Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Reuters
TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays sent the New York Yankees into a pivotal part of their season on a losing note.
Vernon Wells had four RBIs, Roy Halladay struck out eight over seven innings and the Blue Jays pounded the Yankees 15-4 on Wednesday night.
Alex Rodriguez sat out because of a bruised calf, a night after getting hit by a pitch from Josh Towers. In that game, Roger Clemens and manager Joe Torre were ejected after Clemens apparently retaliated by hitting Alex Rios.
“My guess is, with the off day tomorrow, he’ll be all right,” manager Joe Torre said of Rodriguez, who declined to speak after the game, jogging away from a crowd of reporters toward the team bus.
The Yankees are off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Cleveland on Friday. New York plays 17 of its next 20 games against teams currently in playoff positions.
After Tuesday’s hijinks, Wednesday was a much calmer game. Frank Thomas added three RBIs for the Blue Jays, who have won nine of their past 11 at home.
Wells finished 3-for-4 and scored twice as Toronto matched a franchise high with nine doubles.
“It’s the right way to react to what happened,” Wells said. “Anytime you can do that after a loss like (yesterday) is huge. That’s what you have to do in a situation like this when you’re playing one of your rivals and you need a big win.”
Robinson Cano hit two home runs, one a two-run shot, and Hideki Matsui added a solo blast, but the Yankees’ five-game winning streak ended.
After Cleveland, the Yankees return home for three with Baltimore and four with Detroit, then head west for three games against the Los Angeles Angels and four games at Detroit. After that, it’s home again for a three-game series with Boston.
New York has gone 20-8 since the all star break. Twenty-five of those games came against teams with losing records.
“If we keep playing the way that we are it could be a very fun October,” outfielder Johnny Damon said.
“We have some momentum. We have some guys swinging very hot bats now,” he added. “We’re feeling pretty good about our chances.”
Halladay (13-5) gave up four runs and six hits over seven innings and walked just one. He improved to 10-4 in his career against the Yankees.
“You realize what a good team they are and you’re not always going to stick it to them,” Halladay said. “Every once in a while it’s a nice feeling.”
Chien-Ming Wang (13-6) allowed a career-high eight runs and nine hits over 2 2-3 innings, his shortest career outing, and lost for the first time in four starts. He walked two and struck out three.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
HardballTalk headlines |
 | Interactive |
 |
 | Slideshow |
 | Unbreakable records in baseball A look at the most unbreakable records in baseball including Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters. |
| Slideshow |
 | The top tools of baseball You hear a lot about the tools of baseball, but who are the best hitters, fielders and pitchers? We break it down. more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings