Andy Pettitte got a milestone ball from Mariano Rivera and the lineup card from manager Joe Torre. The New York Yankees got another step closer to the top of the AL East. Pettitte earned his 200th win, Rivera escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and the Yankees edged the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep that pulled them within 1 1/2 games of first-place…
With their lead atop the AL East getting ever smaller, the Boston Red Sox expect to learn a lot about themselves before the end of the season. The Red Sox saw their division lead cut to 1 1/2 games — their smallest edge since late April — when the Toronto Blue Jays broke through against Clay Buchholz and Jonathan Papelbon for a 6-1 victory Wednesday night.
Rookie center Jonathan Toews, Chicago’s first-round pick in last year’s draft, broke his right index finger Wednesday night during the Blackhawks’ 4-3 preseason loss to Columbus and is expected to be sidelined two-to-three weeks. It was a rough night for the Blackhawks, who also lost defenseman Ryan Stokes to injury.
Manny Malhotra’s second goal of the game, a shot from the right wing that deflected off Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook with 7:02 to play, gave the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-3 preseason victory Wednesday night. Jason Chimera and Curtis Glencross also scored for Columbus (1-1). Patrick Kane, the first pick overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, played his first game with the Blackhawks.
Penguins right wing Petr Sykora will miss at least two preseason games because of a broken nose and probably won’t resume practicing until next week. Sykora’s nose was broken during a collision with Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik during the Penguins’ 5-2 exhibition victory in Montreal on Tuesday night.
While some of their fans act as if the world has ended, the San Diego Chargers are trying to remain calm after being embarrassed by the New England Patriots. Plenty went wrong in their 38-14 stinker on Sunday night, from quarterback Philip Rivers committing three turnovers to LaDainian Tomlinson failing to fire behind a sputtering offensive line to a secondary that got schooled by Tom Brady and…
There was no vow to become “Man of the Year” this time. Tank Johnson simply said Wednesday he is looking forward to resuming his career with the Dallas Cowboys. “I know that I’m not a risk,” he said. “I’m a highly intelligent person and I take pride in a lot of things I do in life. Just like any other human being, I’m going to make mistakes and I’ve made mistakes.
The Minnesota Vikings’ last line of defense is suddenly looking a little shaky. Starting safeties Darren Sharper (hip) and Dwight Smith (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday, the first day of preparation for Sunday’s game at Kansas City. Sharper intercepted two passes and Smith also picked off one in Sunday’s loss at Detroit.
Once top cats in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers were tamed, declawed and chased away with a broom. The Cleveland Indians simply wouldn’t let them hang around. Not this year. “They’re going to be Central Division champions, obviously,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland conceded Wednesday after the Indians completed a three-game sweep with a 4-2 win.
Barry Bonds said the man who bought his 756th home run ball and announced plans to let the public decide its fate is an “idiot.” Fashion designer Marc Ecko had the winning bid Saturday in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs. The final selling price was $752,467, well above most predictions.
