Tim Legler breaks down tape and explains LeBron James' struggles in the 4th quarter and the Mavericks' success
Sunday, June 12, 2011
At Pocono, Kurt Busch wins second straight pole
LONG POND, Pa. -- Kurt Busch's reward for slapping the wall at practice was a backup No. 22 Dodge that was better than his regular ride.
For that, Busch had plenty of people to thank, starting with his team at Penske Racing.
"Just an honest thank-you to my guys," Busch said.
Some tracks have more tradition. Some tracks have tight finishes seemingly every other race. Some tracks seat 200,000-plus. None of those tracks offers what Pocono Raceway does, writes David Newton. Story
It's been quite a reversal for Busch a month after he launched into a foul-mouthed tirade against his race team at Richmond. He made it two straight poles Saturday, turning a fast lap of 171.579 mph at Pocono Raceway.
Busch damaged his No. 22 Dodge in Friday's practice and was forced to a backup car. He also spun at practice last week -- a sort of bad luck-good luck habit. He wound up first last week at Kansas Speedway, then topped Jeff Gordon in one of the final qualifying runs at Pocono.
The two-time winner at the 2½-mile track, Busch became the first pole winner under the new Sprint Cup qualifying rules.
Qualifying was determined based on practice speeds -- from slowest to fastest -- with those times now coming from the first practice session. The qualifying order also will no longer be separated between teams that are locked into the race and teams that must qualify on speed.
Busch was impressed that Penske could produce a pole-winning backup car.
"That's something you really wouldn't hear about back in the day," he said. "It would be, 'All right, you'll have to struggle during the weekend.' "
Busch, who is sixth in points, finished ninth last week at Kansas for his second straight top-10 finish. After some early struggles caused concern and ill feelings at Penske, the drivers are getting their programs in line. Busch's teammate, Brad Keselowski, won the pole two races ago at Charlotte and took the checkered flag last week at Kansas.
Richmond was certainly the boiling point for Busch -- and looks like the turning point.
[+] Enlarge
Chris Trotman/Getty ImagesKurt Busch celebrates winning the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. It was Busch's second straight pole.He blamed Penske Racing's shortcomings on technical director Tom German over a radio frequency available to the public. German has since left the team.
"I took the apple tree and shook it as hard as I could at Richmond," Busch said. "We saw which apples fell and which ones were still there. It was honestly, 'Hey, do we want to make the Chase?' We've got to make some changes. Heading into the direction we were, we were just scraping those top 10s. That's not going to get it done when you want to win the championship."
Busch often doesn't react well when his team fails to make the needed adjustments to get his car caught up with the leaders. He totally lost it at Richmond when he ran into Ryan Newman's spinning race car.
The 2004 champion was in a great mood Saturday -- one of the perks that comes with starting first. Paul Menard joined him on the front row. Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Regan Smith rounded out the top five.
The new qualifying rules meant most of NASCAR's heavy hitters hit the track at the end. Hamlin held the pole, then Gordon, before Busch came along and snagged it for good. Points leader Carl Edwards went last and qualified sixth.
"That is a pole-winning car right there," Edwards said. "It's nice to be disappointed about a sixth-place qualifying position. It should be a really good run for us."
Sam Hornish Jr., a former Penske driver, starts 26th in his first Cup race of the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts 21st a week after a second-place finish at Kansas.
Mike Skinner was the lone driver who failed to qualify.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Angels' bats awaken as six-game slide ends
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The Angels came within one game of tying a dubious franchise record for consecutive games scoring three runs or fewer, which was set in September 1981. ... Paulino got a visit from pitching coach Bob McClure after the first five batters reached base in the second, then retired the next three -- two on strikeouts. Pineiro got Hosmer to ground into an inning-ending double play in the fifth, after getting a visit from pitching coach Mike Butcher. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't mince words during his closed-door meeting with his top three run producers: Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu and Vernon Wells. The offense wasn't getting the job done, and they were being held accountable.
The rest of the Los Angeles hitters must have been listening outside the door of Scioscia's office during the expletive-laced session, because the team responded with a big night at the plate. Erick Aybar opened the scoring with a three-run triple, Abreu came home with the go-ahead run on reliever Aaron Crow's second wild pitch of the seventh inning, and the Angels snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. Howie Kendrick had three hits, including a pair of RBI singles, and the slumping Wells singled his first three times up. Scioscia called the meeting before batting practice to impress upon his three veteran All-Stars their responsibilities as a trio in the middle of the lineup to wake up a slumbering offense that had averaged two runs over the previous nine games. "Man, he cursed us out. It was pretty bad," Hunter said. "The words he used in there really hurt our feelings, but it actually pumped us up to keep going. He really cursed me out. It wasn't fun. But I appreciate that meeting. Today we had a lot of fight. We got better swings from everybody and played the game the right way. It was a lot of fun. That's what we have to continue doing." Hunter, Abreu and Wells were a combined 4 for 10 with two walks and no RBIs. Hunter prevented the Royals from taking the lead in the seventh when he fielded Jeff Francoeur's single to right field and threw out Melky Cabrera at the plate for his eighth outfield assist this season. "I had a clean scoop on it and I just told myself to make a nice, accurate throw to the plate and give Jeff Mathis something he could handle," Hunter said. "I knew that if they sent him, he was dead. I couldn't believe that they sent him." Royals reliever Tim Collins (3-3) was replaced by Crow after giving up a pair of one-out walks in the bottom half. Abreu scored on the wild pitch to Alberto Callaspo, who was intentionally walked. Wells and Callaspo executed a double steal, and Wells scored on Kendrick's single off Crow's left foot. Scott Downs (4-2) retired all four batters he faced to get the win, and rookie Jordan Walden pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 17 chances. He struck out Eric Hosmer and Francoeur before retiring Billy Butler on a fly to right with the potential tying runs at second and third. "It feels good to get that six-game losing streak out of the way. It was ugly," Hunter said. "I almost jumped up and down after catching that last flyball. I felt like I won the World Series." Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro came up short again in his sixth attempt to get his 100th major league victory. He was charged with five runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, leaving with a 5-4 lead before Matt Treanor greeted Rich Thompson with a tying RBI single. It was the seventh hit the Australian-born righty allowed in his last four appearances. "The situation that's going on has nothing to do with 100 wins," Pineiro said. "Honestly, I wanted to win for the team. I didn't care if it was 100, 300, whatever. I mean, I just wanted to get back on track and do what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm just hoping that when it turns around, it turns around big. There's no excuse tonight. I got the runs. For some reason, my off-speed stuff was better than my sinker." Mike Moustakas tried to score on a safety squeeze by Chris Getz moments later, and was cut down at the plate by first baseman Kendrick's throw to Mathis. Alcides Escobar walked, loading the bases, but Thompson came back to strike out Alex Gordon. Moustakas, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft and one of nine rookies on the Royals' roster, hit his first major league home run in his sixth plate appearance -- a solo shot that landed in the second row above the 18-foot wall in right-center with two outs in the fourth inning and trimmed the Angels' lead to 5-3. "It was awesome," said teammate Eric Hosmer, who played with Moustakas in Triple-A and came up to the majors a month before he did. "Everyone was really happy for him. And for him to do it here in his hometown with his family watching, it was a special moment for him. He's as big a competitor as anybody in this clubhouse. When he gets hot, there's no turning back. These first couple of games, he's looked really comfortable at the plate, and it's going to be a fun ride for him from here on out." Cabrera narrowed the gap to 5-4 in the fifth with an RBI single. Wells led off the Angels' four-run second against Felipe Paulino with a single before Los Angeles loaded the bases with none out. Aybar then smacked a 1-2 pitch inside first base and down the line to clear the bases, and Maicer Izturis drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Two of the runs were unearned, the result of a fielding error by Getz on a routine grounder to second by Callaspo. The Angels tacked on another unearned run in the third, after Wells singled again and got to second on an errant pickoff throw by Paulino -- the first error by a Royals pitcher since Jeremy Jeffress' wild pickoff throw April 18 against Cleveland. Kendrick drove in Wells from third with an infield hit. Game notesThe Angels came within one game of tying a dubious franchise record for consecutive games scoring three runs or fewer, which was set in September 1981. ... Paulino got a visit from pitching coach Bob McClure after the first five batters reached base in the second, then retired the next three -- two on strikeouts. Pineiro got Hosmer to ground into an inning-ending double play in the fifth, after getting a visit from pitching coach Mike Butcher. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
A-Rod, Yanks Drop Indians
Baseball Tonight on the Yankees' 4-0 win and the Indians suffering their 11th loss in 13 games
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Lincecum Shelled
Baseball Tonight on the Reds' 10-2 win and Tim Lincecum surrendering a season-high seven runs
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Djourou wants Lille's Gervinho at Arsenal
Arsenal defender Johan Djourou has urged manager Arsene Wenger to sign up Lille star Gervinho, on the same day that arch-rivals Tottenham had a bid rejected for the Ivory Coast international.
GettyImagesGervinho: Won French league and cup doubleGervinho, who can play on the wing or as a striker, played a key role as Lille won both the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France last season and Les Dogues face a fight to hold on to the highly-rated 25-year-old.
Lille general manager Frederic Paquet claims he has already "received an offer of ?12 million (?10.6m) from Tottenham which was refused" and Djourou believes Gervinho would be an ideal signing to help Arsenal challenge for silverware.
"I have followed a bit of the French league this season and I have to say Gervinho is a great player," Djourou told Goal.com. "I have known him for a long time and he is just a great player - quick, with so much talent and good skills.
"He is a great, great talent and we need that because he can play as a striker, as a No.10 or on the wing. He has all the ingredients to play for Arsenal, that is a definite."
Lille will be desperate to keep Gervinho ahead of next season's Champions League campaign having already sold Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle.
