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5474. wabbit - 4/19/2007 2:06:43 PM  The New York Rangers finally got a chance to party like it was 1997. Matt Cullen banged in a shot off the crossbar early in the third period, snapping a tie and helping New York to a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night that put the Rangers into the second round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade. A year after being swept out of the first round by New Jersey in their return to the playoffs, following a seven-season absence, the Rangers turned the trick on the Thrashers, who exited their first series in four games.
Turns out the New Jersey Devils didn't need a stellar performance from Martin Brodeur to climb back into their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Another big game by Zach Parise and Scott Gomez's overtime goal kept the Atlantic Division champions from falling to the brink of elimination in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference matchup Wednesday night. Parise scored his fifth and sixth goals of the postseason. Gomez blocked a shot nearly 13 minutes into the extra period, then chased down the loose puck and skated in to blow the winner past goalie Johan Holmqvist for a 4-3 victory that evened the series at two games apiece. Game 5 is Friday night at New Jersey.
The Nashville Predators are awfully fast, yet Milan Michalek 's speed generated two goals for the San Jose Sharks. The Predators are terribly strong, too, yet Mike Grier and the Sharks physically punished them again. Nashville was among the NHL's best clubs throughout the regular season - but now the Predators are on the brink of elimination after San Jose once again did everything better. Michalek scored two goals, Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves and the Sharks took a commanding lead in their first-round playoff series with a 3-2 victory over the Predators in Game 4 on Wednesday night. San Jose went up 3-1 in the series with another exhibition of speed, physical play and stellar goaltending - everything the stunned Predators did so well during an excellent season that could be over Friday night.
NHL scores
5475. wabbit - 4/19/2007 2:07:17 PM  Chicago White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, picking off the only runner he walked and throwing the first no-hitter of the major league season. Working quickly and efficiently in a dominant performance, Buehrle allowed just one baserunner in Chicago's first no-hitter since 1991. He walked Sammy Sosa with one out in the fifth, then promptly picked him off first base. One walk - almost a perfect game.
Kei Igawa had a baseball and a lineup card in his locker. For the second straight night, the New York Yankees got a rookie starter his first major league win. The Yankees used the same formula against the Cleveland Indians for the second night in a row, getting a big early lead and a home run from Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hit his major league-leading ninth homer, Igawa limited the Indians to a pair of runs over six innings, and New York defeated Cleveland 9-2 Wednesday night.
A dome does wonders for Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. Wakefield allowed four hits in seven innings and David Ortiz homered, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli, who had one passed ball, said it takes extra effort to handle Wakefield's knuckler indoors. Mirabelli and Mike Lowell also homered for the Red Sox, who entered with eight homers in their first 12 games. Wakefield (2-1) struck out four, walked three and lowered his ERA to 1.35. The 40-year-old right-hander has allowed only three earned runs in 20 innings.
MLB scores
5476. wabbit - 4/21/2007 4:49:09 PM  The Nashville Predators spent the past year improving themselves over a season ago. So did the San Jose Sharks. So the result of the opening round of the playoffs was the same. Patrick Marleau scored his second goal with 4:21 left, and the Sharks grabbed a berth in their third straight Western Conference semifinals, beating Nashville 3-2 Friday night. Marleau tied the game with a power-play goal late in the second period, and Ryane Clowe also scored as the Sharks closed out Nashville with a Game 5 win on the Predators' home ice for a second straight year.
Martin Brodeur is one shutout away from putting his name next to Patrick Roy's. More importantly, Brodeur's vintage 31-save performance has the New Jersey Devils a game away from putting Vincent Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning out of the playoffs. Brodeur shook off a couple of shaky games to post his 22nd career shutout and got goals by Andy Greene, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez in a 3-0 victory on Friday night.
Ryan Miller's blind glove save in the final seconds was enough to solidify the Buffalo Sabres' trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals. Miller's save was the difference in allowing the Sabres to hang on for a 4-3 victory on Friday night and win their best-of-seven first-round series in five games. The save came with 12 seconds left and with the Sabres reeling, barely hanging on after nearly squandering a 4-1 lead in the final 13 minutes.
