Tuesday Morning Quick Hitters

The Pittsburgh Steelers stole a game from the Baltimore Ravens. On a sloppy night when the Steelers lost 3, count em 3 RBs, they were able to outlast the Ravens in OT 23 – 20.

For the love of all that is good, Al Davis, please pull the trigger. ESPN’s John Clayton is reporting that talks have started internally about replacing Lane Kiffin.

New York Jets DB Eric Smith has been fined and suspended for the brutal helmet to helmet hit on Arizona Cardinals WR Anquoin Boldin.

Doctors for Jaguars lineman Richard Collier say he had 14 bullet wounds in various organs and spine, is paralyzed below the waist and lost his left leg below the knee due to the shooting.

The Chicago White Sox forced a 1 game playoff on Tuesday by defeating the Detroit Tigers 8 – 2. The Pale Hose will face the Minnesota Twins Tuesday in Chicago. TBS will have the game at 6:25PM

The Boston Celtics re-signed G Sam Cassell.

Miami Heat GM Randy Pfund resigns. Take a stab at who takes over…think Dippity Doo mixed with grecian-formula.

Monday Morning Quick Hitters

The Boston Red Sox lost to the Chicago White Sox at Fenway 4 – 2.

CC Sebathia was robbed of a no-hitter by a Pittsburgh score keeper on Sunday. The Brewers beat the Pirates 7 – 0. The Brew Crew are back to 4 1/2 games back of the Cubbies.

The Philadelphia Phillies kept pace with the New York Mets, who beat the Marlins 6 – 2, by beating the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs 5 -3.

The Minnesota Twins beat up on the Oakland A’s 12 – 4. The Twins stay 1/2 game back of the White Sox.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost Jeff Kent for the rest of the season, but beat up on NL West division leading Arizona Diamondbacks 8 – 1. The Dodgers are 2 1/2 games back.

The NBA Player’s Association has suspended OJ Mayo’s former agent for a year.

Georgia loses important piece for the season.

Thursday Morning Quick Hits

MLB

The Red Sox put another nail into the Yankees coffin last night.

Hank Steinbrenner is not impressed.

The White Sox got rundown by Orioles magic…

Denard Span saved the Twins, and helped the Twins gain a game.

The Mets bounced back against the Phillies.

The Cubs finished off the Bucs. Craig Hansen was shipped to the minors.

NFL

Ahman Green took a pay cut to stay with Houston.

Good news for one of my fantasy teams (not the case in real life), Peyton Manning looks good so far.

Sports Illustrated will have 6 regional covers for the NFL preview, who do you think gets the nod in the northeast?

NBA

With the injury to Monta Ellis, Marcus Williams will get a chance to run the point for GSW Hoops.

NCAAF

College football starts tonight. My wife is less than thrilled.

Tuesday’s Links

Today’s links are brought to you by Jeff’s alarm clock….

Josh Beckett pitched to form last night as the Red Sox survived being no-hit through 6 innings and beat the White Sox 5-1.

The Yankees continued to slide, and lost to the Twins 4-0. Joe Girardi addressed his teams lack of hustle, as well.

The White Sox bats went quiet, on a night when John Danks was perfect through 6 1/3 innings.

The Twins got a hell of a performance from a new dad.

The New York Mets bullpen continues to be a bone of contention, and this team’s Achilles heel. Pedro refused to throw his teammates under the bus, at least in the press.

Kyle Kendrick tossed a stinker in LA. Brad Lidge says he is good to go.

Manny-Mania is just getting ridiculous, and the Dodgers knocked off the Phils at home. TJ Simers is concerned about haircuts. The Dodgers are also keeping an eye on the innings of youngster Clayton Kershaw.

Aaron Rodgers took the field to a standing ovation from the Packers faithful. No word on whether they did the same thing when Tony Kornhesier stopped talking.

The Bengaals starters did not start the preseason well.