Kiffin appears at NCAA hearing over Tennessee
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Tennessee coaches Bruce Pearl and Lane Kiffin finally got to explain themselves in front of the NCAA.
All they can do now is wait to see if it did good.
Kiffin spent more than four hours answering questions in front of the infractions committee Saturday, then was followed by Pearl, who spent nearly five hours in front of the committee. School officials are hoping the daylong closed-door hearing marks the beginning of the end of a 22-month investigation that rocked the Volunteers' football and men's basketball programs and tarnished Tennessee's reputation.
"The hardest part is just being here," Pearl said. "This was not something I was looking forward to."
The committee is expected to make a ruling within eight to 12 weeks. That's when the Volunteers will learn their punishment.
Tennessee faces a dozen major rules violations in the two high-profile sports including accusations that both coaches committed recruiting infractions and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within those programs.
Pearl, the former Volunteers men's basketball coach, also was charged with unethical conduct after misleading NCAA investigators during an interview last June when he was asked about hosting high school juniors at a cookout at his house on Sept. 20, 2008, and phoning John Craft, father of recruit Aaron Craft, in an effort to influence Craft's statement to investigators about the cookout.
Craft just completed his freshman season at Ohio State, whose football program is also under NCAA investigation.
On Sept. 10, in a tearful news conference, Pearl acknowledged he had provided false information to the investigators.
That part was not contested Saturday, but there was plenty of discussion on other issues -- and lots of people trying to help Tennessee plead for leniency.
Those attending included, Kiffin, now the Southern California football coach; Pearl, who was fired after last season by Tennessee; Mike Hamilton, the outgoing athletic director; SEC commissioner Mike Slive; Derek Dooley, Tennessee's new football coach; and Cuonzo Martin, the Vols new men's basketball coach. Martin and Dooley are not implicated in the charges.
The school's contingent was so large it forced the NCAA to move its hearing into a bigger conference room, and the hearing was held about five blocks from the home stadium of one of Tennessee's most famous alums -- four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning.
"We are glad we had the opportunity to present our case," university chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in a statement. "We feel it was a fair hearing and we look forward to the resolution of this matter."
Kiffin was accompanied at the hearing by USC athletic director Pat Haden, who made his second appearance in front of an NCAA committee in Indy this year. He also attended January's appeals hearing for USC, which this week was stripped of its 2004 national title by the Bowl Championship Series for NCAA violations.
Tennessee has already taken some steps in hopes of avoiding a punishment that would be that drastic.
It reduced Pearl's salary by $1.5 million last season and banned him from off-campus recruiting for one year. The SEC also suspended Pearl for eight conference games. In March, Pearl was fired.
The school also lowered the salary for each of Pearl's three assistants, who were accused of not providing "complete" information about the cookout.
Pearl and two of his assistants, Tony Jones and Steve Forbes also are accused of making 96 impermissible phone calls to 12 recruits or relatives between Aug. 1, 2007, and July 29, 2009, and the school has been charged with failure to monitor the coaching staff's contacts.
Kiffin and his assistants were accused of making improper calls to recruits, too, after Tennessee officials warned them against it. He made those calls just days before taking the Southern California job in January 2010.
In addition, Kiffin and recruiting intern Steve Rubio are accused of visiting a Florida high school on Oct. 12, 2009, even though Rubio was not permitted to make on-campus visits.
Kiffin's failure to monitor charge stems from trips taken by members of the school's athletics hostess program to visit recruits.
Both coaches attended the first 40 minutes of the closed-door hearing, which were set aside for opening statements.
Kiffin then remained in the room, while Pearl and his former assistants left en masse. Pearl wandered down to the hotel lobby, waiting there until Kiffin finished more than four hours later. It took so long the lunch break was delayed twice.
Kiffin would not discuss the specifics of what took place inside the room.
Pearl was the first person back when the hearing resumed after a one-hour break. He spent most of the next five hours back inside the room.
When things finally wrapped up, more than 10½ hours after they started, the emotions were mixed.
"It's a very thorough process and I'm glad it's over," Kiffin said before leaving the downtown Indianapolis hotel for a football camp at Southern Cal. "It was a lot shorter than the last one I sat through, three days of USC's, and I'm happy it's over."
The fallout from the scandal may not be, though.
Hamilton announced this week he would resign at the end of the month. Tennessee women's athletics director Joan Cronan, also in Indy, will serve as interim vice chancellor and director of athletics until Hamilton's replacement is picked.
Sometime in August or September, the Volunteers should learn their fate.
"It's not over because we've got to wait 45 or 60 days," Pearl said.
And for Pearl, who wore an orange and white tie and orange suspenders to the hearing, there was no sense of relief.
"Not really because we paid a very heavy price, all of us here have -- my staff and the University of Tennessee," he said. "So there's not much relief."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Highlight Of The Night
Brewers 1/2 game out of first after 5-3 win over Cardinals
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Marlins SS Ramirez could be activated Tuesday
MIAMI -- Hanley Ramirez could return to the Florida Marlins when he's eligible to come off the disabled list Tuesday.
Ramirez Ramirez is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Class A Jupiter on Saturday night. Out with a back strain since May 30, the All-Star shortstop went 2 for 3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored as the designated hitter for Jupiter on Friday night.
Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said Saturday that Ramirez was fine physically but he did not run at 100 percent.
Ramirez hit off a tee Wednesday, his first activity since being injured. He was scheduled to play nine innings at shortstop in the Hammerheads' game at Port St. Lucie on Saturday.
If things go as planned, Ramirez will return to the Marlins on Sunday to take batting practice. He would work out with the team Monday and return to the lineup at Philadelphia on Tuesday, when he can come off the DL.
Also, Marlins closer Leo Nunez, who wasn't available Friday night due to back tightness, was scheduled to throw in the bullpen Sunday and Monday. Rodriguez said Nunez could be available Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Unlike Ramirez and Nunez, right-hander Josh Johnson's return is more uncertain.
The Marlins ace has been on the disabled list since May 21, retroactive to May 17, with right shoulder inflammation.
Trainers have warned Johnson that rushing back before he's completely healthy likely would result in more shoulder problems.
"Right now, we're trying to concentrate on what we have here available," Rodriguez said. "Whenever J.J. is 100 percent, that's when we want J.J. on the field. When that's going to happen, we have no idea. ... We hope to have Josh for at least the second half of the season."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Kiffin appears at NCAA hearing over Tennessee
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Tennessee coaches Bruce Pearl and Lane Kiffin finally got to explain themselves in front of the NCAA.
All they can do now is wait to see if it did any good.
Kiffin spent more than four hours answering questions in front of the infractions committee Saturday, then was followed by Pearl, who spent nearly five hours in front of the committee. School officials are hoping the daylong closed-door hearing marks the beginning of the end of a 22-month investigation that rocked the Volunteers' football and men's basketball programs and tarnished Tennessee's reputation.
"The hardest part is just being here," Pearl said. "This was not something I was looking forward to."
The committee is expected to make a ruling within eight to 12 weeks. That's when the Volunteers' will learn their punishment.
Tennessee faces a dozen major rules violations in the two high-profile sports including accusations that both coaches committed recruiting infractions and that both also failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within those programs.
Pearl, the former Volunteers men's basketball coach, also was charged with unethical conduct after misleading NCAA investigators during an interview last June when he was asked about hosting high school juniors at a cookout at his house on Sept. 20, 2008 and phoning John Craft, father of recruit Aaron Craft, in an effort to influence Craft's statement to investigators about the cookout.
Craft just completed his freshman season at Ohio State, whose football program is also under NCAA investigation.
On Sept. 10, in a tearful news conference, Pearl acknowledged he had provided false information to the investigators.
That part was not contested Saturday, but there was plenty of discussion on other issues -- and lots of people trying to help Tennessee plead for leniency.
Those attending included, Kiffin, now the Southern California football coach; Pearl, who was fired after last season by Tennessee; Mike Hamilton, the outgoing athletic director; SEC commissioner Mike Slive; Derek Dooley, Tennessee's new football coach; and Cuonzo Martin, the Vols new men's basketball coach. Martin and Dooley are not implicated in the charges.
The school's contingent was so large it forced the NCAA to move its hearing into a bigger conference room, and the hearing was held about five blocks from the home stadium of one of Tennessee's most famous alums -- four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning.
"We are glad we had the opportunity to present our case," university chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in a statement. "We feel it was a fair hearing and we look forward to the resolution of this matter."
Kiffin was accompanied at the hearing by USC athletic director Pat Haden, who made his second appearance in front of an NCAA committee in Indy this year. He also attended January's appeals hearing for USC, which this week was stripped of its 2004 national title by the Bowl Championship Series for NCAA violations.
Tennessee has already taken some steps in hopes of avoiding a punishment that would be that drastic.
It reduced Pearl's salary by $1.5 million last season and banned him from off-campus recruiting for one year. The SEC also suspended Pearl for eight conference games. In March, Pearl was fired.
The school also lowered the salary for each of Pearl's three assistants, who were accused of not providing "complete" information about the cookout.
Pearl and two of his assistants, Tony Jones and Steve Forbes also are accused of making 96 impermissible phone calls to 12 recruits or relatives between Aug. 1, 2007, and July 29, 2009, and the school has been charged with failure to monitor the coaching staff's contacts.
Kiffin and his assistants were accused of making improper calls to recruits, too, after Tennessee officials warned them against it. He made those calls just days before taking the Southern California job in January 2010.
In addition, Kiffin and recruiting intern Steve Rubio are accused of visiting a Florida high school on Oct. 12, 2009, even though Rubio was not permitted to make on-campus visits.
Kiffin's failure to monitor charge stems from trips taken by members of the school's athletics hostess program to visit recruits.
