r by espn captioning by captionmax >> next on "espnews," the top of the a.l. wild card is airtight. who's able to get a little breathing room? john smoltz has a new home. why that means he may have a new role as well. and brett favre continues to settle into his new digs. "espnews" starts now. >> what's up? welcome in to this half-hour of "espnews." helping you stay current with all the latest news, scores, and highlights, will selva alongside j.w. stewart.

there's the man with the golden gun. seven of wednesday's starting pitchers have an e.r.a. below 3 this season. >> jeremy bonderman, is not one of them, neither is dr. no, but doc halladay is. roy halladay going for his 14th run. >> nice work. >> thank you. top of the fifth, jason bay off halladay, halladay shaken and stirred, two-run home run for bay. >> they just keep coming. >> they do, clay buchholz gets encarnacion to fly out, 0 for 4, batting .190, stupid bat. buchholz six innings, one earned, four ks, the red sox win it 6-1. buck holts is 2-0 against jays this year. david ortiz hit his sixth home run off halladay, the most he's hit to any pitcher and the most halladay has allowed to any

batter. >> meanwhile the rangers were tied with boston for the a.l. wild card. right now the rangers are losing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth. pudge rodriguez first hit with the rangers september 29, 2002. >> rays begin the night three out in the wild card, b.j. upton coming off a huge game tuesday where he was a double shy of the cycle, he homers against on wednesday, his ninth of the year, that matches last year's total, and the rays win it 3-1. jeff neimann has 11 wins most among rookies, since losing five in a row the rays have won four straight. the wild card standings look like this, red sox win, rangers in progress, and the rays win. the rangers open a three-game series at the trop beginning

friday. >> out in oakland, as and yankees, yankees taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth, the yankees have gone two straight games without a home run, but tonight a text message, mark teixeira, rbi, coming up big there, two-run home run as well, that came in the first, 3-0 is where we stand, chad gaudin, first start since being traded to the yankees on august 6th. the red sox storm to eight straight wins, but the bronx bombers exacted a measure of revenge with a four-game sweep of the sox earlier this month, the two will hook up for a three-game series at fenway starting on friday, one can only hope that the games will be under five hours long. >> it didn't work out with the red sox, so john smolts will try his luck with the red birds, the

42-year-old signed with the cardinals on wednesday. for now the future hall-of-famer will be the cardinals' fifth starter, but he could be moved to the bull pen. going back to the national league may be just what he needs. >> they've got some tough numbers. i had a couple of guys that i know in boston, and they say his arm has good life, and you just don't walk back in and start hitting .400 or have an era in the 2s. he needs some work, and i know he's anxious to have him take a look at him, and there's a lot of pluses, so i think he's good for both of us, and he'll be in uniform tomorrow, start sunday. >> john smoltz won nearly 60% of his games with the braves, and opponents batted .235 against him, but in eight starts with the red sox, 2-5 with an e.r.a. above 8, while opponents batted .348 against him. >> the signing of john smoltz to

me gives st. louis the advantage going in the division. we know he was a dominant closer, we know he was a dominant starter. it didn't work out in boston. why? because he wasn't ready to pitch. two, the division he was pitching in the american league east is the best offensive division on the planet, so to ask john smolts to be at his advanced age coming off injury and say let's go get these guys out, to me it was the wrong move by the red sox. st. louis is getting a very versatile guy, a fifth starter, but he can also be a setup man for ryan franklin, and when you see the work he's going to do with dave duncan, the best pitching coach in baseball right now for the st. louis cardinals, you'll see a new and rejuvenated john smoltz back in familiarity in the national league and being a great pitcher like he was in atlanta. >> the cards and the dodgers, scoreless, as albert pujols has walked a couple of times, matt

holliday, 0 for 1, and it is clayton kershaw against adam wainwright who is going for his 15th win of the cease been which would be tops in the majors. >> well, cliff lee will always be remembered as part of the cleveland indians, but he's really played well since coming over to the philadelphia phillies. 3-0, with one complete game, going for another one tonight. top of the fifth, lee, five ks through five innings, and then in the bottom of the fifth, ryan howard, a three-run home run off dan haren, his 31st of the year, five home runs in his last six games, lee looking to go to distance here on the night, he

strikes out mark reynolds, we've seen that a lot over the last couple of years, lee, the complete game two hitter, struck out 11, phils win 8-1, cliff lee 4-0 since joining the phils with two complete games. all right. last season mark reynolds established a major league record of 204 strikeouts, in season 18 games, at least three strikeouts, and he's well on his way to establishing a new record. will and i are just getting warmed up here on "espnews." coming up more baseball for you, justin verlander takes matters into his own hands. why he could have used some help on wednesday. >> and the angels, a baseball oddity. t.o., oh, no, what's keeping him on the sidelines?>> wednesday w

first full day of practice with the vikings. favre said i haven't been the best player, but i would love to think that every player that i've played with would love to have me in the fox hole. almost all of his new teammates agree. >> whoever they bring in, we know they bring them in for a purpose, and that's to help our team win games. he's a teammate. >> he's a different breed. people like michael jordan and brett favre, they can do little things like that that other people can't do. they've proven themself in this league, and so a little bit more exceptions are made for them than other people. >> it's a lot of respect for a player like that, to be able to bow the same field with him, a guy taking snaps for you.

>> this wasn't what i was hoping for, but that's the situation that we're in, so i'm going to stay prepared and keep working and you never know what's going to happen and try to make the most of the situation of where i'm at. >> let's be honest. the guy's been doing this a long time at a very high level. if we're all sitting in miami waiting to go on the field for the super bowl, do you think we really care if he came here in july? >> fran tarkenton will always be associated with the minnesota vikings, but many people forget the hall-of-famer plays five seasons with the new york giants during the middle of his career. when he came back to minnesota, he led the vikings to three super bowls. they haven't been back since they lost super bowl xi. entered brett favre, who is trying to bring the vikings a super bowl title, and tarkenton is upset. >> disrespected his team. the green bay packers provided

him with stability, players, coaches, a great historic organization for 16 years. he tells them i'm retired. they go down to mississippi. and then he plays the game. they go and get their team set with aaron brooks, and then he says like he does now i want to come back. and they decided to say no. they said if you come back, you've got to compete. he didn't want to do that. he'd already been talking to minnesota to try to manipulate that. that's disrespect for his team. goes to new york. do you see the new york jets trying to get him to come back? he played there for a year. they did not try to get him and sign him to come back. neither did the green bay packers. i think that if he wants to play, go play. but don't play games. >> favre turns 40 in october. not many quarterbacks have lasted into their 40s, and with a good year, favre could beat the numbers that moon, dawson,

and jurgensen did in their golden age. >> no t.o. this weekend, the bills' prize acquisition with an injured toe. he'll be back on the field next week sometime. owens has missed five of six practices and a preseason game against chicago. >> three time champion jimmie johnson went to the white house wednesday. joining j.j. were other sprint cup drivers and past champions. president obama said fortunately we got jimmie to agree not to do any burnouts and tear up my backyard. obama joined our nascar now group. >> i know you're excellent, mr. president, at filling out your college basketball bracket. you picked the tar heels to win. >> i'm sorry, i did. >> that's excellent. what about winning the chase championship? have you filled that out? >> i think it's a little early. i think i've got to see a little more information before we make a final decision here, but obviously when you've got champions like jimmie johnson,

jeff gordon, tony stewart, just a lot of folks who are capable of winning at any given time, so i'm not going to pretend like i can pick it, but maybe which we get down to the end i'll take the punch. >> the nascar sprint cup series is in bristol saturday night, coverage begins at 6:30 eastern time on espn, "espnews" will have all the post race coverage. >> the 1927 yankees lineup included babe ruth and lou gehrig. the 2009 angels or at least tuesday's version of them will be known as hitters' heaven. you have to go to the 1930 new york giants and st. louis cardinals to find lineups in which each player hit .300 or better and had 200 at-bats.

kendrick was one of two angels in the lineup wednesday night that is not hitting .300, and he's the one that came up with the big hit. bottom five, top five, kendrick grounds one up the middle, two runs are in, including mike napoli, who was batting .298, jared weaver recording his second recorded shutout, the angels win 3-0, it's the eighth shutout for the angels this season, they improved to 44-16 since june 12th. >> mariners in the a.l. central leading tigers, justin verlander going for his 14th win, didn't get any run support, and here in the fifth he serves one up to ichiro, two-run home run, eighth of the year for ichiro, and the ms take it 3-1. ian snell wins for the first time with seattle, and you can see the astros lead the marlins 6-3 in the top of the ninth, keeping you current here on "espnews," that's what we do here, me and will.

justin verlander leads the majors with 204 strikeouts, his sixth of the season which ties him with jon lester and tim lincecum. he also became the third tigers' pitch for have a 200 strikeout season in the last 35 years. he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. straight ahead on "espnews," the race from the nl wild card, giants chasing down the rockies. why san francisco should be looking over its shoulder. and why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful what cowboys should be careful what they wish for. wassup man. keys. keys. stacy, keys. girl. um.

billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

>> our "blitz" season countdown continues with the cowboys finishing a disappointing 9-7 and missing the playoffs on the last sunday of the season. the cowboys will have a new look, gone are t.o., adam jones, and roy williams. >> the biggest issue i see with the cowboys is going to be at the wide receiver position. watch what you ask for. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the block and didn't make much of an impact on this team. patrick crayton i think is better suited at a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but the balance that you need on offense is just

not there. will roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. i see the dallas you boys struggling, and they're going to miss t.o. >> you can say that again, and his production. the wide receiving corps is thinner. roy williams and patrick crayton have any experience on the roster. log on to espn.com and check three and out on the nfl home page. redskins are next up on thursday. >> venus and serena williams are buying a share of the miami dolphins. singer jimmy buffet has also forged a partnership with the dolphins. >> that's an eclectic group right there. >> a lot of star power down there in south beach.

serena taking on yavish. first set. serena with the forehand return winner, she went on to win the first set 6-3. second set, serena again goes to the forehand. we're going to give her style points on this one. nice. serena went on to win -- >> i think i just pulled my groin muscle. >> she's got to do some cheerleading for the dolphins. >> it's been a while since manchester united were beat, 41 years. they were about due. one more look. the cross from steven jordan, and a great first touch by blake right there. 44th minute, michael carric steps up, and a save by brian jenson. second half.

stoppage time. fans watching intently. final whistle blows, and burnly pulls off a tremendous upset. rockies and the nationals, the rockies lead the national league wild card and have won 12 of the last 18 games, they're facing the nats, top of the first, the rockies doing some damage, they lead 2-0, and they end up winning 5-4 on this one, jason marquis becomes the second nl pitcher, colorado's three-game winning streak is tied for its longest win streak within this month. >> giants came in a game behind the rockies in the nl wild card, bronson arroyo has a shutout going in the eighth inning, but nate schierholtz able to break it up, wladimir balentien can't get to it, edgar renteria scores, and the giants, 1-0,

16th shutout, most of the majors, giants on a three-game win streak. and a wild card looks like this. rockies win, giants win, so right now it's still that one-game lead for san francisco over colorado. the marlins are losing right now, the braves not on the panel, they won, and the cubs also in the mix are winning right now as well. >> red sox, rangers, and rays reaching for that a.l. wild card spot. why one of these teams could be flipping from the top. top stories ahead on "espnews." during the autobahn for all event, you can get great lease deals. i love it. i just wanna know it's the right move. - me? - thirteen days in the future. listen, you get a deal on a car you've always wanted, scheduled maintenance is included. - it's all good. - what's the future like? - you love your new jetta. - and the suit? - you like it? - nah. i love it.

