>> right now on espnews, game 4 of the nba finals is underway. the lakers off to a slow shooting start. see if they've picked it up since. the red sox and yankees both getting great nights from their starters. who is going to finish at fenway? in the national league, the phillies and the mets doing battle before everyone starts interleague play. and on the golf course, phil mickelson with mixed emotions, but no question about the results. espnews, swinging your way now.

>> hello up there, and welcome down here. espnews now available in high definition, along with jonathan coachman, i'm steve bunin, we're always keeping you current in the world of sports here on espnews. guys hit a home run, we'll show you usain bolt live in toronto. running for the first time since his car accident. and game 4, nba finals, magic and lakers, now orlando, they answered a lot of questions with their game 3 win on tuesday. it took incredible shooting to do it. the big question, tonight, can they continue that good play in front of a home crowd, pivotal. pivotal gam game 4. kobe, starting off, red hot, just like he did in game 3. 2-0, lakers. heed owe, heed owe turkoglu! driving to the hoop. andrew bynum, on the bench.

pau gasol had gone to the bench in foul trouble. alston, back home, and that confidence. back on his shoulders. nelson, all he can do is watch more. alston, top of the key, bang. that made it 12-8, and 14 of 11. now it is 18-15. kobe bryant very hot. the lakers are not shooting very well. only 15 with under 3 to play. turkoglu and alston leading the way with 7 apeace. >> don't forget, as soon as this game is over, this is where you want to be. espnews through all the postgame press conferences. you'll hear from both coaches. kobe bryant, dwight howard, and the other key players from game 4 of the nba finals. >> >> baseball, it is now tied in boston.

francisco with the r.b.i. double in the 7th. david ortiz homer in the bottom of the second. great pitching back to c.c. sabathia, and brad penny who is now out. highlights in this game when it goes final. >> he was the hottest and most impressive pitcher in the first couple of months. the royals back, greinke just a little bit. 1.40 all the way up to 1.55. he has a 3-1 lead. bottom of the eighth. still in the ballgame. gone 7 and 1/3. wearing the royals in back-to-back games for the first time in weeks. >> tigers and white sox wrapping up a five-game set.

curtis granderson, excuse me while i kiss the sky. ties the game at 3. a little controversy. watch this. watch the fan, left field, reach, reach, and gets the ball. great k567, dude. except the tigers are saying fan interference. hustling out. doing his usain bolt. is it? did he reach into it? looked like he reached over the wall. but, all stands, no interferen interference. scores brian anderson, and the white sox win it 4-3. jim thome, whrafts away for the third time in four games. ten behind reggie jackson on the all time list, and the white sox win. now 3-2 on an 11-game roadie. the white sox are also on the

road in milwaukee. bottom 8, adam kennedy, down 3-1, no longer. tied at 3. bottom nine. same score, davis, the bloop into the right spot. chris score, and a's win, 4-3. twins are just 9-20 on the road this season. >> runs batted in, and luis castillo each time. phillies more balanced and all knotted up. as soon as this game ends, we'll have highlights for you.

some interleague play, mets against the yankees. boston at phillie. >> all right, rockies, brewers. >> stewart has been awesome. >> rockies up early. that one off galliard owe. up 2-0. ryan brawn, bases loaded. two outs. oh oh. swings and missed. rockies escape with the 5-4 win. with the loss, only a half game ahead of st. louis now, who was able to win on thursday.

>> hoff a. you know, he's been the source of controversy over the years. >> who needs to be 34 and 6 feet away from the hill? >> michael bourne was thinking about breaking more than that. astros still up top 9. derrek lee. hasn't been the greatest year for him. this was a good moment though. his 7th. tied at 1. we go all the way to the bottom of the 13th. rips it just inside the line. hunter pens is on his hours horse, that's all she wrote. cubs. his second straight game, with a walkoff hit. derrek lee's solo home run extended his current hit streak to ten games.

>> still to come on the way, albert pujols has been in a slum many. he busted out in a major way this afternoon. and phil mickelson returns to competitive golf in memphis. steve will join us -- gene will steve will join us -- gene will join us ♪ (guy) you know, the beer you choose says a lot about you. you want friendly, but not pretentious. classic, never trendy. you want a real american beauty. (woman) are you talking about the budweiser? or me? yes. ♪ 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.

