Wednesday Morning Quick Hitters

Fenway Parked looked more like Gillette Stadium as the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 19 – 17 Tuesday night. David Ortiz had 2 HRs in the 1st inning and Kevin Youkilis finished the scoring with his second HR of the night. In other Red Sox news, they acquired Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd for cash or a player to be named later.

Apparently 2 angry 2 run homers for Gary Sheffield were not enough for the Detroit Tigers as they lose to the Toronto Blue Jays 6 – 4. The Tigers put Sheffield on waivers Tuesday.

The Chicago White Sox moved 1/2 game ahead of the Twins by beating the KC Royals 9 – 0. Dye, Swisher and Pierzynski all had homers for the Pale Hose.

Injuries may be taking their toll on the Tampa Bay Rays, as they lost to the Oakland A’s 2 – 1 Tuesday. Scott Kazmir pitched well, but without their 2 spark plugs, the offense couldn’t get going. The Rays are still up by 3 games on the Red Sox.

The Philadelphia Phillies lost in the 9th inning to the surging Los Angeles Dodgers 4 – 3. Andre Ethier singled home Russell Martin for the win. Philly is now only 1 game up on the Mets, and the Dodgers are 1 game back of the D-Backs.

The New York Mets bullpen finally saved a game for Johan Santana, as the Mets beat the Nationals 4 – 3. The Nationals’ Saul Rivera hit the Mets Damion Easley with the bases loaded to bring in the winning run.

The Florida Marlins gained a game on the Phillies as well, by beating the Cardinals 4 – 3. The Cards were held scoreless over the last 8 innings. The Marlins are now 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies.

Randy Johnson continued to look like his old self, leading the Arizona Diamonbacks to a 4 -2 win over the Rockies. Newly acquired Adam Dunn doubled in his debut with Arizona.

Micheal Phelps won 2 more Gold Medals today, winning the 200m Butterfly (beating his own world record) and then, less then an hour later, started the 4×200 freestyle relay win.

US Girls Gymnastics can’t overcome injuries, but still take silver to China’s Gold.

The Miami Dolphins cut A.J. Feely.

The Minnesotta Vikings free agent acquisition CB Madieu Williams, who injured his neck, could be out for an extended period.

The Arizona Cardinals 1st Round pick was carted of the field Tuesday.

The Philadelphia 76ers re-signed Andre Iguodala.

Former Celtic Dan Dickau latest to bolt for Europe.

Monday Morning Quick Hitters

Clay Buchholz had another poor performance, losing to the Chicago White Sox 6 – 5.

The California Angels finished off a sweep of the New York Yankees with a 4 – 3 win.

The Minnesota Twins lost to the KC Royals 5 – 4 in 12 innings and also lost a game in the standings to the Chicago White Sox, now 1/2 game down.

A late inning rally got the Philadelphia Phillies over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6 – 3.

The NL East stayed tight Sunday, as the Florida Marlins stayed away from a sweep, and beat the New York Mets 8 – 2. The Mets are 2 games back of the Phils and the Marlins are 2 1/2 games back.

Former Portland Sea Dog Ryan Dempster dominated the St Louis Cardinals on the way to a 6 – 2 win. The Cubbies are now 4 games up on the Brewers and 7 up on the Cardinals.

Gabe Kapler, through 12 innings was 0 – 6 with 2 Ks and 6 LOB, but leading off the 13th, Kapler beat the Nationals wioth a walkoff HR. The Brewers beat the Nationals 5 – 4.

Arizona D-Backs pitcher Brandon Webb dominated on the mound and also added 2 RBIs on the way to beating the Atlanta Braves 6 – 1.

The LA Dodgers blow another save against the San Francisco Giants, losing to the Giants 5 – 4. The Dodgers are now 1 1/2 game back of the D-Backs.

Kyle Busch continued his absolute dominance in the NASCAR.

