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 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
ARLINGTON, Texas - Tommy Hunter was knocked around by Boston last season. This time, the Texas rookie right-hander helped knock the Red Sox out of first place.
Hunter allowed one run and four hits over six innings to beat All-Star Josh Beckett, who still threw his third complete game in six starts, in the Rangers’ 4-2 victory.
“He kept his composure,” Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said of Hunter. “He’s matured so much since last year.”
Boston has its first four-game losing streak since last July, scoring only eight runs in the stretch. The New York Yankees beat Baltimore 6-4 on Tuesday night to break the tie atop the AL East, where the Red Sox had been since June 9.
“We’ve hit our worst spot of the year as a team swinging the bats,” Red Sox captain Jason Varitek said. “We’ve all been here before. We’re one or two hits away from getting it back together.”
Boston, which lost two of three at Toronto over the weekend, has lost consecutive series after winning five in a row before the All-Star break.
Hunter (2-1), a 23-year-old right-hander drafted only two summers ago, gave up nine runs in 1 2-3 innings at Fenway Park last August in one of his three starts last season.
“I did not throw well when I pitched against them last year. I threw pretty well tonight, I was able to throw four pitches for strikes,” Hunter said. “Last year, I had a pitch-and-a-half. I wouldn’t consider the fastball a pitch, it was always up in the zone.”
The Red Sox weren’t able to tee off this time against Hunter, who threw a lot of changeups.
“They hit a lot of weak pop flies,” he said.
Boston’s only run against Hunter came in the sixth when Dustin Pedroia had a two-out single and Kevin Youkilis followed with a double into the right-center gap. David Ortiz, who had been thrown out in the second trying to extend a leadoff single, then hit an infield popup on Hunter’s last pitch.
“He had given us what we needed,” manager Ron Washington said.
Hank Blalock put Texas ahead to stay with a two-run single in the first, though the Texas-born Beckett (11-4) retired 13 batters in a row after that until Michael Young’s one-out single in the sixth.
“I didn’t make very good pitches. This one falls on me. I think the right person got the loss,” Beckett said. “The game was lost in the first inning. Two-out runs are demoralizing to everybody, especially to a pitcher. ... It’s unacceptable.”
Kinsler had a leadoff double and Jones a two-out walk in the first before both advanced on a double steal. Blalock then pulled a liner through the right side of the infield.
Andruw Jones had a leadoff double in the seventh for Texas and scored on David Murphy’s flyball to shallow left. Marlon Byrd added a two-out RBI single in the eighth.
Beckett struck out seven and gave up seven hits in his first start since July 12. He threw a three-hit shutout at Kansas City before the All-Star game, where he didn’t pitch.
The right-hander was 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA his previous five starts, including another shutout. He had been 6-0 in games following Boston losses.
C.J. Wilson worked the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances, despite giving up an RBI single to Mike Lowell. Wilson has saved both games since closer Frank Francisco was put on the disabled list for the third time this season — this time with a case of pneumonia.
Rangers relievers have allowed one run in 14 innings in a three-game winning streak that has followed a four-game slide.
Notes: Kinsler caught two inning-ending popups in foul territory. He reached into the stands to end the fourth to catch Jason Bay’s popup when the bottom half of his body crashed into the 3½-foot high brick facade. ... Boston is 8-15 vs. the AL West. ... Rangers All-Star OF Nelson Cruz, out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game with a fractured right ring finger, took some swings before the game and could be back in the lineup Wednesday. ... Texas LHP Matt Harrison, out since May 26 because of left shoulder inflammation, will make a rehab start Wednesday for Double-A Frisco.
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.
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.
Adreian Payne scored 15 points, Draymond Green added 12 and defense-minded No. 11 Michigan State beat No. 3 Ohio State 58-48 Saturday night, ending the Buckeyes' 39-game home winning streak.