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s. >> back on espnews. look at that mariners game. ichiro has ascored twice. top of the 7th. they're up 6-2 in baltimore. yankees just tied it up in

boston. kevin millwood with a defensive gem you're going to see tonight on "baseball tonight." energy. that's just some of the games going on in major league baseball. >> a great field on hand including philha mickelson. back for the first time since his wife's breast cancer diagnosis. this is mickelson's first hole of the day. not a bad t start. land just a few feet from the hole. would tap that in for birdie. he double bogied 18 on the front nine. he would turn it around. he would knock that in for a birdie. solid start for phil. john daley, back after a six-month suspension. he's lost over 60 pounds. he'lling good. talking the game, and playing the game earlyou on. he would birdie that, and go to 1 under.

however, the 7-iron just a little bit too much. he flies the green. and a great recovery from the drop zone. he would bogie the hole. finish the day 2 over 72. brian gay a solid 64. top of the leaderboard after day 1. >> got off to a great start. thought it was going to be a good round. i made one really poor shot, made double. made a couple of birdies coming in. made good putts, gives me some momentum for tomorrow. it wasn't a great round, but it was a good start. i certainly enjoyed playing. i had a great pairing. padraig harrington, and cameron beckman are such nice guys. we had an enjoyable round and was able to hit a few good shots and kind of get away a little

bit. and, you know, we're looking forward to our vacation just before we start our treatment. so that will be fun, too. >> all right, espn dot k078 national columnist gene joins us now. phil has said this was almost like a treatment for him to play now after his wife's situation. what's it like to be around phil right now? >> well, you know what, that clip you just played was interesting. i was standing right there and thought the same thing. now hearing it again, he sort of seguedgo from golf to the vacatn he was going to take with his family. so to me, thate sort of signifis he's not totally into this, which is completely understandable. you know, half of his head is in golf, and half of his head, and maybe a lot more is thinking about his wife, amy, and the treatments they're going to start shortly after july 1st. so it's 1 pretty clear to me tht he's here. he's giving it his best. he's trying. but i'm not sure his heart is

100% into golf this week. >> do you think there's anyway, and obviously he's here to tune-up to play at beth pagee black next week. do you think there's anyway he can go to the u.s. open and win with the state of mind he's in right now? >> well, sure. he's still phil mickelson, and he still has that splendid game. he's going to show how they draft cars in nascar, he could get drafted just by the emotions, by the fans in new york if he gets off to a good start. he could sort of draft behind all of that excitement and his play but, you know it's going to be real hey hard, i would think. he's phil, but these are extraordinary circumstances. it would be a fantastic story. >> it would be a wonderful scene if he could be in contention next week. >> switching gears now. the other biggest name or biggest story of the st. jude of john the return daley after a six-month suspension. he's lost all that weight.

he seems to be very humble. seems to have found his game on the european tour. what's it like for him out there after day i one? >> you know, this is sort of a, almost like a homecourt for him. he's from arkansas, and just up the road. played in this tournament about 1,000 different times. so he was well received here. his game was still a little off, especially at putting. i'm sure you sawff from the highlights. he had some difficulties putting today. he's used to putting on those greens in europe. now he comes over here, you know. but something that was different, you know, normally you show the highlight from no. 11. the old john daley might have had a john daley-esque meltdown and sort of phoned it in. he didn't do that. he got up-and-down for his bogie. even though he putted poorly and finished 2 over, he went to the range and to the putting green after the round which is also something a little different. the old john daley might have blown it off, gone into the car and been on his way. so there are signs that maybe he

understands this is his last chance and signs of maturity that he really does want to get better and play better on this tour. >> starting in june this year for him and a lot of the things he will be playing will be sponsors exemptions. what has john daley said will be his goals for the rest of the season? >> i thinkxe he just wants to py good golf. i think he wants to sort of prove to people that he's not this high risk character anymore. that if you're a sponsor and you're having doubts about whether or not to invite him to your tournament because you're not sure he'll withdraw on you or embarrass your tournament, he's trying to convince you that he's worth the trouble. and i think he's trying to convince the golf fan in general. and maybe even his peers that he's sort of, you know, turning the battleship around. it's going to take a while. but i think he's going to do that. i'm stillwh skeptical, but i lie saw today. >> all right, gene, you're

always worth the trouble. thanks for joiningol us. >> okay, take care, bye-bye. >> all right, we update the yankees and the red sox just moments ago. >> all right, giants and d'bac d'backs. this is jonathan sanchez. bottom third, justin upton. he gets all of that. number 12 on the year. this would be a pitching duel. d-backs win 2-1. max notched the longest outing of his career. 7 and 2/3. while striking out 6 for the win. the win snaps a three-game home losing streak for the d-backs. jonathan sanchez continues to struggle on the road. falling to 0-6 away from home.

