we're in a rain delay w a ballgame in the bottom of the 9 9th inning. elijah dukes is on deck. the rain is coming at 9:30. the tarp is on the field. hopefully we'll be coming back. let's go back now to espn news. face their toughest test yet. brad childress speaks about the brett favre situation. he now says there was never a deadline.

>> hi there, and welcome to "espnews" where we like to keep you current with the latest breaks news, scores, and highlights, along with mark morgan, i'm michelle lafontaine, and games are going final at last in the major leagues. >> we begin in boston, a three game set between the yankees and the red sox, the yankees 0 for the season against their arch rivals. we've got a good one. red sox had a lead, yankees almost caught up in the top of the eighth, yankees with a runner on second base, and two down, as you see all the numbers, teixeira, a home run, a big offensive night, posada and damon have homered, youkilis and lowell have homered for the red sox, and, again, if boston wins this game, it will be eight straight over the yankees dating back to last season. still baseball to be played there at fenway. meanwhile mariners and orioles, in baltimore, jose lopez at the disch.

at the dish. top of the sixth, one on, one out, that is gone off jeremy guthrie. lopez's second home run of the game, his eighth of the year, and the mariners win it by a score of 4-1. lopez's third home run in the last three games. the ms have suddenly won five of their last seven, ichiro with a personal 14-game hitting streak against the baltimore orioles. royals and indians in cleveland, gil meche, 4-9 in his career against the tribe, but meche looking good, shin-soo choo, nope, next batter, mark derosa. nope. he's looking. meche 11 ks in seven innings of work. alberto callaspo bases loaded off carl pavano, that is his third of the season, his first

since may 5th, and first career grand slam, guillen 2 for 3, he also had a home run as well for meche the 11 ks set a career high. let's check in on the tampa bay rays over the angels, 9-5, pena solo shot, his 18th home run of the year, aybar has added an rbi single and a home run of his own as well. >> meanwhile the phillies and the mets, they're in the bottom of the eighth, and still tied at four. cole hamels trying to get his fifth straight decision, fifth straight win, he gave up four runs and 11 hits, plus the mets came to tie it, three runs against sean green after mike pelfrey gave up three straight singles to load the bases. feliz and ibanez and rollins have the rbis, pelfrey one, and

castillo, another one. taking you out to atlanta, dog night at turner field. start a barkin'. two on, two outs, jason hair me -- jaramillo singles. mclouth throws, seems to be on the money, the pirates go on to hold the lead, and 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, two outs, matt capps gets norton to fly out to end the game and the danger, garrett anderson had the two-out homer that brought atlanta within one. pittsburgh starter charlie morton left after pitching just one inning due to tightness in his right hammy. the braves see their winning stream come to an end.

the braves have seen their winning streak come to an end. >> the vikings have backed off their pursuit of brett favre after favre failed to report to organized team activities this week. brad childress hit the radio air waves with his version of what was expected this week. >> was there a deadline or not placed on brett favre to report this week to practice? >> absolutely not. maybe by deanna or somebody like that, but certainly not from me, not even close. don't know where that would have dropped out of the sky from. >> would it be safe to say that there will be a later date where this will resume in a more serious manner? >> i don't know. i'm not into predicting the future. we'll just have to see what's around the corner tomorrow. he was a great player. he obviously had a setback last year. he was playing very well early. and if in fact he's had that surgery, i'm anxious to see just exactly what he's got left in that cannon because he had a pretty good arm, as we know.

>> apparently the vikings are in a holding pattern waiting for favre to make a decision. jackson, rosenfels, and booty are their other options currently in camp. trey wingo on our nfl crew live with some strong opinions about the favre saga. >> thanks, welcome in to nfl live, trey wingo here. brad childress says there's absolutely not a deadline to get brett favre in, there's never been a deadline, we're just open to the possibility if he's healthy. if you listen to brad childress talk about this, what are you hearing, mark? >> i have no confidence in the two guys have have to play quarterback, so brett favre you're entitled to hold my organization hostage. the problem with doing that is what message do you send to the rest of your team? you preach integrity, character, and to me it takes your credibility and throws it out the window. i was in a similar situation in

denver where we talked about dale carter, and how he could never play for the broncos because he didn't have the dale carter, and how he could never play for the broncos because he didn't have the character or integrity to do it, and he became a free agent and he became the highest paid guy, and every time you heard mike shanahan say something, you had to question really? is that what we're doing? so you're ruining your ability to be credible, and i look at t so you're ruining your ability to be credible, and i look at this team, and you go from a super bowl contender to pretender. guys aren't going to trust you. >> this team has been on the incline, it's a team on the rise, but if you look at his res incline, it's a team on the rise, but if you look at his respect and credibility, it's on the decline and their trust in their head coach. this timeline under brad childress, remember williamson, when his grandmother died, and he atte2r head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head.r head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head. over your head.

