♪ >> coming up on espnews. the old saying is "let nature take its course," but no one said anything about nature taking over the course. if getting shut out by the worst team in baseball wasn't bad enough, the yankees add injury to insult. north carolina has already won the national title in basketball. the tar heels trying to keep the dream alive in baseball. and, why team u.s.a. has its work cut out in the confed cup and the world cup. this is espnews. captioning by captionmax

>> hi and welcome to espnews. along with will selva, i'm j.w. stewart. normally bethpage black only has one hole with a water hazard. thursday, the whole course was a water hazard. >> they're not wearing life vests but scott van pelt and andy north are anchoring our coverage from a very soggy bethpage black. >> they told us it was coming, but i'm not sure anyone was prepared for what fell from the skies here thursday on long island -- bethpage black absolutely inundated. it's difficult to describe how miserable conditions were unless you experienced them firsthand. 10:16, horns blew, play suspended and called for the day short of 2:00.

>> tiger woods out just after 8:00. roars of approval as he and stevie headed to the first tee and then, andy, is it the mist? is it wet? >> a very difficult tee shot, sharp dogleg left to right, struggled swinging in his rain jacket, he was able to figure out a way to get the ball in the greenside bunker, played a nice shot leaving himself a five-footer to save par after the horrible tee shot. >> is wet sand tougher to hit out of by a factor of 100? >> absolutely. to make a four, what a great way to get started. >> to get your legs back beneath you, in spite of that wicked miss he makes par. on two. >> uphill approach shot, hits a beautiful shot, expecting it to spin back, it does somewhat, this is maybe the wettest green of them early in the day.

they were squeegeeing this early in the morning. >> an option for the players to clear a path to the hole. when he putts, he drags his putter across. you can see how wet it was. >> parring two and three. second shot at the par 5 fourth plays dramatically uphill. ball coming up 20 yards short. it didn't get into the bunker. it got caught in the grass on the upslope. he pitched it to this point, and ended up having to settle for yet another par. he's off with four straight pars. >> four is a hole with, all things being equal on a dry day ought to be a birdie opportunity. we had the miss left off one. got fortunate. >> five a very tough par 4, hits a tree, comes back into the longer grass, all he can do is pitch the ball down the fairway leaving himself a short iron third shot into the green, another dramatically uphill approach shot. >> was this the bigger mistake than the tee shot?

>> this is the shot that led to the double bogey. the double bogey came from hitting the bunker, taking it to this point and hitting a good putt didn't make it -- he's two over par but he comes back at the par 4 sixth. giving himself this 12-footer. he knocked it in. that gets him back to where he wants to be. >> important to bounce back quickly. the double bogey, get one right back, they blow the horn but because there is no dangerous electricity in the air it's the right of the player to play out. was that smart? >> i think that's a good idea. he had played a couple bunker shots, he knows the firmness of the sand, then he decides that's enough, we'll come back and finish that later on. >> so we take a look at tiger's scorecard, it's clean through the first four holes though it was an adventurous first four holes then in the fifth it went wrong, the errant tee shot leaving the third in the bunker leading to the double bogey, immediately bouncing back to put a circle on the scorecard with a

birdie. it's miserable. we see them miss left, we see them miss right. what dunotice in terms of his level of comfort with swing, gear, what? >> everything was bothering the player. it wasn't just tiger. you're dealing with the wind, you're dealing with the rain, he took his rain jacket on and off, on and off, hard to get a rhythm started, he didn't get into the round as he said quite often, he's been driving the ball beautifully. if a player loses his rhythm a little bit that's where it shows up, in the tee shot. >> insanely difficult to find any rhythm on such a miserable day. we look at others who got out and played on this basically wash-out thursday, angel cabrera, his third to that uphill par 4 you're talking about, pulls the string nicely. >> playing with tiger woods, he made a huge putt for bogey at the first hole to keep from starting with a double. >> rough around the green, grass gets tacky, then it's wet. >> he's trying to hit a shot where he goes underneath and pops it straight up in the air

because it's straight downhill to the hole location. didn't work out for him. >> led to double. justin leonard. he's got the straight ball going. is he long enough to contend here? if he hits irons like this, i think so. >> a 4-iron from 186 yards. how soft the greens are, the ball stops dead with a 4-iron. >> beautiful shot from justin leonard. that pond had company by the end of the day, nearly a lake that inundated the green. >> they moved the tee way up, 163 yards instead of the normal 220. >> ian poulter a pick a lot of folks like, a gritty player, here for a par, you've got to do this in the u.s. open. >> you've got to save some pars with big putts. that's nice. any par on a day like thursday is a good one. speaking of par, how about andrew parr. >> old man parr is a great score in the u.s. open, insert your favorite cliche, parr begins with a birdie.

