♪ ♪ >> right now on espnews: red sox and yankees doesn't have the same ring so far this season. new york looks to snap out of its 0 and 8 rivalry funk. >> cliff lee likes being a phillies. today he faced the rockies in his 2nd start with the raining world series champs. >> all eyes on tiger at fire stone. other names are popping up on the leader board. are ♪ ♪

>> good to be with you here on espnews. with michelle lafountain, i am reischea canidate. keeping you current with the latest breaking news, scores and highlights. we will kick thing off golf. >> the bridgestone invitational getting started in ohio today. tigers woods coming off the victory at the buick. first the leader board: now padraig harrington and verplank are bogey through 15. 4 birdies for them so far. those are the co-leaders at this time. other players trying to finish their rounds including tigers woods who started on the front 9. he birdied 2 and bogeyed 8th on the back 9.

birdies on 12 and 13. brought him to 2 under par. so far. 3 holes to play for tiger. phil mickelson returning to the pga tour after 6 weeks off to look after his wife and mother battling breast cancer. started off on the back 9. double bogeyed 11. but then a bird on 12. leftie runner up a year ago at firestone behind v.j. singh. shot an even par 7. >> baseball. the phillies sending cliff lee to the mound for the first time at citizen banks park. he was anxious but he did not pitch like this. whipping prince and atkins. 7 innings strong. one earned run. 9 strikeouts for lee. in the bottom of the 5th game tied at 1. watching the deep drive to

center off cook. solo shot. 2-1 phillies. they go on and win by the final of 3-1. said lee to get the first win at home out of the way, i am pleased with it. as for aaron cook, he left the game in the 6th with a strained right toe. >> more on mr. lee's action this afternoon. he's been everything the phillies could want and more. first a 5-1 complete game at san francisco last friday. today the 4th phillies pitcher with 1 earned run in each of the first 2 starts with the team. he could be the most important acquisition this year. >> let's talk about the marlins and the nationals who were tired of getting beat by florida. dukes doing his part. 3 hits for dukes. his 7th home run of the season to tie this game at 8.

the nationals got back and in the 8th belliard will bring in guzman. the nationals take the 9-8 lead and win this thing by the final of 12-8. they have a season high-5 game winning streak. the nats were 7 for 12 with runners in scoring position. >> the twins righthand blackburn a 1.63. the rookie doubled to center off blackburn. hanch scores giving the tribe the a 2-1 lead. that's the winning run. wood on to close it out. gets redmond looking. the off-speed pitch. the indians win. dropping the twins to 4 and a

half game behind detroit. the twins have lost 5 of 6. >> first place tigers looking to take 3 of 4 from the orioles. david hernandez on the mound for the o's. bottom of the 2nd. one on and one out. inge with a 2 run shot. part of a 4 run 2nd inning for the tigers. he had 2 rbis. avila making a major league debut. son of the tigers assistant general manager. he came through with the double to right. tigers win 7-3. avila working out his first major league hit and rbi in the game. the team president said, wow! porcello gets the win. the 2nd pitcher in franchise history with double digits in wins at the age of 20 or younger. >> the angels and white sox, the angels are an out away from

getting a victory after having lost 2 in a row. they lead the al-west. john denks tagged for 7 runs. 6 earned. this game has just gone final. the angels wrap up this series with a win and avoid being swept. >> in the bottom of the 6th inning, rangers lead the a's 4-3. the rangers looking to avoid getting swept in the 4 game series for the first time in 4 years. blalock and young with home runs for the rangers. we will continue to update you here as to what happens. cahill still on the mound. >> breaking news: orlando magic forward rashard lewis was suspended without pay for 10 games for violating the terms of the anti-drug program by testing

positive for testosterone. his suspension begins with the first game of the regular season. >> this statement was released: >> donte' stallworth met with nfl commissioner roger goodell yesterday. and now with the verdict on his playing future. stallworth is suspended

indefinitely without pay after pleading guilty to dui manslaughter in june in miami. stallworth served 24 days in jail and is under 2 years house arrest. he will serve 8 years probation. 1,000 hours of community service and his driving privileges are revoked for life. stalt stalt released this statement.

>> david wells cousin advisor to michael crabtree said he could sit out the season. joe schad reports that wells said michael crabtree wants fair market value. darius heyward-bey is getting 38 million dollars. >> the tennessee titans will wear a number 9 decal on each player's helmet in memory of the former quarterback steve mcnair who was shot and killed nast of last month. he played even seasons for the titans. the winningest quarterback in the franchise's history and led the team to its only super bowl appearance in january of 2000. >> ahead the red sox and yankees open up a 4 game set in the bronx tonight. it's key for both teams for

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>> reischea canidate and michelle lafountain back with you here on espnews. the yankees went 9 and 9 last season versus the red sox. but this season boston has had their number from the jump. red sox have won all 8 meetings so far and aring 3 more runs per game during their eight game streak. our 1st and 10 crew take a look at who will be the first when the series ends on sunday. >> welcome to 1st and 10. tonight, the yankees and the red sox resume their rivalry. this one in the bronx. a 4 game set. new york up 2 and a half games in the al-east over boston.

skip, 8 and0 the sox lead. who will be in first place sunday night? >> i will make it 11 and 1. i got boston. i am plunging on this one. i got boston winning 3 out of 4 this weekend. i realize i don't have tim wakefield and dice-k who was 18 and 3 last year. tonight smoltz. i think he will be close to smoltz again for the first time this year. the red sox hit joba chamberlain pretty well this year. >> .341? >> i think they will play with that confidence against jaba and beckett and lester will win their games. >> i agree on beckett and lester. but i think the yankees will split. get 2 of these. chamberlain is tired of hearing how bad the red sox beat him up.

he will have his a-game on tonight. and c.c. sabathia will earn some of that big dough the yankees are shelling out. the yankees will go back to their home run hitting ways in their home ballpark. 8 and0, the yankees are now the 2nd hottest team in the al. that continues against the red sox who come in limping after getting pasted by the rays. >> we will find out tonight. the first of 4 between the red sox and the yankees. we are back tomorrow 2:30 p.m. eastern time and every morning 10 a.m. eastern right on espn-2. >> roanoke announced his retirement after 20 seasons in the nhl. roanoke played in over 1300 nhl games. the blackhawks, coyotes and

sharks. roanoke a 9 time all-star. the 3rd most goals of any american born player in nhl history and ranked 6th in assists with 703. >> top of the 7th out in oakland. the rangers still holding the 4-3 margin over oakland. blalock started it off with a solo home run. young a solo shot in the 3rd and bird added a single. cahill has pitched 6 innings so far in this one. >> the red sox and the yankees open up a 4 game set in the bronx. jeremy schaap will explain.

♪ ♪ the latest chapter in the red sox and yankees novel has been all boston. today they are 8 and 0 against the yankees. they still trail the empire by 2 and a half games. this weekend's 4 game set finds

itself being crucial for both clubhouse. jeremy schaap is at the yankee stadium and joins us now. what is the atmosphere in the bronx like? >> a lot of anticipation about this series. always there is when the red sox are in town. this is ratcheted up because of the fact that as you mentioned the red sox have won their first 8 games against the yankees this year. that is their longest streak to open the season against the yankees since 1912. it's meaningful. the yankees fans and players and red sox fans and players. and, of course, it has no bearing on what is going on now between these teams in this series. so much changed since the last time they play what are the yankees and red sox players saying about the significance of this series? >> it's an important series. we are in august. they are in a pennant race. they will be fighting it out down to the wire for the next 8

weeks hampt. they have the rays to worry about. the red sox lost 2 games swept in a short series. this is very important for the red sox right now. if they lose 3 out of 4, they are looking at a pretty big hole in mid august or the beginning of august. it means a lot to them. joba chamberlain who is going tonight for the yankees has been pitching spectacularly. smoltz on the other hand has been a disappointment. >> joe girardi and derek jeter said we just got to get rid of that goose egg when it comes to the red sox. joba chamberlain and smoltz. let's start with chamberlain. he has really picked things up for himself since the all-star break but hasn't had a lot of

success against boston. the yankees are seeing a different joba chamberlain these days. what is working differently for him? >> well, he is simply overpowering hitters now in a way he was not previously. it's not about luck as it is sometimes with pitchers and their record or the way the team plays behind them. he is making it impossible for guys to get base hits off of him. he has given up 9 hits in 3 consectutive games. he has given up a total of 9 hits in the last 3 games total. he is obviously much tougher to hit right now. he is finding a way to get hitters out. looking stronger than he had previously. that's a big factor for the yankees heading down the last 3rd of the season. >> smoltz struggling so far with the red sox. what has he been saying about what is going on with him and

his team? >> smoltz is the guy the red sox expected to come in here and really be effective immediately. obviously he is an older pitcher. it's unpredictable how that will work out. he's been a disappointment. they believe he is not in any way flawed right now. he simply hasn't been locating things correctly. he has the velocity and the movement. he will pitch well and get some wins for them in the most crucial part of the season. >> this will be his first experience versus the yankees as far as being a member of the red sox. the last time he faced the yankees was in 2006. he wasn't with the red sox. what has he said about being a part of this rival? >> smoltz loves the competitive nature of sports whether as a fan of the game of hockey or a hall-of-fame pitcher. so this is the kind of thing that he absolutely thrives upon. >> one bat that will be missing from the red sox line-up is that

of jason bay. what is the latest on his status? >> bay reinjured his hamstring last night. terry francona said it's day-to-day. he is not expected to play until at the earliest on saturday. missing the first 2 games. youklis will be making a rare start in leftfield for the red sox. >> jeremy schaap in the bronx for the opening of a 4 game set. what will always be exciting. thank you very much, jeremy schaap. >> a closer look now at the match up:

the finale on conditioned night will be on-- on sunday night will be on espn. tigers woods is in the hunt as the golf champions get started. he is close to finishes his 1st round.

>> an update on espnews.

reischea canidate with michelle lafountain. world golf championship. bridgestone invitational. and padraig harrington amazing. he was already tied with the leaders at 4 under. with 4 birdies and no bogeys. he just birdied 7 and 8. he started on the back 9. he has taken a 2 shot lead over the pack. tigers woods has 2 holes left to play and he is at 2 under par. if it end this is way he will be 4 shots from the leader padraig harrington. >> coming up next on espnews: we have a lot of afternoon baseball for you including cliff lee in his 2nd start with the phillies.

