MLB
YANKEES OPEN FINAL SEASON AT RUTH'S PLACE WITH WIN
The New York Yankees opened their final season at Yankee Stadium with a 3-2 rain-delayed victory on Tuesday.
Three highlights from the Yankees victory: On the mound, Chien Ming-Wang (1-0) tossed seven solid innings. At the plate, centerfielder Melky Cabrera hit a game-tying, solo home run off Toronto's Roy Halladay in the sixth inning. Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui sent defending AL MVP Alex Rodriguez home for the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. And in the dugout, new Yankees manager Joe Girardi won his first game at the helm of the storied franchise.
The win also helped the Yankees set a new Major League standard with 11-straight home opening day victories. New York has actually one 16 of their last 17 home openers!
Scheduled to move into their new ballpark next season, this was the last home opener at the House that Ruth Built. Just 80 regular season home games remain at Yankee Stadium!
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Boston 2, Oakland 1
Los Angeles Angels 9, Minnesota 1
Texas 5, Seattle 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Los Angeles Dodgers 3, San Francisco 2
San Diego 2, Houston 1
Colorado 2, St. Louis 1
Florida 5, New York Mets 4 - 10 innings
NBA
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE; NUGGETS BEAT SUNS
One night after slipping out of the Top 8 in the West after losing to Phoenix, the Denver Nuggets road the roller coaster back to the top with a 126-120 win over the Suns at the Pepsi Center. The win moves George Karl's guys back into the playoff grouping with two weeks to go.
NBA teams are making a habit of scoring 70 or more points in a half, and Denver got into that act on Tuesday. They poured in 36 first quarter points and followed that with 34 in the second to take a 70-65 lead at halftime. They made that lead hold up in a tight second half.
As usual, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson led the Nuggets in scoring. Iverson led with 31 while Anthony scored 25. They combined to make 24 free throws. The Nuggets scored 37 points from the line to just 14 for the visitors from the desert.
Leandro Barbosa paced the Suns with 27 while Amare Stoudemire was right behind with 25.
The Denver win stopped Phoenix from taking the lead in the Pacific Division. The Nuggets are 46-29 on the season while the Suns stand at 50-25.
OTHER NBA SCORES
Boston 106, Chicago 92
Detroit 94, Minnesota 90
Milwaukee 119, New York 115
New Orleans 98, Orlando 97
Philadelphia 108, New Jersey 99
Sacramento 99, Houston 98
San Antonio 116, Golden State 92
PLAYOFF WATCH
* New Orleans stays atop the Southwest and the entire Western Conference-just .006 points ahead of San Antonio.
* Philadelphia remains in seventh in the East-just a half-game behind Washington and Toronto.
* Houston's loss pushes them behind Phoenix in the West. The Rockets are now in sixth place.
* Golden State is the outside-looking-in team on Wednesday as Denver replaced them in the Top 8.
* Theoretically, any one of the Top 9 teams in the West could still miss the playoffs.
NHL
SABRES WIN IN OT; STILL HOPEFUL
The Buffalo Sabres' chance of getting back to the Eastern Conference finals is slim, but it's still a chance after they edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday. The Sabres avoided elimination from the playoff picture when Maxim Afinogenov scored the second of Buffalo's shootout goals and Johnny Pohl couldn't answer for the Leafs.
The Leafs led after one period 2-0 on goals by Darcy Tucker and Tomas Kaberle, but Buffalo got a second period goal by Derek Roy and a third-period marker from Steve Bernier to knot the score at 2-2 at 9:18 gone in the final stanza.
Toronto went ahead on Alexander Steen's 15 goal of the year, but Thomas Vanek saved Buffalo at 14:39 with his 33rd lamplighter to put the game into overtime.
OTHER NHL SCORES
Nashville 4, St. Louis 3 (OT)
San Jose 5, Los Angeles 2
Colorado 4, Vancouver 2
Washington 4, Carolina 1
Florida 3, Atlanta 2
Calgary 3, Edmonton 2
Montreal 3, Ottawa 0
New Jersey 2, NY Islanders 1 (OT)
FACT OF THE DAY
NHL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
EAST
Pittsburgh 100
Montreal 100
Carolina 90
New Jersey 95
NY Rangers 93
Ottawa 92
Boston 91
Philadelphia 91
Still hopeful
Washington 90
Buffalo 88
WEST
Detroit 111
San Jose 108
Minnesota 95
Anaheim 98
Dallas 93
Colorado 93
Calgary 92
Nashville 89
Not giving up yet
Vancouver 88
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE
JOSH HAMILTON, Texas Rangers
BIO NOTE: Josh Hamilton was traded during the offseason from the Cincinnati Reds to the Texas Rangers.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, Hamilton hit his first home run as a Ranger. He was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI.
