berken would big up the victory. he is now on our wired wednesday. jason is going to join us live from the dug-out as back to work goes tillman and the pitch will be taken outside. first of all, jason, congratulations on a real gutty effort in the ballgame last night. what do you think about when, you know, you're 4-0 in the first and by the third it is 5- 0. what do you do to keep yourself focused the way you want to be in the game? >> our offense is capable of scoring a lot of runs and something we have done all year. i was just trying to stay focused and keep us where we're at. i just knew our offense would come around and give us a chance to win the game. >> jim: i was talking to matt wieters and he said after the third inning it was like a different pitcher was out there. can you kind of share what the feeling was when you really got into the great rhythm? >> i think around the third inning i started throwing my changeup a little more and i started feeling myself really getting good extension on my

pitches. once i started feeling myself i was able to get command of my fastball, get my slider and breaking ball down in the zone. for the first couple of innings i was up in the zone quite a bit. >> gary: melvin mora, a nice play by mora giving wigginton an opportunity getting it over there and pat buehrle is retired. >> jim: jason, you had a terrific year at double-a last year. can you share with them at home what the big difference is between pitching at double-a ball, even though you had a brief stay at triple-a this year, and coming to the big league ? >> i think the biggest thing for me, for me, the biggest thing was basketball able to locate my fastball. when i fist came up, i think i was pitching as much and it is hard to put guys away. you to make wetter pitches when you're we behind the count. everybody here is hit the fastball. it is just a matter of locating

it. >> gary: lots of talk up here about off-season conditioning and getting ready for a new season and the things that need to be done. what do you look to do in the off season in that regard? >> i think the biggest thing for me is just obviously take my time off after the year. it will be the first time i have pitched september, so i'll probably pitch more in the mornings -- more than i have in the past. the thing is to get rest and once my time comes around again, i'll try to get in the best shape possible. i'm sure i'll lift weights and just more is get myself a mental break. being up here is a physical challenge and i think even more so it is a mental challenge. it is important for me to get some rest and conditioning and get ready for next year. >> jim: it seems like the future of the orioles obviously is young pitching. it seems like you guys, and i saw you, you know, david hernandez had been struggling. hey, i have kind of turned it around. it seems like you guys get together and really get along well, even though there is obviously a competition among

you. >> yeah. we're -- we were all together in double-a last year and our staff was good. i think all of us had 10 wins. for us it is just a matter of a friendly competition, but we always have each other's backs. we're all going through this together. we look for each other in times and i think for all of us being together last year, it has definitely helped us a lot this year. >> gary: the 3-2 delivery and aybar fights it off. how much does matt wieters figure into what you and the rest of the young pitchers are doing? >> matt has done an unbelievable job. i'm sure you have pointed out before, he has a lot on the table as far as coming up and hitting and having to plank a young pitching staff and he has done an outstanding job. he has helped us through. he has -- is part of my success and i'm sure the other guys will say the same thing. >> how do you like that bit of defense?

>> that is a pretty good play there. that is nice. >> jim: do you have any inkling, when you don't go to spring training, i don't want to discuss how that felt, that you were going to be in the big leagues this year? >> the biggest thing for me is i was trying to stay positive. it is not necessarily where you start. it is where you finish. i knew that when i was in double-a or triple-a, that i just had to go out and pitch well and thins would take care of itself. obviously you want to get invited and i didn't get a chance. i didn't take it personally. i just knew i had to keep working hard and at some point if i keep pitching well and, you know, lieu the ball well, i'd get my chance. >> you have taken advantage of it. jason, we deeply appreciate it. we look forward to seeing you out here and thank you for joining us. >> thank you. i appreciate it. thank you. >> jason berken, a 25-year-old who got the victory last flight in the ballgame.

one ball and one strike delivery, and that was a fine play by wigginton on aybar to deny him a base hit and to get the second out. >> jim: i was talking to him before the game and it seems like you're more comfortable. he said well, i'm really more comfortable at second. i then realized when i started playing third how close it was to the plate. i think he might have felt that that ball there was close to home plate because it was hit so lard. >> gary: and i think he's right. i said how many games for a bench player do you think you have to play a week to stay as though you're playing every day? he side it ask not that. it is the mental part of that. he said if you're not playing every day, there is nothing you can do but try to keep yourself mentally prepared. that for me has been the hardest part of this season, stay mentally prepared to work in the field and at the plate. at the same time get your body loose. so when i finally get two or three games together con secondtively, i feel like my body is loosened up and i'm ready to play defense. i was talking to him the other night at third.

i thought he made a couple of outstanding plays and i said he was playing like he is 23 again. he said that is my body's muts les trying to finally relax and giving me a chance to do what i can do. when you're only playing once a week, you never get to that point. 3-2 delivery on the way. that's going to be fouled off. wieters took that one. >> jim: a lot of people have said because of the rigors of catching and because of wieters' bat that you think he will play another position just because his bat is going to be that good. >> gary: that one is grounded to short. izturis. a 1-2-3 inning for tillman. he has retired the side in order four out of the five

innings. 

 >> at&t's the nation's fast 3 g. network. your world delivered. having a great time entertaining the fans tonight and during the game. >> jim: i'm trying to get a look at the name underneath. >> gary: the fans who either had season tickets at the affiliates or came in with any kind of a low gee of the affiliates, think got $5 off the regularly priced ticket. there you go right there.

a 2-0 lead. 2-2-0 and 0-1-1 for the rays. one unearned run to the o's. here is ty wigginton. wigginton, fiorentino and pie. wigginton flied out to left his first time up. 0-1 delivery. >> jim: good movement there. again, a lot of home runs. 18 in just about 90 innings coming in, but, again, only adam jones hitting home runs. there is a good curve ball. so the formula doesn't change from night to night. if you can get ahead, and then you can use your curve ball to pitch underneath the strike zone. he does a great job of it there. >> gary: good off speed delivery and wigginton is the second strikeout victim that sonnanstine has had in the game. he gave up five runs, eight hits in fur and 2/3 in his

first start against the o's. seven rubs on nine hits in just two innings in his second time. part of the problem that raised the e.r.a. to the point where they had to send him down. he had the highest e.r.a. in the league at the time. they sent him to the minors. that one is going to be chopped foul. it just missed going over the bag, fiorentino. >> jim: his last appearance was actually in the bullpen. he had never done that before up in new york in the rain game that was eventually called. >> gary: he hasn't started since labor day. he lost it 11-1, and in that game he got hit hard by the yankees, two and 2/3 innings. he gave up eight runs on six hits. jeff fiorentino will take it down low. i was asking him about the bat. we talked about it with that big handle and knob on it at

the end. i said do you have a model of anyone's? in fact, he does. he said montanez was hot last year and i said if the bat works for him, i'm going to use its. so that is the bat model he uses, and he really likes the bottom part that keeps his hand tight on the lower part of the bat. 2-2 delivery. that one will be popped up. left side. longoria, and he's got it. and there are two down. join orioles reach and the oriol advocate force cardboard to leather collection saturday before the red sox game. volunteers will be at each entrance to accept donations u, new and gently used baseball and softball equipment. cash donations also accepted. there will also be a silent auction inside gate d. and for those who donate, you'll receive a melvin mora autograph player card. you request go to orioles reach.com for more info that is coming up saturday.

but if you have some usable baseball or softball equipment, please bring it to the ballpark for those who need it. two down. pie. the first ball hitting. felix pie has flied out a couple of times. oh-fer two in this game and 1-7 in the series. pie has really done a number increasing the average with the playing time in center field. pie, one home run here this month. 0-1 delivery to him. the chopper. sonnanstine and that is his benefit because iwamura got to play it and it is a 1-2-3 inning. the orioles remain on top, a 2- 0 lead. wieters and scott, the rbi's. the new mcdonald's bacon and cheese angus third pounder.

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they canning in with news notes around the major league. to make his debut saturday for the white and reliever and jorge has been sus membered three games and fined for last and jesse carlson has been suspended three games gary? at it that ball hit to right field. back. run, gregg zaun! second hit of the ballgame

for tampa bay, and he cuts the orioles' lead in half. it is 2-1. jim: seventh home run as you the screen. as a ray. again, good fastball hitter the bat when the orioles traded him. in the middle of the plate. seen the result of that bats started. gary: and a 2-1 billion game. jim: that ball seemed to carry. gary: yeah, it did. jim: not that he didn't hit well but because he did, but the wind didn't knock it down. jim: that is a big one right his first up. that to field.

fiorentino. is retired. away here in the sixth ballgame so far. 2-2-0 for the orioles and 1- for the rays. for the o's and one by the rays. bartlett liting in the lead-off spot. has popped out and flied out have a year against the orioles of home and four rbi's. an atom ball. nick markakis. jim: part of the process is to trust your stuff and tillman it tonight is not -- hay has deep counts, of the time he is and hit the fastball. there, okay. he hits well, but you do have seven praying behind you and there to make the out. you go, outside corner. crawford has singled and flied in two at-bats he has had

this ballgame. crawford, two down, nobody on. it goes to 1-1. clip here. away a one ball, two-strike count. jim: a pretty refreshing a sense. is not hot and humid. to pitch. really of the ball. certainly hasn't affected the result. gary: the last outing for strikeouts against yankees. and he has just let the defense do the has thrown just 78 that will be a base hit for crawford. crawford is 2-3. and the down here in the sixth

inning. jim: as i mentioned, when the game progresses and he that crawford didn't miss and the ability to steal a base, i imagine with longoria up, this would with one situations. gary: longoria, there he goes and wieters again and he him! matt wieters is putting on a show behind the plate in this game! has made two perfect throws time tonight! throw was even better than the first one. is right there into the runner. 2-1, the o's lead! than usual, it's no problem.

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 >> gary: the freeze cam bro to you by frost brewed coors light. >> jim: there you go right there. slap the tag on him. brian roberts. and then the breaking ball this time. even a better throw, and really not much choice other than just to put the glove dunn and he slides into it. a perfect throw by matt wieters. >> gary: crawford had been caught only 12 times coming into the ballgame and wieters caught him twice and that one left longoria standing at the plate with the bat in hand. and you want that. >> jim: do you ever.

>> gary: 0-1 delivery on the way and it is taken for a strike. izturis is batting second. hay has -- he has walked and struck out in the ballgame. the orioles with the 2-1 lead. the bottom half of the sixth inning. the 0-2. sonnanstine's off- speed breaking ball is going to miss out. >> jim: mike di miro, who is the son of lou, has done a very good job tonight. a very consistent strike zone. >> gary: he is handcuffed and he gets it. sonnanstine getout. he has had an adventure at first base. on saturday, october 3, celebrate october fest at oriole park. the first 10,000 fans 21 and over at that night's o's-blue jays game will receive an orioles tanker presented by guinesse. all week long is fan appreciation weekend. so gather up the friends and make it a night, oriole park 2009. the tickets start at just $9.

