Rick Ankiel has a simple message for St. Louis Cardinals fans. “Don’t hold me to days like this,” he said. Ankiel homered twice and drove in three runs, the latest power display by the former pitcher, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 on Saturday. Ankiel, who scored three times, hit the first pitch he saw in the first and seventh innings to right field, giving him three home…
With another strong performance at Boston’s favorite home away from home, Josh Beckett became the first major leaguer to reach 15 wins. His only regret was that he couldn’t finish what he started. Beckett came within one out of his third career shutout, and Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew each drove in two runs to help the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2 Saturday.
Kevin Harvick had victory lane to himself Saturday, using perfect pit strategy to win the Zippo 200 on Saturday at Watkins Glen International. Harvick, the defending Busch Series champion, led 37 laps and beat Jeff Burton by 3.5 seconds for his second consecutive win, fifth this season and 31st of his career.
Starting from the pole at Watkins Glen International usually is a good omen in Nextel Cup. But racing the Car of Tomorrow for the first time on the high-speed road course without much practice promised a few surprises for Sunday’s Centurion Boats at The Glen.
Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney easily won the Crown Royal 200 Daytona Prototype race at Watkins Glen International on Friday, tying the series record with their sixth victory of the year. Starting from the pole, Fogarty led every lap of his stint and Gurney stayed in front after taking over on lap 34. They finished 1.757 seconds ahead of the No.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia wasn’t too comfortable with the way the Minnesota Twins’ infield was guarding against a bunt by Maicer Izturis, so he called him over and told him to swing away. Izturis did just that, hitting his third home run in 11 at-bats to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs for Los Angeles in the eighth inning of a 4-3 victory Saturday night.
Jamey Carroll has struggled this year to find the groove he had in 2006. At least for one swing, he captured it again Saturday night. Carroll hit a pinch-hit grand slam to break open a tie game in the sixth and Brad Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki each drove in three runs to lead the Colorado Rockies past the Chicago Cubs 15-2 Saturday night.
The way last season went for the Oakland Raiders, they’ll take any sort of a win — even an exhibition one over the Arizona Cardinals. Andrew Walter threw a touchdown pass to Mike Williams and Hiram Eugene scored on a 36-yard interception return to lead Oakland to a 27-23 victory Saturday night in coach Lane Kiffin’s first game with the Raiders.
Matt Schaub’s first pass for the Houston Texans was for 2 yards. His second one was dropped. This revamped Texans offense sure looks a lot like the old one. Schaub, who replaced David Carr after backing up Michael Vick for three years in Atlanta, had an inauspicious debut going 3-for-5 for 25 yards. But the defending NFC champion Chicago Bears scored 13 fourth quarter points, including a 47-yard…