♪ >> right now on espnews. red sox and yankees doesn't have the same ring this season. new york looking to snan out of its 0 and 8 rivalry funk. >> cliff lee likes being with phillies. >> all eyes on tigers woods. at firestone, but a few other names popped on the leader board. >> and college football is here. the gators, crimson tide and hokies opening camp today. we will preview the season on espnews. ♪ ♪ >> good to be with you here on espnews.

also available in high definition. with michelle lafountain, i am reischea canidate keeping you current with the latest breaking news, scores and highlights. >> "baseball tonight" will join us to break down all of the happenings around the major league. we start in the world of golf. phil mickelson back on the course. >> that's right. only his 4th tournament since may. back at the world golf championship in bridgestone invitational. he shot an even par 70 today. look at the leader board: padraig harrington is bogey free. just 1 hole to go for him. he just birdied 7 and 8. a 2 shot lead over tim clark. verplank has 1 hole to play also. >> tigers woods on the front 9. he birdied 2 and bogeyed 8. on the back 9 birds on 12 and

13. he's 2 under par. he has 1 hole to play to finish his 1st round. coming off the victoria at will buick. >> phil mickelson returning to the pga tour after 6 weeks looking at his wife and mother battles breast cancer. double bogey but birdied on 12. he shot an even par 70. >> baseball. phillies sending cliff lee to the mound for the first time at citizens bank park. hay take on the rockies. he said he was anxious. he did not pitch like this. whipping through just about everybody he saw. 7 innings pitched and 1 earned run and 9 strikeouts. the bottom of the 5th with the game tied. he launches 1 deep off cook.

solo shot for the 2-1 advantage. phillies tack on another run for the 3-1 victory. said lee to get that first win at home out of the way, i am really pleased with it. as for mr. cook, he did leave the game in the 6th with a sprained right toe. >> more on cliff lee. he's been everything the phillies could want and more. a 5-1 complete game at san francisco last friday. lee just the 4th phillies pitcher with 7 plus innings and 1 earned run in the last 40 years. >> the marlins who-- rather the nationals are tired of getting beat by the marlins. dukes doing his part. he goes yard with a solo shot. drove in 4 runs did dukes.

tied at 8 in the bottom of the 8th. belliard will bring home guzman to break up the tie. the nationals add 3 more runs as they take it by the final of 12-8. they are now on a season high-5-game winning streak and went 7 for 12 with runners in scoring position. that's a pretty good way to use the bat when you have players ready to run. >> blackburn entered today. in the bottom of the seventh, off blackburn. breaking the 1-1 tie. top 9th 2-1 indians. redmond looking at the offside pitch. the indians win 2-1. the first career loss for blackburn against cleveland.

the tribe takes 2 of 3 from minnesota. >> david hernandez on the mound for the orioles in the series finale against the tigers. the tigers trying to take 3 of 4. inge helping that out. 2 run off hernandez. a 4 run 2nd inning. bottom of the 3rd, avila making his major league debut. the son of tigers assistant general manager. that's his first hit. he has an rbi to boot. tigers win by 7-3. said the team president about avila's hit: wow! the young man went 2 for 4 with a double and that rbi. porcello just the 2nd pitcher in franchise history with double digits wins at the age of 20 or

younger. >> the angels looking to avoid their first 3 game losing streak since june. facing the white sox. vladimir guerrero homered into left off the leftie denks. his first homer since returning from the dl. top of the 5th ainges leading 6-4. abreu homering to left off denks. his 250th career homer. 7-4 angels on their way to the 9-5 win. aybar also went deep for l.a. the angels starter gave up a 3 run loamer early but then settled down and got his 4th victory of the season. >> an update. the rangers looking to avoid getting swept by the a's. for the first time in 4 years. and they have a 6-3 lead in the

top of the 8th. in the 70th inning murphy an rbi double and jones an rbi single. cahill no longer on the mound for the a's. he was one and 5 in his last 7 starts and could carry the loss if the a's don't turn it around. >> [coughing]. >> orlando magic forward rashard lewis was suspended 10 games for violating the terms of the anti-drug program. [coughing]. by testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. [coughing]. >> his suspension will begin with the first game of the regular season. rashard lewis had this statement:

>> donte' stallworth met with nfl commissioner roger goodell yesterday and now awaits the verdict on his playing future. stallworth is suspended indefinitely without pay after pleading guilty to dui manslaughter in june. stallworth served 24 days in jail and is under 2 years house arrest. he will also serve 8 years probation. 1,000 hours community service and his driving privileges have been revoked for life. stallworth released this statement:

>> david wells cousin and advisor michael crabtree said he could sit out the season. joe schad said wells said michael crabtree wants fair

market value. darius heyward-bey is getting 38 million dollars. >> the tennessee titans say they will wear a number 9 decal on each player's helmet in memory of steve teave-- steve mcnair who played even seasons for the tight ends. for the titans. he led the team to its only super bowl appearance in january of 2000. >> still ahead: after a visit to the outer cores of the dodgers clubhouse prince fielder weighs in on his action.

♪

♪ >> oh. >> time to pick the brain-- that was sweet. >> keeping me busy over here. i love it. >> we love talking to you. >> espn's "baseball tonight" reporter. let's start with the boston red sox and the new york yankees. why have the red sox been so dominant over the yankees this season? >> well, it's interesting you say that. it's been a paradigm shift going on over here. have you an interesting scenario. a lot of subplots. one reason is the fact that is that alex rodriguez was not there for most of the games.

even when he was there, he had just come off the hip injury. you have to look deeper into this thing. you have subplots. jaba pitching well and a team that has been on a losing streak coming into the bronx. a team on a winning streak coming back home. nevertheless, the former team has got dominance over the other one. a really cool series. >> you brought up john smoltz. he struggled. are we seeing any signs of him turning the corner or more signs of concern? >> i think there is a lot of signs of concern here. the reality still is that he is coming off major surgery. he hasn't been consistent. when he misses, the hitters don't miss. you can see the home runs and the era being high the last few starts. i faced this guy many years ago when he was so incredible and sharp. he had 4 pitches. the reality is that he has to win by being sharp.

not by throwing hard or having the nasty slider. almost like a guy coming back for the philadelphia phillies in pedro martinez. if they are off, they will get in trouble. >> mark gardner told me it's about getting the guys to hit the ball where you want them to hit it? >>. joba chamberlain things turned for this young man. 3 and 0 with an era under 1. what has been working for him since the break? >> again, a lot of different things. namely, i think and i talked to his agent right after the all-star break. he said i watched joba chamberlain. the all-star break was so beneficial to him. he got a chance to catch his breath. he got a chance to rest a lot. then he has comeback and been a house of fire. he's throwing very aggressively

in the strike zone. one thing he wasn't doing earlier. early with the fastball to get ahead like the san francisco giants matt cain. pinpoint accuracy with the mid 90s fastball. if you don't have that accuracy with the first pitch, it doesn't matter about the other pitch. that is what he is able to do. it will be interesting because pitching in yankee stadium, the pin stripe parkway, they will see who keeps the ball down in the zone. >> yes. is that the name we will give it? >> new york is known for parkways. >> there you go. >> i came up with the pin stripe parkway. >> i like it. let's talk about the philadelphia phillies. put on your general manager cap for a moment. they would have a good issue in that they might have too many arms bringing over cliff lee. pedro martinez chomping at the

bit. what do you do with him? >> well, pedro did not come over here to pitch out of the bullpen. i don't think it behooves himor the phillies to pitch out of the phillies. he has to go out there like john smoltz and give you 5 or 6 good innings. you have 6 starters right now. you have the kid jay 8 and. two i think with a young unknown pitcher, being the surprise. beckett back in 2003 with the marlins. i don't take happ out of the rotation. one thing you would rather have more than less. they could skip some guys and give some with the league they have, give breathers. maybe cole hamels who i think is a super star pitcher. he is 9 and 8 because he is pitching bad. he is not at 100%.

there's a situation where you can flip around and have a 6 man rotation and give some rest. >> asked this question a few months back with regard to cole hamels. how much of this can he lean to the fact they were in the world series? they went longer than any other teamorn the rays as far as putting more on the arm? >> totally. he never pitched this many innings before. he pitched upwards of 230 plus innings. i think it took a toll. not to mention you have a champion nowadays as the world series gets later and later have a shorter turnaround time. a shorty recovery time. a kid that had to comeback and be top notch quicker. he needs rest. >> the white sox. they were taking on the angels today. 3 of 4 from the yankees. win the series with the angels. is this team back to being a

world series contender? >> i think they are playoff contenders. once you get into the playoffs, obviously it's anybody's business. and everybody has a chance. i think they could. here are some of the reasons. i called them to win this division. just recently they said they have a 10 game home stan and have a day off in the middle of that. in late july and august you don't know how important it is to be home for 10 days and get an off day in between. they need to go 8 and 2 and have a dramatic stance. so far so good. the return of quinten has been huge. he is a multitalented hitter. and beckham has come in and taken over at 3rd base. and posednik. >> let's talk about prince

fielder. went after mota. >> somewhat. >> exactly. major league baseball is investigating this. what do you think might come down as far as a penalty? >> at this point they should investigate it. i don't think a whole lot should come out of it. no punches were thrown. he didn't get past the doors thankfully. i have been involved on both sides of guys making it into the locker room. i had a teammate that what happened in the game, after the game you realize you knew you were thrown at. you are in the clubhouse and you are brewing. you are going you know what? i will go after this guy. that's it. he gets up and runs. we stopped him. the bottom line is leave it alone. he came back and regrouped himself. i have known him since he was 6 months old.

about big daddy introducing him to his son in winterball. he looked like a 2-year-old. he was a big man himself. he said this is my son. how old is he? 6 months? oh, nelo! put a bat in his hand and he did. >> it worked out well. >> oh, my. >> always good to talk to you. we can catch on you "baseball tonight". >> i have to bob and weave now. i have radio and "baseball tonight". >> you are everywhere. >> it's what we do. >> baseball. >> 10 o'clock. [laughing]. >> tim tebow and the gators want to repeat as national champs. lsu will be among those trying to rain on their parade. both teams ahead

♪ >> tebow deep down the feel. makes the catch. touchdown! oh my! 66 yards. >> runs the ball straight ahead. touchdown. >> a beautiful run by tebow. >> [cheers and applause]. >> college football season is just a month away for the florida gators it's about repeating as national champions. they have the personnel to do it starting with quarterback tim tebow. camp opened today for the gators. robby andrew from the gainsville

sun joins us for a closer look. meyer just signed a new contract. it only has a 500,000 buyout. what does this mean for meyer and this program moving forward? >> i think it means financial security for meyer. it's his way of saying he will stay here a long time. the $500,000 buyout is the same one for spurrier when he was here too. he didn't want a big buyout to force somebody to keep him. he has enough trest in meyer he will honor the contract and there won't be a buyout bate. >> meyer set an early tone with the team. what is the attitude of this crew? >> they seem very determined and enjoy the fact they have a target on their back. spikes talked about that today. they are looking at it trying to be perfect this season. they missed last year with the loss to ole-miss. tebow was crushed over that.

