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5111. wabbit - 8/22/2006 2:00:01 PM  The Boston Massacre Redux is finally over. Hugging and shaking hands after a demoralizing five-game sweep of the rival Red Sox, New York took a season-high 6½-game lead in the AL East with a 2-1 victory over Boston on Monday. The Yankees have never squandered a lead that large, and they hadn't swept Boston in five games in more than half a century.
Noah Lowry already realized he had found a nice groove, then Barry Bonds splashed a home run into McCovey Cove to give the lefty a lead. Bonds hit his 725th career home run on Monday night, moving the San Francisco slugger within 30 of tying home run king Hank Aaron's record of 755 and leading the Giants to a 5-0 win over Arizona. Lowry pitched a two-hitter for his first complete game of the year and third of his career for the Giants, who moved out of last place or a tie for last in the NL West for the first time since July 31. He walked one, struck out six and recorded his first shutout since Aug. 3, 2004, against Cincinnati.
Justin Verlander solved the Chicago White Sox for the first time, giving the Detroit Tigers a little more of a cushion in the AL Central. In the opener of a possibly pivotal four-game series, Verlander gave up one run over seven innings Monday night in a 7-1 victory over the World Series champions. Detroit had lost nine of its previous 12 games and saw its division lead - which bulged to 10 games on Aug. 7 - dwindle to 5 1/2 games.
MLB scores
5112. wabbit - 8/22/2006 2:00:23 PM wonkers2, from the NY Times: It was a glorious Saturday in July, and any sailors worth their salt were out racing. Dozens of sailboats glided across the blue water of Barnegat Bay: little Sunfish, elegant Flying Scots, tubby Sanderlings and speedy E Scows.
But the A Cats stood out among them all, instantly recognizable by their towering masts and huge sails, their broad wooden hulls painted pale yellow, light blue and black, with classic lines that looked contemporary yet somehow of a grander age. And no wonder. The A Cats were bred to race in the Roaring 20’s, and even those built more than a half-century later remain faithful to the original designs... 5113. wabbit - 8/28/2006 4:23:09 PM  Bernardini, the imposing 3-year-old colt, turned the $1 million Travers Stakes into his own personal showcase Saturday, blowing away the talented Bluegrass Cat in the stretch for another overpowering victory. This time, the winning margin was 7½ lengths, a sensational encore after wins in the Jim Dandy by nine lengths and in the Preakness by 5¼ lengths. Under cloudy skies at a packed Saratoga Race Course, Bernardini put on a dazzling display, seizing the lead just after the start and controlling the race all the way around the track.
Marco Andretti gambled twice on fuel, then benefited from a caution late in the race to hold off Dario Franchitti by 0.66 seconds and win the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. The 19-year-old Andretti became the youngest winner of a major open-wheel race.
Americans Michael Phelps and Brendan Hansen closed out the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships with world record-setting victories here on Sunday. Hansen lowered his own 200m breaststroke world record for the second time in 15 days, clocking a time of 2min 08.50sec, almost a quarter-second better than the 2:08.74 he set at the US championships on August 5. Rising US sprinter Cullen Jones won the men's 50m freestyle in 21.84, ahead of world champion Roland Schoeman of South Africa (22.12). The United States swept the men's and women's 4x100m medley relays. Natalie Coughlin, Jessica Hardy, Rachel Komisarz and Amanda Weir set a meet record of 3:58.38 to win the women's medley relay, while
Aaron Peirsol, Hansen, Ian Crocker and Jason Lezak posted a meet record of 3:31.79 in the men's final.
For three straight holes in a playoff, Tiger Woods could only stand to the side of the green and watch someone else control his fate Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational. Given a chance to win, he wasn't about to waste it. Woods hit an 8-iron through a driving rain into 8 feet on the fourth extra hole, then made the birdie putt to outlast Stewart Cink at Firestone South for his fourth consecutive victory. It came on the 10th anniversary of his turning pro, and it gave Woods his 52nd career victory to match Byron Nelson for fifth all time.
5114. wabbit - 8/28/2006 4:23:34 PM  Mark Buehrle had his best game in months, and the Chicago White Sox got a much-needed victory over the Minnesota Twins. Buehrle won for the second time in two months, A.J. Pierzynski and Joe Crede hit consecutive home runs and the White Sox won 6-1 Sunday to cut the Twins' lead in the AL wild-card race to a half-game. Pierzynski and Crede connected in the fifth as Chicago turned a one-run edge into a 5-1 lead, and the White Sox went on to avoid a three-game sweep. Buehrle (11-11) left to a standing ovation after allowing back-to-back singles by Luis Castillo and Nick Punto with one out in the eighth.
