only the second time verlander has lost at home this year.the american league with 204 strikeouts. he racked up his sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season. he became the third tigers pitcher to have a 200-strikeout season in the last 35 years. he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. still to come on espnews, the n.l. wild card race. as the giants chase the rockies, why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and marcellus wiley tells us why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful what they wish for. possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season. they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but you got rid of touchdowns and production, and how are you going to replace that? roy williams stumbled out the blocks and didn't make much of an impact. crayton is better suited at a

only the second time verlander has lost at home this year.tin verlander leads the american league with 204 strikeouts. he racked up his sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season. he became the third tigers pitcher to have a 200-strikeout season in the last 35 years. he joins jack morris and jeremy bonderman. still to come on espnews, the n.l. wild card race. as the giants chase the rockies, why they should also be looking over their shoulder. and marcellus wiley tells us why tony romo and the cowboys should be careful what they wish for. . ♪ ♪ tell me who's watching. (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. ♪ i always feel like somebody's watching me. ♪ it's the money you could be saving with geico. possibility according to the sources. the cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs in the last sunday of the season. they'll have a new look. gone are terrell owens, jones, and williams. marcellus on the big esgest iss >> the biggest problem is going to be at the wide receiver program. yeah, you get rid of terrell owens and his drama, but

plus, with justin verlander, cc sabathia, jason marquis and cliff lee, we have a handful of aces. we're dealing now on espnews. >> we're live from the espnews room. john buccigross, jw stewart. and thursday turned out to be quite a day in sports. tiger woods playing golf. all you baseball aces and a big day in the nfl. some marquis players playing,

verlander has never lost in baltimore in six career starts but his e.r.a. went from 1.85 to 2.57 against the os. verlander struggled again in the first inning and it cost him to try josh beckett for the major league lead in wins. he gave up six hits in the first including the lead-off home run brian roberts and struck out eight to shut out baltimore over the next seven innings. >> the giants also looking for win number 13. biggio honored before the game. 3,000th hit. voted most memorable moment in minute maid park history. matsui, bottom of the sixth inning, off the foul pole. astros up 3-2. tying run on second for molina. not exactly -- astros win 4-3. jose valverde picks up the save. the giants lose for the second time in their last eight games. mike hampton picks up the win for houston. 16-4 now in his career against the giants. >> still to come, bills running back marshon lynch has been the team's work horse for the last two seasons. find out why his pre-season games will be the biggest highlight for a while. florida's urban meyer has a new contract and

brian roberts off justin verlander. that's the way to start a game. it was 1-0 o's.till in the first, 2-0 now. luke scott, great hitter, goes the other way. a 2-run double. five runs on six hits in the innings. they got only 3 hits the rest of the game. chris tillman in his second big league start did not hold the lead. bottom 1, miguel cabrera, a 2- run double to left. placido plaxico. cut it to 5-3 after 1. bottom 5, it's 5-4 now. cabrera is 21st home run of the year. straight and fast, doesn't cut it in the bigs. fourth home run, tillman, is tied at 5. same score, bottom 9, 2 out. danny baez in, thomas out. a laser dead center. that's your ball game. o's lose 6-5. brian mattix makes his debut tomorrow night. >>> the ravens weren't hitting hit full speed this morning but, it was certainly the most entertaining practice so far at training camp. it's because the offense was making plays. joe flacco going up top to demetrius williams over chris kerr for the sweet grab. the ravens are hoping he can stay healthy and draw the applause from ravens fans all season. troy sm

i know tillman's fist games were against verlander and greinke. >> buck: start number 22 for brian matusz. he is a pace ball fan. he knows what halladay means to this game so he is set to match up against him. >> jim: matusz against in his second big league start as he won his big league debut in detroit. he allowed one run on six hits, struck out 5 and walked 3. he will go to work on marco scutaro. aaron hill and adam lind will follow. and the 22-year-old lefty misses low. >> buck: b & t scouting report. he has to establish a better mix of pitches. he got a little bit too happy with his change-up and curve ball, too but his change-up is a very special pick, picked up his very first major league strikeout striking out miguel cabrera. >> jim: marco scutaro having a big year for the jays. and there is a strike, 2-1. 32- year-old now in his 8th season out of venezuela. the blue jays signed him, they signed him as a utility player and he has played so well at shortstop he has taken over the everyday job. nine home runs in that leadoff spot for toronto. a little low, ball 32. >> buck: the fast