they don't have it written down as a goal but it's clear their goal is to have a perfect season which has never been done in florida. >> very few losses a season ago. 2 are percy harvin and lewis mercy in the nfl. >> those guys are hard to replace. fur me was-- murphy was a clutch receiver and percy harvin the type of player who doesn't come along every 6 years. replacing him will be tough. last year they did it by committee with other players stepping and sharing his role. i think you will see that early in the year. i think the guy they like to set up in the role is jeff dempsey. he did so many good things a year ago. i think it will be committee early in the year. >> the expectations of the freshman debow? >> meyer put the pressure on him comparing him to percy harvin.

meyer said i should not have done that. the reality is if you look at his high school tapes he does the same thing with the quick cuts and long runs for touchdown. it's a different level here. he has to learn a whole new offense. he is under-sized. 178 pounds. he needs to get bigger and learn the offense. they seal what he can do. i imagine they will put him in the percy role during practice to see how he handles. >> september fifth the florida gators open their season. thanks for the inside look. >> when we return on espnews, cliff lee improves to 2 and 0 as a phillies. top stories next. i'm robert shapiro. over a million people

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sox-yanks. doesn't quite have the same ring so far. new york looks the snap out of its 0-8 rivalry funk. cliff lee, he likes being a chimney. we'll show you just how much. today he faced colorado in his second start with the world series' champs. and all eyes on tiger woods at firestone, although a few other names were heading up the leaderboard in the first round.

captioning by captionmax >> so very good to be with you here on espnews, also available in high definition. alongside michele lafountain, i am reischea canidate, and we're here to help you stay current with the latest sports stories, highlights and scores. we're going to be talking to joe schad in this half hour, get those college football juices flowing. the season is just about a month away. maybe a day were to under that for that matter. and we're going to get things started with the world golf championship. >> that's right. round one of the bridgestone invitational is in the books and here is your leaderboard. padraig harrington, six birdies and no bogeys, so he is your clubhouse leader at six under. scott verplank had four birdies, also bogey-free. tim clark and marksaeng are

sharing second place so far in this one. that's after one round. now tiger woods, let's check out what he did. on the front nine he birdied his two and bogeyed eight. but on the back nine, birdies on 12 and 13 brought him to two under par. he would not birdie again, but he would not bogey again on the bright side. tiger's five under for eighth place, four shots off the pace. meanwhile, phil mickelson returning to the pga tour after a six-week hiatus to look after his wife and mother as they both battle breast cancer. started off on the back nine. he double-bogeyed 11. but before you go uh-oh, he then birdied 12. lefty runner up a year ago at firestone behind vijay singh. had a bogey-free front nine to shoot an even par 70. by the way, singh also shot a 70. >> let's talk about the phillies and cliff lee specifically making his first start at

citizens bank park. the team takes on the colorado rockies. he said he was anxious about getting his first home start, but he certainly didn't pitch like it. chris inet tax garret atkins, clint bar muss, seven innings, one earned run, nine strikeouts. taking to the national league like a fish to water. paul bako launches one deep off aaron cook. solo home run. 2-1 phillies. they tack on another for the 3-1 victory. aaron cook left this game in the sixth inning with a sprained right toe. as for lee, he said to get that first win at home and out of the way, i am really pleased with it. a little bit more on mr. lee. he's been phenomenal since they've picked him up. first he had the 5-1 complete game at san francisco, and then today the effort that he put out, seven innings as mentioned, nine strikeouts. lee, the fourth phillies' pitcher with seven-plus innings and one earned run in each of his first two starts with the

team in the last 40 years. well, all of a sudden the nationals and elijah duke are tired of getting beaten by the florida marlins. they were trailing 6-0 in the second inning of this game, but in the seventh, duke going yard, his seventh on the season. this game is tied at eight. same score in the bottom of the eighth. ronnie belliard doing his duty. he prince home cristian guzman for the-8 -- 9-8 nats' advantage. the nationals get the 12-8 victory. they are now experiencing a season high five-game win streak. ryan zimmer went had three r.b.i.s, three runs scored. he was a double shy of hitting for the cycle in just his sixth career four-hit game, third this season. >> twins' right-hander nick blackburn entered fund 4-0 with a 1.63 e.r.a. in his career against cleveland.

travis hafner scores on the double, giving the indians a 2-1 lead. top nine, same score, no out. kerry wood on the close it out. he gets redman looking at the nasty off-speed pitch and the tribe take 2-3 from minnesota. first career loss for nick blackburn against cleveland. the twins have lost 5-6. on the bright side, for them recent acquisition orlando cabrera had two hits to extend his hitting streak to a career high 16 games. meanwhile, the rangers taking on the a's. top third, rangers down 2-1. >> oh, no, this is the orioles and the tigers actually. i'm looking at that screen too saying, wait, that's my game. i know what's going on there. that was brandon inge, part of a four-run second inning with that two-run shot. the son of the tiger's assistant general manager with his first major league hit and the.

the team president said about the hit, "wow." rick porcello becomes just the second pitcher in franchise history with double-digit wins at the age of 20 or younger, but you got to feel that young avila pretty excited. got the first hit. went 2-4 with the double and, of course, the r.b.i., which you saw. >> the angels looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since june, facing the white sox and john danks. top of the third, oh, la-la, his first home run since returning from the d.l., fifth of the year. 6-3 angels. angels leading 6-4, bobby abreu, more flavor. off danks, the solo shot. abreu's 250th career shot. ninth of the year. and the angels go on the win 9-5. jeff mathison and erick aybar also went deep for l.a. who improves to 15-5 since the

all-star break. they had four jacks plus four stolen bases in the win. and the rangers and a's are in the bottom of the ninth. texas an out away, but the a's have just tagged a run to make it a two-run game. t.j. wilson on the mound. scott hairston doubled off him, bringing in todd everidge in to score. >> breaking news into espnews. baseball has fined guillermo mota and prince fielder for tuesday's activities. of course, you'll recall prince attacked the dodgers' clubhouse entry doors. they both, however, did avoid suspension. the amount of the fines so far have not been disclosed. >> orlando magic forward rashard lewis has been suggestion spedded without pay for ten games for violated the terms of

the anti-drug program by testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. lewis' suspension will begin with first game of the regular season. lewis released this statement: >> donte' stallworth met with nfl commissioner roger goodell yesterday, and now awaits the verdict on his playing future. as you recall, stallworth is

currently suspended indefinitely without pay after pleading guilty to d.u.i. manslaughter in june in miami. stallworth served 24 days in jail and is now under two years' house arrest. he will also serve eight years' probation, 1,000 hours community service and his driving privileges have been revoked for life. stallworth released this statement saying:

>> david wells, cousin and adviser for michael trap trap, said the receiver could sit out the season and reenter the nfl draft next week. wells said, "michael just wants fair market value. they took him with tenth pick and you have darius heyward-bey getting $38 million? this week is crucial." >> speaking of joe schad, he's coming up next to talk a little u.s.c. and the situation with the quarterback. stay with us. (announcer) what does greatness taste like? round of miller lite. (announcer on call) ...here it comes... watch this now... got it! my goodness! now you have seen it all. (announcer) that's what greatness tastes like. triple hops brewed. great pilsner taste.

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>> tebow looks the throw the ball deep down the field. he makes the catch. touchdown, touchdown, oh, my! >> 66-yard bomb. >> runs the ball straight ahead. touchdown! >> a beautiful run by tebow. >> ah, yes, less than a month to go before collegiate fans can don their foam fingers, body paint and signs explaining why your team is not as good as theirs, of course, it's written less nice than that. here to help stoke the flames of the collegiate season, joe schad, espn college football reporter. and joe, let us start with the s.e.c. and florida. they are the overriding favorites. unlike alabama, however, they did suffer a division loss last year before they went to the bowl game, before they went to the s.e.c. championship game. that was ole miss. so who is going to challenge urban meyer's thundering squad,

that hard, ready-to-roll squad this season? >> certainly nobody expected last season that it would be ole miss that actually upset them, so going into this season most of us will probably be wrong to say that the only game on their entire schedule that looks somewhat dangerous is a game at l.s.u. but keep in mind, florida does not play alabama. they don't play ole miss. two other potential national championship teams. i like l.s.u. for this reason, and they had a bad year last year, they're settled with the quarterback position with jordan jefferson. they bring in a new defensive coordinator in former tennessee coordinator john chivis. bran do lafell is one guy that comes back. and i also like the back that last year was totally uncharacteristic. i think that l.s.u. more than any other team, reischea, is poised to bounce back, perhaps in part with the help of a true freshman athlete who you will learn this season, his name is russell shepherd. he can play quarterback, running

back and wide receiver. they're going to create a position for him called the wild tiger. >> the wild tiger, oh, that's exciting. what is the likelihood that the gators go undefeated this year? >> i would say it's probably about a 75% chance based on their schedule that they run the table,and obviously they have to play in the conference championship game which will be dangerous. but if florida wins the southeastern conference championship, even with a loss to l.s.u., my prediction is they still go to los angeles to the national championship game. >> move to the big 12. the conversation starts and ends with oklahoma and texas. pick your order there. but what team is going to be able to pull their chair up to the table? >> it might be the time for oklahoma state to shine. last year texas tech snuck up as the third team based on their explosive offense. you see here the quarterback zac robinson. he's got a dynamic wide receiver in dez bryant. he's also got a top-notch running back in kendall hunter.