jeff brehaut, on 17, right hole location on this par 3. you see the lens inundated with water. >> one under par through 11. >> ryan spears. hit the stick and drops. that might have rolled forever. >> one under par leading the u.s. open. >> he can say whatever comes from mr. spears, he can say "i slept on the lead at the u.s. open." he doesn't need to add "it was only after three holes and half the field didn't start." brehaut, edfors and parr your leaders, and spears -- nobody finished and nobody started in the afternoon -- all these big players, els, garcia, goosen, kim, mcilroy, mickelson, mediate, perry, scott and villegas, none had a chance to put a peg in the ground. andy, because this is the u.s. open maybe we make this out to

be worse than it really is. you were out there in it. how bad was it? >> it was miserable, absolutely miserable, one thing because it was 60 degrees and there was enough wind that there was wind chill going on but it was a struggle. i truly believe the players that didn't get started, that's going to be an advantage for them throughout the rest of the week. >> the fact they didn't have to get out and stop and start and deal with this at all. fingers crossed and hoping for friday's schedule -- the first round resumes at 7:30 a.m. by 10:00 a.m. those andy just spoke of who didn't play thursday will begin their first round hoping there are no weather interruptions. second round will begin by 4:00 p.m. does that seem a tad ambitious given how much water has fallen on this golf course? >> so much depends what happens over the next few hours. if we get more rain later in the evening that's going to make the superintendent and the grounds people's jobs more difficult. >> they worked so hard to get this course ready and mother

nature does this. a chance of rain -- and then frankly, folks, it gets worse as we move forward but move forward we will. >> all right, guys, thanks a lot. coming up on espnews, rain was also a factor in baseball. plus, the phillies lose something more important than a ballgame. >> also on the way, joe torre can make his own personal history with a win over the a's. donte' stallworth received a jail sentence, and now the nfl's punishment handed down. and the u.s.a. plays brazil. in six minutes what may be a sign of things to come for next summer's world cup. ( theme from a summer place plays )

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joe torre one win away from passing sparky anderson for fifth place on the all-time wins list. right now they are even at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth -- orlando hudson, the o dog, solo jack in the third. kurt suzuki an r.b.i. double for oakland. >> red sox and marlins have been in a rain delay at fenway since about 9:00 eastern time, 2:15 worth and the weather in boston now is not any better than what it was since then and it's not supposed to get any better but they continue to hold off on a decision. it is an official game, we're in the sixth inning. marlins up 2-1 on home runs by dan uggla and ronnie paulino. as soon as we know more, we'll pass it along to you here on espnews. >> the rain didn't just disrupt the u.s. open on thursday, it also kept the yankees and nationals from starting on time.

scheduled it begin at one:05 p.m. eastern it didn't -- 1:05 eastern. you can run 2 1/2 new york marathons -- there is no official record of the longest rain delay in mlb history, but 5:26 certainly ranks up there with other wet games. we would tell you now, but then again, we don't want to delay the highlights and longer. this was the final meeting for the yankees and the nationals and the teams have only one common day off the rest of the season, so they had to play this one. joba chamberlain on the mound. ryan zimmerman lined one into the gap. zimmerman had three hits and an r.b.i., 1-8 in the first two games of this series. a-rod to left. willie harris -- the runway is clear and he's coming in for a landing. robbing a-rod of a hit. bottom seven, bases loaded, willy taveras gets derek jeter to ground to short, cristian guzman, nice play. jeter 0-1, still dealing with

the sore left ankle. top eighth, 3-0 nats, austin kearns to left center. brett gardner makes the catch but hits the wall hard. manager joe girardi comes out. gardner is carted off. the nationals win 3-0. the nats are the second worst team to shut out the yankees and the worst to win a series from the yankees in new york. here are notable rain delays that compare to the yankees' 5:26 delay. >> the phillies have put left fielder raul ibanez on the d.l. with a groin injury. in his first season in

philadelphia, the 37-year-old ibanez began the day second in the national league with 22 home runs and 59 r.b.i.'s. john mabry jr. will take his place on the roster. blue jays going for a three-game sweep of the phils, 7-7 game, pinch-hitter rod barajas coming through in the pinch -- the former philly burning his old team with a solo home run to straightaway center and the jays win by the final of 8-7. jays finish off the sweep, the phils are a major league best 23-9 on the road but only 13-19 at home. "i'm tired of hearing about it," said ryan howard. i'm tired of talking about losing at home. >> free kick for brazil. we decided to spin the espn axis showing you felipe melo all

alone. third time in four games the u.s. has allowed a goal in the first seven minutes. 19th minute, corner kick, marcus beasley. brazil sets up the counterattack. ramirez sprints down the field with the ball and passes to rodinho who passes it. brazil ends up winning it. alexi lalas looks ahead. >> you have to be able to compete. it's not about winning necessarily against the big teams. when you get off the field after the 90 minutes you want to say "i'm proud of the u.s. and i have hope for the future." the progress that this team and sport has made on and off the field in the last 10-20 years is phenomenal, it's so incredible when you compare it to other countries -- the fact is in the united states, we want everything immediately. we want to be able to win the world cup. we want to be able to compete. my problem with this team is it's not necessarily the best players but it's not the best group of players, and as we've seen in any sport it's not

necessarily all the great stars and all the best players coming together, it's the proper mix. when you're looking at this team we have to ask ourselves is this the proper mix? is this the proper collection of players that's going to win, that's going to compete at a world-cup level? >> the u.s. needed egypt to beat italy to stay alive. egypt with the corner kick. egypt strikes first. on the replay, the beautiful cross there, and egypt with the lead. >> and then later on, check out