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>> talking fantasy football. you might have heard brett favre is a minnesota viking. let's discuss this for fantasy value. if you had any doubt who the number one overall pick was. adrian peterson is going to go up. imagine what adrian peterson can do. if you were thinking michael turner, forget about it, adrian peterson is number one, but bernard berry is probably the winner. he already led the nfl in yards per catch at over 20 per catch, that's pretty good considering the quarterback they had. we're projecting him at well over a thousand yards, and i think he's going to do better than that. two years ago jennings emerged

and caught double digit touchdowns. he is a big sleeper for the middle round, and favre, don't think he's not in my top 20. i think he's in the 15 to 18 range. last year his mess happened when his arm got hurt, he's healthy now. >> "the blitz" preseason countdown special comes your way thursday, september 10th at 10:00 a.m., we'll go team by team, division by division up until kickoff between the season opener between the titans and steelers. >> zack greinke has one win in his last eight starts. carlos quinton, well, he doesn't care. feasting on this meat ball by greinke. bottom seven, alex rios. every single one of them. he goes solo as well. greinke allowing three home runs

in the game, all solo jobs, allowed six home runs his last six starts. paul konerko picks up his 1,000th career rbi with the white sox joining thomas and appling as the only white sox players to accomplish this feat. braves and mets, braves are 55-13 when scoring four or more runs a season. you have to stick around to watch the highlight. escobar, broken bat, up second, that will load the bases, braves up 2-0, men on second and third, omar infante grounds one to short, look at the hustle, head first into first base, escobar scores, 3-0, braves, escobar in the dugout, check it out, a shattered bat. still in the second, braves up 5-0, brian mccann, do that video -- voodoo that you do so well, nine earned runs, the metropolitans are 7-11 in

august. >> let's flash back to august of 2007. carson's older brother, dalton, had a walk off home run. we go back to wednesday, there's carson with two on. over the shortstop's head, two runs come in to score, a double, 3 for 3, three rbis, there's her mom, patty, in the stands. 14-2. take a look at wednesday's notable home runs. mark teixeira, his 31st. that's tied with carlos pena for most in the american league, ryan howard, his 31st, jayson werth homered twice, chase utley, all in support of cliff

lee who went the distance, jason bay's 27th. >> next on "espnews," the top of the a.l. wild card is airtight. who's able to get a little breathing room? john smoltz has a new home. why it means he may have a new role as well. brett favre continues to settle into his new digs. he hasn't won over everyone linked to the vikings. "espnews" starts now. >> welcome in to "espnews"

helping you stay current with all the latest news, scores, and highlights, will selva alongside j.w. stewart, and they're the men with the golden guns. seven of wednesday's starting pitchers have an e.r.a. below three this season. >> jeremy bonderman, not one of them, neither is dr. no, but doc halladay is. these highlights are for your eyes only. roy halladay going for his 14th win, fights for the wild card lead, bay off halladay, gone, two-run home run for bay, team leading 27th, seven this month, bottom sixth, clay buchholz gets edwin encarnacion to fly out with the bases loaded, encarnacion 0 for 4 batting .190. stupid bat! buchholz six innings, one earned, four ks, the red sox win 6-1. buchholz is 2-0 against the jays this year, 0-3 against everyone

else. david ortiz hit his sixth career home run off halladay, the most he's hit against any pitcher, and the most halladay has allowed to any batter. the rangers were tied with boston for the a.l. wild card lead. there's pudge, made his first start with the rangers since resigning with them. orlando cabrera, lined one in the center, marlon byrd, denard span beats the throw as pudge drops it. twins up 5-4, joe mauer who came in increasing his batting average by 25 points over his last 11 games, he was batting .383, but he flies out to left effectively ending his 15-game hitting streak, texas was one game back with boston in the a.l. wild card or is now one game back in the boston a.l. wild card, millwood, 5 2/3, seven hits, five earned runs, 0-7 in 11 career starts versus the twins. >> rays began the night three out in the wild card, b.j.

upton, double shy of the cycle on tuesday, another home run on wednesday, his ninth of the year, that matches last year's total, and the rays take it 3-1. jeff neimann has 11 wins, most among rookies, since losing five in a row, the rays have won four straight. wild card standings look like this. red sox win, rangers lose, and the rays win, so boston now leads texas by one game. by the way, the rangers open a three-game series at the trop beginning friday. . >> the as and the yankees, the yankees still leading 3-0, teixeira had an rbi groundout in the first, and then a two-run shot in the fourth, the 31st of the season, ninth three-rbi game this season, highlights here on "espnews" as soon as they're done. up next for the yankees, the sox, the red sox have gone to eight straight wins, the bronx

bombers exacted a measure of revenge with a four-game sweep of the sox earlier this month. the two will hook up for a three-game series at fenway starting on friday. >> it didn't work out with the red sox, so john smoltz will try his luck with the red birds. released by boston, the 42-year-old signed on with the nl central leading cardinals on wednesday. for now the future hall-of-famer will bring the cardinals' fifth starter, but he cloo be moved to the bull pen. going back to the national league may be just what he needs. >> he had some tough numbers, i had a couple of guys that i know the boston, and they said his arm has good life, and you just don't back back in and start hitting .400 or have an e.r.a. in the 2s. so he needs some work, and i know he's anxious to have dunk take a look at him, and there's a lot of pluses here, so it's good for both of us. >> and he'll join us tomorrow? >> be in uniform tomorrow, start

sunday. >> john smoltz won nearly 60% of his games with the braves, and opponents batted .235 against him, but in eight starts with the red sox 2-5, an e.r.a. 8. john kruk on how this helps the cards with the stretch run. >> the signing of john smoltz to the st. louis cardinals to me gives st. louis the advantage in the division. he was a dominant closer, a dominant starter in his days in atlanta. it didn't work out in boston, and why? one is because he wasn't ready to pitch. two, what the division he was pitching in the american league east is the best offensive division on the planet, so to ask john smoltz to be at his advanced age coming up injured and say let's get these guys out, to me it was the wrong move for the boston red sox. st. louis is getting a guy that can be very versatile, a fifth starter and a setup man for ryan franklin, and when you see the work that he's going to do with dave duncan, the best pitching

coast in baseball, you're going to see a new and rejuvenated john smoltz back in familiarity in the national league and being a great pitcher like he was in atlanta. >> checking in on the cardinals and the dodgers, right now st. louis is lead 2-0, wainwright, getting run support, molina a double in the fourth, and that was followed by an rbi single out of brendan ryan. dodgers' manager joe torre announced that the club had signed free agent pitcher vicente padilla, two days after he was released by texas. >> cliff lee, 3-0 for the phillies, he's won six straight starts. in the fifth it's rusty riles, five ks through five innings, bottom five, it's ryan howard. off dan haren. gone. three-run home run, his 31st, five home runs in his last six

games, cliff lee went the distance, a two-hitter, struck out 11, phillies win 8-1. cliff lee, 4-0 since joining the phils with two complete games, mark reynolds with the fourth golden sombrero of his career, 0 for 4 with four ks. we've seen this before. the indians trade the reigning cy young winner to the national league. remember how dominant cc sabathia was last year? cliff lee has been even better in his short stint with the phillies. will and i just getting warmed up. coming up on "espnews," more baseball for you. justin verlander leads the majors in strikeouts, so he takes matters into his own hands. why he could have used help on wednesday. >> the angels with a baseball oddity. why it took 79 years to see it. brett favre is getting criticism from an unlikely place. why his most vocal critic is someone associated with the vikings. oh, no, t.o., what's keeping him

on the sidelines? wassup man. keys. keys. stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

>> wednesday was brett favre's first full day of practice with the vikings. favre said i haven't been the best player, but i would love to think that every player that i've played with would love to have me in the fox hole. almost all of his new teammates agree. >> whoever they bring in, we know they bring them in for a purpose, and that's to help our team win games. he's a teammate. >> he's a different breed. people like michael jordan and brett favre, they can do little things like that that other people can't do. they've proven themself in this league, and so a little bit more

exceptions are made for them than other people. >> it's a lot of respect for a player like that, to be able to be on the same field with him, a guy taking snaps for you. >> this wasn't what i was hoping for, but that's the situation that we're in, so i'm going to stay prepared and keep working and you never know what's going to happen and try to make the most of the situation of where i'm at. >> let's be honest. the guy's been doing this a long time at a very high level. if we're all sitting in miami waiting to go on the field for the super bowl, do you think we really care if he came here in july? >> fran tarkenton will always be associated with the minnesota vikings, but many people forget the hall-of-famer plays five seasons with the new york giants during the middle of his career. when he came back to minnesota, he led the vikings to three super bowls. they haven't been back since they lost super bowl xi. entered brett favre, who is

trying to bring the vikings a super bowl title, and tarkenton is upset. >> disrespected his team. the green bay packers provided him with stability, players, coaches, a great historic organization for 16 years. he tells them i'm retired. they go down to mississippi. and then he plays the game. they go and get their team set with aaron brooks, and then he says like he does now i want to come back. and they decided to say no. they said if you come back, you've got to compete. he didn't want to do that. he'd already been talking to minnesota to try to manipulate that. that's disrespect for his team. goes to new york. do you see the new york jets trying to get him to come back? he played there for a year. they did not try to get him and sign him to come back. neither did the green bay packers. i think that if he wants to play, go play. but don't play games. >> favre turns 40 in october.

not many quarterbacks have lasted into their 40s, and with a good year, favre could beat the numbers that moon, dawson, and jurgensen did in their golden age. >> no t.o. this weekend, the bills' prized acquisition still with a sprained toe. owens will be back on the field next week sometime. owens has missed fine of six practices and a preseason game against chicago. >> three-time defending nascar champion jimmie johnson and his 48 car were at the white house. joining j.j. were other sprint champions. the president said fortunately we got jimmie to agree not to tear up my backyard. >> we know you're excellent, mr. president, at filling out your college basketball brackets. you picked the tar heels to win a national championship. that's excellent. what about winning the chase championship? have you filled that out?

