowand cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .293Renteria ss 4 1 1 0 0 2 .245Winn rf 4 1 1 2 0 0 .283B.Molina c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .247F.Lewis lf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .276c-Sandoval ph-1b 0 0 0 1 0 0 .301Ishikawa 1b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .264d-Torres ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .231Uribe 3b 4 0 0 1 0 0 .299Burriss 2b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .272Ra.Johnson p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .059Medders p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000B.Wilson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 33 5 7 5 0 9

Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Alb.Gonzalez ss 4 1 0 0 0 0 .271N.Johnson 1b 2 0 1 1 2 0 .330Zimmerman 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .318Dunn lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .263Dukes cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .275Kearns rf 3 0 0 0 1 3 .218Belliard 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .178Nieves c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .279Zimmermann p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-A.Hernandez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .283Villone p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---MacDougal p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-C.Guzman ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .325Hanrahan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 31 1 4 1 4 8

San Francisco 020 000 003 — 5 7 1Washington 000 001 000 — 1 4 0

a-grounded out for Zimmermann in the 6th. b-flied out for MacDougal in the 8th. c-hit a sacrifice fly for F.Lewis in the 9th. d-flied out for Ishikawa in the 9th. E: Renteria (5). LOB: San Francisco 2, Washington 7. 2B: Renteria (8), Winn (15), Ishikawa (4), N.Johnson (8). RBIs: Winn 2 (23), Sandoval (21), Uribe (10), Burriss (12), N.Johnson (27). SF: Sandoval. Runners left in scoring position: Washington 4 (Nieves, Dunn 3). Runners moved up: Uribe, Alb.Gonzalez, Zimmerman. GIDP: Belliard. DP: San Francisco 1 (Burriss, Renteria, Ishikawa).

San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERARa.Johnson W, 5-4 6 2 1 0 2 2 78 5.12Medders H, 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 14 2.66Affeldt H, 13 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 9 1.88B.Wilson S, 13-16 11⁄3 1 0 0 1 4 34 3.86Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAZimmermann L, 2-3 6 3 2 2 0 7 92 5.71Villone 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 0.00MacDougal 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 8.53Hanrahan 0 4 3 3 0 0 9 6.66Beimel 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 4.64

Hanrahan pitched to 4 batters in the 9th. Medders pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Affeldt 1-0, B.Wilson 2-0, Beimel 2-1. PB: B.Molina. Umpires: Home, Tim Timmons; First, R.J. Thompson; Second, Jeff Kellogg; Third, Mark Wegner. T: 2:30. A: 0 (41,888).

Johnson on 300: ‘It’s a career achievement’WASHINGTON—The emotions finally flowed

for Randy Johnson when the final out was made.

A hug for his son, who was serving as bat-boy. Hugs for every teammate, plus a really big one for his manager. The game ball pre-sented to his wife as his three daughters beamed with pride. A news conference that lasted a half-hour from a player who usually doesn’t have much to say. Someone even spotted a smile.

The Big Unit admits he can come across as surly, and he did his best over the past few weeks to downplay his pursuit of 300 wins. Once he got there—with a steady, six-inning performance in the San Francisco Giants’ 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in the opener of a doubleheader Thursday—he was free to express that, yes, it really is a big deal.

“I think it kind of hit me when I walked on the field,” Johnson said. “It’s a long-range achievement. It’s not a one-game or a one-year achievement, it’s a career achievement. Who knows how many teammates I’ve had over my 21 years, but they had a great deal to do with my success. I’m going to think about this for a long time.”

In the nightcap, the Giants completed a sweep with a rain-shortened 4-1 victory. The game was called with two outs in the top of the sixth after a 67-minute delay.

Johnson became the 24th pitcher to reach the 300-win milestone, and he did it as a mature pitcher, not the overpowering tangle of arms and legs who was all about strike-outs early in his career. He walked two, struck out two, allowed only an unearned run and threw 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes. He faced four batters above the minimum and got shutout relief from his bullpen.

“I get more gratification out of that because of the way I’m doing it now than the way I

did it 10 years ago,” Johnson said.It was hardly the ideal setting for a historic

moment. The crowd was small and the weather was wet. Some of the few thousand fans who witnessed the feat—the Nationals have trouble drawing a crowd for anything these days—chanted “Randy! Randy!” in the bottom of the ninth, and he tipped his hat to them all.

Family and friends from all over flew in for the occasion to see Johnson (5-4) become the first pitcher to get 300 on his first try since Tom Seaver in 1985.

“He’s become one of the dinosaurs with the other 23, and he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “But you could see after the game—I’m sure he’s had his eye on this 300 for a while. He’s done an incredible job with keeping his self in shape, pitching at 45 and still throw-ing the ball the way he’s throwing is quite an accomplishment.”

Johnson had to leave the game because of what he called a “senior moment”—his deci-sion to go after a comebacker that he knocked down in the sixth inning. The 6-foot-10 John-son barehanded the ball while falling for-ward to throw out the runner and bruised his pitching shoulder on the play. He’s expected to make his next start.

San Francisco led 2-1 when Johnson departed, but he nearly wound up with a no-decision. The Nationals loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth before Adam Dunn was called out on strikes with a full count on a knee-high fastball from reliever Brian Wilson.

The 45-year-old Johnson is the sixth lefthander to win 300 games and the second-oldest pitcher to reach the milestone. Knuck-leballer Phil Niekro was 46 when he won his 300th with the New York Yankees in 1985.

— The Associated PressRandy Johnson is the sixth lefty to win 300 games and, at 45, the second-oldest behind 46-year-old Phil Niekro.

NICK WASS / AP

Giants 4, Nationals 1, 6 innings

Second Game

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Rowand cf 3 1 1 1 1 0 .294Renteria ss 3 1 1 0 0 0 .247Torres lf 3 1 1 0 0 2 .250Sandoval 1b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .301Aurilia 3b 3 0 2 1 0 0 .221Whiteside c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .300Schierholtz rf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .242Burriss 2b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .273Cain p 3 0 1 0 0 1 .263Totals 27 4 10 4 1 5

Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg.C.Guzman ss 3 1 1 0 0 1 .326N.Johnson 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .330Zimmerman 3b 1 0 1 1 1 0 .321Dunn lf 2 0 0 0 1 2 .261Dukes rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .270W.Harris cf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .273J.Bard c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .212A.Hernandez 2b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .287Detwiler p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000Totals 19 1 5 1 2 7

San Francisco 000 130 — 4 10 0Washington 100 00x — 1 5 0

LOB: San Francisco 7, Washington 6. 2B: Sandoval (15), Schierholtz (4), Burriss (6), C.Guzman (11), A.Hernandez (6). 3B: W.Harris (2). RBIs: Rowand (25), Sandoval (22), Aurilia (12), Whiteside (2), Zimmerman (38). SB: Torres (2). SF: Zimmerman. Runners left in scoring position: San Francisco 1 (Whiteside) Washington 4 (W.Harris 2, C.Guzman, Detwiler). Runners moved up: Sandoval, Dukes.

San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACain W, 7-1 5 5 1 1 2 7 82 2.27Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERADetwiler L, 0-2 52⁄3 10 4 4 1 5 76 5.23

WP: Cain. Umpires: Home, Rob Drake First, Jeff Kel-logg Second, Mark Wegner Third, R.J. Thompson. T: 1:37 (Rain delay: 1:07). A: 16,787 (41,888).

300 Wins List1. Cy Young, 511

2. Walter Johnson, 417

3. Grover Cleveland Alexander, 373

3. Christy Mathewson, 373

5. Pud Galvin, 365

6. Warren Spahn, 363

7. Kid Nichols, 361

8. Greg Maddux, 355

9. Roger Clemens, 354

10. Tim Keefe, 342

11. Steve Carlton, 329

12. John Clarkson, 328

13. Eddie Plank, 326

14. Nolan Ryan, 324

14. Don Sutton, 324

16. Phil Niekro, 318

17. Gaylord Perry, 314

18. Tom Seaver, 311

19. Hoss Radbourn, 309

20. Mickey Welch, 307

21. x-Tom Glavine, 305

22. Lefty Grove, 300

22. Early Wynn, 300

22. x-Randy Johnson, 300

(x-active)

Winningest lefthandersWarren Spahn 363

Steve Carlton 329

Eddie Plank 326

Tom Glavine 305

Lefty Grove 300

Randy Johnson 300

Johnson career statsRegular SeasonYear, Team IP W-L BB SO ERA1988, Mon 26 3-0 7 25 2.421989, Mon 29.2 0-4 26 26 6.671989, Sea 131 7-9 70 104 4.401990, Sea 219.2 14-11 120 194 3.651991, Sea 201.1 13-10 152 228 3.981992, Sea 210.1 12-14 144 241 3.771993, Sea 255.1 19-8 99 308 3.241994, Sea 172 13-6 72 204 3.191995, Sea 214.1 18-2 65 294 2.481996, Sea 61.1 5-0 25 85 3.671997, Sea 213 20-4 77 291 2.281998, Sea 160 9-10 60 213 4.331998, Hou 84.1 10-1 26 116 1.281999, Ari 271.2 17-9 70 364 2.482000, Ari 248.2 19-7 76 347 2.642001, Ari 249.2 21-6 71 372 2.492002, Ari 260 24-5 71 334 2.322003, Ari 114 6-8 27 125 4.262004, Ari 245.2 16-14 44 290 2.602005, NYY 225.2 17-8 47 211 3.792006, NYY 205 17-11 60 172 5.002007, Ari 56.2 4-3 13 72 3.812008, Ari 184 11-10 44 173 3.912009, SF 58 5-4 21 56 5.12Totals 4097.1 300-164 1487 4845 3.29

Milestone Wins1st Win: Sept. 15, 1988 vs. Pittsburgh (with Montreal).100th Win: April 6, 1996 vs. Milwaukee (with Seattle).200th Win: Oct. 2, 2001 vs. Colorado (with Arizona).250th Win: May 18, 2004 at Atlanta (with Arizona).300th Win: June 4, 2009 at Washingotn (with San Francisco).

BASEBALL COVERAGE IS OUR BREAD & BUTTER

Winningest active pitchersPitcher Age Wins-losses

Randy Johnson 45 300-164

Jamie Moyer 46 250-190

Andy Pettitte 36 220-128

John Smoltz 42 210-147

Tim Wakefield 42 184-160

Bartolo Colon 36 153-101

Livan Hernandez 34 151-140

Tim Hudson 33 146-77

Kevin Millwood 34 146-115

Mike Hampton 36 144-109

Roy Halladay 32 139-67

NICK WASS / AP

Randy Johnson hugs son Tanner after the Giants beat Washington 5-1 for Johnson’s 300th career win.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 21Baseball

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 22Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Colorado 10, Houston 3

Atkins gets it rightHOUSTON—Garrett Atkins

couldn’t get himself to stop making bad swings for more than a month. He got it right twice on Thursday night and hopes he can finally put his sluggish start behind him.

Atkins broke out of a slump with two home runs and the Colorado Rockies snapped a four-game losing skid with a 10-3 win over the Houston Astros.

Ryan Spilborghs and Brad Hawpe added solo homers and Jason Hammel pitched seven effective innings for the Rock-ies, who avoided a sweep and stopped Houston’s four-game winning streak.

Atkins came into the game batting .188 and had only 11 hits in his last 86 at-bats. He never lost his confidence at the plate and didn’t make any adjust-ments before Thursday’s game.

“Just kept believing in myself that it was going to turn,” Atkins said. “As long as you believe in yourself, you’re likely to turn it around.”

Colorado manager Jim Tracy only wants Atkins to watch his two home run swings on video before the Rockies open a series in St. Louis this weekend. And Atkins probably will.

“Hopefully, these swings today, I can kind of get that muscle memory going that way and continue it on for a nice lit-tle streak,” Atkins said.

— The Associated Press

Rockies 10, Astros 3

Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Spilborghs cf-lf 4 2 2 2 0 0 .263Barmes ss 4 1 2 1 1 0 .266Helton 1b 4 1 2 1 1 2 .315Murton lf 5 0 1 2 0 3 .267Grilli p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Embree p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Hawpe rf 5 1 1 1 0 0 .348Atkins 3b 4 2 2 3 0 0 .194Quintanilla 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .217Stewart 2b-3b 5 1 3 0 0 0 .205Bellorin c 4 1 1 0 1 1 .250Hammel p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .000c-Fowler ph-cf 0 1 0 0 1 0 .255Totals 39 10 14 10 4 8

Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Bourn cf 5 0 2 1 0 0 .297Tejada ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 .350Pence rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .339Ca.Lee lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .315Berkman 1b 3 1 1 0 1 1 .242I.Rodriguez c 4 0 1 1 0 0 .266Blum 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .271Maysonet 2b 4 1 2 1 0 1 .382W.Rodriguez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .043a-Kata ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000R.Ortiz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200b-Erstad ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .137Backe p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---d-Michaels ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167Totals 34 3 7 3 3 6

Colorado 004 120 030 — 10 14 1Houston 001 000 110 — 3 7 0

a-flied out for W.Rodriguez in the 5th. b-walked for R.Ortiz in the 7th. c-walked for Hammel in the 8th. d-popped out for Backe in the 9th. E: Atkins (7). LOB: Colorado 7, Houston 8. 2B: Spilborghs (13), Stewart (5), Bourn (10), Berkman (8). 3B: Barmes (3). HR: Atkins 2 (5), off W.Rodriguez 2; Spilborghs (5), off W.Rodriguez; Hawpe (8), off W.Rodriguez. RBIs: Spilborghs 2 (25), Barmes (20), Helton (36), Murton 2 (6), Hawpe (41), Atkins 3 (20), Bourn (13), I.Rodriguez (24), Maysonet (6). CS: Barmes (3). S: W.Rodriguez. SF: Spilborghs. Runners left in scoring position: Colorado 3 (Hawpe 2, Hammel); Houston 4 (Tejada, Bourn 2, Blum).

Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHammel W, 2-3 7 4 2 2 2 4 96 4.50Grilli 1 2 1 1 1 1 26 6.05Embree 1 1 0 0 0 1 15 6.19Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAW.Rodriguez L, 5-5 5 10 7 7 2 7 98 2.97R.Ortiz 2 1 0 0 0 1 24 4.46Backe 2 3 3 3 2 0 28 15.00

IBB: off Backe (Helton), off W.Rodriguez (Bellorin). Umpires: Home, Lance Barksdale; First, Randy Marsh; Second, Marvin Hudson; Third, James Hoye. T: 2:47. A: 26,671 (40,976).

Although his team continues to languish

in the N.L. East cellar, Zimmerman has been

making headlines for all the right reasons. His

30-game hitting streak, which ended May 13,

captured the attention of the baseball world.

That streak has been part of a torrid start

for Zimmerman. Sporting News Today’s Bill

Eichenberger recently spoke with the slick-

fielding, 24-year-old third baseman about

the streak, his defense and a couple of his

boyhood teammates who also have reached

the majors.

Q: Why are hitting streaks like the one you just had

so hard to put together?

A: Hitting is hard. To get a hit every day, a lot of things have

to happen right. Some days you are going to hit a couple of balls hard and they might get caught. A lot of luck is involved, I guess. You get jam shots, shots off the end of the bat, things like that.

Q: Are there factors that make it more difficult to

keep a hitting streak going today than when Joe DiMaggio set the record, hitting in 56 straight?

A: I think the game has changed. Now from the sixth and

seventh inning on, you are going to face a guy who is specialist. Off the starter, you get two or three at-bats against a guy that you might be good against or bad against. But after that, the other team is going to match up and put someone out there against whom you don’t have the best chance to be successful.

Q: How hard will it be for someone to break

DiMaggio’s record?

A: That record and the consecu-tive games played are going to

be really hard to break. Not to take anything away from what DiMaggio did, because it’s unbelievable. At the end of my streak, I still had a month left to go to catch DiMaggio. But during his 56-game streak, I read where he faced 40-some pitchers. During my 30-game streak, I faced 50-some pitchers. But it doesn’t matter if you’re facing the same pitcher 56 games in a row, to get a hit every game is pretty unbelievable.

Q: Did you see your fast start coming?

A: Not really. I just never had gotten off to a good start. The

first three years of my career it has been .200-something Aprils and battling from there. To be able to get off to a nice start and have a base to go off has been a lot better.

Q: How big of a boost has it been having Adam Dunn

hitting cleanup behind you every day in the lineup?

A: It’s helped me. He’s one of the best power hitters in the

game for the past five years, and to have a presence like that behind you affects everything throughout the whole lineup.

Q: How does it feel to finally have people talking more

about your hitting than your fielding?

A: It’s kind of weird because my fielding has always been the

headline. This is the first year that

I’ve matured into the hitter that I guess everyone thought I could be. I’m still very young and have a long way to go. But this is the first year where I have ... not figured it out but have more of an idea of what I want to do at the plate. I don’t feel lost ever, or searching for answers. I guess it’s part of growing up and learning yourself.

Q: Do you stay in touch with David Wright and B.J.

Upton, your former summer ball teammates in Virginia?

A: We talk a lot during the offseason, but during the

season not as much. We text back and forth and stay in touch that way.

Q: Do you have an appreciation for the

success all three of you have experienced so early in your major league careers?

A: I think we all know how hard it is to be good at this level.

But we all also know that we can get better, and we all work hard at it.

Q: With the five-year, $45 million contract you

signed this spring, you are committed to the Nationals through 2013. How close is this team to turning it around?

A: I think it’s real close. ... We’re young, we’re talented, we’re

growing up and maturing together. Once it clicks, I think it is going to be exciting. ... Like I’ve told everyone, I wouldn’t have signed if I thought we were going to lose 100 games every year.

