Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th career homer Saturday off Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens, a two-run shot that left him one away from an elite mark. Griffey’s homer in the first inning was a breakthrough for the Cincinnati Reds outfielder, who has been having trouble getting those last few to 600. He would become the sixth to reach the mark, joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy…
Alfonso Soriano homered and drove in three runs Saturday to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 for their sixth straight win. The NL Central-leading Cubs improved to 25-8 at Wrigley Field this season and handed the Rockies their sixth straight loss. With the wind blowing out at 14 mph and gusting up to 20 mph, balls again had a jet stream to ride over the fence.
Robby Ginepri is easy to spot at the French Open in his oh-so-American getup: black baseball cap turned backward and sleeveless T-shirt. His game, remarkably, has the feel of someone from somewhere else. He slides across the court comfortably. He plays defense. He waits, patiently, for openings. Even more remarkably, he is into the fourth round at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, the first man…
Big Brown has new sutures in his hoof, and trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. says his unbeaten colt “knows it’s time to get ready” for a shot at the Triple Crown. There was concern when Big Brown missed three days of training this week with a slight crack on the inside of the left front hoof. Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay inserted steel sutures Monday to pull the crack together and changed them Saturday .
Kevin White was hired as Duke’s athletic director Saturday, leaving Notre Dame for a school with an elite basketball team and a football team that has had 13 straight losing seasons and has not been to a bowl since 1994. Notre Dame appointed Missy Conboy as its interim athletic director. The school said there is no timetable for a permanent replacement.
Top-line forward Tomas Holmstrom took an on-ice spin Saturday morning with his Detroit Red Wings teammates to test out his injured right leg hours before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. After gingerly skating for about 20 minutes and flexing his legs, the winger said he felt good but wasn’t sure if he would play.
Boston’s new Big Three reached the NBA’s big stage. And just like their predecessors, they’ll share it with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics and Lakers are meeting again in the NBA finals, with Kobe and KG taking their place alongside the likes of Magic and Bird in the league’s most storied rivalry.
The Detroit Red Wings can win the Stanley Cup on Saturday night, even if they may not realize it. Not in actuality, of course. At last check, the NHL still requires a team to win four games to lift the Stanley Cup, not three. No matter, a Red Wings victory on Pittsburgh’s home ice would likely be a devastating blow to a young Penguins team that was waxed by a combined 7-0 score in the first two…
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun had some moments of fear, but never thought about retiring after being diagnosed for a second time with skin cancer. “All I thought was, ‘How do we defeat this?”‘ Calhoun said Friday. The 66-year-old Hall of Fame coach said doctors determined last month that a lump in the upper right side of his neck near the jaw line was squamous cell cancer, a type of skin cancer.
Maria Sharapova saved her most piercing shriek to punctuate her final shot of the first set, a thunderous crosscourt backhand winner to close out a tiebreaker. She then dominated the rest of the way Saturday to beat Karin Knapp 7-6 (4), 6-0 in the third round of the French Open. The top-ranked Sharapova needed 81 minutes to win the opening set.