Both coaches attended the first 40 minutes of the closed-door hearing, which were set aside for opening statements.
Kiffin then remained in the room, while Pearl and his former assistants left en masse. Pearl wandered down to the hotel lobby, waiting there until Kiffin finished more than four hours later. It took so long the lunch break was delayed twice.
Kiffin would not discuss the specifics of what took place inside the room.
Pearl was the first person back when the hearing resumed after a one-hour break. He spent most of the next five hours back inside the room.
When things finally wrapped up, more than 10½ hours after they started, the emotions were mixed.
"It's a very thorough process and I'm glad it's over," Kiffin said before leaving the downtown Indianapolis hotel for a football camp at Southern Cal. "It was a lot shorter than the last one I sat through, three days of USC's, and I'm happy it's over."
The fallout from the scandal may not be, though.
Hamilton announced this week he would resign at the end of the month. Tennessee women's athletics director Joan Cronan, also in Indy, will serve as interim vice chancellor and director of athletics until Hamilton's replacement is picked.
Sometime in August or September, the Volunteers should learn their fate.
"It's not over because we've got to wait 45 or 60 days," Pearl said.
And for Pearl, who wore an orange and white tie and orange suspenders to the hearing, there was no sense of relief.
"Not really because we paid a very heavy price, all of us here have -- my staff and the University of Tennessee," he said. "So there's not much relief."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Red Sox Crush Blue Jays, 16-4
Home runs by David Ortiz, Jason Varitek lead Red Sox over Blue Jays
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Savo Milosevic's dad killed by grandfather
Former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic has suffered the death of his father - at the hands of his grandfather.
Empics / BarryCoombsSavo Milosevic: Asked for privacy in event of awful family eventsGrandfather Savo Senior, 83, shot 58-year-old Stevo Milosevic in the chest with a M-48 rifle at the Milosevic's family home in Glavicice, Bosnia- Herzegovina after an argument about a property dispute
Stevo Milosevic died in hospital after an ambulance was called, and his father was arrested at the scene by police.
Savo Milosevic, 37, released a statement to Serbian newspaper Tanjug. "We ask the media to spare the family and give us time to cope with the tragedy so we can pull ourselves together," he said in the statement.
Milosevic played for Villa between 1995 and 1998 and also played for the likes of Real Zaragoza, Parma and Osasuna and won 102 caps for Serbia before ending his career with Rubin Kazan.
Sources: NHL won't stage Heritage next season
The NHL will go back to only one outdoor game next season.
Sources told ESPN.com on Saturday that the Heritage Classic in Canada, which made its return when Calgary hosted the event in February, won't be staged next season.
The source said the Heritage may return for the 2012-13 season, but at the very least will skip next season.
The Winter Classic remains as the only outdoor game for next season. It's expected to be held in Philadelphia although the NHL hasn't made that official yet.
Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
Essien tells Chelsea he wants to stay
Michael Essien has handed manager-less Chelsea a boost by declaring his intention to stay at Stamford Bridge next season.
GettyImagesMichael Essien: Linked with Inter Milan• Lukaku focused on exams, not Chelsea
• Santos want ?41m for Neymar
Chelsea are currently without a leader after Carlo Ancelotti's departure from the club, although Guus Hiddink is strongly expected to return by the start of the new campaign.
With uncertainty surrounding the Blues' immediate future though, Essien's name has been linked with a move away from England, with Serie A the mooted destination.
Reports in Italy and Essien's native Ghana have suggested Essien could be heading for talks with Italian giants Inter Milan, who have identified the central midfield area as the major position in need of improvement after finishing six points behind AC Milan last season.
"I am looking forward to next season, I want to win back the title and bring the Champions League to Chelsea," Essien is quoted as saying by Skysports.com.
"So I am not aware of not playing for Chelsea next season."
Gold Cup: Panama shock the US and progress
Panama shocked the highly fancied USA side in Florida, defeating the Americans 2-1.
GettyImagesPanama ended the USA's long unbeaten streak in the Gold Cup group stageAs well as bringing the hosts' 26-game undefeated streak to a close, the result secured Panama a place in the quarter-finals from Group C.
Luis Tejada and Gabriel Gomez put their side two up inside 36 minutes before Clarence Goodson pulled one back in the 66th minute.
Canada edged past 10-man Guadeloup when Dwayne De Rosario converted a penalty in the 51st minute.
Guadeloupe had midfielder Jean-Luc Lambourde sent off in the fourth minute and could not find a response once they finally fell behind following a brave resistance.
Lee Solid For Phillies
Baseball Tonight on the Phillies' 7-1 win and Cliff Lee's weak record
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Padres' Harang, Moseley ailing, may miss starts
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Padres right-handers Aaron Harang and Dustin Moseley are questionable for their next starts because of injuries.
Harang has a sore right foot and Moseley a slight dislocation of his left shoulder.
Harang won his team-high seventh game in a 7-3 win over Washington on Thursday and is scheduled to start Tuesday night at Colorado. X-rays taken of his foot Friday were negative.
He isn't sure how he hurt the foot, but says that it has bothered him since last week.
"It just doesn't feel comfortable, but hopefully it will feel OK before my next start," he said.
Moseley hurt his shoulder batting in his last start Wednesday, and has been saying since then that he will make his start Monday at Colorado.
Padres manager Bud Black wasn't so sure Saturday.
"It looks as if he's not going to make his next scheduled start," Black said before San Diego's game against Washington.
The manager then yelled out to the field and told Moseley he had just informed the media he wouldn't be starting. Moseley smiled and said, "We'll talk."
The most likely candidate to fill in is left-hander Wade LeBlanc at Triple-A Tucson. He is 12-17 with a 4.47 ERA in 39 starts for San Diego over the last four seasons.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
TrueHoop TV: Game Six Preview
Henry Abbott, Dr. Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown discuss Game Six and the series thus far.
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Kiffin appears at NCAA hearing over Tennessee
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Tennessee coaches Bruce Pearl and Lane Kiffin finally got to explain themselves in front of the NCAA.
All they can do now is wait to see if it did any good.
Kiffin spent more than four hours answering questions in front of the infractions committee Saturday, then was followed by Pearl, who spent nearly five hours in front of the committee. School officials are hoping the daylong closed-door hearing marks the beginning of the end of a 22-month investigation that rocked the Volunteers' football and men's basketball programs and tarnished Tennessee's reputation.
"The hardest part is just being here," Pearl said. "This was not something I was looking forward to."
The committee is expected to make a ruling within eight to 12 weeks. That's when the Volunteers' will learn their punishment.
Tennessee faces a dozen major rules violations in the two high-profile sports including accusations that both coaches committed recruiting infractions and that both also failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within those programs.
Pearl, the former Volunteers men's basketball coach, also was charged with unethical conduct after misleading NCAA investigators during an interview last June when he was asked about hosting high school juniors at a cookout at his house on Sept. 20, 2008 and phoning John Craft, father of recruit Aaron Craft, in an effort to influence Craft's statement to investigators about the cookout.
Craft just completed his freshman season at Ohio State, whose football program is also under NCAA investigation.
On Sept. 10, in a tearful news conference, Pearl acknowledged he had provided false information to the investigators.
That part was not contested Saturday, but there was plenty of discussion on other issues -- and lots of people trying to help Tennessee plead for leniency.
Those attending included, Kiffin, now the Southern California football coach; Pearl, who was fired after last season by Tennessee; Mike Hamilton, the outgoing athletic director; SEC commissioner Mike Slive; Derek Dooley, Tennessee's new football coach; and Cuonzo Martin, the Vols new men's basketball coach. Martin and Dooley are not implicated in the charges.
The school's contingent was so large it forced the NCAA to move its hearing into a bigger conference room, and the hearing was held about five blocks from the home stadium of one of Tennessee's most famous alums -- four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning.
"We are glad we had the opportunity to present our case," university chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in a statement. "We feel it was a fair hearing and we look forward to the resolution of this matter."
Kiffin was accompanied at the hearing by USC athletic director Pat Haden, who made his second appearance in front of an NCAA committee in Indy this year. He also attended January's appeals hearing for USC, which this week was stripped of its 2004 national title by the Bowl Championship Series for NCAA violations.
Tennessee has already taken some steps in hopes of avoiding a punishment that would be that drastic.
It reduced Pearl's salary by $1.5 million last season and banned him from off-campus recruiting for one year. The SEC also suspended Pearl for eight conference games. In March, Pearl was fired.
The school also lowered the salary for each of Pearl's three assistants, who were accused of not providing "complete" information about the cookout.
Pearl and two of his assistants, Tony Jones and Steve Forbes also are accused of making 96 impermissible phone calls to 12 recruits or relatives between Aug. 1, 2007, and July 29, 2009, and the school has been charged with failure to monitor the coaching staff's contacts.
Kiffin and his assistants were accused of making improper calls to recruits, too, after Tennessee officials warned them against it. He made those calls just days before taking the Southern California job in January 2010.
In addition, Kiffin and recruiting intern Steve Rubio are accused of visiting a Florida high school on Oct. 12, 2009, even though Rubio was not permitted to make on-campus visits.
Kiffin's failure to monitor charge stems from trips taken by members of the school's athletics hostess program to visit recruits.
Both coaches attended the first 40 minutes of the closed-door hearing, which were set aside for opening statements.
Kiffin then remained in the room, while Pearl and his former assistants left en masse. Pearl wandered down to the hotel lobby, waiting there until Kiffin finished more than four hours later. It took so long the lunch break was delayed twice.
Kiffin would not discuss the specifics of what took place inside the room.
Pearl was the first person back when the hearing resumed after a one-hour break. He spent most of the next five hours back inside the room.
When things finally wrapped up, more than 10½ hours after they started, the emotions were mixed.
