>> i don't want to talk about my criminal records. >> and with that, manny ramirez is back from suspension. already good, how much better will the dodgers become? at wimbledon, roger federer is now only one victory away from history -- standing in his way, america's best chance since pete sampras. >> tiger, tiger, tiger. tiger woods is hosting his own tournament in d.c., this week. so far, the world's number one is making it look awfully easy at a difficult track. and it was a busy friday for hedo turkoglu. after passing on portland, how did he end up in toronto? we'll tell you, right now.

captioning by captionmax ♪ >> welcome to espnews. keeping you current with the latest breaking news, scores and highlights, along with jonathan coachman, i'm michele lafountain. our top story -- he's back. >> that he is, michele, the anticipation has been growing for well over a week after a 50-game suspension and a mini-tour of the minor leagues, manny ramirez returned to the dodgers friday night. but before he did, ramirez addressed his teammates, management, and fans. >> i don't want to get into my medical records right now. i'm happy to be here. i miss the game. i'm ready to play. i was practicing in triple-a, and i can't wait to get into the field. i want to say, i'm sorry to the

fans, to my teammates, that they are always there for me. i want to thank frank mccourt for his support. my friend texted me, "big day tomorrow, showtime," so i told him, "hey, i'll be ready." i not having been playing in two months, but still got it on me, so bring it on." >> manny batting third, starting in left field. introduced to the crowd at petco park. >> batting third, number 99, left fielder manny ramirez. >> a mix of boos and cheers. top of the first. first time up, a walk, and that would set up a five-run first inning for the dodgers. top of the second, manny grounds out to second. that play ends the inning. next at-bat for manny, top of the fourth, a 6-0 ballgame now, he will bounce out to shortstop.

manny 0-2 with a walk in the ninth thus far. top sixth now. manny up with a runner on second. this time he will pop out to second. his night would end. juan pierre comes in for defensive purposes. ramirez 0-3 with a walk in his first game back from his 50-game suspension. >> this night all about manny ramirez. how did you feel? >> i was kind of nervous, not having played in two months but i didn't put a lot of things on my mind. i know it was going to be crazy, but thanks to the fans from l.a., they made it so easy for me to go and play. >> how did it feel in the >> i thought he was ok. the first-inning walk was

amazing when you consider a 2-2 count and he worked a walk, i would be a little jumpy if i were him. >> that's what it's all about, go and have fun and what happened in the past, leave it in the past and have fun. >> finished 0-3 with a walk before being pulled in the sixth inning for juan pierre. eric young, how did you feel about the return of manny? >> with all the hoopla surrounding manny's return to the los angeles dodgers, you expected fireworks to happen. however, you saw a manny ramirez that was a little rusty from the layoff. he was very patient in the first at-bat. however, he became in-- he became impatient and started swinging at balls out of the zone. we know his timing is off, it will take a few days, maybe a week, but with the addition of manny back the los angeles dodgers look like a stronger

team and it will reflect on the players surrounding manny ramirez. >> a marathon game, twins and tigers. top of the 14th, tied at 7-7. placido polanco up the middle with two outs. gerald laird comes in to score. tigers take an 8-7 lead. they led 6-0 and 7-1 in this game am. bottom of the 14th. michael cuddyer off the glove of brandon inge. joe mauer will score. ties the game at 8-8. twins unable to score again. we go to the top of the 16th. that polanco guy again, through the drawn-in infield. the tigers would score three in the top of the 16th and hold on to win 11-9. delmon young 3-6 with a home run in a losing cause. also, starting pitcher kevin slowey's put on the d.l., he f just the seventh time in their last 25 games. >> have you ever felt the weight of a nation on your shoulders? andy murray's answer is yes.

this friday, murray stepped onto centre court with the mission of becoming the first british man to reach the wimbledon final in 71 years. never mind that no home-grown player has been crowned champion at the london grand slam since 1936. thousands of fans there to root for never mind that no home-grown player has been crowned champion at the london grand slam since 1936. thousands of fans there to root for murray and against the american in front of him, andy roddick. both players coming out to centre court. this is what roddick had to say about dealing with the crowds. >> i'm just going to pretend when they say, "come on, andy" that they mean me. >> all right. let's go to the second set. roddick up a set. serving in the near court. after a short rally, roddick approaches the net with a dropshot -- the great passing forehand. he gets the break. goes up 1-0 in the set. murray up set point, strong serve. roddick can't handle it. he evens the match at 1-1. third set. 2-1 roddick. he has a break point, and murray's shot is long. roddick with the break. up 3-1 now.