FAITH QUOTE: "[The trade to Texas] was God's work. It was God's plan, and I'm blessed to be a part of it."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
Note: Josh Hamilton graces the cover of the May-June edition of Sports Spectrum magazine. Read about how he overcame a serious drug addiction that nearly cost him his marriage, his baseball career, and his life.
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
HOOSIER COACH? CREAN
Can Tom Crean scrub IU clean? That's going to be the huge task facing the new men's hoops coach at Indiana University. After being turned down by Tony Bennett, whose sister at one time coached the women's team in Bloomington, IU went after a coach closer to home and found Tom Crean at Marquette to be to their liking. Crean will become the third coach in the post-Bob-Knight era following Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson. Sampson, of course, left the mess that Crean will have to try to tidy up. Because of Sampson's recruiting violations, IU still may face some sanctions that will make it tough to get players at first, and the one bonafide star on the Hoosiers' roster, Eric Gordon, is expected to fly off to NBA riches. Crean's resume includes nine seasons at the helm in Milwaukee (Final Four in 2003 with Dwyane Wade), four seasons assisting Tom Izzo at Michigan State, one year at Pittsburgh as an assistant, and four in the same position at Western Kentucky. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University.
PEDRO HURT
After Johan Santana's first start for the New York Mets gave them such hope, they gleefully sent out Pedro Martinez as their No. 2 starter, and things were looking great for the blue and orange. But after 57 pitches on Tuesday in Miami, Martinez felt something pop, and that something was in his left hamstring. He limped off the mound, and another question mark was placed next to the Mets' pitching staff.
NO FREE GAMES
The Chicago Cubs want their money, and if they don't get it, they'll block the view. What's all this about? It's about the buildings that are located across the outfield from Wrigley Field. The owners of some of those buildings have built stands on their rooftops and charge admission for people to sit there and watch Cubs games. But the Cubs didn't like the prospect of perhaps losing revenue, and they wanted to protect their product from piracy, in a sense, so they struck a deal with those owners to pay the team 17 percent of their take. Almost all of the owners are willing to do this, but at least one is balking. So the Cubs are threatening to build a barrier to obstruct the view from the skyseats. What do you think is right? Vote on The Daily Weekly Poll.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
With six races in the books, here's a look at the leaders in the Sprint Cup standings. Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag at Martinsville. Jeff Gordon was second, Jeff Burton third, and Jimmie Johnson was fourth. Now the teams are hauling their rigs to the Dallas area for Sunday's Samsung 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway. It's the first 500-mile race for the drives since March 9 at Atlanta.
| Driver |
Points
|
Birth date |
| 1. Jeff Burton |
915
|
June 29, 1967 |
| 2. Kevin Harvick |
876
|
Dec. 8, 1975 |
| 3. Greg Biffle |
855
|
Dec. 23, 1969 |
| 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
846
|
Oct. 10, 1974 |
| 5. Kyle Busch |
831
|
May 2, 1985 |
| 6. Tony Stewart |
811
|
May 10, 1971 |
| 7. Kasey Kahne |
786
|
April 10, 1980 |
| 8. Denny Hamlin |
758
|
Nov. 18, 1981 |
| 9. Jeff Gordon |
749
|
August 4, 1971 |
| 10. Jimmie Johnson |
746
|
Sept. 17, 1975 |
SPORTS SPECTRUM RADIO
SS DAILY INTERVIEW
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE WEDNESDAY GUEST
ADAM AHLFELD, senior guard, Indiana University basketball
Life is not the way it once was at this school known for its top-flight basketball program. Tough times have come in a number of ways, including the departure of the coach in midseason because of recruiting violations. One player who has lived through the ups and downs of IU hoops for the past four years is Adam Affheldt, a senior this year. Listen in as Adam gives his impression of some of the events in Bloomington.
