Intro4u2u

Jose Mourinho left the San Siro without a glance towards Sir Alex Ferguson last night but the enigmatic Portuguese denied he had blanked the Manchester United manager.

The Inter Milan coach exited his dugout without exchanging pleasantries with his opposite number at the end of the 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie, but insisted Ferguson would not have expected anything more.

The time to come together and shake hands will be when the tie is over in a fortnight, according to the former Chelsea boss.
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“My dugout is a special dugout because we have a door which gives me the chance to leave it directly,” Mourinho explained.

“Yesterday I left a £300 bottle of wine in the hotel with a note saying we would meet each other after the game at Old Trafford.

“I am always close to him and we are always friends and I will be there for him after the second game.”

Mourinho has not forgotten Ferguson’s taste in wine from the days when they locked horns in the Premier League, but knows his side will have to be on form at Old Trafford for his post-match drink with Ferguson to be a celebratory one for the Inter coach.

“We have got to take the first chance which comes our way,” he added.

“We need 100 per cent efficiency, that means the first chance we get must be a goal.”

Mourinho predicts extra time and penalties could be required to separate the teams.

“When two great teams are playing, it is difficult that one of them is better for 90 minutes,” he said.

“This is top-level football for me. They dominated the first half, but we dominated the second and this is football.

“I cannot say that it was a psychological problem for us in the first half - the problem was Manchester United, who played well.

“But we knew that in some moments of the game it would be hard for us.

“We were the better team in the second half and it took them until the 67th minute to get past us.”

Even when United did get past the defence, they met their match in goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who made four good saves to deny Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Julio Cesar is fantastic,” Mourinho said.

“He showed some great quality in the first half with two or three saves of huge importance to the team.

“He did not have much to do in the second half, but he still had the same quality and calmness and was very important for us.”

The Tigers regrouped after losing Dontrelle Willis to a knee injury in the first inning, and Magglio Ordoñez had a bases-loaded single Friday night as Detroit beat the White Sox 5-2 in Chicago for their second victory in 10 games.

Willis slipped as he delivered a pitch in the first, hyperextended his right knee and managed to throw only 14 pitches before being removed. Willis will be re-evaluated and when he might be able to pitch again was unclear.

Ordoñez, who had one RBI entering the game, hit a two-run single in Detroit’s third to put the Tigers ahead 3-2. Brandon Inge also had an RBI single in the inning. Willis walked leadoff hitter Carlos Quentin.

On his first pitch to Orlando Cabrera, his right knee that he plants while delivering gave way and he slipped in front of the mound. The game started late because of rain.

A trainer and manager Jim Leyland came out, but Willis told them he was OK to continue.

After Willis walked Cabrera and threw a wild pitch with a 1-1 count on Jim Thome, the trainer and Leyland went back to the mound. Willis again appeared to tell them he was OK, but Leyland removed the lefty and brought in Aquilino Lopez.

Mariners 8, Angels 5: Raul Ibañez hit two home runs off Jered Weaver, lifting Felix Hernandez to a win in Seattle. Ibañez drove in three runs during the season’s first game between top rivals in the AL West.

Twins 5, Royals 0: Livan Hernandez scattered seven hits over seven innings to win his third straight start, this time in Kansas City, Mo. Six of the hits Hernandez allowed were singles. He struck out three and walked one, lowered his earned run average to 2.57, and is 3-0 for the first time since 2002, when he won his first four starts for the Giants.

Yankees 4, Red Sox 1: Chien-Ming Wang pitched a complete game two-hitter at Fenway Park in running his season record to 3-0 and lowering his ERA to 1.23. The Yankees’ Jason Giambi was off to a 1-for-22 start before hitting his first homer of the year.

Rays 10, Orioles 5: Carlos Peña homered twice and drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to finish with six RBIs in leading host Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays 8, Rangers 5: Lyle Overbay hit a three-run double, Vernon Wells drove in two runs and visiting Toronto ended a three-game losing streak.

The West glitterati descended upon Staples Center Friday night, the presumptive conference champion, the presumptive MVP, the presumptive runners-up . . .

All they had to do was sort out who got what.

In a walkover, the Lakers opened up an early 30-point lead over the New Orleans Hornets and cruised to . . . oh, sorry.

In one of the great comebacks in New Orleans Hornets history or chokes in Lakers history, the visitors stormed from 30 points behind . . . oh, sorry.