NHL scores
5477. wabbit - 4/21/2007 4:49:24 PM  On a hitting tear unlike few others to start a season in major league history, Alex Rodriguez hit two more home runs in his first three at-bats Friday night against the rival Red Sox, but he could not pull off more ninth-inning magic to save the Yankees. One day after capping New York's six-run, ninth-inning rally against the Indians with a three-run homer, Rodriguez finally went down meekly -- a soft liner to second base with one on and one out in the ninth -- as the Yankees dropped this early-season AL East showdown, 7-6, against the rival Red Sox. Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two homers, four RBIs and three runs. The Yankees third baseman now has 12 home runs in 15 games, tying Mike Schmidt for the fastest to a dozen homers in major league history, as well as 30 RBI. Of his 23 hits this season, 18 have gone for extra bases.
Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen wasn't concerned about Darin Erstad's slow start. Erstad then went out and proved his manager right with a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning that lifted Chicago to a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers. The 12-year veteran has struggled in his first year with the White Sox, hitting only .185, after going 2-for-5 on Friday night. Juan Uribe and Tadahito Iguchi homered for Chicago and helped Nick Masset (1-0) earn his first major league victory. Masset allowed one hit in 1 1-3 innings. David Aardsma , Matt Thornton , and Mike MacDougal combined to retire six in a row in the seventh and eighth innings, and Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth for his fifth save in six opportunities.
Braves manager Bobby Cox is happy with what he's seen from Tim Hudson so far this year -- a lot of the same stuff, over and over again. Hudson was downright stingy over eight shutout innings and Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer to help Atlanta beat the New York Mets 7-3 Friday night. Hudson (3-0) allowed five hits and walked two. He has allowed two runs in 29 innings this season for a microscopic 0.62 ERA.
MLB scores
5478. jexster - 4/22/2007 6:01:38 PM 
5479. wabbit - 4/23/2007 12:35:39 AM  Barry Bonds is beginning to close in on Hank Aaron -- fast. Bonds hit his 740th home run Sunday, connecting for the second consecutive game and helping Matt Cain earn his first win of the season in the San Francisco Giants' 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cain pitched a three-hitter for his third career complete game and first since a one-hitter last May 21 at Oakland. He struck out four and walked four. Bonds moved within 15 homers of Aaron's record. With two outs in the fourth inning, he sent the first pitch from Yusmeiro Petit (0-1) into the seats in the right-field arcade for his sixth homer of the season. The 42-year-old Bonds walked out to left field in the top of the fifth to a loud standing ovation, tipping his cap as he made his way to his spot. Fans bowed over the left-field fence. Petit, called up from Triple-A Tucson before the game to make his second major league start, became the 438th pitcher to give up a homer to Bonds.
The Red Sox managed to keep Alex Rodriguez from hitting another home run. The Yankees can't say the same about David Ortiz. Ortiz had a two-run homer and four RBIs, and Josh Beckett settled down to help Boston beat New York 7-5 Saturday for its second consecutive victory over the Yankees. It was Ortiz's fourth homer in seven games and his 12th in the past two years against New York. Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 21 games dating to last season. But a day after he hit two home runs to match the fastest start in baseball history -- 12 homers in the first 15 games -- his home run streak was snapped at four straight games.
The Detroit Tigers were headed for a here-we-go-again loss until Marcus Thames hit a tying homer with two outs in the ninth inning. Then, Placido Polanco gave them a rare win at home in extra innings. Polanco singled home the winning run in the 12th and Detroit rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Sunday after blowing a three-run lead. Detroit squandered leads in its previous three games, too, losing twice in extra innings with a surprisingly shaky bullpen.
MLB scores
5480. wabbit - 4/23/2007 12:37:25 AM  Martin Lel of Kenya sprinted to victory in the London Marathon on Sunday in two hours seven minutes 41 seconds to regain the men's title he won in 2005. But there was disappointment for former Olympic 10,000 meters champion Haile Gebrselassie, who did not finish the race, while marathon world record holder Paul Tergat fell off the pace in the final 2km to finish sixth. Zhou Chunxiu became the first Chinese champion when she won the women's race in two hours 20 minutes 38 seconds.
Spaniard Rafael Nadal won his third Monte Carlo Masters Series in succession when he extended his record winning streak on clay to 67 matches with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of world number one Roger Federer in Sunday's final. The double French Open champion, who has not lost on the slow surface since a defeat to Russian Igor Andreev in April 2005, became the second player to win three straight titles in the principality. Only Romania's Ilie Nastase had achieved the feat before him, from 1971 to 1973. Nadal, who thrashed all his opponents en route to Sunday's final, has already emerged as a hot favorite to retain his French Open crown.