mike gundy going to call the plays one against. they're going to score about 40 points per game. in order for oklahoma state to beat a texas or an oklahoma, finally once and for all to do what texas tech did last year, they'll need their new defensive coordinate your bill young to figure out how to slow down all the fireworks and what figures to be nose entertaining conference in all of college football. >> yes, it is arena league football scoring in the big 12. the pac-10, personal favorite of mine. u.s.c., of course, going in this season. pete carroll naming aaron corp as the starting quarterback into the fall. should he be looking over his shoulder? >> he will be. that's always the case at u.s.c. where five-star recruits are as common as beautiful girls. did i just say that? i don't think i'll get in trouble for that. is that okay, reischea? >> go ahead. >> they have so many five-star recruits, including aaron corp, who didn't make a lot of

mistakes. they also like his athleticism. he's a sophomore. the thing about matt barkley, a true freshman, is he's considered to be the top true freshman in the nation this year and pete carroll told me he's more advanced at this stage of his career than any freshmen quarterback they've ever had, including matt leinart and mark sanchez and john david booty. when their offensive coordinator tells me that barkley compares in some ways to tom brady, you know that this guy is eventually going to be the starter. i'd actually put my money on barkley to take more snaps than corp this year, but i think corp will probably start the opener. >> one receiver with the trojans said barkley throws harder than corp, while corp might have that lead right now, barkley's got overall the better arm. will this team, will they still be the powerhouse we've grown accustomed to in the last seven, eight years? >> it's hard to imagine but it's true they've won the pac-10 seven consecutive times and finished in the top four in the associated press seven consecutive times. that clearly makes them a

dynasty team, clearly makes pete carroll one of the great coaches of our generation. you have to replace the entire defense, including the linebacker core, but like i said earlier, all those guys are five-star yes unites. that's the reason why u.s.c. would be in my preseason top five. >> let's continue with your preseason top five. who else you going to put in there? >> got to go with the florida gators number one. there is not a person in america not choosing the gators number one. >> tebow wasn't a unanimous s.e.c. number one. sorry. i had to go there. >> steve spurrier didn't fill it out. keep that in mind. then you move over to the big 12. texas and oklahoma in some soaredder are 2-3. i personally favor the longhorns just a little bit because oklahoma has some concerns on their offensive line. let's see, u.s.c. we already said they'll be number four and we'll got to the s.e.c. for ole miss at number five. s.e.c. west the best by vision in the best conference in all of college football because i slide alabama and l.s.u. right behind

them in my preseason top 25. >> ole miss. keep a look out for houston nutt's squad. who is your sleeper team? >> i don't know if it's fair to say that notre dame is ever a sleeper, but in that preseason top 25 power poll i filled out for espn.com, i slid the irish in there at 15. this is something that will probably say, you crazy? they did win a bowl game. charlie weis will call the offensive plays. their defensive coach is a scheming genius. play like a champion. people are seeing this graphic and they're saying, are you kidding me? how can the irish ever be a sleeper. they're overrated every year. you're drinking the irish kool-aid. but i am and that's fine. you know what, they're going to be better. they have explosive players on offense like michael floyd. jimmy clausen is going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country this year. they're imare proved on the offensive line. more speed on defense. and for those of you who are saying this as you watch, this

they have a soft schedule. i said it. they should win, as lou holtz would say, nine, ten games and be a top 15 team, maybe even play in a b.c.s. game. >> they're still going to lose to u.s.c. i've said it. >> i agree with you. >> heisman trophy question, tim tebow, sam bradford, someone else. you go with? >> i'm going to go with tebow. if i think there is a 75% chance i think they go undefeated and he is generally acknowledged by everyone, including nick saban who i spoke to recently, as one of the greatest leaders in the history of college football, how can you choose against that? i know that colt mccoy doesn't have one, and if they run the table then, yes, he will have chance, but i think say texas plays florida, if tebow is going to match up against colt mccoy in the national championship game, it's a very similar situation to vince young, okay, when bush got the heisman, vince young would have gotten it because he beat him in the national championship game, but the vote is before the national championship game. so it's almost impossible unless

tebow slips up and loses two games, to think that florida will not play in the title game and tebow will not win a second heisman. >> we'll keep our eyes out for it. i'm going with the tebow thought, as well. he is joe schad, espn college football reporter and always locked on with the information. thanks. >> thanks, reich. >> on the other side of the break, we make a bus stop in the windy city. chris mortensen's tour reaches the chicago bears' training camp, so stick around on espnews.

♪ >> we all want a cartoon character. chris mortensen's training camp tour continues as the bus racks up the mileage. today's stop, illinois, training camp home of the chicago bears. and mort, obviously the biggest news with this team is the acquisition of quarterback jay cutler. what has been the early fan response to seeing him in action? wf well, it's actually been extremely positive from the players, even brian urlacher toll me, listen, the guy has energized the team. they're impressed by not just the physical skills, but how smart he, is how competitive he

is and how... they see leadership in that. there was a pilot there where they had a practice where urlacher picked off cutler, and cutler looked him off, and cutler didn't understand how urlacher didn't bite on looking him off, and so after the play, he went up to urlacher and said, how did you know i was throwing there? and urlacher explained it to him. it's really a good interaction here. >> we're going to get back into that defense here, but what about the receiving core? how is he getting adjusted and getting developed with that group? >> i sat down with cutler earlier, and i'll give you the interview. hey, jay, what about those receivers? well, mort, you know what, i played with earl bennett, a second-round pick at vanderbilt. he looks really good, but the thing that surprised me most was devin hester. i didn't realize how instinctively good he was at receiver. he does things that guys who aren't in the league five years do, compares very favorfully with eddie royal who i had in denver, had a big year, might be even a little bit better.

i got a tight end in greg greg n a running back in matt forte and orlando pace is playing left tackle an i got my old vanderbilt tackle chris williams playing right tackle. he was a first rounder last year so i feel pretty good. >> i feel like i got an exclusive, sat there talking with jay cutler, mort. you brought up matt forte in that little segment there. how does cutler, how does his being on that team open things up for forte? >> well, you know, he rushed for over 1,200 yards last year, but his average per carry was 3.9. some people think that forte is kind of a poor man's marcus allen, not quite as talented as that but he can catch the ball a lot. but they obviously believe that with jay cutler and, you know, even the other weapons they have that he's going to get a little bit more space to run and certainly get out in the flat to catch the ball. they expect big things from forte. obviously cutler's the focus of this and they always say, well, he doesn't have a number-one

receiver. tom brady never had a true number-one receiver in any of the three super bowls he won. they'd like to add one eventually, but i think they're pretty content with the talent on hand, and matt forte is a big part of that. >> mort, the bears have always prided themselves on the defensive front. this last couple of years, though, that defense has fallen flat, ranking 28th and 21st in '07 and '08 consecutively. what's the group's attitude coming into '09? >> well, a couple of major things have happened since last season. one is that lovie smith, the head coach, who made his money so to speak as a defensive guy, has taken over the defense as the coordinator, as well as being the head coach, much like wade phillips is doing in dallas. but i really felt that the biggest acquisition of the off season, and they feel maybe aside from cutler, was signing rob marinelli to be their defensive line coach. okay. marinelli went 0-16 in detroit as a head coach, but before that he was with the tampa bay buccaneers and had a reputation as being one of the great

defensive line coaches of this generation, and they believe, and urlacher ever said this, that the work he's doing with those guys will make the entire defense better. they have a dominant defensive front four because of what marinelli is doing up there, then everybody behind them is going to be better, and that's the key. an they realize their identity needs to be on defense and for them to get back to the super bowl, a defense combined with jay cutler at quarterback, that's the key and a very good division with the packers and vikings, by the way. >> and that defense already showing early in camp as you mentioned earlier with regards to urlacher not taking to jay cutler's look-off there. chris mortensen, the camping tour continues. he will be in terre haute indiana for the colts tomorrow. thank you so much, mort. >> all right, reicha. thank you. >> still ahead, tiger woods continuing his try to get the championship coming off his buick open win. we'll get you up to date.

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>> right now on espnews, red sox-yankees doesn't have the same ring so far. new york looks to snap out of its 0-8 rivalry funk, and cliff lee likes being a philly. we'll show you just how much. today he faced colorado in his second start with the world series champs. and all eyes at tiger woods at firestone, although it was someone else heading up the leaderboard after round one at the w.g.c. >> hey there. so very good to be with you here on espnews. alongside michele lafountain, i am reischea canidate, and we're here to help you stay current with the latest sports stories, highlights and scores. we're going to start things off

with golf. phil mickelson making his return to the field. >> that's right, his wife and mother both battling with breast cancer. so making the return after six weeks off the golf course. let's take you through what happened with tiger woods. he's won this event six times. there's lefty playing for the first time since the u.s. open. he struggled on his front nine. started on the back. here on 11 doesn't get a good read. misses left of the hole putting for bogey. double-bogey on the 11th. on 18 putting for par misses left of the hole. he shot a plus three 38 on the from the nine. on his back nine, mickelson turned it around. third shot on the par five second hole. within a few feet he leaves it to make the birdie putt. on the par three seventh, putting for birdie, the left edge drops in. minus three 32 on his back nine, even par for the day. shot of the day, ernie els' second shot on the par four first hole. 137 yards out and his

approach-shot goes in. eagle for els, and he finished at plus one. tiger woods started his day on the front nine. here foifnt tipping in the rough for birdie. looks like it's going in. the ball rims around the the hole. can't believe it didn't go in. looks like the ball is going right, but breaks back towards the hole and spins around the cup and in. he moves to one under. here on the par four 14th putting for birdie, and he drains it. minus two. for the day he's trailing the leader by four strokes. the leader is padraig harrington. at four under, the long birdie putt on the seventh, his 16th of the day for the lead, outright lead. he gets the long birdie the drop. he had another one in store. one hole later. harrington moves to five under, finishes at six under and leads by two strokes over scott verplank, tim clark and

marksaeng. vir plank had the other bogey-free day among the leaders. four birdies and no bogeys. meanwhile, tiger woods two under par for the day and so he's tied with five others for eighth place four shots off the pace. and phil mickelson returning to the pga tour after his six-week hiatus to look after his wife and mother as they both battle breast cancer. started off on the back nine as we said, but that double-bogey on 11 did not derail him. instead he had the birdie on 12 and he would go on the get an even par seven, same as vijay singh, the defending champion. now here's phil mickelson after round one. >> i was excited to get back out and play. i got off to a shaky start. i didn't commit to a lot of shots. i didn't play aggressive. i didn't make aggressive swings and was three over at the turn

and three over through ten. so i was fort matt to get it turned around, and it felt good to make a few birdies. >> what turned it around for you? >> i think when you get into playing a little bit and you realize that you can't play swinging afraid or swinging tentative, i started to trust my swing. i started to make more aggressive shots, and i ended up giving myself a few birdie chances and made those. >> how much did you miss competing? >> i missed it more than i thought i would. >> well, the phillies sent cliff lee to the mound for the first time at citizens bank park. said he was a little nervous, a little anxious about his first home start, but he certainly didn't pitch like it getting chris iannetta, barmes. went seven strong and gave up one earned run. he's taken to the national league like a fish to water. paul bako launches one deep off aaron cook. solo shot.