OK, in a showdown as epic as the West race that preceded it, the second-place Lakers took a 30-point lead, had the first-place Hornets wipe out 29 points of it but fought them off at the end to win, 107-104.

Now Pacific Division champions, the Lakers trail the Hornets by half a game but own the tiebreaker if they catch them.

As for the MVP, which has yet to be decided, it looked like they might give Kobe Bryant the trophy at halftime.

In what is thought to be a two-horse race with the Hornets’ Chris Paul, Bryant was brilliant (29 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, nine for 17 from the floor) while Paul started slowly but wound up with 15 points and 17 assists.

Feature angles notwithstanding, the most valuable player is a season-long award and usually isn’t evaluated on a game-to-game basis, but sentiment already seemed to be running toward Bryant.

A week ago, a Times poll of 21 writers gave Bryant 10 first-place votes, Paul eight, Kevin Garnett two and LeBron James one.

Another poll of 17 writers this weekend showed Bryant with 10 first-place votes, Paul with five and Garnett with two.

Look at it this way as many voters must be: Paul is 22 and has many years to win MVPs.

Bryant is in his 12th season, and it may be getting embarrassing to explain why the game’s best player has never come closer than two third-place finishes.

(In 2005-6, Bryant didn’t get a single vote, which meant he finished behind New Orleans’ P.J. Brown, who got one 10th-place vote.)

“I think that’s the most remarkable stat of all, that he’s been in the league 12 years and hasn’t won it,” said Hornets Coach Byron Scott of Bryant before the game.

“I don’t think he’s been runner-up. I don’t think he’s come in third. I think it’s remarkable that he hasn’t and for the past five or six years, he’s been the best player in this game.”

Scott, a star on the Showtime Lakers in the ’80s, was a mentor to Bryant as teammates in Byron’s second stint in L.A. in the 1996-97 season.

Now Scott is this season’s presumptive coach of the year after taking the Hornets, who didn’t make the playoffs last season and weren’t expected to this season, this close to winning the West.

“Focus, determination and a lot of people telling us we couldn’t do it,” said Scott, explaining his secret. “That probably had a lot to do with it because we heard it from All-Star break on.

“At All-Star break, we had the best record, but yeah, they’ll fall off, the pressure will get to them, the schedule will get to them when they go on this road trip in March.

“There was always something and I think that motivated our guys to go out and prove people wrong.”

Motivation helps a lot, especially when you’re good enough.

To the utter amazement of all, Paul was not only ready for prime time in the West race in his third season, he was neck-and-neck in the MVP race with Bryant.

The Hornets got Paul, whom they considered the top pick in the 2005 draft, with the fourth pick.

However, not even Scott dreamed Paul would be this far within three years.

“Not this soon,” said Scott. “Nah, never would have thought that he would be this good this soon and he’d be getting the type of praise he’s getting this early in his career.

“But he deserves it,” Scott added. “He’s put in a lot of work. He’s been a tremendous leader to this team and the things we talked about this summer that he had to improve, he went out and improved them.

“The thing that’s scary is, he’s 22 and he’s going to get better.”

He’s good enough now. Ask the Lakers who had better gear up for next season when Paul is 23

Trevor and Brandt are setting the pace at the Masters, so everyone expecting something more along the lines of, well, Tiger, let’s just say that’s not the name of the game so far.

But that guy named Phil is definitely in the mix after Friday’s second round.

Masters, Round 2
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Masters, Round 2

Tiger Woods 2008 highlights
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Tiger Woods 2008 highlights

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Trevor Immelman birdied the last two holes to put the finishing touches on a second consecutive four-under-par 68 and a one-shot lead at a much more workable Augusta National Golf Club. He’s at eight-under 136.

Next is Brandt Snedeker, who had more problems keeping his shaggy hair stuck under his visor than he had on the course after his own 68.

And right behind is none other than Phil Mickelson, whose bogey-free 68 puts him at five-under 139 and right in line to make a run at his third Masters title.

Mickelson, tied with Steve Flesch and Ian Poulter, was a quick starter, with birdies on two of his first three holes, and even managed to coax a birdie out of the tough 17th when he rolled in a 30-foot putt, but he had just one regret.

“I would love to be in the lead,” he said.

Tiger Woods would love to be somewhere in the top 10. He had to settle for a tie for 13th, at one-under 143, but he said that’s not necessarily a bad place, especially with an inventive par save at the 18th, where he closed out his round of one-under 71.