888-868-birds or orioles.com. that is october 3. >> jim: every ground ball is adventureland down at first base tonight. >> gary: aybar has been all over the place. >> jim: it doesn't look like he has his footwork down. he doesn't play a lot at first. last year he played at of third. he was playing third before longoria came up and then played a lot of third when evan had the wrist problem later in the year. >> gary: he committed the error on the brian roberts ground ball in the fourth inning that resulted in the unearned run. brian reached on the error and would come around to score with two down with luke scott delivering the double. we said brian continues up among the leaders as far as runs are concerned. chone figgins, 106. damon, 102. and brian also with 102 having added one tonight. one ball, two strike delivery to him and that's going to be taken away. sonnanstine certainly does not

look like a 7.15 e.r.a. pitcher tonight. >> jim: and even higher than that on the road. 1-8 with an e.r.a. close to nine run as game. >> gary: 2-2 delivery to roberts will be taken up high. sonnanstine with what walk and two strikeouts in the game. >> jim: gary, if you can't figure it out with gregg zaun behind the plate, this guy has been around long enough to steer you through and at least get the right fingers down as you ultimately make the decision what you're going to throw. he is going to have a good game plan. >> gary: 3-2 delivery on the way and he walked him. second walk of the ballgame. brian roberts gets it. and that will give nick markakis a chance in that clean- up spot. .300 on the but top with the oh- fer two he's had here. he has hit well against sonnanstine. he has had five hits in 16 at- bats against the tampa bay

starter. on at first base. roberts. one down. that one sends on out as sonnanstine has lost that release point. so they'll try to break that rhythm and get him back on another track here. he'll try to secure himself at least for the look in the rotation next year. the pitching coach is on the phone to the bullpen sensing that sonnanstine's deliveries right now may be running out of gas. keep in mind that he hasn't had a -- he's only had one major league start since coming back from triple-a where he spent nine starts over two months. as jim nexted, he came on in relief in his last appearance and then the only start since his return was labor day. >> jim: unnick markakis-like, the last time up, he was going

to get up and get loose and nick swung at a pitcher's pitch early in the count with brian at first, and there is another. that is a pretty good curve ball to be chasing in a hitter's count. you know he wants to get to 200 hits. not that it is a bad swing, you just -- he is just way out in important of it. >> gary: he showed us a good curve ball a couple of times that has been his changeup pitch. two ball, one strike count. roberts not a big lead at first. markakis will then have to take the fastball and the count is 2- 2. >> jim: he is very much like brad bergesen, the young pitch here came up for the orioles. he is very difficult to run on him because he is so quick to the plate. a lot of times you'll slide step. so, again, you -- and you want to be 1.3 seconds or less to give the catcher a good time to throw somebody out. >> gary: and he takes the count

3-2. >> jim: of course the key to doing all of those things is holding the runner, slide stepping, is to still make good pitches to one of the better young hitters at the plate and that is markakis or whoever is up there. >> gary: 3-2 and the advantage roberts. we'll see. he does. 3-2 delivery is in the air to center field. upton started back. he'll have plenty of time to regroup. markakis retired for the second out. roberts goes back to first base. that will bring up melvin mora. melvin hitting .290 with runners in scoring position. he has scored one of the runs on the wieters' sack fly. roberts scored the other and a double by luke scott. melvin mora gets his second rbi opportunity of the game as he came up with roberts on in the fourth inning and popped out. now he's got roberts on in the sixth inning. two down. >> jim: boy, they play melvin

mora to pull in the outfield. i have never seen any team play -- i mean, there is your left- fielder. normally your left fielder plays over here against him. he must know something that i have never seen. is he going to hang a slider? >> gary: you don't see him pull the ball to the left corner. >> jim: if he does, hit over to the shortstop. >> gary: and pitch away. and it is a strike called h.- called. >> jim: you would think if crawford is going to play that far over upton would move with him, but he is maybe a step and a half. >> gary: brian will be running on two with contact here. sonnanstine's 0-1 delivery that one is going to be a base hit into left field. crawford will come get it. mora is on with a single, his second hit, 2-3 in the ballgame and the orioles with two down.

they have runners at first and second base. this. >> jim: this is what you're looking at. the shortstop six. five and a half is where tony ginn made his living. >> gary: and that's going to be it for sonnanstine. >> jim: he tends to get relieved giving up three hits. >> gary: not so much of the numbers he's put up here but because he has not pitched that much at the major league level in the last three months and maddon will come get him. sonnanstine is coming out. the orioles have the 2-1 lead trying to add to it here in the sixth. there! you found a point of entry! the bacon beckons like a springboard to paradise. one small bite for man... etcetera, etcetera.

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 >> gary: andy sonnanstine. there are the numbers in five and 2/3. he is responsible for the two base runners. two walks, 77 pitches. he is just trying to get himself back in major league shape for the -- with the start he had tonight and grant bell for out of the bullpen. >> jim: last year one of the special, special years. he struck out over 12 batters, the lowest e.r.a. around. i mean, he struck out last year over 36% of the batters he faced. this year, jorge posada, pinch hit, hit a three-run home run. a power pitcher. he normally will throw anywhere

from 92 to 95. he has a big breaking ball. three blown saves the last 17 games which kind of talks about what's gone on with the rays' bullpen ever since august 7. >> gary: he will face luke scott. sonnanstine will watch. he could be the loser. he can't win in this ballgame. scott, an rbi double and the d.h. two down and he pops it up. longoria. and the wind blowing it around. he stays with it. and he gets it. no runs, one lit, no errors and a couple left on base. six complete and the orioles lead it 2-1. they charge another $30. that's just plain mean. why do they hate your bags? at southwest airlines, bags fly free. grab your bag. it's on!

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 >> today at the yard, the orioles' minor league players and scouting awards were given out of play. they were all on hand to receive the award before the game. the pitcher of the year, single a frederick. brandon wearing won the brooks robinson minor league player of the year award for the organization and joseph won the el rod hendrix community service award. and i also want to mention that brian matusz received the jim palmer minor league pitcher f the year award. gary? >> gary: thank you and congratulations to all of the winners and enjoying a night at the yard. a little light rain coming down again. a 2-1 orioles lead. evan longoria walked and flied

out. he was left at the plate. and a very special happy birthday. neil milton, 39 years old. do you think that is true? huh? neil, are you? 39? 29 he said. 29 is closer. i agree. you look 29, too. two ball, ount. he pulled the stng on time. 2-2. >> jim: fastball hitter. of course, he can hit anything, but a really good fastball not the string, it was a quality changeup with great depth, great finish to it. >> gary: the 2-2 delivery ton way and that pitch is goin ken up ghand the count will go to 3-2. longoria trying to get on. a close ballgame here. seventh inning, 2-1. >> jim: 84 pitches for chris

tillman. this will be 85. >> gary: and the 3-2 is going to be a base hit up the middle. a single here in the seveman came mr. the sixth and it was gregg zaun who devered the merun agnst llmabe four hits now for the rays. the orioles have just three but the 2-1 lead. gip right here, in the old days, if you were a ting pitcher, you'd figure, okay. the guy at first base is the tying run. the guy is the go-ahead run. i want to make sure that he hits the ball -- he is going to try hit it into le and vance e r hit the bato the double play will still be in order. stay away prom the sacrafice fly situatio t had an oh- fer two. still hitting about .300 --

.400 for the orioles on the season and the .282 overall average. 0-1 delivery on the way. we talked about tack-on runs last night and we're searching for the devastation of the term. jim hunter went searching along with us ted and found a headline in the paper in detroit today, tack-on runs haunt tigers in loss to royals. that was the headline. it was actually the kansas city paper. ground ball to brian roberts? n he do it? there is one. the force oud and zoris on the fielder's choice. >> jim: brian makes anu awfully good play, but, again, zobrist coming out. you can see him take off. a tough, tough back hand play. >> gary: in the article today, in the newspaper, it said that in the dixon baseball dictionary, the term tack-on is used as an insurance. it says the addition of runs to

an existing lead that the opposition will probably not be able to surmount as in an insurance run. well, yeah, but that doesn't help muse the definition. and i haven't been able to find really where it comes from. there is no question that's what it means and the tack-on runs is used, but still trying to fig -- figure out what the devastation of it is. >> jim: that was an 11-1 game. >> gary: yeah, that was some tack-on. here is patted buehrle. anything scored here in the seventh inning is not a tack-on run by either ball team. a one-run game. and there is the bullpen. 2-0 the count. buehrle has flied out and grounded out. zobrist apretty good lead at first. not going. the pitch is fouled away.

2-1. >> jim: the ground ball, one of your infielders and you can go in and sit down. of course, buehrle last night, as you mentioned, gary, the three-run home run, rbi single up the middle. a big, strong guy. >> gary: 2-1 delivery. tillman has worked six and 2/3 innings twice this year. he has one down here in the seventh and a three ball, one strike count on buehrle with aybar and upton due up. >> jim: a lot of changeups here in the seventh inning. he is not commanding other than the one he threw to longoria. >> jim: and the fastball buehrle wanted to jump on he got and he ended up fouling it back. pat buehrle has seemingly found a way out of the slump he was in, 1-19 coming into this ballgame and he had a 2-2 in the ballgame last night, the first two pitches he saw in the game, in fact, he ended up getting hits on, including a home run, his 14th of the year.

oh-fer two tonight. 3-2 count, one down. and the runner is not going at first. high in the air to left. fiorentino says i got it. two down. tillman is able to get that out. what dave trembley was talking about in pitchers learning and growing and being tested something you're seeing here in the case of tillman. you could go into the bullpen now and get him out of there and bring in a fresh arm to look for the final two outs or one out. but at this point of the season, why not give tillman a chance to work his way out of his own jam and h that's exactly what dave trembley is doing. >> jim: that's why, even at the minor leagues, and dave talked about how hard you have to work. obviously this is a close game. it has been a close game and he's going to work a little bit harder. every pitch does mean something, buff if you don't get into these situations, how

do you learn? maybe you're a bit tired. part of the process, whether you're 6'5" like tillman or six feet like berken, when you're tired, i have to slow everything dunn and bring the ball down. if you never have a chance to do it, how do you learn it? >> gary: well, he is learning it here that is going to be a base hit and over to third base. that will go the potential tying run as zobrist gets to third on the aybar single. 1-3 in the ballgame and now first and third with two down. >> jim: that wasn't a bad pitch. it is just a curve ball that ended up in the middle of the plate. >> gary: they had one more bat tore get out and that was going to be aybar that is it for him, so he has again matched his high in innings pitched at six and 2/3 surrendering just one run in the ballgame so far.

he is coming up and albers is coming on. ÷÷

 >> gary: chris tillman will leave the ballgame with a chance to win it. no strikeouts that is the first time this year that has happened, but also one walk and only five hits with two on. >> jim: and only one run, so it leaves it to the bullpen. matt albers will come on. he struggled the other night

that was in a game that the orioles would lose early 4-1, would lose it 8-4. three hits, a couple of walks, and an inning and 2/3, but the one number that really scares you, 26 inherited runners in scoring position. 18 have scored. >> gary: there are two on here. first and third. there is zobrist and aybar and upton has a chance to tie it up. >> jim: so, again, your good fastball hitter at the plate doesn't mean you can't throw him a fastball, but matt when he is pitching well sinks the ball. the other night he got hurt with some breaking balls to left-handed batters. >> gary: upton is 2-7 off of matt albers and a 2-0 count with zaun waiting on deck. >> jim: and you're looking now to throw him the fastball in the mid 'ol f the plate a three- ball home run that is the kind of power. even though he has had the shoulder problem all year long, he only had one good month this year and that was june. >> gary: he is hitting only

.222 with runners in scoring position this season, but the expression you see there in body language kind of sums up what the season has been like. >> jim: if he gets healthy, the rays will be better. you look at their record, but they have lost 1-13. they had been playing pretty decent ball until then. >> gary: that's on the outside corner for a strike. two balls, two strikes to upton. >> jim: gary, whatever that felt like, boy, this is what you've got to bottle if you're matt albers. i mean, sinking fastball, hardly anything you can do with that. >> gary: 2-2. >> jim: can you repeat it? that is the big question. >> gary: right here. set up on the outside corner, 2- 2 delivered. swung on and missed. albers got him! two left on. it remains the orioles up by one. tonight's seventh inning stretch brought to you by jack canals tennessee whiskey. please drink responsibly.

