David Wells figured he’d end his career pitching for his hometown Padres and he wound up pitching for their biggest rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jack Cassel grew up a Dodgers fan and made his first career start against them — for the Padres. While neither factored in the decision, both had their moments as the Padres beat the Dodgers 6-4 Friday night for their eighth win in 10 games.
For the second time in three days, the Arizona Diamondbacks found themselves a percentage point behind the San Diego Padres. Cory Sullivan hit a two-run single in the eighth, then scored the go-ahead run on a 10th-inning error as the Colorado Rockies rallied to beat Arizona 7-3 Friday night and drop the Diamondbacks out of first place in the NL West.
Baltimore manager Dave Trembley blew his stack. For a change, his pitchers didn’t blow the game. After Trembley was ejected in the fourth inning, the Orioles broke a nine-game losing streak with a 9-8 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. But they needed double plays in the last two innings to do it.
Maybe St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was right and not just hopeful when he predicted Rick Ankiel had a big future as a power-hitting outfielder. The first three weeks or so could not have gone any better. Ankiel’s go-ahead grand slam added another chapter to the former phenom pitcher’s comeback story.
Yovani Gallardo was way more fired up about escaping a big jam than he was about his second career homer. The rookie right-hander pitched seven sharp innings and went deep in the fourth inning, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Friday night to inch closer in the NL Central race.
Three outs from history, Scott Baker jogged out to the mound and calmly took the ball for the ninth inning — a perfect game dangling right there in front of him. Nervous? Not this cool Cajun from Louisiana. “What did I have to be nervous about?” Baker asked. “I pitched a great game, no matter how it worked out.” First Baker lost his bid for a perfect game, then one out later fell short of a…
Rejecting the urge to retire, Michael Strahan has decided to play a 15th season with the New York Giants, and possibly even more. The seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end had his agent announce Friday that he was ending a 36-day holdout and would report to the Giants early next week. “He went with his heart instead of his head,” Tony Agnone, his agent, said in a telephone interview with The Associated…
Rodney Harrison, the frequently fined strong safety who solidified the New England Patriots’ defense through back-to-back Super Bowl victories, will miss the first four games of the NFL season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. “Tomorrow, the commissioner will announce I have been suspended,” a somber Harrison said in a hastily announced conference call with reporters on Friday…
Coming off a big sweep of Boston, the New York Yankees looked awfully sluggish against Andy Sonnanstine and the improving Devil Rays. Sonnanstine pitched eight innings of two-hit ball and Carlos Pena homered twice, leading Tampa Bay to a 9-1 rout of the lethargic Yankees on Friday night. “I think our intensity was there.