they weren't chanting "go andy" they were saying "go murray" for the most part but there were roddick fans there. here he was diving. cannot come up with the point. later in the game in the third set, long with the return, murray with the huge break to pull within 5-4. he's fired up. the set would go to a tiebreaker and set point for roddick -- the american, the approach on the backhand, murray's return finds the net, roddick up two sets to one. he's been in the final before, twice -- 2004 and 2005. lost twice to roger federer. there, murray taking a swing at the grass with his racket. match point for andy roddick. now, in the far court, murray on the run, and murray's shot would find the net. eliminated. britain's last hope in this tournament. roddick wins in four sets. he's in the final again. >> in recent years, it's -- i

think overall, it's certainly up there, playing a player of his rank, his caliber, and in kind of his atmosphere, and he's certainly in form going into the match, and you know, i had to play my best tennis to win. >> i played well. you look at the stats, i've hit more winners, less unforced errors and more aces. i'm sure the points that we won were very, very similar. it just came down to a few points here and there on his serve, and he served really, really well. >> other semifinal, roger federer looking to pass pete sampras for all-time grand slam wins with 15. federer looking to be the first man to advance to a seventh straight wimbledon final since 1922 facing germany's tommy haas. federer won the first set 7-6, haas serving down 5-6 and the fed express with the impressive winner to set up a break point for the set.

next point, five-time champion at wimbledon, this is why. haas missing long, shaking his head. federer would take the second set 7-5. go to the third. federer serving at 2-2, and haas scrambling to the net. hits the dropshot. watch as he puts his arm up subtly tries to distract federer and federer misses the easy shot. both players shared a laugh after the point. haas raising his arms right in front of federer. what a tactic. but it didn't last long after a double fault from haas, break point for federer and the man from germany sends his return into the net. federer serving for the match, next game, 40-0, federer match point, and that was it. lopsided win for federer. he's in the final again as well.

>> i was really happy the way i played today. i came up with some good stuff when i had to, and it was a tough match, because tommy was playing well. i'm very proud of all the records i have achieved, because i never thought i would be that successful as a kid, you know, i would have been happy winning a couple tournaments and maybe collecting wimbledon and sort of achieving the dream scenario, but not really all those records, but it's quite staggering now, having reached, again, i think it's my sixed -- sixth straight grand slam final i've achieved as well, and having so many things going for me again, and opportunity, again tomorrow -- on sunday, it's fantastic. >> with his victory over tommy haas, roger federer becomes the first man in tennis history to reach 20 grand slam finals. breaking a tie with ivan lendl for the all-time record. if he wins wimbledon, federer can also break a tie with pete

sampras for the most grand slam titles ever since the world number two laid claim to his first roland garros title last month, they are tied with 14 majors apiece. >> all right, michele, still to come on the diamond in boston, we'll tell you what record of roger clemens tim wakefield put to bed. >> plus, rafael palmeiro, once suspended for steroid use, and a-rod, chasing rafi on the all-time homer list, got a little closer. >> nba free agency in full go, will the lakers be looking for a new coach? hedo turkoglu going north of the border. got those stories coming up. >> tiger woods wants to be the host with the least -- amount of shots, that is. on friday, he sent a warning to others ahead of independence weekend. independence weeken

>> free agent forward hedo turkoglu changed his mind friday, decided not to join the trail blazers, instead accepted an offer from the raptors according to espn.com sources which say the deal is five years $50 million. nothing condition signed until july -- five years, $53 million. ric bucher, why trent? >> maybe most people can't make a distinction between portland, oregon and toronto, canada but hedo turkoglu can and that's why he accepted the deal with the raptors. it wasn't money. the difference was two million at the most. the big difference was lifestyle -- a cosmopolitan city, huge turkish city, closer to his native turkey and a city his wife likes, those are all things

that toronto had going for it, those are all things that portland ultimately couldn't overcome. >> in other nba news, phil jackson announced that he will return to coach the nba champion lakers next season. pistons president joe dumars is scheduled to have his first face to face meeting with avery johnson regarding the pistons coaching opening on sunday and allen iverson through representatives told the grizzlies he would like to play in memphis, according to an nba source. on to bethesda, tiger woods' at&t national tournament, round two, on thursday anthony kim set a course record with a 62, on friday kim's 20-foot par putt rims out, bogey would send him back a stroke. more bad luck for kim, defending champ rims this one out too. he shot an even par on the day, minus eight on the tournament, two shots behind new leader, tiger woods -- he started the day two shots behind kim.

he shot on the par 3 13th and drops it on the green and five feet of the hole, he would birdie that one. now at the 15th. he drills it from the fringe. to pin-high. woods four under on the day, 10 under on the tournament. davis love iii, 13th hole, 42-foot putt and he gets the birdie, moving to five under. three under on the day, he's four under on the tournament, jim furyk, 14th hole, chipping from off the green and he sinks it for birdie. seven under going into the weekend. tiger woods is the new leader but it doesn't seem he's satisfied. >> i didn't hit the ball that well today. i scored well. i got the ball in the hole, but i didn't hit the ball particularly all that well and mis-hit some shots left and right, so hopefully get it fixed by tomorrow. long way to go and obviously,

it's big for us to have awareness this week what we're trying to do, and as everyone knows, all my prize earnings goes right to the foundation, so i would like to win this one and obviously, it would help the kids. >> taking you next level. one reason tiger is atop the leaderboard, he's hitting his irons pure. his average distance from the hole after his approach shot has been markedly improved this week over his season's averages. his 130 total is a tournament record for the first 36 holes at the at&t national. >> one man who knows exactly what manny ramirez is going through is rafael palmeiro. the former slugger is one of the first to be suspended for steroid use. friday night palmeiro was inducted into the college baseball hall of fame, and speaking to pedro gomez still maintains his innocence. >> i didn't have to cheat. at the end of my career? for what? what was i going to gain from it? >> you admitted you made a mistake. what was it? >> whatever i took was tainted.

