Baseball

Left hander Dontrelle Willis to start opening day for Florida Marlins

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) _ New Florida Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez knew long ago Dontrelle Willis would likely be his first opening day starter. And throughout spr

Roger Clemens no closer to decision about future

HUMBLE, Texas (AP) _ Roger Clemens was greeted by a group of autograph-seeking fans as he walked off the 18th green during a pro-am event at Redstone Golf Club

Bonds' pursuit of Aaron, implications for baseball top thing to watch in 2007

Don't expect too many cheers this season as Barry Bonds pursues Hank Aaron's home run mark of 755, perhaps baseball's most important record. But expect controve

Los Angeles Dodgers will all wear No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day News by

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Every player on the Dodgers will be No. 42 for a day. Los Angeles will honour the late Jackie Robinson by having all of its players wear his

Carlos Delgado returns to New York Mets following birth of first son

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) _ Carlos Delgado returned to the New York Mets on Thursday, five days after the birth of his son, Carlos Antonio. Delgado, who had gon

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NBA

Lakers lay a licking on Spurs

Lakers lay a licking on Spurs

LOS ANGELESThere would be no blown lead in Game 2 of the Western Conference final. Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers saw to that. Bryant scored 22 points,

Sparks defeat Mercury behind Candace Parker

Sparks defeat Mercury behind Candace Parker

PHOENIX -- Candace Parker had some jitters in her WNBA debut. It sure didn't show. Parker scored 34 points, the most in a WNBA debut, and grabbed 12 rebounds to

Paul Pierce helps Celtics prevail in another Game 7

Paul Pierce helps Celtics prevail in another Game 7

Twenty years earlier there was another thrilling shootout in another seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Boston -- Larry Bird vs. Dominique Wil

Clippers get seventh pick in the draft lottery

Clippers get seventh pick in the draft lottery

The Clippers, who were slotted sixth heading into the lottery, fell to the seventh overall selection after they were bumped by Chicago. From that position, they

Victory feels like series-clincher for Lakers

Victory feels like series-clincher for Lakers

We love it! the too-cool Staples Center fans giddily chanted with their victory song. We love it! We love it! We love it! Oh, will the Lakers forever love this

Nadal has to fight to win Mercedes Cup, his 6th tournament this year News by

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) _ Rafael Nadal dropped serve three times and had to sweep five straight games to win the Mercedes Cup with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on Sunday.

The top-seeded Spaniard hadn't previously dropped serve in the tournament, but had to rally from 5-2 down in the second set to claim his sixth title this year and his 93rd win in 94 matches on clay.

``I had a little luck, but I'm very happy I played well here,'' Nadal said. ``After losing the Wimbledon final to (Roger) Federer, it was hard to have a good tournament.''

Nadal is 23-5 in career finals, the highest winning percentage in the Open era.

The 50th-ranked Wawrinka had only won one match in eight attempts heading into the tournament after returning in May from a knee injury.

``I had almost no self-confidence before coming into this tournament,'' Wawrinka said. ``I'm just enjoying it at the moment. I played a really good match against the best clay-court player in the world.''

Wawrinka said he received a text message from Federer, who beat Nadal at Hamburg on May 20 for the Spaniard's only loss on clay in his streak.

``He ... didn't give me any advice about how to beat Nadal,'' Wawrinka said.



Cricket

Former Indian Test cricketer Maninder Singh arrested with cocaine

Former Indian Test cricketer Maninder Singh arrested with cocaine

NEW DELHI (AP) _ Former Indian Test cricketer Maninder Singh will face a New Delhi court Wednesday after he was arrested in his home for allegedly possessing 1. ...

World Cup: Pointless match gets interest boost from retirements

World Cup: Pointless match gets interest boost from retirements

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) _ The world gets its last chance to see Brian Lara play international cricket on Saturday when the West Indies plays England in a Worl ...

Ricky Ponting says Australia will improve with more challenging contests

Ricky Ponting says Australia will improve with more challenging contests

ST JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) _ Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels the defending World Cup champion team will improve further by playing challenging games like Su ...

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