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and 1-5-1 for the rays. chris tillman, very effective. he went through the order and the first nine outs quickly. on the money. >> jim: he probably had another -- he threw a comfortable of curve balls. he didn't have as good a curve ball with the eight strikeouts he had in new york, so he didn't strike anyone out. you made a great point. he didn't walk a lot of guys. a lot of first-pitch outs. what did dave trembley said if, if you're going to beat tampa bay, they come in fourth in runs scored, you better pitch well and matt albers comes out and gets upton out in the inning. that is what team pitching is all about. >> gary: they're hoping to take advantage of the bullpen, as the tampa bay pen has really struggled the last three weeks. the orioles would like to get obviously something more than a one-run lead here. >> jim: if you look back last year, 61 wins to 97 and the big question with is how can we get

to their bullpen bet 76er ball four is one of those guys. he comes from milwaukee and this year not being able to do it quite as well, along with wheeler. and the magic day. it seemed like august 7 and since then they're something like 13-25. they are struggled. >> gary: let's see if the orioles can get to it here and put more runs up on the board in the latter part of the ballgame. bell for will stay out as he was able to get the out he needed that will bring up matt wieters as he has an rbi and a sac fly and has also grounded out. he is officially oh-fer one in the ballgame. opponents' batting average is .100 points higher this year than it was last year when he was so effective.

they hit .143 last year off of him. .143 is pretty amazing. >> jim: that is one of the problems. he was so good last year. dennis sarfate was a teammate with him in milwaukee, and she a high energy guy and i was introduced to him the other guy day. i said one of the things when you are high energy as we look at brian shouse who has pitched in the first two games of this four-game series and maybe we'll see him again, is to be able to relax. and then it is a lot easier to relax when things are going well. and last year, it doesn't mean that it just happens because he really put a t lot of effort into it, but this is the big turn-out. you have the worst bullpen in 50 years back in 2007 and then, you know, you made some changes. you have balfour, wheeler and all of a sudden joe maddon

along with corey percival who is coaching little league, you a pretty serviceable bullpen. >> gary: the count will stay at one ball and two strikes. the overall-numbers for the tampa bay bullpen are still good on the season, but they've not been able when they have needed it most. you can see the rain is still falling at camden yards. the umbrellas are still up. the head groundskeeper here has been out between innings talking to the umpires about the weather, but it made -- they have made no effort to come out and cover the field. certainly right now it is still playable. i want to remind you that the orioles and the orioles wives have teamed up with the maryland spca with a special souvenir for all o's fans at the 2010 pet calendar. the pets, lovable cats and dogs and the proceeds benefit the maryland spca in their work with homeless pets. to get your orioles' pat calendar, you need to only go to orioles'.com.

>> ty wigginton up. wigginton with one down. he has flied out and struck out in the ballgame. balfour getting the strikeout. only three orioles have struck out in this game. andy sonnanstine left giving up two runs an one earned. he walked two, struck out two, and balfour on in his stead. 0-2 delivery, wigginton. he'll fight that one off the other way. it stays at two strikes. baez is up in the pen for the o's. 10,548 announced attendance. here is the 0-2 delivery. mora and two down.

two away. nobody on, and that will bring up jeff fiorentino. fiorentino has growned out and popped out. balfour up high with it for a ball. fiorentino has certainly made his presence felt in limited opportunities, one by the way he has played in the field and the other by the fact that he is one of those unusual slash hitters that we don't see many of in the game anymore who is willing to just punch balls into right or left field, take a pitch where it is and just get it over the head of the infielders. that doesn't mean he can't hit for power as he is trying to do there. 1-2. >> jim: he may be a guy, you just don't know how that

translate miss . in the american league east when whether you ear trying to beat the red sox and the yankees with the best offense and these guys with the fourth best offense, but he certainly has shown everybody that he might even be a national league player. a real good outfielder. not a great arm, but he can go get the ball. he can steal some bases. >> gary: he a specialized player that a team, as you say, may have room for by looking a the style of play and it is more of a national league kind of game. >> jim: that's what this month is for him. he'll take vac. i would have liked to have seen adam jones play the rest of the season, maybe hit 25 home runs and, you know, we know how good he is in center field, but this is a great opportunity. not only for him, but pie. >> gary: nolan reimold had the achilles tendon problem that kicked up on him the other night. did he go? yes a 1-2-3 inning for balfour.

he gets a couple of strikeouts. fiorentino didn't think he went around orlando that, ch but en. he'll lose the battle.

 >> jim: the geico game summ 10-5 last night. tonight, without the clutch hitting, who makes the plays, who doesn't? does your starting pitcher pitch well? does your catcher throw out runners? wieters does it a couple of times against the always sleek carl crawford.

tillman leads with a -- leaves with a 2-1 lead. he comes out to try to stop him. melvin mora early on for the first rub and now it comes up to the bullpen. danys baez very good last night. he came in and the ball was sinking, 94 miles per hour. i said, boy, whatever that felt like, just -- he said it was receiptity easy last night, but that we know is not always the case. terrific stuff that is about can you get the ball down in the strike zone and when he does, he is very difficult to hit. >> gary: it will be zaun, iwamura and bartlett coming up. zaun making his sixth appearance for tampa bay on the season. he delivered a home run his last at-bat, 1-2. and for baez in the six games, five games, he has worked six innings giving up three runs on three hits. the rays hitting only .136 off of him. zaun takes it and it is a strike called.

zaun, the only run that tampa bay has put up that has been up and down for tampa bay as far as run production. here is the 1-1 pitch and there is the ground ball to brian roberts at second base. zaun is retired. one away in the eighth inning. time to text in your vote for the at&t player of the game. chris tillman arun and five hits, could be the winning pitcher. luke scott has delivered an rbi double in the billion game. melvin mora has had a double and a run scored. u in your vote to 51862. >> jim: of course the loss of carlos pena with his 39 home runs. another thing, base, 91 runs. h has a broken finger th pins in them and is expected to

recover. >> gary: it will be very tough for pena to have to watch the rest of the season and the team struggled the way it has and he loses the chance to be the home run leader. he is still up by four. he has 39, pena does. mark teixeira has 35. teixeira has a chance to beat both thho íand,rbi amons. éaó1=18rbi'an looí1

>> jim: that's what you like to see off of danys baez. the sinker, hard slider. >> gary: he is 3-12 this three-game set so far. >> jim: boy, has he had a great year. >> gary: and that is down low for a ball. it is raining a little harder. fans are moving up and underneath as the up bells -- umbrellas aren't do going to do it anymore. unless you have a really big umbrella. >> jim: or unless you're a mascot and you have your costume own. >> gary: swung on and missed. >> jim: one year when we had randy matcho man salvage on and he came up with his cape, the wrestling fedderration and he is a big guy. he talks and i said you didn't -- how did you get up here?

he said, i don't know. southwest airlines. i said did you wear the costume? no, i didn't. oh, no! like that. and she a big guy. and he was actually a baseball play were the senators. >> gary: 1-2 delivery ripped in the air to left and he is not getting it! fiorentino's throw to second is going to hold the runner at first. he almost had the glove on it and couldn't hang on. but is he all right? >> jim: i would have landed on the ball. yeah, probably right on the ball. this is one you don't want getting by you. he coot quite get underneath it. tremendous effort. do you think the part with the 24 steals he may run? i don't know. >> gary: i don't think so.

>> gary: baez will step up and freeze. a perfect baseball moment. norman rockwell would have caught that had he been in the right position. >> jim: speaking of norman rockwell who is in one of the great norman rockwell pictures. one of the classics. >> gary: friday night he will be here. camden yards, to present melvin mora with a specially signed base actually for recognition of melvin now having played at third, the second most games in orioles history. 1-0 count to carl crawford, two singles and has flied out. this wall game is very much up for grabs here. it is only 2-1 in the eighth inning and this is the number two hitter in the lineup, so the best of the order is here. the number is on his bullpen from joe maddon's hitters.

1-1. fastball. missed inside. two ball, one strike count. >> jim: if you can get out of this inning with the lead, it is still somewhat because in jeopardy because jim johnson has just been struggling. it doesn't mean he can't come in. he did get a tune-up last night, but it hasn't been easy and it hasn't his last four, five starts. >> gary: that pitch is hit and pie. he's got it. a good job by baez no runs, one hit, and no errors and one left on base. we go to the bottom half of ers. the eighth inning and a 2-1 orioles lead. 

 >> gary: the orioles making make it 2-0 against tampa bay on mascot affiliates night and they're all here. crawford twice trying to steal and twice matt wieters gunned him down to end the inning. luke scott so delivering the rbi double that came in the fourth inning. wieters, the sac fly for the other and the orioles fans have seen a well pitched, well played ballgame, 2-1, the o's

on top. it is raining hard. they're going to try desperately to keep this game going, but it is really pouring. >> jim: big drops. shouse at 40. at 40 years old, you have pitched in this trying to keep the hand dry. you can't go to the rossen bag that is the biggest problem because it is soaked. at least that push-off foot if you're a pitcher and the landing foot might be drier. this is a heavy rain. >> gary: if it wasn't there time of the year -- >> jim: you still can't play when the conditions get this bad. put the tarp on. it is not that hard. >> gary: the groundskeeper has been out there talking to -- talking to the crew chief dale scott at second base and that is scott's decision decision. nobody has come out with the tarp for the crew, and it is pouring. >> jim: i always thought the premise was when it rains there hard, you put the tarp on so the field doesn't get so wet.

now, we know this has great drainage, but the infield doesn't. that is the way they have always done it. >> gary: it is slowing down now. >> jim: oh, it is? >> gary: yes. it is pouring. here is the 1-2 delivery and pie, this will be interesting. nobody wants to go after this. zobrist, second baseman, and a fine play. oh, my! iwamura, how did you do that? pie retired. i hope you'll join us again tomorrow as it will be mark hendrickson taking the mound against wade davis in the series finale. our coverage on masn two begins at 6:30 with "o's xtra" presented by at&t followed by the game at 7:00. all of the coverage you need on masn. >> jim: do you think maybe the ground crew that has come behind the tarp may be a little shove and push to dale scott to say maybe -- >> gary: dave trembley is going what in the love of the baseball gods going on here? how can we still be playing?

and it is just pouring. fouled off. he walked oh-fer two. officially. and there is the delay. >> jim: subtle hint. 12 guys coming out with the tarp and all of that. >> gary: yes. they hoped it was going to blow over and wouldn't last, but it is raining too hard to play, so the tarp is going to come out. and it will come here in the eighth inning with the orioles leading it by a score of 2-1 and ids tour is batting. tilman, the witch -- tillman, the pitcher of record. a run on five hits, six and 2/3. he had one walk and no strikeouts. albers came on for a third of the inning and got a strikeout and albers worked the last inning and he is still out. he gave up one hit. andy sonnanstine, three hits over five and 2/3.

balfour worked an inning in the third with a couple of strikeouts and now shouse is on. and we will have a rain delay. the orioles on top. we'll be right back to camden yards. 