>> i think it's a little early. i think i need a little more information before we make a final decision, but obviously when you've got champions like jimmie johnson, jeff gordon, tony stewart, just a lot of folks who are capable of winning at any given time, so i'm not going to pretend like i can pick it, but maybe when we get right there down to the end, i'll go ahead and take it. >> the nascar sprint cup series is at bristol saturday night, coverage begins at 6:30 eastern on espn, "espnews" will have all the post race coverage. >> the 2009 angels or at least tuesday's version of them will be known as hitters heaven. the entire lineup hit .300

hitters. you have to go back to the 1930 giants and cardinals to find lineups where each player hit .300 or better and had at least 200 at-bats. howie kendrick is not hitting .300, and he's the one that came up with the big hit versus the tribe, grounded one up the middle, kendry morales, mike napoli, weaver recording his second career shutout, the eighth shutout for the halos this season, the l.a.a. improved to 44-16 since june 12th. >> mariners and the a.l. central tigers, justin verlander going for his 14th win, didn't get any offensive support in the fifth, he served it up to ichiro, two-run home run, his eighth, the mariners take it 3-1. ian snell wins for the first time with seattle, only the second time verlander has lost

at home this year. justin verlander leads the american league with 204 strikeouts, he racked up his sixth double digit strikeout game of the season joining lester and lincecum for the most in baseball, and he became the third tigers' pitch for have a 200 strikeout season in the last 35 years, and he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. still to come on "espnews" the n.l. wild card race as the giants chase the rockies, and why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful for what they wi

>> several sources tell espn.com that the word vacate is included in the report. the ncaa accused memphis of several major intracks stemming from the 2007-2008 season including a fraudulent s.a.t. score by a player later revealed to be derrick rose, and $3,000 in free travel for his brother, reggie. they may erase their record, a possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season.

they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact. crayton is better suited at a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but the balance that you need on offense is just not there. will roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. i see them struggling because they don't have that balance on offense, and they're going to miss t.o. >> they will. especially his production. wide receiving corps is notably thinner, roy williams and patrick crayton have any real experience for the cowboys.

for the three things you really need to know about the cowboys log on to espn.com and check three and out on the nfl home page. the redskins are next up on thursday. >> venus and serena williams are buying a share of the mime he dolphins. they join gloria and emilio estvan to own a share of the team. serena taking on slavona. serena goes to the forehand, 6-3. second set, serena goes back to the forehand, and will, we're going to give her some style points on this one. she wins 3-2 on the third round. >> i can barely touch my

kneecaps. it's been a while since burnley beat manchester united. they were about due. steven jordan sending it into the box. robby blake scores on the beautiful volley. burnley up 1-0. one more look, nice cross by jordan. great first touch by blake. 44th minute, michael carric stepping up, and his shot saved by brian jenson. second out, stoppage time, burnley fans watching intently, final whistle blows, burnley wins three points, and pulls off an upset, their first win against man u since 1968. move on the diamond, the n.l. leading rockies, troy tulowitzki coming through, right down the left field line, that brings home two runs, rockies up 2-0, and they win 5-4, jason marquis

becomes the second national league pitcher to 14 wins this season and pulls to within one victory of 2004. colorado's winning streak is tied for its longest winning streak within this month. giants came in a game behind the rockies in the nl wild card, bronson arroyo has a shutout going here in the eighth, nate schierholtz into left, wladimir balentien, no, sir. edgar renteria scores. that was the only run of the game. 16th shutout of the year for the giants, most in the majors, giants on a three-game win streak. so the nl wild card looks like this. the rockies win, the giants win. >> red sox, rangers, and rays all reaching for that a.l. wild card spot.

who lost ground in the race? who lost ground in the race? we'll tell you. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky.

(announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

score later revealed to be derrick rose and the potential penalties include vacating the tigers' final-four run and 38-win season from the record books -- a possibility that seems likely now, according to the sources, dana o'neal of espn.com broke the story and joins us now on espnews. dana, how long has this been cooking between the ncaa and memphis? >> it's been cooking for a while because they sent the first initial letter in january that they were investigating and memphis appeared before the committee on infractions on june 6 and the committee takes about this amount of time, eight weeks to render its findings so this has been going on with memphis folks for eight months. we got wind of it later, in may, but yeah, this has been percolating for quite some time. >> we heard the word "vacate," never a good thing especially when you talk about a college

basketball program, one the caliber of memphis. what kind of penalties might we expect to hear tomorrow from a press conference from the folks at memphis? >> the original thinking was -- from what i'm understanding, at least, it doesn't seem as if there are going to be surprises in this finding that i'm aware of is that they will vacate the 2007-2008 final-four runs, 38 wins, derrick rose going to the final four. from what i'm understanding as of now, all this is sourced, obviously, that the university of memphis current team won't be punished, there won't be loss of scholarships going for them so it's vacating the past season where the infractions occurred. >> the question begs, for john calipari, what ends up happening to him? >> that's going to be the biggest question that i think people are going to debate for a while. it depends on what side of the fence you're sitting on. if you're sitting in kentucky you say it's not a big deal because he has not been formally implicated, the allegations include a fraudulent s.a.t. test

taken by derrick rose which he theoretically was want involved in -- derrick rose, excuse me, reggie rose, on a flight, did not pay back $2,000 in flight fee but took several other trips where they did pay back so memphis's claim is that it was a clerical error. that's what they're going to say on the john calipari side of the fence but the question remains he had two ncaa tournament runs vacated. it also happened at umass. that puts him in a small category of one. you've got to wonder how that's going to stain his reputation, because, fair or not there is that sort of implication that it was on his watch. >> what potentially might be coach calipari's move once he catches wind of this news tonight and tomorrow morning with a memphis presser? >> it will be interesting because actually, he's scheduled to have a television airing of -- they're releasing kentucky's schedule tomorrow and believe it or not it is like a television special in kentucky, and he's

doing that tomorrow so i don't know if he was scheduled to take questions in that, if he will have a press conference or not. his stance as been all along that he has not been implicated so this has nothing to do with him, this has nothing to do with kentucky, he made kentucky aware this was going on, i'm sure that will be what he continues to say. >> espn.com's dana o'neil, thanks for joining us on espnews. >> thank you. >> we take a look at wednesday's notable home runs. mark teixeira, his 31st. ♪ ♪ >> next on espnews.

the top of the a.l. wild card is air-tight. who was able to get a little breathing room. john smoltz has a new home. why that means he may have a new -- brett favre continues to settle in his new digs. espnews starts right now. captioning by captionmax >> welcome to espnewsment helping you stay current with all the latest news, scores and highlights, will selva alongside j.w. stewart. the man with the golden gun -- seven of wednesday's starting pitchers have an e.r.a. below 3.00 this season, j-dub. >> jeremy bonderman is not one of them. neither is dr. no, another one

but doc halladay is. these highlights are for your eyes only. roy halladay going for his 14th win as the red sox fight for the wild card lead, in the fifth jason bay, two-run home run off halladay, game-leading 17 -- bases loaded but clay buchholz gets edwin encarnacion to fly out. encarnacion 0-4, batting .190. takes out his frustration on the bat. buchholz six innings, one earned run, struck out four. red sox win 6-1. clay buchholz is 2-0 against the jays this year, 0-3 against everyone else. david ortiz hit his sixth career home run off halladay, the most he's hit against any pitcher and the most halladay has allowed to any batter. we have to check in on the twins and rangers. rangers tied with boston for the a.l. wild card lead so they could not afford a loss. orlando cabrera lining one to

center in the top of the sixth. tied at 4-94. denard span beats a throw at home. pudge drops it. twins up 5-4. joe mauer came in hitting .383, a 15-game hitting streak he saw come to an end in the top of the ninth, but the twins come away victorious 5-4. texas is one game back of boston now in the a.l. wild card -- kevin millwood 5 2/3 innings, seven hits, five runs, falls to 0-7 in 11 career starts vs. the twins. >> rays began the night three out of the wild card. b.j. upton a double shy of the cycle on tuesday, homers again on wednesday. his ninth of the year. that matches last year's total. the rays take it 3-1. >> a's and yanks. >> jeff niemann has 11 wins. >> a rookie. >> very important, very important.

we've got to get to the wild card standings. >> hey, a's and yankees as promised. bronx bombers leading 3-1. the a's got on the board thanks to jack cust, a solo shot, snapped a 26-game homerless streak, second longest in his career, mark teixeira an r.b.i. groundout in the first and a homer, his ninth three-r.b.i. game this season. coming up for the bronx bombers, the red sox. >> it didn't worky out with the red sox so john smoltz will try

his luck with the redbirds. released by boston, the 42-year-old signed with the n.l. central-leading cardinals wednesday. for now, the future hall of famer will be the cardinals' fifth starter but he could be moved to the bullpen. going back to the national league may be just what smoltzy needs. >> he had some tough numbers. i had a couple of guys that i know in boston, they say his arm's got good life. you start hitting .400 and have an e.r.a. in the 2.00's, he needs work and he's anxious to have dunc take a look at him, he's positive about himself. i think it's good for both of us. he will be in uniform tomorrow, starts sunday. >> john smoltz won nearly 60% of his game with the braves. opponents batted a meager .235 against him.

>> john kruk. >> the signing of john smoltz to the st. louis cardinals to me gives st. louis the advantage going into the division. we know he was a dominant starter, he was a dominant closer in his days in atlanta, it didn't work out in boston. why? one, he wasn't ready to pitch. two, the division he was pitching in, the american league east is the best offensive division on the planet. so to ask john smoltz to be at his advanced age, coming off injury and say "let's go get these guys out" to me was the wrong move for the boston red sox. i think what st. louis is getting is a guy who can be versatile. he can be a fifth starter are, he can also be a setup man for ryan franklin and i think when you see the work he's going to do with dave duncan, best pitching coach in baseball now for the st. louis cardinals i think you're going to see a new and rejuvenated john smoltz back in the familiarity of the national league and be a great pitcher like he was in atlanta. >> checking in on the dodgers and the cardinals.