"It's a very thorough process and I'm glad it's over," Kiffin said before leaving the downtown Indianapolis hotel for a football camp at Southern Cal. "It was a lot shorter than the last one I sat through, three days of USC's, and I'm happy it's over."
The fallout from the scandal may not be, though.
Hamilton announced this week he would resign at the end of the month. Tennessee women's athletics director Joan Cronan, also in Indy, will serve as interim vice chancellor and director of athletics until Hamilton's replacement is picked.
Sometime in August or September, the Volunteers should learn their fate.
"It's not over because we've got to wait 45 or 60 days," Pearl said.
And for Pearl, who wore an orange and white tie and orange suspenders to the hearing, there was no sense of relief.
"Not really because we paid a very heavy price, all of us here have -- my staff and the University of Tennessee," he said. "So there's not much relief."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Dos Santos Dominates
Junior dos Dantos top contender for heavyweight title fight after unanimous win over Shane Carwin
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Yankees C Martin misses fourth straight game
Updated: June 11, 2011, 11:59 PM ETBy Mike Mazzeo and Ian Begley
ESPNNewYork.com
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ESPNNewYork.com
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NEW YORK -- New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin participated in batting drills, threw long-toss with right-hander A.J. Burnett and hopes to play on Sunday afternoon when the Yankees finish up their four-game series with the Cleveland Indians.
Martin, who has been out since Wednesday with a stiff back, missed his fourth consecutive game on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 4-0 and have now won two in a row following a three-game sweep at the hands of their American League East rivals, the Boston Red Sox.
"We'll see how I feel (Sunday)," Martin said. "But that's the plan to be ready for (Sunday)."
Want to get the scoop on everything in pinstripes? ESPNNewYork.com has you covered. Blog
Francisco Cervelli, who's had a tough time throwing runners out in recent games, started again in place of Martin. He finished up 0-for-3 with a strike batting out of the No. 8 spot in the lineup.
Manager Joe Girardi doesn't think Cervelli will have to catch six or seven games in a row -- in case Martin is out for a more prolonged period of time -- but said his young backstop is capable of doing so.
"I hope (Russell will be back)," Girardi said. "And if we don't (have him Sunday), we'll hope for Monday. But he was able to go through some soft-toss and flip, and played long-toss with A.J. and he seemed OK."
Jorge Posada would be the emergency catcher in case Cervelli gets hurt.
"I've talked to him about it first," Posada said. "He's ready."
Martin injured his back during a postgame workout on Tuesday, but an MRI taken Thursday revealed that he had no disk damage.
Martin is hitting .238 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs in his first year in pinstripes.
Cervelli has already committed five errors in just 14 games. Girardi said there was a mechanical flaw in his throwing motion -- he was opening up too early, causing the ball to sail -- and they were watching video and doing drills to correct it.
He had three throwing errors (all on throws to second) in a two-game stretch against the Red Sox earlier this week.
Girardi also confirmed that Phil Hughes (right shoulder inflammation) is on track to make his first minor league rehab start on Tuesday for the Gulf Coast Yankees. Hughes, who has been on the disabled list since April 15, will throw a bullpen on Saturday.
Girardi said it is plausible that he could be placed in the bullpen when he comes off the DL, but reiterated that the organization's plan is to "have him as a starter."
"But you never say never on anything," Girardi said. "I don't think you should do that when you're in my position. But our plan is to have him as a starter."
Girardi said that right-hander Rafael Soriano (right elbow inflammation) hopes to begin throwing by the beginning of next week. He's been on the DL since May 14.
As for corner infielder Eric Chavez (fractured left foot), Girardi said he's making progress and doing some work in the cage, but still hasn't run yet. Chavez has been out since May 6.
Chavez was transferred to the 60-day DL, and has set July 4 as a target date for his return.
Mike Mazzeo is a regular contributor to ESPNNewYork.com. ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley contributed to this report.
Carroll: USC losing national title 'unfortunate'
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Pete Carroll, in the wake of the BCS stripping USC of the 2004-05 national championship, still chooses to remember the players and results on the field.
Mark Willard welcomes Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. He comments on USC's sanctions, passes on Jim Tressel, talks of the potential NFL strike, getting ready for a possible shorten season, A Greater LA and the BREAKAWAY.
More Podcasts »"Just watch the comments of the players," Carroll said in an interview with Mark Willard of 710 ESPN. "They know who won, who didn't. [Matt] Leinart and Lofa Tatupu and those guys, they all know. The whole thing is so unfortunate."
In a decision handed down on Monday, the BCS officially stripped USC of its 2004 championship, the result of major infractions involving then star running back Reggie Bush. The BCS title has been vacated for that season. The AP, which also awards a national championship, previously said USC would retain its 2004 title.
Carroll, who left USC to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 11, 2010, expressed frustration over the fact that current Trojans players have been heavily impacted by the NCAA's sanctions.
"[The NCAA has] to do what they do. They figure out how the thing is supposed to work," Carroll said in the interview. "I don't agree with much of any of it. It's unfortunate that kids, years and years after, are punished for what the NCAA is dealing with from years and years before. That's the most unfortunate thing ... kids that were in junior high at the time, or in grade school, are paying the price for it."
For more news and notes on the Trojans, check out ESPNLosAngeles.com's blog. Blog
Has the Seahawks coach been paying attention to the scandal at Ohio State? And are there any similarities to the USC situation?
"I think this is a major challenge for the NCAA," Carroll said. "Because of what they have done in the past here recently. I don't know how they're going to possibly make sense out of all this. It's going to be very challenging."
Carroll was the coach at USC from 2001-09 and was 83-19 in those nine seasons. Fourteen of those victories have been vacated by the NCAA. In his first season as the Seahawks coach, his team went 7-9 and won the NFC West and a wild card game before being knocked out of the playoffs in a divisional round game by the Chicago Bears.
Julio Cesar quells United transfer speculation
Inter Milan goalkeeper Julio Cesar has quashed rumours regarding his future at the club, insisting he will not move to Manchester United this summer.
GettyImagesJulio Cesar has laughed off transfer speculation linking him to Roma and Man UtdThe Brazilian has also been linked with a move to Roma during the current transfer window, but the shot-stopper has moved to quell any further speculation, suggesting that he will not be the one to replace Edwin van der Sar at Old Trafford.
"Roma have tested the waters with me, they were really interested," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I decided to stay at Inter until 2014, which is when my contract expires. So, the story is closed. I'd like my name to disappear from the pages of transfers. No Roma, no Manchester United, no nothing. Now I want to beat AC Milan and win back the Scudetto. Also, I'd like to win the Champions League again."
Inter have reportedly been on the hunt for Bologna's Emiliano Viviano, bringing Cesar's future at the club into question. But it appears the 31-year-old is content for Atletico Madrid's David de Gea to continue to be the frontrunner for van der Sar's vacated post.
Cesar also insisted that team-mate Wesley Sneijder will not depart the Serie A for the Premier League, despite being heavily linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge.
"Sneijder to Chelsea? Don't worry, he stays here," Cesar said.
Red Sox rout Jays to pick up eighth straight win
The supposedly weary Red Sox show no signs of slowing down after blasting 18 hits to nab their eighth straight win, writes Allan Ryan. Story
• Red Sox blog | ESPN Boston
Mancienne ready for Hamburg challenge
England Under-21 international Michael Mancienne believes his decision to quit Chelsea and join Bundesliga side Hamburg will make him a better player.
GettyImagesMichael Mancienne: England U21 skipperMancienne, who looks certain to captain England in their European U-21 Championship opener against Spain on Sunday, spent the majority of the last three years on loan at QPR and Wolves, making just six appearances for Chelsea.
The talented defender had other offers but is excited by a move abroad and will be reunited with Chelsea's former sporting director Frank Arnesen.
"I think it'll have a great benefit," he said. "It's a new challenge for me and to play for a big team such as Hamburg and to be playing week in, week out. I'm really honoured to go there and really looking forward to the challenge."
Mancienne will become only a handful of English players to have braved a move to one of Europe's top leagues in recent seasons. He claimed it was a mystery why more of his compatriots had not followed suit.
"To be honest, I don't know," he said. "I saw it as a massive opportunity to go abroad and to play in the German league, so I'm really excited by it. I did have a few other options, but I saw Hamburg as my biggest option."
Mancienne hopes to arrive at his new club with a European Under-21 Championship-winners' medal around his neck. The defender is one of only three survivors from the 2009 tournament in Sweden, where England suffered final heartache.
"Everyone's really up for it," he said. "In the build-up at La Cala, all the boys were really excited and couldn't wait for the tournament to start. And I think everyone's really geed up for the first game tomorrow."
Baker tosses 5-hitter as Twins pummel Rangers
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Morneau was going to see a hand specialist to evaluate his wrist and Gardenhire said he will be out until at least Tuesday. Gardenhire also said Nishioka could be ready to join the Twins by "mid-week." ... Mauer took a day off in his rehab at Fort Myers, but is expected to catch Sunday and Monday with a possibility of catching Tuesday as well. ... Texas reliever Dave Bush left the game with a bruised hamstring and is day to day. Bush was hit in the leg by Revere's comebacker in the sixth, but pitched another inning before leaving. ... The Rangers are in the middle of playing 17 of 20 games away from home. They had won five of their last six on the road before arriving in Minnesota, but have dropped two of three in the four-game series. ... Baker's strikeout of Nelson Cruz in the eighth was the 725th of his career, passing Kevin Tapani for 10th place in Twins history. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS -- Dealing with a depleted lineup, the Minnesota Twins might be starting to take opponents by surprise.