Woods, who birdied the 17th hole, hit his drive at the 18th far to the right under some trees. He had no chance to advance the ball the normal way, so he split the gap between two trees and landed the ball on the 10th fairway, which runs next to the 18th fairway. From there, he chipped the ball onto the green, clicked Stuart Appleby’s ball, and eventually made an eight-foot putt to save his par.

Woods, who is only two under on the par fives this week, hasn’t broken 70 at the Masters since the third round in 2005, but he chose to accentuate the positive aspects.

“I’m in good shape,” he said. “Obviously, I’m seven back, but on this golf course, you’ve got to stay patient. This golf course, you can make up shots, so just hang in there.”

Woods may have a little history on his side. The last player to come outside the top 10 to win after 36 holes was Jack Nicklaus in 1986. Nicklaus had been tied for 17th. The most Woods has come from behind to win the Masters after 36 holes was six shots in 2005.

As for Immelman, he feels lucky to be here, but then, he feels fortunate to be anywhere after two upsetting health scares last year. The South African lost 20 pounds after the 2007 Masters because of a stomach parasite, and then later in the year, he had a benign tumor removed from his diaphragm.

“Obviously, this year is pretty special,” Immelman said. “Last year, guys go through that . . . bad timing. To shoot two 68s in the first two days is probably beyond my expectations, so I’m pretty thrilled right now.”

Immelman won the Nedbank Challenge last year, but he is still on the mend from his health scare and has missed four cuts in eight PGA Tour events in 2008. He said he has gained perspective from his experiences.

“I went from winning a tournament to lying in a hospital bed waiting for results on a tumor,” he said. “So it definitely made me realize that golf wasn’t my whole life.”

Snedeker finished the same way as Immelman with back-to-back birdies, the only blemish on his round a three-putt bogey at the par-three 16th.

Snedeker chipped in to birdie the sixth and called it one of the luckiest shots he has ever hit. Chances are, Snedeker could use a little more good fortune the rest of the way.

“If I had told you at the beginning of the week that I thought I was going to be in second place, you probably would have thought I was crazy, and I probably would have thought you were right,” he said.

Snedeker is two shots ahead of fashion plate Poulter, Mickelson and another lefty, Flesch, who has jumped out from behind the Georgia pines and into contention after missing four cuts in nine tournaments this year.

It wasn’t a statement-making victory, a win that will spark a new world order in the American League West, but after being thumped so thoroughly by the Angels last season, the Seattle Mariners will take it.

After nearly losing a two-run lead by committing two errors in the top of the eighth inning, the Mariners scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to pull away for an 8-5 victory over the Angels on Friday night in Safeco Field.

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Mariners 8, Angels 5

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Kenji Johjima hit a run-scoring double off Angels reliever Darren Oliver and Yuniesky Betancourt greeted Jason Bulger with an RBI triple over the head of center fielder Torii Hunter, who jammed his left wrist and a toe crashing into the wall but remained in the game.

Mark Lowe, subbing for injured closer J.J. Putz, gave up a leadoff double to Vladimir Guerrero in the ninth but retired Garret Anderson, Hunter and Robb Quinlan for his first career save. Raul Ibanez hit two solo home runs and an RBI double for Seattle.

“We needed this win,” Manager John McLaren said of his Mariners, who were coming off a 2-5 trip to Baltimore and Tampa Bay. “No one has to tell us who the Angels are and what they’ve done. They’re the team to beat.”

Since the Angels went 13-6 against the Mariners in 2007 and outscored them, 24-8, to sweep a three-game series in Seattle in late August, the Mariners have seemed fixated on the Angels.

McLaren even went so far as to bring most of his regulars to a road exhibition game against the Angels in Tempe, Ariz., in the first week of March, hoping to set a tone for the season.

“If you feel like you’ve got to make a statement in spring training. . . .” Angels pitcher John Lackey said before Friday night’s game. “It’s too early to get too crazy about a series like this. Let’s get about 50 games into the season and see where everyone is at.”

Seven innings into their first meeting of the season, the Mariners were ahead, 6-4. Then, after Hunter singled to lead off the eighth, Seattle broke out the gift wrap. Reliever Sean Green’s throwing error on Casey Kotchman’s potential double-play grounder and first baseman Richie Sexson’s fielding error on Maicer Izturis’ grounder enabled Hunter to score and the Angels to put two on with no outs.