had to have been. had to have been. there is no other reason for me to be -- unless i got set up, i don't know, what i took was a b-12 that was given to me by a teammate, so really, that's all that -- that's it. that was it. >> palmeiro played 20 seasons from 1986 to 2005, and whether he used steroids or not, he was definitely one of the most productive players in that time span. he played the most games and had the most hits in those 20 seasons, and his home run and r.b.i. totals also ranked in the top five during his career. friday night, palmeiro also had some interesting remarks concerning the other man of the night -- manny ramirez. >> manny is a different type of player. he's a happy-go-lucky -- ever since he went from cleveland to boston, he created this image of this guy that's just -- has no

worry, he's just happy, out there just having fun, forgets how many outs there are, throws the ball in the stands and he's a clown, but in a good way and i love manny like a brother. so i wouldn't want anyone. i wouldn't want him to feel the way i felt when i was going through it and i am glad people see it in a different way and they're celebrating his return because he means so much to the dodgers. >> blue jays' first visit to the new yankee stadium, joe girardi and the yanks trying to get back on the winning track, alex -- bottom eighth, yanks up 1. alex rodriguez the solo homer to right, his 14th of the season and the yanks victorious. they've won 8-9. a-rod's 567th career homer leaves him two shy of rafael palmeiro for 10th place all time. the blue jays now 1-3 against the yanks this year. >> manny's former team, the red sox, hosting seattle. we go straight to the top of the

11th, game tied at 5-5 for rob johnson. he goes with the pitch. good hitting, kids. two runs score. mariners go up 7-5. they hold on to win 7-6. tim wakefield failed to get win number 11 in his 383rd career start. that breaks the boston red sox record previously held by roger clemens. >> up ahead on espnews. they call him the machine. albert pujols gave another reason for that nickname. we'll show you. >> he never seems to stop. manny ramirez -- he hopes he doesn't have to stop any more this season. he's back from a 50-game suspension. plenty more coming up from san diego.

you know what i like about tennis are the rankings. i like to know exactly where you stand at all times. yeah, it works for us. yeah. hey, if they ranked "sportscenter" anchors, where do you think i'd be ranked?

- i don't know. - come on. i'd rather not get into it. come on, pick a number between one and 10. well... i'm not sure you'll be in the top 10. i'm in the top 10, roger.

>> it was a much-ballyhooed return, manny ramirez back from his 50-game suspension friday night in a 6-3 win, went 0-3 with a walk, but the excitement surrounding the dodgers certainly was back for this. we welcome in now colleen dominguez, who has been following this manny ramirez saga. colleen, tell us what the atmosphere was like friday night in san diego. >> good evening, jonathan. even though this was an away game for the dodgers, most of the fans at petco park gave manny ramirez a standing ovation when he took the field. he said the entire night was a

relief for him. he didn't get a hit, he said, but it felt like getting 200 pounds off his back and the reception from the san diego fans and the dodger fans that drove down to see him had to help. there were clearly more cheers than boos. >> it was great, man. it was the best. i want to thank my fans. i think they drove from l.a. just to watch the game and to watch me. it was unbelievable. >> it was surprising to me. i felt that the dodger fans would welcome him and it was a lot friendlier today than i thought it was going to be. >> everybody excited to see him, the fans support big time him and everybody's happy to see him come back. >> he's a part of the team and he was away for so long, we missed him. we're glad he's back. >> ramirez will play tomorrow. saturday is a day game following a night game. joe torre says he doesn't know

how long ramirez will be in the game on saturday. jonathan. >> all right, colleen, i know it's been a longed from for you so thank you very much. in san diego, colleen dominguez. >> astros-giants. travis ishikawa in san francisco trying to snap a two-game losing streak hosting houston. giants in control. drive to right, bounces off the wall. two runs score, ruled a double. bruce bochy argues the call saying it should be a homer, first review this season at at&t park. a three-run homer for ishikawa. giants win 13-0. they scored all 13 runs in the first inning -- a feat they hadn't done since july 9, 1983 in philadelphia. >> cardinals opening a critical road trip with a three-game set in cincinnati, albert pujols with the bases loaded this

season off the charts. david weathers doesn't even look at it because he knows the end result -- another grand slam, fourth of the year. that's a major league high. his 31st home run of the year. that's a major league high. home run number 350 of his career. pujols continues to amaze -- oh, yes, cardinals win 7-4. they have a one-game lead in the n.l. central. still more to come. our top stories on the way. manny ramirez picking his team up. the dodgers win in his return from a 50-game suspension. >> an american named andy stands between world number one roger federer and another piece of tennis history. two beers! you got it! are you insured? do you know when your beer is perfectly cold? or do you risk drinking a warm one? if you have the new coors light cold-activated can, you're covered. because now every can turns blue when your beer... is as cold as the rockies.