Scott Baker pitched a five-hitter for his fourth career complete game and Alexi Casilla had three hits and scored two runs, leading the Twins to an 8-1 win over Texas Rangers on Saturday. Delmon Young had three hits and two RBIs for Minnesota, which has won eight of 11. Richard Durrett and the ESPNDallas.com team have the inside scoop on the Rangers, the American League and Major League Baseball. Blog | ESPN Dallas
"We are in last place, so we are not in a tight race like over there," Casilla said. "So, the pressure is not on us. It's on the guys on top. So, we've been playing without pressure. Just relax and try to go back to .500." Baker (4-4) struck out seven in his first complete game since Aug. 14, 2009. The Twins scored five runs in the first against Colby Lewis (5-7), who allowed six runs and seven hits in 1 1/3 innings. "I think we all saw a little bit of an ambush there early in the game," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Guys were running around and putting the ball in the right spots." Slowly, the defending AL Central champions are starting to regain their form despite a rash of injuries. The resurgence has been spurred by some unlikely sources. Given the shortstop job out of spring training, Casilla struggled to hit and field. With his everyday job having slipped away, Casilla has responded by hitting .326 since May 15 and providing the speed and defense Gardenhire was seeking. Since being recalled from the minors June 2, Ben Revere has hit safely in 12 of his 14 games and is batting .295. He's also done the job defensively. Filling in for center fielder Denard Span (concussion), Revere made a running catch at the wall to take away extra bases from Adrian Beltre and received a standing ovation after stretching out for a diving catch on a drive by David Murphy. "They're going to be called upon until we can get our guys back," Gardenhire said of the young fill-ins. "I think they've enjoyed getting out there. This is a time when they want to show they can do something. They took some pitches, didn't panic and that's a good thing." And help might soon be on the way for the Twins. While first baseman Justin Morneau missed his second straight game with a sore left wrist, other players are making progress with their rehab assignments. Joe Mauer caught three straight games for Class-A Fort Myers, hitting a home run on Friday. Second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka went to Triple-A Rochester. Outfielder and designated hitter Jason Kubel participated in batting practice with the team, and closer Joe Nathan traveled to Fort Myers to take the next step in his rehab after a successful bullpen session Saturday. They weren't needed against Lewis on Saturday. Revere and Span led off the bottom of the first with singles, igniting a five-run inning. Michael Cuddyer hit a sacrifice fly. Brian Dinkelman added a two-run single for his first career RBIs and Matt Tolbert capped the scoring with an RBI single. Lewis struggled for the second straight start and has allowed 15 runs in his last 4 2/3 innings. He gave up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings against Detroit on June 6. "I guess everybody goes through it," Lewis said. "You just try to rebound as fast as you can from it. That's all you can do. Prepare yourself the same way you've been doing things; it's not like I feel like I have to go out and change anything dramatically." The right-hander's troubles have mainly come against left-handed hitters, causing Gardenhire to stack his lineup with all his available lefties. Entering the game, left-handers were hitting .310 against Lewis while righties had a .190 mark. Batting from the left side, Minnesota went 5 for 6 with a walk against Lewis. "If you go look back at it, everything was up in the zone and out over the dish," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I could stand up there at 59 years old, throw it up in the zone out over the dish and see what happens to it." Baker didn't have any issues against Texas' usually potent offense. He was perfect through four innings before Beltre connected for a leadoff double off the right-field wall in the fifth. Josh Hamilton, who had three homers and 10 RBIs in his previous eight games, struck out three times against Baker, who threw 80 of his 112 pitches for strikes. "I think you saw they did hit some balls hard," Baker said. "They just happened to hit it at guys. That's what you can do when you have a decent lead like that, just attack guys and allow them to put the ball in play." Beltre's double was the lone hit against Baker until the eighth, when Mike Napoli singled with two outs. Murphy then had a run-scoring hit. Game notesMorneau was going to see a hand specialist to evaluate his wrist and Gardenhire said he will be out until at least Tuesday. Gardenhire also said Nishioka could be ready to join the Twins by "mid-week." ... Mauer took a day off in his rehab at Fort Myers, but is expected to catch Sunday and Monday with a possibility of catching Tuesday as well. ... Texas reliever Dave Bush left the game with a bruised hamstring and is day to day. Bush was hit in the leg by Revere's comebacker in the sixth, but pitched another inning before leaving. ... The Rangers are in the middle of playing 17 of 20 games away from home. They had won five of their last six on the road before arriving in Minnesota, but have dropped two of three in the four-game series. ... Baker's strikeout of Nelson Cruz in the eighth was the 725th of his career, passing Kevin Tapani for 10th place in Twins history. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
McNish OK After Crash
It's considered one of the world's toughest races for a reason. Britain's Allan McNish was OK after being taken out of his car, which nearly disintegrated after crashing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Watch
Euro U21: Swiss, Belarus grab opening victories
The European U21 championships got off to a bad start for hosts Denmark when they suffered a 1-0 opening defeat to Switzerland, though were left to rue a late refereeing decision and a fine performance from Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
GettyImagesXherdan Shaqiri scored the winner for the SwissXherdan Shaqiri followed his fine display his senior team at Wembley last week with a 48th minute winner struck with his left foot.
The FC Basel prodigy had already fired in a few sighters and was the dominant force in a goalless first half before scoring just after the break.
The second half saw the home side, with Ajax's Christian Eriksen at the core, be the most threatening as Sommer made a series of fine saves from Andreas Bjellend and Nicki Bille Nielsen. The latter had the ball in the net in the dying minutes but was marginally offside - at best - when finally beating Sommer.
That result puts the host at the bottom of Group A after Belarus stormed to the top after something of a surprise win against Iceland in an earlier game which preceded the opening ceremony in Aalborg.
A drab game in Aarhus looked to be headed for a goalless final whistle before Iceland were shattered by two late Belarus goals and a sending off in a 2-0 defeat. Having missed three chances through Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, the much-vaunted AZ striker,
GettyImagesBelarus celebrate a famous victory in AarhusIceland paid the penalty when Aron Gunnarsson was given a straight red card for a professional foul on Stanislav Dragun, from which Andrei Voronkov scored from the spot in the 77th minute.
Substitute Maksim Skavysh completed the win for Belarus with a well-taken chip over Iceland keeper Bjornsson and he and his team-mates celebrated wildly at the final whistle and now look to have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals, where the likes of England and Spain may lie in wait.
A-Rod latest Yankee hit by pitch against Indians
Updated: June 11, 2011, 11:59 PM ETBy Mike Mazzeo
Special to ESPNNewYork.com
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Special to ESPNNewYork.com
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NEW YORK -- Cleveland Indians right-hander Mitch Talbot was ejected by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna after hitting New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez on his left quadriceps with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Talbot's ejection comes just a day after Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Indians manager Manny Acta had to be separated after righty Fausto Carmona hit first baseman Mark Teixeira.
The plunking had followed center fielder Curtis Granderson's second-inning solo home run.
Want to get the scoop on everything in pinstripes? ESPNNewYork.com has you covered. Blog
Rodriguez fell to the ground after being hit and was in agony. He was visited by Girardi and the trainer while Acta -- looking disgusted -- argued with Iassogna, but to no avail.
Talbot was replaced by Rafael Perez. The Yankees won 4-0 behind home runs from Rodriguez, Granderson and Teixeira.
"After the situation we had (Friday), and Alex hit a big home run (Friday) and hit another home run (Saturday), and Curtis Granderson hit a home run (Friday) and another one (Saturday), he threw the pitch directly at (Rodriguez)," Iassogna said. "His defense was that he didn't hit him intentionally."
It appeared that Acta had a valid point, as Talbot seemed to slip on the mound, causing his cut-fastball to tail in. But given what has transpired the past two days, Iassogna wasn't willing to let anything escalate.
"I was very surprised by the ejection," Acta said. "I mean, it was raining out there. You can probably ask both teams, but only one person in this park felt that it was on purpose. It was really baffling to me."
Acta and Girardi both said that neither team was warned by the umpiring crew before the game.
"There was no need for it. There's no animosity between us," Acta said. "What happened (Friday) was (Friday). The thing that I didn't like was he told me that he didn't like the timing of his slip on the mound. When is the right time to slip? There was no intention or reason for it. It was a 2-0 game and we're trying to win."
Crew chief/third base umpire Dale Scott noted that the Yankees were warned after Rodriguez was hit, as to prevent them from retaliating.
"Once the warning is issued -- and Dan did immediately -- then the manager would be ejected if there was another incident," Scott said.
Girardi didn't know if he thought the pitch was intentional, but he and Rodriguez both sensed there was something "fishy" going on, given that Yankee batters have now been hit a combined eight times in the last five games, with at least one HBP in each game.
"I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I know it hurt like hell," said Rodriguez, who was replaced by Eduardo Nunez at third in the top of the ninth but says he's "fine" and will be able to play Sunday. "It's just the form of getting hit, it seems a little fishy. Obviously guys are going deep and pitchers are shaking two or three times to the fastball in and we're getting smoked.
"I really don't like to get into any of that. We just like to play the game. The bottom line is we got embarrassed here against Boston and got punched in the mouth, and we counter punched it and played well the last two games."
Girardi said on Friday night and reiterated after Saturday afternoon's game that he's tired of his players getting hit and is going to protect them. He eluded to the fact that the hit-by-pitches have often come after home runs.
The Yankees have hit a major league leading 95 homers this season.
Talbot plunked Rodriguez following Granderson's 20th homer -- which tied for the major league lead -- and a long fly out by Teixeira.
"Our guys get hit too much," Girardi said. "And we're a club that hits home runs. People don't necessarily like that, but I've always said a run's a run."
Mike Mazzeo is a regular contributor to ESPNNewYork.com.
Dirk Responds
Dirk Nowitzki calls LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's antics childish and ignorant.
