>> 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 >> right now on espnews, game 4 finals.ba the red sox and yankees both getting great nights from their starters. who is going to finish at fenway? >> in the national league,il the phillies and the mets doing battle before everybody starts interleague play. and on the golf course. phil mickelson with mixed emotions, but no question about the result. espnews, swinging your way right now. [closed captioning provided by espn, inc.]

>> welcome back to espnews. and quite a shot right there. along with jonathan coach man, i'm steve bunin, this is the place we keep you up to date on everything that's going on in the world of sports. ibanez has gone yard. more on that in moments. game 4 of the nba finals. the magic answered a lot of questions with their game 3 win. the question was could they take that incredible shooting into game 4, and even the series at 2 games apiece? >> kobe bryant said, hey, i didn't run into a wall. in game 3. heed owe turkoglu though. taking the scoring challenge. for the mets, he has 12 so far in the first half. >> but then, over j.j. redick. >> oh, i'll take kobe.

kobe had to go to the bench. there's been a redick sighting, ladies and gentlemen. the jumper, and then the six-point game inside. and i believe i can see his tattoo. sorry, reebok. that's 37-29, just under 6 minutes to play. >> as soon as this game is over, espnews where you want to be for all your postgame coverage. kobe bryant, dwight howard, and the key players involved. >> you might have heard the red sox are looking for a three-game sweep of the yankees. well, it's not looking like it's going to happen yet.

boston was up 1-0 early on david ortiz homer. then r.b.i. doubles, and alex rodriguez scored two. highlights coming up. >> well, the royals and indians are all tied up at 3. zach greinke started this game. gave up three runs, all earned. he gave up six hits and six strikeouts. threw 116 pitches. right now greinke came in with a 1.55era. this one is highlights when this one is over. >> detroit and chicago trying to wrap up a five-game set. that a is a lot of numbers. here'sin another. 14th homer of the season for

granderson. ties the game at 3. bottom of the ninth. bases loaded. scott podsednik, slices it foul. this could be an out unless the fan interferes. did he? the tigers think so. he's got to get into the field of play. does he cross that invisible line? depends if our a white sox or tigers fan. so same at bat, podsednik chops it to the right side. that brings home a run, and that is the run of the game. and the likely jog off win for chicago. which avoids its worst homestand since 1981 by pulling out its fourth win in 12 games.

>> twins, a's, 3-1 game. adam kennedy! kennedy! the two-run shot. tied at 3. some fans know what i'm talking about. >> i'll google it. >> davis, the game-wing hit. a's win 4-3. they're starting to pick up steam. oakland has won 9 of 12. that included a 7-game win streak. the twins are just # and 20 on the road this season. they're only 1 of 4 major league teams with fewer than ten road wins. phillies and mets and mets in the top of the tenth in the rubber match between these two teams. highlights coming up. >> tonight, rockies-brewers, colorado. riding a 7-game winning streak. ian stewart has been a major

part of that. he gets into one again. top 4. solo shot, number 12 for stewart. rockies up 2-nil. bottom 7, bases loaded. huge opportunity! >> oh oh. struck out swinging. >> i thought you pulled something. >> i pulled something. >> brawn, and the rockies escaped with a 5-4 win, they won eight straight. they've outscored their opponents 55-20 in that span. >> a good, long one in houston. it's been some talk about the deep one to center, and the hill and all that. straight way, michael borne is out there. watch out for the hill, kid. what? no problem. oh, no, he didn't.

borne catches it, that would be ap top play -- oh, yeah, wrong show. >> all right, lee off hawkins. that would tie the game. >> bottom of 13. two outs. two men on for blum. rips it down the right field line. here comes hunter pens. he's fast, too fast. >> for blum, his second straight game with a walk-off hit. russ ortiz, longest outing of the season. 5 and 1/3. i don't know that that's good or bad. derrek lee, the solo home run extended his hit streak to ten games. >> still to come, albert pujols is admired in a slump. when he busts out, he busts out real. and also, phil mickelson, back on the course for the first time since his wife's cancer

diagnosis. john daley there as well. we update things in t ♪ ah, that hits the spot. it's drinkability. it means bud light is good where ever you are. if you're at a party. or, playing golf. like those guys. or, in a bar. [ old timey western bar music ] draw another door. don't say draw. never filling, always refreshing. bud light. the difference is drinkability. seven aces.