2-1 phillies. they win by a final of 3-1. cook left the game in the sixth with a sprained right toe. said lee with regards to the win, "to get that first win at home out of the way, i'm really pleased with it." a little bit more on lee and what he's done so far. he's been phenomenal since they picked him up. first a 5-1 complete game at san francisco last friday. then of course today's effort. lee just the fourth philly pitcher with seven-plus innings and one earned run in each of his first two starts with the team in the last 40 years. all of a sudden elijah dukes and the nats are tired of getting beaten by the marlins. they were trailing 6-0 in the second inning of this game. in the seventh, dukes goes yard. three-run home run, his seventh of the season. he had three hits, drove in four as they tie this game at eight. same score in the bottom of the eighth. ronnie belliard brings home cristian guzman. it's a one-run advantage.

they tack on three more and the nationals get the 12-8 victory. it is a season high-five-game win streak for the nats, who were 7-12 with runners in scoring position. ryan zimmerman was 4-4 with a home run, three r.b.i.s, three runs scored, a double shy of hitting for the cycle in his sixth career four-hit game, third one this season. >> twins' right-hander nick blackburn entered today with a 1.63 e.r.a. in his career versus cleveland. 4-0 against them. bottom seventh, tied at one. blackburn to rookie trevor crow. brings in travis hafner and gives the indians a 2-1 lead. top nine, same score, no outs. kerry wood trying the close it out. there's the off-speed pitch. gets mark redman looking. 2 tribe take 2-3 from minnesota, who had lost 5-6. on the bright side for minnesota, recent acquisition orlando cabrera had two hits, extending his hitting streak to

a career high 16 games. >> first-place tigers looking the take 3-4 from the orioles. david hernandez on the mound for baltimore. and brandon inge says thank you for the pitch. two-run shot, part of a four-run second inning for the tigers. bottom of the third, tigers up 4-0. alex avila making his major league debut. he's the son of the tiger's assistant general manager. and how about that, his first major league hit and an r.b.i. to boot. team president dave saddam -- zambrowski said about the hit, "wow." as the tigers get the 7-3 victory. avila2-4 and an r.b.i. not a bad way to get your first game under your belt. rick porcello is the first pitcher in franchise history with double-digit wins at age 20

or younger. >> the angels facing the chi sox. top third, 5-3. vladimir gurrero homering to left off lefty john danks, his first homer since returning from the d.l., fifth of the year, 6-3 angels. top fifth, angels leading by two. bobby abreu homers to left off danks, the solo shot, 250th career. homer for abreu. they go on the win. jeff mathis and erick aybar also went deep for l.a. who improve to 15-5 since the all-star game. they have four jaxx and four stolen bases in the win. angels' starter ervin santana gave up a three-run homer early to jason nix. the rangers taking on the a's. top third, rangers down 2-1. michael young the blast to deep center field off rookie trevor cahill for the solo homer. ties it up at 2. 18th homer for young. top fifth, same score, young up again with one on and two outs.

the single to center field scores german. for the pitchers, a tale of two different stories. tommy hunter, 3.43 e.r.a. in the last three starts. trevor cahill falls to 1-6 in his last eight starts for oakland. >> breaking news into espnews. prince fielder will not be suspended for challenging the outer doors of the dodgers' clubhouse tuesday. he has been levied an undisclosed fine, however, as has guillermo mota for throwing at the brewers' slugger which is what led to the post-game walk-down. >> red sox star david ortiz may soon provide more details about his 2003 drug test. the boston slugger and incoming players' union head michael

winer plan a news conference saturday at yankee stadium before the red sox play new york. ortiz said last week the union confirmed his name was on the list of 104 major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. ortiz says he's still waiting for more information on the results. >> orlando magic forward rashard lewis has been suspended without pay for ten games for violating the terms of the anti-drug program by testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. lewis' suspension will begin with first game of the regular season. >> donte' stallworth met with nfl commissioner roger goodell yesterday and now awaits the verdict on his playing future. you'll recall stallworth is currently suspended indefinitely without pay after pleading guilty to d.u.i. manslaughter in june in miami. stallworth served 24 days in jail and is now under two years' house arrest. he will also serve eight years'

probation, 1,000 hours community service and his driving privileges have been revoked for life. >> david wells, cousin and adviser for michael crabtree, said the receiver is prepared to sit out the entire season as we enter the nfl draft next year. espn's joe schad reports. meanwhile, eugene parker, crabtree's agent, disputes reports he threatened the 49ers with reports that crabtree would sit out. >> still ahead, the angel, torii hunter, what's the latest on him hunter, what's the latest on him getting back into the lineup? (announcer) if you think all batteries are the same, consider this:

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>> time now for our "baseball tonight" daily beat. we start things off with angels' beat writer mike digiovana of the "los angeles times." let's start out with torii hunter. what's the latest on his rehabilitation process? >> he had a little setback this week, failed a strength test, was running the bases and hitting and defense and doing everything pretty well, but they wanted four or five days to strengthen up that area and exercise. if i had to guess they'll probably start a rehab next monday, tuesday, wednesday or thursday and the angels hope he'll return by the following weekend. >> ervin santana will take the hill for the angels tonight as they look to avoid the sweep at the hands of the white sox. what is the confidence level of mike scioscia that santana will get back to form? >> actually, for the record,

they had a day game and santana won. >> oh my gosh, yes. >> that's all right. errors are made. irvin had a good game today, not a great game. gave up four runs in the first three innings. he righted himself. walked a guy with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning and came through with a strikeout and a groundout and pitched three more scoreless innings. so it's been kind of a really weird year for him, fighting back from these elbow injuries. really seems to struggle in the first three innings and then sort of settles down and finds his rhythm. certainly not the all-star he was last year, but taking a little steps toward improvements so far this year. >> thank you mike digiovanna. >> no problem. >> see what happens when you start writing early? mike, appreciate your time.

>> all right. no problem. >> the pittsburgh pirates last place in the n.l. central are hurting. they've lost four straight games and the big question is just how much did they lose by last week's trade deadline. we welcome in jennifer who covers the pirates for mlb.com. when jack wilson and ian snell were traded away to start the pirates trade fest, you called it a defining day for the organization. fans certainly wondering what is the outlook for pittsburgh now? >> the outlook for this year obviously isn't very roadsy, like you said with jack and ian. that was just the latest of what's been a season full of trades that started back in early june with nate mclouth and ended with freddie sanchez and john grable last week. but the pirates had to do something like this. in a market like pittsburgh, you're not going to pay those guys to stay here.

they are going into free agenciment they would have lost them. so they're trading them for young players. most of them are in the minor leagues, a few years off. it's something this organization had to do. you hope that in a couple years a lot of these young prospects that they acquired can come up and maybe this organization can move in the right direction. >> and on the bright side for the pirates, all the new faces make them hard to scout for now. who are those gems we should watch out for? >> you know, obviously andrew mccutchen leads the list. he was the guy that the pirates drafted in '05. he came up in june. he's their starting center fielder and is kind of the piece they're building around for the future. you look to his right and there's lastings milledge was ar disappointment both with newo le york and with washington.man, wi he's found a fresh start here. his attitude has improved a loto the pirates see potential with him. and then there's guys like garret jones who came up, was n.l. rookie of the month in july in his first time as a starter in the majors and a guy like kevin hart who just joined the pirates' rotation. they have... while the team

obviously is out of contention for anything this year, a lot of these individual players have a lot to play for. they're looking to earn spots going into next season, so at least there is some motivation in that. >> and jenifer, you menned andrew mccutchen who made an impact on the team certainly since coming up from the minors. he did not play in yesterday's loss in arizona due the slight dizziness. what's the latest on him? >> he's back in there today. he'll be in there tonight. he got hit in the face with a governor running down first base line. had a headache after tuesday's gail. they kept him out yesterday. that said he probably could have played wednesday if need be, but he hadn't had a day off since coming up with first week of june, so it because good day to give him day off and make sure the headache went away. the. fan can breath easy. jenifer laggosch who covers the pirates for mlb.com, appreciate your insight. >> thanks, michele. >> coming up, tim tebow and the

gators. can they repeat? bob holtzman has a report from their training camp. ♪ 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.

>> what to watch for, tonight in about ten minutes, the red sox have owned the yankees so far this season, but karl ravech and the "baseball tonight" crew tell us why the a.l. east leading bronx bombers could reverse the tide this evening when joba chamerlain takes the mound at

home. >> not that tim tebow needs any motivation, but when you have the talent returning that he does, you can understand his impatience with the season still a month out. add it to he didn't win a second heisman trophy, and the gators lost to ole miss at home last year, and you've got all the makings of a gators' squad ready to lay the smack down in 2009. espn's bob holtzman headed to the swamp. >> about an hour before sunrise, the florida gators were already at work, which probably felt like sleeping in to the wide receivers who put up with tim tebow all summer. >> he's always calling, always texting, always trying to get guys out here to work with him. if you don't answer the first time, he'll call you again and again and again. he's going to make sure you get out here. >> we knew we would have to get out here and work. if that meant getting up early for 6:00 a.m. workouts or staying after, that's what we're going to do. >> tebow's wide receiver wake-up call sometimes came as early as

4:30 a.m. and it wasn't uncommon for drills to start soon after. >> i worked on routes, worked on scramble drill, worked on every possible throw. >> tell me about it. hey, we want to work on this. the chemistry right now between the groups, between those kids is tremendous. >> the ncaa doesn't allow coaches to be involved over the summer, so tebow ran the program, called the plays and expected perfection. >> sometimes the guys would drop pass. you'd turn around and see him sprinting right at you. that's a sight to see to see that big 250 quarterback sprinting after you. you don't expect him chasing you down. >> he's like a coach out here. he goes even harder. he make us drop the ball, we start over. >> and tebow has no plans to let up. he's taking just one class this fall and will graduate in december, and he says he's told urban meyer that he'll be in the office more than meyer will. in gainesville, florida, bob

holtzman, espn. >> taking a quick look at what the florida gators did a season ago, of course, they went 13-1, that long loss coming to ole miss. they went on and defeated oklahoma in the b.c.s. title game which was their second b.c.s. championship in the last three seasons. you see this key runner, of course, tim tebow with the phone call, so he's ready to get things going. but now we're going to send things over the karl ravech and our "baseball tonight" crew as we get set for red sox-yanks. >> the yankees come in having swept the blue jays and roy halladay and the red sox having just been swept by the tampa bay rays. we look forward to this series. you have the look at what's happened so far, and this has been so one-sided. jason bay, this is when jason bay was sort of the next coming in boston. he's kind of fallen off a little bit. rivera blew a save in that game. papelbon has been unhittable against the yankees. you see his e.r.a. in the three saves in 2009. it's 8-0 red sox over the yankees in this series. now burnett has been the guy

they hope, except in the boston series. >> the matchup between burnett and beckett had breakthrough a lot of attention, but it hasn't lived up to the bill. i think this time on friday night at yankee stadium it's going to be a very exciting matchup. burnett has been pitching very well at home. >> a-rod healthier now than he was first meeting. you see he's got one hit in ten at-bats against boston. so head-to-head mentioned the 8-0 number, the runs per game, everything shades in favor of the red sox except the momentum coming into this thing. and you'll be able to watch the red sox and yankees sunday night at 8:00 eastern time. "baseball tonight" will originate from the stadium at 7:00 eastern time. so they hav e the momentum, the yankees do. they got the lead here and their pitching setup, right? >> and i think the yankees at this point have a much better identity than they had earlier in the year. a lot of changes, guys coming in, cc sabathia, a.j. burnett, nick swisher, but at this point they seem like they've gelled a whole lot more than they were earlier, and it was signified on sunday when melky cabrera hit

for the cycle and he looked over in the dugout, saw all of his teammates on the rail, and there was something going on between them that saw there was a unit, a unity going on that this team has finally come together. i think as the red sox have struggled as of late, the yankees are that tight unit club right now, and they'll give some problems to the red sox and get off the that need. >> i think the real challenge for the red sox is they had great starting pitching depth when the season began, but that's been challenged. they're now facing that lineup for the new york yankees hitting on all cyl inders that's a circular lineup. no beginning and no end to it. i think the keys for the red sox are the starts of john smoltz and clay buchholz. you know beckett and and and ler will give you good outings. smoltz needs to step up and clay buchholz has to throw strikes with his fastball if he's going to have any chance at all against the new york yankees. >> joba going on extra rest. that's the first showdown. >> coming up, tiger woods looking to win for the seventh time at firestone. very much in the mix after one round. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather

