victory

On to the Belmont for I’ll Have Another

by on May 19, 2012

BALTIMORE, may 19 (UPI) — There’s no question I’ll Have Another is pointed directly toward the first Triple Crown in 34 years.

“On to new York, baby,” winning trainer Doug O’Neill said as his Flower Alley colt got by pacesetting Bodemeister to win Saturday’s Preakness Stakes by a neck. After a similar victory over the same foe in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier, only the June 9 Belmont Stakes now stands between I’ll Have Another and the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

The last horse to have a chance to win the Triple Crown was Big Brown in 2008. I’ll Have Another is the ninth horse in 16 years to have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

O’Neill said the Preakness stretch run seemed interminable as his colt made his run at Bodemeister.

“I’m just numb,” the California-based trainer said. “I could see him and I felt like he was coming. But you never want to expect that he’s going to be in front. I saw him coming. it seemed like the stretch never ends. thank God. usually you want it to end. Incredible.”

Before the race, O’Neill had talked about taking the lead if Bodemeister didn’t get out to a good start. In fact, jockey Mario Gutierrez let I’ll Have Another relax behind the leader even though the early fractions were not exceptionally fast.

“We wanted to be a little bit closer to Bodemeister this time,” Gutierrez said, “because normally that horse runs a huge race. my horse has a tremendous kick in the end. He has been proving that in the last three races. He didn’t disappoint again today.”

Bodemeister’s trainer, Bob Baffert, twice has gone to the Belmont with a chance to take the Triple Crown, only to lose that final race.

“It’s one of those things where it’s good for the sport,” Baffert said. “It’s good for the Belmont. It’s tough … I’m proud that as a trainer my horse showed up and he ran his race. He just got beat.”

Gutierrez was riding on a minor circuit in western Canada until O’Neill and winning owner J. Paul Reddam tapped him to ride I’ll Have Another. He has not ridden in new York, where Belmont’s sweeping, 1 1/2-mile main track presents unusual challenges.

“I think I’m going to go back to ride at Hollywood Park,” the jockey said. “It all depends on what mr. Reddam and Doug O’Neill say. if they ask me to go with the horse, I will go with the horse because he deserves me to be with him. if that’s what they want, I will go there.”

O’Neill said he is looking forward to the three weeks in the Big Apple before the Belmont.

“The great thing about having a horse like I’ll Have Another, it opens up a lot of doors,” he said. “You get to meet so many people who love horses and they love horse racing. Along the way, if we can share a little bit of the backstage fun of it, and the excitement, and the beauty of it, I would like to do that.

“I would love the opportunity to do cool things in new York if we can.”

Tigers ace Justin Verlander comes within two outs of third no-hitter

by on May 18, 2012

Detroit — Dr. Verlander, we presume.

It wasn’t his third no-hitter, but it was darn close.

The Tigers’ ace, who has cured whatever ails the Tigers many times in the past, has made them feel better once again Friday night at Comerica Park.

But with a no-hitter two outs away, Josh Harrison — who had hit the toughest-to-catch ball earlier in the game — singled to center to ruin the bid.

Even so, in a 6-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Verlander dominated, walking two, but showing early — with a devastating curve — that this could be one of those nights.

And it almost was.

The only batted ball that was close to being a hit (before the hit) was Harrison’s fly ball to deep left-center that Don Kelly, playing instead of the injured Austin Jackson, caught up to and hauled down.

Kelly’s brother-in-law, Neil Walker, also hit the ball hard in one of his at-bats, but lined it to Brennan Boesch in right.

Runs were no problem this time for the Tigers. they scored twice in the first off Pirates starter Charlie Morton with the help of consecutive doubles from Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.

They added two more in the fourth, one of them on Delmon Young’s second home run of the season and two more in the seventh on Young’s two-run double.

Verlander took care of the rest — almost to the point of becoming the first Tiger to throw a third no-hitter

But as he said last year in Toronto, he hoped he wasn’t his last — and with games like this, chances are it wasn’t

tom.gage@detnews.com

twitter.com/Tom_Gage

Tigers ace Justin Verlander comes within two outs of third no-hitter

Smith, Coyotes oust Blackhawks 4-0

by on April 24, 2012

The two teams will meet again, in Chicago, on Monday night. and Andrew Shaw will return to the lineup for the Blackhawks. in Saturday night's victory, the Blackhawks had three rookies in the lineup: Jimmy Hayes, Marcus Kruger and Brandon

Mike Smith made 39 saves and the Phoenix Coyotes scored three times in the final period to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 on Monday night and capture their opening-round series in six games.