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♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico. >> coming up on espnews, with jonathan coachman, i'm steve bunin, take a look at the scores. the three-run homer in the top of the tenth. raoul ibanez, goes up 6-3 on the mets. before this, kevin millwood, on the shutout over the bluejays. the yankees with a couple of late ones. seattle taking care of baltimore. and they're in extra innings in

cleveland as well. >> the st. jude classic, the final event for the u.s. open next week. phil mikel son, back for the first time since his wife's breast cancer diagnosis. he will play the u.s. open, and then after that they will -- phil started red hot. birdied his first two holes. however, he would double bogie, and then turn it around on the front nine. he would birdie the 7th to finish at 2 under 68. he's playing his first tournament since the six-month suspension, on the par 4, ninth. john daley, nice movement and ball acceleration. daley, 1 under at the turn. however, things getting a little dicey on the par 3, 11th. probably should have used it, over the imreen. he would have to go to the drop

zone. throe got mad, throwing his club. had a snowman instead. even his 2 over 72. so, after day one, brian gay, atop your leaderboard, he shot a 64. jose maria ole thawbal who will go to the golf hall of fame later. with a 66. there you see retief goosen, shot a 68. at the left, phil mickelson talked about his round afterwards. >> i thought it was going to be a really good round. i made a few poor shots. i drove in the water on 18 and made double. made a couple of birdies coming in. some good putts, that gave a little momentum. it was a great round, but it was a good start. >> i certainly enjoyed playing. i had a great pairing. padraig harrington, and cameron made it an enjoyable round. and i was able to hit a few good shots.

you know, i'm looking forward to our vacation just before we start our treatment. >> let's take a look at phil's score card. i'm sure a lot of us would love to have a 68. you see the double bogie at 18. >> back to base ball. pujols, and hitting now .317. cardinals within a run. tied at 5. top of the eighth. after an outfield error by ross allowed two runs to score. cody pinch hitting. sends st. louis home victorious. doesn't really good home, they go to cleveland for play tomorrow. florida also on the road in toronto. 25 hits in this game said ross

about the quote, i missed it, flat out. it went right through my legs. there is no excuse. >> >> upstate from the mets and phillies. kicking it up in the top of the tenth. two outs, and ibanez is up at bat. 21st homer of the season, deep into the new york mercky sky. mets couldn't do anything in the bottom of the 10th. they go down 6-3. philadelphia extending its lead in the national league east on the ibanez home run. 21st of the season. he's a guy who averaged 21 per season since becoming a full-time player about six years ago. a career year for the 37-year-old who comes over from seattle and delivers in extra innings for philadelphia tonig tonight. >> also in the n.l. east, the pirates and the braves. not quite as much as those two teams, but they are in the nl east. >> that's true. vazquez leads the national league in strikeouts with 12

tonight. over 100 for the season. top of the ninth though, soriano comes in and serves up three hits. including that one to laroche, and makes it a 3-1 ballgame. then kelly johnson, is he safe or out at first? you make the call. actually, you don't make the call. the ump does. he called him out. bobby cox doesn't like that. he throws his cap. >> that's asuch a weak throw. every time i see that. >> pittsburgh with the victory. the braves finish the homestand 4-5. the pirates back home hosting the tigers. >> all right, the san francisco giants looking for a sweep of the arizona diamondbacks. that's one of the few mistakes that jonathan sanchez made. cost him. d'backs win, 2-1.

7 and #/3. striking out six for a win. the win snaps a three-game home losing streak for the diamondbacks. jonathan sanchez continues to struggle on the road, falling to 0-6 away from home. >> the brett favre athon continues in minnesota. favre isn't there. he's still rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder. now there is a he said who said? going on between the media and brad childress who insists the team did not give favre a deadline to show up. espn is standing by the story that the team did exactly that. childress seemed to leave the door open for favre to come to town at some point. >> i think we're anxious to see favre throw the ball, is that where you're standing to see him throw before you make any concrete decision on that? >> no. i'm not that anxious. no. i'm not on mood elevators or

anything like that. but you always want to see that happen. >> is the plan for you to see him throw at some point? does that leave the door open? >> you know what, that's down the road stuff. the guy's retired right now. and we'll have to talk to him about that. >> given how important the quarterback position is, is that something that can extend to the week before training camp? you know, the end of july? is that something that you need clarity on prior to that? >> do i need clarity on it? >> again, it's hard to speculate, kevin. it's hard. like i said the other day deadlines, you know. >> >> look the ncaa has placed ample banana bam's football program and 15 other teams on three years probation for major violations due to misuse of free textbooks. the football team must vacate an

