SAN DIEGO (AP)—John Smoltz had a brilliant debut with the St. Louis Cardinals, striking out a season-high nine—including seven straight—and holding San Diego to three hits over five scoreless innings in a 5-2 victory Sunday.

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan throws over San Diego Padres' Adrian Gonzalez while trying to turn a double play during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009 in San Diego. Chase Headley was safe at first.


Smoltz also had a bunt single and scored the first run for the NL Central-leading Cardinals, who retained their eight-game lead over the Chicago Cubs. He didn’t walk a batter.

Albert Pujols hit his 40th homer, a leadoff shot to right in the fourth. It was the fifth time he’s hit 40 homers and the first since 2006, when he hit a career-high 49.



Story: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=ArvFvMQobD7_iiEPckdx_E45nYcB?gid=290823125&prov=ap

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By: bigrob054 | On: Sun Aug 23, 09 7:08 PM

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SEATTLE (AP)—Brandon Marshall’s feud with the Broncos continued on Saturday, with the disgruntled wide receiver left back in Denver while the rest of the team lost a preseason game at Seattle.

“Everybody who was ready and able to play in this game was here. And everybody we deemed not ready and able stayed back home,” Broncos first-year coach Josh McDaniels said late Saturday night after Denver’s 27-13 loss.

The coach added he “absolutely” expected Marshall to participate when the Broncos return to practice Tuesday.

The team also left safety Brian Dawkins home. The 35-year-old Dawkins, who joined the Broncos after 13 seasons in Philadelphia, missed a week and a-half of training camp with a broken right hand that required surgery. He returned to the field a few days ago week and picked off a pass despite a cumbersome club on his hand.

Broncos rookie cornerback Alphonso Smith, a second-round pick for whom Denver traded a No. 1 pick in 2010 to Seattle to draft, left with an apparent injury to his right leg in the third quarter following a kickoff return. The Broncos said only that Smith had an injury to a “lower extremity.”




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By: rjc1989 | On: Sun Aug 23, 09 1:22 PM

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Dallas Cowboys fans got a glimpse of everything they were hoping to see Friday night.

Their new stadium dazzled. Tony Romo was darn good. And the Cowboys won, pretty easily.

In the first football game at the nearly $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, Romo looked right at home, going 18 of 24 for 192 yards and sending Dallas on its way to a 30-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans in a preseason game.

“It was incredible,” Romo said, comparing the atmosphere to a regular-season game. “It’s really exciting to be a part of something this special. It’s only going to continue and get better as the year goes on.”

Thousands of fans rushed in when the doors opened two hours before kickoff, many eager to see just how humongous the overhead video boards are and some simply in a hurry to claim the best standing-room spots. By the time players walked through a club packed with fans to get to the field, they were all smiles about finally getting to play in this place they’ve heard so much about for so long.



Story: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20090821006

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By: rjc1989 | On: Sat Aug 22, 09 4:27 PM

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CHICAGO (AP)—A billionaire brokerage family will attempt what a newspaper publisher and a chewing-gum dynasty failed to do: Break baseball’s longest World Series drought.

The Rickettses, longtime Cubs fans whose wealth comes from family-owned Ameritrade, signed an agreement Friday to buy a 95 percent stake of the team and its Wrigley Field home from Tribune Co. The $845 million deal also includes Tribune’s approximately 25 percent share of regional cable TV network Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

The deal, which requires approval by a bankruptcy court judge and Major League Baseball, may not help deliver a title to a profitable but hapless franchise that last won the big one in 1908. But the new owners can’t do any worse, championship-wise, than Tribune has during a 28-year stewardship or the Wrigley family during its 60 years at the helm.





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By: rjc1989 | On: Sat Aug 22, 09 4:23 PM

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The Pittsburgh Pirates traded three-time All-Star second baseman Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants for top pitching prospect Tim Alderson on Wednesday, hours after shipping veteran shortstop Jack Wilson and underachieving starter Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners for five players.

Sanchez, who only had to change clubhouses because the Pirates played at San Francisco, is batting.296 with six home runs and 34 RBIs. He has been sidelined for a few days because of a tender knee.