Chicago Blackhawks' goalie Corey Crawford looks back as the Coyotes score their second goal of the game in the third period. Chicago Blackhawks' right wing Jimmy Hayes and Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris get into a tussle.

The Phoenix Coyotes win their first ever playoff series in Phoenix shutting out the Blackhawks 4-0. Win the series 4-2.

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch forced into primary fight

by on April 22, 2012

SANDY, Utah—Utah Republicans denied U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch a clear path to a seventh and final term Saturday, forcing the 78-year-old lawmaker into a June primary with 37-year-old former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist. Hatch fell short of the outright nomination by fewer than three dozen votes from the nearly 4,000 delegates at the party convention.

In a matter of weeks, Hatch turned the question of whether he would survive the convention into a question of whether he would reach the 60 percent threshold to earn the nomination. Despite the setback, Hatch holds a significant fundraising edge in what has become the stiffest challenge since his election to the Senate in 1976. the eventual Republican nominee will be the heavy favorite in November because of GOP dominance in Utah.

“A few months ago, a lot of people weren’t giving me a chance,” Hatch said. “So I feel good. I consider it a victory with everything that happened in the past.”

Hatch urged that delegates endorse him so he can help repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law and potentially lead the powerful Senate Finance Committee if Republicans regain control of the chamber in November. Hatch argued that he was only candidate who had the ability to enact the GOP’s priorities from day one of the next congressional session.

“I’m a tough old bird, and I’ve never felt more eager,” he said.

But Liljenquist said Hatch’s seniority was overrated and said that he was ready to work with freshmen Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky in changing how the Senate works.

“It is time for a new generation of leaders,” Liljenquist said shortly after the results were announced. “We know it to our bones.”

While most states rely on primaries to secure a party’s nomination, Utah elects delegates to get first crack at determining whether a candidate should earn the nomination outright. in all, 10 candidates ran for the Senate seat and took turns Saturday attempting to convince the delegates to support them. Hatch and Liljenquist advanced from the first round of voting after Hatch got 57 percent of the vote and his challenger took 28 percent.

In the second round, the incumbent earned 59.2 percent of the vote, just short of the 60 percent needed for the outright nomination. as a result, they will face each other in the June 26 primary.

Hatch told delegates that experience can make all the difference in getting conservative priorities passed. “It will be my last six years in the U.S. Senate, but they’ll be the best six years and the most critical six years of all,” he said.

Liljenquist took issue with Hatch’s assertion that his seniority was such a critical asset. he noted that Hatch had used a similar argument in previous elections and that the GOP would still be in good hands without Hatch’s influence because Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, a graduate of Brigham Young University, was next in line to serve as the Finance Committee chairman if the Senate changes hands. That’s by no means assured as other senior senators will also have a shot at heading the committee.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette – telegram.com – Boston Marathon: Sharon Cherop reigns in the sun

by on April 17, 2012

BOSTON —  in her Boston Marathon debut last year, Kenyan Sharon Cherop finished third, 6 seconds behind countrywoman and winner Caroline Kilel. she felt her lack of course knowledge prevented her from a possible victory. Yesterday, while battling through 80-degree heat, the 28-year-old Cherop was better prepared, knew when to make her final move, and then held off one last kick by Kenyan Jemima Sumgong to win in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds. For the fifth straight year, the women’s race was a sprint to the finish. the past four were decided by a total of 8 seconds, including last year’s thriller when Kilel held off American Desiree Davila by 2 seconds. Cherop and Sumgong ran side-by-side for the last four miles of the 26.2-mile trek. As they made the turn from Hereford Street onto Boylston Street for the final stretch, Cherop accelerated and opened up what seemed like a comfortable lead. Sumgong, whom Cherop affectionately referred to as “my friend” in her postrace press conference, came at her one last time, but Cherop held on to win by 2 seconds. “This time around, I was really prepared,” said Cherop, who collected the $150,000 winner’s prize. “last time, the race went so fast and I didn’t know I was about to finish. I was behind 600 meters. I didn’t know the course well and didn’t know the finish line was coming. This time, I spent more time training on it.” Running alongside Sumgong helped her decide when to make her break at the end. “if I was going to be with a Kenyan, I needed to speed up at 600 and again at 300 meters,” Cherop said. “if it was an Ethiopian, you have to be careful because they’re known for having a stronger finish than Kenyans.” Yesterday marked the ninth time in the last 13 years a Kenyan woman has won Boston. Wesley Korir’s win in the men’s race gave Kenya a sweep. Sheri Piers, 40, of Falmouth, Maine, was the top American finisher. Piers came in 10th in 2:41:55. Cherop won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships. her time in last year’s Boston Marathon, 2:22:42, was a personal best until she shaved 3 seconds off it in Dubai in January. Cherop also won the Hamburg Marathon and the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, both in 2010. Hot conditions resulted in slower times yesterday, but Cherop, who is overcoming a right knee injury, didn’t mind the reduced pace. the knee problem, which she described as “small,” impacted her training as recently as two weeks ago. “I was going slow (during training),” Cherop said. “I was measuring my progress day by day. I kept improving toward the last minute, but I was not 100 percent. That is why the slow race was good. it helped me see how my knee was feeling.” a lead pack of about 12-14 runners was together until around the 12-mile mark, when Cherop led a group of nine. the pack was down to five — Cherop, Sumgong, Kilel, Georgina Rono and Firehiwot Dado — by the 18-mile marker. Kilel dropped back after getting tangled up at a water station, rejoined the lead before falling back again on the uphill at 19 miles, and did not finish. the remaining four lost Dado as they made their way past Boston College, and Cherop and Sumgong pulled away from Rono at the 22-mile mark. “it was a comfortable pace,” Sumgong said. “(Cherop) did not push a lot. At the end, it was very hard for me. I didn’t catch up with her because she was pushing hard. I was thinking that maybe I could catch her. but she kept pushing and pushing and pushing.” Rono was third in 2:33:09 and Dado fourth in 2:34:56. the U.S. had three finishers in the top 15. Joining Piers were Sheila Croft of Redmond, Wash., who was 13th in 2:48:31, and Hilary Dionne of Charlestown, who was 15th in 2:51:56. Articles Most Read Today

