Beijing, China (Sports Network) - This one was close.
Caitlin Lowe singled home the game's first run in the ninth inning, Crystl Bustos added a three-run homer and the United States softball team escaped a tough game against Japan, 4-1 on Wednesday, to make the gold medal game at the Beijing Olympics.
The Americans were unable to solve Japanese started Yukiko Ueno until the second extra inning, when Lowe led off with a single up the middle to score Natasha Watley for a 1-0 lead.
Watley, on second base when the inning started because of the international rule, scored easily without a play at the plate and was greeted at the dugout by her teammates. Standing on first base, Lowe clapped her hands.
The run was a relief for this US softball team that hadn't lost a game at the Olympic level since 2000 -- and that is playing for its fourth straight gold medal in the sport's last appearance at the Summer Games until at least 2016.
The Americans' relief was about to turn to jubilation.
Jessica Mendoza drew a walk against a tiring Ueno, putting runners at first and second base for Bustos, the sport's premier power hitter who entered the semifinals leading the tournament with a .563 batting average and four home runs.
Bustos, crowding the plate, blasted a Ueno pitch well over the left field wall and into the bleachers to give the Americans a 4-0 lead. She was greeted at the plate by a swarm of teammates.
Whew.
"I knew she had it in her, it was only a matter of time," Lowe said of Bustos, whose three-run shot gave her nine runs batted in over just eight games at Fengtai Field.
But the Japanese still had an at-bat left, and pinch hitter Sachiko Ito led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to score Motoko Fujimoto from second base and pull her team within 4-1.
The run knocked U.S. starter Monica Abbott from the game -- it was the first earned run allowed by an American starter in eight games in Beijing -- and brought in Cat Osterman.
Osterman set down Rei Nishiyama, Eri Yamada and Satoko Mabuchi to end the game and clinch the U.S. its fourth straight berth in the Olympic gold medal match.
"With our team, it always comes down to timely hits," said U.S. catcher Stacey Nuvemen. "We were often in scoring position, but we forgot that we don't need to swing big because Yukiko (Ueno) provides the power."
The Americans have won every gold medal since the 1996 Atlanta Games -- and they're currently riding a 22-game winning streak dating back to a loss in Sydney in 2000.
They could still face tough Japan in the final game on Thursday.
The winner of the Australia-Canada game was to play Japan later on Wednesday, with the winner of that game moving on to play the U.S. in the gold medal match.
Beijing, China (Sports Network) - The American team of Todd Rogers and Philip Dalhausser cruised to a two-set win Wednesday to make the gold medal match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament.
Rogers and Dalhausser rolled into the final with a 21-11, 21-13 victory over Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro of Georgia. It was their fifth straight win following a 2-0 loss to a Latvian team on the first day of competition.
"This is probably the first beach volleyball match I've been nervous in before the match actually started," said Dalhausser. "Probably because if we lost, I would have been devastated."
The Americans will face Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz of Brazil in Friday's gold medal match. Araujo and Luiz won an all-Brazilian final over Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego, rolling to a 22-20, 21-18 victory.
Beijing, China (Sports Network) - Sylvia Fowles scored 26 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to highlight another dominating Olympic performance for the U.S. women's basketball team in a 104-60 quarterfinal rout of South Korea.
Diana Taurasi added 12 points, while Cappie Pondexter and Kara Lawson each added 11 for the three-time defending gold medalists, who stretched their Olympic winning streak to 31 games.
Up next for the U.S. in Thursday's semifinals will be the winner of tonight's game between Spain and Russia.
Kim Kweryong had 14 points, and Jung Sunmin and Beon Yeonha each had 13 for the Koreans, who fell behind by 21 at the half and never threatened in the final 20 minutes.
The other semifinal match is already set with China to play Australia. China beat Belarus, 77-62, behind 28 points from Miao Lijie. The Aussies, seen as the biggest threat to the U.S. path to another gold, romped over the Czech Republic, 79-46, behind 17 points from WNBA star Lauren Jackson.
Tampa Bay defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2 and overtook their opponent for the best record in the American League.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Willie Aybar had a two-run single in a decisive eighth and James Shields tossed eight effective innings, as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2, in the middle contest of a three-game set from Tropicana Field.
The red-hot Rays at 77-48 also topped LA for best mark in the American League with the victory and remained 4 1/2 games ahead of Boston in the AL East with their ninth win in the last 11 games.
Shields (11-7) yielded just two runs on nine hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in earning the win. B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena had an RBI apiece while Jason Bartlett doubled and scored twice for the Rays.
"He battled again," Rays skipper Joe Maddon said of Shields' effort. "You see him a lot of times early in games bend a little but he always finishes strong."
LA starter Ervin Santana dominated for seven innings in the no-decision, fanning nine and walking two in allowing just one run on four hits. Vladimir Guerrero homered and doubled, scoring twice, while Garret Anderson extended his hitting streak to 22 games with an RBI double for LA, which has dropped five of its last six contests.
The Rays put a contentious sixth behind them and fought for a two-run lead with a three-run eighth. Scot Shields (5-4) entered for Santana and helped load the bases with nobody out. Two walks and a sacrifice bunt aided by Jeff Mathis' errant throw spelled trouble for Shields, who exited after getting Upton on a called strike three. Darren Oliver took over and walked Pena with the bases full before Aybar stroked a two-run single to left for the 4-2 lead.