Alderson, 20, was the Giants’ first-round pick in 2008. The 6-foot-6 right-hander is 6-1 in Double-A this season and was ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the Giants’ system by Baseball America.

The Pirates are in full salary-dumping mode, having also recently traded first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox and outfielder Nate McLouth to Atlanta.





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By: rjc1989 | On: Wed Jul 29, 09 11:31 PM

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PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Cliff Lee’s(notes) new teammates were so excited to get him, they gave the man responsible for the trade a clubhouse curtain call.

Looking for an ace to bolster their so-so rotation, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired Lee on Wednesday from Cleveland, marking the second straight year the Indians traded the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner.

When general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. walked through the locker room hours before the defending World Series champions played in Arizona, many Phillies greeted him with applause.

“One of our goals has been to add someone to our rotation that can be a difference-maker,” Amaro said in a conference call. “It’s important to show our guys on the field that we’re making the best effort to put the best team out there.”

The NL East-leading Phillies gave Cleveland four minor league prospects for Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco(notes). The left-handed Lee is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 22 starts this season after going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA last year.


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By: rjc1989 | On: Wed Jul 29, 09 11:17 PM

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NEW YORK (AP)—Cleveland Browns receiver Donte’ Stallworth(notes) was indefinitely suspended by the NFL on Thursday for driving drunk and killing a pedestrian in Miami.

“The conduct reflected in your guilty plea resulted in the tragic loss of life and was inexcusable,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to Stallworth.

“While the criminal justice system has determined the legal consequences of this incident, it is my responsibility as NFL commissioner to determine appropriate league discipline for your actions, which have caused irreparable harm to the victim and his family, your club, your fellow players and the NFL,” Goodell said.

Stallworth, who will not be paid during the suspension, pleaded guilty this month to a DUI manslaughter charge for striking Mario Reyes on March 14. He began serving a 30-day jail sentence Tuesday and has reached a financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker.

After jail, Stallworth must serve two years of house arrest and spend eight years on probation. The house arrest provisions would allow him to play.



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By: rjc1989 | On: Fri Jun 19, 09 1:49 PM

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WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—Defending champion Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon on Friday because of tendinitis in his knees.

He is the first reigning Wimbledon men’s champion to not defend the title since Goran Ivanisevic in 2002—and only the second in the last 35 years. The grass-court Grand Slam tournament begins Monday.

“I’m just not 100 percent,” the No. 1-ranked Nadal said during a news conference at the All England Club. “I’m better than I was a couple of weeks ago, but I just don’t feel ready.”

His announcement came about 2 1/2 hours after he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in an exhibition match on grass at the Hurlingham Club in south London.

“Today was the last test,” Nadal said. “I didn’t feel terrible but not close to my best.”



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By: rjc1989 | On: Fri Jun 19, 09 1:43 PM

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BOSTON (AP)—Is she or isn’t she?

People.com is reporting Gisele Bundchen is pregnant. Citing two anonymous sources, the report says Tom Brady’s(notes) wife is due early next year.

Brady’s mother, Galynn, told the Associated Press on Friday that she had no comment on the report. The supermodel’s agent at IMG, Anne Nelson, told the AP that she doesn’t comment on the personal lives of her clients.

Brady has a son, Jack, with actress Bridget Moynahan.

Late last month, the New England Patriots quarterback said Bundchen was not pregnant. “One is enough,” Brady said on May 28. “I have dogs, and that’s all I need.”

RadarOnline.com previously had reported that Bundchen was telling friends she’s pregnant.



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By: rjc1989 | On: Fri Jun 19, 09 1:40 PM

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By: rjc1989 | On: Tue Jun 09, 09 11:29 AM

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—A homesick Brent Sutter resigned as the coach of the New Jersey Devils after just two seasons, citing family reasons and scoffing at the idea that some may criticize him for leaving so soon.