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>> right now on espnews, red sox-yanks doesn't quite have the same ring so far. new york looking the snap out of its 0-8 rivalry funk.

cliff lee likes being a philly. we'll show you just how much. today he faced colorado in his second start. and all eyes on tiger woods at firestone, although a few other names were heading up the leaderboard in the first round of the w.g.c. captioning by captionmax >> so good to be with you here on espnews. alongside michele lafountain, i am reischea canidate, and we're here to help you stay current with the latest sports stories, highlights and scores. we start things off with the world golf championship. of course, phil mickelson back on the course. round one in the books, and as you say, phil mickelson after a six-week absence here to participate. tiger woods has won this event six times. there's lefty. first tournament since the u.s. open. struggling on his front nine. he started on the back. he misses left of the hole. he would double-bogey on the 11th.

now on 18, putting for par, but misses left. he shot a plus three 38 on the back nine. third shot on the par five, second hole. hits the high flop shot within a few feet of the hole. he'd make the birdie putt and here putting for birdie on the par three seventh. he gets it. he finishes even par. shot of the day, ernie els. second shot on the par four first hole from 137 yards out. and the south african with the approach-shot that goes in. it's an eagle for els. he finishes plus one. tiger woods started on the front nine. here on the fifth, chipping from the rough for birdie. looks like it's going in but the ball rims around the cup and stays out. he can't believe it. nevertheless, he must play on. tiger on the par three 12th putting for birdie. looks like it's going right but the tap in spins around the cup and in. he moves to one under. now the par four 13th for

birdie. it would be his last birdie putt of the day. he finished with two under, trailing the leader by four strokes. padraig harrington all alone at the top. long birdie putt on the seventh. his 16th. for the lead. he gets it to drop. he moves to five under, finishes six under and leads by two strokes over scott verplank, who was also bogey-free with four birdies on the day. also tim clark, six birdies, two bogeys, and prayad marksaeng, seven birdies, three bogeys. phil mickelson always the sentimental favorite. he's at an even par 70. he had this to say after round one at firestone. >> i was excited to get back out and play. i got off to a shaky start. i didn't commit to a lot of shots. i didn't play aggressive. i didn't make aggressive swings and was three over at the turn and three over through ten.

so i was fortunate to get it turned around, and it felt good to make a few birdies. >> what turned it around for you? >> i think when you get into playing a little bit and you realize that you can't play swinging afraid or swinging tentative, i started to trust my swing. i started to make more aggressive shots, and i ended up giving myself a few birdie chances and made those. >> how much did you miss competing? >> i missed it more than i thought i would. >> and let's check out his scorecard. phil mickelson returning to the pga four after a six-week hiatus to look after his wife and mother as they battle breast cancer. started off on the back nine double-bogeyed the 11th. but then he steadied the ship with a birdie on 12 and the rest we saw on tape. he shot an even bar 70. tiger woods coming off his win at the buick is very much in the mix. he kept alive his streak of breaking par in the opening round with 11 straight times at firestone. >> how about the rockies and the phillies? cliff lee making his first home

start at citizens bank park. said he was a little anxious about that first home start, but he certainly didn't pitch like it. getting chris inet dark garret atkins and clint barmes, three of his nine strikeouts on the day through seven innings of work, one earned run. bottom of the fifth. this game tied at one. paul bako gives the phillies the 1-0 advantage. they win it by a final of 3-1. aaron cook left the game in the sixth with a sprained right toe. as for mr. lee, he said to get that first win at home out of the way, i am really pleased with it. for more on mr. lee since they picked him up, he's done nothing but win. first a complete game at san francisco last friday. then today's effort. he's just the fourth phillies' pitcher with seven-plus innings and one earned run in each of his first two starts with the team in the last 40 years. all of a sudden the marlins not being able to beat the

nationals. nationals get the 12-8 victory over the marlins. a season high-five game win streak for the nats who were 7-12 with runners in scoring position. ryan zimmerman went 4-4 with a home run. and the twins have lost to the indians 2-1. first career loss for nick blackburn against cleveland, and it was rookie trevor crow crowe who doubles in. the run to give the indians the 2-1 win. >> first-place tigers looking the take 3-4 from the baltimore orioles. david hernandez on the mound. brandon inge takes him out of the yard. two-run shot for the 2-0 tigers' advantage. part of a four-run second for detroit. bottom of the third. alex avila making his major league debut. he's the son of the tigers' assistant general manager, and

that, folks, is his first big league hit and an r.b.i. team president dave zambrowski said about the hit, "wow." rick porcello becomes just the second pitcher in franchise history with double-digit wins at the age of 20 or younger. >> the angels looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since june facing the white sox. john danks delivers to vladimir gurrero. top third, solo shot. first homer for vlady. since returning from the d.l. 6-3 angels. a two-run lead for l.a. bobby abreu to left. he homers off danks and abreu's 250th career home run en route to the 9-5 angels' win. jeff mathis and erick aybar also went deep for l.a. they had four jaxx, four stolen bases in the win and improved to

15-5 since the all-star break. rangers taking on the a's. top third. rangers down 2-1. michael young with the blast to deep center field off rookie trevor cahill for the solo homer. oh la-la. game tied at two. 18 homer for young. he had more offense. top fifth, the single to center field scoring esteban german. 3-2 rangers on their way to the win. young 2-5 with two r.b.i. he's batting .458 with six homers, 12 r.b.i.s, ten runs during a 13-game hit streak. the rangers avoid getting swept by the a's in the four-game series. >> prince fielder will not be suspended for charging the outer doors of the dodgers' club how's tuesday. he has been levied an undisclosed fine, as has guillermo mota for throwing at the slugger, which is what led

to the post-game walk down in the first place. >> red sox start david ortiz may soon provide more details about his 2003 drug test. boston slugger and incoming players' union head michael weiner plan a news conference saturday at yankee stadium before the red sox play new york. ortiz said last week that the union confirmed his name was on the list of 104 major leaguers that tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in '03. ortiz says he's still waiting for more information on the results. orlando magic forward rashard lewis has been suspended without pay for ten games for violating the terms of the anti-drug program by testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. lewis' suspension will begin with first game of the regular regular season. >> donte' stallworth met with nfl commissioner roger goodell yesterday and now awaits the verdict on his playing future.

you'll recall stallworth is currently suspended indefinitely without pay after pleading guilty to d.u.i. manslaughter in june in miami. stallworth served 24 days in jail and is now under two years' house arrest. he will also serve eight years' probation, 1,000 hours community service and his driving privileges have been revoked for life. >> david wells, cousin and adviser for michael crabtree, said the receiver is prepared to sit out the entire season and reenter the nfl draft next year according to espn's joe schad. meanwhile, eugene parker, crabtree's agent disputeed a report that he threatened the niners that crabtree would sit out. >> well, the alabama crimson tide felt the gators' bite in the s.e.c. title game. will they be able to challenge tebow's squad this year? we're going to get an inside report. >> its espnews brought to you by:

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>> he turns it up field. touchdown alabama! >> it is caught. >> he's going to go! he's going to go! >> double coverage over everybody. touchdown, alabama. >> down the right sideline. touchdown! >> 61 yards. touchdown, alabama. >> while the florida gators may be the favorite to win the s.e.c. and repeat as national champions, nick saban's alabama crimson tied might have a thing or two to say about all of that. the tide opened camp today as we

welcome in chris ball,, alabama beat writer for the tuscaloosa news. chris, bama seemed poised to win the national championship a season ago until tim tebow stole their thunder in the s.e.c. title game. bama responded with a loss to utah in their bowl game. how is nick saban using last year's finish to motivate this year's team? >> well, a lot of people around here remember the year before when alabama lost to mississippi state and a couple other games. they put up posters around the locker room and the players were reminded of those games every single day. well, this year it's been how the team finished, and the one theme that we've heard already from players and saban is that word "finish." finish a game, finish play, finish everything. >> glen coffee has proved on to an nfl career. who will take the reins of the tide's running game? >> that's going to be one of the big questions of training camp where they have a couple guys from last year including mark ingram and upshaw who will try

to get that job, but trent richardson coming in and a couple other freshmember high have something to say about it. that's one of the few spots offensively no one is sure how it will shake out yet. >> what will what this team does, what will tell you that this team is in good shape to win the s.e.c., chris? >> well, last year we kind of had a feeling early on, even before the clemson game, that there was a real focus with this team, and you could kind of see how the transition was coming with saban, the team was bigger. there was more talent, the players were more focused. and already even today today's the first practice. we're seeing the same thing already. some of the players who came back, they've been working hard. you can really tell. i wouldn't be surprised if alabama has another very good season. >> september 5th versus virginia tech. 8:00 eastern on abc. chris walsh with the tuscaloosa news, beat writer for the alabama crimson tide. thank you so much, chris.

>> thank you. >> the virginia tech hokies also opened up camp today. joining us now is norm wood, virginia tech beat writer for the daily press. now, norm, there's a lot of hype surrounding these hokies. put into perspective the importance of their season opener against nick saban's alabama. >> well, it's obviously an enormous game certainly for a team that has national championship aspirations and they play sixth ranked opponents to start the season. they've never beat an ranked opponent start the season. this could be a pretty stern test and definitely could be a bringboard into getting them into the conversation for national title for the rest of the season. >> as they get started, what do you think could be the most thrilling competition for starting position that we'll see in the hokies' preseason? >> they're actually pretty well set. there's a position at linebacker that's still somewhat open between cody grim and cam martin. grim obviously came off the

bench last year for the most part and had a great season. there could be some situation a little bit above -- of a starting dual at quarterback between carmical and hill, though carmical looks like he's got that firmly locked down. hill would have to bounce back from an inconsistent spring to make some noise there. >> and norm, tell us about the main strengths that could propel virginia tech to its fourth a.c.c. championship in six years. >> well, they've got a lot of great skill players. they're a young team. frank beamer at a.c.c. football media day made a point of saying, yes, this is an specioused team, but it's young experience. it's an awful lot of sophomores at the receiver position and of course tyrod taylor going into his first full season as starting quarterback. he's a junior. then in the back field, darren evans is a sophomore and you may see an awful lot of brian williams. though he's starting number three in the depth chart, i

wouldn't be surprised if he's in the back field, too. he's had a great spring. >> norm wood, virginia tech beat writer for the "daily press." norm, thanks so much. >> thanks, michelle. >> well, shaquille o'neal is with a new team, and you better believe he believes in his squad, the cavaliers. squad, the cavaliers. who are this is matt. last year, matt went on the bud light port paradise cruise. it was awesome. for four days and three nights, matt soaked it all in. ( whooping, cheering ) i had the ship up to like 100, 100 miles an hour. and matt learned a lot about cruise ship protocol. for obvious reasons, we're protecting matt's identity. i didn't invite my girlfriend. sorry, tracey. you're an idiot. yep. bud light port paradise. it's the most fun you might never want to talk about.