Q&A with ... Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman

‘To get a hit every day, a lot of things have to happen right’

Ryan Zimmerman batted .382 during his 30-game hitting streak.

CHARLES DHARAPAK / AP

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 23Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1

Cardinals 3, Reds 1

Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Hairston Jr. 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .260Dickerson cf 3 0 2 0 0 0 .250B.Phillips 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .285Bruce rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .212R.Hernandez 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .276L.Nix lf 3 1 1 1 0 0 .288Ale.Gonzalez ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .215Hanigan c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .316Harang p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .167a-Gomes ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .316Totals 28 1 3 1 0 3

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Schumaker 2b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .302Barden 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .242Rasmus cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .248Pujols 1b 4 1 2 3 0 0 .346Ludwick rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .240Ankiel lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .226Y.Molina c 2 0 0 0 1 0 .259Thurston 3b-2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .261C.Carpenter p 3 0 1 0 0 0 .083Br.Ryan ss 3 0 1 0 0 1 .281Totals 29 3 8 3 2 4

Cincinnati 000 000 010 — 1 3 1St. Louis 002 001 00x — 3 8 0

a-popped out for Harang in the 9th. E: B.Phillips (4). LOB: Cincinnati 0, St. Louis 4. 2B: Pujols (13). HR: L.Nix (7), off C.Carpenter; Pujols (17), off Harang. RBIs: L.Nix (18), Pujols 3 (48). Runners left in scoring position: St. Louis 4 (C.Carpenter 2, Y.Molina, Schumaker). GIDP: B.Phillips 2, Schumaker, Pujols, Y.Molina, C.Carpenter. DP: Cincinnati 4 (Hairston Jr., B.Phillips, R.Hernandez), (Ale.Gonzalez, B.Phillips, R.Hernandez), (B.Phillips, Ale.Gonzalez, R.Hernandez), (R.Hernandez, Ale.Gonzalez, R.Hernandez); St. Louis 2 (Thurston, Schumaker, Pujols), (Thurston, Schumaker, Pujols).

Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAHarang L, 5-6 8 8 3 3 2 4 115 4.11St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAC.Carpenter W, 4-0 9 3 1 1 0 3 95 0.71

Umpires: Home, D.J. Reyburn; First, Jim Joyce; Second, Brian Runge; Third, Derryl Cousins. T: 2:05. A: 39,249 (43,975).

ATLANTA—Nate McLouth embraced his new oppor-tunity with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday only after an emotional departure from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

McLouth said he was excited about the chance to win in Atlanta but was sad to be dealt from the Pirates, his only professional home before the trade. He said Wednesday’s trade for three minor league players—outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and pitchers Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke—“was shocking.”

“It was the last thing on my mind, to be honest with you,” McLouth said Thursday before the Braves played the Cubs. “To get a call from a G.M. on your cell phone is pretty rare, so I knew something was up when I got the call. He told me I was coming on over here.”

Wednesday’s call from Pirates general manager Neal Huntington led to an emotional send-off Thurs-day morning.

McLouth fought back tears, wiped his eyes, sniffled repeatedly and paused a few times when speaking with reporters while cleaning out his locker in Pitts-burgh. He said he was surprised because the trade deadline is still about eight weeks away and because he signed a three-year contract less than four months ago.

After his arrival in Atlanta, McLouth’s thoughts and emotions were still mixed.

“Pittsburgh’s the only organization I had ever been with; they drafted me out of high school almost 10 years ago,” he said. “I got to know a lot of great people. That’s going to be the hard part, the relationships and the people.”

But there was little time for looking back. McLouth was in Thursday night’s starting lineup as the No. 3 hitter and the starting center fielder, although the game was rained out.

McLouth said the opportunity to win “is what every player wants.”

“The people are going to be hard to leave, but I lost a lot of games there and that’s hard to do as an athlete,” he said. “When you talk about winning, the Atlanta Braves are one of the top organizations that come to mind. To be a part of it is something special.”

Chipper Jones has been a fixture as Atlanta’s No. 3

hitter, but after talking with manager Bobby Cox he agreed to hit fourth to accommodate McLouth.

“I talked to Bobby about it and told him I was open to whatever is best for the club,” Jones said. “I don’t know if this is permanent. We’ll see. If I get more RBI opportunities out of it, I’ll be happy with it. I make no bones about it, I’d prefer to hit third but I’ve always been willing to try to do what’s best for the club.”

Jones has hit .316 in 5,726 career at-bats as the No. 3 hitter and .297 in 1,643 at-bats hitting fourth.

The 27-year-old McLouth set career highs last sea-son with a .276 batting average, 26 homers and 94 RBIs. Atlanta outfielders have only 10 homers through 52 games. McLouth has nine homers and 34 RBIs and is hitting .256.

— The Associated Press

McLouth surprised at trade, ready to helpCarpenter gets rare complete game

ST. LOUIS—Chris Carpenter liked what he saw right from the start.

Carpenter took advantage of Cincin-nati’s free swingers, pitching a three-hitter for his first complete game in more than two years, and Albert Pujols took care of the offense with a two-run homer and RBI double as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Reds 3-1 on Thurs-day night.

“They showed it from the beginning of the game that they were going to be aggressive early in the count, they weren’t going to let me get deep,” he said. “I was able to make good quality pitches down in the strike zone. That’s what happens when you get an aggres-sive team that wants to hit and you’re able to make quality pitches, you’re going to be able to get quick outs.”

The victory gave St. Louis a split of the four-game series and put the Cardi-nals in a tie for first in the National League Central with Milwaukee, which lost to the Florida Marlins.

Carpenter (4-0) needed just 95 pitches for his 26th complete game and first since September 11, 2006, at Houston. With the help of two double plays, he faced the minimum through 7 2-3 innings. Carpenter’s ERA rose to 0.71 ERA.

Laynce Nix spoiled the shutout bid with his seventh homer to right field in the eighth.

Since returning from the disabled list May 20 with an oblique injury, Carpen-ter has allowed three earned runs and 14 hits in 28 innings. For Pujols, it was another Carpenter gem that didn’t com-mand too much analysis.

“It’s not rocket science,” Pujols said. “Look at the job he did. He made one

mistake the whole game and Nix is swinging the bat really good, took advantage and hit it out of the park.”

Carpenter had retired 12 straight before Nix’s hit. He struck out three, walked none and singled in the seventh for his first hit of the year. He gave up singles to Chris Dickerson in the first and third, but got Brandon Phillips to ground into double plays both times to end the inning.

Aaron Harang (5-6) went the distance in losing his second straight. He gave up eight hits, striking out three and walking two in eight innings. He han-dled the Cardinals well in a 8-3 victory May 9 at Busch, spreading seven hits in seven innings and striking out seven.

— The Associated Press

Chris Carpenter limited the Reds to three hits.

TOM GANNAM / AP

Nate McLouth had spent his entire career with Pittsburgh.

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

Cubs at Braves was postponed

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 24Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pirates 11, Mets 6

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Cora ss 5 0 1 1 0 0 .321L.Castillo 2b 4 1 1 1 1 0 .284Beltran cf 4 1 2 1 1 1 .356Sheffield rf 5 0 0 0 0 1 .269D.Wright 3b 3 2 2 1 2 0 .326Dan.Murphy 1b 4 0 1 1 1 0 .248F.Martinez lf 4 1 2 1 0 0 .222Santos c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .261Pelfrey p 2 1 0 0 0 0 .059Takahashi p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000a-Brown ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000S.Green p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Putz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-Reed ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .322Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 37 6 10 6 5 2Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.McCutchen cf 4 3 2 1 1 0 .500Morgan lf 4 2 2 1 0 0 .280F.Sanchez 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 .321Ad.LaRoche 1b 3 2 1 1 2 0 .245An.LaRoche 3b 3 2 1 2 0 1 .298S.Jackson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Monroe ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .229J.Chavez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Moss rf 4 1 1 1 1 1 .264Jaramillo c 4 0 2 4 0 0 .282R.Vazquez ss 4 1 4 1 0 0 .270Ohlendorf p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .048Gorzelanny p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000S.Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Hinske 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .267Totals 36 11 13 11 4 6New York 030 110 001 — 6 10 1Pittsburgh 410 400 20x — 11 13 0a-grounded out for Takahashi in the 5th. b-grounded out for Putz in the 8th. c-struck out for S.Jackson in the 8th. E: Dan.Murphy (5). LOB: New York 9, Pittsburgh 7. 2B: Cora (5), Beltran (16), D.Wright (13), F.Martinez (3), Ad.LaRoche (18). 3B: Morgan (5). HR: Beltran (7), off Ohlendorf. RBIs: Cora (5), L.Castillo (13), Beltran (32), D.Wright (31), Dan.Murphy (18), F.Martinez (4), McCutchen (1), Morgan (18), Ad.LaRoche (24), An.LaRoche 2 (27), Moss (13), Jaramillo 4 (12), R.Vazquez (8). SB: D.Wright (13), McCutchen (1), R.Vazquez (1). S: Morgan. Runners left in scoring position: New York 6 (Sheffield 3, Pelfrey, Brown, Dan.Murphy); Pittsburgh 4 (Ohlendorf 2, An.LaRoche, F.Sanchez). DP: New York 1 (Pelfrey, Santos, Dan.Murphy).New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAPelfrey L, 4-2 3 2⁄3 9 9 8 4 3 83 4.85Takahashi 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 10 2.77S.Green 2 0 0 0 0 1 16 5.96Putz 1 3 2 2 0 0 23 5.22Feliciano 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 2.42Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAOhlendorf 4 1⁄3 9 5 5 3 1 84 4.85Gorzelanny 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 6 6.75S.Burnett 1 0 0 0 0 1 17 3.04S.Jackson W, 1-0 2 0 0 0 1 0 30 0.00J.Chavez 1 1 1 1 1 0 17 3.13Inherited runners-scored: Takahashi 2-1, Gorzelanny 1-0. IBB: off Pelfrey (Ad.LaRoche). HBP: by Pelfrey (An.LaRoche). WP: J.Chavez. Umpires: Home, Tim McClel-land; First, Adrian Johnson; Second, Scott Barry; Third, Ted Barrett. T: 2:49. A: 20,683 (38,362).

Marlins 4, Brewers 3

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Counsell 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .305Hardy ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 .238Braun lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .316Fielder 1b 4 1 3 3 0 0 .286M.Cameron cf 4 0 0 0 0 4 .282Hart rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .251Hall 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .211c-Gerut ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .209Mi.Rivera c 2 0 0 0 1 2 .303Bush p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .150a-Gamel ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .229Stetter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Coffey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Totals 32 3 7 3 1 10

Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Coghlan lf 3 0 1 0 0 2 .205b-B.Carroll ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .214Bonifacio 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .246Ha.Ramirez ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .342Cantu 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .280Hermida rf-lf 2 1 1 0 1 1 .265Uggla 2b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .216Jo.Baker c 3 1 1 1 0 0 .261C.Ross cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .259Jo.Johnson p 3 1 1 3 0 1 .107Meyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 29 4 7 4 2 7

Milwaukee 000 100 020 — 3 7 0Florida 000 400 00x — 4 7 0

a-struck out for Bush in the 7th. b-struck out for Coghlan in the 7th. c-grounded into a double play for Hall in the 9th. LOB: Milwaukee 5, Florida 3. 2B: Braun (11), Cantu (11), C.Ross (14). 3B: Fielder (2). HR: Fielder (13), off Meyer; Jo.Johnson (1), off Bush. RBIs: Fielder 3 (52), Jo.Baker (20), Jo.Johnson 3 (5). CS: Hermida (2). S: Bush. Runners left in scoring position: Milwaukee 3 (Counsell, Hart 2); Florida 2 (Jo.Johnson 2). DP: Milwau-kee 2 (M.Cameron, Hardy, Fielder), (Mi.Rivera, Mi.Rivera, Counsell); Florida 1 (Uggla, Ha.Ramirez, Cantu).

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABush L, 3-2 6 7 4 4 2 4 84 4.52Stetter 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 10 3.78Coffey 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 14 2.36Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAJo.Johnson W, 5-1 7 2⁄3 5 2 2 1 8 107 2.63Meyer 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 2.63Nunez H, 10 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 5 3.33Lindstrom S, 11-13 1 1 0 0 0 1 10 5.56

Meyer pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Meyer 1-1. HBP: by Jo.Johnson (Mi.Rivera). Umpires: Home, Damien Beal; First, Mike DiMuro; Second, Dale Scott; Third, Jerry Meals. T: 2:25. A: 11,623 (38,560).

Pittsburgh 11, N.Y. Mets 6Florida 4, Milwaukee 3

McCutchen has huge debutJohnson helps himself with three-run shotPITTSBURGH—Prized prospect

Andrew McCutchen did his best to make the Pittsburgh Pirates forget about Nate McLouth—at least for now.

A day after the team traded the All-Star outfielder, McCutchen had a productive major league debut to help Pittsburgh complete a rain-shortened, three-game sweep of the New York Mets with an 11-6 victory Thursday.

“Everybody’s talking about the future. We’re not looking to the future. This is the now,” Pirates manager John Russell said. “We’re very excited about where we’re at, and we added a very tal-ented player.”

Jason Jaramillo drove in a career-high four runs, Ramon Vazquez went 4-for-4 and Andy LaRoche had two RBIs and scored twice for Pittsburgh, which roughed up Mike Pelfrey to win its fourth in five games.

Wednesday night’s game was rained out, but at about the time it was supposed to start the Pirates dealt an All-Star outfielder for the second consecutive season. The move made room for the 22-year-old McCutchen, a speedy center fielder who was immedi-ately called up from Triple-A Indianapolis.

He went 2-for-4 with three runs, a walk, an RBI and a stolen base against the Mets.

“With what happened (Wednesday), this was a big win for us as a team and for the city,” LaRoche said.

— The Associated Press

MIAMI—Winning a game with his arm was nothing unusual for Josh Johnson. Hitting a big home run was.

Johnson hit a three-run shot for his first career homer and pitched into the eighth inning Thursday night, leading the Florida Marlins to a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I kind of ran into a ball and got pretty lucky,” Johnson said. “But I’ll take it.”

John Baker had an RBI single in a four-run fourth for the Marlins, who took three of four from the Brewers.

Johnson (5-1) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. He walked one, struck out eight and hit a batter with a pitch in earning his first home victory since April 12.

He connected off Dave Bush (3-2) in the fourth to give Florida a 4-1 lead.

“I saw (center fielder Mike) Cameron running and I said, ‘Please, drop ... do something,’ ” Johnson said. “As soon as I saw him get to the fence I was like, ‘OK, I got it.’ ”

Johnson earned a curtain call from the crowd of 11,623 but needed to be pushed out of the dugout by his teammates.

“Pretty much everyone in the dugout was laughing or smiling, one of the two,” he said.

Jorge Cantu led off the inning with a double into the left-field corner. He held at second when Jeremy Hermida reached on an infield single to shortstop. After Cantu went to third on Dan Uggla’s fly-out to deep center, Baker lined a run-scoring single to center to tie it 1-all.

After an out, Johnson hit a pitch over the wall in straightaway center. His homer was the first by a Marlins pitcher since Dontrelle Willis connected against Atlanta on Aug. 29, 2007.

“It wasn’t a cheap one. He hit it to one of the deepest parts of the ballpark,” Bush said.

Johnson gave way to Dan Meyer with two outs and a runner on first in the eighth. Meyer promptly gave up Prince Fielder’s 13th home run, a two-run drive that cut Florida’s lead to 4-3.

“I don’t know what (Meyer) was think-ing. He threw a fastball and I got it,” Fielder said.

Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save in 13 opportuni-ties. The game took 2 hours, 25 minutes.

Bush gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Fielder’s run-scoring triple gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Fielder finished with three hits.

J.J. Hardy opened the fourth with a bloop single and advanced to second on Ryan Braun’s groundout. Fielder then hit a liner to right, and Hermida charged but failed to make the catch. The ball rolled past him, allowing Fielder to reach third.

— The Associated Press

Josh Johnson (55) picked a pretty good time to hit his first career homer, a three-run blast in the fourth.

J PAT CARTER / AP

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 25Baseball

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Red Sox 6, Tigers 3

Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Pedroia 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 .325J.Drew dh 1 1 0 1 4 1 .253Youkilis 1b 1 1 0 1 1 0 .362a-Kotsay ph-1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000Bay lf 5 1 1 2 0 2 .283Lowell 3b 4 0 2 1 1 0 .302Baldelli rf 3 0 1 1 1 0 .265Ellsbury cf 3 1 1 0 0 1 .313Lugo ss 3 1 0 0 1 1 .266Kottaras c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .188Totals 31 6 6 6 9 7

Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Thomas rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .247Santiago 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .306Ordonez dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .275Mi.Cabrera 1b 1 1 1 0 0 0 .354Larish 1b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .224Granderson cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .271Inge 3b 4 1 3 2 0 0 .280Raburn lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .265Everett ss 3 0 0 1 0 1 .267c-Polanco ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250Sardinha c 2 0 1 0 0 1 .115b-Laird ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .224Totals 34 3 10 3 1 6

Boston 006 000 000 — 6 6 0Detroit 030 000 000 — 3 10 0

a-flied out for Youkilis in the 4th. b-struck out for Sardinha in the 8th. c-grounded into a fielder’s choice for Everett in the 9th. LOB: Boston 8, Detroit 5. 2B: Bay (14), Inge (8), Raburn (2). RBIs: J.Drew (27), Youkilis (34), Bay 2 (53), Lowell (36), Baldelli (7), Inge 2 (35), Everett (18). CS: Inge (3). Runners left in scoring position: Boston 3 (Kotsay, Pedroia 2); Detroit 2 (Everett, Polanco). DP: Boston 2 (Pedroia, Kotsay), (Wakefield, Pedroia, Lugo, Kotsay); Detroit 2 (Everett, Santiago, Mi.Cabrera), (Inge, Santiago, Larish).

Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWakefield W, 7-3 6 2⁄3 8 3 3 0 3 80 4.50Masterson H, 2 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 11 4.20Okajima H, 9 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 10 2.25Papelbon S, 14-15 1 1 0 0 1 0 21 2.25Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWillis L, 1-3 2 1⁄3 0 5 5 5 3 53 6.84Miner 4 4 1 1 2 2 67 5.29Perry 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.27Zumaya 1 2 0 0 1 1 24 2.65Rodney 1 0 0 0 1 1 24 2.86

Inherited runners-scored: Masterson 1-0, Miner 3-3, Perry 1-0. HBP: by Willis (Ellsbury). Umpires: Home, Jeff Nelson; First, Mark Carlson; Second, Tim Tschida; Third, Bob Davidson. T: 2:53. A: 31,353 (41,255).

Yankees 8, Rangers 6

Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Kinsler 2b 4 2 1 1 1 2 .282M.Young 3b 5 0 3 0 0 0 .338Blalock dh 5 0 2 1 0 1 .262N.Cruz rf 5 1 1 1 0 3 .295Dav.Murphy lf 4 1 1 0 1 1 .240Byrd cf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .296C.Davis 1b 4 1 2 2 0 1 .198Teagarden c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .239Andrus ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .277Totals 37 6 11 5 3 11

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Damon lf 3 2 1 1 1 0 .297Swisher rf 3 1 2 1 1 1 .2511-Gardner pr-cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265Teixeira 1b 4 1 2 3 0 0 .284A.Rodriguez 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .250Cano 2b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .305H.Matsui dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .256Me.Cabrera cf-rf 4 1 1 2 0 1 .311Cervelli c 4 1 1 0 0 1 .283R.Pena ss 3 1 1 0 1 1 .243Totals 31 8 10 8 5 4

Texas 002 211 000 — 6 11 1New York 100 050 02x — 8 10 1

1-ran for Swisher in the 7th. E: Dav.Murphy (1), Cervelli (1). LOB: Texas 8, New York 4. 2B: M.Young (20), Byrd (19), C.Davis 2 (6), Swisher (13), Teixeira 2 (14). HR: N.Cruz (16), off Wang; Kinsler (14), off Aceves; Damon (11), off McCarthy; Me.Cabrera (6), off C.Wilson. RBIs: Kinsler (41), Blalock (29), N.Cruz (41), C.Davis 2 (26), Damon (33), Swisher (32), Teixeira 3 (47), A.Rodriguez (22), Me.Cabrera 2 (22). SB: Dav.Murphy (4), Cano (3). CS: R.Pena (1). S: Teagarden. Runners left in scoring position: Texas 4 (N.Cruz, Kinsler, C.Davis, Dav.Murphy); New York 3 (Cano, Me.Cabrera 2). DP: Texas 3 (N.Cruz, N.Cruz, Andrus), (Kinsler, Andrus), (Kinsler, Andrus, C.Davis).

Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMcCarthy 4 6 6 6 3 3 79 4.92Jennings 3 3 0 0 1 0 41 3.12C.Wilson L, 3-3 1 1 2 2 1 1 16 3.47New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAWang 4 2⁄3 7 5 5 1 5 69 14.46Aceves 1 2⁄3 2 1 1 2 2 34 2.95Coke 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 19 4.50D.Robertson W, 1-0 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2.08Ma.Rivera S, 12-13 1 2 0 0 0 2 24 2.38

McCarthy pitched to 5 batters in the 5th. Inherited runners-scored: Jennings 1-1. WP: Wang. Umpires: Home, Brian Knight; First, Dana DeMuth; Second, Doug Eddings; Third, Hunter Wendelstedt. T: 2:58. A: 45,713 (52,325).

Boston 6, Detroit 3N.Y. Yankees 8, Texas 6

Tigers left guessing in sweepWang’s struggles don’t slow down YankeesDETROIT—The Detroit Tigers

started the week getting frus-trated by Daisuke Matzusaka and overpowered by Josh Beckett.

On Thursday, they were baffled again by Tim Wakefield.

The 42-year-old knuckle-baller beat the Tigers for the 16th time—the most by any active pitcher—and the Boston Red Sox beat Detroit 6-3 to fin-ish a three-game sweep.

Wakefield (7-3) gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

“He’s been a blessing for us,” Red Sox manager Terry Fran-cona said. “He’s a good pitcher. He’s unconventional, but that’s OK.”

Wakefield allowed three runs in the second inning, but shut down the Tigers after that.

“After that inning, I felt really comfortable,” he said. “I only needed 80 pitches, so that’s great, and I got some offensive support.”

Three Boston relievers fin-ished, with Jonathan Papelbon pitching the ninth for his 14th save in 15 attempts. The Tigers put two runners on base, but Dustin Pedroia’s diving stop at second base helped Papelbon escape unscathed.

“I was just trying to get an out,” Pedroia said. “I didn’t want the tying run to come to the plate.”

— The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Chien-Ming Wang bounced a few sinkers, slipped on the mound and watched his final pitch sail far over the fence.

David Robertson took a more simple approach.

Melky Cabrera hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees overcame yet another poor start by Wang to beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 Thursday.

The Yankees rallied from a 5-1 deficit and took two of three from the A.L. West leaders. Robertson threw only one pitch and wound up with the win.

“Never knew it was going to come out like that,” Robertson said. “Every now and then you’re going to catch a lucky one.”

Cabrera kept up his run of big hits and helped the Yankees win for the 17th time in 22 games. They did it despite Wang’s wobbles.

Wang returned to the rotation and produced his best start of the season. Too bad for him, it was another stinker as his sinkers were either too high or too low.

Texas tagged him for five runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. Nelson Cruz chased him with a long home run—the first by a righthanded hitter off Wang in 22 starts, since Adrian Beltre connected in September 2007.

“I thought he pitched better than his numbers indicated,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

“I’m not making excuses,” he said. “I was happy with what I saw. I know peo-ple are going to say, ‘Oh boy, he gave up five runs.’”

Wang will make his next start as scheduled, Tuesday night against Bos-

ton at Fenway Park.The former ace lost his first three

starts of the season. He went on the dis-abled list with a 34.50 ERA because of weakness in the muscles in his hips and came back with three solid relief appearances.

Wang said he felt OK and was excited to make this start.

“It’s not the Wang I’m used to seeing,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “I’m sure he’s got some things to work on. But I thought he threw pretty well.”

It was another game of home run derby at the new Yankee Stadium. Johnny Damon started it with a leadoff shot for New York, Cruz finished Wang in the fifth with a long drive and Ian Kinsler’s solo homer for Texas in the

sixth tied it at 6.C.J. Wilson (3-3) relieved to begin the

eighth and issued a leadoff walk to Rob-inson Cano. One out later, Cabrera launched a drive over left fielder David Murphy’s leap.

“It was a deep fly ball to short left field,” Wilson said.

Robertson (1-0) relieved with two outs and none on in the eighth and retired Elvis Andrus on a fly ball, and Cabrera delivered in the bottom half.

“He has a knack of doing it,” Girardi said.

Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances. With runners at the corners, he struck out Cruz and retired Murphy on a popup to end it.

— The Associated Press

Melky Cabrera’s two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 6-6 tie.

FRANK FRANKLIN II / AP

Yankees P suspended six games, Page 18

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 26Baseball

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Angels 6, Blue Jays 5

Los Angeles AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Figgins 3b 4 1 2 1 1 1 .307E.Aybar ss 5 0 0 0 0 2 .275Guerrero dh 5 1 2 1 0 1 .271Tor.Hunter cf 4 1 2 1 0 2 .312J.Rivera rf-lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .301K.Morales 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .278Napoli c 4 1 1 1 0 2 .270Quinlan lf 3 1 1 0 0 1 .238Matthews Jr. rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .257Kendrick 2b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .229Totals 36 6 10 5 3 9

Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Scutaro ss 3 0 0 1 1 0 .294A.Hill 2b 5 0 0 1 0 1 .316Rios cf 5 0 0 0 0 5 .266Lind lf 5 2 5 0 0 0 .313Millar dh 4 1 1 0 1 0 .2672-V.Wells pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257Overbay 1b 5 1 2 3 0 1 .282Bautista 3b 3 1 0 0 2 3 .265R.Chavez c 3 0 2 0 0 0 .2821-Jo.McDonald pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211Barajas c 1 0 1 0 0 0 .289Inglett rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .154Totals 37 5 12 5 5 10

Los Angeles 300 101 001 — 6 10 0Toronto 000 100 130 — 5 12 1

1-ran for R.Chavez in the 7th. 2-ran for Millar in the 9th. E: Bautista (1). LOB: Los Angeles 6, Toronto 11. 2B: J.Rivera (8), Lind 3 (21), Overbay (14). HR: Napoli (8), off Tallet. RBIs: Figgins (14), Guerrero (6), Tor.Hunter (43), J.Rivera (21), Napoli (21), Scutaro (26), A.Hill (38), Overbay 3 (27). SB: Guerrero (1), Tor.Hunter (11), Bara-jas (1). SF: Scutaro. Runners left in scoring position: Los Angeles 2 (Napoli, E.Aybar); Toronto 8 (Bautista 2, A.Hill 3, Overbay, Rios 2). DP: Los Angeles 1 (Kendrick, E.Aybar, K.Morales); Toronto 1 (A.Hill, Scutaro, Overbay).

Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO NP ERALackey 7 7 2 2 3 6 113 5.13Oliver 0 3 3 3 0 0 15 3.18J.Speier W, 2-1 BS, 1-1 1 1 0 0 1 1 21 5.06Fuentes S, 14-17 1 1 0 0 1 3 22 5.03Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERATallet 6 6 5 5 3 6 109 4.54Hayhurst 1 2 0 0 0 2 12 0.00League L, 1-2 2 2 1 1 0 1 21 4.01

Oliver pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: J.Speier 1-1. WP: Lackey, Oliver. Umpires: Home, Bill Welke; First, Tim Welke; Second, Jim Reynolds; Third, Angel Hernandez. T: 3:00. A: 31,163 (49,539).

Rays 3, Royals 2

Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Crisp cf 4 1 0 0 0 1 .228Callaspo 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .298Pena Jr. ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .059Butler 1b 4 0 3 2 0 0 .288Jacobs dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 .232J.Guillen rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .255Teahen 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .277Olivo c 3 0 0 0 0 3 .239DeJesus lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .237Bloomquist ss-2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .286Totals 32 2 6 2 0 9

Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Upton cf 4 1 1 2 1 1 .218Crawford lf 4 1 2 1 1 1 .327W.Aybar 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .252C.Pena 1b 2 0 0 0 2 1 .226Zobrist 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .296Joyce rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .240Dillon dh 4 0 3 0 0 0 .333M.Hernandez c 4 1 1 0 0 0 .286Brignac ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .233Totals 32 3 8 3 6 5

Kansas City 002 000 000 — 2 6 0Tampa Bay 000 000 12x — 3 8 0

LOB: Kansas City 3, Tampa Bay 11. 2B: Butler (16), DeJesus (10). 3B: Brignac (1). HR: Crawford (4), off Meche; B.Upton (3), off J.Wright. RBIs: Butler 2 (25), B.Upton 2 (13), Crawford (26). SB: Crawford (34), Zobrist (6). Runners left in scoring position: Kansas City 1 (Jacobs); Tampa Bay 7 (Zobrist, B.Upton 2, Joyce 3, Crawford). DP: Tampa Bay 2 (J.Shields, M.Hernandez, C.Pena), (W.Aybar, C.Pena).

Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAMeche 6 6 1 1 5 2 110 4.08Bale H, 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 19 6.23J.Wright L, 0-2 BS, 3-3 1 2 2 2 0 1 20 4.05Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAJ.Shields W, 5-4 8 6 2 2 0 8 107 3.40Howell S, 2-5 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 2.28

Meche pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. WP: Meche. Umpires: Home, Dan Iassogna; First, Sam Holbrook; Second, Charlie Reliford; Third, Larry Vanover. T: 2:41. A: 16,103 (36,973).

L.A. Angels 6, Toronto 5Tampa Bay 3, Kansas City 2

Kendrick feeling better nowUpton helps Rays make most of few chancesTORONTO—A difficult series

for Howie Kendrick ended with a daring dash for home plate.

Kendrick raced home with some bold baserunning, scor-ing the go-ahead run on a ninth-inning double play to help the Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Thursday.

Mired in a 1-for-17 slump coming in and still stinging from his blunder in the series opener, when he lost track of the number of outs and was doubled off first base, Kend-rick was all smiles after spark-ing the game-winning rally.

“I ain’t going to lie to you—I was happy,” said Kendrick, held out of the lineup Wednes-day. “It feels good after the ups and downs. I felt like today was a good day.”

Facing righthander Brandon League (1-2), Kendrick opened the ninth with a bunt single and went to third on Chone Figgins’ single to right. Erick Aybar grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but Kendrick raced home as the second out was made at first, sliding in ahead of the throw from first baseman Lyle Overbay, who hesitated after making the catch and didn’t appear to see that Kendrick had made a late break for the plate.

“Howie reacted and made a great read,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

— The Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.—B.J. Upton turned a game of missed opportunities into a vic-tory for Tampa Bay.

Upton hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth and James Shields allowed two runs over eight innings as the Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 3-2 win Thursday.

“It was great to see,” Tampa Bay man-ager Joe Maddon said. “I really felt we were going win somehow.”

Upton’s two-out shot off Jamey Wright (0-2) helped the Rays overcome an 0-for-13 performance with runners in scoring position. Carl Crawford homered in the seventh for the Rays’ first run.

“Whatever happened we just knew we had to keep grinding at the end,” Rays left fielder Crawford said. “B.J. hitting the homer at the end, that’s from us just keep-ing at it. We just didn’t worry about what we did earlier in the game.”

Upton has two consecutive games with two RBIs after not having a multiple RBI effort in his previous 46 games this year.

“The important thing is we got a win,” Upton said.

Upton’s homer came on a first pitch sinker and made it 3-2.

“I’ve thrown that pitch a million times and it’s been fouled off and hit into the ground a million times,” Wright said. “He just got underneath it and crushed it.”

The Rays finally got on the scoreboard when Crawford hit a leadoff homer in the seventh that ended the day for Kansas City righthander Gil Meche. Three of Crawford’s four homers this season have come in the last six games.

Shields (5-4) gave up six hits and had eight strikeouts. He has won two

consecutive starts, allowing four runs over 15 innings.

“That’s what this team is all about. It brings back memories of last year,” Shields said.

The defending A.L. champion Rays returned to the .500 mark at 28-28. Tampa Bay has lost four times previ-ously when having an opportunity to climb above .500 since starting the sea-son 4-3.

“We need to maintain our traction and keep moving it forward,” Maddon said.

The Rays have won five of six following a season-high five-game losing streak. J.P. Howell pitched the ninth for his sec-ond save.

Meche gave up one run and six hits in six-plus innings. The Royals have lost a

season-high seven games.Billy Butler had a two-run, two-out

double to put the Royals ahead 2-0 in the third, which ended Kansas City’s stretch of 15 scoreless innings. The double came after Alberto Callaspo had hit into a bases-loaded double play.

Tampa Bay threatened in each of the first six innings, but failed to score after going hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Rays left 10 run-ners on base over the stretch.

“It wasn’t an easy six innings,” said Meche, who is winless in his last six starts. “The good thing was I kept getting out of it. I just kept waiting to get through a couple innings that somehow weren’t so tough, and it just never happened.”

— The Associated Press

STEVE NESIUS / AP

B.J. Upton, right, hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that scored Michel Hernandez and gave Tampa Bay the lead for the first time.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 27Baseball

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Athletics 7, White Sox 0

Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.O.Cabrera ss 3 1 0 1 1 0 .225Kennedy 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .333Holliday lf 3 2 2 0 1 1 .280Giambi dh 4 1 1 3 0 0 .220K.Suzuki c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .284Crosby 1b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .207Cunningham rf 3 1 1 2 1 1 .143R.Davis cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .188G.Petit 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .269Hannahan 3b 0 0 0 0 1 0 .179Totals 31 7 8 7 4 4

Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Podsednik lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .284Al.Ramirez ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 .254Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .278Konerko 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .302Pierzynski c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .297Fields dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .239Wise cf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .182Beckham 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000J.Nix 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .214Totals 32 0 7 0 0 7

Oakland 000 103 003 — 7 8 0Chicago 000 000 000 — 0 7 1

E: Dye (2). LOB: Oakland 4, Chicago 6. 2B: Holliday (9), R.Davis (1), Konerko (13). HR: Giambi (8), off Buehrle; Cunningham (1), off Dotel. RBIs: O.Cabrera (17), Giambi 3 (27), K.Suzuki (18), Cunningham 2 (4). SB: Crosby (2), Podsednik (5). S: Kennedy. SF: O.Cabrera, K.Suzuki. Runners left in scoring position: Oakland 1 (Cun-ningham); Chicago 5 (Konerko, J.Nix, Podsednik, Pier-zynski, Fields). DP: Oakland 2 (Bre.Anderson, O.Cabrera, Crosby), (Kennedy, O.Cabrera, Crosby); Chicago 2 (Bueh-rle, Konerko), (Buehrle, Al.Ramirez, Konerko).

Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABre.Anderson W, 3-5 7 6 0 0 0 4 109 4.97Wuertz 1 0 0 0 0 2 14 2.42S.Casilla 1 1 0 0 0 1 13 5.75Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERABuehrle L, 6-2 8 5 4 4 3 4 101 2.91Dotel 2⁄3 3 3 3 1 0 21 2.41Whisler 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.00

Inherited runners-scored: Whisler 1-0. IBB: off Buehrle (Holliday). HBP: by Bre.Anderson (Wise). WP: Buehrle, Dotel. Balk: Bre.Anderson. Umpires: Home, Dan Bellino; First, Phil Cuzzi; Second, Tom Hallion; Third, Jerry Crawford. T: 2:15. A: 18,219 (40,615).

Twins 11, Indians 3

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.B.Francisco rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .263J.Carroll 3b 3 1 1 1 0 2 .304Barfield 2b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .750V.Martinez c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .346Garko 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250Choo lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .297Jh.Peralta ss-3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .263DeRosa dh 4 0 1 0 0 2 .264Gimenez 1b-c 4 1 2 1 0 1 .500Crowe cf 3 0 1 0 1 2 .182Valbuena 2b-ss 3 1 1 0 1 1 .203Totals 34 3 7 2 2 13

Minnesota AB R H BI BB SO Avg.Span lf 4 2 1 1 1 0 .307Mauer dh 4 4 3 0 1 0 .436Morneau 1b 3 3 3 3 2 0 .348Kubel rf 4 2 3 6 1 0 .322Crede 3b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .232B.Harris ss 5 0 1 0 0 1 .279Redmond c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .250Gomez cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .218Tolbert 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .179Totals 36 11 13 11 5 2

Cleveland 000 002 100 — 3 7 0Minnesota 430 003 01x — 11 13 1

E: B.Harris (1). LOB: Cleveland 6, Minnesota 7. 2B: DeRosa (11), Valbuena (7), Morneau (17), Kubel (13), B.Harris (8). HR: Gimenez (1), off S.Baker; Kubel 2 (7), off Carmona 2; Span (4), off Ohka; Morneau (15), off Ohka. RBIs: J.Carroll (4), Gimenez (1), Span (24), Morneau 3 (50), Kubel 6 (31), Crede (23). SB: Choo (9). SF: Crede. Runners left in scoring position: Cleveland 3 (Crowe, Jh.Peralta, Valbuena); Minnesota 3 (Gomez, B.Harris 2).

Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERACarmona L, 2-6 2 5 7 7 3 1 54 7.42Ohka 5 6 3 3 1 0 82 5.40J.Lewis 1 2 1 1 1 1 19 5.46Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAS.Baker W, 3-6 7 6 3 2 1 10 106 5.88Henn 2 1 0 0 1 3 36 2.57

IBB: off J.Lewis (Kubel). Umpires: Home, Joe West; First, Paul Nauert; Second, Paul Schrieber; Third, Chad Fairchild. T: 2:40. A: 20,897 (46,632).

Oakland 7, Chicago White Sox 0Minnesota 11, Cleveland 3

Beckham blanked in debutKubel leaves Indians feeling pain with blastsCHICAGO—Visiting pitchers are

supposed to have trouble against the Chicago White Sox. Not this year.

Jason Giambi hit a three-run homer and Brett Anderson pitched seven impressive innings, sending the Oakland Athletics to a 7-0 victory over Chicago on Thursday.

The White Sox are batting just .220 at home, and five of their major league-worst eight shutouts have come at their hitter-friendly park.

“That’s a terrible stat,” Paul Konerko said. “Some statistics lie—that one doesn’t. That’s bad.”

Aaron Cunningham added a two-run shot in the ninth for Oakland, which won the final three games of the four-game series. The White Sox fell to 13-13 at home.

Top prospect Gordon Beck-ham made his major league debut at third base for Chicago, going 0 for 3 with a strikeout. He hit into a fielder’s choice in his first at-bat.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen likes Beckham, but is already sick of the hype sur-rounding the promotion. How did Guillen think Beckham looked?

“Really bad,” Guillen said. “He struck out, what am I going to say? He was good? That kid’s going to be all right. ... He’s just another player. He had a bad day, just like everyone else.”

— The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS—Jason Kubel didn’t want to make another trip to the disabled list with knee pain. If he continues to hit the way he did Thursday, he won’t have to worry about any down time.

Kubel hit a pair of three-run homers to back Scott Baker, who pitched seven effective innings for the Minnesota Twins in an 11-3 victory over the Cleve-land Indians.

Kubel injured his left knee chasing a fly ball at Chicago on May 21 and missed the next three games. Since he returned, he was 4-for-26 until hitting a single in the fourth inning Wednesday night.

On Thursday, Kubel’s first homer capped a four-run first against Fausto Carmona. The cleanup batter followed an inning later with his second to give Minnesota a 7-0 lead.

“The swing’s come back and that’s all I can ask for,” Kubel said.

It was his fourth career two-homer game and second of the season.

“He was out of whack a little bit, get-ting his legs underneath him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “I think he was rolling over balls and it looked like he got a little pull happy because of that. But he says he’s feeling better. And he doesn’t want to go on the DL, so that always motivates people to swing better.”

Kubel had surgery on his left knee and missed the entire 2005 season. After recovering from the injury, he broke through with 20 home runs last season.

Assured of an everyday spot in the lineup this year, Kubel has responded.

“Just from the beginning of the sea-son, it’s been a different feeling,” he said.

Baker (3-6) has felt different his past few starts.

The right-hander took advantage of the early run support, staying around the strike zone and retiring his first eight batters. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning while winning for the second time in three starts.

Baker credited a small change in his mechanics—standing taller in his deliv-ery—for a victory against the Brewers on May 24, but then allowed four runs and seven hits in a loss to Tampa Bay in his last start.

Against Cleveland, he appeared to be back in good form.

Baker struck out a career-high 10 and walked just one. He allowed three runs—two earned—and six hits.

“I threw down about as well as I have all season,” Baker said. “I left a couple pitches up, but we’re human beings. That’s just part of it. It’s definitely a game of adjustments and as long as you continue to make those adjustments you should be fine.”

Meanwhile, Carmona (2-6) failed to reach the third inning for the second time in three starts. He’s allowed four or more runs in his last five starts, and has walked 24 batters in his last six.

— The Associated Press

JIM MONE / AP

Minnesota’s Jason Kubel hit two three-run homers to account for more than half of his team’s RBIs.

Topic: Jim Caldwell, his replacement as Colts coach.

Dungy: “He is going to have a challenging schedule early on (Jacksonville, at Miami, at Arizona, Seattle, at Tennessee before the bye), and dealing with those expectations of being able to go on the road and win is going to be the test. They are going to be up to it, but

it’s funny how the schedule has been laid out. Those challenges are right there early, and it’s going to be important for them to get off to a good start because if they don’t, it’s going to be, ‘Coach Dungy would have done this, would have done this differently.’ ”

Topic: QB Peyton Manning vents about the Colts’ coaching turnover.

Dungy: “I was a little surprised to see some of the remarks in public. One of our things was to keep everything in-house. I’m pretty sure Peyton regrets now some of those comments getting out because you don’t want to air your laundry; you want to keep it in-house.”

Topic: Michael Vick possibly returning to the NFL.

Dungy: “I do hope Michael gets the opportunity to come back for a number of reasons. I think that he has paid for his crime, and I think that he deserves a sec-ond chance. He is a talented young man, and he has a

great story to tell. If he does come back and make it, it can be very inspiring to young people who make a mis-take to realize that one mistake doesn’t doom you. If I were running a team, what I know about Michael Vick and what I’ve seen from him, I would definitely give him an opportunity to play. If I needed a quarterback, I would not be afraid of his past.”

Topic: Vince Young says he wants to start or be traded.

Dungy: “I am a big Vince Young fan, and I have got-ten to know him from playing against him twice a year. He did a tremendous job at the University of Texas leading that program, and he was on his way in Ten-nessee but some things happened. He is going to have to recover and rebound and reestablish that leader-ship. Right now, I think the team does look at Kerry Collins as being the leader and that is going to be a hill (Young) is going to have to climb. It will be interesting to see if he does it.”

Topic: Team of the decade.

Dungy: “The Patriots. They (are) the team everyone is chasing.”

Topic: His role on Football Night in America.

Dungy: “Trying to bring a coach’s view of the big picture to the fans. I think one of the enticing things about this is that we are going to do a lot of explaining why things happen.”

Tony Dungy Rodney Harrison

Former Colts coach Tony Dungy says Michael Vick, above, deserves a second chance.

L.M. OTERO / AP

Rodney Harrison says his ex-teammate Tom Brady, above, would not air the team’s dirty laundry in public.

WINSLOW TOWNSON / AP

NFL hot topics ... with Tony Dungy & Rodney Harrison

This week, NBC announced that two recent NFL retirees—former Colts coach Tony Dungy and former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison—will join its weekly pregame show, Football Night in America. Considering their outspoken and pas-sionate natures, it’s no surprise that they were chosen for national TV work. Here are some of the opinions Dungy and Harrison shared with Sporting News Today’s Vinnie Iyer on the hot offseason topics:

Topic: QB Peyton Manning vents about the Colts’ coaching turnover.

Harrison: “That really gives Tom Brady the edge over Peyton Manning in terms of leadership because he’s a guy that if this went on in New England he wouldn’t come out publicly and he wouldn’t make a big fuss about

it. I think as a leader on a team, you being Peyton Manning, a Hall of Famer, you need to keep it in-house. You have so many guys looking up to you and once they see the panic on your part, then all of a sudden they start getting nervous.”

Topic: Arizona Cardinals, find or fluke?

Harrison: “As long as you have the ingredient (quarterback) in

place, you have a chance to win. They re-signed Kurt Warner and have a young, fast defense. The biggest issue is combing back strong. It only takes a little lack of focus to finish 7-9.”

Topic: Vince Young says he wants to start or be traded.

Harrison: “Unfortunately for Vince Young, this is not the University of Texas, this is the National Foot-ball League. ... I think what happened to him is that he got caught up in somewhat of the dark side, party-ing, not prioritizing and making football his No. 1 thing. ... So this is a critical time for him. If he doesn’t

become a starter in the next two years, you’ll find him as a career backup.”

Topic: Team of the decade.

Harrison: “The Patriots. Look at all the transition. Then you look at their consistency, the Super Bowl victories.”

Topic: Covering his former team, the Patriots.

Harrison: “If there is a question in Week 8 or Week 10—when the Patriots play against the Colts—and Tom Brady is not performing, everyone is going to question his knee. And if I feel like it’s his knee that is bothering him, then I’m going to have to mention that and Tom would have to respect that. As a player, you have to respect the fact that you are going to be criti-cized. And that’s something that I’m not afraid to bring. When I played, I didn’t have many friends and I’m sure I’m not going to make a lot of friends now.”

Topic: His role on Football Night in America.

Harrison: “Just like I played the game, I’m going to be honest and I’m going to be forthright and I’m going to do it with passion. Certain guys you definitely respect their opinions, but other guys I felt like they were afraid to come out and really tell the hard truth. And as an analyst, it is your job be fair but honest. And sometimes you have to be brutally honest with guys who you have played with.”

‘Give Brady the edge over Manning in terms of leadership’Tony Dungy: ‘I would definitely give (Vick) an opportunity’

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 28NFL

Ryan’s bravado rubbing off on confidence-starved JetsFLORHAM PARK, N.J.—Still months from coach-

ing his first Jets game, Rex Ryan is talking a good game.

NFL head coaches are supposed to speak in bland clichés, but Ryan is all about bold state-ments. He expects to win big. Just ask him.

“I’m not here for the security of it,” Ryan said. “I want to be special.

“This (practice) facility that (owner) Woody (John-son) put together was not to go .500. It’s to win champi-onships and multiple cham-pionships. We’ll see if I’m the right guy for it.”

Ryan has difficulty mak-ing it through an interview without a proclamation.

Wednesday on WFAN radio in New York, Ryan said among other things, “I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick’s, you know, rings.” At his introductory Jets press conference, Ryan made reference to visiting the White House, an invitation given to the Super Bowl champion every year.

If nothing else, Ryan has added swagger to the Jets’ culture, and the players are buying in. When current Browns coach Eric Mangini was fired after the Jets’ collapse in December, nose tackle Kris Jenkins called the move a mistake. Now, Jenkins feels differently.

“At the time they let Mangini go, we didn’t know about Rex Ryan,” Jenkins said. “All we knew is that our coach had got fired. Now? It’s not a situation where I’m going to slight my old coach or put him down. But I’m going to give credit where credit is due. Rex is a heck of a football coach.”

Jenkins’ assessment is based partially on what Ryan accomplished last season as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator. Only the Steel-ers and Titans allowed fewer points than the Ravens, who never surrendered more than 13 points at home.

John Harbaugh was a rookie head coach with the Ravens last season, and according to Jets linebacker Bart Scott, Ryan naturally

assumed a bigger role.“He has been groomed for this,” Scott said.

“Last year, with a young coach, he took more responsibility. He had to be more of a head coach. He was the more the interpreter of what Harbaugh wanted to accomplish. He settled that whole situation down.”

Ryan said he coached the Ravens’ defense with a daring attitude last season, thinking he might never get the chance to become a head coach. Following the ’07 season, Ryan inter-viewed for head coach vacancies in Baltimore, Atlanta and Miami—only to see someone else get the job.

“I thought I was right for a particular team and was passed over,” Ryan said. “But it made me focus. I told the G.M. of that team that I would make the league pay.”

All of Ryan’s tough talk will not change serious questions about the Jets. Their start-ing quarterback either will be a rookie, Mark Sanchez, or Kellen Clemens, who has just eight career starts. Their two best backs, Thomas Jones and Leon Washington, are both unhappy with their contracts and skipped recent voluntary practices.

Having not been to the Super Bowl since 1969, the Jets fight for respect everywhere—around the league, in the AFC East and in New York. Jets guard Alan Faneca likes the way Ryan has barged through the front door, rather than tiptoeing through the back.

“He’s a breath of fresh air, putting his stamp on this team,” Faneca said. “He is who he is. He’s not going to change.”

Ryan clearly hopes his bravado and confi-dence rubs off on a franchise starving for sus-tained success. Coaches can’t win NFL games in June but can establish a winning chemistry, something the Jets felt they had last season before blowing a playoff spot in December.

Having yet to coach a game with the Jets, Ryan sounds and looks the part of a coach who means business. That will keep things interesting until September. From that point, only how the Jets play will matter.

cliftonbrown@sportingnews.com

Questions for rookie coaches

The Jets’ Rex Ryan is not the only first-year coach facing questions. Here’s a quick look at the other rookie coaches and their most daunting question:

Tom Cable, Raiders: Can he turn a struggling franchise back into a winner?

Jim Caldwell, Colts: Will he continue the consistency estab-lished by Tony Dungy?

Todd Haley, Chiefs: Can he succeed without Larry Fitzger-ald, Anquan Boldin and Kurt Warner?

Eric Mangini, Browns: Which quarterback will he start, Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn?

Josh McDaniels, Broncos: Can he prove that trading Jay Cut-ler was not a major mistake?

Jim Mora, Seahawks: Was last year an aberration, or the beginning of a rebuilding project?

Raheem Morris, Bucs: Will this job make the NFL’s young-est head coach feel old?

Jim Schwartz, Lions: Can he resist the temptation not to rush QB Matthew Stafford into action?

Mike Singletary, 49ers: Will he become that rare great player who also becomes a great coach?

Steve Spagnuolo, Rams: Things cannot get much worse, but can he make them much better?

— Clifton Brown

BILL KOSTROUN / AP

Rex Ryan hasn’t coached a game yet for the Jets, but the players are already praising his approach.

Clifton BrownPRO FOOTBALL

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 29NFL

Scouts’ views

Defensive coordinator rankings: Steelers’ LeBeau still the bestIt seems the whole league is changing

to a 3-4 these days, and there are plenty

of those system gurus on this list. But the

best coordinators are the coaches who can

adapt the talent at their disposal and attack

an offense in a variety of ways.

RealScouts, Sporting News Today’s team

of former NFL scouts, ranks its top 20

defensive coordinators:

1. Dick LeBeau, Steelers. LeBeau perfected the zone blitz, and

you’ll see Pittsburgh continue to run this defense as long as he’s the coordinator. He likes to mix looks and bring pressure from different points on the field. He lacks a great secondary, so he attacks offenses with all-out pressure.

2. Jim Johnson, Eagles. Another disciple of the zone blitz,

Johnson likes to bring pressure from up and down the line and asks defensive backs to jam receivers and play physical. Typically, he prefers quicker one gap-shooting linemen and active linebackers. The ’09 Eagles have upgraded the athleticism in the front seven, and here’s hoping Johnson recovers from his illness to coach this improved group.

3. Leslie Frazier, Vikings. He has the horses up front to send a nice

pressure package at quarterbacks, and he likes to play some mixed zones behind it with CB Antoine Winfield more often in press coverage. With DE Jared Allen joining the team last year, the blitz package is a thing of the past, though it could return if the Williams Wall misses significant time.

4. Jim Bates, Bucs. Look for the Bucs to move away from the

traditional Tampa-2 zone scheme and have defensive backs making more plays on the ball, while the defensive front will be less about stunts and twists and more about getting pressure off the edges.

5. Dom Capers, Packers. He is a diehard believer in the 3-4

scheme, even though the ’09 Packers might not have the pieces to make it work well. Capers has been through the transition before and can guide Aaron Kampman, A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett and others through struggles.