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>> "what 2 watch 4" saturday afternoon. a july fourth tradition. coney island, new york, annual nathan's hotdog-eating contest, two-time champion joey chestnut nicknamed jaws will try to head off legendary kobayashi who has hinted this could be his last year. how about shin-soo choo. having a night for the indians. a 10-3 game, bottom of five, choo gets all of that one. it will just make it out. a three-run variety. choo 4-5, two home runs, seven r.b.i.'s and four runs.

>> i don't want to talk about my criminal records. >> and with that, manny ramirez is back from suspension. already good, how much better will the dodgers become? at wimbledon, roger federer is now only one victory away from history -- standing in his way, america's best chance since pete sampras. >> tiger, tiger, tiger. tiger woods is hosting his own tournament in d.c., this week. so far, the world's number one is making it look awfully easy at a difficult track. and it was a busy friday for hedo turkoglu. after passing on portland, how did he end up in toronto? we'll tell you, right now.

captioning by captionmax ♪ >> welcome to espnews. keeping you current with the latest breaking news, scores and highlights, along with jonathan coachman, i'm michele lafountain. our top story -- he's back. >> that he is, michele, the anticipation has been growing for well over a week after a 50-game suspension and a mini-tour of the minor leagues, manny ramirez returned to the dodgers friday night. but before he did, ramirez addressed his teammates, management, and fans. >> i don't want to get into my medical records right now. i'm happy to be here. i miss the game. i'm ready to play. i was practicing in triple-a, and i can't wait to get into the field. i want to say, i'm sorry to the

fans, to my teammates, that they are always there for me. i want to thank frank mccourt for his support. my friend texted me, "big day tomorrow, showtime," so i told him, "hey, i'll be ready." i not having been playing in two months, but still got it on me, so bring it on." >> manny batting third, starting in left field. introduced to the crowd at petco park. >> batting third, number 99, left fielder manny ramirez. >> a mix of boos and cheers. top of the first. first time up, a walk, and that would set up a five-run first inning for the dodgers. top of the second, manny grounds out to second. that play ends the inning. next at-bat for manny, top of the fourth, a 6-0 ballgame now, he will bounce out to shortstop.

manny 0-2 with a walk in the ninth thus far. top sixth now. manny up with a runner on second. this time he will pop out to second. his night would end. juan pierre comes in for defensive purposes. ramirez 0-3 with a walk in his first game back from his 50-game suspension. >> this night all about manny ramirez. how did you feel? >> i was kind of nervous, not having played in two months but i didn't put a lot of things on my mind. i know it was going to be crazy, but thanks to the fans from l.a., they made it so easy for me to go and play. >> how did it feel in the >> i thought he was ok. the first-inning walk was

amazing when you consider a 2-2 count and he worked a walk, i would be a little jumpy if i were him. >> that's what it's all about, go and have fun and what happened in the past, leave it in the past and have fun. >> finished 0-3 with a walk before being pulled in the sixth inning for juan pierre. eric young, how did you feel about the return of manny? >> with all the hoopla surrounding manny's return to the los angeles dodgers, you expected fireworks to happen. however, you saw a manny ramirez that was a little rusty from the layoff. he was very patient in the first at-bat. however, he became in-- he became impatient and started swinging at balls out of the zone. we know his timing is off, it will take a few days, maybe a week, but with the addition of manny back the los angeles dodgers look like a stronger

team and it will reflect on the players surrounding manny ramirez. >> a marathon game, twins and tigers. top of the 14th, tied at 7-7. placido polanco up the middle with two outs. gerald laird comes in to score. tigers take an 8-7 lead. they led 6-0 and 7-1 in this game am. bottom of the 14th. michael cuddyer off the glove of brandon inge. joe mauer will score. ties the game at 8-8. twins unable to score again. we go to the top of the 16th. that polanco guy again, through the drawn-in infield. the tigers would score three in the top of the 16th and hold on to win 11-9. delmon young 3-6 with a home run in a losing cause. also, starting pitcher kevin slowey's put on the d.l., he f just the seventh time in their last 25 games. >> have you ever felt the weight of a nation on your shoulders? andy murray's answer is yes.