>> the brett favre athon continues in minnesota. favre, of course, is not there. he's still rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder. but now there's a he said, he said game going on between the media and vikings coach brad childress who insists the team did not give favre a deadline to show up. espn is standing by its story that the teasm did exactly that. pedro gomez has the latest. >> vikings head coach brad childress admitted he called and talked to brett favre as recently as last week. childress wouldn't say what was discussed. >> generally i think the guy's still retired. >> you know, you have it hanging over your head all day every day. every time you see something about favre, something about him

working out at high schools, you know in the morning. but you do want it to be finished with, and you want to know. >> the tight end says the players have a name for all this drama, favre apalooza. he added favre has earned the right to put teams through a situation like this. as for taveras and sage rosenfels, the current quarterbacks candidates, they've slugged their shoulders and said they can only control how they play. >> thanks, pedro. up next, usain bolt and his first action on the tracks. see how he did in the rain in toronto. game 7 of the stanley cup final. our hockey crew is already there. what will be the x-factor?

>> if you win it, it's the greatest summer of your life. >> scored! >> game 7, it's a one-game, winner takes the trophy home. >> i'll meet you in the school yard, baby. for all the marbles on friday night in detroit.

>> what to watch for friday night. 8:00 eastern time is game 7 of the stanley cup finals. the red wings return to the joe to try to win back-to-back cups. the home team has won all six games in the series so far. with more from detroit, here's steve levy, barry melrose, and matthew barnaby. >> friday night, joe louis arena will host its first ever game 7 of the stanley cup final. in fak, the red wings organization hasn't participated in such an event anywhere since 1964. and that didn't end up so well for detroit. over in hockeytown cafe, there is no penguin on the menu, but there is confidence served over a steaming hot plate of game 7 hopes and dreams. >> we've been in the finals and lost, and playoffs and lost. and won game 7s in overtime. we've lost games, so we've been on both ends. there's nothing we really haven't been through. people say they haven't been in a game 7 in the finals yet. i mean, you have another chance to win the cup.

and we've been through a lot of those games before. >> win or lose that game, we should be proud of where we've come from, and how we've played in that game. and that's the way they should feel. and they should understand exactly how precious this opportunity is coming for game 7. >> all right, matthew barnaby, maybe it's not the best day in your life. but a pretty good day. little role playing. you get to be sidney crosby. tell me about your game 7? >> bring on zetterberg, bring on lidstrom. i don't care who i play against. i'm going to be the best player on the ice that night. follow my lead, and i will win us the cup. oh, look who is back. hey. >> thanks for dropping by for game 7, barry. >> eight days later. i apologize. didn't get the memo. >> he's late all the time, forget about it. >> let's get the coaching perspective. you're dan bills ma. you heard what sidney crosby had to say. what else do you say to sid? >> i'll bring him in and say sidney we're here because of you. you've had an unbelievable year, and you're an unbelievable leader. i'm going to do everything in my

power to keep you away from zetterberg, every chance i get. but if i can't, you've got to go out and outplay him, and outscore him. wee need that offense from you in this building in detroit. >> sidney crosby, a minus 3 in this series. let's flip the switch here. marian hose a, the top goal in the regular season. big goose egg so far. matthew barnaby, you're hose a. give me your game 7? >> i came here for one reason, to hoist that cup. i haven't been very good in the series. tomorrow i will be great. i will go to those areas to score. i will be physical, and be that dominant player you guys pick on your team. >> head coach mike babcock? >> i would look at marian and say, you're right. you haven't been good. >> i would show him a tape of him when he was great. he's a power forward. get your nose dirty, get the puck in the net. not away from the net. if you do that, we'll carry the cup around. >> babcock actually did call hossa into his office, he said remember game 6? who scored the goals? neither could remember who scored the goals, but they

remembered who won, and that was detroit. we'll blowout the budget coverage of game 7. live on friday, and extensive postgame coverage from a former red wing great, and a former penguin great. so we are fair and foul for the night. now back to you. >> i didn't know a hockey budget was all that large. >> they're blowing it up. >> friday will feature the 15th game 7 in stanley cup final history. recent history says the red wings have the edge at home. the host team has won the last six game 7s in the stanley cup. the last road team to win game 7 in the final. the four major sports, the pittsburgh pirates, 1979. home teams are 18-0 since. >> usain bolt. the first 100 meter race of 20 2009.

bolt starts out behind. runs a 10 flat to take first. 6:then trots around. standing room only tickets for $25 to watch the greatest. >> coming up, the orlando magic have come up strong tonight. we'll fill you in. >> and also, at fenway, the yankees trying to salvage one game of the series. cc sabathia, playing the role of stopper.