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Bruins back Thomas after Luongo's verbal swipe
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BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins tried to push the mute button on the controversy over Roberto Luongo's verbal swipe at Tim Thomas.
So what if Vancouver's goalie claimed he would have stopped the shot that beat Boston's most important player and gave the Canucks a 1-0 win Friday night and a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup finals? That game's over. The focus, the Bruins said Saturday, is on keeping their season alive in Game 6 on Monday night.
And they almost succeeded in lowering the volume.
But on the next to last question of his news conference on Saturday, a poker-faced coach Claude Julien couldn't resist.
"Let's put it this way," he said, fresh off his cross-continent flight. "I don't think Timmy is going to make much of that comment (by Luongo). I think you guys (reporters) are making more out of it than Timmy will. Either way, his stats, you know, are proof itself. He's given up six goals in five games.
"The guy that made the comment, I'm not quite sure how many he let in. I think you guys have a good idea, so I don't think he (Thomas) is going to lose sleep over that."
That would be 14 goals, coach.
That also matters much less than another number, 1, as in the one game by which the Canucks lead the series and the one win they need to claim their first NHL title.
"It's all about wins and losses this time of year," Boston forward Shawn Thornton said. "Some people like to chirp. Some people don't. I think, as a group, we're trying to take the high road. It's not really our M.O."
Vancouver won Game 5 after Thomas skated out of the crease toward Kevin Bieksa as the Canucks defenseman shot from the right point. The puck went wide but ricocheted off the backboards to Maxim Lapierre to the left of the crease. Thomas got back in time to block the shot, but the puck rebounded into the net with 15:25 to go.
Luongo watched it all from the other end of the ice.
"It's not hard (to stop) if you're playing in the paint," he said. "It's an easy save for me, but if you're wandering out, that's going to happen."
On Saturday, before boarding the plane for Boston, Luongo backed off a bit.
"I said also that he might make some saves that I don't, so I was just saying on that particular play I would have played it different and that's the difference between me and him," Luongo said.
But then he tossed out a parting shot.
"I've been pumping his tires ever since the series started," he said, "and I haven't heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that's the way it is."
Actually, after the Bruins won 8-1 and 4-0 to tie the series at 2, Thomas said he felt sorry for Luongo, who was pulled from Game 4.
"I've been there and I probably will be there again," he said. "So I have some sympathy when that happens, but, at the same time, I just have to focus on what I'm doing."
During the regular season, Thomas was first in the NHL in goals against average and Luongo was second. In save percentage, Thomas was first and Luongo was third. In the postseason, Luongo is first with four shutouts and Thomas is second with three.
And they're finalists, along with Pekka Rinne of Nashville, for the Vezina Trophy awarded to the league's best goalie.
"Timmy's unbelievable for us," Bruins forward Chris Kelly said. "We wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for him."
The Canucks have picked on Thomas before.
Earlier in the series, coach Alain Vigneault complained about the goalie's tendency to leave his crease and then expect to get right back in it without an opponent getting in his way.
So why do they keep taking jabs and risk angering the feisty netminder who slashed Alex Burrows in the leg in Game 4 after the Vancouver forward hit his stick?
"I just think he's playing so well right now and that's just how they decided to go about things," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said.
Luongo's jibe could give the Bruins more incentive to win Game 6.
"It's amazing how they need all this external motivation and they are looking for stuff," Bieksa said. "For us, we have it all in (the locker) room, we have it all in the Stanley Cup and that's all we need."
But Julien feels the Bruins don't need that to motivate them, not with their season on the line.
"We're down to the wire here and have to focus on our game and what it means, a lot more than (on) what is being said," he said. "Anybody can say what they want. Right now my focus is on getting this team back in this series."
Luongo isn't wasting much time either thinking about the fallout from his comment. But, for him, all the noise surrounding his brief poke at Thomas is hardly surprising.
"We're in the Stanley Cup finals, so every little thing is blown out of proportion," Luongo said. "He has his style and I have mine, so that's how it goes."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Tigers' Scherzer rebounds; shuts down Mariners
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Jackson and Tigers C Alex Avila have both had two-triple games in the last three days. ... Suzuki had gotten a rare day off Friday and was 1 for 18 on Seattle's current road trip before tripling and singling in his final two at-bats. ... The Tigers have gotten an extra-base hit in all 64 games this season, the longest streak since Tampa Bay started the 2007 season with 77 straight. It is Detroit's longest streak to begin a year since at least 1919. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
DETROIT -- Even though Max Scherzer went into Saturday night's start with a stellar record, he was struggling.
In his previous three outings Scherzer had given up 19 runs for a 12.51 ERA, but managed to go 1-1 in the process. Last season, a similar slump ended with Scherzer being sent to Triple-A Toledo. This time, the punchless Seattle Mariners might have helped him fix his problems. Scherzer didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning of Detroit's 8-1 win, and finished by giving up one run on four hits and two walks in seven innings. He is now tied for the AL lead in wins. "I really just executed better pitches," Scherzer said. "I was able to keep my slider down in the zone, my fastball down in the zone and a couple balls they hit hard found gloves." Scherzer also got plenty of help from the offense. Austin Jackson tripled twice, Victor Martinez had three hits and two RBIs and Jhonny Peralta homered for the Tigers. "I thought we played well," manager Jim Leyland said. "Scherzer was much, much better obviously, and we got some big hits against a good young pitcher." Detroit moved within one percentage point of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central after being as many as eight games behind in early May. "It feels good, but we've got 100 games left," Scherzer said. "A lot of things can still happen, but you have to love the talent on this team. We're in a real good position, and we are definitely coming on strong." Mariners rookie Michael Pineda (6-4) had the worst start of his brief career, giving up a career-high six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. "When you are looking at a starting pitcher, what you really need to see is how they will react when they don't have their best stuff," manager Eric Wedge said. "Michael really battled back tonight, and he was better after the first couple innings. They just got him again in the end." The Mariners got their first hit on Mike Carp's one-out single in the fifth, but ran themselves out of the inning on a pair of odd plays. Chone Figgins lined a ball off second baseman Ramon Santiago's glove and into right, but Carp had retreated on the play and was forced out at second 4-9-6. Greg Halman then hit a tapper toward shortstop and Peralta didn't bother throwing to first. Figgins, though, went too far around second and was erased in an inning-ending 6-4-1-6 rundown. "Those plays were huge -- (Brennan) Boesch being able to throw the guy out at second and then Jhonny catching Figgins off second," Scherzer said. Meanwhile, the Tigers were teeing off on Pineda. They took a 2-0 lead in the first on Martinez's RBI single and a throwing error by catcher Miguel Olivo, then added another run in the second when Jackson's triple scored Santiago. The Mariners got their only run in the sixth when slumping Ichiro Suzuki tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly, but Peralta's two-run homer keyed a three-run sixth. Martinez had an RBI double in the seventh and Jackson scored in the eighth after his second triple of the game. Game notesJackson and Tigers C Alex Avila have both had two-triple games in the last three days. ... Suzuki had gotten a rare day off Friday and was 1 for 18 on Seattle's current road trip before tripling and singling in his final two at-bats. ... The Tigers have gotten an extra-base hit in all 64 games this season, the longest streak since Tampa Bay started the 2007 season with 77 straight. It is Detroit's longest streak to begin a year since at least 1919. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
HOFer Robinson in hospital for routine follow-up
BALTIMORE -- Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson is back in the hospital for what he called a "routine" follow-up for treatment he received recently for a fever and infection.
Robinson was hospitalized at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in April before undergoing what was supposed to be routine surgery. He stayed two weeks.
The former Baltimore Orioles star recently returned to the hospital and issued a statement Saturday night after rumors began circulating that he was in serious condition.
The statement read: "As you may recall, I was hospitalized in April for a routine procedure. I was recently hospitalized for a follow up procedure, also routine, and am expecting that I will undergo two additional procedures over the next several months that will provide me with a complete recovery from a prior abdominal surgery."
Robinson was also treated for prostate cancer in 2009. He said that procedure is unrelated to this one.
"These are routine and expected procedures, and I continue to remain cancer free," he said.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
Newton: Good ol' Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. -- Pocono Raceway gets a bad rap.
All people want to do is complain about how long and boring the races are; how the track is stuck out in the middle of nowhere, far from civilization; how it can be raining in Turn 1 and sunny in Turn 3; how they would do a service to the sport by turning this into a natural preserve.
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John Harrelson/Getty ImagesPocono fans are often passionate about the sport, not to mention creative.As one person said on pit road during Saturday's qualifying, "The best thing about Pocono is leaving."
People forget about all the things there are to like about this track built along Long Pond Road. Between the tall pines, mountain lakes and hand-carved bears, the scenery around this 2.5-mile oasis is breathtaking, much more appealing to the eye than some of the cookie-cutter tracks that are in the middle of large concrete parking lots.
At what other track can you find a large collection of boulders painted with the car numbers of the sport's legends? At what other track can you find a large collection of boulders?
Then there are the unusual debris cautions, otherwise known as wildlife. A chicken that initially was identified as a turkey once got onto the track to bring out the yellow. Neil Bonnett once hit a deer so hard in practice that one of its legs became a permanent fixture in his grille.
Legend has it that a black bear once tried to get into the booth with a NASCAR official.
And then there was arguably the best story, the 1993 race in which a highly intoxicated fan wandered across the track, escaping over the wall just before Davey Allison and Kyle Petty turned him into roadkill. That brought on a manhunt into a nearby swamp, where the local man eventually was snagged and held on a $20,000 bond.
You don't get that at Charlotte or Texas, where humdrum hot-dog wrappers bring out the caution.
The dining experience is unique, too. You don't find much ostrich or elk in Miami or California. You may find steak on a stone in those places, but it's probably not from a stone found behind the restaurant.