Jeff Mathis, who hit a solo home run off Felix Hernandez in the third, bunted the runners up, but pinch-runner Reggie Willits was thrown out at home trying to score on Erick Aybar’s grounder to third baseman Adrian Beltre.

Chone Figgins walked to load the bases, but Gary Matthews Jr., who hit a solo homer off Hernandez in the sixth, flied to left, and the Mariners held on, snagging at least a little momentum from their division nemesis.

“Maybe if you beat them a few times,” Sexson said, “they start thinking, ‘Hey, it’s going to be tougher than we thought.’ ”

Angels starter Jered Weaver gave up two hits through five innings but had a tough time with Ibanez, who homered in the first and fourth innings and is batting .571 (12 for 21) with four homers against the right-hander.

Asked if he figured out a way to get Ibanez out, Weaver snapped, “Obviously not . . . next question.”

So, what happened in that sixth inning? The Angels scored twice in the top half for a 3-2 lead, but Seattle second baseman Jose Lopez doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and Ibanez was intentionally walked. Beltre flied to center, but Jose Vidro walked to load the bases.

Up stepped Sexson, hitless with five strikeouts in 11 career at-bats against Weaver. Weaver walked him on a full-count pitch, forcing the tying run. Brad Wilkerson followed with a two-run single for a 5-3 lead.

“I got away from my game,” Weaver said. “They got some runners on, and I tried to be too fine. That’s it.

Bud Black enjoyed a rather smooth tenure during his first three months as a major league manager. It appears we’ll soon find out more about the likeable San Diego Padres skipper’s ability to lead under pressure, however.

The Padres are clearly enduring their most tumultuous period of the season right now. As if losing seven times in a nine-game stretch wasn’t enough, the club has had to deal with an unexpected trade of a key member of its relief corps, and now the news that one of its ace pitchers will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks.

San Diego remains right in the think of a heated battle for National League West supremacy, but the front office sent out a mixed message to the players with Wednesday’s surprising trade of reliever Scott Linebrink to Milwaukee for a trio of minor-league pitchers. While the move will more than likely reap dividends in the future, it doesn’t seem to help the team’s postseason cause in the present.

Although the deal wasn’t warmly accepted in the clubhouse, as Linebrink was among the Padres’ most well-liked players, general manager Kevin Towers saw it as one he just couldn’t pass up. San Diego received 20-year-old pitcher Will Inman, who leads the minor leagues with 140 strikeouts this year and was listed as one of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects entering the season, and Joe Thatcher, a left-handed reliever the Padres consider major-league ready.

Linebrink, an impending free agent at season’s end, was considered expendable due to the emergence of Heath Bell as a capable setup man and wasn’t pitching that well anyway as of late. In his final appearance as a Padre, the veteran right-hander failed to protect a 5-2 eighth-inning lead against Colorado on Monday and was charged with four runs allowed along with a loss.

While Linebrink’s absence is one San Diego can conceivably overcome, it’s highly unlikely the team can sustain a postseason run if Chris Young is unavailable for an extended time. The Padres grudgingly placed the All-Star hurler on the disabled list Sunday, five days after Young strained his left oblique muscle and was forced to make an early exit of his start at Colorado.

The Padres are optimistic that Young, whose 1.82 earned run average is tops in the majors this season, will miss only two turns in the rotation. However, that’s no guarantee with this type of injury. San Diego has gone 14-6 in Young’s 20 starts and will be hard-pressed to find a candidate capable of filling the six-foot-10 right-hander’s rather large shoes.

Despite all those recent setbacks, the Padres stand just a half-game back of similarly-struggling Los Angeles and surging Arizona, the teams that presently share the NL West lead, as they head into this week’s key three-game series with the white-hot Diamondbacks.

A FITTING TRIBUTE

On the day the greatest player in franchise history was being enshrined in Baseball’s Hall of Fame, the Padres went out and produced their best offensive output of the 2007 campaign during Sunday’s series finale in Houston.

While Tony Gwynn was receiving his rightful place in Cooperstown, San Diego erupted for 11 first-inning runs and racked up a season-best 19 hits en route to a wild 18-11 victory over the Astros. It was the Padres’ highest scoring total in a single game since an 18-2 rout over the Montreal Expos on August 23, 2002 and only the second time in club annals that San Diego amassed 11 or more runs in an opening frame.

The Padres scored 12 times in the first inning during a 17-4 victory over St. Louis on August 24, 1993, the year before Gwynn would win four consecutive batting titles to give him eight such crowns over the course of his glorious career.