>> no hits allowed thus far from adam wainwright, one out in the bottom of the sixth -- but orlando hudson, the o-dog coming through with the first hit of the game. either way, the cardinals are still on top 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth. >> cliff lee 3-0 for the n.l. east-leading phillies. going back to his time with cleveland, he's won six straight starts. cliff lee with five k's through five innings, got plenty of offensive support. here in the home half of the fifth, ryan howard off dan haren. three-run home run. his 31st. he had five home runs in his last six games. cliff lee went the distance. a two-hitter. he struck out 11 and the phils take it 8-1. cliff lee is 4-0 since joining the phils with two complete games. mark reynolds with the fourth golden sombrero of his career -- 0-4 with four k's.

we've seen this before -- the indians trade the reigning cy young winner to the national league. remember how dominant cc sabathia was last year? cliff lee has been even better in his short stint with the phillies. >> major news out of college basketball -- several sources tell espn.com that the committee on infractions will release its findings regarding memphis on thursday morning. the word "vacate" is included in the report. in may, the ncaa accused memphis of several major infractions stemming from its 2007-2008 season including a fraudulent s.a.t. score by a player later to be revealed as derrick rose and more than $2,000 of free travel for rose's brother, reggie. potential penalties include vacating the tigers' final four run and 38-win season from the record books -- a possibility that seems likely, now, according to sources. >> will and i just getting warmed up. coming up on espnews. more baseball for you. justin verlander leads the a.l. in strikeouts so he takes

matters into his own hands. why he could have used some help, on wednesday. >> plus, the angels with a baseball oddity. why it took 79 years to see it. also ahead, brett favre getting criticism from an unlikely place. why his most vocal critic is someone associated with the vikings. oh, no, t.o. -- what's keeping him on the sidelines. when he might be back in action. you're watch me again. okay, now this is the last time alright? thanks, you know we don't deliver anything like this. this crispy flatbread. mmmm. mmmmm! introducing the taste that's never been delivered. digiorno crispy flatbread pizza. it's not delivery, it's digiorno.

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billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly. >> wednesday was brett favre's first full day of practice with the vikings. favre said i haven't been the best player, but i would love to think that every player that i've played with would love to have me in the fox hole. almost all of his new teammates

agree. >> whoever they bring in, we know they bring them in for a purpose, and that's to help our team win games. he's a teammate. >> he's a different breed. people like michael jordan and brett favre, they can do little things like that that other people can't do. they've proven themself in this league, and so a little bit more exceptions are made for them than other people. >> it's a lot of respect for a player like that, to be able to be on the same field with him, a guy taking snaps for you. >> this wasn't what i was hoping for, but that's the situation that we're in, so i'm going to stay prepared and keep working and you never know what's going to happen and try to make the most of the situation of where i'm at. >> let's be honest. the guy's been doing this a long time at a very high level. if we're all sitting in miami waiting to go on the field for the super bowl, do you think we really care if he came here in july?

>> fran tarkenton will always be associated with the minnesota vikings, but many people forget the hall-of-famer plays five seasons with the new york giants during the middle of his career. when he came back to minnesota, he led the vikings to three super bowls. they haven't been back since they lost super bowl xi. entered brett favre, who is trying to bring the vikings a super bowl title, and tarkenton is upset. >> disrespected his team. the green bay packers provided him with stability, players, coaches, a great historic organization for 16 years. he tells them i'm retired. they go down to mississippi. and then he plays the game. they go and get their team set with aaron brooks, and then he says like he does now i want to come back. and they decided to say no. they said if you come back, you've got to compete. he didn't want to do that. he'd already been talking to minnesota to try to manipulate

that. that's disrespect for his team. goes to new york. do you see the new york jets trying to get him to come back? he played there for a year. they did not try to get him and sign him to come back. neither did the green bay packers. i think that if he wants to play, go play. but don't play games. >> favre turns 40 in october. not many quarterbacks have lasted into their 40s, and with a good year, favre could beat the numbers that moon, dawson, and jurgensen did in their golden age. >> no t.o. this weekend, the bills' prized acquisition still with a sprained toe. owens will be back on the field next week sometime. owens has missed fine of six practices and a preseason game against chicago. >> three-time defending nascar champion jimmie johnson and his 48 car were at the white house. joining j.j. were other sprint

champions. the president said fortunately we got jimmie to agree not to tear up my backyard. >> we know you're excellent, mr. president, at filling out your college basketball brackets. you picked the tar heels to win a national championship. that's excellent. what about winning the chase championship? have you filled that out? >> i think it's a little early. i think i need a little more information before we make a final decision, but obviously when you've got champions like jimmie johnson, jeff gordon, tony stewart, just a lot of folks who are capable of winning at any given time, so i'm not going to pretend like i can pick it, but maybe when we get right ahead and take it. >> the nascar sprint cup series is at bristol saturday night, coverage begins at 6:30 eastern on espn, "espnews" will have all

the post race coverage. >> the 2009 angels or at least tuesday's version of them will be known as hitters heaven. the entire lineup hit .300 hitters. you have to go back to the 1930 giants and cardinals to find lineups where each player hit .300 or better and had at least 200 at-bats. howie kendrick is not hitting .300, and he's the one that came up with the big hit versus the tribe, grounded one up the middle, kendry morales, mike napoli, weaver recording his second career shutout, the eighth shutout for the halos this season, the l.a.a. improved to 44-16 since june 12th.

>> mariners and the a.l. central tigers, justin verlander going for his 14th win, didn't get any offensive support in the fifth, he served it up to ichiro, two-run home run, his eighth, the mariners take it 3-1. ian snell wins for the first time with seattle, only the second time verlander has lost at home this year. justin verlander leads the american league with 204 strikeouts, he racked up his sixth double digit strikeout game of the season joining lester and lincecum for the most in baseball, and he became the third tigers' pitch for have a 200 strikeout season in the last 35 years, and he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. still to come on "espnews" the n.l. wild card race as the giants chase the rockies, and why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful for what they wish for.

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>> several sources tell espn.com that the word vacate is included in the report. the ncaa accused memphis of several major intracks stemming from the 2007-2008 season including a fraudulent s.a.t. score by a player later revealed to be derrick rose, and $3,000

in free travel for his brother, reggie. they may erase their record, a possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season. they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact. crayton is better suited at a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but the balance that you need on

offense is just not there. will roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. i see them struggling because they don't have that balance on offense, and they're going to miss t.o. >> they will. especially his production. wide receiving corps is notably thinner, roy williams and patrick crayton have any real experience for the cowboys. for the three things you really need to know about the cowboys log on to espn.com and check three and out on the nfl home page. the redskins are next up on thursday. >> venus and serena williams are buying a share of the mime he dolphins. they join gloria and estvan to own a share of the team. serena taking on slavona.

serena goes to the forehand, 6-3. second set, serena goes back to the forehand, and will, we're going to give her some style points on this one. she wins 3-2 on the third round. >> i can barely touch my kneecaps. it's been a while since burnley beat manchester united. they were about due. steven jordan sending it into the box. robby blake scores on the beautiful volley. burnley up 1-0. one more look, nice cross by jordan. great first touch by blake. 44th minute, michael carric stepping up, and his shot saved by brian jenson. second out, stoppage time, burnley fans watching intently, final whistle blows, burnley

wins three points, and pulls off an upset, their first win against man u since 1968. move on the diamond, the n.l. leading rockies, troy tulowitzki coming through, right down the left field line, that brings home two runs, rockies up 2-0, and they win 5-4, jason marquis becomes the second national league pitcher to 14 wins this season and pulls to within one victory of 2004. colorado's winning streak is tied for its longest winning streak within this month. giants came in a game behind the rockies in the nl wild card, bronson arroyo has a shutout going here in the eighth, nate schierholtz into left, wladimir balentien, no, sir. edgar renteria scores. that was the only run of the game. 16th shutout of the year for the

giants, most in the majors, giants on a three-game win streak. so the nl wild card looks like this. the rockies win, the giants win. >> red sox, rangers, and rays all reaching for that a.l. wild card spot. who lost ground in the race? who lost ground in the race? we'll tell you.wassup man. keys. keys. stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. it's toppings on top of toppings with no outer crust to fence them in. go to the edge with either the works, meaty, or pepperoni for just $9.99 for a medium. pizza hut. now you can order america's favorite pizza on your iphone. okay, now this is the last time alright? thanks, you know we don't deliver anything like this. this crispy flatbread. mmmm. mmmmm! introducing the taste that's never been delivered. digiorno crispy flatbread pizza. it's not delivery, it's digiorno.

>> i'm eric karabell talking fantasy football. you might have heard brett favre is a minnesota viking. let's discuss this for fantasy value. if you had doubts about who the number one overall pick is, there are no doubts now, adrian peterson will go up. imagine what peterson can do. i think he runs 2,000 yards. if you were thinking michael turner or m.j.d. number one, forget about it, peterson is number one but the big winner is probably bernard berrian, wide receiver. he already led the nfl in yards per catch at 20 yards per catch, good considering the quarterback he had. i think he's going to do better than that. i remember greg jennings emerged as a big guy in brett favre's final year in green bay. i think berrian could do that and he's not going among the top 20 in wide receivers. he should be.

he's a big sleeper for the middle round. favre, don't think he's not in my top 20. i think he's in the 15-18 range. he's healthy now. i'm eric karabell. check out our free draft kit at espn.com. >> braves and mets. bobby parnell, nine earned runs allowed, most ever by a mets starter at home, the mets 7-11 in august, 15 runs tied for the fourth most for the braves all time vs. the mets. jair jurrjens 4-1 in his career vs. the mets. >> let's look at wednesday's notable home runs.