this friday, murray stepped onto centre court with the mission of becoming the first british man to reach the wimbledon final in 71 years. never mind that no home-grown player has been crowned champion at the london grand slam since 1936. thousands of fans there to root for never mind that no home-grown player has been crowned champion at the london grand slam since 1936. thousands of fans there to root for murray and against the american in front of him, andy roddick. both players coming out to centre court. this is what roddick had to say about dealing with the crowds. >> i'm just going to pretend when they say, "come on, andy" that they mean me. >> all right. let's go to the second set. roddick up a set. serving in the near court. after a short rally, roddick approaches the net with a dropshot -- the great passing forehand. he gets the break. goes up 1-0 in the set. murray up set point, strong serve. roddick can't handle it. he evens the match at 1-1. third set. 2-1 roddick. he has a break point, and murray's shot is long. roddick with the break. up 3-1 now.

they weren't chanting "go andy" they were saying "go murray" for the most part but there were roddick fans there. here he was diving. cannot come up with the point. later in the game in the third set, long with the return, murray with the huge break to pull within 5-4. he's fired up. the set would go to a tiebreaker and set point for roddick -- the american, the approach on the backhand, murray's return finds the net, roddick up two sets to one. he's been in the final before, twice -- 2004 and 2005. lost twice to roger federer. there, murray taking a swing at the grass with his racket. match point for andy roddick. now, in the far court, murray on the run, and murray's shot would find the net. eliminated. britain's last hope in this tournament. roddick wins in four sets. he's in the final again. >> in recent years, it's -- i

think overall, it's certainly up there, playing a player of his rank, his caliber, and in kind of his atmosphere, and he's certainly in form going into the match, and you know, i had to play my best tennis to win. >> i played well. you look at the stats, i've hit more winners, less unforced errors and more aces. i'm sure the points that we won were very, very similar. it just came down to a few points here and there on his serve, and he served really, really well. >> other semifinal, roger federer looking to pass pete sampras for all-time grand slam wins with 15. federer looking to be the first man to advance to a seventh straight wimbledon final since 1922 facing germany's tommy haas. federer won the first set 7-6, haas serving down 5-6 and the fed express with the impressive winner to set up a break point for the set.

next point, five-time champion at wimbledon, this is why. haas missing long, shaking his head. federer would take the second set 7-5. go to the third. federer serving at 2-2, and haas scrambling to the net. hits the dropshot. watch as he puts his arm up subtly tries to distract federer and federer misses the easy shot. both players shared a laugh after the point. haas raising his arms right in front of federer. what a tactic. but it didn't last long after a double fault from haas, break point for federer and the man from germany sends his return into the net. federer serving for the match, next game, 40-0, federer match point, and that was it. lopsided win for federer. he's in the final again as well.

>> i was really happy the way i played today. i came up with some good stuff when i had to, and it was a tough match, because tommy was playing well. i'm very proud of all the records i have achieved, because i never thought i would be that successful as a kid, you know, i would have been happy winning a couple tournaments and maybe collecting wimbledon and sort of achieving the dream scenario, but not really all those records, but it's quite staggering now, having reached, again, i think it's my sixed -- sixth straight grand slam final i've achieved as well, and having so many things going for me again, and opportunity, again tomorrow -- on sunday, it's fantastic. >> with his victory over tommy haas, roger federer becomes the first man in tennis history to reach 20 grand slam finals. breaking a tie with ivan lendl for the all-time record. if he wins wimbledon, federer

can also break a tie with pete sampras for the most grand slam titles ever since the world number two laid claim to his first roland garros title last month, they are tied with 14 majors apiece. >> all right, michele, still to come on the diamond in boston, we'll tell you what record of roger clemens tim wakefield put to bed. >> plus, rafael palmeiro, once suspended for steroid use, and a-rod, chasing rafi on the all-time homer list, got a little closer. >> nba free agency in full go, will the lakers be looking for a new coach? hedo turkoglu going north of the border. got those stories coming up. >> tiger woods wants to be the host with the least -- amount of shots, that is. on friday, he sent a warning to others ahead of independence weekend. independence weeken

>> free agent forward hedo turkoglu changed his mind friday, decided not to join the trail blazers, instead accepted an offer from the raptors according to espn.com sources which say the deal is five years $50 million. nothing condition signed until july -- five years, $53 million. ric bucher, why trent? >> maybe most people can't make a distinction between portland, oregon and toronto, canada but hedo turkoglu can and that's why he accepted the deal with the raptors. it wasn't money. the difference was two million at the most. the big difference was lifestyle -- a cosmopolitan city, huge turkish city, closer to his native turkey and a city his wife likes, those are all things

that toronto had going for it, those are all things that portland ultimately couldn't overcome. >> in other nba news, phil jackson announced that he will return to coach the nba champion lakers next season. pistons president joe dumars is scheduled to have his first face to face meeting with avery johnson regarding the pistons coaching opening on sunday and allen iverson through representatives told the grizzlies he would like to play in memphis, according to an nba source. on to bethesda, tiger woods' at&t national tournament, round two, on thursday anthony kim set a course record with a 62, on friday kim's 20-foot par putt rims out, bogey would send him back a stroke. more bad luck for kim, defending champ rims this one out too. he shot an even par on the day, minus eight on the tournament, two shots behind new leader, tiger woods -- he started the day two shots behind kim.