San Diego recorded eight hits during Sunday’s huge inning, the biggest of which may have come off the bat of starting pitcher Tim Stauffer. The recently recalled righty delivered a two-out, two-run single to extend the lead to 5-0 and turn over the lineup. Brian Giles followed with a double that brought home two more runners before Mike Cameron and Adrian Gonzalez capped the uprising with two-run homers.

Stauffer, who was called on to start due to Young’s injury, didn’t make as significant a contribution on the mound. The former first-round pick gave up only four hits in 3 2/3 innings, but three of them were homers, and was charged with seven runs before exiting.

MORE MOVES

Towers shook up the roster a little more by acquiring outfielder Scott Hairston from the rival Diamondbacks on Friday. The 27-year-old, who is the brother of Texas Rangers utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr., should provide San Diego a needed right-handed power bat off the bench and has some versatility, as he began his pro career as a second baseman.

Hairston isn’t regarded for his defensive skills but is a career .322 hitter in the minors and slugged 13 home runs in just 339 at-bats as a rookie with Arizona in 2004.

The acquisition coincided with the end of Russell Branyan’s stay in San Diego, as the well-traveled infielder was released to make room for Hairston’s arrival. Branyan batted only .197 with one home run this season and struck out 48 times in 122 at-bats.

Towers also signed veteran infielder Shea Hillenbrand to a minor-league contract on Friday. Although the 32-year-old has worn out his welcome in a few organizations, he’s also a two-time All-Star with a .285 lifetime average. Hillenbrand should provide a boost down the stretch at third base, where youngster Kevin Kouzmanoff has hit just .196 against right-handed pitching, and also gives Black the potential option of sitting first baseman Gonzalez against tough lefties.

WHO’S HOT

Infielder Geoff Blum is 10-for-27 (.370) since the All-Star break. The tear has raised the switch-hitter’s season average from .206 to .237.

WHO’S NOT

Blum has been receiving more playing time lately because regular second baseman Marcus Giles has hit a paltry .163 (9-for-63) with just three RBI in July.

Starting pitcher David Wells has been shelled in back-to-back outings. The 44- year-old surrendered seven runs on seven hits over just three innings in Thursday’s loss at Houston, five days after he was battered by Philadelphia for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. Wells also served up three home runs in both of those starts.

ON DECK

The Padres begin a crucial three-game series with Arizona, a club that has won eight of its last nine games, on Tuesday. Justin Germano (6-5, 4.20) will start the opener for San Diego opposite reigning Cy Young winner Brandon Webb (9-8, 3.23), with Wells (5-7, 5.02) matching up against Micah Owings (5-5, 5.13) on Wednesday. Padres ace Jake Peavy (10-5, 2.41) gets the call in Thursday’s finale, with Yusmeiro Petit (2-2, 3.44) scheduled to pitch for the Diamondbacks

SAN DIEGO, California, July 30, (Reuters) - Venus Williams continued her Wimbledon-winning form by thrashing Anastasia Rodionova 6-3 6-0 in the first round of the San Diego Classic on Monday.

Playing her first WTA tournament since claiming her fourth Wimbledon crown with a straight-sets defeat of France’s Marion Bartoli, Williams looked fresh and powerful in polishing off the outclassed Russian.

Not only was her vaunted backhand smooth but she also punished her opponent with hard forehands.

“I was going for a lot,” Williams told reporters.

“I just felt really aggressive, like I want to get the ball, move forward and go for it. My forehand has improved the most this year.

“I just don’t think about it and I hit it.”

After an injury-riddled 2006 and shaky start to this season, Williams found her feet in London, thrashing three top-10 players — Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic — before beating Bartoli.

Now ranked number 16, the 27-year-old Williams is hoping to emulate the form she showed in 2000 and 2001, when she won back-to-back Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles.

“I’m the anti-Venus,” she said.

“I finally have two legs to stand on. I’m playing a lot of matches. I don’t want to be injured any more and have to work so hard to be where I want to be.

“I’m at a really wonderful place in my game where I can stay there and keep getting better.”

SEEDS ADVANCE

Williams won the San Diego Classic three times in a row from 2000 and says that she has matured to the point where she can take it easy on herself mentally.

“I’m much calmer now,” she said. “I feel calm when I’m down and when I’m up and feel pretty even-keeled.”