tillman, his first outings are against greinke and verlander. he has quite a match-up there. it will be fun to be matched against matt halladay. >> there are the numbers for brian ma touse in his maiming league debut a very solid five innings giving up just that one run, six hits. he has five strikeouts and three walks. the 22-year-old getting the victory. buck, i thought most impressive was the fact that he got some big outs in that appearance. >> buck: he never got rattled. he is very calm and collected. >> all right. we have told you special ceremonies are taking place here for the 1992, 1993 championship teams. we will be back for the game and "o's xtra" is coming up! south florida the ceremonies are continuing in toronto as they honor their 1992 and 1993 teams. there is the hall of famer who had success in toronto as well as milwaukee and minnesota. the o's and blue jays getsing ready to play this three-game set. jim hunter with rick dempsey. all of these young players now that are being given a chance to show what they can do as they learn how to win at this level. the

red sox looking for a four-game sweep of detroit after getting swept by the yankees, but justin verlander, who hadn't been a great stopper in his career, e.r.a. 5.94 when detroit was facing a sweep, he was great today. struck out eight. top of the fifth, boston getting some good defense. chris woodward, casey kotchman tags polanco. red sox stick around, but ryan rayburn crushes clay buchholz's offer in the top of the seventh, 2-0 the final score. the tigers prevent the sweep. boston going to go to texas this weekend for a game that might shake up the a.l. wild card because the red sox went into today a game and a half up. they lose, guess what, the rangers win in cleveland to wrap up their ten-game road trip. josh hamilton 4-4, hit .486 on this roady. el vin andrews goes yard, as well. the rangers half game behind boston in the wild card standings. they'll host the red sox this weekend. the chicago cubs' g.m., manager and chairman have all apologized to shane victorino after a "fan" threw beer on him last night while playing. the phillies' center fielder has filed an official complaint wi

against the red sox, and zack greinke still can't find a groove after his fantastic start, justin verlanderaces out there on the mound, but finding trouble tonight against several offenses. of course we'll have much more highlights and reaction coming up. top stories ahead, brett favre missed two a days, find out how he's winning over his two viking teammates. will and j.w. stewart take over will and j.w. stewart take over ooooohhhh. i'm not beth. aaaaaahhh. ooooohhhh. (announcer) calling all captains. drink responsibly. ( music, words in reverse ) what could you win? i won! live nation vip concert access with scrabble at subway! play the game millions have won. everything from prius cars... to $100,000 jackpots, trips and vip concert access. play scrabble at subway... where winners eat. ♪

this makes detroit excellent when you're talking justin verlander and jared washburn throwing the ball this is a very interesting point you brought up. talking about what you get back in terms of getting guys that have major league experience. the bonus is already paid, things like that. there is a lot of money in there we don't see. >> french goes right into the rotation. he's not established like washburn. he's having one of the top years in the american league. a guy with background. having had success in the american league, you don't worry about him coming over. but they acquire two players. you keep him. let him become a free agent. they don't have to deal with scott werth as an agent now. they can sign him at the end of the year. but you would have gotten two type a free agents back. now you get these two guys. don't have to pay their bonuses. you can't go into the draft and make sure you can bring two guys back like the mariners fought back for washburn. at the end of the day, they could end up with washburn and the two picks and they didn't have to pay money for the picks whic

not only do they see their own teammates pitching bu the verlanders and the halladays and that is a tremendousool. >> gary: how things have changed, and trembley believes it is a change all around baseball. you used to believe i think as a fan and even as a player and manager when pitchers came up from the minor leagues, you expected them to be ready to pitch at the major league level. but hay had developed three or four seasons. the play is going to have to be made. wieters will lob it down there as a strikeout. but dave trembley says no more. there is not enough pitching depth around baseball for that to happen. now you look for guys who are mentally tough, who seem to be mature enough to hand the major league level and you bring them up and they're go diagnose learn as the major league level how to pitch. you're going to be instructing them while they're her and you're going to have to have great patience because they're not going to be major league pitchers when they get here. they're going to have to develop here. he say what is has to be done is educate the fan to understand that's where

plus, with justin verlander, cc sabathia, jason marquis and cliff lee, we have a handful of aces.ng now on espnews. >> we're live from the espnews room. john buccigross, jw stewart. and thursday turned out to be quite a day in sports. tiger woods playing golf. all you baseball aces and a big day in the nfl. some marquis players playing, and one player soon to be playing again, michael vick has found his team. and michael vick does get that chance. michael vick played in the nfl was on new year's eve 2006, that was against the philadelphia eagles. now he'll be playing for the eagles. vick signed a two year deal back-up for donovan mcnabb. he will get 1.6 million dollars in the first year. with an option for 5.6 million. the former quarterback was convicted for running a dog fighting ring and serving 18 months in prison. he can play in the final two preseason games i i of he can apply for. >> michael needed to go to an organization that was strong at every level. strong ownership, strong infrastuckture with a head coach, an established starting quarterback, and andy reed, strong coa