 >> gary: a 2-1 lead for the orioles and a rain delay here with one out here in tightth inning. the tarp out and the rain has backed off just a little bit, but we're going to wait here and see as there have been showers around and kind of amazing we near the eighth inning and hadn't seen any rain before this. chris tillman obviously a chance to win this ballgame, whether it gets started or

doesn't again. he is now the itcher of record and a good performance. >> jim: really good. coming off a nice performance against the yankees and the yankees, the number one offense, number four offense tonight. he had the high fastball going. there is a curve ball that gets away. and so, again, he threw a lot of strikes. the guy is there to make the plays and only the fastball to gregg zaun for the solo home run. so if you want to pitch. if you're go dog give up home runs in new york there is a three-run home run in the first inning. the orioles came back. tonight was only a couple of runs. there you are. one walk. he didn't strike anyone out after eight strikeouts. so, again, i never really felt it was about strikeouts unless you really needed them. he didn't need any strikeouts tonight. he was thing what young pitchers are supposed to do. a lot of first pitch strikes. >> gary: very efficient in the

ballgame doing that. so we'll see whether or not he will get the win with the orioles on top 2-1. a rain delay here at camden yards. we will be back as soon as they are ready to resume. right now enjoy this t.o. a it programming when we start up again. we'll be right back.

>> get you updated from fenway, the angels trailing the red sox -- rather leading the red sox, 3-2. l.a. in the bottom to have sixth, cory hunter two hits and a solo home run. saunders started. paul byrd started for boston.

saito in now. >> rangers fading farks looking to snap a losing streak. they've been shut out in two of the last three games. just one run over that span. manager ron washington said we're not scoring runs and we're giving up runs. it's an awful time for it to happen. 1-0 bottom fife. >> brett favre had a torn biceps tendon during the final month of last season but the jets never put him on the team's injury report. for that the nfl assessed $125,000 to the jets, their g.m., and former head coach, eric mangini. jets rookie head coach rex ryan came to new york with a regal first name. translated from latin rex means king. but in the telephone informal no one is king without the ring. and ryan's realm, the lord of the rings is new england's bill belichick. ryan though has no intentions of kissing that king's ring. no, the man who would be king

had another message for the pats. kiss off. rachel nichols reports. >> rex ryan says he think it is patriots have the best coach in the nfl. but he is still not backing down from his previous statement that he's, quote, not here to kiss bill belichick's ring. >> the thing is i'm not here to kiss anyone. we're going to play. we're not conceding anything from a team standpoint. i'll concede he's a better coach than me, but that's it. people think, that you know, new england, wow, that's a win for them. oh yeah? >> this is the patriots. it ain't like this isn't jesus walking on the field. yeah, they've done some great things in the past,but this is 2009. now, anybody there is upset for me for what i'm saying, then they know where to find me at. >> maybe in college and coach carroll will kill me for saying that, you play a program that might not be as strong one week but in this league there's -- you know, there's nobody that you can take a week off for, especially this group. this rivalry, i mean, when you talk to, you know, any of the

fans, just beat the patriots. >> sanchez at least has the confidence of the jets defensive players going against him in practice each day. they've nicknamed him sanchise as in the franchise. the defense is also excited about its own side of the ball. players say they'll get a big leadership boost when ellis returns from the suspension. but the player that the coaching staff might be most excited about is fourth string quarterback kevin o'connell. o'connell used to be on the patriots' roster and when asked if he was picking o'connell's brain, rex ryan said no question about it. with the jets, i'm rachel nichols, espn. >> you feeling sanchise? >> oh, yeah. he was tremendous in his rookie debut. >> i mean his nickname? i think we could do a little bit better. >> i think we could do a little better. >> only week one. there's still time. jets need to beat the patriots at home. they haven't done that the last eight time. 8-0 in those games beating jets almost two touchdowns per game.

>> it took terrell owens all of one game into his tenure at buffalo to offer a critique of his quarterback. asked why he was limited to just two catches for 46 yards monday and t.o. had an answer, his quarterback. >> there were some opportunities we missed, you know. and those are some of the things that you're talking about. so it's always a work in progress and, you know, trents has to better assess what he's seeing outs there and, you know, take some shots down the field. we're going to do that and by no means that wasn't the reason why we lost the game. you know, there were some opportunities, you know, until the last five minutes, you know, we had the game in the bag. so that really wasn't, you know, really wasn't the case. obviously we didn't utilize myself and lee as much as we would like, but we still had the game won. >> now, the bills are owens' fourth team and first start with each of his first three games he caught at least one touchdown. again, monday in his open wr the bills he had two catches, none

for scores. >> jonathan mcnabb did not practice in philly but michael vick and jeff garcia did. it was kevin cobb who took snaps with the first team offense. mcnabb is dealing with a cracked rib, hopes to play sunday. vick is not eligible to return until week three. so andy reid says -- >> i want to make it very clear, kevin cobb right now is the starter quarterback. so when you go out to practice, you'll see kevin cobb as a starter. if donovan cannot play this week, kevin will be the starting quarterback and then michael we took off the exempt list and he's able to practice only. he cannot play in the game. so therefore jeff garcia becomes the backup. if again -- if don than's healthy he's the number three. if don than is not healthy

enough to play, then he is the number two. >> we can say this with great certainty, whoever lines up under center we'll not only bring you highlights but also their postgame news conferences. it is the blitz blitz every sunday yours truly with eric allen. complete recaps, analysis and news conferences of all the early games. 4:00 eastern here on espnews. >> was that the show you told me was the best show on tv? >> better than seinfeld. >> giants-rockies, we'll talk to >> giants-rockies, we'll talk to rich sutcliffe next. handoff. dorsett up the middle. here he goes! what does greatness taste like? cuts to his right! he's going all the way! he may go! grab a miller lite. to the 30, to the 40! from the rich golden color and real beer aroma... he's got two men to beat! to the 20, to the 10! to the true pilsner taste. touchdown! unbelievable! there's light beer. and then there's triple hops brewed miller lite.

taste greatness. tony dorsett is in the record books! 99 yards!

>> tonight when you're watching rockies-giants 10:15 eastern, how about the best playoff race in baseball. san fran two and a half of the rockies. they've beaten colorado five straight times at at&t park outscoring the rockies 35-11. rex sutcliffe has the call of tonight's game on espn. it's always great to welcome rick in to espnews. how do you explain the big disparity between the teams at such an important time of the season? >> you know what, kevin? the big thing to me has been all year long the rockies key to success as opposed to in the past when they were all about offense has been their pitching and defense. you look at what happened monday night, there was a fly ball. it should have been caught. that led to three runs.

that was all tim lent cum. the giants were able to score a lot of points. cred do it the giants, they've also gotten good pitching but taken advantage of the rocky mistakes. >> five straight wins at home. they won the season series. if there would be a one-game playoff for that final spot it would be in san francisco. compare tonight's starter and the way they've been pitching heading into this game tonight. >> you know, you look at it from the outside and you say that there's been back in early july when matt cain won at home. you take a look at della rosa. started 0-6, now 14 runs. he would be a huge advantage for the rockies. if you look a little closer, kevin n the last five or six wins, della rosa has had a touchdown as far as runs to work with. all year long matt cain 13-5. only lost five games. he's never geive up a touchdown in any one of those losses. so it comes down to run support. one guy's getting it, the other guy is not. >> a pitcher talking about run support and the importance of

it. we know you know what that's all about, rick. give us an indicator, something to watch for early non this game. >> you know, for me, kevin, it all comes down to matt cain. he's going to have to pitch well. della rosa is a guy who can overpower a free swinging team like the giants. it's all going to come down to matt cain. if he can hold them to maybe one run over the first three or four runs i think the manager can put the game in motion and possibly get the giants to the run. >> it is the final head-to-head, rick, this season between the two teams. who has the more favorable schedule the rest of the way? >> well, i think to begin with the dodgers do. i don't think anybody has a better scheduling than them. when you're talking about these two teams you have to give the rockies a big -- they go to arizona and then nine games at home against the four teams they are 13 games over .500 against. they finish the year against the dodgers. they've struggled there. on the other hand, the giants play real well at home. they don't play well on the road.

they've got nine out of their last 15 games on the road. i think tonight -- and i love what both managers have told chris burr man and i before the game, they said this is a must win so you know they're going to give it their best shot. >> they're going must win already and we're midway through september. >> rick sutcliffe on the call, 10:15 eastern espn. we look forward to the broadcast. many thanks. >> thank you. >> and a reminder that after the game a postgame extra comes your way here on espnews. highlights and analysis from boomer and rick sutcliffe on the call. for all your postgame needs, flip it back here to espnews. >> two for jay cutler this weekend.o the bears quarterback disappointed in his first start with his new team. cutler was four picks against the packers sunday night. doesn't get easier. faces the steelers in week two. with more on that, here's george smith.

>> no one around here is worried at all about jay. >> after an opening night disaster in green bay, jay cutler will try to regain his pro-bowl form against the defending champion pittsburgh steelers at soldier field on sunday. the bears quarterback remains unflappable. >> i feel pretty good about it. four picks is tough. that's a tough one to swallow. it's a tough one to go back and watch. but we're going to bounce back. i'm going to bounce back. we're going to get better, that i can promise you. >> jay is fine. he is concentrating on the pittsburgh steelers. we're not living in the past. we didn't play well. not a lot more you can say. it's about doing something about it. >> cutler and a young core of receivers arest still getting familiar with each other. there were bright spots like the 68-yard connection with rookie johnny knox. but it's clear there also were miscommunications. >> no one's perfect. brett favre has as many interceptions as he does

touchdowns. you know? but when his brett favre, he is is trying to make a play. you know, it's not that he may have made a bad read. >> the health of tight end desmond clark remains unclear. clark sustained a rib injury in the game against the packers on sunday. he did not practice on wednesday. and it's not clear yet when he will play again. the brian urlacher out for the rest of the season, linebacker lance briggs becomes the bears new defensive captain. in lake forest, illinois, espn. >> cutler will try to bounce back. but the bears won't have brian urlacher. he is out for possibly the season. his ten-year nfl career the bears have been without urlacher in seven games, all in '04. that year they felt the i am fact, they went 0-7 with him. >> super bowl champion

linebacker jerry brooks joining espn2. he's also drawing interest from the new england patriots. starting middle linebacker for the bills, expected to miss six weeks after having surgery to repair a broken tbhoan his arm. and patrik elias underwent groin surgery. he's expected to miss three to six weeks. >> top stories on the way including the twins quest to keep pressure on the tigers and what joe mauer's done this season that no one in baseball has done better. and baseball doles out suspensions in the aftermath of last night's brawl in the bronx. how long the yanks will be how long the yanks will be without jorge posada coming up. ( light conversation ) how come they separate the hash browns from the rest of the platter? maybe there's just not enough room. or, maybe the hash browns were a little late and no one saved them a seat. maybe if the platter got a text message... from the hash browns saying they were on their way.

or, maybe if the p-- pull up a chair to a mcdonald's breakfast platter: fluffy hotcakes, freshly cooked eggs and sausage off the griddle. with a warm biscuit and hash browns, it's an all-together good morning. ♪ ba da ba ba ba

 >> gary: back here at camde yards, they have pulled the tarp off with the rain delay. they are putting down a lot of drying agent. they're going to roll the tarp up. it has not stopped raining. it is still raining and they're trying to get enough of this on the field to make the infield playable and get the ball field and this game done. the crew chief has been taking a look along with his groundskeeper, so we'll see. they want to obviously get this one finished and there is more rain behind this so they're going to try to play here even if it keeps raining. >> jim: i saw the weather thingy. a lot of green. that's not good, unlessy ear trying to be green. we're not trying to be green

today. >> gary: i thought i was on "sesame street" there for a minute. let's go to the highlights. >> jim: last night, 15 runs, 24 hits, and tonight, a 2-1 billion game. can they make the play, wieters a couple of times throws out carl crawford and gregg zaun, and tampa bay hits the solo home run, but, again, tillman awfully good tonight. he doesn't strike anyone out. luke scott with a key double and then melvin mora in the billion game with a double over to third base. it comes down to how the bullpen does. >> gary: and the game is far from over with just a 2-1 different shall. the orioles up 2-1, and they'll continue to work on the field. they'll try to get this dried up as quickly as possible. we're probably going to start this in about 10 minutes. as soon as they're ready, we'll be back.

central. three hits for cuddyer, two for mauer who raised his average to an m.l.b. leading .374. twins open with detroit at that time metrodome a series this weekend. so how about the tigers? aneesh mentioned they are in the top of the eighth inning, royals lead 3-0 at that point but four unanswered from the tigers. turned this into a 4-3 game. top of the eighth inning right now. once again, goes final in detroit. we'll bring you the highlights on espnews.