♪ ♪ >> next on espnews, the top of the a.l. wild card is air tight. who was able to get breathing room wednesday night. john smoltz may have a new home. brett favre continues to settle in his new digs. why he hasn't won over everyone linked to the vikings. espnews is now. ♪

>> we are making television for the next half-hour. helping you stay current with all the latest news, scores and highlights, will selva alongside j.w. stewart. they are the men with the golden guns. seven of wednesday's starting pitchers have an e.r.a. below 3.00 this season. >> jeremy bonderman not among them. >> neither is dr. no. but doc halladay halladay is. these highlights for your eyes only. jason bay hits the living daylights out of that one. >> timothy dalton. >> shaken and stirred. bottom sixth, bases loaded but clay buchholz gets edwin encarnacion to fly out, encarnacion 0-4, batting .190 --

"stupid bat" -- six innings, one earned, four k's, red sox win 6-1, clay buchholz is 2-0 against the jays this year, 0-3 against everyone else, david ortiz hit his sixth career home run off halladay, the most he's hit against any pitcher and the most halladay's allowed to any batter. >> the rangers tied with boston for the a.l. wild card. they couldn't afford a loss. pudge rodriguez 3-4 with an r.b.i. top sixthth, tied at 4-4, orlando cabrera lining one into center. marlon byrd coming up throwing. denard span beats it home as pudge drops it. joe mauer hitting .383. in the top of the ninth he saw his 15-game hitting streak come to an end. the twins end up taking it 5-4. texas is now one game back of boston in the a.l. wild card. kevin millwood 5 2/3 innings pitched, seven hits, five runs. he falls to 0-7 in 11 career

starts vs. the twins. >> rays began the night three out in the wild card, b.j. upton homers again on wednesday. that's his ninth of the year. matching last year's total and the rays take it 3-1. jeff niemann has 11 wins. most among rookies. since losing five in a row, the rays have won four straight >> the rangers opening a three-game series at the trop beginning friday. >> meanwhile in oakland, the a's are creeping up on the yankees. it's 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth. mark ellis an r.b.i. single, jack cust had a solo shot, he snapped a 26-game homer ms streak, second longest of his career, mark teixeira went deep, a two-run home run in the fourth. his ninth three-r.b.i. game this season.

>> it didn't work out with the red sox so john smoltz will try his luck with the redbirds. released by boston, the 42-year-old signed with the n.l.-central-leading cardinals on wednesday. for now the future hall of famer will be the cardinals' fifth starter but he could be moved to the bullpen. going back to the national league may be just what smoltzy needs. >> he had some tough numbers. i had a couple of guys that i know in boston, they say the arm's got good life. after being out, an e.r.a. in the 2.00's, i think he needs some work and i know he's anxious to have dunc take a look at him, he knows a lot about himself, there are a lot of pluses here. i think it's good for both of us. >> he will join us tomorrow? >> be in uniform tomorrow, starts sunday. >> john smoltz won nearly 60% of his games with the braves.

>> john kruk on how this helps the cards in the stretch run. >> the signing of john smoltz with the st. louis cardinals to me gives st. louis the advantage going into the division. we know he was a dominant closer, we know he was a dominant starter in his days in atlanta. it didn't work out in boston. why? one is because he wasn't ready to pitch. two, the division he was pitching in, the american league east is the best offensive division on the planet, so to ask john smoltz to be at his advanced age coming off injury and say "let's get these guys out" to me was the wrong move for the boston red sox. i think what st. louis is getting is a guy who can be very versatile, he can be a fifth starter and he can be a setup man for ryan franklin. the work he's going to do with dave duncan, the best pitching coach in baseball for the st. louis cardinals, i think you're going to see a new and rejuvenated john smoltz back in the familiarity of the national league and a great pitcher like

he was in atlanta. >> adam wainwright was hoping to become the majors' first 15-game winner of the season. right now, he is tied with the dodgers 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh -- andre ethier and casey blake going deep for the cards. yadier molina, r.b.i. double. the dodgers acquired vicente padilla. >> cliff lee 3-0 for the n.l. east-leading phillies, going back to his time in cleveland he's won six straight starts. in the fifth, he gets rusty ryal. lee with five k's through five innings. bottom five, ryan howard off dan haren. three-run home run. his 31st. he's got five home runs in his last six games. cliff lee went the distance. a two-hitter. struck out 11. phillies win it 8-1. cliff lee 4-0 since joining the

phils with two complete games, mark reynolds with the fourth golden sombrero of his career -- 0-4 with four k's. we've seen this before -- the indians trade the reigning cy young winner to the national league. remember how dominant cc sabathia was last year? cliff lee has been even better in his short stint with the phillies. >> we have major news out of college basketball. several sources tell espn.com that the committee on infractions will release its findings regarding memphis on thursday morning. the word "vacate" is included in the report. in may, the ncaa accused memphis of several major infractions stemming from its 2007-2008 season, including a fraudulent s.a.t. score by a player later to be revealed as derrick rose and more than $2,000 in free travel for rose's brother, reggie. espn.com's dana o'neil broke the story and tells us what will happen to memphis. >> the original thinking was, from what i'm understanding, at

least, it doesn't seem as if there are going to be surprises in the finding from what i'm aware of, they will vacate the 2007-2008 final-four run with derrick rose going to the final four. from what i'm understanding as of right now, this is all sourced, obviously, is that the university of memphis current team will not be punished, there won't be any loss of scholarships or anything like that going forward for them so it's basically vacating the past season where the infractions occurred. >> the tigers were 38-2 in 2007-2008, head they reached the title game for the second time in school history before ultimately losing to kansas. this could be the second time in john calipari's career that a final-four team has had to vacate their season. it happened at umass in 1996. >> will and i just getting warmed up. coming up on espnews, more baseball for you -- justin verlander leads the a.l. in strikeouts so he takes matters into his own hands. why he could have used some help

on wednesday. >> also ahead, the angels with a baseball oddity. why it took 79 years to see it. >> plus brett favre is getting criticism from an unlikely place. why his most vocal critic is someone associated with the vikings. oh, no, t.o. this is the year you take the road less traveled. the year you put quality back in quality time. this is the year you stop hoping for opportunity

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>> wednesday was brett favre's first full day of practice with the vikings. favre said i haven't been the best player, but i would love to think that every player that i've played with would love to have me in the fox hole. almost all of his new teammates agree. >> whoever they bring in, we know they bring them in for a

purpose, and that's to help our team win games. he's a teammate. >> he's a different breed. people like michael jordan and brett favre, they can do little things like that that other people can't do. they've proven themself in this league, and so a little bit more exceptions are made for them than other people. >> it's a lot of respect for a player like that, to be able to be on the same field with him, a guy taking snaps for you. >> this wasn't what i was hoping for, but that's the situation that we're in, so i'm going to stay prepared and keep working and you never know what's going to happen and try to make the most of the situation of where i'm at. >> let's be honest. the guy's been doing this a long time at a very high level. if we're all sitting in miami waiting to go on the field for the super bowl, do you think we really care if he came here in july? >> fran tarkenton will always be associated with the minnesota vikings, but many people forget

the hall-of-famer plays five seasons with the new york giants during the middle of his career. when he came back to minnesota, he led the vikings to three super bowls. they haven't been back since they lost super bowl xi. entered brett favre, who is trying to bring the vikings a super bowl title, and tarkenton is upset. >> disrespected his team. the green bay packers provided him with stability, players, coaches, a great historic organization for 16 years. he tells them i'm retired. they go down to mississippi. and then he plays the game. they go and get their team set with aaron brooks, and then he says like he does now i want to come back. and they decided to say no. they said if you come back, you've got to compete. he didn't want to do that. he'd already been talking to minnesota to try to manipulate that. that's disrespect for his team. goes to new york. do you see the new york jets

trying to get him to come back? he played there for a year. they did not try to get him and sign him to come back. neither did the green bay packers. i think that if he wants to play, go play. but don't play games. >> favre turns 40 in october. not many quarterbacks have lasted into their 40s, and with a good year, favre could beat the numbers that moon, dawson, and jurgensen did in their golden age. >> no t.o. this weekend, the bills' prized acquisition still with a sprained toe. owens will be back on the field next week sometime. owens has missed fine of six practices and a preseason game against chicago. >> three-time defending nascar champion jimmie johnson and his 48 car were at the white house. joining j.j. were other sprint champions. the president said fortunately we got jimmie to agree not to

tear up my backyard. >> we know you're excellent, mr. president, at filling out your college basketball brackets. you picked the tar heels to win a national championship. that's excellent. what about winning the chase championship? have you filled that out? >> i think it's a little early. i think i need a little more information before we make a final decision, but obviously when you've got champions like jimmie johnson, jeff gordon, tony stewart, just a lot of folks who are capable of winning at any given time, so i'm not going to pretend like i can pick it, but maybe when we get right ahead and take it. >> the nascar sprint cup series is at bristol saturday night, coverage begins at 6:30 eastern on espn, "espnews" will have all the post race coverage.

>> the 2009 angels or at least tuesday's version of them will be known as hitters heaven. the entire lineup hit .300 hitters. you have to go back to the 1930 giants and cardinals to find lineups where each player hit .300 or better and had at least 200 at-bats. howie kendrick is not hitting .300, and he's the one that came up with the big hit versus the tribe, grounded one up the middle, kendry morales, mike napoli, weaver recording his second career shutout, the eighth shutout for the halos this season, the l.a.a. improved to 44-16 since june 12th. >> mariners and the a.l. central tigers, justin verlander going

for his 14th win, didn't get any offensive support in the fifth, he served it up to ichiro, two-run home run, his eighth, the mariners take it 3-1. ian snell wins for the first time with seattle, only the second time verlander has lost at home this year. justin verlander leads the american league with 204 strikeouts, he racked up his sixth double digit strikeout game of the season joining lester and lincecum for the most in baseball, and he became the third tigers' pitch for have a 200 strikeout season in the last 35 years, and he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. still to come on "espnews" the n.l. wild card race as the giants chase the rockies, and why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful for what they wish for. may erase t

possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season. they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell

owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact. crayton is better suited at a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but the balance that you need on offense is just not there. will roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. i see them struggling because they don't have that balance on offense, and they're going to miss t.o. >> they will. especially his production. wide receiving corps is notably thinner, roy williams and patrick crayton have any real experience for the cowboys. for the three things you really need to know about the cowboys log on to espn.com and check three and out on the nfl home page. the redskins are next up on thursday. >> venus and serena williams are buying a share of the mime he dolphins. they join gloria and

estvan to own a share of the team. serena taking on slavona. serena goes to the forehand, 6-3. second set, serena goes back to the forehand, and will, we're going to give her some style points on this one. she wins 3-2 on the third round. >> i can barely touch my kneecaps. it's been a while since burnley beat manchester united. they were about due. steven jordan sending it into the box. robby blake scores on the beautiful volley. burnley up 1-0. one more look, nice cross by jordan. great first touch by blake.