State-Journal.com – Prep softball: Lady Flyers stumble

by on April 16, 2012

Franklin County’s softball team did just what it wanted to do in two of its Capital City Showcase games – jump out to an early lead and roll to victory.

The Lady Flyers weren’t able to do that in two other contests and finished 2-2 in the tournament at Lakeview Park this weekend. FCHS hosted the event.

Franklin County, which went 2-1 in pool play, advanced to the single-elimination portion of the tournament. there the Lady Flyers lost to Holy Cross 6-1.

“We had one bad inning,” FCHS coach Tracy Spickard said. “We got back on our heels a little bit after that and dropped our heads a little bit.

“We left way too many people on base, and you can’t do that against good teams and be successful.”

FCHS (10-5) scored its run in the top of the first against Holy Cross. Shelby Sanders led off with a single and after a strikeout Sydney Wiard doubled to send Sanders to third.

A base hit by Kara Howard brought Sanders home.

Holy Cross tied the game in the bottom of the first as pitcher Morgan Gailor hit a two-out solo home run, and the Lady Cougars put five runs on the board in the second inning with four singles, a sacrifice fly and an error.

Franklin County loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but a fielder’s choice ended the inning with no runs scoring. 

The Lady Flyers also had the bases loaded in the fifth inning, this time with one out, but the runners were left stranded by a strikeout and a fielder’s choice.

Wiard hit a double and single for FCHS, Sanders and Howard both singled twice, and Ashley Hack and Brianna Banks each had a base hit. Howard pitched for the Lady Flyers.

Holy Cross had eight hits, led by Gailor with a home run and Katelyn Heines with two singles.

FCHS opened tournament play Friday night with a 2-1 loss to the Christian Academy of Louisville, and the Lady Flyers completed pool play Saturday with a 10-2 win over Conner and a 10-0 victory over Graves County.

“We were in a tough pool,” Spickard said. “We played Christian Academy of Louisville. They’re a good team and have the best pitcher we’ve seen all year.”

The game was scoreless through four innings. FCHS went ahead 1-0 in the fifth, and CAL came back with two runs in the sixth for the win.

Alyssa Gaines and Macy Johnson both singled, accounting for all of Franklin County’s hits. Howard gave up just four hits to the Lady Centurions.

“We didn’t play bad,” Spickard said, “but it took awhile to adjust to the pitching. 

“We came back after that and played another nice team, a well-coached team in Conner,” she added. “We got an early lead and kept the pressure on them.”

FCHS scored three runs in the first inning, three more in the third and closed out the scoring with four runs in the fifth. Conner scored both of its runs in the first inning.

Johnson and Howard both had two singles in the game, and Wiard, Banks and Gaines each had a base hit. Howard was the Lady Flyers’ pitcher.

That brought up Graves County as FCHS’ final pool play opponent.

“Graves County has been getting votes in the polls,” Spickard said. “I watched them play Conner Friday night and they were hitting the cover off the ball.

“We came ready to play,” she added. “We got a jump on them early, put pressure on them, and I think it rattled them a little.

