Talk about your pushy New Yorkers. Strutting into Jacobs Field for the weekend, the Yankees made themselves right at home. They bullied the Cleveland Indians before leaving with three wins and the same confidence that has made them champions many times before. “I feel like we’re the team,” Andy Pettitte said.
Salute the Sarge defeated Georgie Boy by a length to win Sunday’s $147,000 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar. Michael Baze rode his third winner on the card, guiding Salute the Sarge over 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:19.43. The winner paid $4.60 and $2.40. “I just let him do his thing and then when the time came he went,” Baze said.
Classic Pack beat 13-1 odds for a 3/4 -length victory over Red Zipper in the $100,000 West Point Handicap at Saratoga Race Course before a record crowd of over 72,000 on Sunday. The 4-year-old son of Regal Classic, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, covered 1 1/8 miles on the Mellon turf course in 1:47.77.
The Minnesota Vikings activated third-year defensive end Erasmus James from the physically unable to perform list on Sunday, hoping he can regain the pass-rushing form he exhibited at Wisconsin before a serious knee injury last year. James hasn’t played since tearing a ligament in his left knee in the second game of last season.
Matt Schaub was just what coach Gary Kubiak expected him to be in his first game with the Houston Texans. He was poised, made smart decisions and evaded defenders when pressured. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things he could have done better. Schaub overthrew a wide-open Kevin Walter in the end zone in the first quarter of Houston’s 20-19 loss to Chicago on Saturday night in the preseason opener…
Anthony Hargrove is running out of second chances with the Buffalo Bills, who are considering releasing the defensive end after he landed in trouble for the second time in a week. “Releasing him is an option,” coach Dick Jauron said Sunday, a day after the NFL suspended Hargrove for the first four regular-season games without pay for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Patrick Carpentier was supposed to be moving to Las Vegas on Sunday. Instead, he moved up on the Nextel Cup radar.
Jeff Weaver is accustomed to slow starts. He’s also getting used to dominating late in the year. Weaver pitched his second shutout of the season and Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer to lead the Seattle Mariners past the Chicago White Sox 6-0 Sunday. Weaver, who started the 2006 season 1-7 before becoming the World Series hero for the St.
Magglio Ordonez was simply trying to get an opposite-field hit when he led off the second inning. By the time the inning was over, Ordonez had two homers and a place alongside Al Kaline in Detroit Tigers lore. Ordonez hit two homers in an eight-run second and Detroit beat the Oakland Athletics 11-6 Sunday to win consecutive games for only the second time since mid-July.
If Brian Giles is going to hit for power anywhere, it’s at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park against the Reds. San Diego’s right fielder hit two home runs for the second consecutive day and Jake Peavy remained unbeaten against Cincinnati in the Padres’ 10-4 victory Sunday. “I’ve hit the ball like that before,” said Giles.