>> welcome back to espnews. orlando magic forward rashard lewis has been suspended without pay for ten games for testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. lewis' suspension will begin & with first game of the next regular nba season. lewis released this statement: for more on the rashard lewis

suspension, we bring in espn's nba insider jackie mcmullen on the phone. jackie, there have been plenty of stories about baseball players testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs recently, not too many stories about nba players doing the same. what can you tell us about rashard lewis testing positive? >> well, michele, according to the nba sources i spoke with, rashard lewis started taking this supplement, which he got over the counter, towards the end of the regular season, and veterans are subject to random drug testing four times a season, and very early in the playoffs, rashard's number came up, and he was tested during the early portion of the playoffs and tested positive, and he was really surprised by the test and asked to be retested, which he does have that right in case it's a detective test. that second test was didn't some time during the nba finals, and again he tested positive.

in between that first test and that second random test, of course, the magic officials went to him and said, what are you doing? what have you been doing differently? what have you been taking? and it was at that time rashard lewis told them about this over-the-counter supplement he was taken. you to wonder, why did he not run that past magic officials in the first place? >> tell us more exactly about what the nba's performance-enhancing drug policy is. >> well, it's interesting actually, michelle. if you smoke marijuana and you get tested... and you test positive for marijuana, you can test positive for marijuana three times. the third time you get a five-game suspension. but the nba in accordance with the tolerance for steroids, and this d.h.e.a. is upment, you test positive once and it's an automatic ten-game ban. >> do you expect any fan fallout

or reaction, adverse reaction against lewis this coming season? >> well, you know, his statement has suggested that he unknowingly took this. of course, we've heard that before from other athletes, but i think people don't care about steroids, michelle. we've seen it over and over again in all the sports. they just want their stars to perform, and i really don think this has any long-standing effects from lewis. >> jackie mcmullen, as always, jackie, thank you so much. >> thank you, michele. >> well, shaquille o'neal is never at a loss for words. not before and not now that he's a cavalier. here's what shaq had to say on the "mason and ireland" show on 710 espn radio los angeles a little while ago on what team he thinks is the favorite to win it all in upcoming nba season. >> do you view the lakers as the team to beat? >> of course. >> are they better than they were a year ago with ron artest? >> definitely, definitely.

>> and are you guys the team to beat in the east, or do you always tip your hat to orlando since they were the team that got their last year? >> you got to tip your hat to orlandoing but the good thing about america is when something gets done, you can always come back and try to take it away from somebody or try to redeem yourself. so it's going to be a new season, a lot of other teams. portland's going to be tough. dallas is going to be tough. so there's going to be a lot of tough teams. >> what's the toughest thing about repeating as a champion? >> you know, i sit around and think about this all the time, but as you know, you were there. a lot of luck has to be involved. just think about derek fisher. he doesn't maybe that .04 shot. robert horry doesn't hit that shot at the top of the key. basically you got to say, you got to have a lot of luck. >> after averaging a career low 13.6 points per game and missing 21 games two seasons ago, shaq appeared to be nearing the end

of his legendary career. but last season shaq rebounded, playing in all but seven games for the suns and returning to the all-star game. >> get you all caught up on the big a.l. east battle between the red sox and the yankees. of course, the red sox 8-0 versus the yankees so far this season. john smoltz on the hill for the red sox, looking to beat new york for the first time since game one of the 1996 world series. of course, his first time playing the yankees as a member of the red sox. joba chamerlain throwing for the yankees. he's won three starts for the first time in his career. and, of course, this is 3-0 since the all-star break. >> the phillies got the victory over the rockies today. cliff lee making his home debut for the philadelphia phillies. he struck out nine over seven innings, giving up just one earned run.

he said to get that first win at home, he was very pleased with it, and well he should have been. he has been excellent for the phillies since joining up with the squad last week. >> angels-chi sox in the books. the angels have defeated chicago 9-5678 vladimir gurrero, jeff mathis, erick aybar and bobby abreu went deep in the game. they had four jacks and four stolen bases in the win. >> when we return, cliff lee had just one wish today to, improve to 2-0 as a philly. we'll tell you if it came true. top sto

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>> now on espnews, red sox-yanks doesn't quite have the same ring so far. new york looking the snap out of its 0-8 rivalry funk. cliff lee likes being a philly. we'll show you just how much. today he faced colorado in his second start for the world series champs. and all eyes on tiger at firestone, but another name heading the leaderboard in the first round of the w.g.c. >> so good to be with you here on espnews. alongside michele lafountain,

i am reischea canidate, and we're here to help you stay current with the latest sports stories, highlights and scores. and we're going to keep you up to date throughout the evening with regards to the yankees and red sox. kicking off this very important four-game set. red sox trailing the yankees by two and a half games. we start with golf, world golf championship. >> round one at the bridgestone invitational in the books. everyone looking at these two men, tiger woods, who has won this event six times, and phil mickelson, playing for the first time since the u.s. open. didn't start off well. struggling starting on the back near here on 11. chipping from the rough and then misses left. a double-bogey on 11 for him. then on 18, putting for par. and 38 on his front nine. on his back nine, mickelson turned it around. third shot on the par five second hole, and he hits the high flop shot within a few feet of the hole. he'd make the birdie putt. and now on the par three seventh, putting for birdie, and lefty gets it.

three under. 32 on his back nine. finished at even par. shot of the day, ernie els. second shot on the par four. first hole. 137 yards out and this is called an eagle. els finished it plus one. tiger woods started his day on the front nine, and here on the fifth tipping from the rough for birdie. looks like it's going in but uh-uh. try again. he can't believe it. but here the reverse happened. it looks like it would not go in and it did on the par three 12th putting for birdie. oh la-la. and tiger would move to one under. then on the par four 13th, putting for birdie, this would be his last birdie putt of the day. birdie putt that he's got. he finished at two under, trailing the leader by four strokes. the leader is padraig harrington. at four under, a long birdie putt on the seventh. his 16th for the lead. and he gets it. he would get another birdie on the following hole to move to

six under. the irishman hasn't won since last year's pga championship, his second straight major title. harrington holding a two-stroke lead over scott very blank tim clark and prayad marksaeng. now let's listen to what phil mickelson had to say after his even par 70 opening round. >> i was excited to get back out and play. i got off to a shaky start. i didn't commit to a lot of shots. i didn't play aggressive. i didn't make aggressive swings and was three over at the turn and three over through ten. so i was fortunate to get it turned around, and it felt good to make a few birdies. >> what turned it around for you? >> i think when you get into playing a little bit and you realize that you can't play swinging afraid or swinging tentative, i started to trust my swing. i started to make more aggressive shots, and i ended up giving myself a few birdie chances and made those. >> how much did you miss competing? >> i missed it more than i thought i would.

>> he missed it during the six weeks that he took off to look after his wife and mother as they both battle breast cancer, but phil mickelson is back. he started off with the double-bogey on 11, but steady through six with a birdie on the 12th. he one-putted the eighth green on the first day. now let's listen to tiger woods, his take on his first day. he tied with five others for eighth place, four shots off the pace. >> i hit some good shots on the back nine. it was nice. some of the things they was working on, you know, monday, tuesday at home, i put it together for a little bit in stretches today. i hit it good on the front nine. starting out i really hit it good. i hit a couple bad shots there in the middle part of the round and got it back, started hitting it good again. i hit a little scratchy coming in. it was kind of in spurts today. >> woods coming off his win at the buick is very much in the

mix. he's just four shots off padraig harrington's pace, and woods kept alive his streak of breaking par in the opening round for the 11th straight time at firestone. >> get you caught up here on the red sox and the yankees. game one of their four-game set. scoreless right now in the top of the second. dustin pedroia, the lone hit so far, 1-1 with a double in this game. john smoltz, of course, looking to beat new york for the first time since game one of the '96 world series, his first time facing the yankees as a member of the red sox. joba chamerlain looking to move to 4-0 since the all-star break. he's won three straight starts for the first time in his career. get you caught up. how about cliff lee making his first start at citizens west bank park as a member of the phillies. said he was anxious about the first start but he certainly did

not pitch like it. chris iannetta, garret atkins, barmes, sent them all back to the dugout. one earned run, nine strikeouts. aaron cook is taken out of the yard by paul bako. 2-1 phillies' advantage. they go on and win the thing by the final of 3-1. said lee with regards to the win, the first one at home to, get it out of the way, "i am really, really pleased with it." of course, more on lee and what he's accomplished since coming over to the phillies last week. of course, he had the complete game at san francisco last friday and then today's effort. he's just the fourth phillies' pitcher with seven-plus innings and one earn run in each of his first two starts with the team over the last 40 years. we'll get you the score with regards to the nationals and marlins. all of a sudden the nationals know how the beat the marlins, beat them 12-8 as they came back from a 6-0 deficit in the second inning.

one player of note, ryan zimmerman went 4-4 today with his 23rd home run, three r.b.i.s, three runs scored. he was a double shy of hitting for the cycle. it was his sixth career four-hit game, third this season. >> twins' right-hander clint blackburn entered today 4-0 be a 1.63 e.r.a. in his career against cleveland, but rookie trevor crowe doubles to left center off blackburn. travis hafner scores, and gives the indians a 2-1 lead. that would be the winning run. top nine, same score, kerry wood gets mark redman looking at the off-speed pitch. first career loss for nick blackburn against cleveland. the tribe take 2-3 from the twins who have lost 5-6. minnesota, recent acquisition orlando cabrera, two hits to extend his hitting streak to a career high 16 games. >> how about david hernandez on the mound for the orioles in the

series finale versus the tigers. brandon inge says thank you mr. hernandez. i really like that pitch. that's part of the four-run second inning as inge went yard for his 22nd of the season. then this young man, alex avila making his major league debut. he's the son of the tigers' assistant general manager and made the most of his day with his first big league hit and an r.b.i. to boot. the team president about the hit, "wow." he went 2-4 with that double and r.b.i. rick porcello got the win and becomes just the second pitcher in franchise history with double-digit wins at the age of 20 or younger. >> the angels looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since june. facing the white sox and john danks, vladimir guerrero homers to left in the third. first homer since returning to the d.l. 6-3 angels. 6-4 angels and bobby abreu

homering to left off danks. the solo shot. abreu's 250th career home run. 7-4 angels on their way to the ninth. jeff mathis and erick aybar also went deep for l.a. who improved to 15-5 since the all-star break. angels' starter irving santana gave up a three-run homer early to jason nix. then he settled down. >> rangers taking on the a's. top third, rangers down 2-1. two outs, michael young the blast to deep center field off rookie trevor cahill for the solo homer. oh la-la. game tied at two. young's 18th of the year, and he had more offense. two innings later, the single to center scoring esteban german gave the rangers a 3-2 lead. he's batting .458 with six homers, 12 r.b.i.s, ten runs and a very hot 13-game hitting streak.