It's more laid-back than most places, too. Drivers love it because a lot of big-time media members tend to skip the event, meaning they don't face the normal scrutiny of a normal race weekend. Richard Childress probably thanked his lucky stars when he saw the first stop after his attack of Kyle Busch was here.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was loose during his media session to the point of being downright comical, talking about hydrating with pickle juice last weekend at Kansas.
"It worked good," NASCAR's most popular driver said. "I hear it's good for hangovers, too. I could be wrong, but I felt a lot better on Tuesday than I normally do."
The track also has a unique triangle shape that no other does, and a spiffy nickname: "The Tricky Triangle," or the "Tricky Scalene," as Jeff Gordon referred to it. At how many other tracks are geometric terms a topic?
"No, I wasn't," Gordon confessed when asked if he was good in high school geometry. "Trust me."
Many drivers, such as Gordon and Mark Martin, refer to Pocono as one of their favorite tracks. What's not to like? Everything from side-by-side racing to fuel mileage racing to engine wear come into play here.
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Al Bello/Getty ImagesThree distinctly different turns mean there's no perfect setup for Pocono.The strategy of getting around each unique turn and everything else that comes into play confounds crew chiefs and drivers as much as any track on the circuit.
"It has three of the most challenging turns you will see," Gordon said after qualifying third to pole-sitter Kurt Busch and Paul Menard. "It takes a complete effort to be fast here. I love this place."
Despite all these positive things, people want to drag Pocono down, arguing that it should lose at least one race, perhaps two; that the race should be shortened from 500 miles to 400, maybe 300.
It seemed like half the questions on my Wednesday ESPN.com chat were about what could be done to make the racing better here. Many of you are hoping the return of shifting will make this a thrilling event, when really it won't change much at all except on restarts, which already were wild because the track is so open and wide.
So in an attempt to appease those who haven't bought into all that is good about Pocono, here are five suggestions the track might consider to improve the experience (Note: Shortening either race is not an option track owner Dr. Joseph Mattioli will consider).
1. Repave: There's no doubt that the roughness of the track, particularly in the Tunnel Turn, makes this a tough place to maneuver and helps spread things out. Repaving, perhaps adding more room to race two-wide in Turn 3, might help. You could add some banking in the turns that might change things as well.
2. Add restrictor plates: This might become necessary with a repaving, raising speeds to a level the governing body would have to keep cars from going into the turns at 230 mph. It could get wild if cars are bunched up like they are at Daytona and Talladega going into these tricky corners. The "Big One" would take on a whole new meaning.
3. Texas IndyCar Series approach: Since the Mattiolis won't shorten the races here in the name of maintaining tradition, how about do what the INDYCAR is doing at Texas on Saturday and run two 250-mile events on the same day and give half points for each? It'll still be the same number of total miles but might seem shorter with the break between events.
Here's a twist. Invert the field to start the second race instead of having a separate qualifying.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. rule: Give him a one-lap lead to start the race and see if anybody can catch him. It'll at least keep the attention of 35 to 45 percent of the fan base -- that is, barring a wreck or engine failure for him.
5. Open season: Release deer and/or other wildlife across the track every 50 miles and put deer stands in each turn to give fans selected through a lottery system a crack at bagging dinner. You might also consider giving bonus points to the driver that hits one. Either way, people would watch.
Or they could just leave things alone and hope that one day people appreciate Pocono for what makes it unique and stop giving it such a bad rap.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
Comparing Event 16 to the rest
The World Series of Poker has finally landed its marquee final table. Event 16, the $10,000 buy-in 2-7 Lowball World Championship, will conclude on Saturday and with nine players left (only seven will make the official WSOP final table), Phil Hellmuth is in contention to win his 12th WSOP bracelet.
Unfortunately for Hellmuth, he has one tough path to navigate as it is filled with some of the best in the game.
Here are some interesting notes and trends that we've seen so far at the 2011 WSOP:
• All 14 bracelet winners this year had never won a WSOP bracelet or even played heads-up for one.
• Seven of the 14 bracelet winners this year earned their first WSOP cash in the event.
• Only Eugene Katchalov didn't surpass his previous WSOP earnings with his win. He had $963,275 in previous earnings, and took home $122,909 for his win.
• Eight of nine players remaining in the 2-7 Lowball event have a bracelet, and five of the nine have more than $1 million in previous WSOP earnings.
• The 14 bracelet winners this year combine for 48 previous WSOP cashes. Two players remaining in Event 16 have more: Phil Hellmuth has 79 and John Juanda 55.
• The 14 bracelet winners had a combined $1,426,706 in earnings. The 2-7 remaining nine have a combined $22,093,650..
Each of the remaining nine in the Lowball World Championship have had incredible success in the game. Here's a look at the stats that make them stand out from the crowd. They are listed in order of chip count entering Day 3 and the cash so far in this event is not included.
NameBraceletsWSOP CashesWSOP Earnings0 (Best previous finish - fourth)It's a tale of two stories when you compare the first 14 winners to the final nine in Event 16. Category14 2011 WSOP bracelet winnersRemaining 9 in Event 16
Action resumes at 6 p.m. ET. First place in this event will be awarded $367,170.
Cassano to stay on with AC Milan - agent
Antonio Cassano will not be departing AC Milan, despite consistent reports to the contrary, according to his agent Beppe Bozzo.
GettyImagesAntonio Cassano has spent plenty of time on the AC Milan bench this seasonCassano has reportedly been on the radar of both Fiorentina and Napoli in recent weeks after falling behind the other strikers at the San Siro in terms of playing time.
Milan, current Scudetto holders, have many options up front and with Cassano keen for regular football ahead of the European Championship in 2012, it was thought a parting of ways was on the cards.
However, Bozzo denied that his client is looking for the exit door.
"This is a broken record that has been going on for a long time," agent Beppe Bozzo told Mediaset Premium Calcio. "There is no reason to change club and Vice-President Adriano Galliani reiterated Cassano is not for sale, as he fits in perfectly with Milan.
"Competition with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexandre Pato and Robinho is not a problem so close to the European Championship. I think a coach should look to quality of performance rather than quantity."
Pastore: "I never said I want to quit Palermo"
Palermo star Javier Pastore insists he never said he wanted to quit the Serie A club amid interest from Premier League duo Manchester City and Chelsea.
GettyImagesJavier Pastore scored 11 goals for Palermo last season.• Palermo defiant over Pastore
Pastore was quoted by Fox Sports Argentina as saying: "I feel that the time to leave Palermo has arrived." But the Albiceleste playmaker has issued an official statement to deny the report.
"I never said I wanted to leave Palermo," Pastore said. "Many people asked me via Twitter if I said that it was time to leave Palermo. The truth is that I never said that because, as I always point out, I am happy at Palermo.
"What I repeat every time is that if I receive an interesting offer that is good for both the club and for me, then we will evaluate it along with Palermo and my agent."
The Italian club have always been desperate to keep hold of the 21-year-old amid all the transfer speculation, but on Friday club owner Maurizio Zamparini appeared resigned to losing his star player.
"I give up on Pastore," Zamparini said to Sky Italia. "He speaks more to his agent than he does with me. I am not offended.
"It's logical that at the most he would have played one more season at Palermo but at the same time if he did, he would have more pressure and he wouldn't be the same Pastore we know.
"There are big clubs that want him. We are talking about one of the top talents in current football and I will not sell him on the cheap. I paid for him €19 million when he was 18."
Pastore, who has also attracted interest from Inter Milan and Real Madrid, is contracted to Palermo until 2015.
Greinke bests Carpenter as Brewers near 1st
41,930 (100.1% full) - % is based on regular season capacityHome Plate - Angel Campos, First Base - Andy Fletcher, Second Base - Derryl Cousins, Third Base - Ron Kulpa
Brewers SS Yuniesky Betancourt is expected to return to the lineup Sunday after Craig Counsell got two straight starts. Betancourt is hitting .230 with three homers and 20 RBIs. ... Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to nine games. ... Both teams wore special uniforms as part of the sixth annual Cerveceros Day to honor the Hispanic community. The Brewers wore gold jerseys with the Spanish translation "Cerveceros." The Cardinals' uniforms said "Cardenales." ... Greinke's bobblehead day is Sunday. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Lance Berkman: 13th HR on the road this season leads MLB. Of his 16 HR overall this season, half have come against the NL Central. It's the most HR he's hit on the road since the 2008 season when he hit 13 for the entire year.
MILWAUKEE -- The last time Zack Greinke put together a winning streak like this, he finished his season with a Cy Young Award. The Milwaukee Brewers are looking to ride him a lot further than just an individual accolade.