Michael Phelps won an improbable 2nd Gold in the 4×100 Men’s Freestyle. Trailing on the final turn, Jason Lezak, swimming anchor, swam the fastest leg in Olympic relay history, beating the world record holder to win the Gold.

Approximately 1 billion (insert Dr Evil joke here) people watched USA Basketball put away an early challenge from China, and finally beating them in prelim action, 101 – 70.

Nadal struggles to a 3 set win in Olympic tennis.

Seems the rain from home has followed Maine’s Olympic rowers.

Saturday Morning Quick Hitters

Mark Buehrle stymied the Boston Red Sox for 7 innings, and Carlos Quentin added an insurance HR in the 8th to beat the Red Sox 5 – 3.

The Tampa Bay Rays moved 3 1/2 games up on the Red Sox by beating the Seattle Mariners 5 -3. Carlos Pena went 2 -3 with 2 RBIs to lead the Rays to victory.

The California Angels used a 17 hit barrage to nail the New York Yankees 10 – 5. Ian Kennedy looked as dismal as ever giving up 5 earned runs in just 2 innings of work. Torii Hunter continued his blazing year at the plate, going 4 – 5 with 4 RBIs.

Chipper Jones returned to the Atlanta Braves lineup Friday, and immediately brought his team a victory. Chipper went 2 – 4 with a HR and 2 RBIs in Atlanta’s 11 -6 win over Arizona.

Brad Penny returned to the LA Dodgers rotation Friday and looked like the Opening Day starter the Dodgers expected. Penny went 5 inning only giving up 1 hit on the way to leading the Dodgers to a 6 -2 win over the San Francisco Giants. With the win, the Dodgers are only 1/2 game back of the Arizona Diamonbacks for the NL West lead.

Former St Louis Cardinal Jim Edmonds, was a 1 man wrecking crew on his former team Friday. Edmonds hit 2 HRs and Henry Blanco singled home the winning run in the 11th inning, helping the Chicago Cubs to a 3 – 2 win over the St Louis Cardinals.

CC Sabathia was on his game again, throwing a complete game, 5 hit shutout against the listless Washington Nationals. Sabathia struck out 9 in the 80’s Old School Pinstripes, to lead the Brew Crew to a 5 – 0 win over the Nats. The Brewers stayed 5 games back of the Cubs.

The Minnesota Twins kept pace with the White Sox, beating the Kansas City Royals 4 -1. Kevin Slowey 5 2/3 innings and the Twins bullpen held it the rest of the way for the win. In other Twins news, Michael Cuddyer is possibly lost for the season, as he was hit in the foot by a line drive while he was leading off first.

The Philadelphia Phillies wasted a gem from newly acquired Joe Blanton, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates 2 – 0. The Pirates used a bevy of pitchers and survived 2 walks by former Red Sox reliever Craig Hansen, in the 12 inning to secure the win. The Phillies have now gone 23 innings without scoring a run.

The New York Mets moved to within 1 game of the Phils, beating the Florida Marlins 3 – 0 Friday. Carlos Delgado and David Wright homered in the win.

The Atlanta Hawks didn’t waste much time deciding whether to keep Josh Smith. The Hawks kept Smith by matching the Grizzlies’ offer of 5 years, $58 million.

76ers center, Jason Smith, suffers ACL injury.

Tony Parker picked as EA Sports NBA Live 09 cover player.

Chad Pennington didn’t stay unemployed for long, signing a 2 year deal with the Miami Dolphins.

The Philadelphia Eagles locked up Brian Westbrook for another 3 years on Friday.

New York Jets tight end AJ Schable left the hospital after a helmet to helmet collision in Thursday’s game against the Browns.

Michael Phelps opened his quest for USA Swimming history by setting an Olympic record in the 400 meter individual medley. Larsen Jensen improved on his 400M freestyle American record

US Women’s Soccer got into the win to take his prelim heat.column, with a victory over Japan 1 – 0.

USA women’s saber fencing takes the 1st medals of the Olympics for The United States.