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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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
AP
Given a second chance, Cole Hamels pitched like an ace when the Philadelphia Phillies couldn’t afford any less.
Hamels tossed 6 1-3 sharp innings, Jimmy Rollins homered and the Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 Saturday to move within two games of the NL wild-card leaders.
The Phillies can tie Milwaukee for the top spot by sweeping a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.
Philadelphia also trails the NL East-leading Mets by two games, pending the outcome of New York’s nightcap against Atlanta. The Braves won the opener of a doubleheader 3-2.
Hamels (13-9) allowed two runs and six hits, rebounding from a poor outing at Shea Stadium last Sunday. Hamels had a chance to put the Phillies in a tie with the Mets, but gave up five runs in a 6-3 loss.
This time, the left-hander delivered.
“I’m more antsy after two bad starts,” Hamels said. “One bad start doesn’t affect my morale.”
Struggling Milwaukee has lost nine of 12, including two straight in Philly. The Brewers are trying to avoid another late-season collapse. They built an 8½-game lead in the NL Central by late June last year only to finish two games behind the Chicago Cubs.
“Tomorrow is big. Nothing really matters except winning,” Brewers slugger Prince Fielder said. “This is the way I like it. There’s no pressure. Just go out there and play. This is when it’s fun.”
Brewers starter Manny Parra (10-8) didn’t make it out of the second inning. The left-hander gave up five runs and seven hits in 1 1-3 innings. He’s 2-6 since the All-Star break.
“He hasn’t pitched well,” manager Ned Yost said. “He pitches in spurts and doesn’t contain the damage. It’s been a struggle for him.”
Rollins sparked Philadelphia’s inconsistent offense with leadoff hits in the first and second. He finished 3-for-5, falling a triple short of the cycle, with two RBIs and three runs.
The reigning NL MVP singled in the first and scored on Chase Utley’s double to right-center. Jayson Werth singled in Utley and Shane Victorino added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.
Rollins doubled in the second and went to third on Utley’s infield single that appeared to bounce off his foot before rolling fair. After Werth walked, Ryan Howard hit a two-run single to center for a 5-0 lead. Howard leads the majors with 131 RBIs.
“Jimmy’s the catalyst. When he goes, we go,” Howard said.
Hamels got more runs in the first two innings than in any of his losses this season. The Phillies have averaged 2.1 runs in Hamels’ nine losses, including 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 defeats.
“It’s all about the team and the win, especially now,” Hamels said.
Milwaukee sliced the deficit to 5-2 with a pair of gift-wrapped runs in the fifth. With two on and two outs, Jason Kendall lofted a fly ball to left field that was misjudged by Pat Burrell. The ball landed beyond Burrell’s reach for a two-run double.
The usually cucumber-cool Hamels reacted in disgust to Burrell’s gaffe, but retired pinch-hitter Angel Salome to end the inning.
Rollins hit his 11th homer, a two-run shot, off Carlos Villanueva in the sixth.
Ryan Braun connected off Chad Durbin in the eighth for his 35th home run.
“I saw some good signs offensively,” Yost said.
Notes: Brewers hitting coach Jim Skaalen was ejected in the fourth for arguing that a pitch hit Fielder instead of his bat. ... A crowd of 45,105 was the 46th sellout at Citizens Bank Park this year. ... Hamels leads the NL in innings pitched (214 1-3).
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.
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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.
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