he shot on the par 3 13th and drops it on the green and five feet of the hole, he would birdie that one. now at the 15th. he drills it from the fringe. to pin-high. woods four under on the day, 10 under on the tournament. davis love iii, 13th hole, 42-foot putt and he gets the birdie, moving to five under. three under on the day, he's four under on the tournament, jim furyk, 14th hole, chipping from off the green and he sinks it for birdie. seven under going into the weekend. tiger woods is the new leader but it doesn't seem he's satisfied. >> i didn't hit the ball that well today. i scored well. i got the ball in the hole, but i didn't hit the ball particularly all that well and mis-hit some shots left and right, so hopefully get it fixed by tomorrow. long way to go and obviously,

it's big for us to have awareness this week what we're trying to do, and as everyone knows, all my prize earnings goes right to the foundation, so i would like to win this one and obviously, it would help the kids. >> taking you next level. one reason tiger is atop the leaderboard, he's hitting his irons pure. his average distance from the hole after his approach shot has been markedly improved this week over his season's averages. his 130 total is a tournament record for the first 36 holes at the at&t national. >> one man who knows exactly what manny ramirez is going through is rafael palmeiro. the former slugger is one of the first to be suspended for steroid use. friday night palmeiro was inducted into the college baseball hall of fame, and speaking to pedro gomez still maintains his innocence. >> i didn't have to cheat. at the end of my career? for what? what was i going to gain from it? >> you admitted you made a mistake. what was it? >> whatever i took was tainted.

had to have been. had to have been. there is no other reason for me to be -- unless i got set up, i don't know, what i took was a b-12 that was given to me by a teammate, so really, that's all that -- that's it. that was it. >> palmeiro played 20 seasons from 1986 to 2005, and whether he used steroids or not, he was definitely one of the most productive players in that time span. he played the most games and had the most hits in those 20 seasons, and his home run and r.b.i. totals also ranked in the top five during his career. friday night, palmeiro also had some interesting remarks concerning the other man of the night -- manny ramirez. >> manny is a different type of player. he's a happy-go-lucky -- ever since he went from cleveland to boston, he created this image of this guy that's just -- has no

worry, he's just happy, out there just having fun, forgets how many outs there are, throws the ball in the stands and he's a clown, but in a good way and i love manny like a brother. so i wouldn't want anyone. i wouldn't want him to feel the way i felt when i was going through it and i am glad people see it in a different way and they're celebrating his return because he means so much to the dodgers. >> blue jays' first visit to the new yankee stadium, joe girardi and the yanks trying to get back on the winning track, alex -- bottom eighth, yanks up 1. alex rodriguez the solo homer to right, his 14th of the season and the yanks victorious. they've won 8-9. a-rod's 567th career homer leaves him two shy of rafael palmeiro for 10th place all time. the blue jays now 1-3 against the yanks this year. >> manny's former team, the red sox, hosting seattle. we go straight to the top of the

11th, game tied at 5-5 for rob johnson. he goes with the pitch. good hitting, kids. two runs score. mariners go up 7-5. they hold on to win 7-6. tim wakefield failed to get win number 11 in his 383rd career start. that breaks the boston red sox record previously held by roger clemens. >> up ahead on espnews. they call him the machine. albert pujols gave another reason for that nickname. we'll show you. >> he never seems to stop. manny ramirez -- he hopes he doesn't have to stop any more this season. he's back from a 50-game suspension. plenty more coming up from san diego.

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>> it was a much-ballyhooed return, manny ramirez back from his 50-game suspension friday night in a 6-3 win, went 0-3 with a walk, but the excitement surrounding the dodgers certainly was back for this. we welcome in now colleen dominguez, who has been following this manny ramirez saga. colleen, tell us what the atmosphere was like friday night in san diego. >> good evening, jonathan. even though this was an away game for the dodgers, most of the fans at petco park gave manny ramirez a standing ovation when he took the field. he said the entire night was a

relief for him. he didn't get a hit, he said, but it felt like getting 200 pounds off his back and the reception from the san diego fans and the dodger fans that drove down to see him had to help. there were clearly more cheers than boos. >> it was great, man. it was the best. i want to thank my fans. i think they drove from l.a. just to watch the game and to watch me. it was unbelievable. >> it was surprising to me. i felt that the dodger fans would welcome him and it was a lot friendlier today than i thought it was going to be. >> everybody excited to see him, the fans support big time him and everybody's happy to see him come back. >> he's a part of the team and he was away for so long, we missed him. we're glad he's back. >> ramirez will play tomorrow. saturday is a day game following a night game. joe torre says he doesn't know