unspecified number of wins. 201 student-athletes were involved in the infraction. here is head football coach nick saban. >> i think the university of alabama, dr. whitt, and elmore did a great job demonstrating institution al integrity in the way this was handled internally. and, you know, i'm really happy for the players that we have in the program, the future vision of the program that this is not going to affect their future there, nor the players that we're recruiting. so those were probably the three things that i feel right now. >> the ncaa used words like impermissible benefits to explain the situation. it should be pointed out the athletes who received the free textbooks themselves, also received free textbooks. so, the university is saying they he did not get a profit in getting rid of these textbooks,

if you can figure that out. >> the ncaa also found them guilty of failing to monitor the entire situation. >> for the latest on all those stories, go to espn.com any time, cross platform. up next, see what usain bolt did to cross into history in toron toronto. >> plus, cristiano ronaldo makes history. 131 million dollars worth. but that's not the end of the but that's not the end of the story. do you remember when taking a bath and going for a swim became the same thing for a few days? and when making the perfect s'more meant burning three marshmallows before getting one just right? then keep the tradition going, at bass pro shops family summer camp.

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>> two laps to go and, the caution. >> dale earnhardt, jr.! gets the victory. >> june i don't remember celebrates. he gets it today on father's day. >> i take this one for him and all others, and henrik, all across the country. >> well, it's been nearly a year since dale earnhardt, jr. has take not a checkered flag in a sprint cup race. he'll return to the track where he won this weekend at michigan. earnhardt has finished in the top 10 just 7 times in 35 races. through 14 races in 0 #.

here's alan bestwick with more. >> what to watch for over 400 miles at michigan international speedway on sunday. first, this is who to watch for. carl edwards has been a master at that track in recent years. >> last year carl was one of the best at saving fuel. now we have a new guy, tony stewart. he got good at saving fuel at pocono on sunday. the roush-fenway racing team cars have been heads above most recently. >> i think when you get into a situation and everybody runs well, and you go back with your expectations higher, it seems it always works out. i know michigan gives options to drivers, they've got three or four lanes and they'll use every one of them. in a year roush has struggled, each of their drivers has said so. they were really good at pocono. despite the fact that the results did not show it of because it ended under fuel

mileage. all three of the big three of roush were up front all day. >> with nascar's new double-wide race starts should be interesting to see those on the michigan wide track. >> they're going to exploit that. if you can imagine being sixth in the old system where you lineup sixth. now you can be third on the outside. and you can take the lead going into turn three, because the car, you know, the track is so wide. so it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. >> it's a perfect track, there is so much room. if we started this at bristol or martinsville, or next week at sonoma would be madness. >> you'll be in the middle of it, good luck. >> it will be fun at michigan. the first visit to the detroit area since this economic down turn hit. i'm sure that will be a great topic of discussion this coming weekend. >> it's 400 miles at michigan on sunday. we'll see who winds up at victory lane holding the trophy.

>> another topic of discussion will be breaking news tonight. nascar is suspending brian bar barry. nascar using a -- claiming he used a racial slur about mark davis, who is black. barry was angry with davis who collided with gong on pit road as he was trying to pit. at least two people heard the slur. gong's car is owned by rusty wallace. who is an analyst at espn. >> brian barry, my crew chief went up to the window net of mark davis and confronted him. i don't think mark heard anything he said whatsoever because he had his helmet on. but it was alleged that bryan use aid racial slur. i've talked to bryan about this he denied that. he does not deny though that he was cursing pretty heavy. he was very upset and very mad.

and it happened. but i apologized to the mark davis family for even having to go through this. mark's a cool kid. i like him a whole lot. i think he's going to be successful in the nationwide series. >> nascar report is brought to you by: get in the zone. >> all right, let's look at the games in progress. couple just gone final. three earned runs in eight innings. the phillies on the raoul ibanez home run. top of the tenth. they win 6-3. yankees-red sox in a good one. it's 3-2. two outs. nobody out in the eighth.

>> you saw it here earlier. usain bolt, breaking out of the number 4 lane. running in toronto. his first 100 meter race of 2009. starts behind, looks around. i better start kicking it. no problem. he runs the 10 flat. celebrates. everybody celebrating with him. >> all right, still to come. we update things from o-town. an offensive struggle for the lakers. we'll show you what's going down nobody has to tell you these are tough times. that's why it's a good time to get back under the hood... to keep that car running longer... and do everything you can to make sure... a small job doesn't turn into a costly one. and autozone is here to help every step of the way. we're the one place you'll find the expertise, tools, and advice you can trust...

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