when you have a temporary hold . in pursuit of a player, it doesn't mean that things have or changed.over y you're still thinking about the possibility of bringing brett favre in if he's healthy enough to play.head. "nfl live" 4:00 eastern right here on espn.r >> thanks, guys. the jets have reached a contract agreement with mark sanchez out of usc.

the deal worth $50 million over five years, $28 million in guarantees. john clayton with what's ahead for sanchez. >> now, that mark sanchez has his new five-year deal for $50 million, it could go up as much as $60 million depending on how he plays, he can concentrate on trying to win the starting job, which he should. certainly since there's not going to be a holdout should help his case. along with the fact he continues to make progress during the off season. sanchez is in line with a good running game to be the starting quarterback. sure, kellens is there, he's got the lead right now, but now that this deal is behind sanchez, he can concentrate on winning the starting job and being the quarterback the jets expect him to be. >> the sacramento kings hired paul westphal as their new coach for two years plus the team optioned for a third season. lead coaching sources told espn.com that the kings offered the job to kurt rambus, but he passed. >> the magic may have sent a

message don't count us out yet. full coverage from orlando is on the way. phil mickelson makes an emotional return to the pga tour weeks after he and his wife, amy, discovered she has breast cancer. cñgñ

>> back on "espnews" updating you as to what's going on in the national league, the pirates have beat the braves 3-2 after a

late garrett anderson home run in the bottom of the ninth, they held atlanta off at turner field, reds with a 2-0 lead over the nats, and they're three outs away, but there's a rain delay in that one, and going into the bottom of the ninth, 4-4, the phils and the mets, cole hamels gave up those four runs, and the cardinals pummelling the marlins, 13-4, in the bottom of the ninth, just outs away, rick ankiel with a homer, and he scored three runs, and the rockies and brewers in the bottom of the sixth inning, brad hawpe had an rbi double in the fifth breaking the tie, astros tied at one, geoff blum an rbi groundout. >> angels and rays just finished up, lackey looking for a win, but he got bounced around.

pena, opposite field, it's going to go. 18th home run of the season, rays up 6-3. bottom five, runner-up for willy aybar, and that is a rocket to right, a two-run homer for aybar, his fifth home run of the season. lackey seven straight wins against the rays, careerwise 9-1 against tampa bay, he got shelled, eight earned runs in five innings of work, 9-5 is your final. they snap a three-game skid. >> after stumbling out of the gate, justin verlander has been virtually unhittable over the last month. he was 0-2 with an earned run average of 9. in his last eight outings, he's been stellar, 6-0, an e.r.a. of 1.12. but verlander careerwise 0-6 at

u.s. cellular field, tigers-white sox, 2-1, verlander trying to notch that game, a little run support, seven ks through eight innings of work and has walked one, verlander trying to hold on for the win, he's two outs away, tigers up 2-1. >> phil mickelson is returning to the pga tour for the first time since he and his wife, amy, discovered that she has breast cancer. mickelson is making his emotional return to the tour in memphis. >> i've never been this emotional where if i'm driving alone or what have you, i'll just start crying. it's kind of a weird thing, but i'm looking forward to having a

four or five-hour mental break if you will where i kind of force myself to focus on something else, and i'm looking forward to that. i'm not playing just to play. i think that that bethpage is a golf course that suits my game, that i love playing on that course, i love playing in the new york area, and i'm playing here because i believe i can win next week. i don't know when i'll be able to -- when i'll play again. i mean i just don't know what our treatment schedule will be like after surgery, i don't know really when that will happen. i don't think it's going to be for a while, but i don't know exactly what we're facing yet. >> mickelson has won as many tournaments as last year, even though he's played in 11 fewer events. phil is currently fourth on the money list, and he's sixth in the fedex cup point standings. >> game four just 24 hours away.

the magic earned their first nba finals win in franchise history by shooting a finals record 62.5% to keep the lakers in check and avoid the dreaded 0-3 hole. here's mark jones and company from orlando on where the series stands. >> kobe bryant of the los angeles lakers, the nba's ultimate closer, unable to close the door. unusually cold and off from the free-throw line as well, the lakers on the short end of a defeat at the hands of the magic. i'm mark jones, and welcome to our continuing coverage of the nba finals from amway arena, the corner of colonial and amelia, joined by tim and a.j. usually he's making those shots. what happened down the stretch? >> part of it could be the fatigue factor. 30 is not the new 20 not when you've played 173 career playoff games as kobe bryant has,

especially a grueling series this year, houston, one day rest, every other day with denver. you saw him with five days off before the finals, his best performance to date, 48-8, but game two, overtime, plus a cross-country flight, you saw him get tired in the second half. one thing with phil jackson, he doesn't play for the media game. he's keeping games five, six, and seven in mind. he'll use him 40 minutes in game three and you'll see him resting just to keep him fresher for the later games in the series. >> and one thing that helps you defend kobe bryant is making him work at the other end, and i thought pietrus had his most aggressive game. he wasn't in the foul trouble, but he made kobe pay at every turn. kobe wants to go gamble, i'm going to make you pay when you get the basketball. if you take away the 0 for 3, pietrus was 7 for 8 on everything else, transition, postups. michael pietrus made kobe bryant have to be aware of where he is.