the rangers get the win and avoid getting swept by the a's in a four-game sweep. >> prince field her not be suspended for charging the outer doors of the dodgers' club how's. he has been levied an undisclosed fine as has guillermo mow that for throwing at the slugger, which led to his post-game walk down to begin with. >> red sox star david ortiz may soon provide more details about his 2003 drug test. the boston slugger and incoming player union head michael weiner plan a news conference this saturday at yankee stadium before the red sox play new york. advertise advertise said last week that the union confirmed his name was on the list of 104 major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in '03. big papi says he is still waiting for. >> more information on the results. orlando magic forward rashard lewis has been suspended without pay for violating the

terms of the anti-drug program by testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. lewis' suspension will begin with first game of the regular nba season. >> donte' stallworth met with nfl commissioner roger goodell yesterday and now awaits the verdict on his playing future. you'll recall stallworth is currently suspended indefinitely without pay after pleading guilty to d.u.i. manslaughter in june in miami. stallworth served 24 days in jail and is now under two years' house arrest. he will also serve eight years' probation and 1,000 hours community service and his driving privileges have been revoked for life. >> david wells, cousin and adviser for michael crabtree, said the receiver is prepared to sit out the entire season and reenter the nfl draft next year, according to espn's joe shoot. meanwhile, eugene parker, crabtree's agent, disputed a report that said he threatened the niners crabtree would sit out. >> still ahead, this weekend

marks the pro football hall of fame enshrinement. the nfl live crew will take a closer look. come on. come on. come on. there for you... ( car starts ) and life's daily miracles. ♪ who's the best? this guy is. ♪ ( clapping )

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i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". >> tebow looks to throw the ball down the field. he makes the catch. touchdown, touchdown, oh, my. >> 66-yard bomb! >> runs the ball straight ahead. touchdown. >> a beautiful run by tebow. >> not that tim tebow needs any motivation, but when you have the talent returning that he does, you can understand his impatience with the season still

a month out. add it to he didn't win a second heisman trophy and the gators lost to ole miss at home last year and you have all the makings of a gator squad ready to lay the macdown in 2009. espn's bob holtzman headed to the swamp. >> about an hour before sunrise, the florida gators were already at work, which probably felt like sleeping in to the wide receivers who put up with tim tebow all summer. >> he's always calling, always texting, always trying to get guys out here to work with him. if you don't answer the first time, he'll call you again and again and again. he's going to make sure you get out here. >> we knew we would have to get out here and work. if that meant getting up early for 6:00 a.m. workouts or staying after, that's what we're going to do. >> tebow's wide receiver wake-up call sometimes came as early as 4:30 a.m. and it wasn't uncommon for drills to start soon after. >> i worked on routes, worked on scramble drills, worked on every

possible throw. >> tell me about it. hey, we want to work on this. the chemistry right now between the groups, between those kids is just tremendous. >> the ncaa doesn't allow coaches to be involved over the summer, so tebow ran the program, called the plays and expected perfection. >> sometimes the guys would drop a pass. you'd turn around and see him sprinting right at you. that's a sight to see to see that big 250 quarterback sprinting after you. you don't expect him chasing you down. >> he's like a coach out here. i mean, he goes even harder. he make us drop the ball, we start over. >> and tebow has no plans to let up. he's taking just one class this fall and will graduate in december and says he's told urban meyer that he'll be in the office more than meyer will. in gainesville, florida, bob holtzman, espn. >> now keep in mind, of course, the florida gators last year went 13-1. that one loss, as mentioned before, to ole miss.

and they went on and defeated oklahoma in the b.c.s. title game, their second b.c.s. championship in the last three seasons. while they have lost some key players in percy harvin and lewis murphy, tim tebow is back, as is brandon spikes as well as 21 of last year's 22 defensive players. well, bruce smith will headline the 2009 pro football hall of fame class this weekend. that will be enshrined. the 11-time pro bowl selection and two-time defensive player of the year spent 15 seasons with the buffalo bills before going to the washington redskins for his final four. taking a look now at who will also be part of that class, there you see bob hairkz randall mcdaniel, bruce smith, derrick thomas, rod woodson and owner ralph wilson. a couple of those individuals are post-mortem enshrinees.

here is our nfl live crew with more on this weekend's festivities. >> welcome into nfl live. trey wingo with herm edwards and matt millen. it's one of the great weekends of the entire football year. it happens preseason. hall of fame enshrinement, canton, ohio, coming up saturday. six members in the class of 2009. we have really special players going in, matt, including the all-time sack king in bruce smith. >> you knew this one would happen the day he decided to call it quits. bruce smith did some things that very few guys can do. he's a big man who can get on the edge, and he can run on the inside. you can see him a lot of times cutting off the outside edge and getting the corner. those are things that are innate. you either have them or you don't have them. he obviously had them and had them for a long time and piled up the sacks. like you said, he leads them all. >> he certainly did. he wrecked a lot of offensive coordinator's plans with that lean-in move right there. rob woodson wrecked plans in

another way as a cornerback and a safety late in his career. >> 17-year career, 71 interceptions, all-around athlete. he played corner, safety. if you're building a corner, this is the guy that you want to build it on. this guy right here, the way he played, his style, he could cover. he could return punts, kicks, and he's a complete player. >> he came back from a knee injury in the '95 season to make it to super bowl xxx. then he went on the win a super bowl with the ravens a few years later. bullet bob hayes goes in, a guy that's a long time coming. you idolized him as a kid. >> everyone wanted to run like bob hayes coming off the '64 olympics, a couple gold medals. comes into the national football league. that kind of speed didn't really exist in the national football league until bullet bob made it all possible. this had been a guy who has been long overdue. look at the numbers, the game is different. the numbers aren't as big as what you see now, but the game was a completely different game then than it is now. but what he could do and he

would be able to do in today's football game, is get past the corners. he's going to run right by you. that can just break a defense. he broke it then. he'd break it now. >> gold medal winner in the 1946 olympics in japan. bob hayes no longer with us. neither is derrick thomas, man you got the chance to coach in kansas city. what a special, special linebacker he was. >> he was really special. talk about a guy that can change the complexity of a football game especially in the fourth quarter. he was a guy that could come off the edge. he had a lot of sack, 126 sacks. a great football player and also a great human being. >> and tragically taken far too soon. >> way too soon. the thing that amazed me about those two pass rushers is you'd have a game plan going in saying, these are the guys we have to stop. >> right. >> and then they'd get four or five sacks on you and just kill you. so when a guy can do that and beat your scheme and your players, that's a great one and they belong in the hall of fame. >> also going in, ralph wilson, owner of the buffalo bills, and randall mcdaniel, not only

played in 12 pro bowls, started 12 executive pro bowls, one of the great offensive linemen the league has ever seen. you can see the hall of fame enshrinement ceremony saturday at 7:00 eastern on espn. >> we have your nfl... >> here's your camp rap. snoop dogg was in the house at the baltimore ravens' training camp. snoop dogg got a first-hand look at the famous ravens' defense. >> i wanted to come see it up close and personal in live high definition to see what they really look like. to be able to look at them and see them go to war. >> so the red sox and the yankees going toe the toe yet again. in fact, our "p.t.i." guys decided to debate which is the best must-see rivalry game. we'll get that answer coming up. >> camp confidential is brought to you by:

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>> espnews brought to you by: >> welcome back to the "p.t.i." program. okay, wilbon, what is your must-see rivalry game? >> i've been fortunate enough tt

see i think all of the great a rivalries that i want the see.ht north carolina-duke in basketball. wonderful. s,ars-packers, a big deal for me from birth until now. cubs-cardinals.chan-ohi michigan-ohio state.e meese are mostly obviously midwestern.th i'd l i would love to see 2010 in south africa, brazil italy in a world cup final that. would be one of those things,li i've seen it all now.ok, that would be it. n >> when i thought about this,heg there are the usual suspects.e i think first of all the greatest rivalries are college g football games, and i say that e with envy because i grew up on long island and there was no grn real college football. >> i was at auburn.ball f me >> but boeckly in d.c., i i remember the syracuse-georgetown basketball games. >> huge. in the '80s. >> duke maryland and above themn all when the redskins host theal cowboys. it doesn't mean as much to nswboys' fan, but to redskin fans it's the whole week.hat?

it's everything. >> 20 years ago that wasn't normal. we had huge stars colliding wito huge stars and those franchises won about six superbowls in a 15-year span.ss t the redskins haven't had those haves of teams. people go, wait a minute, youleg didn't say yanks-sox.u gs d you grew up in new york. >> not in those days. and i grew up admittedly a mets'admd fans. oo aits great rivalry, but i grt don't really is a dog in that race. >> you didn' it mention notre dn anybody. >> one minute left. anybo big finish. left, >> let's d lo it. >> the titans will wear a decal oon their helmets in honor of steve mcnair. your thoughts? >> he played so well there and e played with honor for ten years at least. i'm glad they're doing that. big baby has been treating his disappointment about not gettin. a contract offer from the celtics. is that a good idea? ting >> . no pick up the phone and callict the celtics.hecelts. >> old school. and >> snoop dogg was at ravens' practice. big deal? >> he led them in some kind of a cheer.

national champion florida begano fall practice are.ice today you exciteed?. >> tim tebow system he wants any undefeated season. >> never happen.win the p >> cliff lee struck out nine in his second win for the phillies. you excited? >> yes. >> the nats came from behind to. win.we own will love my nats. we own the marlins now.can. ly go to every game i can. >> marlins ought to bese embarrassed. >> a north carolina man caught e 1,026-pound marlin. could you do that? >> with my bare hands. >> the ocean city tournament. >> 1,000 pounds. >> out of time.er. try to do better next time.omoro tony kornheiser. >> i'm mike wilbon. "p. same time tomorrow, knuckle heads. check out the "p.t.i." podcast>h on itunes.>> on itunes.>(announcer) the edge pizza from pizza hut is back.

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