6. Greg Blache, Redskins. He relies on pressure at every level. He

likes to get a big push inside from his tackles, explaining the Albert Haynesworth signing. Blache also likes linebackers who run to the ball and corners and safeties who press and play close to the line. Expect Washington to harass the QB consistently in ’09.

7. Mike Nolan, Broncos. He will have a challenge this season, but if

anyone can turn around a moribund defense it’s Nolan. An ardent 3-4 man, Nolan must employ a hybrid in ’09. His priority is shoring up the run defense. He must rely on a strong secondary to play well in coverage while he figures out how to generate pressure.

8. Dean Pees, Patriots. He is learn-ing from the master, Bill

Belichick. No team does a better job of adapting personnel and playing the matchup game. With

upgrades in the secondary, Pees will have more options in the pass rush. Pees is a name to watch.

9. Mike Zimmer, Bengals. The Bengals likely will continue to

employ a 4-3 scheme as it has throughout Marvin Lewis’ tenure. Cincinnati has a lot of linebackers and converted college ends, so Zimmer could tinker with some 3-4 alignments.

10. Paul Pasqualoni, Dolphins. Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano

love him, and after watching that turnaround last year who are we to argue? Pasqualoni has the knowl-edge and adaptability skills to be an asset within any scheme, but he is an old-time coach who can teach technique on a one-on-one level. Joey Porter’s career was over until Pasqualoni arrived in Miami.

11. Clancy Pendergast, Chiefs. He is unpredictable—at times

unorthodox—and is tough to game plan against. The Chiefs will use a 3-4 scheme as their base defense, but liberal usage of the 4-3 in nickel sets keeps opponents guessing.

12. John Marshall, Raiders. Mar-shall, who comes to Oakland

after a six-year stint as Mike Hol-mgren’s defensive coordinator in Seattle, is all about pressure. He likes to mix coverages and formations, so versatility in the front seven is critical. There is talent on the Raiders’ roster, so don’t be surprised to see more success in ’09.

13. Gregg Williams, Saints. He uses a lot of stunts and twists

with his linemen. Speed at defensive end is important. In the secondary, New Orleans will utilize a mixture of zone and man-to-man schemes with a lot of cornerback man-to-man cover-ages with safety help over the top in combination schemes.

14. Ron Rivera, Chargers. He has experience coaching the

4-3, the Tampa-2 and now the 3-4 scheme. Although the Chargers will remain a 3-4 front, Rivera incorporates aspects of the other schemes. That means more aggres-sive play-calling in terms of blitzes

and letting Shawne Merriman loose behind a more talented front.

15. Gunther Cunningham, Lions. Big and physical is the way

Cunningham and new coach Jim Schwartz like defensive players. The first priority is stopping the run and solidifying the front seven. Look for plenty of aggres-sive calls and blitz schemes.

16. Perry Fewell, Bills. He runs a conservative version of the

4-3 scheme, blitzing sparingly. He likes to utilize a lot of cover-2 zone schemes. Fewell uses some

pre-snap movement to confuse opponents, but after the snap he keeps it pretty basic.

17. Larry Coyer, Colts. A former defensive line coach, he will

emphasize the importance of line play—in pressuring the quarter-back and defending the run.

18. Rob Ryan, Browns. Look for a lot of different formations

and movement within the Browns’ 3-4 scheme, which will look a lot like brother Rex’s hybrid scheme made famous in Baltimore. We will see a lot of press coverage by the cornerbacks and be aggres-sive, mostly using man-to-man.

19. Greg Manusky, 49ers. He emphasizes a 3-4 press-type

style with lots of different looks and frequent shifting of personnel. Frequent blitzing by cornerbacks and safeties is a staple—as well as lots of man-to-man coverage—but the main pass rush must come from the outside linebackers. His defense will resemble the Steelers’ at times, and don’t be surprised if LB Patrick Willis becomes a star in ’09.

20. Ron Meeks, Panthers. He likes to play zone schemes

behind stunting linemen, using constant movement to confuse blockers. The back seven play it sound and simple; they try to keep everything in front of them and prevent big plays. Meeks doesn’t blitz much and shouldn’t have to if DE Julius Peppers returns.

— RealScouts analyzes NFL and college players,

coaches and teams exclusively

for Sporting News Today.

GENE J. PUSKAR / AP

Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau created and honed the zone blitz.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 30NFL

INSIDE DISH

Fisher: QB Young will be Titans’ starter ‘eventually’Titans coach Jeff Fisher says that if

Vince Young can remain patient, he’ll be the team’s starting quarterback sooner or later. Earlier this week, Young said he wanted to start or be traded.

“Let me say this: I didn’t bat an eye at it,” Fisher told WDKF Radio. “When I saw Vince today, we didn’t bring it up. He was in the weight room working out, had a great work-out. He knows there is no potential for us to move him. Kerry is our starter, but Vince is eventually going to be our starting quarterback and the quarterback we drafted him to be, period.”

The NFL Players Association has reached a $26.25 million settle-ment with retired players who had successfully sued the union for cut-ting them out of lucrative market-ing deals. Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley, who filed the suit, con-firmed the settlement on Thursday, telling The Associated Press that he’s “elated that this thing is com-ing to a close.”

Bucs LG Arron Sears, who sus-tained a concussion midway through last season, still hasn’t been cleared to participate in practice drills. Recent neurological exams report-edly haven’t been promising.

“Obviously, we are all concerned about Arron,” coach Raheem Morris told reporters. “Realistically, it’s a private matter. I would respect Arron enough not to even talk about that. I’ll leave it as concerned and as a private matter.”

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger

returned to practice Thursday, a day after he limped off the field fol-lowing a collision with RB Willie Parker during practice. Roethlis-berger had his left knee wrapped Thursday but apparently did not require treatment.

The NFL Players Association is investigating how new Browns coach Eric Mangini is conducting “voluntary” practices, according to The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. Mangini sent 19 rookies on a 10-hour bus trip each way last weekend, to work his football camp in Hartford, Conn. The NFLPA also is concerned about the length of his spring practices and the amount of hitting involved.

Jaguars Pro Bowl DT John Hen-derson wants to make it clear: He’s not faking an injury. He missed his

third consecutive practice Thurs-day because of a dislocated shoul-der, an injury coach Jack Del Rio questioned earlier in the week.

“I was a little upset, but we talked about it and everything is all right,” Henderson said. “We talked like men. I let him know about the shoulder. He saw the X-rays.”

Packers ILB Nick Barnett, who underwent surgery Nov. 20 to repair a torn ACL in his right knee, took part in walkthrough portions of practices this week but says he might not be ready to participate fully in practice until after training camp begins Aug. 1.

“By the time the regular season pops, I should be 100 percent. I feel good,” Barnett said. “We’re headed in the right direction. I think I’ll be feeling very good in late July.”

Packers coaches can’t decide whether B.J. Raji fits better at nose tackle or defensive end, and their indecision is having a negative impact on their first-round pick.

“I’m not going to lie—at times, it’s overwhelming,” Raji told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “But at this level, you have to grasp a lot. That’s just the nature of this game. All I can do is keep studying my playbook and trying to stay as attentive in meet-ings as I possibly can.”

The Cardinals signed S Adrian Wilson to a five-year contract exten-sion through the ’13 season. Wil-son, 29, is the hard-hitting leader of the defense and was a ’06 Pro Bowl selection. His old contract was to expire after the ’09 season.

The Cardinals also signed rookie fifth-round pick Herman John-son (6-7, 382) to a three-year contract.

LT Joe Staley has agreed to a six-year contract extension with the 49ers that will keep him with the club through ’17. Staley, a ’07 first-round pick, started every game at right tackle as a rookie before shift-ing to the left side last year to replace injury-prone Jonas Jennings. Staley has not missed a snap in his two-year career.

If troubled but talented WR Plaxico Burress can escape or delay prison and/or an NFL suspension, teams will be lining up to sign him for the ’09 season. The Bears, Jets and Bucs all are viable options. New Bears QB Jay Cutler has been lobbying Burress, and WR Devin

Hester and TE Desmond Clark seconded Cutler’s motion this week.

“Talent is talent,” Clark told the Chicago Sun-Times. “But the one thing you don’t want are bad guys. Just from people I talk to, every-body says he is a really, really good guy. ... If a guy like that gets in trou-ble and he’s not around the team, if people didn’t like him they would take their shots at him right there. Nobody took a shot at Plaxico. He’s going to sign with somebody, no doubt, because he is a great talent.”

Pro Bowl CB Antoine Winfield is skipping the Vikings’ voluntary practices this week as negotiations on a contract extension have stalled. He missed a mandatory minicamp last weekend to attend the funeral

of a friend’s mother. Winfield had been participating in the offseason strength and conditioning program until talks broke off.

The Eagles and QB Donovan McNabb could be getting closer to a contract extension, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer and Comcast SportsNet. McNabb, who turns 33 in November, has two years remaining on a deal signed in ’02. He is sched-uled to make $9.2 million this year and $10 million in ’10, but those sala-ries are not guaranteed.

The Patriots signed RB Patrick Pass, a member of the team from 2000-06, on Thursday. He appeared in one game with the ’07 Giants and was out of football in ’08.

Bills’ Wilson makes odd choicefor Hall of Fame induction

Ralph Wilson, the nonagenarian owner of the Bills, has selected ESPN’s Chris Berman to be his presenter when Wilson is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August. Wilson noted that Ber-man is a longtime friend who “really embodies the Bills fans.”

That’s fine. Wilson is entitled to select whomever he wants to pres-ent him. But any of these three men would have been more appropri-ate choices:

Marv Levy. He had a 123-78 regular-season record in 12 seasons as Buffalo’s coach and led the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Levy was inducted into the Hall in ’01.

Jim Kelly. The former Bills quarterback was the trigger-man for those Super Bowl teams. He also is in the Hall.

Bud Adams. A fellow member of the “Foolish Club,” the original group of American Football League team owners, Adams has owned the Titans/Oilers as long as Wilson has owned the Bills. And this is the 50th anniversary of the AFL.

— Dennis Dillon

MARK HUMPHREY / AP

Titans coach Jeff Fisher says Kerry Collins (5) is the starter, but Vince Young is staying put.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 31NFL

Remaining free agents A quick look at the remaining NFL free agents by posi-

tion (R-restricted free agent, F-franchise tagged player):

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks—Brooks Bollinger, Dallas; Ken Dorsey,

Cleveland; Gus Frerotte, Minnesota; Charlie Frye,

Seattle; Quinn Gray, Kansas City; Trent Green, St. Louis;

Rex Grossman, Chicago; Drew Henson, Detroit; Brad

Johnson, Dallas; J.P. Losman, Buffalo; Jamie Martin,

San Francisco; Craig Nall, Houston; Marques Tuiasosopo,

Oakland; Anthony Wright, NY Giants.

Running backs—Shaun Alexander, Washington;

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; Biren Ealy, New

Orleans; D.J. Hackett, Carolina; Dante Hall, St. Louis;

Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis; Ike Hilliard, Tampa Bay;

Darrell Jackson, Denver; Nate Jackson, Denver; Matt

Jones, Jacksonville; Joe Jurevicius, Cleveland; Ashley

Lelie, Oakland; Brandon Lloyd, Chicago; Dane Looker, St.

Louis; Marcus Maxwell, Baltimore; Anthony Mix, Tampa

Bay; Tab Perry, Miami; Jerry Porter, Jacksonville; Koren

Robinson, Seattle; Edell Shepherd, Denver; Travis Taylor,

Detroit; Amani Toomer, NY Giants; Reggie Williams,

Jacksonville.

Tight ends—Courtney Anderson, Houston; Adam

Bergen, Denver; Mark Bruener, Houston; Owen Daniels

(R), Houston; Nate Lawrie, Cincinnati; Marcus Pollard,

Atlanta; Jerame Tuman, Arizona; Daniel Wilcox,

Baltimore.

Offensive tackles—Anthony Davis, St. Louis; Jon

Dunn, Detroit; George Foster, Detroit; Wayne Gandy,

Atlanta; Kwame Harris, Oakland; Jonas Jennings, San

Francisco; Levi Jones, Cincinnati; Fred Miller, Chicago;

Rob Petitti, St. Louis; Jon Runyan, Philadelphia; Charles

Spencer, Jacksonville; Barry Stokes, New England; Mark

Tauscher, Green Bay.

Guards—Lennie Friedman, Cleveland; Pete Kendall,

Washington; Matt Lentz, Detroit; Terrence Metcalf,

Chicago; Edwin Mulitalo, Detroit; Chris Naeole, Jack-

sonville; Grey Ruegamer, NY Giants; Kendall Simmons,

Pittsburgh; Jason Whittle, Buffalo.

Centers—Brennen Carvalho, Green Bay; Jean-Philippe

Darche, Kansas City; Melvin Fowler, Buffalo; Matt

Lehr, New Orleans; Andy McCollum, Detroit; Jeremy

Newberry, San Diego; Scott Peters, Arizona; Cory

Withrow, St. Louis.

DEFENSE

Defensive ends—Kevin Carter, Tampa Bay; Earl

Cochran, Houston; Sean Conover, NY Jets; Nick Eason,

Pittsburgh; Kalimba Edwards, Oakland; Ebenezer

Ekuban, Denver; John Engelberger, Denver; Simon

Fraser, Atlanta; Roderick Green, San Francisco; Travis

LaBoy, Arizona; Jayme Mitchell, Minnesota; Jerome

McDougle, NY Giants; Julius Peppers (F), Carolina; Josh

Savage, New Orleans; Anthony Weaver, Houston; James

Wyche, Jacksonville.

Defensive tackles—Kenderick Allen, Minnesota;

Gary Gibson, Carolina; La’Roi Glover, St. Louis; Vonnie

Holliday, Miami; Antwan Lake, New Orleans; Langston

Moore, Detroit; Kindal Moorehead, Atlanta; Dewayne

Robertson, Denver; Orpheus Roye, Pittsburgh; Hollis

Thomas, New Orleans; Josh Thomas, Indianapolis; John

Thornton, Cincinnati; 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; Greg Ellis, Dallas; Gilbert

Gardner, Chicago; Curtis Gatewood, Kansas City; Morlon

Greenwood, Houston; Napoleon Harris, Minnesota; Brad

Kassell, NY Jets; Jason Kyle, Carolina; Teddy Lehman,

Buffalo; Wesly Mallard, Seattle; Willie McGinest,

Cleveland; 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; Adam Jones, Dallas; Michael

Lehan, New Orleans; Sam Madison, NY Giants; Ricky

Manning Jr., St. Louis; 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; DeJuan Tribble, San Diego; Jason Webster,

New England; Jimmy Williams, Houston; Stanley

Wilson, Detroit.

Safeties—Michael Boulware, Minnesota; Mike

Brown, Chicago; Oliver Celestin, Kansas City; Corey

Chavous, St. Louis; Will Demps, Houston; Mike Doss,

Cincinnati; Mike Green, Washington; Terrence Holt,

New Orleans; Dexter Jackson, Cincinnati; Sammy

Knight, NY Giants; Lawyer Milloy, Atlanta; Chad Nkang,

Jacksonville; Pierson Prioleau, Jacksonville; Dwight

Smith, Detroit; Jimmy Williams, San Francisco; Cameron

Worrell, Chicago.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kickers—John Carney, NY Giants; Matt Stover,

Baltimore.

Punters—Mitch Berger, Pittsburgh; Kyle Larson,

Cincinnati; Ryan Plackemeier, Cincinnati.

As Boldin sits, Breaston emerges as Cardinals’ next star receiverTEMPE, ARIZ.—As Anquan Boldin

stays away in a contract dispute, Steve Breaston has confidently moved up to the No. 2 wide receiver spot for the Cardinals.

Breaston, entering his third NFL season, knows the importance of these spring/summer “voluntary” practices. It was a year ago, in the searing Arizona heat, that Breaston opened the coaches’ eyes.

“When it came to game time, they could trust in me,” Breaston said. “They could rely on me to do good things.”

Breaston went on to become Ari-zona’s third 1,000-yard receiver in ’08, catching 77 passes for 1,006 yards, an average of 13.1 yards per catch. That compares with 96 catches for 1,431 yards for Larry Fitzgerald and 89 catches for 1,038 yards for Boldin.

In four playoff games last season, Breaston caught 13 passes for 148 yards.

Boldin, in a long contract dispute with the Cardinals, didn’t partici-pate in last month’s mandatory mini-camp because of what he said was a sore hamstring. He has not taken part in any of the subsequent volun-tary workouts.

That has cleared the way for Breas-ton to work with QB Kurt Warner and the first-team offense.

“I’ve just got more opportunities now,” he said. “Just with Q not being here—and it’s trouble him not being here—but it’s good for me getting more reps. It’s good for everybody. Everybody gets a lot more.”

The team’s other receivers—Jer-heme Urban, Early Doucet and Lance Long—also have had more chances to impress the coaches.

If they need an example of how the summer can make a career, they

need look no farther than Breaston.Breaston was no sure bet to even

make the team when he was drafted in the fifth round out of Michigan in ’07, the 142nd player chosen overall. He was looked upon as perhaps a kick returner, but there were questions about his ability to catch the ball.

He returned kickoffs and punts as a rookie, including a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Steelers, but saw only sparse time on offense (nine caches, 82 yards). He vowed to show last summer that he was more than just a kick returner.

“I think the biggest thing was I was reliable,” Breaston said. “Going against DBs, making plays, I think that’s important, even in OTAs

(voluntary workouts). It carries over to the games.”

