Sports News
May 15, 2008Here are the sports results from Thursday:
MINNEAPOLIS - Still stuck in last place and minus injured leader Vernon Wells, the streaky Toronto Blue Jays needed to reconstruct their confidence.
This was a successful first step: A three-game sweep at Minnesota. Dustin McGowan survived his wildness without much damage, the bullpen was spotless and Joe Inglett picked up his first career pinch-hit to lift the Blue Jays past the Twins 3-2 Thursday for their fourth straight victory.
BALTIMORE - Before anointing Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown the next coming of Secretariat, consider this: The colt enters Saturday's Preakness off a two-week turnaround, the shortest of his career; he's got problem front feet; and there are 12 horses with connections eager to show Big Brown can be beaten.
None of those factors has dimmed trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.'s massive confidence one bit.
DULUTH, Ga. - Kenny Perry sloshed through the water-logged fairways, ducking under an umbrella every chance he got.
He also hit plenty of good shots on a miserable day at the TPC Sugarloaf. Coming off a final-round meltdown at The Players Championship, Perry endured a steady - and occasionally driving rain - to claim a share of the first-round lead with a 6-under 66 at the AT&T Classic on Thursday.
CLIFTON, N.J. - The Annika Sorenstam goodbye tour is off to a great start.
Two days after announcing this would be her final season on the LPGA Tour, Sorenstam shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the Sybase Classic. Two-time defending champion Lorena Ochoa was a stroke back.
HAMBURG, Germany - Rafael Nadal had no birthday gift for Andy Murray, beating the Briton in straight sets Thursday to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the Hamburg Masters quarter-finals.
Nadal won 6-3, 6-2 over Murray, who turned 21 on Thursday. Federer breezed past Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-2. The defending champion is seeking his fifth title in Hamburg and next will play Fernando Verdasco, who upset fifth-seeded David Ferrer 7-6 (2), 6-2.
TORONTO - Leo Rautins and his Canadian men's basketball team have dubbed themselves the "Road Warriors" for all the games they've played abroad, in another country's gym.
That's about to change as the Canadians will host Lebanon and New Zealand in a five-game exhibition series in Toronto and Hamilton, part of the team's preparations for its last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament in July.
QUEBEC - Canada and Sweden haven't had a chance to develop much of a rivalry at this year's IIHF World Hockey Championship.
The two teams were separated by 1,000 kilometres for the first two weeks of the tournament and could only find nice things to say about each other after finally skating on the same ice surface here Thursday.
PHILADELPHIA - Wayne Gretzky never got to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mario Lemieux never skated for the Montreal Canadiens. Jarome Iginla ended up on the enemy side of his childhood Alberta heroes.
Not every kid ends up playing for the very NHL team that adorned his bedroom walls in posters and pennants. "I definitely feel privileged, lucky and honoured," Ryan Malone said Thursday after the pre-game skate at Wachovia Center.
QUEBEC - Geraldine Heaney, Angela James and Cammie Granato made women's hockey history on Thursday.
The trio of pioneers became the first women players inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, along with former superstar Mario Lemieux, Russian great Igor Larionov and the first French player ever to skate in the NHL, Philippe Bozon.
KITCHENER, Ont. - The Kitchener Rangers restored their confidence and the faith of their fans in time for the Memorial Cup.
The host club opens the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup on Friday (7 p.m. ET) against the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Gatineau Olympiques. The Rangers faced a deflating scenario heading into Monday's Game 7 of the Ontario Hockey League final against the Belleville Bulls.
TIANJIN, China - Brandon O'Neill of Edmonton and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs of Toronto each won a silver medal in Thursday's event finals at a gymnastics World Cup competition.
On men's floor, Uchimura Kohei of Japan took the gold with a 15.925 score edging O'Neill in second at 15.850. Da Silva Gael of France was third at 15.750. ONeill was the silver medallist on floor at the 2005 world championships and has three medal performances this season in the event.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Eight Belles had no diseases or pre-existing bone abnormalities that caused the filly to break down after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby.
Autopsy results reviewed by The Associated Press on Thursday confirm compound fractures of both front legs at the fetlock joints. They also describe lacerated skin on both legs, an absence of joint fluid in the damaged areas and congested lungs.
INDIANAPOLIS - Michael Andretti is hoping to bring open-wheel racing back to the city where he posted seven victories of his own.
Andretti Green Promotions announced Thursday that it has formed a wholly-owned Canadian company, Andretti Green Toronto, and completed the purchase of the assets of the Grand Prix Association of Toronto, which owned and operated the race left off the 2008 schedule after Champ Car was absorbed into the IRL.
INDIANAPOLIS - A group of antsy drivers got their wish Thursday, with a dry track allowing them to finally get some work done at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After rain the previous day washed out all but about an hour of the opening day of the second week of practice for the May 25 Indianapolis 500, 35 drivers took advantage of the cool, dry afternoon to get on track. Despite sometimes gusty wind, they turned a total of 2,628 incident-free laps on the 2 1/2-mile oval, making it easily the busiest day since the track opened for practice May 7.
LAS VEGAS - Charles Barkley acknowledged he owes a US$400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino and promised Thursday to repay it after a prosecutor said the retired NBA star faced criminal charges.
"My mistake," Barkley said in an interview at a pro-am golf tournament in Hoover, Ala. "I'm not broke, and I'm going to take care of it." Barkley was responding to comments by Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who said prosecutors would file a criminal complaint if he did not pay the debt cited by the Wynn Las Vegas resort.
The athletics team Canada will send to this summer's Paralympic Games in Beijing will be as strong as the group that competed in Athens, but may find it tougher to win medals, says head coach Bruce Pirnie.
An increase in the number of countries participating in the Paralympic movement plus China's emergence as a sport power will increase the level of competition.
ROME - Defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and 2002 winner Serena Williams advanced to the Italian Open quarter-finals Thursday.
The fourth-seeded Jankovic routed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-1, 6-1 and Williams overcame some erratic moments before eliminating Italian wild card Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3. Also advancing was 2005 runner-up Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who edged last year's Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).