Greinke outpitched fellow Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter for his sixth consecutive victory and Rickie Weeks hit a go-ahead, two-run homer to lift the Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Saturday night. "So far, it's better than I ever could've imagined. We're playing great, it's fun to watch us play and it's been working out good," said Greinke, who was traded in the offseason after being the ace for seven losing years in Kansas City. "We're scoring a lot of runs, I haven't put up a bunch of zeros, but it's been good enough to keep us in the game."Zack Greinke spent Saturday showing the Brewers that the ace they traded for this summer is still there, writes ESPN.com's Troy Patterson. Blog
Milwaukee is the hottest team in baseball since Greinke won his first game on May 9 and the Brewers have pulled within a half-game of St. Louis for the NL Central lead. "I know it's close," Greinke said. Prince Fielder hit his seventh homer in the last eight games and Corey Hart added a two-run double for the Brewers, who keep improving on their major league-best home record. "That's what's great about this place, it gets rockin' and rollin' and it's nice to see on June 11th what it's like. Hopefully we'll give them something on September, October 11th to see how loud they can get," Brewers third baseman Casey McGehee said. "Win this series, sweep this series, get swept, there's still a whole lot of baseball left." Lance Berkman homered off Greinke (6-1) to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the sixth, but Milwaukee scored four times in the bottom of the inning off Carpenter (1-6) on Weeks' shot and Hart's double. Daniel Descalso's run-scoring double cut Milwaukee's lead to 5-3 in the seventh, but reliever Kameron Loe pitched a quiet eighth and John Axford converted his 14th straight save opportunity and 17th overall in the ninth. "Whether it's because they're in first, whether it's just because they're a great team we're playing, it's just a little different atmosphere," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. Milwaukee is off to its best start in franchise history at Miller Park at 24-9. St. Louis came into town with the most road wins in the majors at 20, but the Cardinals will try to avoid being swept out of first place on Sunday. "The good thing is we've still got a lot of time left in the summer, so we have got to keep on playing hard," Cardinals right fielder Jon Jay said. "There's a bunch of games left. There is still plenty of baseball to be played, and there are going to be more close games like tonight, so we just have to stay positive." Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner who started 6-0 that year, missed the first month of the season with a cracked rib and lost his first start against Atlanta. Since then, he's 6-0 in his last seven appearances coinciding with Milwaukee's ascent in the standings. Greinke was sharp again with nine strikeouts over seven innings, helping the Brewers (37-28) reach nine games over .500 for the first time in more than two years. "He's an exciting player," Hart said. "The fans see him out there, they get into it a little more and we play well behind him. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but we all know since he got here we've been a really good team." Fielder put Milwaukee ahead in the second on a 420-foot solo homer, his 18th this season. The ball ricocheted so hard off the outfield railing that shortstop Ryan Theriot retrieved it in shallow center field. Greinke has been impressed by Fielder's power surge. "If you're being consistent, and then you have hot streaks, too, that's pretty unheard of. That's what he's done so far," Greinke said. "Prince is just good and then better so far." St. Louis answered with Yadier Molina's two-out, run-scoring double in the fourth and Berkman's solo shot in the sixth to go ahead 2-1, setting the stage for Milwaukee's big inning. Greinke started with a single and Weeks followed with an opposite-field homer to right. Hart's two-out double made it 5-2 after Carpenter uncharacteristically walked Fielder and McGehee. Carpenter, the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner, has lost his last four decisions and is off to his worst start since beginning his career 1-7 in Toronto in 1997. "I'm fine," Carpenter said. "I've been around too long to concern myself with what my record is and what I'm doing." Jay made an over-the-shoulder diving catch near the right-field wall to end the fourth, banging awkwardly into the lower padding. The extraordinary effort left Carpenter with a smile of disbelief as he walked toward the dugout, but the good times for the Cardinals wouldn't last long. "We scrapped all the way," manager Tony La Russa said. "It was well-played, well-pitched. They pitched a little better, they hit a little better. That's the difference." Game notesBrewers SS Yuniesky Betancourt is expected to return to the lineup Sunday after Craig Counsell got two straight starts. Betancourt is hitting .230 with three homers and 20 RBIs. ... Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to nine games. ... Both teams wore special uniforms as part of the sixth annual Cerveceros Day to honor the Hispanic community. The Brewers wore gold jerseys with the Spanish translation "Cerveceros." The Cardinals' uniforms said "Cardenales." ... Greinke's bobblehead day is Sunday. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Pearce hits back at Spain jibes
Stuart Pearce has labelled Spain's pre-tournament taunts "irrelevant" as England prepare to meet the tournament favourites in their opening European Under-21 Championship match on Sunday.
GettyImagesStuart Pearce believes the Czechs are favourites• Euro U-21 Champs preview
• Huguenin: Denmark play host to Euro feast
Thiago Alcantara, the Barcelona schemer who is viewed as the heartbeat of the Spain side, recently stoked the fires by claiming he had not heard of any of the English players.
Alcantara was quoted as saying in The Guardian: "The only ones we really know are Jack Wilshere and Micah Richards, but they are not here.
"That is good news for us because they are good players. Richards is a very good defender, while Wilshere is probably the best footballer in the whole team. The fact they will not be playing against us is a positive thing for us. We've not really heard of any of the other players.
"We expect to play well and win because we play the better football. We are very technical and pass the ball more, whereas the England team are very direct."
Pearce faced the media on Saturday, and instantly rebuffed the statement, before suggesting that Spain are not even the favourites in his eyes.
"The only concern we have is of the Spanish quality on a football pitch. That's what we concentrate on. Verbal innuendos are irrelevant to my squad," Pearce said.
The England boss was then asked if Spain's 'favourites' tag was disrespectful to the Czech Republic, who boast a striker in Tomas Pekhart who has scored 16 goals in 22 games.
"100% yes," Pearce answered. "The Spanish are decent, but they didn't win their group. We've come here as No. 1 seeds in Europe over a three-year period and we didn't win our group.
"The Czechs waltzed through their group against the holders (Germany), and also the Icelandics were in their group who are here as well. So that's a mark of how good the Czechs are."
Pearce would not name his captain for Sunday's clash, and he also rejected the suggestion that England should base their youth setup on the Spanish example.
"As a coach, you take lessons from all nations, the Spanish, the Germans, the French... ten years ago it was the French model being lorded. We have to take lessons from everywhere. But you also have to work to your own players' strengths. To ask an English individual to play a Spanish style, or an Italian to play an English style is not workable.
"We'll go with the personnel that I think will win the game. Everyone's fit. We may have one of the youngest squads here, but it's also one of the most talented."
Kotchman ties game in 9th, Rays tip O's in 11th
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After the game, the Rays activated infielder Elliott Johnson (left knee sprain) from the disabled list and designated infielder Felipe Lopez for assignment. ... Baltimore has been outscored 29-14 in the first inning. ... It was the 10th multihomer game of Reynolds' career. He leads the Orioles with 12 homers for the season. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Mark Reynolds has homered twice off David Price in Saturday's game in Baltimore. Entering Saturday, Price had allowed one career home run to the Orioles in 39 1/3 innings. The only Orioles player to homer off Price before Reynolds was Miguel Tejada, who did so on April 14, 2010 also in Baltimore.
BALTIMORE -- Joe Maddon almost ran out of breath trying to pass around the credit for a Tampa Bay victory that required two late comebacks and an inspired 11th-inning uprising.
Ben Zobrist got four extra-base hits and scored four runs, including the tiebreaker in the 11th on a single by Evan Longoria, leading the Rays past the Baltimore Orioles 7-5 on Saturday night. Longoria had three RBIs and Casey Kotchman went 4 for 6 with two RBIs for the Rays, who forced extra innings with a run in the ninth off Baltimore closer Kevin Gregg. But the list of stars went much deeper than that. Justin Ruggiano and B.J. Upton made great catches in the outfield, Matt Joyce unselfishly advanced runners on the bases and John Jaso did a solid job handling six different pitchers. "Just go around the field," Maddon said. "Whether it was Ruggiano going over the wall, B.J. doing the Willie Mays thing, Matt moving runners, Jaso really good game behind the plate ... every player contributed tonight to that win." Especially Zobrist, whose four extra-base hits tied a club record. His four runs matched a career high. "I feel good about spraying the ball around the field," Zobrist said. "But the story was just the way our team battled back." Zobrist had three doubles and a triple. He started the 11th with a double off Jeremy Accardo (3-2) and took third on a groundout. After Longoria hit a soft liner to center, Kotchman followed with an RBI double. Juan Cruz (4-0) got two outs in the 10th and Kyle Farnsworth worked the 11th for his 14th save. Baltimore took a 5-4 lead in the eighth when Joel Peralta forced in a run by walking rookie Brandon Snyder with the bases loaded and two outs. Tampa Bay tied it in the ninth against Gregg, who has four blown saves. After Zobrist hit a one-out triple and Joyce walked, Longoria popped out. But Kotchman followed with an RBI single up the middle. "We needed it," Longoria said. "The bats seemed to have been hit or miss this year. ... That was a big win for us." Johnny Damon got two hits and scored twice for the Rays. He has reached base in 36 consecutive games, a career high and one short of Ben Grieve's club record. His fifth-inning double lifted him into a tie for 54th place on the career list with Al Kaline and Bill Buckner. Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in three runs for the Orioles, whose four-game winning streak ended. "We had our chances. That's what we are trying to do," Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie said. "We have been so good closing out games recently that it's tough. We're not going to always have everything go well for us and perfect. And tonight we let them back in the game." Rays starter David Price gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings, striking out six and walking one. He lost a three-run lead and yielded both of Reynolds' homers. Guthrie allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He has only one win in his last 12 starts despite owning a respectable 3.77 ERA for the season. Reynolds' second home run, a drive to center with a man on, put Baltimore up 4-3 in the sixth. But the Rays pulled even with an unearned run in the seventh against Jim Johnson. Zobrist led off with a double and was at second with two outs when Kotchman hit a bouncer up the middle. Second baseman Robert Andino caught up to the ball, but his throw to first was wild, enabling Zobrist to score. In the Baltimore half, J.J. Hardy greeted J.P. Howell with a drive to left that a leaping Ruggiano caught at the wall. That began a perfect inning for the struggling Howell, who came in with a 15.75 ERA. Tampa Bay got a first-inning run when Damon singled and scored on a two-out double by Longoria. It became 3-0 in the fifth when Damon and Zobrist hit successive doubles and Longoria added an RBI single. Reynolds led off the bottom half with a drive over the wall in right-center and Adam Jones added a run-scoring double with two outs to bring Baltimore to 3-2. Game notesAfter the game, the Rays activated infielder Elliott Johnson (left knee sprain) from the disabled list and designated infielder Felipe Lopez for assignment. ... Baltimore has been outscored 29-14 in the first inning. ... It was the 10th multihomer game of Reynolds' career. He leads the Orioles with 12 homers for the season. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
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