Kenny Rogers put on a pitching performance that Detroit desperately needed and the Tigers backed him with four home runs, beating the Cleveland Indians 7-1 Sunday and ending a four-game losing streak. Curtis Granderson led off the game with a homer and Marcus Thames , Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez later connected as the Tigers averted a four-game sweep. They won for only the sixth time in 19 games since Aug. 7 - when they held a 10-game lead in the AL Central.
Despite David Ortiz hitting his league-leading 47th homer, the Red Sox lost for the 11th time in 14 games and dropped 6 1/2 games behind New York in the AL East. The deficit is almost equal in the wild card, with Boston 5 1/2 back of Minnesota. All-Star outfielder Manny Ramirez again sat out with a sore right knee and the injury news didn't get any better for Boston. Rookie pitcher Jon Lester was scratched from his scheduled start Monday night in Oakland with a sore back and is returning to Boston for further evaluation. Catcher Doug Mirabelli and outfielder Wily Mo Pena were injured during the series against the Mariners, adding to the six players already on the disabled list.
MLB scores
5115. OhioSTOPAS - 9/1/2006 11:34:35 AM August is finally over! Maybe El Foldo is over too. 5116. alistairconnor - 9/1/2006 12:09:54 PM 
Andre Agassi is playing his last tournament.
I hope he makes it to the final.
And then does a Zidane, knocking down his opponent with a head-butt.
5117. wabbit - 9/1/2006 4:54:51 PM Ohio, I'd say that trading Wells signals the acceptance of the inevitable.
I would love to see Agassi make it to the finals. Barring that, I'm happy to see him playing so well in his final tournament. 5118. wabbit - 9/1/2006 5:37:44 PM One reason why I've lost all interest in college football and basketball: The University at Buffalo football team went 1-10 last season and did not score a touchdown until the fourth game. For nearly a decade, it has been considered one of the worst teams in college football.
Buffalo is just the kind of opponent some of the nation’s top-ranked teams are looking for — and are paying rapidly rising prices to play this season. The Bulls will travel this coming season to play Auburn, a national title contender, and Wisconsin, a perennial Big Ten Conference power. Although Buffalo appears destined to be humiliated, the university will receive a $600,000 appearance check for each game.
Scheduling easy victories is a tradition as timeless in college football as fight songs and homecoming. But after the National Collegiate Athletic Association approved the addition of a 12th regular-season game for the coming season, the appearance fees began climbing in a bidding war for games against college football’s flotsam and jetsam... 5119. wonkers2 - 9/2/2006 4:30:09 PM Crescent Sail Club regatta 8-26-06 (Cap'n Dirty was DFL!) 5120. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:49:46 PM DFL? 5121. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:50:29 PM  Ryan Howard is hitting all the homers he can to keep Philadelphia in the playoff picture, trying to overcome bullpen breakdowns and late-inning mistakes. Howard homered in his first three at-bats, raising his major league-leading total to 52, and the Phillies rallied after wasting a five-run lead to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-7 Sunday in the opener of their second straight doubleheader split. Atlanta kept Howard from going deep in the second game, winning 3-1 in 11 innings after scoring the go-ahead run on catcher Carlos Ruiz's throwing error. The Phillies, who won Saturday's nightcap, dropped to 11/2 games back of San Diego, the NL wild-card leader while the Braves fell five games behind the Padres.
It's too late, but the Boston Red Sox activated catcher Jason Varitek, outfielder Trot Nixon and shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the disabled list Sunday, bringing back three regulars who were sidelined while the team's playoff chances plummeted. Varitek, the team captain, had been on the 15-day disabled list since Aug. 1 with torn cartilage in his left knee. Nixon was out since July 31 with a strained right biceps, while Gonzalez was gone since Aug. 22 with a strained side muscle. The Red Sox went 9-21 during August, the worst winning percentage in the majors, and fell from a one-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees to an eight-game deficit by the end of the month.
The Chicago White Sox are probably happy they don't have to face the Kansas City Royals again this season. The Royals have the worst record in the majors at 51-87, but have been giving the White Sox fits lately, winning five of the last eight meetings. That came after the White Sox won eight of the first 11 games between the teams this season. Ryan Shealy and Angel Berroa each homered and drove in three runs, and Mark Redman pitched seven strong innings as the Royals defeated the White Sox 7-3 on Sunday.