>> the nfl -- gennaro gattuso. >> dwont stallworth began serving a 30-day sentence on tuesday for manslaughter and reached a financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker. this was the statement from the commissioner. >> in 2 1/2 minutes on espnews, it's elimination time in the college world series. how arizona state and north carolina responded. and in six minutes, why rafael nadal may not be able to defend his title at wimbledon. stay current with espnews. ♪ 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.

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>> elimination game at the college world series between arizona state and north carolina, roy williams in attendance. jacob stallings lays down the safety squeeze scoring levi michael, 1-0 tar heels. top four, bases loaded with one out, two strikes, stalling, again, lays down the safety squeeze. that scores a run. 2-0 north carolina. next batter, mike cavasinni. singling to left. that scores michael. 3-0 u.n.c., uh-oh, here we go

again for a.s.u., bottom five, arizona state down 4-0, bases juiced for cole calhoun -- high, deep, gone -- the granny ties it at 4-4. bottom seven, still tied at 4-4, two otwo outs, calhoun fakes a bunt then rips a two-r.b.i. double into the gap. 6-4 sun devils. calhoun with all six r.b.i. arizona state goes on to win 12-5. they face texas next. >> cubs and white sox. cubs down 5-1 heading into the eighth. here we are in the ninth. one otwo out for alfonso soriano. he got all of that one but it counts. reed johnson scores the game-winning run. cubs win 6-5 on soriano's ninth career walk-off hit and second this season. >> cardinals trying for their seventh straight home win against detroit, a streak that includes the 2006 world series. brandon inge, lines a single to

right. miguel cabrera comes around and miggy beats the throw. 3-0 tigers. top eighth, 4-3 tigers. none on, one out, placido polanco drives this jason mott pitch over the fence and the tigers win 6-3. mets and o's. k-rod on the mound. bases loaded. 3-2 pitch to adam jones low and out of the strike zone. felix pie scores. k-rod entered the game with a 4.56 e.r.a. two batters later, aubrey huff, second straight game, deciding hit. orioles win 5-4. >> for the second straight year alexander ovechkin is the hart trophy winner as the league's m.v.p. ovechkin who led the nhl with 56 goals is the first non-goalie to repeat since wayne gretzky won eight in a row from 1980 through

1987. ovechkin also won the lester pearson award begin to the most outstanding player as voted on by his peers. >> pavel datsyuk won two awards. the best defensive forward and the lady byng for gentlemanly conduct. >> rafael nadal will decide friday if he will be able to defend his wimbledon title. the number one seed in the tournament, nadal lost an exhibition matched this to lleyton hewitt and his knees continue to bother him. wimbledon gets under way monday on espn2. >> mother nature washes out the open's first round. what this means for tiger and the rest of the field. top stories on the way.

>> i'm eric karabell with your fantasy news. let's look at information you need to know for friday's games. first off, let's talk about the philadelphia outfield without raul ibanez. he's on the d.l. with a groin problem. the other three guy should not be dropped. let's assume it's a short-term stint. john mayberry comes up from the minors but he's raw, to be used against left-handed pitching. il would recommend him for the best match-up as well as stairs and dobbs.

nothing to worry. 5-1 on the season with a 3.70 e.r.a., feldman has allowed more than three runs in only one of his starts all year. he should pitch well at san francisco. finally, why can't joe saunders get any love? the lefty did win 17 games with a 3.41 e.r.a. last season and he's on pace for a similar campaign this year. why is he available in a third of espn leagues? i don't know. saunders and his 2.74 home e.r.a. this season will be on display friday against the dodgers. pick him up and keep him around. espn.com -- the best place for fantasy analysis on the web. check out our articles, videos, podcasts and chats. do better in your league. >> michael cuddyer does a little yard work -- justin morneau going the opposite way. 1-0 minnesota. we go to the bottom of the

sixth. here is michael cuddyer. he gets every bit of this one. gone. into center field. that one off zach duke. twins win by the final count of 5-1 as they end up getting the save in the top of the ninth. beautiful stab right there to morneau. we love how these things work out, j-dub, nick blackburn, first career complete game, 4-0 with a 1.84 e.r.a. over the last eight starts. >> rockies beat the rays. 15-5 under jim tracy. last midseason replacement to win 15 of his first 20 games, joe morgan with the 1988 boston red sox who went 19-1. >> with u.s. open play resuming.