All the seeds that competed on the day got through.

Ninth seeded Russian Elena Dementieva rebounded from an erratic second set to defeat Catalina Castano 6-4 3-6 6-1.

Number 11 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who was horrified by her poor play at Stanford last week, turned things around and defeated American Jamea Jackson 6-2 6-1.

ATLANTA – A difficult situation turned into a blessing for Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg, who was traded to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named or cash considerations two days after he was designated for assignment. Ultimately Ensberg was the only Astros traded as the non-waiver trade deadline elapsed at 3 p.m.

After entertaining offers for Mark Loretta and Mike Lamb and hearing plenty of interest in relievers Chad Qualls and Brad Lidge, the Ensberg trade was the only one the Astros made.

“The players that we talked about getting back from other teams were not close to what we valued for our players,” general manager Tim Purpura said via phone from Houston. “It made no sense to give away our players.”

Ensberg, a native of the Los Angeles area, actually has a home in the San Diego area, where he spends much of his winter when he’s not at home in Houston.

“I think it was absolutely the best scenario,” he said. “This season was very turbulent. It was difficult. I wish I had done better, but once everything kind of went down you feel down and then you have this blessing. It really is a blessing from God. I’m certain of it.”

Ensberg, 31, and his wife Christi were already planning on flying to San Diego today with their one-year-old twins, Beckett and Chase.

“I’m shocked,” said Ensberg, who hit .232 (52-for-224) with eight home runs and 31 RBIs this year. “My wife and I are so happy we get a chance to get back there. I really was just speechless when Tim (Purpura) told me I was going out there. I can’t wait to go have Mexican food.”

Other teams also coveted Qualls and Lidge.

“We certainly would have liked to be more active,” Purpura said. “At the end, there was no trade other than Ensberg. We were not just going to move one of our good relievers for just prospects that were years away.”

DEVIL RAYS 5, RED SOX 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka has been as good as advertised. If Boston would just score some runs for him, he’d have the record to prove it. Dioner Navarro, B.J. Upton and Carlos Peña homered during a five-run seventh inning as host Tampa Bay ended an eight-game losing streak. Matsuzaka (12-8) took a six-hit shutout into the seventh before being lifted after allowing Navarro’s solo homer and a one-out single to Josh Wilson. Dice-K was charged with two runs and eight hits.

BLUE JAYS 4, WHITE SOX 1: Shaun Marcum gave up two hits in eight innings for visiting Toronto. Marcum (7-4) struck out eight and walked one to outpitch Javier Vazquez. Vazquez (8-6) retired seven in a row before Curtis Thigpen walked with one out in the eighth. John McDonald and Reed Johnson singled to load the bases, and Lyle Overbay followed with a sacrfice fly to put Toronto ahead. The run broke 21-inning scoreless steak for the Blue Jays.

TWINS 4, INDIANS 1: Josh Barfield made two errors on one play to help visiting Minnesota score the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Twins rallied to beat C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia (13-6) tied a career high with 11 strikeouts, but lost for the fourth time in five starts in July.

ROYALS 10, RANGERS 0: Leo Nuñez pitched six scoreless innings in his second major-league start as host Kansas City completed a three-game sweep. Nunez (1-0), who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, gave up three singles with a walk and a strikeout before departing after 85 pitches.

MARINERS 14, ATHLETICS 10: Ben Broussard, playing for the ejected Richie Sexson, hit a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the score, and Jason Ellison scored the go-ahead run on an errant throw an inning later for host Seattle. The Mariners’ improbable win came after Oakland erased a 6-0 deficit, scoring four runs in the sixth inning off reliever Chris Reitsma. But the combination of Kenji Johjima, Adrian Beltre, Broussard and Ellison helped get Reitsma off the hook.

ANGELS 13, TIGERS 4: Gary Matthews Jr. drove in three runs and Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman each had two RBIs as host Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep. Jeremy Bonderman (10-3) lost his second straight start after winning 10 of his previous 11 decisions. It was his shortest outing of the season, surrendering 11 runs - 10 earned - and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

NL

BRAVES 14, DIAMONDBACKS 0: Chipper Jones drove in five runs and Tim Hudson allowed three hits in seven innings as host Arizona’s eight-game winning streak ended.

Andruw Jones and Scott Thorman also homered for the Braves, who pounded out 19 hits and snapped a four-game losing streak. Jeff Francoeur went 3-for-5 and scored two runs. “This was much needed, to say the least,” Chipper Jones said.