>> prior to tonight's game legendary tigers broadcaster ernie harwell visited with the team to thank them for their support. he also addressed the fans in comerica park. the 91-year-old revealed earlier this month he's battling inoperable cancer of the bile duct. he spent 55 seasons calling major league games. the final 42 of them in detroit. among his career achievements, the radio call of bobby thompson's shot heard around the world and calling the tigers world championships in 1968 and 1984. >> fish on the menu in st. louis. bottom six, josh johnson against green. you got served. johnson one earned run, five strikeouts. cody ross, later. that's an r.b.i. single. ross 3-4. two r.b.i.s. he's 8-11 straight games. bottom nine, nunez, pujols,

ouch. that forces in a run. pujols in a bit of pain. next batter matt holliday bouncetor seconds. 4-6-3. holliday does a lot of things. speed not one. he's not slow but not a burner. marlins win this one 5-2. st. louis is lost 5-6. florida does not go away in the wild card race. they've won ten of the last 14. josh johnson likes to sound like 6-0 in day games. with his win this afternoon, johnson wins the 22nd time in his last 27 decisions. that's good enough for a winning percentage 81%. best for the bigs in the pitchers with at least 20 decisions. >> what to watch for tonight when you're watching rockies-giants 10:15 eastern on espn. the best playoff race in baseball. san fran two and a half back of the rockies on the wild card.

they've beaten colorado five straight times at at&t park. dell rah low is a meets matt cain. >> n.l. west leading dodgers gun informing the sweep of the pirates. etheir hit the walkoff homer tuesday night many bottom sixth, man on secondnn it's matt kemp. two-run shot. number 24 on the year. 11th home run in day games. bottom eight, ronnie belliard third home run in a dodger uniform. eighth of the year little bit of insurance for a man who needed none of it. broxton top 9, clocking out at 98. ronnie cedeno to end the game. dodgers win it 3-1. pirates, pour salt in an open wound, have lost 17 of their last 18 road games. they've lost 17 of 19 overall. dodgers have won 5-6. >> fight night in the bronx had consequences. baseball suspended yanks catcher

jorge posada and jesse carlson for three games each. both players also fined $3,000. the eighth inning last night posada and carlson got into a fight near home plate. that started a bench clearing brawl. right now they're in the seventh inning. toronto with a 4-2 lead over new york. toronto starting pitcher left this game after two innings. bluejays saying he's got a bruise, he took a comebacker from cano off his right foot. cano hit by a pitch in this game. not saying he was correlation. could very well be coincidence. bluejays up 4-2 in the second. following the hunt for october, magic numbers now. it's almost october. the yankees magic number in the east, 12. that's any combination of yankee wins and red sox losses. cardinals with the lowest magic number among division leaders. >> myles brand once the president of indiana university and later president of the ncaa

passed away today from pancreatic cancer. he was 67. brand leaves behind a legacy of friendliness and reform at an organization known in the past for secrecy and academic indifference. but ironically he'll best be remembered for doinge' what no other indiana administrator dared to dorks take down the state's most prized institution. here's bob lee. >> seven years of national reform and one historic decision, myles brand is remembered for raising standards at the ncaa and as president ofr indiana university enforcing his standards on hall of fame coach bob knight.st >> we have established tough specific guidelines. this is a zero tolerance policy. >> i think myles brand deserves an enormous credit for finally being the person who said we will have standards of conduct that will be upheld by our

employees, and if that expectation is not met, then i will enforce the penalty. >> brand put in place a strict policy for knight's personal conduct and then four months later, when knight violated thew policy, brand fired him. >> i notified him that he was being removed as basketball coach effective immediately. >> within two years brand was selected as president of the ncaa, the first leader of that organization without a sports background. he took aim at the escalating arms race among big money sports programs and the need to set specific academic standards and benchmarks for admission and scholarship grants. his reforms were not always popular. >> the president of the school should be held responsible for the academic aspects of the school. the deans of the school. >> in terms of the responsibility of a coach annsd faculty member to work with students so they get a good education, that is a shared responsibility.er

>> brand's drive for academic standards for athletes saw graduation rates, as measured by the ncaa, increase. policy was driven by principle for this son of brooklyn who grew up watching jackie robinson and earned his ph.d. in philosophy. he sought to keep youth in college basketball free of professional influence and to continue the gender equity mandates of title ix.ty >> sometimes they will cut men's sports but blame it on women's sports. title ix then becomes an excuse to cut men's sports. >> he preached that athletics were an integral part of education and managing that well, myles brand believed, reflects on american culture as a whole. >> i think the purpose of college is that young men and women form values and life plans and part of that educational t experience is participating on teams, learning how to work to your maximum capacity, that's what college is all about and that's what sports adds to that.

>> espn president george bodenhymer issued the following statement, myles brand was a kind man, an inspiring leader and a driving force for academic athletic progress. he displayed tremendous courage and dignity in his battle and he will be missed. our thoughts and prayers with are with his family. myles brand passing away today at the age of 67 years old. >> coming up on espnews, jets and patriots this weekend. we'll tell you why gang green's fourth string q.b. could hold the key to beating new england. and the popcorn has started to pop. at least it looks that way. after one game with the bills, t.o. a bit critical of his q.b.

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>> it's not quite called a sitdown but a meeting of minds. jed york wants to have a face tow face meeting with holdout michael crabtree. he was the niners first round pick. tenth overall. he has yet to sign. we will talk about crabtree in just a minute. as we will will with the rest of the nfc west. week won niners beat the cardinals, seahawks shut out the rams. we're joined by nfc west blogger mike sando. and mike, let's start with crabtree. what is going on with him and theon niners? >> you know, it seems like a lot of posturing lately. remember deion sanders last week was trying to talk about how there was a market for crabtree, you know, indicating that maybe

they should try to move him which trading dread line has passed and i think it's really unrealistic crabtree and his agent are going to agree to a sitdown meeting with the 49ers team president. we have the same weighting game crabtree has until move november to sign before he loses this season. i think something gets done by then. we just don't know when. >> if he doesn't sign by november, then what happens? >> well, heno doesn't get credit for his rookie season, becomes ineligible to play and raise spector of does he go back into the draft next year. most players when push comes to shove don't let it go that far. >> the niners beat the cardinals in week one. why did arizona struggle so much against the san francisco team that is looked at as a bit of a sleeper but again, we'll talk about the nfc champs here. >> well, the cardinals didn't look good, didn't look right offensively all through the preseason. you know, i think they were kind of hoping that they could turn it on.i like they did in the playoffs last year. but it's clear that something's

not right. i think kurt warner is not comfortable. part of that has to do with the fact that bolden is hurting, hasn't practiced much weeks and res pin, another thousand yard receiver last year has to sit out the opener at the last minute so. they went into a game, you know, plan to go spread the field like they always did. don't have the perp nell and the 49ers know them. the 49ers play them tough and they didn't look good. >> almost beat them on monday night last year. how much of that on sunday was mike singletary's defense? ?ingz a lot of it will to do with the 49er defense. the thing that kind of surprised me and had to have a relief to them is the fact they generated a pass rusht with their front four. that was really thehh wig e big question mark all season. they didn't draft pass rush. crabtree was there sot they wet into theee season with harrelso, lawson, smith, guys who were there before and i have to tell you they stepped up. they got the quarterback. it's only one game but i think it was progress. >> what do you take away from seattle's win against st. louis, 28-0? >> well, matt hasselbeck is

healthy. i think there was skepticism going into the season house he would hold up. they had him quarterback sneak at one point. i don't think you would do that if your guy's got a horriblebl back. i think that's encouraging forra them. defensively eric curry brings some swarg. he was getting in stephen jackson's faissments he was shoving offensive linemen of the rams after the play. and so, you know, it's only the rams. let's not say -- but it was a good -- it was a good first step for them. >> you said it's only the rams. is it possible the rams could actually be worse this year than they were lasto year? >> yeah, less talent -789d. that's what happens when you come in and write off a team as a total loss. it's like a vehicle that's totaled. there's not much to salvage so you start over with a lot of young parts. and maybe you're not as talented but i think this season for them is about changing the culture. getting the ship poithnted in te right direction. i think they've done that. even though it's going to be a tough season, you look at their

schedule. they could easily be 0-7 going into their game in detroit. >> that would be interest fg the lions were still winless as well. week eight, week nine, we'll mark that on our calendar maybe. mike sando, thank you. >> thank you. >> on his blog page right now talking about the big injuries the nfc west. you can find his blog on espn.com under the nfl tab. rookie head coach rex ryan came to new york with a regal first name. translated from latin rex means king. but in the nfl no one is king without the ring. and ryan's realm the afc east, the lord of the rings is new england's big belichick. ryan has though intentions of kissing that team's ring. no, the man who would be king had another message for the pats. kiss off. rachel nichols reports.

>> rex ryan says he thinks the patriots have the best coach in the nfl but he's still not backing down from his previous statement that he's not here, quote, to kiss bill belichick's ring. >> the thing is i'm not here to kiss the ring. we're here to play. we're not conceding anything a team standpoint. i'll concede he's a better coach than me. but that's it. people think that, you know, new england, it's a win for them. oh yeah? >> this is the patriots. this isn't jesus walking on the field. yeah, they've done some great things in the past, but this is us09. now, if anybody there is upset with me for what i'm saying, then they know where to find me at. >> you play a team, a program that might not be as strong one week, but in this league, there's -- you know, there's nobody that you can take a week off, especially this group. this rivalry, i mean, when you talk to, you know, any of the fans, just beat the patriots. >> sanchez at least has thetr confidence of the jets defensive players going against him in practice each day. they've nicknamed him sanchise as in the franchise.

the defense is also excited about its own side of the ball. players say they'll get a big leadership boost when ellis returns from the suspension. but the player the coaching staff might be most excited about is fourth string quarterback kevin o'connell. o'connell used to be on the patriots' roster and when asked if he was picking o'connell's brain, rex ryan said no question about it. with the jets, i'm rachel nichols, espn.. >> you feeling sanchise. >> ooh, yeah, he was tremendous in his rookie debut. i mean the nickname. i think we could do a little better. .> i think we could do a little bit better. >> just week one. jets need to beat the patriots at hoa. they haven't done that the last eight't times. 8-0 in those games beating the jets by almost two touchdowns per game.do >> it took terrell owens all of one game into his tenure in buffalo to offer a critique of his quarterback.

asked why he just limited to two catches for 46 yards and he had an answer. his quarterback. >> there were some opportunities that we missed,>> s you know, ad some of the things that you're talking about. always work in progress. and, you know, trent has to better assess what he's seeing out there and, you know, take some shots down the field. and we're going to do that. by no means that wasn't the reason we lost the game. you know, there are some opportunities, you know, until the last five minutes, you know, we had the game in the bag. so that really wasn't, you know, really wasn't the case. obviously we. didn't utilize myself and lee as much as we would like, but we still had the game won. >> now, the bills are owens' fourth team. his first start with each of his first three teams he caught at least one touchdown. again, monday in his opener with the bills he had two catches, none for scores. >> donovan mcnabb did not practice today in philly. both michael vick and jeff garcia did but it was kevin cobb

who took snaps with the first team aifns. mcnabb is dealing with a t cracked rib. hopes to play monday. vick is not eligible to return until week three. so andy reid says -- >> i want to make it very clear, kevin cobb right now is the starting quarterback. so when you go outba to practice you'll see kevin cobb as a starter. if donovan cannot play this week, kevin will be the starting quarterback. and then michael we took off the exempt list and he's able to practice only. he cannot play in the game. so therefore, jeff garcia becomes the backup. if again donovan is healthy, he's the number three. ify donovan is not healthy enoh to play, then he is the number two. >> we can say this with great certainty, whomever lines up under center sunday, we'll not only bring you highlights but

also their postgame news conference. it is the blitz 4:00 p.m., your truly, analysis recaps and news conferences of all the games beginning at 4:00 eastern here on espnews. >> the champions league arsenal fell behind by two goals. we'll show you how they rallied back. stay tuned to stay current.