MLB scores
5122. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:50:56 PM  Vijay Singh shot the best round of his PGA Tour career on Sunday and put himself in position to end another streak by Tiger Woods at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Singh played his first five holes in 5 under par, then finished with three straight birdies for a 10-under 61 to set the course record at the TPC of Boston and build a three-shot lead over Woods, who shot 67. Two years ago, Singh went toe-to-toe with Woods in the final round on Labor Day and beat him by three shots to rise to No. 1, ending Woods' record 264 consecutive weeks atop the world ranking. Woods now has won four straight times on the PGA Tour, and Singh is poised to end that streak.
Annika Sorenstam waved to the raucous gallery, picked up the ball and tossed it toward a sky box after ending a nearly flawless day with a 20-foot birdie putt. It was the perfect finish to a round that carried her to an LPGA record and a victory at the State Farm Classic. Down five strokes at the start of play Sunday, Sorenstam tied the LPGA mark for the lowest final-round score by a tournament winner with a 62. She shot 10 under for the day to finish 19 under, two strokes ahead of Cristie Kerr (67).
Henrik Stenson eagled the first playoff hole Sunday to win the BMW International. Stenson, who will make his Ryder Cup debut later this month, shot a 4-under 68 to force a three-way tie with two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (67) and Padraig Harrington (69) at 15-under 273. The Swede hit a 5-iron to within five feet on the first playoff hole, the 568-yard 18th. Goosen missed an eagle putt from 25 feet, while Harrington drove into the rough and then found a greenside bunker with his second shot.
5123. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:51:35 PM  It was nearly an hour before Andre Agassi stopped crying and it could be a decade before the sport stops wiping away its tears. The 36-year-old legend bowed out of the US Open and tennis on Sunday in a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 loss to Germany’s Benjamin Becker, but there was no real defeat on the day, as all 23,712 fans in attendance stood and cheered in unison, saluting the most popular tennis player of all time.
While other players have come close to Agassi in international recognition, none have been as widely loved, and as Agassi wept courtside, in the locker room and in the players lounge, the world took a bow – just like he did eight times in front of the highly emotional crowd. With tears running down his cheeks, Agassi still had the courage to take the microphone and thank fans for inspiring him to succeed, even during his lowest moments. Early in his career, Agassi had fought against the world. Later in life, he learned to how to lean on his supporters’ shoulders.
Andy Roddick should be able to beat Becker without any real difficulty in their match today, and most of the remaining top players are through to the next round. Marat Safin provided a big upset by defeating the no. 4 seed David Nalbandian, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6), after nearly four hours. The 6-foot-5 Safin next meets Olivier Rochus of Belgium, who at 5-foot-4 has won their last two matches.
US Open Tennis
5124. wonkers2 - 9/5/2006 12:58:32 PM In polite sailing parlance DFL=dead fucking last. 5125. wabbit - 9/5/2006 1:15:16 PM Ah, thanks! 5126. wabbit - 9/5/2006 1:16:10 PM  Tiger Woods made two eagles in his first seven holes to turn a rally into a rout, matching the best final round of his career with an 8-under 63 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday and stretch his PGA Tour winning streak to five tournaments. It was the first time Woods has won five straight times in one season, and his two-shot victory over Vijay Singh gave him seven titles in only 14 tournaments this year, a staggering victory rate of 50 percent.
About the only thing capable of stopping him right now is the schedule. Woods is taking next week off. His next PGA Tour event will be the American Express Championship outside London the last week of September.
Byron Nelson won 11 straight tournaments in 1945, a streak regarded as one of the most untouchable in sports. Woods won four straight at the end of 1999 and his first two in 2000 for six in a row, tied with Ben Hogan in 1948 for the second-longest winning streak.
5127. alistairConnor - 9/7/2006 9:56:44 AM When Les Bleus play the Squadra Azzura, one of the teams has to play in white.
Italy got to be in blue for the World Cup final, two months ago (a controversial and undeserved victory for them, you may recall)
Last night's match was for the Euro Cup qualifiers, and France was in blue. And played at home in Paris, before an exceedingly partisan crowd... baying for revenge.
And they humiliated the world champions, 3-1. (the same score as Sweden-Liechtenstein...)
This is a better team than the one that came second in the world cup... astonishingly, newcomer Franck Ribéry is starting to fill Zidane's shoes as playmaker. And Sidney Govou (right), who hardly got to play in the World Cup, scored two excellent goals.
Did I mention that he's a good friend of my girlfriend's sister?