44th minute, michael carric stepping up, and his shot saved by brian jenson. second out, stoppage time, burnley fans watching intently, final whistle blows, burnley wins three points, and pulls off an upset, their first win against man u since 1968. move on the diamond, the n.l. leading rockies, troy tulowitzki coming through, right down the left field line, that brings home two runs, rockies up 2-0, and they win 5-4, jason marquis becomes the second national league pitcher to 14 wins this season and pulls to within one victory of 2004. colorado's winning streak is tied for its longest winning streak within this month. giants came in a game behind the rockies in the nl wild card,

bronson arroyo has a shutout going here in the eighth, nate schierholtz into left, wladimir balentien, no, sir. edgar renteria scores. that was the only run of the game. 16th shutout of the year for the giants, most in the majors, giants on a three-game win streak. so the nl wild card looks like this. the rockies win, the giants win. >> red sox, rangers, and rays all reaching for that a.l. wild card spot. who lost ground in the race? who lost ground in the race? we'll tell you.wassup man. keys. keys. stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go.

nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly. when your engine's running clean... you feel it. ...and pennzoil motor oil actively cleans out up to 15 percent of sludge the first time you use it. so feel the clean. not just oil, pennzoil. but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go, i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t.

♪ >> i'm eric karabell talking fantasy football. you might have heard brett favre is a minnesota viking. let's discuss this for fantasy value. now, if you had any doubts about who the number one overall pick was, there are no doubts now, adrian peterson is going to go up. imagine what peterson can do. i think he runs 2,000 yardslet. if you were thinking michael turner or m.j.d. number one, forget about it, peterson is

number one. the big winner is probably bernard berrian who already led the nfl in yards per catch last year at 20 yards per catch, good considering the quarterbacks he's had. we're projecting him and i think he's going to do better than that. i remember greg jennings emerged as a big guy in brett favre's final year in green bay. i think berrian could do that and he's not going among the top 20 in wide receivers. he should bement favre, don't think he's not in my top 20. i think he's in the 15-18 range. he's healthy now. i'm eric karabell. check out our free draft kit at espn.com. >> a's and yankees have just gone final -- there is reggie jackson. whatever reggie told mark

teixeira, tex took it to heart. teixeira high, deep and gone. a-rod throws over for the out at first, yankees would get out of the inning without giving up a run. bottom nine, mo rivera's 36th save of the year as the yanks win 3-2. they're 25-8 since the all-star break -- that's the best in the bigs. jack cust did go deep, solo shot, snapped a streak of 23 games without an r.b.i. >> the braves absolutely hammer the mets 15-2. the 15 runs are tied for fourth most for the braves all time vs. the mets -- eight runs on seven hits in the second inning. jair jurrjens 4-1 in his career vs. the mets.

♪ ♪ >> next on espnews. the top of the american league wild card is air tight between the red sox, rangers and rays. who was able to get a little more breathing room on wednesday night. also ahead, pitcher and future hall of famer john smoltz has a new home in st. louis. why that means he may have a new role as well with the cardinals. we'll tell you what it is. and brett favre continues to settle into his new digs. why he hasn't won over everyone linked to the vikings. espnews starts now.

captioning by captionmax >> we are making television for the next half-hour. helping you stay current with all the latest news, scores and highlights, will selva alongside j.w. stewart. they are the men with the golden guns. that's not us. seven of wednesday's starting pitchers have an e.r.a. below 3.00 this season. >> jeremy bonderman not among them. >> neither is dr. no. but doc halladay is. these highlights for your eyes only. roy halladay going for the blue jays against the red sox fighting for the wild card lead. jason bay hits the living daylights out of that one. >> timothy dalton. >> shaken and stirred. bottom sixth, bases loaded but

clay buchholz gets edwin encarnacion to fly out, encarnacion 0-4, batting .190 -- "stupid bat" -- six innings, one earned, four k's, red sox win 6-1, clay buchholz is 2-0 against the jays this year, 0-3 against everyone else, david ortiz hit his sixth career home run off halladay, the most he's hit against any pitcher and the most halladay's allowed to any batter. >> the rangers were tied with boston for the a.l. wild card. they couldn't afford a loss. pudge rodriguez 3-4 with an r.b.i. top sixth, tied at 4-4, orlando cabrera lining one into center. marlon byrd coming up throwing. denard span beats the throw at home as pudge drops it. joe mauer hitting .383. in the top of the ninth he saw his 15-game hitting streak come to an end. the twins end up taking it 5-4. texas is now one game back of boston in the a.l. wild card. kevin millwood 5 2/3 innings pitched, seven hits, five runs.

he falls to 0-7 in 11 career starts vs. the twins. >> rays began the night three out in the wild card, b.j. upton a double shy of the cycle on tuesday. homers again on wednesday. that's his ninth of the year. matching last year's total and the rays take it 3-1. jeff niemann has 11 wins. most among rookies. since losing five in a row, the rays have won four straight. >> the rangers opening a three-game series at the trop beginning friday. >> a's and yankees. before the game mark teixeira chatting it up with reggie jackson and whatever reggie teld him, tex took it to heart. do that voodoo that you do so well, ninth three-r.b.i. game this season, most on the yankees.

phil hughes gets tommy everett to ground to third, a-rod steps on the bag and throws to first for the out. yankees working out of a jam. mariano rivera gets mark ellis to fly out to right and the yankees win 3-2. they're 25-8 since the all-star break. that's best in the bigs. oakland is 2-11 in the last 13 games vs. the bronx bombers. >> it didn't work out with the red sox. so john smoltz will try his luck with the redbirds. released by boston, the 42-year-old signed with the n.l.-central-leading cardinals on wednesday. for now the future hall of famer will be the cardinals' fifth starter but he could be moved to the bullpen. going back to the national league may be just what smoltzy needs. >> he had some tough numbers. i had a couple of guys that i know in boston, they say the arm's got good life. after being out, an e.r.a. in the 2.00's, i think he needs some work and i know he's

anxious to have dunc take a look at him, he knows a lot about himself, there are a lot of pluses here. i think it's good for both of us. >> he will join us tomorrow? >> be in uniform tomorrow, starts sunday. >> john smoltz won nearly 60% of his games with the braves. opponents batted a meager .235 against him. >> john kruk on how this helps the cards in the stretch run. >> the signing of john smoltz with the st. louis cardinals to me gives st. louis the advantage going into the division. we know he was a dominant closer, we know he was a dominant starter in his days in atlanta. it didn't work out in boston. why? one is because he wasn't ready to pitch. two, the division he was pitching in, the american league east, is the best offensive division on the planet, so to ask john smoltz to be at his advanced age coming off injury

and say, "let's get these guys out," to me was the wrong move for the boston red sox. i think what st. louis is getting is a guy who can be very versatile, he can be a fifth starter and he can be a setup man for ryan franklin. the work he's going to do with dave duncan, the best pitching coach in baseball for the st. louis cardinals, i think you're going to see a new and rejuvenated john smoltz back in the familiarity of the national league and a great pitcher like he was in atlanta. >> update from chavez ravine, still tied at 2-2 in the ninth, albert pujols, a machine at the plate at the moment, andre ethier and casey blake both hit solo jacks off adam wainwright. as soon as they're done from chavez ravine, we'll have highlights here. >> cliff lee 3-0 for the n.l. east-leading phillies. going back to his time in cleveland, he's won six straight starts. in the fifth, he gets rusty ryal. lee with five k's through five

innings. bottom five, ryan howard off dan haren. three-run home run. his 31st. he's got five home runs in his last six games. cliff lee went the distance. a two-hitter. struck out 11. phillies win it 8-1. cliff lee 4-0 since joining the phils with two complete games, mark reynolds with the fourth golden sombrero of his career -- 0-4 with four k's. we've seen this before -- the indians trade the reigning cy young winner to the national league. remember how dominant cc sabathia was last year? cliff lee has been even better in his short stint with the phillies. >> we have major news out of college basketball. several sources tell espn.com that the committee on infractions will release its findings regarding memphis on thursday morning. the word "vacate" is included in the report. in may, the ncaa accused memphis of several major infractions stemming from its 2007-2008 season, including a fraudulent s.a.t. score by a player later

to be revealed as derrick rose and more than $2,000 in free travel for rose's brother, reggie. espn.com's dana o'neil broke the story and tells us what will happen to memphis. >> the original thinking was, from what i'm understanding, at least, it doesn't seem as if there are going to be surprises in the finding from what i'm aware of, they will vacate the 2007-2008 final-four run with 38 wins. derrick rose going to the final four. from what i'm understanding as of right now, this is all sourced, obviously, is that the university of memphis current team will not be punished, there won't be any loss of scholarships or anything like that going forward for them so it's basically vacating the past season where the infractions occurred. >> the tigers were 38-2 in 2007-2008, they reached the title game for the second time in school history before

ultimately losing to kansas. this could be the second time in john calipari's career that a final-four team has had to vacate their season. it happened at umass in 1996. >> will and i just getting warmed up. coming up on espnews, more baseball for you -- justin verlander leads the a.l. in strikeouts so he takes matters into his own hands. why he could have used some help on wednesday. >> also ahead, the angels with a baseball oddity. why it took 79 years to see it. >> plus brett favre is getting criticism from an unlikely place. why his most vocal critic is someone associated with the vikings. oh, no, t.o. wassup man. keys. keys.

stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

>> wednesday was brett favre's first full day of practice with the vikings. favre said i haven't been the best player, but i would love to think that every player that i've played with would love to have me in the fox hole. almost all of his new teammates agree. >> whoever they bring in, we know they bring them in for a purpose, and that's to help our team win games. he's a teammate. >> he's a different breed. people like michael jordan and brett favre, they can do little things like that that other people can't do. they've proven themself in this league, and so a little bit more exceptions are made for them than other people. >> it's a lot of respect for a player like that, to be able to be on the same field with him, a guy taking snaps for you. >> this wasn't what i was hoping for, but that's the situation that we're in, so i'm going to stay prepared and keep working

and you never know what's going to happen and try to make the most of the situation of where i'm at. >> let's be honest. the guy's been doing this a long time at a very high level. if we're all sitting in miami waiting to go on the field for the super bowl, do you think we really care if he came here in july? >> fran tarkenton will always be associated with the minnesota vikings, but many people forget the hall-of-famer plays five seasons with the new york giants during the middle of his career. when he came back to minnesota, he led the vikings to three super bowls. they haven't been back since they lost super bowl xi. entered brett favre, who is trying to bring the vikings a super bowl title, and tarkenton is upset. >> disrespected his team. the green bay packers provided him with stability, players, coaches, a great historic organization for 16 years. he tells them i'm retired. they go down to mississippi.