>> "college football overdrive"

is back. it's year four on espnews. every saturday from three. to. 8:00 eastern we take you live to the most exciting games from across the country. >> throws. touchdown! >> for expert analysis from kordell stewart and shawn king. 3:00 eastern on espnews. >> and it is another big saturday of games on the espn family of networks beginning with a good one 3:30 eastern on abc in select markets, u.s.c. versus washington or nebraska and virginia tech. and then it all leads up to the big one 8:00 eastern on abc, texas tech and second ranked texas. >> nearly two weeks ago oregon pulled out degarrett blunt. his postseason tirade lead to go a season long suspension from the school. he returned to practice as a member of the scout team.

>> to the pitch champion league, arsenal against standard liege. liege winning 1-0. get a penalty. >> owe vanvick doesn't flow off the tongue by liege. >> liege up 2-0on arsenal. edwar dough deflected in. got one name and you can play soccer. drop connors and you're good to go. sign you up. milan taking on imovoch. barcelona. transferred one another. barcelona. >> one name, right. >> like etto.

>> 66th minute, ball to did i yeg go molito who gets it to stankovich. over the crossbar. henri a nil-nil game. >> guys with one name. more guys with one name. liege, right? how about derick joining espn2's first take as an analyst. also drawing interest from the patriots. paul posluszny expected to miss six weeks after surgery on a broken arm. patrik elias underwent groin surgery. >> what joe mauer has done this season no one in baseball has done better. baseball doles out suspensions in the aftermath of last night's brawl in the bronx. how long the yanks will be without their backstop coming up.

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 >> the orioles have the 2-1 lead and someone in the stands shouted up and said you lied! we said we were going to start at 9:40 and it is 10:00. >> jim: you're banned from baseball! >> gary: obviously they put on the drying agent down and continued to rain and the tarp came back out and covered the field and it is still raining and we're still in the rain delay with the orioles leading it by a scar of 2-1. 2-1 in the eighth inning is when we stopped. >> jim: it is so interesting in this series with a chance on monday night to see the number one and two process spents in i guess minor league baseball. matt wieters and david price. so when you talk about wieters

last night, five rbi's. he get as couple of extra-base hits. tonight you see the total package. you see why he is the number one prospect in baseball. the ability to not only hilt and the five rbi's last night. you have good jumps. he started out this year 1-12. he worked on the release, worked on the footwork and you saw the result tonight. the one thing when they drafted him is until the only can he hit, catch, but he was a closer. he threw 100 miles per hour tonight, two perfect throws to throw out carl crawford. >> gary: carl crawford had only been caught a few times all season long. no small matter when you get him out of there. take a look at the game summary up to this point. chris tillman has a chance to win it. he gave up the run, six and 2/3. the first game where he hadn't struck anyone out.

he left the defense play and that worked out just fine. it is the 2-1 lead and the orioles have a couple more outs to work with in the eighth inning. interesting, about 20 minutes ago, joe maddon, the manager of the rays sitting in the middle, walked out of the dug-out, went across the outfield and oh the bullpen. i don't know that i have ever seen a manager during a rain delay head out to the bullpen and now he is showing why he and michael jordan are very much alike when think ear on the basketball court. >> jim: even though he is vertically challenged, but we like him a terrific guy. you know, again, this is a guy that they got to tampa bay to rebuild it, very much like dave trembley and last year they went from rags to riches, 61 wins to 97. they beat the red sox, beat the yankees and tall way to the world series when they lost it five game to the phillies. a marvelous year for him. >> gary: and he sits in the bullpen enjoying the rain delay

with the members of the pen who may be used in this game. it is still raining and we are still in the rain delay. as soon as we're ready to go, we'll be back to join you. until then, enjoy! tigers the big 4-3 win. and their lead stays in the central . >> meantime, prior to tonight's game, legendary tigers broadcaster ernie harwell visited with the team. he was thanking them for their support. let's show you the highlights. this is harwell taking the field at coamerica park.

harwell fighting cancer. he was the esteemed broadcaster for 42 seasons. >> there is polanco singling home jared laird. and that is the final. 4-3, tigers win. eddy bow nine in his second start this season. going a chunk of the way. but the save goes to the 33rd of the season, again, the tigers extending or keeping their lead at four and a half after the twins had won earlier in the d day. >> marlins and cardinals. rubber game in st. louis. bottom on six. josh johnson dealing. strands a man at second. he went six innings. an earned run and five strikeouts. cody ross. roped to left. that scores the run. ross 3 for 4, two ribs. he has hits in 11 straight games. albert pujols, bases loaded. gets bumped by leo nunez. he goes to first base.

that's your seat. that's your seat. matt halladay grounds to second. he was the next batter. ballgame over. cardinals sit down. marlins win this one, 5-2. marlins have won 10 of 14. within four games of wildcard leading colorado. cards meanwhile lost 5 of 6. josh johnson gets the win. when he gets a decision, it usually is a win. 22-5 in his last 27 decisions over the last two seasons. best win percentage among any starting pitcher with at least 20 decisions. it's 3-1, amazings leading. braves-mets in september used to have a different feel. not so much this time around. braves not exactly out of it. they've won five in a row. five games out of the wildcard lead entering play. >> west leading dodgers gunning for the sweep of the pirates.

there is andre eeghtier with the game>> winning homer, bottom si. speaking of, there is matt kemp. two-run homer, would prove to be the game-winning homer. 24th of the season. dodgers led 2-1, bottom eight. some insurance. and you can hear vin scully in the background. i should just shut up and let him take over. >> turn up the sound. >> no one does it better. jonathan closes without save number 35 on the year. and l.a. wins 3-1. dodgers have won five of the last six games. the pirates have lost 16 of the last 17 on the road. 17 of 19 overall. >> old yankee stadium used to have some fights in the day. new one has a melee. the results, jorge posada, and jays reliever jesse carlson each

suspended. both players fined. posada and carlson got in a fight near home plate that incited a bench clearing brawl. right now, the yankees have tied the game. hideki matsui has had some big hits for the yanks this season. a two-run game-tieing home run, and it is four-all in the bronx. highlights of this game when it goes final. if you're wondering, one hit batsman in this game. robby cano, no retaliation. >> miles brand once the t president of indiana university, and later, president of the ncaa, passed away today from pae koreaiatic cancer. he was 67. brand leaves behind friendliness and k reform, from an organizatn known in the past for secrecy and academic indifference. ironically he'll best be remembered for doing what no other indiana administrator dared to do. take down the state's most prized institution. here's bob lee. >> seven years of national reform, and one historic

decision. miles brand is remembered for raising standards at the ncaa and as president of indiana university, enforcing his standards on hall of fame coach bob knight. >> we have established tough, specific guidelines. this is a zero tolerance policy. >> i think miles brand deserves an enormous credit for finally being the person who said we will have standards of conduct that will be upheld by our employees. and if that expectation is not met, then i will enforce the penalty. >> brand put in place a strict policy for knight's personal conduct. and then four months later, when knight violated the policy, brand fired him. >> i notified him that he was being removed as basketball coach effective immediately. >> within two years, brand was selected as president of the ncaa. the first leader of that organization withoutpo a sports background.

he took aim at the escalating arms race among big money sports programs. and theg need to set specific academic standards and benchmarks for admission and scholarshipgr grants. his reforms were not always popular. >> the president of the school should be held responsible for the academics of the school, the deans of the school. >> in terms of the responsibility of the coach and faculty member to work with students so they get a good education, that is a shared responsibility. >> brand's drive for academic standards foatr athletes saw graduation rates as measured by the ncaa, increase. policy was driven by principal for this son of brooklyn who grew up watching jackie robinson, and earned his ph.d. in philosophy. he sought to keep youth free of gender -- >> sometimes they will cut men's sports but blame it on women's

sports. becomes an excuse to cut men's sports. >> he preached that athletics were an integral part of education, and managing that well, miles brand believed, reflects on american culture as a whole. >> i think the purpose of college is that young men and women form values and life plans. part of that educational experience is participating on teams, learning how to work to your maximum capacity. that's what college is all about, and that's what sports adds to that. >> espn president george boddenhiemer issued the following statement. miles brand was a kind man a. an inspiring leader and driving force for academic and athletic progress. he displayed tremendous courage and diginity in his battle, and he will be missed. our thoughts and prayers are with his family. miles brand, former president of indiana university, and the ncaa dead tonight at the age of 67.

>> coming up on espnews, it's the jets and patriots this weekend. why gang green's fourth string quarterback could hold the key to beating new england. >> it looks like the popcorn has started to pop. after one game with the bills, t.o. already a bit critical of his quarterback. you don't see all the 5000 quality tests we put the nissan altima through. but you can see the result. the nissan altima. ranked highest midsize car in initial quality by j.d. power and associates. right now lease a new nissan altima for just $199 a month or get $1500 cash back. look closer. nissan delivers.

it's pretty easy to see what "draws" me to esurance... with my family, a job, and a pretty long commute, it's hard to find time to take care of things like auto insurance. let alone how much it can cost! i chose esurance because they saved me money in no time! with "quote, buy, print" convenience, you can start saving in minutes. and, with hassle-free automatic payments, that's one less bill that piles up get your fast, free quote today- --and get animated about your auto insurance with esurance! the angels with a 7-5 lead on boston. l.a. scored four runs in the seventh inning. this after boston scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for the angels in that inning. r.b.i. single. two-run double by juan rivera. and an r.b.i. double by mike napoli. right now the angels just got

another run, so they have made it 8-5 here in the top of the eighth. >> where have the power rangers gone? down 4-0 in the bottom of the eighth right now to the oakland a's. rangers hoping to snap a three-game skid tonight. they're being shut down by trevor cahill who has allowed one hit over seven innings. texas manager ron washington said we're not scoring runs and we're giving up runs. it's an awful time to happen. 4-0, bottom 8thing. >> jets rookies head coach rex ryan came with a name translated from latin as the name of king. but in the nfl no one is king without the ring. in ryan's realm, the "lord of the rings" isng is new england's bill belichick. ryan has no intentions of kissing that king's ring.e no, the man who would be king had another message for the pats. kiss off. rachel nichols reports.