“That’s what we want to do every game – put pressure on teams consistently by getting out of the gates fast.”

FCHS was halfway to its mercy-rule victory with five runs in the first inning. Sanders led off with a double, and Wiard, Howard and Emmy King all singled.

The Lady Flyers added a run in the third inning, two more in the fourth to go up 8-0, and they closed out the game in the fifth with two more runs for the 10-0 victory.

Sanders hit three doubles in the game, Wiard, Howard and Kig all singled twice, and Johnson, Hack and Banks each had a base hit.

Howard pitched a three-hitter for FCHS.

Franklin County plays its next game at home Tuesday against Woodford County.

Tim Lincecum, SF Giants, Lose Opener 5-4 to DBacks

by on April 15, 2012

It certainly wasn’t the start to the new season that you want with your ace on the hill, but even in a loss there was reason for Giants’ fans to be happy.

Tim Lincecum, hoping to improve on his 0-3 record against the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011, tossed 5.1 innings and allowed five runs, all earned, including a pair of first inning homers to Chris Young and Paul Goldschmidt.

On the bright side for Lincecum, he struck out seven and only walked one batter in his outing and was the victim of three fielding errors. at one point he flashed his Cy Young brilliance and struck out five Arizona batters in a row.

Ryan Roberts broke up a tie in the sixth inning with a two-run double that would prove to be the game winner.

Offensively the Giants didn’t do much in support of their ace, scoring just three runs while he remained in the game, but they did mount a late inning comeback, cutting the lead to just one before finally being put away by the DBack’s closer J.J. Putz.

Ian Kennedy pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed just three runs on nine hits to earn his first victory of the season and his fourth straight consecutive decision against San Francisco.

Melky Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey each had a pair of hits for the Giants, including Cabrera’s first homer for San Francisco.

While it’s not a victory in the win column, perhaps seeing Posey, the 2010 Rookie of the Year, have a successful outing in his first game back from a season ending injury last season when he collided with the Marlins’ Scott Cousins on a play at the plate is enough of a moral victory to take the game in an optimistic light.

Oh who are we kidding? It’s still a disappointing start to the 2012 season…

Tim Lincecum, SF Giants, Lose Opener 5-4 to DBacks

San Jose Sharks will face St. Louis Blues in NHL playoffs

by on April 8, 2012

They said it had nothing to do with wanting to play one team or avoid another in the playoffs. they said it had everything to do with ending the regular season on a high note.

So after playing two listless periods, the Sharks earned a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at HP Pavilion on a goal by Dan Boyle with 1:02 left in overtime Saturday night to become the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference in a first-round playoff matchup with the St. Louis Blues.

Trailing 2-0 after two periods, it appeared the Sharks were headed for a rematch with the Vancouver Canucks, the team that eliminated them from the postseason a year ago.

“You want to go out with a win,” said Boyle, whose overtime goal was his second of the night. “It’s not like we wanted to play St. Louis versus Vancouver. I think either way you’re in for an absolute battle. but with pride, you just want to win. You play to win. That’s what we fought for.”

The Sharks, who finished the season with 96 points, will be up against a Blues team that wound up as the No. 2 seed with 109 points and beat San Jose in all four regular season meetings.

That didn’t appear to be a concern in a Sharks locker room filled with smiling players pleased with what they had just accomplished on the ice.

“Everything kind of gets thrown out the window once the postseason starts,” captain Joe Thornton said. “It doesn’t matter what your record was against a team.”

The victory enabled the Sharks to finish the season with wins in seven of their last nine games, including the final four. but this one did not start out well as Los Angeles jumped out to a 2-0 lead on power play goals by Justin Williams and Mike Richards, both scoring while Marty Havlat was in the penalty box.

Meanwhile, the Sharks had squandered power play opportunities of their own, including a 1:23 stretch in the second period when they had a 5-on-3 advantage.

“Coach kind of came in and said you want to hit the postseason the right way,” Thornton said of the change between the second and third periods. “We just wanted to go out and see what we had.”

McLellan mixed things up a little bit, too, replacing goalie Antti Niemi with backup netminder Thomas Greiss — something the coaching staff talked about doing depending on the outcome of the Phoenix game and where things stood against Los Angeles.

Thirty-five seconds into the final period, Boyle scored at even strength. and with Kings defenseman Matt Greene in the penalty box for boarding Tommy Wingels, Patrick Marleau scored his 30th of the season at 8:14 to force overtime.

In overtime, Boyle ended the game by driving the net, then getting off a backhand shot that beat Kings goalie Jonathan quick.