how long ramirez will be in the game on saturday. jonathan. >> all right, colleen, i know it's been a longed from for you so thank you very much. in san diego, colleen dominguez. >> astros-giants. travis ishikawa in san francisco trying to snap a two-game losing streak hosting houston. giants in control. drive to right, bounces off the wall. two runs score, ruled a double. bruce bochy argues the call saying it should be a homer, first review this season at at&t park. a three-run homer for ishikawa. giants win 13-0. they scored all 13 runs in the first inning -- a feat they hadn't done since july 9, 1983 in philadelphia. >> cardinals opening a critical road trip with a three-game set in cincinnati, albert pujols with the bases loaded this

season off the charts. david weathers doesn't even look at it because he knows the end result -- another grand slam, fourth of the year. that's a major league high. his 31st home run of the year. that's a major league high. home run number 350 of his career. pujols continues to amaze -- oh, yes, cardinals win 7-4. they have a one-game lead in the n.l. central. still more to come. our top stories on the way. manny ramirez picking his team up. the dodgers win in his return from a 50-game suspension. >> an american named andy stands between world number one roger federer and another piece of tennis history.

>> "what 2 watch 4" saturday afternoon. a july fourth tradition. coney island, new york, annual nathan's hotdog-eating contest, two-time champion joey chestnut nicknamed jaws will try to head off legendary kobayashi who has hinted this could be his last year. how about shin-soo choo. having a night for the indians. a 10-3 game, bottom of five, choo gets all of that one. it will just make it out. a three-run variety. choo 4-5, two home runs, seven r.b.i.'s and four runs.

>> i don't want to talk about my criminal records. >> and with that, manny ramirez is back from suspension. already good, how much better will the dodgers become? at wimbledon, roger federer is now only one victory away from history -- standing in his way, america's best chance since pete sampras. >> tiger, tiger, tiger. tiger woods is hosting his own tournament in d.c., this week. so far, the world's number one is making it look awfully easy at a difficult track. and it was a busy friday for hedo turkoglu. after passing on portland, how did he end up in toronto? we'll tell you, right now.

captioning by captionmax ♪ >> welcome to espnews. keeping you current with the latest breaking news, scores and highlights, along with jonathan coachman, i'm michele lafountain. our top story -- he's back. >> that he is, michele, the anticipation has been growing for well over a week after a 50-game suspension and a mini-tour of the minor leagues, manny ramirez returned to the dodgers friday night. but before he did, ramirez addressed his teammates, management, and fans. >> i don't want to get into my medical records right now. i'm happy to be here. i miss the game. i'm ready to play. i was practicing in triple-a, and i can't wait to get into the field. i want to say, i'm sorry to the

fans, to my teammates, that they are always there for me. i want to thank frank mccourt for his support. my friend texted me, "big day tomorrow, showtime," so i told him, "hey, i'll be ready." i not having been playing in two months, but still got it on me, so bring it on." >> manny batting third, starting in left field. introduced to the crowd at petco park. >> batting third, number 99, left fielder manny ramirez. >> a mix of boos and cheers. top of the first. first time up, a walk, and that would set up a five-run first inning for the dodgers. top of the second, manny grounds out to second. that play ends the inning. next at-bat for manny, top of the fourth, a 6-0 ballgame now, he will bounce out to shortstop.

manny 0-2 with a walk in the ninth thus far. top sixth now. manny up with a runner on second. this time he will pop out to second. his night would end. juan pierre comes in for defensive purposes. ramirez 0-3 with a walk in his first game back from his 50-game suspension. >> this night all about manny ramirez. how did you feel? >> i was kind of nervous, not having played in two months but i didn't put a lot of things on my mind. i know it was going to be crazy, but thanks to the fans from l.a., they made it so easy for me to go and play. >> how did it feel in the >> i thought he was ok. the first-inning walk was

amazing when you consider a 2-2 count and he worked a walk, i would be a little jumpy if i were him. >> that's what it's all about, go and have fun and what happened in the past, leave it in the past and have fun. >> finished 0-3 with a walk before being pulled in the sixth inning for juan pierre. eric young, how did you feel about the return of manny? >> with all the hoopla surrounding manny's return to the los angeles dodgers, you expected fireworks to happen. however, you saw a manny ramirez that was a little rusty from the layoff. he was very patient in the first at-bat. however, he became in-- he became impatient and started swinging at balls out of the zone. we know his timing is off, it will take a few days, maybe a week, but with the addition of manny back the los angeles dodgers look like a stronger

team and it will reflect on the players surrounding manny ramirez. >> a marathon game, twins and tigers. top of the 14th, tied at 7-7. placido polanco up the middle with two outs. gerald laird comes in to score. tigers take an 8-7 lead. they led 6-0 and 7-1 in this game am. bottom of the 14th. michael cuddyer off the glove of brandon inge. joe mauer will score. ties the game at 8-8. twins unable to score again. we go to the top of the 16th. that polanco guy again, through the drawn-in infield. the tigers would score three in the top of the 16th and hold on to win 11-9. delmon young 3-6 with a home run in a losing cause. also, starting pitcher kevin slowey's put on the d.l., he f just the seventh time in their last 25 games. >> have you ever felt the weight of a nation on your shoulders? andy murray's answer is yes.