>> rex ryan says he thinks the patriots have the best coach in the nfl. but he's still not backing down from his previous statement that he's "not hear to kiss bill belichick's ring." i'm not here to kiss the ring. we're going to play. we're not conceding anything from a standpoint. i'll concede he's a better coach thanm me, but that's it. >> people think new england, wow, that's a win for them. oh, yeah? >> this is this isn't jesus walking on the field. >> yeah, they've done great things in the past, but this is 2009. ey is upset for me for me saying what i'm saying, they know where to find me at. >> maybe in coblg, and coach carroll will kill me. with you you play a program that might not be as strong one week, but in this league, you know, there's nobody that you can take a game off for, especially in this group. this rivalry, when you talk to any of theou fans ever talk to you, oh, just beat the patriots. >>s sanchez at least has the te confidence that the jets

defensive players have been going against him in practice. they've nicknamed him san chiez. as in franchise. the players say they'll get a big leadership boost on sunday when sean ellis returns from the suspension. but the player that the coaching staff might be most excited about is fourth string quarterback kevin o'connell. o'connell used to be on the patriots roster. when asked if he was picking o'connell's brain, rex ryan said, no question about it. with the jets, rachel nichols, espn. >> you feeling sanchez? >> oh, yeah. he was tremendous in his rookie debut. >> no, i mean the nickname? >> i think we can do him better. >> we can do him better. >> the jets haven't beat the patriots at home the last eight times. it's been all new england. 8-0. beating the jets for almost two touchdowns per game. >> it took terrell owens all of one game into his tenure in buffalo to offer a critique of

his quarterback. bills wideout was asked why he was limited to just two catchese for 46 yards monday, and t.o. had an answer. his quarterback. >> there were some opportunities that we missed, you know. those are some of the things that you're talking about. so. it's always a work in progress. trent has to better assess what he's he seeing out there and take some shots down the field. we're going to do well. by no means that wasn't the reason why we lost the game. there were some opportunities, you know,op until the last five minutes we had the game in the bag. so that really wasn't, you know, reallyw, wasn't the case. obviously we didn't utilize myself and lee as much as we'd like, but we still had the game won. >> now the bills are 0-4 in the first start with each of his three teams he caught at least one touchdown. monday he had two catches, nonee for scores. >> donovan mcnabb did not

practice today in phillie. both michael vick and jeff garcia did. but it was kevin cobb who took snaps with the first team offense. mcnabb is dealing with a cracked rib. hopes to play sunday. vick is not eligible to return until week three. so andy reid says. >> i want to make it very clear that kevin cobb right now is the starting quarterback. so when you go t out to practic, you'll see kevin cobb as a starter. if donovan can't play this week, kevin will be the starting quarterback. thenn michael, we took off the exempt list, and he's able to practice only. he cannot play in the game. so therefore jeff garcia becomes the back-up if, again, donovan's healthy, he's the number three. if donovan is not healthy enough to play, then he's the number two. >> we can say this with great

certainty whoever lines up under center will not only bring you highlights but their postgame news conferences. it is thews blitz, every sunday, 4:00 eastern, yours truly with eric allen, complete recaps and news conferences of all of the early games, beginning at 4:00 eastern here on espnews. >> jay cutler threw four interceptions in his bears debut. see what he's saying about facing the defending champion facing the defending champion steelers this weekend.great. but put a ring of cheese in the crust and...jackpot! courtside...great. in between them... jackpot! pizza night...great. stuff crust pan pizza night...jackpot! (announcer) introducing pizza hut's new stuffed crust pan pizza. your favorite pan pizza with a jacot of awesome meed cheese in the crust. get a large one toppinfor just $10.99. it's my w favorite pizza. jackpot!

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cancer of the bio duct. it's an inoperable cancer. if you're unfamiliar with him. here's all you need to know. he spent 55 seasons calling major league baseball games. the final 42 in detroit. prior to tonight's game, harwell visited with the tigers to thank them for their support. then he addressed the fans inside coamerica park. >> in my almost 92 years on this earth, the good lord has blessed me with a great journey. and the blessed part of that journey is it's going to end here in the great state of michigan.

i deeply appreciate the people of michigan. i love their grit. i love the way they face life. i love the family values they have. >> that's some great stuff. boy, tigers 4-3. winners tonight. harwell called tiger's championship, 1968 to 1984. much as we mentioned, an institution in detroit had a that has detroit getting the 33rd save of the season by fernando rodney locking it down. maintaining the lead on the twins in the a.l. central. bears quarterback disappointed ine his new start. cutler threw four picks sunday night. he faces the steelers in week

two. with more on that, here's george smith. >> no one around here is worried at all. >> after an opening night disaster in green bay, jay cutler will try to regain his pro bowl form against the pittsburghst steelers at soldier field on sunday. and the bears quarterback remains unflap aable. >> pretty confident. i feel pretty good about it. four picks is tough. that's a tough one to swallow. tough to go back and watch. but we're going to bounce back. i'm going to bounce back. we're going to get better, on that, i can promise you. >> jay is fine. he is concentrating on the pittsburgh steelers. we're not living in the past. we didn't play well. there's not a lot more you can say. it's about doing something about it. >> cutler and a young corp of receivers are still getting familiar with each other. there were bright spots. like the 68-yard connection with rookie johnny knox. but it's clear there were also

miscommunications. >> no one's perfect. brett favre has almost as many interceptions as he does touchdowns. you know. the health of clarke remains unclear. clarke sustained a rib injury against the packers on sunday. he did not practice on wednesday. it's not clear yet when he will play again. with brian urlacher out the rest of the season. linebacker lance brigs becomes the bears new defensive captain. in lake forest, illinois, george smith, espn. >> bears hoping cutler bounces back. they also hope they can get by without rye an urlacher. he won't be playing against pittsburgh, the bears have been without the services of urlacher. in seven games, all came in 2004. they went 0-7 without the middle linebacker. >> how about this?

preseason pucks. rangers-devils. yeah. wow. third period, rangers down 2-0. >> already? >> i'm telling you. it's almost fall. >> it's fall almost. come of days. next week. >> that was gillroy. jake with the backhanded goal. and travis say jack, can iboro a vowell? >> arsenal and standard. fourth minute, up 1-0. oh, oh, william brings down jovanonic. >> it's going to be an arsenal goal here. >> edoardo puts it in. arsenal.

>> here's what you need to know to be in the know. derek brooks also drawing interest from the new england patriots. patrickel yaws underwent -- patrickel yawsh underwent bone surgery. >> including the quest to keep pressure on the tigers. and baseball doles out suspensions in the aftermath of last night's brawl in the bronx. how long the yanks will be without their back stop.

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 the rain delay continue we thought we'd start about an hour ago. the tarp has been pulled offened now the hope is somewhere around 9:45 we'll get a first pitch back again, 10:45 rather. so back with you here and the orioles are looking to add some more runs with a couple of outs and, two, put this ball gym away and take the edge off the game tomorrow. a well pitched came on both sides. >> jim: yes. is your starter better than mine? chris tillman coming off a win against the yankees in yankee stadium and the high fastball and there is the curve ball. so a lot roof easy outs early

on. a line drive to nick markakis. only the home run by gregg zaun and it was the solo home run. luke scott is able to get a double. he almost had another home run tonight and that would score brian roberts who scored ton error by willy aybar. sonnanstine, he was actually trying to win because he was 1- 8, so he pitches well enough to win. the unearned run the difference in this game and tillman didn't strike anyone out, but only walked one. he kept the ball in the ballpark. and when he did, it was the solo home run, the best to give when you're not getting a lot of runs. >> gary: the bullpen is active with both starters out. we'll probably see a change made here in light of the rain delay which has been extensive. we hope to get underway in a matter, we hope, of 10 minutes or less. don't hold me to that, okay? up 2-0 in the fourth inning.

two outs for joe mauer. raised his average to a major league leading .374 today. mauer is 30 for 56 in 15 games against the indians in 2009. bottom five, still 4-0, until michael cuddyer rocks the solo shot. 26th home run of the season. 1 of 3 hits and 1 of 3 rbis, and the twins win 7-3. nick blackburn, the win his second since the all-star break. he scattered two earned over 6 and a third. twins open a critical three of this game series against the tigers this weekend. they then play four more times in detroit at the end of the month. >> earlier this month, ernie harwell revealed his battle with cancer of the bile duct. it's an inoperable cancer. if you're unfamiliar, here's all you need to know. he spent 55 seasons calling major league games, the final 42 of them in detroit. prior to tonight's game, harwell

visited with the tigers to thank them for their support, and he addressed the fans inside coamerica park. >> in my almost 92 years on this earth, the good lord has blessed me with a great journey. and the blessed part of that journey is that it's going to end here in the great state of michigan. i deeply appreciate the people of michigan. i love their grit, i love the way they face life. i love the family values they have. and you tiger fans are the greatest fans of all, no question about that. >> the words of an icon in detroit, ernie harwell.

on the night the tigers win 4-3. they get the go ahead r.b.i. single from placido polanco. fernando rodney locks down his 33rd save of the season. it's the ninth win for the tigers in the month of september. they went 8 and 18 just a season ago. >> marlins and cards, rubber game in st. louis. didn't have his best stuff, but he was good enough. six innings, an earned run. struck out five. marlins take the 4-1 lead into the eighth. cody ross. r.b.i. single the score. dan uggla now has an 11-game hit streak. ninth inning, it gets interesting. bases loaded. lookout. pujols to the back. he gets first base along with the score. next batter, matt halladay, 4-6-3 ballgame. florida rolling. they've won 10 of 14. they're within four games of wildcard leading colorado. the cards have lost 5 of 6.

josh johnson love ons the sun light. he's 6-0 in day games this season. johnson wins for the 22nd time in his last 27 decisions. winning almost 82% of his games in that span. he's the winningest pitcher with a minimum of 20 decisions. >> mets and braves are all square at 3. that game in the bottom of the fourth. start of the game delayed by a two hour and 18 minute rain delay. david wright, an r.b.i. single. braves getting their runs from r.b.i. singles by ryan church, brian mccann, and omar. mccann's r.b.i. was an r.b.i. double.. >> n.l. west leading dodgers gunning for the sweep of the pirates. here's andre ethier, hit the game-winning t homer. here's today's hero. matt camp, the go-ahead homer. the two-run shot. number 24 on the season. bottom 8.

ronny belliard, some insurance. eighth home run of the season. dodgers led 3-1. top nine, jonathan brokston. hitting 98 on the radar gun. striking out ronny cedeno. save number 35. picks up the win, he's now 7 and 6 on the season. seven strikeouts, and the dodgers improve to 5-1 over their last six games. >> fright night in the bronx had its consequences. baseball suspended jorge posada, and jays reliever jesse carlson for three games each. both players fined $3000 in the eighth inning, posada and carlson got into a fight at home plate expirntion cited a bench clearing -- and incited a bench clearing brawl. >> tied at 4, brett gardener, just stole second base. and derek jeter is at the plate.