"One inning got away form us," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We cracked the door open for them with the error and walks and Aybar got the big hit. We didn't get it done."
Dan Wheeler came on to close it out for his seventh save of the season, retiring both Howie Kendrick and Juan Rivera on strikes before pinch-hitter Kendry Morales flied out to right to end the game.
Guerrero strong-armed an opposite field, leadoff homer in the second, lifting LA to an early lead. Torii Hunter and Kendrick singled around an Anderson strikeout before Rivera stroked a single to center. Upton, however, fired a strike to get Hunter at home for the second out. James Shields got Mathis swinging to end the inning.
Guerrero blasted a ground-rule double to center leading off the fourth and Anderson ripped an RBI double down the right field line two batters later to extend the lead to 2-0.
Tampa cut the lead to one in a wild sixth. Bartlett doubled for the Rays' first hit of the game with one away and moved to third on an Akinori Iwamura infield single.
Upton sent a slow roller to first baseman Mark Teixeira who thought about going home before flipping to a covering Santana at first. Santana wasn't ready for the throw and the ball was fumbled away behind the bag allowing a run to score. First base umpire Jerry Meals ruled Upton had made a turn for second despite the runner never crossing the first base line and second baseman Kendrick quickly tagged Upton for the second out. An irate Maddon stormed the field and was quickly tossed before Cliff Floyd recorded the final out swinging at a Santana slider.
"It's unconscionable," Maddon said of the disputed call. "It can't happen. There's no room for that. That call can't happen. It was a fabricated call. It's a crucial part of the game in a pennant hunt. To make something up is wrong and then to be validated by the crew chief really got me upset."
Game Notes
Tampa Bay leads the season series 6-2 including a perfect mark of 5-0 at Tropicana Field...Wednesday's scheduled starters are Matt Garza (10-7) for the Rays and Jered Weaver (10-9) for the Angels.
New York's closer is experiencing more pain and swelling in his left elbow.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - New York Mets closer Billy Wagner will be out indefinitely as he is experiencing more pain and swelling in his left elbow.
Wagner had an MRI exam at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Tuesday that revealed the additional inflammation in his throwing elbow.
Wagner was placed on the disabled list on August 5 and was expected to be activated this week, but it was revealed on Saturday that he was still experiencing discomfort in the elbow after throwing around 20 pitches in a simulated game.
It is unknown when the 37-year-old lefty, who is 0-1 with a 2.30 ERA and 27 saves in 34 chances this season, will be able to pitch again this season.
The Mets, who have been using a closer-by-committee approach without Wagner, acquired righty Luis Ayala from Washington on Sunday in an effort to bolster their bullpen.
Beijing, China (Sports Network) - Pau Gasol recorded a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to lead Spain to a 72-59 victory over Croatia in Wednesday's quarterfinal round of men's basketball at the Beijing Olympics.
Felipe Reyes added 13 points and Jose Manuel Calderon chipped in with 10 to help the Spaniards advance to the semifinals, where they will face either Lithuania or China.
Marko Banic led Croatia with 15 points and Zoran Planinic added 12 in the losing effort. The Croatians exit the tournament after posting a 3-2 record in Group A.
The remaining quarterfinal matchups will have an unbeaten United States team taking on Australia, while defending gold medalists Argentina battles Greece.
Actress Nicole Kidman sent a message of support to the Australian men's sailing team to bring home Olympic gold.
The Others star sent a good luck message to Malcolm Page and Nathan Wilmot - and they scooped a gold medal just hours later.
Page admits at first he rejected "the unknown number" on his cell phone before realizing it was Kidman.
He says, "I was getting breakfast and thought, 'Ah, I just don't want to talk to her today,' so I bumped it. Then two seconds later there was a message from Nicole wishing us good luck."
"I ended up returning her call. She was very happy."
Page also claims Kidman was surprised to learn their boat was named The Australian, after the star's upcoming movie.
He adds, "She was very surprised that we do have a tradition of naming our boats after her movies and she's just really stoked to be part of a team."
Page and Wilmot have named previous boats after Kidman's films, including Days of Thunder and Dead Calm.
This year, Maddux is 6-9 with a 3.99 earned run average, but has given up just four runs over 19 total innings in his past three starts.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
(UPI) – The Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a deal to acquire four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux from San Diego, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
It was not known who the Padres would receive in return for the 42-year-old right-hander, the newspaper said.
Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch and General Manager Ned Colletti told the Times no deal was in place and declined to say whether discussions in a deal were under way.
Maddux, who had a career-long 14-start winless streak earlier this season, pitched for the Dodgers at the end of the 2006 campaign after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs. He signed with San Diego prior to the following season.
This year, Maddux is 6-9 with a 3.99 earned run average, but has given up just four runs over 19 total innings in his past three starts. Maddux was 14-11 with a 4.14 ERA in his first season with San Diego in 2007.
For his career, Maddux has a record of 353-222 with an ERA of 3.14. His win total is ninth all-time, one behind Roger Clemens.