“Honestly, I have the worst backhand in the league probably and I believe it went off their d-man’s stick,” said Boyle of the shot that appeared to deflect in off Los Angeles defenseman Rob Scuderi. “I got a little lucky there, but it was a big goal.”

Boyle, for one, thinks the Sharks can treat the regular season in which they struggled as a learning experience.

“I think we learned, even as an old guy, you learn every year what works and what doesn’t,” he said. “We showed a lot of character the last four or five games, being behind in games and winning on the road. but it does start all over.”

  • Kings coach Darryl Sutter indirectly praised Niemi before the game in drawing a comparison with his own goalie, quick, who is expected to be a Vezina Trophy finalist. the two netminders gave up a combined 10 regulation goals in Thursday night’s shootout.

    “It’s a big challenge when you play San Jose,” Sutter continued. “San Jose has a goaltender that’s won a Stanley Cup. He quietly goes about his business and doesn’t get much credit, only criticism. and we have one that gets a lot of credit.”

  • Neither Ryane Clowe nor Colin White played in the final 20 minutes for the Sharks. McLellan called it a “maintenance period” for the two but said both would be ready to go for the playoffs.

  • Douglas Murray was back in the lineup after missing the previous four games with a lower body injury while Jason Demers’ string of eight consecutive games ended.

    Michal Handzus also returned to action after missing five games, replacing Torrey Mitchell, who suffered an undisclosed injury during Thursday night’s game in Los Angeles.

    McLellan said the fact his four lines have been playing well has kept Handzus out of the lineup but also gave him time to heal from an earlier injury.

  • Marleau’s goal gave the Sharks three 30-goal scorers for the first time in franchise history as Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski each finished the season with 31.

    For more on the Sharks, see David Pollak’s Working the Corners blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks.

    San Jose Sharks will face St. Louis Blues in NHL playoffs

    • Blaming Jim Leyland Is Nonsense

    by on April 7, 2012

    Lots of baseball debates are fun, even more fun when beer-fueled. But we’re one game into the Tigers season and we’ve already stumbled across the dumbest debate ever.

    Listen, people. It’s a long season. get a grip.

    If you think Jim Leyland made the wrong move pulling Justin Verlander after eight innings for closer Jose Valverde, then we have nothing to talk about. Go away. Don’t waste my time.The move was a 99.999999 percent no-brainer. Verlander had thrown 105 pitches in the first game of the season and the Tigers had a 2-0 lead over the Red Sox. I don’t necessarily agree with strict pitch limits — Leyland set Verlander’s at 110 — but I do agree with using a closer that was a mere 49-for-49 the previous season.

    Of course, there was no way Valverde was going to be perfect in save situations again. and he blew it, although the Tigers rallied to win in the ninth, 3-2. Verlander pitched eight shutout innings. He was spectacular. and while this victory was stolen from him individually, he sure didn’t seem to mind.

    If the Tigers had a shaky bullpen, maybe Leyland gives Verlander a shot to close it out. if this was an August game, maybe Leyland gives Verlander a shot to close it out. if Valverde was 39-for-49 instead of 49-for-49 last season, maybe Leyland gives Verlander a shot to close it out.Baseball is a game of percentages. It’s one reason I hate bunts in most situations, because percentages show, surrendering an out usually isn’t cost-effective.

    Here’s what I’m hearing from some fans (not a majority): what if the Tigers had lost that game?!Here’s my response: what if Verlander had started the ninth, gotten into trouble and lost the game?!

    Fans would’ve roasted Leyland for not using his “perfect” closer in an ideal save situation. stop wasting your breath, and my time, with this nonsense.

    Andrew Bynum will be key for Lakers

    by on April 5, 2012

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    The incorrigible one just took a hit in the wallet. All-Star center Andrew Bynum has reportedly been fined by the Los Angeles Lakers for committing "numerous infractions," according to an ESPLA.com report. The amount of the

    That ended Sunday when Andrew Bynum sustained a moderate sprain in his left ankle and had to leave the Lakers' 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. Bynum was injured after trying to block the shot of Warriors power forward

    There wasn't anything he could do against Lakers center Andrew Bynum, they said, even though Bynum put up 36 points against Jordan and repeatedly outmuscled and outsmarted him in the post. In fact, Kenyon Martin and Chris Paul both said Jordan did an

    Funny faces in L.A., starring Andrew Bynum. April 5, 2012 · 1:25AM. by Zettler Clay. By the late morning, there will be all kinds of analysis and “best dunk(er) ever” debates over Blake Griffin's evisceration of Pau Gasol. But there should also be

    Andrew Bynum will be key for Lakers

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