The Dallas Cowboys’ charter flight to Miami made an unscheduled stop for repairs in New Orleans on Saturday. “We had a hydraulic problem on our plane. We got it fixed,” team spokesman Rich Dalrymple said. The Boeing 757 landed shortly before 3 p.m. and left about 5:45 p.m., airport spokeswoman Michelle Duffourc said.
Former World Rally champion Colin McRae was believed to be among four people killed in a helicopter crash in Scotland, police said Sunday. McRae, Britain’s best-known rally driver, was believed to be on board the helicopter, which was owned by him and crashed Saturday in a wooded area near his home in Lanark, police said.
Surging perhaps too late to catch Cleveland in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers still can overtake the New York Yankees in the wild-card race. Carlos Guillen had an RBI single and Ivan Rodriguez hit a three-run double off Johan Santana in the first inning, and Detroit held on for a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night that pulled the Tigers within 2 1/2 games of New York.
Jered Weaver wanted no part of baseball history, so he was determined to keep Jim Thome stuck on 499 homers. “I just didn’t want to give up number 500. That was definitely in the back of my mind,” Weaver said Saturday night after pitching the Los Angeles Angels past the Chicago White Sox 2-1. “While you’re out there facing him, you don’t really think about it, you know.
Fausto Carmona is doing his part to help the Cleveland Indians win their first AL Central title since 2001. Carmona pitched three-hit ball over eight innings, retiring his final 16 batters and leading the Indians over the Kansas City Royals 6-0 Saturday night. Travis Hafner homered for Cleveland, which cut its magic number to nine for clinching the division.
Washington Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels did not practice again Saturday and was downgraded to doubtful for Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Daniels, who sprained his foot last week against Miami, said the prudent thing might be for him to sit out Monday night and prepare instead for the next week’s game against the New York Giants.
Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward was fined $5,000 by the NFL for a late hit and unnecessary roughness in Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns. Ward hit cornerback Daven Holly from behind in the third quarter and was penalized 15 yards for a personal foul. The Steelers won the game 34-7. The fine was announced Friday.
When he stands on an NFL sideline for 16 Sundays and a few more each year, Bill Belichick is an undisputed master, with a single-minded and cerebral approach that helped him win three Super Bowls during what might still be a Hall of Fame career. It’s everywhere else that he’s had trouble. The New England coach tried again Friday to move on from the sideline spying scandal in which he was fined…
Josh Beckett and Eric Hinske pushed back at the surging New York Yankees and tightened Boston’s grip on the AL East. Beckett became the first 19-game winner in the majors and Hinske provided the muscle, bowling over Jorge Posada in a home-plate collision to help the Red Sox rout New York 10-1 Saturday and open 5 1/2 -game lead with two weeks and a day to play.
Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run ball was auctioned Saturday for $752,467, well more than the estimates by memorabilia experts. Home run No. 755, the ball that tied the record, went for $186,750, according to Sotheby’s/SCP Auctions. Both final prices included the winning bid plus a 20 percent buyer’s fee, according to the auction houses handling the sale.