and then he plays the game. they go and get their team set with aaron brooks, and then he says like he does now i want to come back. and they decided to say no. they said if you come back, you've got to compete. he didn't want to do that. he'd already been talking to minnesota to try to manipulate that. that's disrespect for his team. goes to new york. do you see the new york jets trying to get him to come back? he played there for a year. they did not try to get him and sign him to come back. neither did the green bay packers. i think that if he wants to play, go play. but don't play games. >> favre turns 40 in october. not many quarterbacks have lasted into their 40s, and with a good year, favre could beat the numbers that moon, dawson, and jurgensen did in their golden age. >> no t.o. this weekend, the bills' prized acquisition still with a sprained toe. owens will be back on the field

next week sometime. owens has missed fine of six practices and a preseason game against chicago. >> three-time defending nascar champion jimmie johnson and his 48 car were at the white house. joining j.j. were other sprint champions. the president said fortunately we got jimmie to agree not to tear up my backyard. >> we know you're excellent, mr. president, at filling out your college basketball brackets. you picked the tar heels to win a national championship. that's excellent. what about winning the chase championship? have you filled that out? >> i think it's a little early. i think i need a little more information before we make a final decision, but obviously when you've got champions like jimmie johnson, jeff gordon, tony stewart, just a lot of folks who are capable of winning at any given time, so i'm not going to pretend like i can pick

it, but maybe when we get right ahead and take it. >> the nascar sprint cup series is at bristol saturday night, coverage begins at 6:30 eastern on espn, "espnews" will have all the post race coverage. >> the 2009 angels or at least tuesday's version of them will be known as hitters heaven. the entire lineup hit .300 hitters. you have to go back to the 1930 giants and cardinals to find lineups where each player hit .300 or better and had at least 200 at-bats. howie kendrick is not hitting .300, and he's the one that came up with the big hit versus the tribe, grounded one up the

middle, kendry morales, mike napoli, weaver recording his second career shutout, the eighth shutout for the halos this season, the l.a.a. improved to 44-16 since june 12th. >> mariners and the a.l. central tigers, justin verlander going for his 14th win, didn't get any offensive support in the fifth, he served it up to ichiro, two-run home run, his eighth, the mariners take it 3-1. ian snell wins for the first time with seattle, only the second time verlander has lost at home this year. justin verlander leads the american league with 204 strikeouts, he racked up his sixth double digit strikeout game of the season joining lester and lincecum for the most in baseball, and he became the third tigers' pitch for have a 200 strikeout season in the last 35 years, and he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman.

still to come on "espnews" the n.l. wild card race as the giants chase the rockies, and why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful for what they wish for. may erase t

possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season. they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact. crayton is better suited at a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but the balance that you need on offense is just not there. will roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. i see them struggling because they don't have that balance on offense, and they're going to miss t.o.

>> they will. especially his production. wide receiving corps is notably thinner, roy williams and patrick crayton have any real experience for the cowboys. for the three things you really need to know about the cowboys log on to espn.com and check three and out on the nfl home page. the redskins are next up on thursday. >> venus and serena williams are buying a share of the mime he dolphins. they join gloria and estvan to own a share of the team. serena taking on slavona. serena goes to the forehand, 6-3. second set, serena goes back to the forehand, and will, we're

going to give her some style points on this one. she wins 3-2 on the third round. >> i can barely touch my kneecaps. it's been a while since burnley beat manchester united. they were about due. steven jordan sending it into the box. robby blake scores on the beautiful volley. burnley up 1-0. one more look, nice cross by jordan. great first touch by blake. 44th minute, michael carric stepping up, and his shot saved by brian jenson. second out, stoppage time, burnley fans watching intently, final whistle blows, burnley wins three points, and pulls off an upset, their first win against man u since 1968. move on the diamond, the n.l.

leading rockies, troy tulowitzki coming through, right down the left field line, that brings home two runs, rockies up 2-0, and they win 5-4, jason marquis becomes the second national league pitcher to 14 wins this season and pulls to within one victory of 2004. colorado's winning streak is tied for its longest winning streak within this month. giants came in a game behind the rockies in the nl wild card, bronson arroyo has a shutout going here in the eighth, nate schierholtz into left, wladimir balentien, no, sir. edgar renteria scores. that was the only run of the game. 16th shutout of the year for the giants, most in the majors, giants on a three-game win streak. so the nl wild card looks like this. the rockies win,

>> still to come on espnews, red sox, rangers and rays all reaching for that a.l. wild card spot. who lost ground in the race on wednesday night. plus, allegations threaten to rock the memphis basketball program. what punishment the ncaa has in mind. when your engine's running clean... you feel it. ...and pennzoil motor oil actively cleans out up to 15 percent of sludge the first time you use it. so feel the clean. not just oil, pennzoil.

stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

♪ >> i'm eric karabell talking fantasy football. >> i'm eric karabell talking fantasy football. you might have heard brett favre's a minnesota vikings. let's discuss this for fantasy value. if you had any doubts about who the number one overall pick was, there are no doubts now, adrian peterson is going to go up. imagine what peterson can do. i think he makes a run of 2,000 yards. if you were thinking michael turner or m.j.d. number one, forget about it, adrian peterson is number one but the real winner is bernard berrian, wide receiver. he led the nfl last year in yards per catch at 20, that's good considering the quarterbacks he's had. we're projecting him at well over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns and i think he's going to do even better than that -- remember -- i remember a few years ago greg jennings emerged in brett favre's final year at green bay, i think bernard berrian could do that and he's not going top 20 receivers. he should be.

he's a big sleeper for the middle round. brett favre is in the 15-18 range. last year his best happened when his arm got hurt. he's healthy now. i'm eric karabell. check out our free draft kit at espn.com. >> braves and mets. braves 55-13 when scoring four or more runs this season. top two, braves, yunel escobar, broken bat drops into center. that will load the bases. later in the second, braves up 2-0, man on second and third, omar infante grounds one to short. escobar scores. 3-0 braves. escobar in the dugout checking out his shattered bat. "i miss you, i love you." braves up 5-0, brian mccann clearing the fence. three-run shot off bobby

parnell. braves score eight runs in the second inning and that's it -- braves end up winning 15-2. >> next on espnews. the top of the american league wild card is air tight between the red sox, rangers and rays. who was able to get a little more breathing room on wednesday night. also ahead, pitcher and future hall of famer john smoltz has a new home in st. louis. why that means he may have a new role as well with the cardinals. we'll tell you what it is. and brett favre continues to settle into his new digs. why he hasn't won over everyone linked to the vikings. espnews starts now. ♪ ♪

>> ah, yes, we are making television this half-hour. helping you stay current with all the latest news, scores and highlights, will selva alongside j.w. stewart. they're the men with the golden guns. that wouldn't be us. seven of wednesday's starting pitchers have an e.r.a. below 3.00 this season. >> jeremy bond-erman not one of them. >> nice work out of you. neither is dr. no. >> well played. but doc halladay is. these highlights are for your eyes only. roy halladay going for his 14th win as the red sox going for the wild card lead, jason bay hits the living daylights out of that one. >> timothy dalton. >> shaken and stirred. bottom sixth, bases loaded, clay buchholz gets edwin encarnacion

to fly out, encarnacion 0-4, batting .190 -- "stupid bat" -- buchholz six innings, one earned, four k's, red sox win 6-1, clay buchholz is 2-0 against the jays this year, 0-3 against everyone else. david ortiz hit his sixth career home run off halladay, most he's hit off any pitcher and the most halladay's allowed to any batter. >> the rangers were tied with boston for the a.l. wild card, so they couldn't afford a loss. pudge rodriguez went 3-4 with an r.b.i. top sixth tied at 4-4. orlando cabrera lining one into center. marlon byrd comes up throwing, denard span beats the throw at home as pudge drops it. entering this game, joe mauer was hitting .383, the top of the ninth he saw his 15-game hitting streak come to an end. the twins end up taking it 5-4. texas is now one game back of boston in the a.l. wild card.

kevin millwood 5 2/3 innings pitched, seven hits, five runs, he falls to 0-7 in 11 career starts vs. the twins. rays began the night three out in the wild card, b.j. upton a double shy of the cycle on tuesday, homers again on wednesday. that's his ninth of the year. matching last year's total and the rays take it 3-1. jeff niemann has 11 wins, most among rookies. since losing five in a row, the rays have won four straight. wild card standings look like this. boston leads texas by one game. by the way, the rangers open a three-game series at the trop beginning friday. >> a's and yankees. before the game, mark teixeira chatting it up with reggie jackson. whatever reggie told him, tex certainly took it to heart -- top four, yankees up 1-0, do the voodoo that you do so well, ninth three-r.b.i. game this season for teixeira, most on the yankees. bottom eighth, two men on,

oakland down one. phil hughes gets tommy everett to ground to a-rod who steps on third then throws over to first for the out, yankees work out of a jam. bottom nine, mo rivera time, gets mark ellis to fly out. rivera's 36th save of the year. yankees win 3-2. they're 25-8 since the all-star break. that is best in major league baseball. meanwhile, oakland is now 2-11 in their last 13 games vs. the bronx bombers. >> it didn't work out with the red sox. so john smoltz will try his luck with the redbirds. released by boston, the 42-year-old signed with the n.l. central-leading cardinals on wednesday. for now, the future hall of famer will be the cardinals' fifth starter but he could be moved to the bullpen. going back to the national league may be just what smoltzy needs. >> he had some tough numbers. i had a couple guys that i know in boston, they said the arm's got good life. you don't just walk back in after being out and have an e.r.a. in the 2.00's, i think he

needs some work and i know he's anxious to have dunc take a look at him, he knows a lot about himself and there are a lot of pluses here so i think it's just good for both of us. >> he will join us tomorrow? >> be in uniform tomorrow, starts sunday. >> smoltz won nearly 60% of his games with the braves and opponents batted a meager .235 against him. in eight starts with the red sox he had an e.r.a. above 8.00. john kruk on how this helps the cards in the stretch run. >> the signing of john smoltz with the st. louis cardinals to me gives st. louis the advantage going into the division. we know he was a dominant closer, we know he was a dominant starter in his days in atlanta, it didn't work out in boston, and why? one is because he wasn't ready to pitch. two, the division he was pitching in, the american league east, is the best offensive division on the planet. to ask john smoltz to be at his advanced age coming off injury