this friday, murray stepped onto centre court with the mission of becoming the first british man to reach the wimbledon final in 71 years. never mind that no home-grown player has been crowned champion at the london grand slam since 1936. thousands of fans there to root for never mind that no home-grown player has been crowned champion at the london grand slam since 1936. thousands of fans there to root for murray and against the american in front of him, andy roddick. both players coming out to centre court. this is what roddick had to say about dealing with the crowds. >> i'm just going to pretend when they say, "come on, andy" that they mean me. >> all right. let's go to the second set. roddick up a set. serving in the near court. after a short rally, roddick approaches the net with a dropshot -- the great passing forehand. he gets the break. goes up 1-0 in the set. murray up set point, strong serve. roddick can't handle it. he evens the match at 1-1. third set. 2-1 roddick. he has a break point, and murray's shot is long. roddick with the break. up 3-1 now.

they weren't chanting "go andy" they were saying "go murray" for the most part but there were roddick fans there. here he was diving. cannot come up with the point. later in the game in the third set, long with the return, murray with the huge break to pull within 5-4. he's fired up. the set would go to a tiebreaker and set point for roddick -- the american, the approach on the backhand, murray's return finds the net, roddick up two sets to one. he's been in the final before, twice -- 2004 and 2005. lost twice to roger federer. there, murray taking a swing at the grass with his racket. match point for andy roddick. now, in the far court, murray on the run, and murray's shot would find the net. eliminated. britain's last hope in this tournament. roddick wins in four sets. he's in the final again. >> in recent years, it's -- i

think overall, it's certainly up there, playing a player of his rank, his caliber, and in kind of his atmosphere, and he's certainly in form going into the match, and you know, i had to play my best tennis to win. >> i played well. you look at the stats, i've hit more winners, less unforced errors and more aces. i'm sure the points that we won were very, very similar. it just came down to a few points here and there on his serve, and he served really, really well. >> other semifinal, roger federer looking to pass pete sampras for all-time grand slam wins with 15. federer looking to be the first man to advance to a seventh straight wimbledon final since 1922 facing germany's tommy haas. federer won the first set 7-6, haas serving down 5-6 and the fed express with the impressive winner to set up a break point for the set.

next point, five-time champion at wimbledon, this is why. haas missing long, shaking his head. federer would take the second set 7-5. go to the third. federer serving at 2-2, and haas scrambling to the net. hits the dropshot. watch as he puts his arm up subtly tries to distract federer and federer misses the easy shot. both players shared a laugh after the point. haas raising his arms right in front of federer. what a tactic. but it didn't last long after a double fault from haas, break point for federer and the man from germany sends his return into the net. federer serving for the match, next game, 40-0, federer match point, and that was it. lopsided win for federer. he's in the final again as well.

>> i was really happy the way i played today. i came up with some good stuff when i had to, and it was a tough match, because tommy was playing well. i'm very proud of all the records i have achieved, because i never thought i would be that successful as a kid, you know, i would have been happy winning a couple tournaments and maybe collecting wimbledon and sort of achieving the dream scenario, but not really all those records, but it's quite staggering now, having reached, again, i think it's my sixed -- sixth straight grand slam final i've achieved as well, and having so many things going for me again, and opportunity, again tomorrow -- on sunday, it's fantastic. >> with his victory over tommy haas, roger federer becomes the first man in tennis history to reach 20 grand slam finals. breaking a tie with ivan lendl for the all-time record. if he wins wimbledon, federer

can also break a tie with pete sampras for the most grand slam titles ever since the world number two laid claim to his first roland garros title last month, they are tied with 14 majors apiece. >> all right, michele, still to come on the diamond in boston, we'll tell you what record of roger clemens tim wakefield put to bed. >> plus, rafael palmeiro, once suspended for steroid use, and a-rod, chasing rafi on the all-time homer list, got a little closer. >> nba free agency in full go, will the lakers be looking for a new coach? hedo turkoglu going north of the border. got those stories coming up. >> tiger woods wants to be the host with the least -- amount of shots, that is. on friday, he sent a warning to others ahead of independence weekend. independence independence

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>> free agent forward hedo turkoglu changed his mind friday, decided not to join the trail blazers, instead accepted an offer from the raptors according to espn.com sources which say the deal is five years $50 million. nothing condition signed until july -- five years, $53 million. ric bucher, why trent? >> maybe most people can't make a distinction between portland, oregon and toronto, canada but hedo turkoglu can and that's why he accepted the deal with the raptors. it wasn't money. the difference was two million at the most. the big difference was lifestyle -- a cosmopolitan city, huge turkish city, closer to his native turkey and a city his wifeik