Thursdays (Hopefully this will be the last one with Brett Favre for a while) Quick Hitters

MLB

The Boston Red Sox offense took off again last night. Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis were the only 2 starters not to have an RBI in the game. Ellsbury hit a 3 run blast off Ron Mahay and Jed Lowrie and JD Drew added 2 RBIs apiece to pace the Sox to a 8 – 2 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Jason Giambi and Sidney Ponson sur the Yankees to a 5 – 3 win in Texas. The Yanks also lost newly aquired catcher Ivan Rodriguez to a knee injury after David Murphy took him out at the plate. In other Yankee news Joba Chamberlain was placed on the 15 day DL.

The Tampa Bay Rays used some heroics to stay 3 games up on the Sox in the AL East. Carlos Pena capped a 6 run 9th inning with a 3 run HR to top the Cleveland Indians 10 – 7.

The Chicago Cubs kept a 5 game lead over Milwaukee Brewers by beating the Houston Astros 11 – 4. Alfonso Soriano and Mark DeRosa powered the Cubbies with a 3 run HR and a grand slam respectively.

Rickie Weeks best day of his career at the plate (4 hits) helped the Brew Crew keep pace with the Chicago Cubs, beating Cincinnatti Reds 6 – 3.

Kyle Kendrick pitched a gem last night for the Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Howard homered to power the Phils over the Florida Marlins 5 – 0. The win opened a 2 1/2 game lead over the Marlins and 3 full games over the Mets in the NL East.

Pedro Martinez and the New York Mets couldn’t hold down the San Diego Padres, losing 4 – 2. Brian Giles and Chase Headley both homered to help power the Pads.

Derek Lowe lasted only 3 1/3 innings allowing 8 runs in that span, getting the loss in St Louis’ win over the LA Dodgers 9 – 6. Albert Pujols and his grand slam help St Louis continue to play wild card killer.

The Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins kept status quo in the tightest divisional race in MLB right now. Minnesota topped Seattle 7 – 3, and the Pale Hose topped the Tigers 5 – 1.

NFL

The Brett Favre saga is over, as previously reported by the Central Maine Sports Blog. The Jets traded a conditional 2009 4th Round pick for Favre. If Favre lights up Broadway, the draft pick could be a 2nd or even a 1st round pick.

That’s it…tomorrow we will get back to reporting real NFL stories.

NBA

The Boston Celtics will raise Banner 17 to the rafters October 28th in front of King James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.

The San Diego Clippers…ooops sorry I’m old….Los Angeles Clippers have acquired Steve Novak from the Houston Rockets.

Greg Oden will finally take an NBA court against the West Champ Los Angeles Lakers.

Wednesday Morning Quick Hitters

MLB

John Lackey nearly no hit the Red Sox on a night when The California Angels acquired Mark Teixeira. Lil Dusty Pedroia broke up the no hit bid with 1 out in the 9th and YOOOUK followed that up with a 2 run shot over the monster to ruin the complete game shut out bid. The Sox lost 6 – 2, leaving them 2 games behind Tampa Bay.

Speaking of Tampa Bay, they extended their lead on the Sox by shutting out the Toronto Blue Jays 3 – 0. Matt Garza threw his 1st career shutout allowing only 5 hits while striking out 5.

Kevin Millar played Yankee killer again hitting his 2nd home run in as many nights helping the Orioles to a 7 – 6 win. Daniel Cabrera pitched into the 8th inning before getting tossed for intentionally hitting A-Rod after an A Bomb…nope can’t finish it…The loss put the Yankees 4 games back of Tampa Bay.

Game 2 of the NLCS goes to the Cubs. Carlos Zambrano pitched flawlessly for 8 innings and Fukudome and Mark Derosa contributed 2 RBIs a piece to put the Cubs 3 full games up on The Brew Crew. Cubs Win, Cubs Win 7 – 1.

The Minnesota Twins moved to within a 1/2 game of the White Sox, coming back from a 4 -0 deficit to beat Pale Hose 6 -5. Justin Morneau finished off the 5 run 5th inning with a bases clearing double. Clayton Richard took the loss in his 2nd career start.

The New York Mets offense kept going as they put down the Florida Marlins 4 -1, keeping a 1/2 game lead on Philadelphia. Carlos Delgado kept up his HR hitting prowess, smacking another 2 run job in the 8th inning to seal the deal against the Marlins.