as we know this season, the yankees have had a few -- more than a few walkoff wins at the new stadium. >> meanwhile at fenway, red sox down 7-6 to the angels. they have a man on third with two outs. just recorded that. two outs in the 8th inning. vladimir guerrero left the game. he was hit by a pitch in the ribs. that's in the 7th inning. he had a bruise, no x-rays were taken. 7-6 over the red sox.ly bottom eight at fenway. >> rangers fading fast. looking to snap a three-game skid. hosting the a's. top six, it's davis! deepac to centerfield. marlin bird can't quite get there. but check out the relay throw. oh, it looks like it's going to be in time, except adam kennedy scores, and then later in the

inning,yo landon powell. boy, where have the power rangers gone? shutout for the third time in the last four games. they've scored one run over that span. 4-0. manager ron washington said we're not scoring runs, and we're giving you up runs, it's an awful time for it to happen. to say the very least, the rangers potentially get further in the a.l. wildcard picture. >> nats and the phillies. 13-3 against washington this season. you know they can hit with power. but this is interesting. ryan howard steals second. chase utley steals home. ful double steal. the three-run homer, right? or you can -- jason werth. small ball, beats you with the long ball. werth, his 34th of the year. that's his career high. phillies win this one 6-1. chase utley with that steal

home. 4th second baseman in big league history with 30 homers and 20 steals in a season. >> >> you know what howard says? you can't predict baseball. >> never can. >> still to come here on espnews, jets and pats this weekend. gang green's fourth string quarterback could hold the key to beating new england. and the popcorn has started to pop. after a game with the bills, t.o. already a bit critical of his new quarterback. >> mlb report is brought to you by: announcer: "it looks like nothing else on the road right now,"

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>> myles brand once the president of indi >> miles brand, once the president of indiana university and later president of the ncaa passed away today from pancreatic cancer. he was 67. brand leaves behind a legacy of friendliness and reform at an organization known in the past for secrecy and academic indifference. but ironically he'll best be remembered for doing what no other indiana administrator dared to do, take down the state's most surprised institution. here's bobti lee. >> >> seven years of national reform, and one historic decision. miles brand is remembered for raising standards at the ncaa, and as president of indiana university, enforcing his standards on hall of fame coach bob knight. >> we have established tough specific guidelines. this is a zero tolerance policy. >> i think miles brand deserves an enormous credit for finally

being the person who said we will have standards of conduct that will be upheld by our employees, and if that expectation is not met, i will enforce thute penalty. >> brand putor in place a strict policy for knight's personal conduct. then four months later, when knight violated the policy, brand fired him. >> i notified him he was being removed as basketball coach effective immediately. >>or within two years, brand was selected as president of the ncaa. the first leader of that organization wrowt a sports background. he took aim at the big money programs and the need to set specific academic standards and benchmarks for admission and scholarship grants. his reforms were not always popular. >> the president of the school should be held responsible for the academic aspects of the school. thehe deans of the school. >> in terms of the responsibility of the coach and faculty member to work with

students so they get a good education that is a shared responsibility. >> academics and measured by the ncaa, increase, policy was driven by principle for this son of brooklyn watching jackie robinson, and earned his ph.d. college basketball free of professional influence, and to continue the gender equity mandates of title 9. >> sometimes they'll cut men's sports, but blame it on women's sports. o title 9 then becomes an excuse to cut men's sports. >> he preached that athletics were an integral part of education. and managing that well, miles brand believed, reflects an american culture as a whole. >> i think the purpose of college is that young men and women form values and life plans. and part of that educational experience is participating onti teams, learning how to work to

your maximum capacity, that's what college is all about, and that's what sportsú  >> gary: back here at camde yards, that is j.p. howell as he will come on for shouse who was pitching when the rain delay occurred. the orioles batting leading the rays by a score of 2-1. and the defense is back out on the field. joe maddon looking at his card going all right. we're ready to go. it will be izturis coming up. izturis and roberts. pie started the inning by popping out in the rain. izturis with an 0-1 count that will be resumed here a very long rain delay obviously and a lot of the drying agent put down on the field and now it is

not raining at aural. >> jim: right now everybody is ready to go. it has been a struggle. he was the closer and he was doing a good job. e.r.a. really going into august 7 was 1.86. since then 10 runs in 10 and a third innings. he is a finesse pitcher. we didn't see the curve ball on monday night. he didn't need to use it. >> gary: so izturis will stand in and the orioles will try to put up one or more runs in the inning against him with one down. the pitch is going to be in there for a strike, and 0-2 with one away. >> jim: it is amazing how your fortune can change. two home runs in his first 49 appearances. five in the last 17. >> gary: right back to him. howell's got it and he makes the throw to first base to aybar for the out. izturis is retired and there are two down here in the eighth inning. >> jim: he has the very per follow through -- per kyle yarr

follow-through. >> gary: there will be a save situation here if the score doesn't change and jim johnson, the closer, will have the opportunity, it looks like, to come after. there he is warming flop the bullpen. we resume at 10:45. it was an hour and 40 minutes in the delay. two down that will be fouled off. brian roberts reached on an error and he scored on an rbi double by luke scott that unearned run is the difference mr. the ballgame right now. matt wieters got an rbi after mora doubled in the second. he moved over to third on the fly ball by scott and he scored on the wieters' sack fly. it is two runs for the orioles. gregg zaun, a home run for tampa bay that will be a base hit into center field. so brian roberts gets a two-out single here in the eighth

inning. >> jim: we talk about the per. it looked like that front foot, and then, again, of course it is wet. they put down the drying agent. i think that foot slipped a couple of inches. when he pitched the other night, mitch williams was the pitcher for texas and go to phillies, the night he threw back in the world series. >> gary: he was picked off and a balk is called. >> jim: i think brian went on his first move and your right leg if you're a left-handed reliever or left-handed pitcher. if it goes behind the pitcher rubber, you cannot. he is pointing. i don't know what it is. it appeared to me it looked like it was behind that.

even some of the lefties with the good moves. it is a calculated risk. and then you try to outrun the ball. >> gary: nick markakis, oh-fer three. he has fly flied out three times in the ballgame. nick gets the rbi chance here with two down. marge mark -- markakis 3-9 lifetime off of j.p. howell. markakis has had just one hit in 11 at-bats in this three- game set so far. 10,548 was the announced attendance tonight. there may be 100 people plus to watch the end of this ballgame here after the end of the rain and it has turned considerably colder. here is the 1-1 delivery and that is a strike taken. 1-2 on markakis. >> jim: because of the changeup, it has only given up

one home run. lefties hitting .270. on the outside corner low and away. .259 by the right-handers. they actually make it .159 because the changeup with the home run. six against right-handed pitching. only one against lefties. >> gary: the 1-2 delivery on the way that is counsel low. it is interesting. the right-handed number. he has only given up 25 hits in 157 at-bats to right-handers and 6-25 have been home runs. a very high percentage and a very good opposing batting average. >> jim: he's more about location and deception. again, that great changeup. not too many lefties throw it to other lefties. >> gary: the 2-2 count and it is going to be inside and nick works the count full. three balls and two strikes on markakis. roberts is on at second base. a two-run -- 2-1 ballgame and a

very important run out there if markakis can get it home. nick, .268 off of the lefties an .324 off of right-handers. 3-2. a long look by howell. it has got to bother you. your mind is telling you something else is going to happen. >> jim: he has always done that. it is very unusual. if you had a kid in little league you'd say young man, we're not going to do it that way. i had a young man who hit it to the fence. this is going to be injurious to our health. when you're 10, you can kind of lift them up and put them back on the mound and steer them in the right direction. >> gary: here is melvin mora, 3- 9 off of howell. two on and two down.

melvin has had a big night already inside for a ball. he has had double, a single and he has extended his hit streak tonight to four games. during the hit streak he has picked up six hits in 14 at- bats. mora with two away. 1-1. >> jim: there is that changeup. monday night, it is so effective because of the arm speed. it is a fastball and he just turns it over a little bit. good movement. they still play melvin down in that corner. carl crawford, he is hugging the line down there. a huge gap in left center field. >> gary: and the 1-1 is going to be swung on and missed. the pitcher of the record for the orioles is chris tillman trying to win his third. he gave up a run on five hits in six and 2/3. albers with 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout. baez worked an inning and a third and gave up just one hit.

andy sonnanstine, the rays' starter, could lose it. he gave up two rubs in five and 2/3 innings, only three hits. 1-2 delivery on the way. melvin mora swings and misses. the tag will be put on and that will do it in the inning. two are left on. jim johnson comes on in a save situation. úúxp÷÷

 >> gary: orioles baseball o mass season brought to you by

southwest airlines. book your next trip at southwest.com and by acura. acura, advance. with jim palmer and amber theoharis. soggy night here at camden yards. the orioles will take it if they can get the win. the young man hanging on to the bitter end here as jim johnson comes on to try to put it away. >> jim: the end of august against cleveland, so there hits are a little higher than you would expect because he has outstanding stuff. rick kranitz, the oriole pitching coach said the confidence is down a little bit, the command with it. so jim comes in. a hit and a walk last night against the rays, and you hope that it will be a little bit on. the guys is that are scheduled to hit, the first three guys are only 2-14 off of jim. >> gary: 1-6. the hit he has against him is a home run. and he takes the first pitch for a strike. longoria has had a single a

couple of hits and 10 at-bats so far. johnson is pitched inside to him. 0-2. >> jim: you don't find pitchers with a whole lot of better stuff. but lately just a little bit off, whatever it is, release point, confidence, combination of the two. >> gary: longoria, the 0-2 delivery on the way. it will be chopped off. a big rain delay in atlanta tonight. a lot of finals, but on the east coast, atlanta is just in the fifth inning against the mets so they had a long delay before they got their ballgame started. that rain started, we have seen, part of it at least coming up from the south. 0-2 count, longoria. 30 home runs on the season. 103 rbi's. a real danger leading it off. 0-2 outside. one ball, two strike count. >> jim: that was a changeup. it just pulled it off the corner. >> gary: the oriole bullpen in the three games so far has

gotten it done. the oriole bullpen, seven and a third innings without giving up a run. 1-2 delivery. ground ball. izturis. longoria is retired. one away. updating you on tonight's voting for the at&t player of the game, right now, it is the starter, chris tillman, who has a chance to be the winner on top. scott and mora are your choices. tex to 51862. the final results coming up on the "o's xtra" post-game show. melvin mora has had a double, single and run score immediate the ballgame. luke scott an rbi double and three time -- in three times up. ben zobrist 3-4 in the game. zobrist will take the pitch down low. another home run threat with 23 homers. >> jim: as we mentioned earlier, he hasn't hit a home run in 19 games. he certainly would like to get one up in the air. >> gary: he is 1-3 off of

johnson and the pitch is outside. >> jim: the hitting instructor said when he came up, at least early last year, he had a thumb injure i have -- writery, so it was in the minor league and he was tentative. not anymore. fastball hitter and he knows he can hit it. >> gary: that will be fouled back. >> jim: to the rays' television booth. >> gary: they wanted to make sure they were still in the ballgame. a two ball one strike count to zobrist. the yankees came back against toronto. they were down 4-2. they won it 5-4. the yankees marching on towards the post-and a division title. here is the 2-1 delivery. zobrist will take this and it misses. the count goes to 3-1. it sure looks like in the post- season it is going to be the red sox and the wildcard taking on the angels again. 3-1 delivery. he is ready to go down to first

base. >> jim: that is his job. if you get a fastball you can hit, he thinks the ball is off the outside corner which it was. so the orioles get a break there. a good running fastball. and i tell you, that's probably the only pitch that he has actually expanded his zone all night long. >> gary: 3-2 delivery. that is way back and pie looking and good-bye home run! ben zobrist has just tied this ballgame up at 2-2 in the top ninth inning with a homer off of jim johnson after an hour and 40-minute rain delay. >> jim: the fastball hitter. he eventually gets it. there it is. it is down but it is right down the middle. so here is a guy that was a utility guy and still is. he utilizes the long ball to tie the game up. >> gary: so that is the one tampa bay was looking for and