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He took infers third base details on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch by Speier, who struggled for the second time in three days against the Rays. The Mets are two games back of Philadelphia and trail Florida by a half- game. Hinrich made that free throw for Chicago, then Jeffries missed his, and the Knicks went into the half with a 57- 54 lead. Several teams in the AFC and NFC confirmed they were contacted by the Packers.

Johnson agreed the game plan had to change late because of the deficit . Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire wants Bartlett to work on being more assertive in the minor leagues " He' s a quiet kid, and sometimes that' s going to work against you " Gardenhire said " In the middle, you have to be vocal And that' s what I want him to understand He needs to go down there and take control . The four- run uprising enabled Chen to avoid falling to 0- 6 . Hall made a diving catch going to his left in center field in the third inning . Updated: January 10, 2007, 2: 11 AM ET Ortiz agrees to one- year deal with Giants Email Print Share Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO- The San Francisco Giants might have found their fifth starter in the former ace of their staff, right- hander Russ Ortiz. Pettitte was given permission to report to spring training four days after other Yankees pitchers because of what new manager Joe Girardi said were " loose ends that he had to tie up " I think he wants to get his life back to normal.

Though still a little shaky in the field, Buscher is hitting . You unintentionally catch people with elbows every once in a while " The suspension, for elbowing Ginobili while Bryant was attempting a jump shot late in the Lakers' game against the Spurs on Sunday, caught Bryant completely off- guard " I haven' t seen a precedence for this . That' s getting myself back to where I need to be " Gruden isn' t providing any clues " It' s a strange injury There haven' t been a lot of players that have had it . UConn answered with a 13- 6 run, pushing the lead to 52- 31 on Charles' third basket in the opening 6 minutes of the half . This time the deal was not only before July rather than at the deadline, but also with Houston scuffling, making it in Hunsicker' s eyes " riskier " and possibly more important than the Johnson deal. That makes Mientkiewicz like a research scientist who makes a lucrative discovery at work.

The right- hander was called up in 1997 and went 8- 3 to help Cleveland reach the World Series . 94 ERA in 29 starts and one relief appearance for Colorado last season . Associated PressWINTER HAVEN, Fla( AP- Andy Marte, trying to earn a roster spot in Cleveland, hit two home runs and drove in six runs as the Indians beat a Houston Astros split squad 14- 6 on Saturday . Burnett( 3- 3) pitch off the windows of the centerfield restaurant in the sixth for his seventh homer " Off the bat I thought it was kind of a line drive and it just kept going " Hinske said " It' s always a good one when you hit the windows, for sure " Hinske has gone 7- for- 15 .

I was a big part of us losing yesterday " Duncan said " It' s very disappointing It' s a lot about execution . They hit nine of their first 14 shots, while their teammates were a combined 1- for- 18 . It' s only gotten tougher and something told me' You know it' s gotten too hard for you' I could probably come back and do it Suck it up . Boston would then trade Nomar Garciaparra, probably for pitching . Hernandez has added a sinking fastball to an arsenal that includes a hard- snapping curve, a deceptive changeup, and a rarely seen slider- all strikeout pitches " He' s very, very close' Rohn said. CINCINNATI( AP- When Kazuo Matsui singled home a pair of runs with two outs in the fourth inning, Houston Astros manager Cecil Cooper scribbled something in his black- covered notebook " On my pad, I wrote' One two- out base hit " Cooper said " Then I wrote' Two two- out base hits " He kept going, all the way up to six. He has allowed 16 homers this season, tops in the American League " It' s a result of pitching, pitching in the zone and up.

She will announce Thursday when she will issue it " It' s a shot in the dark " Nance said when asked to predict the result in Seattle " The stakes are so high " Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press . Kaesviharn, 30, was one of the top players remaining in the unrestricted pool and garnered plenty of interest from the outset of the signing period " Kevin will be a good addition to our group of safeties from a productivity standpoint on the field in addition to being a leader for our young players " Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement released Tuesday announcing the signing " He has been a solid, consistent player for the Bengals for several years and a good influence in the locker room . Jeter Leads Team USA Past The Yankees- Derek Jeter went 2- for- 4 with 2 RBI as Team USA edges the Yankees, 6- 5 15 . She made one of the free throws, part of a 12- 6 surge that helped Louisville push the lead to 41- 25 at the half " We started off slow, but we picked up " McCoughtry said " That' s what we have to do We don' t know what can happen Who knows if I get in foul trouble .