and say, "let's go get these guys out," to me was the wrong move for the red sox. i think wast. louis is getting is a guy who can be very versatile, he can be a fifth starter, he can also be a setup man for ryan franklin and i think when you see the work he's going to do with dave duncan, the best pitching coach in baseball now with the st. louis cardinals, i think you're going to a new and rejuvenated john smoltz back in the familiarity of the national league and be a great pitcher like he was in atlanta. >> cardinals and dodgers over in chavez ravine, james loney grounds out to left and that is it -- -- -- flies out to left. >> cliff lee 3-0 for the n.l. east-leading phillies, going back to his time in cleveland he's won six straight starts. in the fifth, he gets rusty

ryal. lee with five k's through five innings. bottom five. ryan howard off dan haren. three-run home run. his 31st. he's got five home runs in his last six games. cliff lee went the distance, two-hitter, struck out 11, phillies win 8-1, cliff lee 4-0 since joining the phils with two complete games, mark reynolds with the fourth golden sombrerro of his career, 0 -- golden sombrero of his career, 0-4 with four k's. we've seen this before. >> we have major news out of college basketball. several sources tell espn.com that the committee on infractions will release its findings regarding memphis thursday morning. the word "vacate" is included in the report. in may the ncaa accused memphis

of several major infractions stemming from its 2007-2008 season including a fraudulent s.a.t. score by a player later to be revealed as derrick rose and more than $2,000 of free travel for rose's brother, reggie. espn.com's dana o'neil broke the story and tells us what will happen to memphis. >> the original thinking was, from what i'm understanding, at least, it doesn't seem like there will be surprises in this finding from what i'm aware of they'll vacate the 2007-2008 final-four run, 38 wins that involved derrick rose going to the final four, from what i'm understanding as of right now, this is all sourced, obviously, is that the university of memphis current team will not be punished, there won't be any loss of scholarships or anything like that going forward for them so it's basically vacating the season where the infractions occurred. >> the tigers were 38-2 in 2007-2008.

>> will and i just getting warmed up. coming up on espnews, more baseball for you. justin verlander leads the a.l. in strikeouts so he takes matters into his own hands. why he could have used some help, on wednesday. also ahead, the angels with a baseball oddity. why it took 79 years to see it. plus, brett favre is getting criticism from an unlikely place. why his most vocal critic is someone associated with the vikings. oh no, t.o., what's keeping him on the sidelines and when he might be back in action. wassup. keys. keys. stacy, keys. girl. um. billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go.

nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

>> wednesday was brett favre's first full day of practice with the vikings. favre, who will start friday's game against the chiefs, said, "i haven't been the best player, but i would love to think that every player i played with would love to have me in the foxhole." almost all of his new teammates agree. >> that's not my job, but whoever they bring in, we know they bring in for a purpose, to help our team win games. he's a teammate and i welcome him with open arms. >> he's a different breed, michael jordan and brett favre can do little things that other people can't do. they've proven themselves in this league. a little bit more exceptions are made for them than other people. >> there is a lot of respect for a player like that, to be on the

same field with him, taking snaps for you and possibly having the opportunity to catch the ball, a lot of respect. >> this wasn't what i was hoping for but that's the situation that we're in, so i'm going to stay ready, stay prepared and keep working and you never know what's going to happen and try to make the most of the situation of where i'm at. >> let's be honest. the guy's been doing this a long time at a very high level. if we're all sitting in miami waiting to go to the super bowl, does anybody care he came here in july? >> fran tarkenton will always be associated with the minnesota vikings but many people forget the hall of famer played five seasons with the new york giants during the middle of his career. when tarkenton came back to minnesota, he led the vikings to three super bowls. they haven't been back since they lost super bowl xi. enter brett favre, who is trying to do what tarkenton could not -- bring the vikings a super bowl title and tarkenton is upset with how it all went down.

>> disrespected his team. the green bay packers provided him with stability, players, coaches, a great, historic organization for 16 years. he tells them, "i'm retired." they go down to mississippi, he says "i'm retired." they get their team set with aaron brooks. at the last-minute he says, like he does now, "i want to come back." you know what they decided to do? they said no. they said, "if you come back you've got to compete." he didn't want to do that. he had already been talking to minnesota to try to manipulate that. that's disrespect for his team. goes to new york. do you see the new york jets try to get him to come back? played there for a year. they did not tried to sign him to come back. neither did the green bay packers. i think that if he wants to play, go play, but don't play games. >> favre turns 40 in october. not many quarterbacks have lasted into their 40's. with a good year, favre could beat the numbers of warren moon,

len dawson and sonny jurgenson did in their golden age. >> no t.o. this weekend -- the bills prize acquisition with an injured toe injured in the hall of fame game. dick jauron says owens will be back on the field next week. he's missed five of six practices and a preseason game. >> nascar champion jimmie johnson and his number 48 car were at the white house. joining j.j. were other sprint cup drivers and past champions. president obama said "fortunately we got jimmy to agree not to do any burnouts and tear up our backyard." obama joined our "nascar now" crew. >> you're excellent, mr. president, at filling out your college basketball bracket. you picked the tar heels to win the championship. >> i did, i'm sorry. >> what about the chase championship? did you fill out that bracket? >> first of all, it's a little early. we've got to see more information before we make a

final determination but when you have champions like jimmie johnson, jeff gordon, tony stewart, just a lot of folks who are capable of winning at any given time, so i'm not going to pretend like i can pick it but maybe, you know, when we get right there down to the end, i'll go ahead and take the plunge. >> the nascar sprint cup series is at bristol saturday night. >> the term murderers' row became eternally associated with the core of the 1927 yankees hitting lineup that included babe ruth and lou gehrig. the 2009 angels, or at least tuesday's version of them will be known as hitters' heaven. the entire lineup has .300 hitters. you have to go back to 1930 and the new york giants and the st.

louis cardinals to find such a lineup. howie kendrick was one of two angels in the lineup wednesday night that was not hitting .300 and he's the one that came up with the big hit vs. the trine. top five. no score. grounding one up the middle. kendry morales, mike napoli scores, napoli batting .298, slacker, jered weaver recording his second career shutout, the eighth shutout for the halos this season -- the l.a.-a improve to 24-16 since june 12th. >> mariners and the a.l. central-leading tigers. justin verlander going for his 14th win. didn't get any offensive support. in the fifth, he served it up to ichiro -- two-run home run. his eighth. the mariners take it 3-1. ian snell wins for the first time with seattle. only the second time verlander has lost at home this year. justin verlander leads the american league with 204 strikeouts. he racked up his sixth

double-digit strikeout game of the season. he became the third tigers pitcher to have a 200-strikeout season in the last 35 years. he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. still to come on espnews, the n.l. wild card race. as the giants chase the rockies, why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and marcellus wiley tells us why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful what they wish for.

possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season. they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact. crayton is better suited at a number three position, and you have a strong running game, but

the balance that you need on offense is just not there. will roy williams step up and become the next terrell owens for this team? i don't see that happening. i see them struggling because they don't have that balance on offense, and they're going to miss t.o. >> they will. especially his production. wide receiving corps is notably thinner, roy williams and patrick crayton have any real experience for the cowboys. for the three things you really need to know about the cowboys log on to espn.com and check three and out on the nfl home page. the redskins are next up on thursday. >> venus and serena williams are buying a share of the mime he dolphins. they join gloria and estvan to own a share of the team.

serena taking on slavona. serena goes to the forehand, 6-3. second set, serena goes back to the forehand, and will, we're going to give her some style points on this one. she wins 3-2 on the third round. >> i can barely touch my kneecaps. it's been a while since burnley beat manchester united. they were about due. steven jordan sending it into the box. robby blake scores on the beautiful volley. burnley up 1-0. one more look, nice cross by jordan. great first touch by blake. 44th minute, michael carric stepping up, and his shot saved by brian jenson. second out, stoppage time, burnley fans watching intently, final whistle blows, burnley

wins three points, and pulls off an upset, their first win against man u since 1968. move on the diamond, the n.l. leading rockies, troy tulowitzki coming through, right down the left field line, that brings home two runs, rockies up 2-0, and they win 5-4, jason marquis becomes the second national league pitcher to 14 wins this season and pulls to within one victory of 2004. colorado's winning streak is tied for its longest winning streak within this month. giants came in a game behind the rockies in the nl wild card, bronson arroyo has a shutout going here in the eighth, nate schierholtz into left, wladimir balentien, no, sir. edgar renteria scores. that was the only run of the game. 16th shutout of the year for the

giants, most in the majors, giants on a three-game win streak. so the nl wild card looks like this. the rockies win, >> still to come on espnews, red sox, rangers and rays all reaching for that a.l. wild card spot. who lost ground in the race on wednesday night. plus, allegations threaten to rock the memphis basketball program. what punishment the ncaa has in mind. when your engine's running clean... you feel it. ...and pennzoil motor oil actively cleans out up to 15 percent of sludge the first time you use it. so feel the clean. not just oil, pennzoil. stacy, keys. girl. um.

billy. hi, boy. saddle. hermes wassup, little buddy, wing-tipped sandals. let's go. nobody flying tonight. hold it there big guy. yeah the warp drive hand it over your culture is primitive, yet so funky. (announcer) there are captains in every crew. calling all captains drink responsibly.

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>> i'm eric karabell talking fantasy football. you might have heard, brett favre's a minnesota viking. let's discuss this for fantasy value. if you had any doubts about who the number one overall pick was, there are no doubts now, adrian peterson is going to go up. i think he makes a run of 2,000 yard if you were thinking of michael turner or m.j.d. number one, forget about it, adrian peterson is number one, the big leader is bernard berrian, he led the nfl in yards per catch at 20 yards per catch, good considering the quarterbacks he's had, we're projecting him at well over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns and i think he's going to do better than

that, i remember a few years ago greg jennings emerged as a big guy in brett favre's final year at green bay, i think bernard berrian could do that and he's not going in the top 20 in wide receivers now. he should be. he's a big sleeper for the middle round. favre, by the way, don't think he's not in my top 20, i think he's in the 15-18 range, last year his mess happened when his arm got hurt. he's healthy now. i'm eric karabell. check out our free draft kit at espn.com. >> next on espnews. the top of the american league wild card is air t