that means he's going to be using energy on on that end of the floor, and it might not be there when you need it. pietrus, 18 points, they have to have his point production on the perimeter to off set or balance what turkoglu and howard are giving you. >> pietrus arguably his best game of the playoffs so far, maybe a little inspiration from his brother, also a professional basketball player visiting him from paris, france. what about the orlando magic? 62.5% from the field, a nba record, how do they improve, and why did it happen? >> you make the basketball change sides of the floor, you've got a great chance. the l.a. lakers are not a great defensive team, they're adequate. you're going to end up getting good looks. the orlando magic moved the ball from right to left. it seemed like every time somebody penetrated, the kickout pass went exactly to the guy that had the open look, and certainly it helps when you shoot the ball with confidence.

they didn't shoot the ball that way in l.a., the change of venue did great things for alston and pietrus, but if you make the lakers chase it a little bit, you've got a much better chance. >> what i liked is the magic didn't get caught up into shooting three-pointers. only 14 attempts after taking 50 in the first two games. they took advantage of their assets, alston can get past fisher, turkoglu can take guys off the dribble, and remember all the missed lay-ups that they had in one and two? this time they were converting, 15 of their 18 shots inside the paint. they're making shots from everywhere in this game, but not taking the long shot, passing, being patient, looking for the better shots inside. >> orlando with five different players that scored 18 points or more in game three in the victory. well, what does game four hold? we'll find out beginning on thursday, 8:30 p.m. eastern time on abc beginning with the "gmc

nba countdown." >> now, on espn.com j.a. writes kobe bryant had a shot at the historic insurmountable 3-0 advantage, but he bobbled it and lost it. >> alongside michelle lafontaine, i'm mark morgan. the yankees and red sox are just about done at fenway, so for those of you watching us on espn, baseball tonight is coming up tonight in a few minutes. >> much more coming up. and kris draper backhand forehand to

>> you get your name on that thing, it's the greatest summer of your life. >> and now it's anyone's game. >> score! score! >> game seven is the one game winner takes the trophy home. >> and i'll meet you at the school yard, baby, for all the marbles on friday night in detroit. >> the penguins forced a game seven in the stanley cup final with last night's win over the red wings. steve levy and matthew barnaby join us from detroit. >> thanks very much. might as well be a hockey

super bowl. one game, winner take all, friday night, right here in hockeytown. hi, everybody, i'm steve levy, matthew barnaby will join me shortly. game seven in the stanley cup final not as uncommon as you might think. both coaches in this series have game seven experience. in 2003 the anaheim mighty ducks were coached by mike babcock. and he had a scrappy winger by the name of dan blysma who had a pretty fair scoring chance, but the devils beat the ducks in that game seven to win the cup. >> it was a shot from the point that i tipped and hit him in the shoulder, went in the air, and i had one more swing that i failed to make contact with. you get a lot of good pictures, and you take the bad ones if you don't win and you put them in the basement in a box somewhere, and we're looking for one we can hang on the wall. >> matthew barnaby, extra day

here between game six and seven, a time to reflect back. give me two under the radar guys in this series, two unsung heroes. >> darin hellic and maxine talbot. talbot also adding two goals in a pivotal game three. >> talbot sporting a hefty beard. >> sidney crosby, one goal in the series, not generating much offense, and hossa, 0 goals, not enough offense. >> give me a guy who steps up game seven. >> i'll go to marion hossa, he will look utterly stupid and humiliated if he's watching that pittsburgh team that he chose not to play for carrying that cup around. >> for our game seven coverage we are truly blowing out the budget, we're going to go out and buy another chair, barry

melrose will parachute in for this night edition of "sportscenter." that's it from detroit, now back to you. >> all right, thanks. the world cup qualifier, england at wimbley, david beckham playing for the first time in two years. the bad boy for the header. 1-0, england. more already, a 2-0 lead, the second half, already 4-0, beckham free kick, jermaine da foe with a cleanup on the rebound, his second of the match, fabio capello's man gets the win. a win away from clenching a berth for south africa 2010. >> michelle and i are coming back in a moment with our top stories. the yankees have yet to beat their arch rivals this season. this is kate. last year, kate went on the bud light port paradise cruise.

i had a very nice time. kate "had a very nice time." for four days and three nights. she left the work world behind. way, way behind. for obvious reasons, we're protecting kate's identity. i told my boss i was having a root canal. i'm going to beat you! ( laughing ) ( sighs ) bud light port paradise. it's the most fun you might never want to talk about. do you remember when making dinner meant finding just the right stick for your hot dog. when new every fork on the trail led to a new adventure? then keep the tradition going with great father's day gifts from bass pro shops. like the under armour tech t-shirt for only $19.99. and a garmin nuvi 255 gps for only $149.94. and don't miss the family summer camp going on now with lots of free activities. details at