 Freed of the blinkers that rattled him during a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Louisiana Derby last month, Slew's Tizzy might just make the Kentucky Derby after all. The 3-year-old colt stunned the field at the $325,000 Lexington Stakes on Saturday, taking the lead early then dominating down the stretch for a 3½ length victory over Starbase. Slew's Tizzy went off at 40-1, but hardly looked like a long-shot while making easy work of the nine-horse field. Slew's Tizzy covered the 1 1-16 mile course in 1:43.20 and paid $83, $29.60 and $13.60. Starbase, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, held off Forty Grams for second. The win in one of the final prep races for the May 5 Kentucky Derby could give Slew's Tizzy enough graded stakes earnings to race in the run for the roses. The only horse to pull off wins in both the Lexington Stakes and the Derby was Charismatic in 1999.
 Brian Lara's farewell to international cricket was ruined by a run out and a thrilling one-wicket defeat by England in the final World Cup Super Eights match on Saturday. Kevin Pietersen's superb 100 helped England to their target of 301 with one ball to spare after out-of-form Michael Vaughan (79) scored his first fifty of the campaign. Although both struggling sides were out of contention for the semifinals, Lara's retirement and England coach Duncan Fletcher's imminent departure gave an enthralling match some extra significance. Batting great Lara fell for 18 when Marlon Samuels (51) ran him out. However, a superb knock from opener Chris Gayle helped West Indies to 300 all out for the first time in the tournament. The 37-year-old Lara, who holds the record for the top Test score (400 not out) and highest first class knock (501 not out), received a massive ovation from a packed Kensington Oval and was given a guard of honor by the England players as he came to the crease.
5481. wabbit - 4/23/2007 12:37:52 AM  Flat on his back, LeBron James grimaced as he looked toward the arena rafters, where giant banners spelled out his team's playoff motto: "RISE UP!" And he did. Ignoring a sprained left ankle, James stayed in the game to score 23 points and Larry Hughes added 27 Sunday, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers over the depleted Washington Wizards 97-82 in the opener of this Eastern Conference series. James turned his ankle on a drive in the third quarter but refused to come out, adding nine rebounds and seven assists in 44 minutes.
The "Brazilian Blur" breathed life into the Phoenix offense, and Kobe Bryant went from awesome to awful. The result was a second-half rally that gave the Suns a 95-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round playoff opener on Sunday. Leandro Barbosa scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half, including 15 consecutive Phoenix points in one stretch, to match his career playoff scoring high. Amare Stoudemire, back in the postseason after missing last year's while recovering from two knee surgeries, added 23 points and 12 rebounds. Bryant scored 39, but only 11 in the second half. The NBA's scoring champ was 1-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, when Phoenix pulled away. Steve Nash had 20 points and 10 assists and Shawn Marion 16 points and 16 rebounds for a Phoenix team struggled mightily until Barbosa provide the spark, highlighted by a 31-footer at the third-quarter buzzer that cut the Lakers' lead to 77-74 entering the fourth.
Shaquille O'Neal's words were sharp and pointed and aimed straight at his target, like those passes he whips to cutters when he is double-teamed. His target this time was referee Eddie F. Rush. Chicago's Luol Deng also played a big part in knocking defending champion Miami off track. So did Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni. Deng scored 33 points, Gordon and Nocioni each hit two free throws in the final 19 seconds, and the Chicago Bulls held off the Heat 96-91 Saturday in Game 1 of their opening-round rematch.
NBA scores
5482. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 4/23/2007 5:01:27 AM GO Sawks!!!!! 5483. wabbit - 4/23/2007 1:54:38 PM What a game! 5484. wabbit - 4/23/2007 1:54:57 PM  Don Nelson figures the Dallas Mavericks will eventually figure out how to stop his Golden State Warriors. Until they do, he's going to savor every moment. Baron Davis scored 19 of his 33 points in the third quarter, carrying Nellie's small-ball lineup to a 97-85 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference series. Well, it wasn't a total stunner, at least not as much as a No. 8 seed beating a No. 1 seed normally is. After all, this was Golden State's sixth straight win over Dallas and the fourth in a row since Nelson ended a decade-long tenure with the Mavs to rejoin the Warriors.
This is what the Denver Nuggets had in mind when they acquired Allen Iverson to go with Carmelo Anthony. The high-scoring All-Star duo provided the offense and the Nuggets were tough defensively, too, as they beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-89 in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series Sunday night. Iverson scored 29 of his 31 after the first quarter and Anthony added 30 points for the sixth-seeded Nuggets, who entered the playoffs having won 10 of 11. Nene added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Marcus Camby grabbed 10 boards for Denver. The big guys also made things difficult for Tim Duncan, who scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds for the Spurs.