“It puts a nice tidy bow on a bad couple of days.” Atlanta matched a season high for runs and handed Arizona its worst loss of the season.

Hudson struck out five and walked one to win his fifth straight decision.

CUBS 6, REDS 0: Carlos Zambrano became the majors’ first 14-game winner and had three hits, and Derrek Lee homered for the third time in four days for Chicago, which finished off a 4-2 road trip. Alfonso Soriano also had two hits and scored a run. Brandon Phillips’ first-inning single up the middle and Javier Valentin’s seventh-inning bloop single to center were the only hits allowed by Zambrano (14-7) in 7 1/3 innings. The righthander struck out six and walked three, and has won seven of his last eight.

PHILLIES 5, PIRATES 1: Jimmy Rollins had three hits and Kyle Kendrick tossed seven strong innings as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep. Philadelphia, winner of eight of its last nine, improved to a season-high six games over .500 (55-49) and swept the Pirates for the first time since 2001. Nate McLouth homered for Pittsburgh, which fell to 2-13 since the All-Star break.

CARDINALS 9, BREWERS 5: Ryan Ludwick’s bases-loaded walk broke an eighth-inning tie, Albert Pujols followed with a three-run double and host St. Louis rallied from a five-run deficit. Milwaukee, which led the NL Central by 8 1/2 games before play on June 24, is just a half-game ahead of the Cubs, the Brewers’ smallest margin since before play on April 22. The Cardinals are six games back after trailing by 10 1/2 at the end of June.

ROCKIES 9, DODGERS 6: Matt Holliday homered and drove in three runs, and Ubaldo Jimenez went six innings for his first major-league victory for host Colorado. Jimenez, who got no-decisions in his first two starts this season, allowed two runs and four hits. Losing pitcher Chad Billingsley allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings.

EXTRA BASES

Butler hospitalized

Former Mets outfielder Brett Butler was recovering from a mild stroke yesterday, two days after he became ill. Butler who is managing the Mobile BayBears, the Double-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks, was resting comfortably in a Montgomery, Ala., hospital, the Diamondbacks said in a statement.

Butler played 17 seasons with five major-league teams, retiring in 1997 at the age of 40. He batted .290 with 2,375 hits and 558 stolen bases. He came up with Atlanta in 1981 and also played for Cleveland, San Francisco, the Mets and the Dodgers.

Butler is in his first season managing the BayBears of the Southern League. TV analyst Matt Williams, a former Diamondbacks infielder, replaced Butler as interim manager.

Attendance mark set

Major League Baseball set its attendance record for a single day, drawing 717,478 fans for 17 games Saturday. Boosted by a pair of day-night doubleheaders, baseball broke the previous mark of 640,412, set when 17 games were played on July 3, 1999. Baseball was averaging 32,258 per game through Saturday, up 4.4 percent from last year, and is on track to break the record average of 31,632 set in 1994.

Ichiro reaches milestone

Ichiro Suzuki became the third-fastest player in major-league history to reach 1,500 hits when he singled in the second inning yesterday against Oakland’s Lenny DiNardo. Suzuki got his 1,500th hit in his 1,060th game. Only Al Simmons (1,040) and George Sisler (1,048) reached the mark quicker, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Rogers returns to DL

The Tigers placed lefthander Kenny Rogers on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his elbow. The move was made retroactive to Thursday. Rogers is 3-2 with a 5.23 ERA in just six starts this season. The four-time All-Star missed the Tigers’ first 71 games after undergoing surgery March 30 to remove a blood clot from his left shoulder and repair arteries . . . Phillies reliever Ryan Madson was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder. Reliever Geoff Geary was recalled from Triple-A Ottawa and will join the team for today’s game in Chicago against the Cubs.

Lowry has pitched much better on the road than at home this year, and Penny’s annual second half decline has begun. Take the Giants as a nice-sized dog.

The San Francisco Giants and their “Barry Bonds Circus” go on the road to face the Los Angeles Dodgers this evening.
Go with Giants +162 to surprise Dodgers

The Giants send Noah Lowry to the mound, whose 4.32 road ERA shines when compared to his 7.62 home ERA this season. Lowry has also historically been a strong second half pitcher throughout his brief career.

On the flip side, Brad Penny has always worn down and been a poor second half performer, so we will back Barry’s boys and grab this big price here tonight.

Free Pick: Giants +162