“It might not be the right decision for some people and that’s fine,” Sutter said in a conference call from his home in Red Deer, Alberta. “I don’t look at it like I am quitting on anything. I threw two years of my life and made a big commitment 3,000 miles away from where my life was and tried to do everything I possibly could to accomplish a goal. So by me doing that my life has suffered in other areas, and those areas to me are bigger than the game.”

Sutter said the Devils’ crushing loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series had nothing to do with his decision.




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By: rjc1989 | On: Tue Jun 09, 09 11:20 AM

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(Game 1) 5-4 Tigers
CHICAGO (AP)—Brandon Inge delivered for the Detroit Tigers after another display of sloppy baseball from the Chicago White Sox, one that left manager Ozzie Guillen fuming.

After a costly Chicago error and an infield hit, Inge singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning as the Tigers beat the White Sox 5-4 in the opener of a day-night doubleheader Monday.

“I was basically just trying not to strike out,” Inge said. “I’m trying to put it in play. I’m trying to make something happen.”

Miguel Cabrera(notes) reached on third baseman Josh Fields’ error with one out. Marcus Thames followed with an infield single off shortstop Alexei Ramirez’s(notes) glove.

Inge then grounded a single into left field off Scott Linebrink(notes) (2-3), scoring pinch-runner Josh Anderson(notes) from second base.

The fielding gaffe in the ninth wasn’t what had Guillen stewing after his team’s sixth loss in seven games. He was more upset about his team’s inability to move runners and get down bunts.




(Game 2) 6-1 White Sox


CHICAGO (AP)—Jose Contreras, the ace during the Chicago White Sox’s run to the World Series title four years ago, went to the minors and made the most of his time.

And when he returned to majors Monday night, the 37-year-old right-hander was ready.

Contreras allowed only one hit in eight strong innings, getting his first win in nearly a year, as Chicago beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 to earn a doubleheader split.

Detroit won the opener 5-4 with Brandon Inge singling in the go-ahead run in the ninth.

When Contreras started 0-5 this year after a quick recovery from an Achilles tendon rupture last August, he knew he needed to work on his game.

“I needed to work on my pitches. I needed to work on my location and the only place to do it was Triple-A. I decided to go down to Triple-A and work on stuff,” Contreras said.

“Obviously I came back and used it today and it paid off with a great outing.







Story:http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Aj3_tkRO.U_0dr1JmWczvNO4u7YF?gid=290608304

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By: rjc1989 | On: Tue Jun 09, 09 1:29 AM

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RECIFE, Brazil (AP)—Brazilian midfielder Kaka finalized his move to Real Madrid on Monday, marking the end of a “soap opera” and the start of a new phase of his career in Spain.

“Now the soap opera is over,” said Kaka, decked out in a yellow Brazilian national team jersey after a practice session ahead of Wednesday’s Brazil-Paraguay qualifier in the northeastern coastal city of Recife. “The only leftover details were the medical exams, and I’ve done them. The negotiations are closed and I have sealed my transfer to Real Madrid.”

Real Madrid announced the signing earlier Monday of the attacking midfielder from AC Milan, the 2007 FIFA player of the year. The Spanish club gave no financial details but reports said Madrid will pay Milan 65 million euros ($92 million) for Kaka, making it the richest deal in soccer history.

The largest previous transfer was set by Zinedine Zidane when he joined Madrid from Juventus for $65 million in 2001.

Link:http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AnXgYgKOThQjZEehDWsP8Rg5nYcB?slug=ap-realmadrid-kaka&prov=ap&type=lgns

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By: rjc1989 | On: Tue Jun 09, 09 1:03 AM

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Texas Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton(notes) will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a partial tear in an abdominal muscle and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks.

“That’s great because we thought it would be longer,” manager Ron Washington said Monday. “It looks like we’ll have a chance to get him back after the (July) All-Star break. At least it won’t be September.”

The team had feared that the injury was a hernia similar to the one that shut down second baseman Ian Kinsler(notes) for 12 weeks last year.

An MRI exam on Monday confirmed the diagnosis of the partial tear.

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By: rjc1989 | On: Tue Jun 09, 09 12:53 AM

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