Howard was intentionally walked in the ninth, but Wickman got Utley to foul out to third base to leave the winning run at second base " Whatever Charlie wants is fine " Howard said NotesThe Phillies are 56- 67- 2 in season openers . For me, it was a platform for me to prove a point, that I still had it and could do it " I started for the Chargers, was a down lineman, played every down . The Seahawks' offensive line struggled to pick up blitzes that came from every direction, and Wallace was able to complete only two passes of 10 yards or more( both in the first half . Updated: November 17, 2005, 6: 46 PM ET Pirates agree to multiyear deal with Bay Email Print Share Associated Press PITTSBURGH- For a player who doesn' t show much emotion on the field, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jason Bay almost displayed a rarely seen side of himself after signing a contract that sets him up for life " This is one of the best days of my life " said the left fielder, his team' s only All- Star last season " But I' m glad this is over . Roger made very clear, as has Randy Hendricks, if they had known that Brian McNamee was making the kind of allegations he was to the Mitchell Commission, they' d have been there in a heartbeat T J. Associated PressPHILADELPHIA- Raul Ibanez relished the celebration following his first game- ending homer with the Philadelphia Phillies He even enjoyed his shaving cream pie.

The White Sox won their third straight game but lost center fielder Dewayne Wise to a separated shoulder in the fifth . Girardi said RHP Chad Gaudin is considered the team' s fifth starter as the playoffs approach, with the move of RHP Sergio Mitre to the bullpen . Shaun Assael, a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, writes extensively about doping in sports in his new book " Steroid Nation " available here . He struck out five, didn' t walk a batter and lowered his ERA to 2 . As an industry, MLB has been even hotter than Josh Beckett in October It posted record revenues of$ 6 billion this year. By that point, Lowe had already done a strenuous off- day workout. He' s ready for this and I' m confident he' ll do a great job " McDermott has big shoes to fill.

New York originally was to open at home against the Devil Rays on April 5 and 7, then play a four- game series at Tampa Bay from April 12- 15 . He said before the game that he' d be as nervous as a rookie when the bullpen phone rang " Oh man, it' s going to be great " he said " I just hope I don' t get hurt running from the bullpen to the mound " The 35- year- old Wickman, who has 66 saves since joining Cleveland in 2000, planned to start this season with the team, but strained his right elbow in spring training and has spent the last three months in rehabilitation . 10 " I think just because of all the steroid issues that we had in the offseason, within the first month to have something like this might give the perception that we' re ignoring some of the things that are going on in the game today, and that' s not the case " said reliever Trevor Hoffman, one of just two players left from the 1998 Padres team that made it to the World Series " It' s a situation where we lost a member of the family in the offseason I understand why we' re doing it . The most encouraging sign for the Cubs: They won a game without much from their offense .

Cleveland came back with a two- run fourth against Texas starter Vicente Padilla on Shin- Soo Choo' s RBI triple that skipped past Texas center fielder Josh Hamilton and Garko' s sacrifice fly . Blalock homered and drove in four runs, leading the Texas Rangers to a 9- 8 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night . Antawn Jamison had 31 points and eight rebounds and the Washington Wizards beat the Sacramento Kings 117- 107 Sunday to snap a three- game losing streak The victory was No . The Warriors' strengths and deficiencies both were painfully obvious against the Kings, who also had their highest- scoring game of the season despite missing starters Ron Artest and Brad Miller " It' s hard to be disappointed when you win and you score 140 points, but we' re going to have to start guarding people a lot better than we did tonight " Nelson said " They have shot- makers, but it' s hard to get a stop for us right now I' m just going to accept this win as No 47 .