NBA scores
5485. wabbit - 4/23/2007 1:55:13 PM  Johan Franzen took a long shot and the Saddledome crowd fell eerily silent. The Detroit Red Wings knew they had just won their first-round playoff series. Franzen scored early in the second overtime period, leading the Red Wings to a series-clinching 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night. Detroit, the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, won the series 4-2 and will play either sixth-seeded Dallas or No. 5 San Jose in the second round. The Stars play Vancouver in Game 7 on Monday. The NHL came down hard Sunday on Calgary, suspending goalie Jamie McLennan for five games and fining coach Jim Playfair $25,000 and the team $100,000 for actions late in Game 5 of the Flames' first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. McLennan was given a match penalty for slashing Detroit's Johan Franzen in the midsection at 17:01 of the third period, one of four penalties the Flames were assessed for aggressive and illegal use of the stick (slashing or cross-checking) in the closing minutes of the Red Wings' 5-1 victory. McLennan's suspension was to begin with Game 6 Sunday night in Calgary. Detroit led the series 3-2.
A bounce here, a bounce there. The way Martin Brodeur sounded, the New Jersey Devils were fortunate to close out the Tampa Bay Lightning. In reality, the three-time Stanley Cup champion goalie was the difference in the first-round Eastern Conference series that the Devils won Sunday with Brodeur stopping 32 shots and Brian Gionta scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory. Faced with criticism after playing poorly in the first three games, the 34-year-old goaltender reverted to the form that helped him set a regular-season record for victories and win three straight to end the best-of-seven matchup in six games. Brian Rafalski also scored and Patrick Elias assisted on all three of New Jersey's goals. The Devils advanced to the East semifinals against the Ottawa Senators , who eliminated Pittsburgh in five games. Brad Richards scored two power-play goals for Tampa Bay, which was shutout by Brodeur in Game 5 after scoring three goals in each of the first four games and making the New Jersey star look nothing like a goalie that won a league-record 48 games this season. Brodeur's performance in the first three raised questions about his vulnerability. He rebounded from squandering a two-goal lead in the second period of Game 4, which New Jersey won in overtime, then stopped 31 shots for his 22nd career playoff shutout Friday night.
NHL scores
5486. wabbit - 4/23/2007 1:55:34 PM  It took the Boston Red Sox 10 pitches to hit four straight homers and three days to complete a sweep of the New York Yankees. In another thrilling chapter in a rich rivalry, the Red Sox tied a major league record with the home run streak and got their third consecutive comeback win with a 7-6 victory Sunday night despite Daisuke Matsuzaka's shaky debut against the Yankees. Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Lowell and Jason Varitek connected against Wright, making his second major league start. Then, with the Yankees leading 5-4 in the seventh, Lowell's homer off Scott Proctor (0-1) just cleared the Green Monster in left field for a 7-5 lead. Jeter hit his first home run of the season for New York to tie it at 4 in the fifth after Jason Giambi drove in three runs. But the Yankees' bullpen failed -- even with starter Andy Pettitte making his second relief appearance of the year. Matsuzaka (2-2) had his worst outing in four big league starts, allowing six runs in seven-plus innings. He finally got some offensive support, though. In his previous two starts, the Red Sox totaled just one run. The third-inning outburst made the Red Sox the fifth team in major league history to hit four homers in a row. The Los Angeles Dodgers did it on Sept. 18 last season against San Diego. Drew hit the second of those four homers as well. It was the second homer of the season for all four Boston batters. Wright became the second big league pitcher to allow four consecutive homers. The other was Paul Foytack of the Los Angeles Angels on July 31, 1963, in the sixth inning of the second game of a doubleheader against Cleveland. One of those homers was hit by Tito Francona, the father of current Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who turned 48 on Sunday.
With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, the conditions were perfect for the St. Louis Cardinals to get their offense out of a season-long funk. Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and Scott Rolen had a career-best five hits to help the defending World Series champions beat the Chicago Cubs 12-9 on Sunday.
The Detroit Tigers were headed for a here-we-go-again loss until Marcus Thames hit a tying homer with two outs in the ninth inning. Then, Placido Polanco gave them a rare win at home in extra innings. Polanco singled home the winning run in the 12th and Detroit rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Sunday after blowing a three-run lead. Detroit squandered leads in its previous three games, too, losing twice in extra innings with a surprisingly shaky bullpen.
