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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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
ST. LOUIS - Jack Wilson waited until the Pittsburgh Pirates were down to their last strike before coming through.
Wilson’s three-run double on an 0-2 fastball capped a four-run ninth inning off hard-throwing Jason Motte, leading Pittsburgh to an opening 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
“That first one, he blew by me pretty easily,” Wilson said. “Then I kind of stayed back and it felt pretty good. Just try to get it out there, put it in play, and then you have a chance.”
In a game played in 41-degree chill, Ryan Ludwick broke a 2-2 tie with a leadoff homer in the eighth off Tyler Yates, and David Freese added a sacrifice fly off John Grabow (1-0) for a 4-2 lead.
Freddy Sanchez led off the ninth with a double off Motte, who won a three-way battle for the closer’s job in spring training. Adam LaRoche singled in a run with two outs, pinch-hitter Eric Hinske doubled LaRoche to third and Brandon Moss was hit by a pitch before Wilson’s drive to left-center.
Motte, a former catcher who moved to the mound in 2006, had a 1.46 ERA and five saves in spring training after debuting last season with an 0.82 ERA in 11 games with the Cardinals.
His fastball has been timed in the high 90s but when Motte got behind in the count, it wasn’t nearly as effective. He refused to blame the weather or nerves from playing in front of a sellout crowd of 45,832.
“It’s just one of those things,” Motte said. “You go out there and have a bad outing, you can come back out there tomorrow and be the hero. You’ve just got to put it all behind you.”
St. Louis didn’t warm up anyone until after Wilson’s hit.
Wilson had been 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a popup. He batted .170 in spring training with a homer and three RBIs in 21 games.
“He’s got a new approach up there and I don’t think he felt that comfortable in spring training,” manager John Russell said. “Hopefully, this will help him to relax.”
Matt Capps pitched the ninth for the save, sealing the third straight opening-day win for the Pirates, who have finished last in the NL Central in three of the last four seasons. Nyjer Morgan had three hits and two RBIs as the Pirates overcame three errors.
Albert Pujols was 3-for-4 with an intentional walk for the Cardinals. He is batting .419 hitter (13-for-31) with two homers, four doubles and 10 RBIs in nine openers.
Adam Wainwright made his first official opening day start, a year after he pitched in an opener that was wiped out by rain after three innings. He allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings, and he combined to strike out (seven) or walk (five) nearly half his 25 batters. While the strikeouts were one shy of his career best, he matched his high for walks, set in his final start last season. He even walked Pirates starter Paul Maholm on four pitches.
After Pittsburgh stranded five runners in the first two innings, St. Louis went ahead in the third on run-scoring singles by Khalil Greene and Ludwick following the first of LaRoche’s two errors at third.
Wainwright walked his last two hitters, and Morgan hit a two-run single off Trever Miller. Maholm, a career .139 hitter coming in, walked against Josh Kinney in the sixth.
“It’s not what I wanted, that’s for sure,” Wainwright said. “I wanted to carry my team deeper into the game, and I didn’t.”
Maholm had a team-high nine wins last year, the lowest total for a Pirates staff leader since 1981, and moved one slot ahead of ’08 opening day starter Ian Snell and two slots ahead of Zach Duke (’07) in the rotation.
Notes: Cardinals Hall of Famers Stan Musial, 88, and Red Schoendienst, 86, tag-teamed the first pitch. Musial rode a cart to the mound and flipped the ball to Schoendienst, who walked halfway to the plate and made an underhand throw. ... There was a moment of silence before the game for longtime instructors George Kissell and Dave Ricketts, and former scouting director Fred McAlister, all of whom died in the past year. ... The Pirates opened on the road for the fourth straight season. ... Greene entered with 15 career at-bats as the cleanup hitter, all in 2007 with the Padres. He batted .408 with 17 RBIs in spring training.
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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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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.