As the season went on, Warner gained more and more confidence in his young receiver.

“There was so much pressure, but I embraced the pressure, just playing alongside Anquan and Larry,” Breas-ton said, “just how good of receivers they are. You don’t want that big drop-off. You want to keep going.”

Warner said Boldin’s absence will help all the young receivers.

“So much of this game is getting reps and seeing things live,” Warner said. “It’s one thing to talk about it in a meeting room or draw it on a board or see it on film, it’s completely another thing to see it in front of you. That’s

where it gets valuable for Steve run-ning with the No. 1 against the No. 1 defense, but also for the guys that are moving up a step behind him.”

Now, all those doubts about whether Breaston could catch seem ancient history.

“I told a lot of people that once I left my school there was a big cloud lifted,” Breaston said. “What they said back in college or what I did in college, it doesn’t determine where I’m going or what I’m going to do in this league. When I got here, I had a chip on my shoulder but the cloud was gone. No matter what people say, they can’t determine the out-come I will have in the NFL.”

— The Associated Press

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / AP

In just his third season in the NFL, Steve Breaston is already going to be counted on to fill some big shoes as Arizona’s No. 2 receiver.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 32NFL

NASCAR announced Thursday that it will implement double-file lead-lap-car restarts with this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.

The double-file restarts will be used for all restarts at all tracks for the Sprint Cup Series. Implementation for the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series will come in the near future.

The former restart procedure had lap-down cars on the inside, and the lead-lap cars on the outside for the restarts.

“We’ve heard the fans loud and clear: ‘Dou-ble-file restarts—shootout style’ are coming to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said in a news release. “This addition to the race format is good for competition and good for the fans.”

— Bob Pockrass, SceneDaily.com

Hendrick Motorsports tops Forbes.com’s annual ranking of NASCAR teams by estimated value, with an estimated value of

$350 million. To assess the value, Forbes uses a formula that involves adding up what teams receive from sponsors, their winnings and funds from any businesses such as engine-leas-ing programs. It applies multiples ranging from 1.25 to 1.80 based on past relevant deals in the formula.

The top 10 teams, and their projected value in millions that follow Hendrick are Roush Fenway Racing ($270), Richard Childress Racing ($167), Joe Gibbs Racing ($144), Rich-ard Petty Motorsports ($131), Penske Racing ($111), Michael Waltrip Racing ($100), Stew-art-Haas Racing ($80), Earnhardt Ganassi Racing ($70) and Red Bull Racing ($55).

— SceneDaily.com

Goodyear officials say more than 1,200 laps were completed during the tire manu-facturer’s three-day test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week.

Nine teams participated, including Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle, Richard Childress Racing’s Jeff Burton, Tommy Baldwin Racing’s Patrick Carpentier, Wood Brothers Racing’s Bill Elliott, Robby Gordon Motorsports’ Robby Gor-don, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Tony Stewart and Penske Racing’s David Stremme. After the session, Goodyear officials said that all results indi-cated they were on target with the tire that will be used in this year’s Allstate 400.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. will return to the Mac-Donald Motorsports No. 81 in this week-end’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeed-way, Hamilton’s hometown track. He drove for the team at Dover International Speed-way last weekend and finished 15th.

Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano will compete in the Bennett Lane Winery 200 Camping World West Series race on June 20.

— SceneDaily.com

BY TIM TUTTLEFor Sporting News Today

Mike Skinner has a robust record at Texas Motor Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series, but it comes with a tinge of frustration, too, that he’d like to end today with a victory in the WinStar Casino World 400.

Skinner has three second-place finishes, two thirds and a fourth at the high-banked 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth. He has an average finish of 5.5, the best among the drivers entered for the eighth race of the season, and has led 458 laps in his 10 starts. Skinner has also completed all 1,580 laps in the truck races he has run at Texas.

“The racetrack has really been good to me at times and it has been bad to me at times, but it is definitely on my top-five list of favorite racetracks we go to,” Skin-ner said. “We generally run good at Texas. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but to win any one of these races at any track is special, but to win at Texas would be a little more special. It would be like winning at Daytona. I have a Bristol win and that is such a prestigious race to win, so I would love to add a win at Texas.”

Skinner has had an outstanding start in his first season with Randy Moss Motorsports, particularly considering the effort wasn’t put together until Febru-ary. Skinner, the 1995 series champion, had to scramble after his previous orga-nization, Bill Davis Racing, was sold in the offseason and the new owners shelved the racing portion of the business.

Skinner drove RMM’s Toyota to its first vic-tory in the rain-shortened fifth race at Kansas and five top fives have him in second place in the points, 27 behind leader Ron Hornaday Jr.

Hornaday had back-to-back wins at Texas last season and will be driving the same

KHI truck, chassis No. 024. The three-time series champion drove that same truck to victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.

Hornaday is the all-time leader in the truck series with 40 wins, but he has never put together three straight at one track.

“To win three races in a row at the same place shows just how dominant a team can be there,” Hornaday said. “Brendan (Gaughan) won four in a row (at Texas) a few years ago, so I guess I would just be trying to catch him.”

Toyota driver Todd Bodine has four of his 16 career wins in the truck series at Texas.

“When Germain Racing takes the Copart Tundra to Texas, we know we can win there,” Bodine said. “We know how to get around that track. It’s still up to us to make sure we have the Copart Tundra set up to do it, but, obviously with that history, you know what you are capable of at Texas.”

Kyle Busch, in fourth place in the points, will miss his second truck race of the season because he’s racing in the Sprint Cup race at Pocono and the Nation-wide race at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend. Brian Ickler will replace him in the No. 51 Billy Ballew Motor-sports Toyota. Ickler finished fifth at Kansas in his previous race in the No. 51 with crew chief Doug George. He also has driven Ballew’s No. 15 at Lowe’s, finish-ing 16th, and at Dover, finishing 25th.

WinStar Casino World 400Where: Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth

When: Today, 9 p.m. ET

TV: SPEED, 8:30 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN/Sirius XM Satellite Ch. 128

Track layout: 1.5-mile oval

Race distance: 167 laps/250.5 miles

2008 winner: Ron Hornaday Jr.

2008 polesitter: Justin Marks

Points leaders: 1. Ron Hornaday Jr., 1,056;

2. Mike Skinner, 1,029; 3. Matt Crafton,

1,027; 4. Kyle Busch, 1,000; 5. Brian Scott,

949; 6. Todd Bodine, 946; 7. Terry Cook,

920; 8. Chad McCumbee, 916; 9. David

Starr, 903; Johnny Benson, 887.

Skinner: ‘We generally run good at Texas’

for the roadThe 14th race of the Sprint Cup season is Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Three

Sprint Cup drivers discuss their experiences at the 2.5-mile track nicknamed the Tricky Triangle.

1. Jamie McMurray: “Due to the unique lay-

out of the track, it forces us to look at a few

different aspects of our racecar for this weekend’s

race. Horsepower is the key at Pocono, and you

need to have a fast and powerful car since there

are three different straightaways.”

2. Denny Hamlin: “To get the two wins in my

rookie season was an incredible start. At the

time, because the car was so good and I felt really

comfortable here, I probably took those wins for

granted a little. I was still new and didn’t have

a good sense of how hard it is to win in the Cup

series so as more and more time passes, just how

cool it was to win both those races, and do it from

the pole both times, has really sunk in.”

3. Bobby Labonte: “The front straightaway

there, you come off the corner which is

pretty slow but you pick up so much speed down

the front straightaway that it is just forever, forever,

forever. And then you just say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve

got to let off here, I’m probably going about 205

(mph). And it’s hard on the brakes getting it to turn

and everything. You’ve got a lot of time to think

about Turn 1. Best thing to do is probably to not

think about it, but it’s a long enough straightaway

that you can’t ignore that you’re going to be haul-

ing butt when you get down there.”

3TERRY RENNA / AP

Bobby Labonte understands the challenges of Turn 1.

INSIDE DISH

Double-file starts return to NASCAR

HAROLD HINSON FOR SN

NASCAR reacted to fans who called for a shootout style.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 33NASCAR

MemorialSite: Dublin, Ohio.

Schedule: Through-Sunday.

Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (7,366 yards, par 72).

Purse: $6 million. Winner’s share: $1.08 million.

TV: Golf Channel (Today, 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.;

Saturday, 12:30-2:30 p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-2

p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday,

2:30-6 p.m.).

LeaderboardThursdayAt Muirfield Village Golf ClubDublin, OhioPurse: $6 millionYardage: 7,366; Par: 72 (36-36)

First RoundLuke Donald 34-30—64 -8Jim Furyk 33-34—67 -5Ted Purdy 32-35—67 -5Jason Day 31-36—67 -5Thomas Aiken 34-33—67 -5Steve Marino 34-34—68 -4Stewart Cink 35-33—68 -4Mark Wilson 34-34—68 -4Troy Matteson 35-34—69 -3Johnson Wagner 31-38—69 -3Kevin Sutherland 35-34—69 -3Nicholas Thompson 36-33—69 -3Rod Pampling 35-34—69 -3Tiger Woods 33-36—69 -3Mike Weir 33-36—69 -3Jonathan Byrd 34-35—69 -3Reinier Saxton 33-36—69 -3Steve Stricker 35-35—70 -2Will MacKenzie 36-34—70 -2Ernie Els 37-33—70 -2Ryuji Imada 34-36—70 -2Bubba Watson 34-37—71 -1David Duval 31-40—71 -1John Senden 32-39—71 -1Charley Hoffman 36-35—71 -1Camilo Villegas 34-37—71 -1Chez Reavie 36-35—71 -1Martin Kaymer 36-35—71 -1Kevin Na 35-36—71 -1Zach Johnson 36-35—71 -1Ben Curtis 34-37—71 -1Tom Lehman 34-37—71 -1Tom Pernice, Jr. 35-36—71 -1Matt Bettencourt 34-37—71 -1Jerry Kelly 36-36—72 ERobert Allenby 37-35—72 EDavis Love III 38-34—72 EGeoff Ogilvy 37-35—72 EStuart Appleby 37-35—72 EMark Calcavecchia 36-36—72 EErik Compton 37-35—72 EMichael Letzig 37-35—72 EKenny Perry 36-36—72 EDaniel Chopra 36-36—72 EMarc Turnesa 37-35—72 ELee Janzen 34-38—72 ECharl Schwartzel 34-38—72 ERocco Mediate 37-36—73 +1Paul Casey 36-37—73 +1Y.E. Yang 36-37—73 +1Todd Hamilton 37-36—73 +1Carl Pettersson 35-38—73 +1Steve Flesch 36-37—73 +1D.J. Trahan 34-39—73 +1Mathew Goggin 34-39—73 +1

James Nitties 37-36—73 +1Webb Simpson 37-36—73 +1K.J. Choi 35-38—73 +1Dustin Johnson 34-39—73 +1Nick Watney 34-39—73 +1Chris DiMarco 37-36—73 +1Shaun Micheel 36-37—73 +1Nick O’Hern 35-38—73 +1Bart Bryant 36-37—73 +1Matt Kuchar 36-37—73 +1Alex Cejka 37-36—73 +1Jose Maria Olazabal 37-37—74 +2Hunter Mahan 35-39—74 +2Scott McCarron 37-37—74 +2Richard Sterne 35-39—74 +2Brett Quigley 33-41—74 +2Bill Haas 37-37—74 +2Billy Mayfair 35-39—74 +2Greg Owen 38-36—74 +2Marc Leishman 37-37—74 +2Jeff Quinney 38-37—75 +3Lucas Glover 38-37—75 +3Padraig Harrington 36-39—75 +3Vijay Singh 36-39—75 +3John Mallinger 38-37—75 +3Ryan Moore 37-38—75 +3Tim Herron 36-39—75 +3Ian Poulter 36-39—75 +3Charles Howell III 39-36—75 +3Woody Austin 35-40—75 +3Mark Brooks 38-37—75 +3D.A. Points 38-37—75 +3Jeff Klauk 37-39—76 +4Billy Andrade 38-38—76 +4George McNeill 37-39—76 +4Steve Lowery 37-39—76 +4Tim Petrovic 38-38—76 +4Ken Duke 39-37—76 +4Jeff Overton 36-40—76 +4Sean O’Hair 39-37—76 +4Richard S. Johnson 37-39—76 +4Fredrik Jacobson 38-39—77 +5Jason Dufner 38-39—77 +5Peter Lonard 41-36—77 +5Charles Warren 41-36—77 +5Adam Scott 38-39—77 +5James Driscoll 34-43—77 +5Chris Stroud 37-40—77 +5James Kamte 38-39—77 +5Kevin Streelman 37-40—77 +5Brian Davis 38-40—78 +6Aaron Baddeley 38-41—79 +7Danny Lee 40-39—79 +7Cliff Kresge 42-37—79 +7Scott Piercy 37-42—79 +7Chris Wilson 38-41—79 +7John Rollins 43-37—80 +8Ryan Palmer 40-40—80 +8Justin Rose 41-39—80 +8Jesper Parnevik 40-41—81 +9Bo Van Pelt 40-41—81 +9Parker McLachlin 39-42—81 +9J.B. Holmes 40-42—82 +10Brad Faxon 41-42—83 +11Kevin Chappell 42-44—86 +14

Donald needs just 20 putts to set recordDUBLIN, OHIO—Tiger Woods hardly missed a fairway, a

big improvement. Luke Donald hardly missed a putt, and that was far more rewarding Thursday at the Memorial.

Donald set a tournament record by taking only 20 putts, which allowed him to tie a tournament record by opening with an 8-under 64 and a three-shot lead over a group that included Jim Furyk and Jason Day, who bogeyed his last two holes.

What seemed like a normal round at Muirfield Vil-lage turned extraordinary for Donald when he rapped in a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 eighth hole, starting a streak of six consecutive birdies. He one-putted nine straight holes until a routine par on the 18th hole to match the lowest opening round at the Memorial.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” Donald said.Even rarer is the sight of Woods spending so much

time in the middle of the fairway.Woods went with a slightly higher loft in his driver

(10 degrees) and continued to make strides with his swing. He didn’t miss a fairway until his 3-wood on the 18th hole deflected off a tree and landed in a bunker.

Scoring starts with the putter, however. Woods missed an 8-foot par putt on the final hole, and his other bogey came on a three-putt at the 13th. He had to settle for a 69, and few complaints.

“Everything felt pretty good to some degree,” Woods said. “My swing felt good. Even my putting stroke felt good. A couple of bad pitches here and there, but over-all, I felt like I controlled the ball well all day. With the wind blowing like this, you have to hit it flush. I did that all day. I didn’t miss any shots.”

Furyk, who won the Memorial seven years ago, bird-ied three of his final four holes for a 67. He was joined by Ted Purdy, Thomas Aiken and Day, the 21-year-old Australian who missed a playoff by one shot last week at Colonial. Day was at 7 under with three holes to play, but made bogey from the bunkers on his final two holes.

All of them were chasing Donald throughout a day that began cool and breezy and became warm and blustery.

Donald, who had only two sub-70 rounds at Muir-field Village, hit the opening tee shot and made bogey. He was headed for another bogey on the second hole until he chipped in from 80 feet short of the green.

“I guess all good rounds start with a bogey,” he said.

“It was just kind of a normal, everyday round until I got to the eighth and made a nice putt from the fringe. That kind of sparked off a run of six birdies. Just really got on a hot streak.”

He made eight birdies over the last 11 holes. And his score was an eyesore for those teeing off in the afternoon.

“That’s rough when you walk to the first tee and you’re already eight behind,” defending champion Kenny Perry. He finished the day eight shots behind after two late bogeys have him a 72.

Stewart Cink was among those at 68, while those at 69 with Woods included Mike Weir and British Ama-teur champion Reinier Saxton.

Woods has a streak of 16 consecutive top 10s in stroke play, but scrutiny followed him home from The Players Championship last week because he played in the final group and couldn’t break par.

He has said he is still making adjustments because of surgery last year on his left knee, and has said for the last month that he is still missing his power. But he is back to hitting balls on the range, which is where he could be found late Thursday afternoon. And he painted an optimistic view of his immediate future.

“The swing is starting to come around,” he said. “I’m starting to feel good now. It’s been a long time. I’m starting to get my power back. Everything is starting to come around now.”

— The Associated Press

Member of NCAA champs helping Hamilton as caddie

DUBLIN, OHIO—Todd Hamilton’s caddie at the Memo-rial Tournament is a kid from back home who’s had a better last couple of weeks than Hamilton has.

Conrad Shindler, a 20-year-old sophomore, was on the Texas A&M team that captured the NCAA team championship last Saturday with a dramatic victory over Arkansas.

Shindler and Hamilton are both members at Vaquero Golf Club in Westlake, Texas. Even though Hamilton is an Oklahoma graduate, he asked the Aggie to fill in when his regular caddie took some time off.

“It’s a great experience,” Shindler said. “I plan on being out here someday, so it’s kind of a way to get the inside access of it.”

On Monday, Shindler is set to play 36 holes in the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus. His caddie? Hamilton will return the favor.

“Whatever he asks me to do, I’ll do,” Hamilton said. “If he says, ‘Hey, don’t say anything until I say some-thing, that’s fine with me. I’m the same way.”

Head shotDavid Duval was on a roll. He was 5 under as he teed

off on the par-4 ninth hole, and was leading the Memo-rial Tournament.

But Duval’s ball sailed just to the right of the fairway, and his round was never the same afterward.

Duval’s drive struck a spectator near the large bun-ker that gobbles up shots to the right of the fairway. The ball hit the man in the head and what Duval con-fronted when he reached the ball was enough to leave him shaken.

“It’s easier to swallow if there’s not blood coming out of somebody’s head. And the guy was shook up,” said Duval, who said he was with the 60-year-old Colum-bus-area man until he received medical attention. Duval said he was told the man was OK.

The last time Duval said he had struck a fan with a shot was 10 years or so ago at The Players Championship.

Duval, winless since capturing the 2001 British Open, admitted that he was rattled for a couple of holes. He bogeyed the 10th hole and double-bogeyed the 12th, shooting a 4-over 40 on the back and finishing at 1-under 71.

— The Associated Press

MIKE MUNDEN / AP

While all eyes were on Tiger Woods, it was Luke Donald, above, who stole the thunder and the early lead with his first-round 64.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 34Golf

French final, Russian accent: Safina-Kuznetsova

PARIS—Dinara Safina cursed at herself in English, muttered to herself in Russian and generally carried on in much the same man-ner of older brother Marat Safin.

Safina’s face bears a striking resemblance to Safin’s, and she shares his broad shoulders, too. Both have been ranked No. 1—the only brother-sister combo to do so—and now Safina is one victory from joining Safin as a Grand Slam champion.

Yearning to justify her ranking and live up to her bloodlines by winning a major title, the top-seeded Safina overcame a poor start Thursday and held her temper in check enough to beat No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 and reach a second con-secutive French Open final.

“I’m trying to control my emotions,” Safina said. “I’m not playing my best, but still, it’s not easy to beat me.”

Not lately: Safina has won 20 of 21 matches since rising to No. 1 in April. The only woman to defeat her in that span, 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, will get another crack at Safina on Saturday in the third all-Russian major final in ten-nis history.

The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova seemed well on her way to an easy semifinal victory,

but she stumbled a bit before getting past No. 30 Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

“She’s going to be favorite to win,” Kuz-netsova said, looking toward her match with Safina. “She’s No. 1. She played an unbeliev-able season.”

Safina holds a 7-4 career edge over Kuz-netsova, including a win in last year’s French Open semifinals. The two go back about a decade, to age 12 or 13, when Kuz-netsova was living in St. Petersburg, and Safina in Moscow, where her father was the director of a tennis club and her mother was a coach who started Safin on his way to titles at the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open.

“I had no chance playing against her. I remember, I lose to her 6-1, 6-0 or something,” Kuznetsova said. “She was very good then, and then her brother was huge. I was coming to Marat, ‘Hey, I know your sister, Dinara. Can you give me autograph?’ ”

In the men’s semifinals today, No. 2 Roger Federer plays No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, and No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez meets No. 23 Robin Soderling.

Federer is trying to win his first French Open championship to complete a career

Grand Slam and tie Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major titles. Federer lost to Rafael Nadal in the past three finals at Roland Garros, but the Spaniard is no longer around this year after being upset by Soderling in the fourth round.

“At this stage, I expected I would be in semifinals,” Federer said, “but I was not expecting Rafa to be out before the semifinals.”

The women’s semifinals figured to be mis-matches: Neither Stosur nor Cibulkova had been past the fourth round at any Grand Slam tournament until this week—and nei-ther has won a singles title on tour.

The 5-foot-11½ Safina has an 8½-inch height advantage over Cibulkova, who surprised Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals. Yet

Cibulkova did well in long exchanges at the baseline, where much of the match took place: Each woman won 15 points that lasted at least 10 strokes.

Safina won five consecutive games to go ahead 5-2, and that was pretty much that.

Her grunts growing louder and longer with each game, Safina double-faulted seven times and made more unforced errors than Cibulkova—marking many mistakes with some sort of yell.

At least twice, Safina said something in English that prompted an announcer on a European broadcast to apologize to listen-ers. When she plopped one backhand into the clay at her feet, Safina opted for sarcasm, saying: “That was a great shot.”

— The Associated Press

Svetlana Kuznetsova has won just four of 11 matches against Dinara Safina.

CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP

Dinara Safina is one match from joining brother Marat Safin as the only brother-sister team to win a Grand Slam.

LIONEL CIRONNEAU / AP

GlanceA look at the French Open on Thursday:

Weather: Sunny. High of 68 degrees.

Attendance: 16,622.

Women’s semifinals: No. 1 Dinara Safina def. No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3, No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. No. 30 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Stat of the day: 0-2 — Safina’s record in Grand Slam finals heading into Saturday’s championship match against Kuznetsova.

Quote of the day: “Doesn’t matter if I won 15 times before or she won 15 times before. It’s a completely new day. Everything could be different.” — Kuznetsova, who is 4-7 against Safina in tour-level main-draw matches.

Men’s semifinals today: No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez vs. No. 23 Robin Soderling.

Today’s forecast: Sunny. High of 70 degrees F.

Today’s TV: NBC, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. all time zones; Tennis Channel, 4-11 p.m. ET

FRENCH OPEN

ResultsThursday

At Stade Roland Garros, Paris

Purse: $21.8 million (Grand Slam)

Surface: Clay-Outdoor

Singles

Women, Semifinals

Dinara Safina (1), Russia, def. Dominika

Cibulkova (20), Slovakia, 6-3, 6-3.

Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Russia, def.

Samantha Stosur (30), Australia, 6-4, 6-7

(5), 6-3.

Doubles

Men, Semifinals

Wesley Moodie, South Africa, and Dick

Norman, Belgium, def. Bob and Mike Bryan

(2), United States, 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Lukas Dlouhy, Czech Republic, and Leander

Paes (3), India, def. Daniel Nestor, Canada,

and Nenad Zimonjic (1), Serbia, 7-6 (4),

7-6 (5).

Mixed

Championship

Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan (1), United

States, def. Vania King, United States, and

Marcelo Melo, Brazil, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-7.

Legends Doubles

Round Robin

Men Under 45

Pat Cash, Australia, and Emilio Sanchez,

Spain, def. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, and

Michael Stich, Germany, 6-3, 2-6, 10-5

tiebreak.

Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands, and Cedric

Pioline, France, def. Sergi Bruguera, Spain,

and Richard Krajicek, Netherlands, 2-6, 7-6

(4), 10-5 tiebreak.

Men Over 45

Andres Gomez, Ecuador, and Victor Pecci,

Paraguay, def. Peter McNamara, Australia,

and Ilie Nastase, Romania, 6-2, 6-1.

Junior Singles

Boys, Quarterfinals

Dominik Schulz (14), Germany, def.

Guilherme Clezar, Brazil, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Daniel Berta, Sweden, def. Richard Becker,

Germany, 6-3, 6-3.

Henri Laaksonen, Finland, def. Filip Horansky,

Slovakia, 6-3, 6-4.

Gianni Mina (11), France, def. Andrea

Collarini (3), Argentina, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Girls, Quarterfinals

Sloane Stephens (15), United States, def.

Silvia Njiric (11), Croatia, 6-2, 6-2.

Ksenia Pervak (3), Russia, def. Valeria

Solovieva, Russia, 6-2, 7-5.

Kristina Mladenovic (9), France, def. Chanel

Simmonds, South Africa, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

Daria Gavrilova, Russia, def. Bianca Botto,

Peru, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Junior Doubles

Boys, Quarterfinals

Marin Draganja and Dino Marcan, Croatia,

def. Evan King and Denis Kudla (5), United

States, 6-0, 7-6 (4).

Patrk Brydolf, Sweden, and Radim Urbanek,

Czech Republic, def. Devin Britton and Jordan

Cox, United States, 2-6, 6-2, 10-6 tiebreak.

Guilherme Clezar, Brazil, and Huang Liang-

chi (4), Taiwan, def. Hiroyasu Ehara and

Shuichi Sekiguchi (7), Japan, 6-2, 6-3.

Dominik Schulz, Germany, and David Souto

(6), Venezuela, def. Karim Maamoun, Egypt,

and Nikila Scholtz, South Africa, 6-1, 3-6,

10-6 tiebreak.

Girls, Quarterfinals

Ksenia Kirillova, Russia, and Martina

Trevisan, Italy, def. Isabella Holland and

Olivia Rogowska, Australia, walkover.

Elena Bogdan, Romania, and Noppawan

Lertcheewakarn (2), Thailand, def. Beatrice

Capra and Lauren Embree (7), United States,

6-1, 6-4.

Yana Buchina and Ksenia Pervak (6), Russia,

def. Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Silvia

Njiric (4), Croatia, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 tiebreak.

Timea Babos, Hungary, and Heather Watson

(3), Britain, def. Katarena Paliivets, Canada,

and Chanel Simmonds, South Africa, 6-3,

6-4.

Wheelchair

Singles

Men, Semifinals

Shingo Kunieda (1), Japan, def. Michael

Jeremiasz, France, 6-1, 6-2.

Stephane Houdet (2), France, def. Nicolas

Peifer, France, 7-5, 6-2.

Women, Semifinals

Korie Homan (2), Netherlands, def. Sharon

Walraven, Netherlands, 6-0, 6-2.

Esther Vergeer (1), Netherlands, def. Florence

Gravellier, France, 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles

Men, First Round

Robin Ammerlaan and Maikel Scheffers,

Netherlands, def. Shingo Kunieda, Japan,

and Stefan Olsson (2), Sweden, 6-7 (2), 6-2,

10-8 tiebreak.

Women, First Round

Annick Sevenans, Belgium, and Aniek Van

Koot, Netherlands, def. Florence Gravellier,

France, and Jiske Griffioen (2), Netherlands,

6-4, 7-6 (5).

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 35Tennis

At Dick Howser StadiumTallahassee, Fla.TodayArkansas (37-22) vs. Florida State (45-16), NoonSaturdayArkansas vs. Florida State, NoonSundayArkansas vs. Florida State, Noon, if necessary

At Alex Box StadiumBaton Rouge, La.TodayRice (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.TodayVirginia (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.TodayLouisville (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

Super Regionals glance All times ET (Best-of-3)

UNC, Texas open with in-state foes

TCU (39-16) at TEXAS (44-13-1)

UFCU Disch-Falk Field; Austin, Texas.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: TCU won Forth Worth Regional: beat Wright State 6-3; beat Oregon State 13-1; beat Ore-gon State 5-4. Texas won Austin Regional: beat Army 3-1; beat Bos-ton College 3-2 in 25 innings; beat Army 14-10.

COACHES: TCU, Jim Schlossnagle (250-118, sixth season). Texas, Augie Garrido (561-266-2, 12th season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): TCU, eight (2008). Texas, 53 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: TCU: 3B Matt Carpenter (.335, 9,

45), OF Jason Coats (.335, 6, 31), OF Chris Ellington (.342, 6, 52), RHP Paul Gerrish (6-2, 4.00), RHP Greg Holle (5-2, 3.89), RHP Tyler Lock-wood (4-1, 4.41), RHP Eric Marshall (2-2, 1.30, 8 saves), 1B Matt Vern (.363, 15, 50), RHP Kyle Winkler (7-0, 3.95).

Texas: 1B Brandon Belt (.338, 8, 38), RHP Cole Green (5-2, 2.98), RHP Taylor Jungmann (7-3. 2.45), OF Kevin Keyes (.305, 6, 37), SS Bran-don Loy (.307, 0, 26), OF Connor Rowe (.276, 6, 33), RHP Chance Ruf-fin (9-2, 2.95), C Cameron Rupp (.282, 8, 39), LHP Austin Wood (5-1, 2.03, 15 saves).

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (38-24) at FLORIDA (42-20)

McKethan Stadium; Gainesville, Fla.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Southern Miss won Atlanta Regional: beat Elon 17-15; beat Georgia Tech 10-7; lost to Georgia Tech 10-3; beat Georgia Tech 12-8. Florida won Gainesville Regional: beat Bethune-Cookman 8-7; beat Miami 8-2; beat Miami 16-5.

COACHES: Southern Miss, Corky Palmer (456-279, 12th season). Flor-ida, Kevin O’Sullivan (76-44, second season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): Southern Miss, 10 (2008). Florida, 25 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Southern Miss: 1B Joey Archer (.310,

10, 58), RHP J.R. Ballinger (6-3, 3.92), OF Kameron Brunty (.347, 7, 52), RHP Collin Cargill (4-3, 3.25, 11 saves), OF Bo Davis (.367, 13, 52), 2B James Ewing (.298, 3, 39), RHP Todd McInnis (9-4, 3.21), DH Corey Ste-vens (.330, 8, 55), 3B Taylor Walker (.306, 3, 29).

Florida: 2B Josh Adams (.343, 8, 50), OF Avery Barnes (.359, 8, 42), RHP Billy Bullock (3-2, 2.12, 11 saves), LHP Tony Davis (5-0, 2.27), RHP Anthony DeSclafani (6-3, 4.98), OF Matt den Dekker (.297, 5, 35), LHP Stephen Locke (5-2, 4.02), 3B Brandon McArthur (.337, 2, 37), 1B Preston Tucker (.357, 14, 83).

CLEMSON (44-20)at ARIZONA STATE (47-12)

Packard Stadium; Tempe, Ariz. HOW THEY GOT HERE: Clemson won

Clemson Regional: beat Tennessee Tech 5-4; lost to Oklahoma State 3-2; beat Tennessee Tech 10-0; beat Oklahoma State 15-1; beat Oklahoma State 6-5. Arizona State won Tempe Regional: beat Kent State 17-6; beat Oral Roberts 4-1; beat Oral Roberts 8-3.

COACHES: Clemson, Jack Leggett (724-329-1, 16th season). Arizona State, Pat Murphy (625-282-1, 15th season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): Clemson, 34 (2007). Arizona State: 33 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Clemson: OF Wilson Boyd (.349, 3,

46), LHP Chris Dwyer (5-5, 4.85), 2B Mike Freeman (.338, 4, 44), LHP Casey Harman (7-3, 3.78), OF Kyle Parker (.263, 12, 52), 1B Ben Paulson (.369, 13, 60), OF Jeff Schaus (.326, 12, 49), RHP Graham Stoneburner (7-3, 3.19), RHP Matt Vaughn (4-1, 2.30, 4 saves).

Arizona State: RHP Seth Blair (7-2, 3.16), OF Kole Calhoun (.297, 9, 39), OF Jason Kipnis (.387, 15, 68, 24 SBs), LHP Mitchell Lambson (8-3, 2.81, 4 saves), RHP Mike Leake (15-1, 1.23, 143 Ks), SS Drew Maggi (.305, 0, 21, 20 SBs), DH Matt Newman (.310, 7, 51), C Carlos Ramirez (.341, 18, 69), LHP Josh Spence (8-1, 2.37).

EAST CAROLINA (46-18)at NORTH CAROLINA (45-16)

Boshamer Stadium; Chapel Hill, N.C.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: East Carolina won Greenville Regional: beat Bing-hamton 11-7; lost to South Carolina 12-2; beat Binghamton 16-9; beat South Carolina 8-6; beat South Car-olina 10-9 in 10 innings. North Car-olina won Chapel Hill Regional: beat Dartmouth 5-2; beat Coastal Caro-lina 14-5; beat Kansas 5-1.

COACHES: East Carolina: Billy God-win (161-88, fourth season). North Carolina: Mike Fox (497-206-1, 11th season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): East Carolina, 24 (2008). North Carolina: 24 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: East Carolina: OF Stephen Batts

(.358, 14, 63), 1B Brandon Hender-son (.327, 12, 54), RHP Chris Heston (7-0, 4.17), RHP Seth Maness (9-2, 4.41, 2 saves), RHP Brad Mincey (10-5, 2.84), DH Kyle Roller (.337, 16, 74), RHP Seth Simmons (3-1, 3.32, 9 saves), OF Trent Whitehead (.380, 7, 47), 2B Ryan Wood (.383, 14, 57).

North Carolina: 1B-OF Dustin Ackley (.417, 21, 66), OF Ben Bunting (.336, 2, 35), C Mark Fleury (.311, 12, 58), RHP Matt Harvey (7-2, 5.35), 2B Levi Michael (.293, 13, 54), LHP Brian Moran (7-1, 2.00, 4 saves), 3B Kyle Seager (.379, 4, 55), RHP Adam Warren (8-2, 3.19), RHP Alex White (7-4, 4.42).

— The Associated Press

TCU 1B Matt Vern, whose team plays Texas, leads the Frogs in batting (.363) and home runs (15).

BOB BOOTH / AP

NCAA SUPER REGIONAL PREVIEWS

A look at the matchups for the eight best-of-3 NCAA Super Regionals

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 36College Baseball

FSU, Arkansas have met little resistance

LOUISVILLE (47-16)at CAL STATE FULLERTON (45-14)

Goodwin Field; Fullerton, Calif. HOW THEY GOT HERE: Louisville

won Louisville Regional: beat Indiana 8-2; beat Middle Tennes-see 3-2; lost to Vanderbilt 8-4; beat Vanderbilt 5-2. Cal State Fullerton won Fullerton Regional: beat Utah 18-2; beat Gonzaga 7-4; beat Utah 16-3.

COACHES: Louisville, Dan McDon-nell (135-61, third season). Cal State Fullerton, Dave Serrano (86-36, second season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): Louisville, four (2008). Cal State Fullerton, 31 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Louisville: 1B Andrew Clark (.356,

9, 55), 3B Chris Dominguez (.348, 23, 80), 2B Adam Duvall (.335, 11, 51), LHP Dean Kiekhefer (6-4, 4.56), LHP Justin Marks (11-2, 3.40), RHP Derek Self (7-0, 3.25, 1 save), OF Ryan Wright (.336, 5, 66), DH Phil Wunderlich (.372, 18, 78), RHP Tony Zych (6-2, 3.25, 2 saves).

