Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
Reuters
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Daisuke Matsuzaka’s brilliant escape act bewildered Tampa Bay and put the Boston Red Sox on top in the AL championship series.
Matsuzaka took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and worked out of trouble all game, pitching the defending World Series champions past the Rays 2-0 Friday night in the ALCS opener.
Dice-K wiggled out of trouble in the first and seventh, then got help from his bullpen to rebuff one more threat in the eighth as the Red Sox taught the young Rays about dominant postseason pitching.
“It’s amazing. We always joke how he gets out of these innings,” Boston’s Kevin Youkilis said. “He’ll have bases-loaded, nobody out; or first and third, nobody out, and he gets out of jams. We wish he wouldn’t put himself in those jams, but it’s amazing how he does it and shows how great of a pitcher he is.”
Jed Lowrie snapped a scoreless tie in the fifth with a sacrifice fly against James Shields, and Youkilis drove home another run with a seventh-inning double off left fielder Carl Crawford’s glove as the playoff-savvy Red Sox beat baseball’s best home team on its own turf.
Jonathan Papelbon closed out Boston’s team-record sixth straight postseason road win. Now the upstart Rays, who held off the Red Sox for the AL East title, are the ones doing the chasing.
Game 2 is Saturday night at Tropicana Field, with Josh Beckett pitching for Boston against All-Star Scott Kazmir.
“This is probably how it’s going to be,” Youkilis said. “It’s going to be a battle every game.”
Crawford singled leading off the seventh for Tampa Bay’s first hit and raced to third when Cliff Floyd followed with a single. But Dice-K, who was unbeaten on the road this season, was equal to the task.
Dioner Navarro flied to shallow left, Matsuzaka fanned Gabe Gross for the last of his nine strikeouts and Jason Bartlett grounded into a force play to end the threat.
“You have to tip your cap to Dice-K and the way he got out of jams,” Shields said. “He was the better man tonight.”
The Rays, who thrived on timely hitting in winning a franchise-record 97 games this season, missed another opportunity in the eighth after Matsuzaka, who allowed four hits in seven-plus innings, gave up two more singles.
Hideki Okajima relieved and Carlos Pena flied out on a 3-0 pitch. Justin Masterson took over and got All-Star rookie Evan Longoria to ground into a double play.
“Listen, it happens,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “When you’re facing very good pitching at this time of the year, they can stifle you even with nobody out. We can do the same thing to them.”
Papelbon pitched the ninth for Boston, extending his career postseason scoreless streak to a major league-record 20 2-3 innings over 13 appearances. Joe Niekro held the old mark of 20 scoreless innings.
The Rays finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They wasted a big chance in the first, too, after Matsuzaka walked the bases loaded.
“He doesn’t give in,” said Boston manager Terry Francona, who surprised some by deciding to start Matsuzaka over Beckett in Game 1. “He throws all his pitches, so hitters have to respect, even in tight situations, he doesn’t become a one-pitch pitcher.”
Much was made before the best-of-seven series about previous scuffles between the teams, a history both sides tried to play down. But the opener did turn a bit testy in the eighth when Grant Balfour hit J.D. Drew in the right shoulder with a high fastball, prompting a few Red Sox to holler from the bench.
Jason Bay drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and went to third when Mark Kotsay doubled down the left-field line for the third hit off Shields, who also started Game 1 for Tampa Bay in its first-round playoff series against the Chicago White Sox.
Lowrie, who drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning single in Boston’s division series-clinching victory over the Los Angeles Angels, followed with a sacrifice fly.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HBT: Prince Fielder is gone and Ryan Braun will likely miss a third of the season because of a failed PED test. Can Milwaukee stay in contention until he gets back?
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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.
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