Yes I thought so. 5128. wabbit - 9/7/2006 2:53:25 PM  Marion Jones' latest comeback came in a laboratory, where her backup sample turned up clean -- a stunning twist that clears her to compete and could validate a long list of triumphs sullied by years of doping allegations. The "B" sample taken from one of the world's best-known and most decorated sprinters did not detect the banned endurance enhancer EPO, her attorneys said Wednesday night. The finding means her initial positive result is thrown out, clearing her of the most recent -- and most damaging -- allegations against Jones and paving the way for her return to the track.
Questions have long been raised about the reliability of EPO testing, and this negative 'B' test will spark further debate. "I believe there are issues with that test," said Howard Jacobs, another Jones attorney who has defended several athletes on doping charges. "It's a difficult test. From what I saw on the `A' sample, it was questionable as to whether it should've been called a positive. I can't say I was shocked that the 'B' came back negative based on what the 'A' looked like." As he has in the doping case involving Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, Jacobs derided the leaking of positive tests. Doping cases aren't supposed to be made public until they are resolved, but most are reported once a positive 'A' test is confirmed.
 Cat Osterman has pitched plenty of back-to-back games in her career. On Tuesday, she delivered her best 1-2 punch. First, she led the U.S. softball team to a 5-1 victory against longtime rival Australia. Two hours later, Osterman avenged Monday's loss to Japan, striking out 14 in a 3-0 win that gave the USA its sixth consecutive world title. The win gives the U.S. team the top seed at the Beijing Olympics, where softball and baseball will make their final appearances. Both sports are to be dropped from the Olympics beginning in 2012 at London. The Americans have won all three gold medals since softball became an Olympic sport in 1996 and are 106-10 in world championships competition since 1965. Japan beat the U.S. team 3-1 on Monday, ending the Americans' 20-game unbeaten streak at the world championships. Their last loss came in the second round of the 1998 world championships against Australia.
5129. wabbit - 9/7/2006 2:54:00 PM 
Anibal Sanchez was standing behind the mound when the scoreboard caught his eye, confirming what he already knew: He was one out from a no-hitter. He froze. For a couple of seconds, the Florida Marlins' rookie didn't move. Then he collected himself and, in this year of sensational rookies, finished up the greatest performance yet. The 22-year-old Venezuelan brought the longest period without a no-hitter in major league history to a close Wednesday night, benefiting from three defensive gems by teammates to lead the Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0. One of four rookies in the Florida rotation, Sanchez (7-2) walked four and pitched around an error. He struck out six and threw 103 pitches in his 13th career start. It was the first no-hitter in the majors since Arizona's Randy Johnson threw a perfect game to beat Atlanta 2-0 on May 18, 2004.
Stick a fork in the Red Sox, they are done. Jose Contreras turned a tweaked Chicago lineup and a little clubhouse chat into the perfect remedy for the White Sox. Contreras pitched eight strong innings and Jim Thome went 4-for-4 with his 39th homer in a revamped White Sox lineup to carry Chicago to an 8-1 win over the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night. The win was the second in seven games for the defending World Series champion White Sox, who moved to a half game behind the Twins in the AL wild-card chase. The Red Sox remained six back with Minnesota's 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay. Contreras (12-7), who was 0-3 in his previous four starts, held the Red Sox to one run and four hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. He fanned five consecutive batters in the first and second innings.
MLB scores
5130. wabbit - 9/7/2006 2:55:22 PM Andy Roddick whipped a winner on the run past Lleyton Hewitt, raised his arms and yelled to celebrate, then basked in the standing ovation. Exactly the sort of stuff Jimmy Connors used to do to fire up U.S. Open crowds, right? Roddick, now coached by Connors, capped a busy day at Flushing Meadows by beating fellow former champion Hewitt 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday night to reach the semifinals for the first time since he won the tournament in 2003.
And there was more good news for Roddick: He won't have to play Rafael Nadal next. The second-seeded Spaniard was upset by 54th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1, meaning Nadal and No. 1 Roger Federer will not become the first pair of men to meet in three consecutive Grand Slam finals during a season.  A day after rain allowed only one match to finish, Federer and No. 5 James Blake set up a quarterfinal showdown with straight-set wins, and that half's other quarterfinal will be No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko against No. 14 Tommy Haas.
There still could be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 final for the women, because top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne advanced with relative ease. Henin-Hardenne's 6-4, 6-4 win over Lindsay Davenport means this is the first year in the Open era -- which began in 1968 -- that no American woman reached any Grand Slam semifinal.
Mauresmo beat No. 12 Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 to move a step closer to her third Grand Slam title of 2006. Her next opponent is No. 3 Maria Sharapova, whose shrieking during her 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0) quarterfinal victory got to No. 27 Tatiana Golovin.
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