MLB scores
5487. wabbit - 4/23/2007 2:21:55 PM  Two weeks ago, Janez Brajkovic wasn't even sure he'd be riding in the Tour de Georgia. On Sunday, the 23-year-old Slovenian held on for the biggest win of his young cycling career. With help from his Discovery Channel teammates, Brajkovic overcame a flat tire and preserved a 12-second win over Christian Vande Velde in the final stage of the weeklong event, a circuit race through the streets of downtown Atlanta. Brajkovic was stricken by illness and fever earlier this month, making him doubtful for the race. But he recovered in time, then pulled away from more prominent teammates such as George Hincapie, 2005 Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson and Levi Leipheimer, coming off a victory in the Tour of California.
They knew they were gonna need a bigger boat. The crew of the Sea Ya Later II hooked a 1,063-pound mako shark in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday. The 12-foot-6-inch shark was half the size of their 23-foot boat. They called in The Mother Lode, a 45-foot charter boat, to help bring in the shark. The fishermen harpooned the shark with flying gaffs, a large hook attached to rope used to pull in a fisherman's catch. The gaffs were tied the Sea Ya Later II, which was tilting and close to taking on water. "If [the shark] hadn't been as tired as she was, this boat would be sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico," said Lindsey Stanley, the Sea Ya Later II's captain. After the shark died, it took eight men to pull it aboard the charter boat and take it to Destin on the Florida Panhandle. The mako was too heavy for the first set of scales at Fisherman's Wharf. The registered weight of 1,063 pounds makes the catch eligible for the world record in the 30-pound line class for a short-fin mako. The class record is a 997-pound, 11-ounce shark caught in Sydney, Australia, in 1995.
5488. alistairconnor - 4/23/2007 3:12:36 PM ohhhh bugger...
Floyd Landis's B samples test positive for synthetic testosterone
Looks like he's on his way to being the first winner of the Tour de France to be stripped of his title. 5489. alistairconnor - 4/23/2007 3:47:39 PM The Louis Vuitton Cup, the challengers' series for the Americas Cup, has been trying to get off the ground in Valencia, Spain... for the past week.
A high pressure system over England has been keeping the weather static, dead calm. (Pretty nice here in France too.) Racing has been cancelled on six days out of seven... only three series of races completed so far, and the weather forecast for this week doesn't look hopeful.
It's a very Euro event this year. Logically enough: it's the first time the Cup has been in Europe. There are THREE Italian teams : old friends Luna Rossa; much-improved bad boys Mascalzone Latino; and outsiders +39 Challenge. One Spanish team, Desafio Espanol; the Swedish Victory Challenge having another try; plus outsiders from South Africa, Germany, France and China. The favourites are Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing, and Emirates Team New Zealand.
I suppose the reason I find this list disconcerting is that there is only one American team (and no Australians).
5490. alistairconnor - 4/24/2007 3:25:43 PM   
Chaminda Vaas.
Lasith Malinga.
Muttiah Muralitharan.
All of them dangerous men. With a cricket ball.
Now playing : semi-final of the World Cup, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand.
To see who gets the privilege of being thrashed by Australia in the final.
5491. alistairConnor - 4/24/2007 9:48:57 PM Ohhh the agony. The collapse strikes in the 22nd over.
Sri Lanka were fiendishly efficient with the bat, ran up a bill of 290 runs in their 50 overs. New Zealand were doing pretty decently in reply... 103 for 2 in the first 21 overs...
Then Murali... dude on the right... wickedest spin bowler in the world... caught and bowled Oram and McCullum with consecutive balls...
It's all over, we're true to form. Eternal bridesmaids. 5492. wonkers2 - 4/25/2007 3:58:03 PM Walter Thomas,xxxxxxL sleeper in NFL draft 5493. alistairconnor - 4/25/2007 4:43:10 PM Is the Cap'n following the Americas Cup challenger series?
I paid up 30 euros for the virtual racing which is pretty feeble of me, but I love it. You can follow the races live, flying a helicopter around them to get the vantage point you want.
Today's races are fairly predictable, true to book form. Overall, it's clear who three of the semifinalists will be : Team NZ, Oracle, Luna Rossa (though they are showing signs of relative weakness) - but the fourth spot is up for grabs, and there are several credible contenders. The Spanish, proxy hosts for the Swiss cup holders; the second Italian team, the Latin Rascals; the much improved South Africans; and the constant Swedes.
It's clear that the three remaining teams, the French, Chinese and Sicilians, aren't going anywhere. But they are putting on a show.
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