Cal State Fullerton: OF Gary Brown (.337, 3, 35), 1B Jared Clark (.350, 11, 74), SS Christian Colon (.351, 7, 35), OF Khris Davis (.330, 16, 55), OF Josh Fellhauer (.399, 5, 53), RHP Tyler Pill (11-3, 3.95), LHP Nick Ramirez (3-1, 2.70, 7 saves; .287, 10, 31), RHP Noe Ramirez (8-1, 2.91), RHP Daniel Renken (10-2, 2.56).

ARKANSAS (37-22)at FLORIDA STATE (45-16)

Dick Howser Stadium; Talla-hassee, Fla.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Arkansas won Norman Regional: beat Washington State 10-3; beat Okla-homa 17-6; beat Oklahoma 11-0. Florida State won Tallahassee Regional: beat Marist 16-4; beat Georgia 8-2; beat Ohio State 37-6.

COACHES: Arkansas, Dave Van Horn (272-156, seventh season). Florida State, Mike Martin (1,583-536-4, 30th season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): Arkansas, 22 (2008). Florida State, 47 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Arkansas: 3B-RHP Zack Cox

(.266, 11, 35; 5-1, 3.50), RHP Brett Eibner (5-4, 4.25), LHP Dallas Keuchel (7-3, 4.12), OF Chase Leavitt (.306, 1, 30), DH Scott Lyons (.311, 8, 43), LHP Stephen Richards (5-1, 1.09, 9 saves), LHP Drew Smyly (3-1, 4.72), SS Ben Tschepikow (.317, 9, 46), 1B Andy Wilkins (.329, 17, 51).

Florida State: LHP Brian Busch (6-2, 4.04), SS Stephen Cardullo (.383, 10, 48), LHP Sean Gilmartin (12-3, 3.48), OF Tyler Holt (.390, 5, 26, 33 SBs), RHP Jimmy Marshall (3-2, 4.62, 10 saves), OF-RHP Mike McGee (.377, 18, 75; 6-2, 4.04), RHP Geoff Parker (6-1, 4.41), 2B Jason Stidham (.366, 12, 75), 3B Stuart Tapley (.316, 13, 59).

VIRGINIA (46-12-1)at MISSISSIPPI (43-18)

Oxford-University Stadium; Oxford, Miss.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Virginia won Irvine Regional: beat San Diego State 5-1; beat UC Irvine 5-0; beat UC Irvine 4-1. Mississippi won Oxford Regional: beat Monmouth, N.J., 8-1; beat Western Kentucky 7-4; lost to Western Kentucky 10-9; beat Western Kentucky 4-1.

COACHES: Virginia, Brian O’Connor (262-101-1, sixth sea-son). Mississippi, Mike Bianco (364-201-1, ninth season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): Virginia, nine (2008). Mississippi, 15 (2008).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Virginia: RHP Kevin Arico (2-2,

2.01, 11 saves), SS Tyler Cannon (.349, 1, 35), RHP Andrew Carr-away (7-1, 4.30), DH Phil Gosselin (.302, 6, 61), OF Dan Grovatt (.378, 7, 50), OF John Hicks (.313, 7, 36), 1B-LHP Danny Hultzen (.335, 3, 33; 9-1, 2.01), OF Jarrett Parker (.378, 16, 64), 3B Steven Proscia (.325, 9, 56).

Mississippi: RHP Scott Bittle (5-2, 2.17), LHP Brett Bukvich (9-3, 4.42), 2B Tim Ferguson (.361, 2, 21), OF Jordan Henry (.347, 0, 31, 35 SBs), RHP Phillip Irwin (8-3, 3.84), 3B Zach Miller (.338, 5, 38), LHP Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.46), OF Logan Power (.319, 6, 55), 1B Matt Smith (.342, 7, 57).

RICE (43-16) at LSU (49-16)

Alex Box Stadium; Baton Rouge, La.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Rice won Houston Regional: beat Sam Houston State 5-2; lost to Kansas State 7-6 in 10 innings; beat Xavier 12-5; beat Kansas State 8-0; beat Kansas State 13-4. LSU won Baton Rouge Regional: beat Southern 10-2; beat Baylor 3-2 in 10 innings; beat Minnesota 10-3.

COACHES: Rice, Wayne Graham (830-315, 18th season). LSU, Paul Mainieri (127-61-2, third season).

TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES (LAST): Rice, 15 (2008). LSU, 23 (2008)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Rice: RHP Ryan Berry (7-1, 2.00),

OF Michael Fuda (.351, 3, 18), SS Rick Hague (.324, 9, 57), 2B Brock Holt (.346, 10, 40), RHP Mike Ojala (5-0, 1.73), 3B Anthony Ren-don (.384, 19, 70), RHP Jordan Rogers (8-3, 4.42, 7 saves), C Diego Seastrunk (.289, 6, 44), LHP Tay-lor Wall (7-5, 3.45).

LSU: RHP Louis Coleman (12-2, 2.72), DH Blake Dean (.326, 15, 64), OF Leon Landry (.305, 12, 41), 2B D.J. LeMahieu (.339, 4, 38), OF Jared Mitchell (.333, 9, 42, 33 SBs), 1B Sean Ochinko (.333, 7, 47), RHP Matty Ott (3-2, 2.22, 15 saves), RHP Anthony Ranaudo (9-3, 3.09), OF Ryan Schimpf (.33, 18, 59).

— The Associated Press

NCAA SUPER REGIONAL PREVIEWS

A look at the matchups for the eight best-of-3 NCAA Super Regionals

Louisville freshman pitcher Tony Zych has made an immediate impact with a 6-2 record with a 3.25 ERA.

ED REINKE / AP

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 37College Baseball

OddsThe field for Saturday’s 141st Belmont Stakes.

HORSE JOCKEY ODDS

1. Chocolate Candy Gomez 10-1

2. Dunkirk Velazquez 4-1

3. Mr. Hot Stuff Prado 15-1

4. Summer Bird Desormeaux 12-1

5. Luv Gov Mena 20-1

6. Charitable Man Garcia 3-1

7. Mine That Bird Borel 2-1

8. Flying Private Leparoux 12-1

9. Miner’s Escape Lezcano 15-1

10. Brave Victory Maragh 15-1

NEW YORK—D. Wayne Lukas has a history of winning the Belmont Stakes with long shots.

The Hall of Fame trainer returns Satur-day after a three-year gap with two more outsiders: Flying Private, 12-1, and Luv Gov, 20-1.

After finishing last in the Kentucky Derby, Flying Private bounced back with a rallying fourth in the Preakness. Flying Private joins Derby winner Mine That Bird as the only two horses to contest all three legs of the Triple Crown.

It took Luv Gov 10 tries to finally win a race. Following that victory, Lukas put the colt in the Preakness, where he ran eighth.

Between them, Flying Private and Luv Gov are a combined 2-for-23, a record that does not inspire confidence.

But this is Lukas, a four-time Belmont winner. He has won the race with well-backed horses like Tabasco Cat (1994, 3-1) and Thunder Gulch (1995, 3-2). Lukas also scored with lightly regarded runners: Edi-tor’s Note (1996, 5-1) and Commendable (2000, 18-1).

“We’ve won this race before with horses no one gave a shot to,” Lukas said. “We knew they were developing horses coming into the race at the right time and the right way.”

Lukas says the key to winning the 1½-mile Belmont is having a horse with the style and stamina to handle the longest of the Triple Crown races.

“All of them can run a mile-and-a-half,” Lukas said. “Some take a little longer. There’s a gut-check with the pedigree. We think we have a couple of horses that fit that mold to, at least in my opinion, be competitive.”

The four Belmont victories put Lukas in a three-way tie for fifth place with Max Hirsch and R.W. Walden. James Rowe is

the all-time leader with 8 Belmont wins followed by Sam Hendreth, 7, “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, 6, and Woody Stephens, 5.

Garcia doubleFew noticed last year when Alan Garcia

won last year’s Belmont aboard Da’Tara at

38-1. All eyes were on Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, who was pulled up as the 3-5 favorite.

Garcia goes for a Belmont double aboard Charitable Man, the 3-1 second choice.

Calvin Borel grabbed the headlines this spring with victories aboard Mine That

Bird in the Derby and the filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. Garcia has also been riding in top form, having cap-tured the Met Mile on Memorial Day with Bribon and the Peter Pan Stakes with Charitable Man.

“I am very excited about the way this

horse is coming into this race,” Garcia said.

Garcia will try to become the eighth jockey to win consecutive Belmonts, and the first since Ron Turcotte rode Riva Ridge and Secretariat in 1972-73.

“He’s riding very well,” Kiaran McLaughlin, Charitable Man’s trainer, said. “He and Calvin are in a bit of a zone. Calvin’s zone is a little bigger because he’s won the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Alan has been doing very well and we’re happy to have him.”

On the mendThe one-horse stable of former high

school principal Tom McCarthy is now empty while General Quarters recovers from surgery to remove a chip from his right knee.

The 75-year-old McCarthy has been one of the feel-good stories of the Triple Crown series. Unfortunately, General Quarters could not deliver a storybook ending, fin-ishing 10th in the Derby and ninth in the Preakness.

McCarthy hopes to have General Quar-ters racing early next year.

— The Associated Press

JULIE JACOBSON / AP

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, right, leads Belmont Stakes hopeful Flying Private off the track with exercise rider Taylor Carty up after a workout at Belmont Park. Lucas also has Luv Gov, a 20-1 favorite, in Saturday’s race.

Lucas takes a shot in the Belmont Stakes

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 38Horse Racing

141ST BELMONT STAKES Saturday 6:30 p.m. ET, ABC

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com FRIDAY, JUNE 05, 2009 39Back Page

SPRINGFIELD, ILL.—Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with fellow South Korean Jee Young Lee in the State Farm Classic.

A five-time major winner, the 31-year-old Pak is seeking her first Top 10 finish in 10 starts this year. If she does, it’ll come against a field that features 49 of the LPGA Tour’s top 50 money winners.

Kris Tamulis opened with a 66, and Natalie Gulbis, Suzann Pettersen and Anja Monke shot 67s at Panther Creek in the final tuneup for the McDonald’s LPGA Classic next week at Bulle Rock in Maryland.

Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer were in a large group at 69, and Michelle Wie shot a 70. Kraft Nabisco winner Brittany Lincicome was in danger of missing the cut after open-ing with a 75.

NEWPORT, WALES—Veteran David Frost shot a 5-under 66 Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Wales Open with Thomas Bjorn, Nick Dough-erty and Alan Mclean. The 49-year-old South African birdied four holes out of five in the middle of his round and col-lected another at the last.

LAKEWAY, TEXAS—Peter Jacobsen returns to the Champions Tour today at the Triton Financial Classic, the first time he’ll play competitively since knee replacement surgery nearly a year ago.

Jacobsen will tee it up in the $1.6 million event at The Hills Country Club, in the city that spawned the original Champions Tour event nearly 30 years ago.

“I’m not in pain, but there is a lot of rust,” Jacobsen said Thursday.

Jacobsen has two victories on the Champions Tour, including the 2004 U.S. Senior Open. But he has been slowed by a series of surgeries over the last 18 months.

This year’s 54-hole tournament has drawn 12 of the top 14 money winners this season, missing only last year’s runner-up Nick Price and Andy Bean, who withdrew earlier in the week.

NEW YORK—Maria Hernandez, who helped Purdue win three Big Ten team championships, has been cho-sen the nation’s top college golfer.

The senior earned the Honda Sports Award on Thursday, given annually to female athletes in 12 NCAA sports.

Hernandez, of Pamploma, Spain, is the most decorated golfer in Purdue

history. She won six tournaments this season, and birdied two of her final three holes to win the NCAA individ-ual title. She had a low round of 67 and a 72.8 stroke average.

BoxingHOUSTON—George Foreman III will

become the first son of the former heavyweight champ to fight profes-sionally Saturday when he faces Clyde Weaver in Kinder, La. A sister, Freeda George, had a short boxing career early in the decade.

George III, who is nicknamed “Monk,” is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. He may have gotten to the ring sooner if not for his father’s insistence on put-ting education first. The 26-year-old son has worked as his father’s

business manager since getting a business degree from Rice.

This will be Monk’s first official fight after several attempts at amateur bouts fell through.

SoccerLONDON—The Netherlands can

become the first European team to clinch a place at the 2010 World Cup on Saturday.

While England and Denmark are among the other teams able to move closer to a spot in South Africa, the Dutch can get there with two games remaining if they win at Iceland.

The Netherlands has almost a full-strength side for the game in Reykja-vik, one of 14 qualifiers in Europe on Saturday.

Only midfielders Wesley Sneijder and Ibrahim Afellay are missing for the Group 9 leaders, who have won all five of their qualifiers and are eight points clear of second-place Scotland.

— The Associated Press

BASEBALL

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Suspended N.Y.

Yankees RHP A.J. Burnett six games, pending

appeal, and fined him an undisclosed amount

for intentionally throwing a pitch in the head

area of Texas OF Nelson Cruz on Tuesday. Fined

Texas RHP Vicente Padilla an undisclosed

amount for intentionally throwing a pitch at

N.Y. Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira on Tuesday.

American League

CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Purchased the contract

of INF Gordon Beckham from Charlotte (IL).

Designated INF Wilson Betemit for assignment.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS: Activated OF Coco Crisp

from the bereavement list. Optioned INF Tug

Hulett to Omaha (PCL).

Eastern League

TRENTON THUNDER: Announced INF Reegie

Corona was transferred from Scranton/Wilkes-

Barre (IL).

American Association

FORT WORTH CATS: Traded LHP Eric Domangue

to Edinburg (United) for a player to be named.

GRAND PRAIRIE AIRHOGS: Claimed RHP Jeff

Jamnik off waivers from Sioux City.

SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CAPTAINS: Traded INF

Aaron Cone to Rockford (Frontier) for future

considerations. Signed OF Rodney Medina.

SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS: Released LHP Curtis

Pasma and LHP Tim Layden. Signed RHP David

Trahan and OF Reggie Taylor.

Can-Am League

NEW HAMPSHIRE AMERICAN DEFENDERS:

Released C Ken Lup.

NEW JERSEY JACKALS: Released RHP Michael

Vicaro.

Northern League

GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS: Agreed to terms

with INF Christopher Carrara. Released LHP

Alain Quijano.

JOLIET JACKHAMMERS: Released OF Horace

Lawrence.

Southern League

CAROLINA MUDCATS: Released LHP Kyle

Aselton.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS: Announced G Kevin

Brown exercised his option to return to the

team for the 2009-10 season.

Women’s National Basketball Association

INDIANA FEVER: Released G Tan White and C

Danielle Campbell.

SACRAMENTO MONARCHS: Waived G Charel

Allen, G Whitney Boddie and G Morgan

Warburton.

FOOTBALL

National Football League

ARIZONA CARDINALS: Signed OL Herman

Johnson to a three-year contract and S Adrian

Wilson to a five-year contract.

ATLANTA FALCONS: Signed G Tyson Clabo

and WR Bradon Godfrey. Released LB Brock

Christopher.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Signed RB Patrick

Pass. Released DL Kenny Smith, LB Angelo

Craig, RB Omar Cuff and DB Marcus McClinton.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: Signed T Joe Staley to a

six-year contract extension.

Canadian Football League

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS: Signed RB

Ramonce Taylor.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League

ATLANTA THRASHERS: Re-signed D Anssi

Salmela to a multiyear contract.

COLORADO AVALANCHE: Named Joe Sacco

coach.

ST. LOUIS BLUES: Extended the contracts of

trainer Ray Barile, equipment manager Bert

Godin, equipment assistant Ray Halle and mas-

sage therapist Jeff Wright. Promoted trainer

Mike Hannegan from Peoria (AHL) to assistant

athletic trainer. Named Joel Farnsworth as-

sistant equipment manager.

COLLEGE

AMERICAN U.: Named Eddie Jackson men’s

assistant basketball coach, Bryce Simon

director of men’s basketball operations, David

Bierwirth senior associate athletics director for

development and special events and Nancy

Yasharoff associate athletics director for com-

munications.

ARKANSAS: Announced the resignation of Joe

Sheehan athletic trainer.

CHATTANOOGA: Announced the resignation of

wrestling coach Chris Bono to become assistant

wrestling coach at Iowa State.

FRANKLIN PIERCE: Announced the resignation

of women’s basketball coach Mark Swasey

to become women’s basketball coach at

California, Pa.

INDIANA: Named Joe Dubuque assistant

wrestling coach.

IPFW: Announced women’s basketball G Kayla

Drake will transfer from Eastern Kentucky and

be eligible for the 2010-11 season.

IOWA STATE: Named Yero Washington assistant

wrestling coach.

NEBRASKA: Announced the resignation of

men’s gymnastics coach Francis Allen, effective

July 1.

NORTH CAROLINA: Announced OL Aaron Stahl

has left the football program.

SAINT AUGUSTINE’S: Named Daryl McNeill run-

ning backs and assistant special teams coach.

IN BRIEFTRANSACTIONS

Major League SoccerEASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GAChicago 5 1 6 21 20 16D.C. 4 2 7 19 20 17Kansas City 4 4 4 16 16 14Toronto FC 4 4 4 16 16 19Columbus 2 2 7 13 15 17New England 3 3 4 13 10 17New York 2 8 3 9 12 18

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.

Thursday’s GameD.C. United 2, New York 0Today’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..

Pak’s 66 gives her share of lead in Springfield

JUSTIN L. FOWLER / AP

Se Ri Pak is seeking her first Top-10 finish this year in 10 starts on the LPGA Tour.