The Philadelphia Phillies kept pace with the Mets by beating the Washington Nationals 2 – 1. Brett “Boom…Outta Here” Myers pitched 7 strong innings to help outlast the Nats. The “allegedly” hurt Chase Utley hit a 2 run homer to give Philly all they needed.

Doug Davis pitched 6 2/3 innings of perfect baseball. Brian Giles broke up the perfect game bid with a blazing single in the 7th. Arizona survived a scare in the 8th when the Padres loaded the bases with 2 outs and Jody Gerut blasted a shot to deep centerfield, but rookie cneterfielder Alex Romero made an amazing catch to save the game for Davis. The DBacks won 3 – 0.

Jason Johnson returned to the majors and helped pitch the Los Angeles to a 2 – 0 win over the San Francisco Giants. The LA area had a scare earlier when a 5.3 earthquake rattled Southern California, but the game went on and the Dodgers kept pace with the Arizona DBacks. The Dodgers are 1 game back of Arizona.

NFL

So. Cal’s Sedrick Ellis signed a 5 year $49 Million contract with the New Orleans Saints late Tuesday afternoon. Ellis ends his holdout as $19 million of the contract is guaranteed. Ellis was in camp for the afternoon session

Tried to stay away…Brett Favre signed reinstatement papers and faxed them to the league offices. The Packers try to figure out what comes next.

As previously reported, Terrence Newman is out for 3 to 4 weeks. Goodbye, Newman….

NBA

ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that Chicago’s Luol Deng is staying put.

Remember, we will do our best today to keep an eye on any trades in MLB before the deadline, and make sure to join us tonight at 9pm for a live edition of “The Sports Vortex”. If you need to catch up, all Vortex shows are archived on the left hand side, you can listen while you read….

Sunday Morning Quick Hitters

Join us for a LIVE edition of The Sports Vortex, brought to you by Chicago Dogs, 285 RT 1 Scarborough, ME, to be simulcast on WJZF from 4 to 6 PM EST

MLB Round-Up

Sox lose again in the land of Angels. Beckett looks great for 6 and then gives up 4 in the 7th. Vlad gets it started and Willy Aybar finishes them off. In a related story Air Force One may be making an unscheduled flight from Pawtucket, RI to California. In another related story, people are setting fire to eBay in Portland Maine.

Dan Haren’s 7 scoreless combined with Chad Billingsly’s rough 1st inning, Arizona beat the Dodgers 3 – 2. Former Sox Brandon Lyon made it interesting in the 9th giving up a leadoff HR to Jeff Kent and allowing 1 more to cross, but does just enough to get his 20th save.

Another former Sox (see a trend) Lenny DiNaaaaaaado hit Jose Molina in the 12 to bring home the winning run allowing the Yankees to beat the A’s 4 – 3. The Yanks offense continues its struggles leaving an astounding 21 runners on. Both closers blew leads in this 4 hour and 45 minute marathon.

The Brewers win its 3rd straight game, beating the Giants with offense this time. Prince Fielder homered for the 2nd straight game and Ricky Weeks had a 2 run double to spur the victory. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting the Brewers prospect Darren Ford has been traded to Oakland for Huston Street. There is no MLB confirmation of the deal as of yet.

Evan Longoria blew open a pitchers dual between the Jays Roy Halladay and the Rays Matt Garza, in the 6th inning with his 1st career grand slam. Dan Wheeler closes out the game for his 4th save and moves Tampa 1 1/2 games up on the Sox.

The Cubbies lose their 2nd straight game to the Astros and 3rd straight overall, 4 -1 Saturday, as their bats fall silent again. Carlos Zambrano fell to 10 – 4 on the season, but tried to help his own cause with his second homer of the season in the 7th. Wandy Rodriguez went 6 2/3 for his 5th win of the season.

The Cardinals are steaming back into the race with the Cubs with their 4th straight win. The Cards are now just 2 games back of Chicago. Down by 5, the Cards came back with help from Albert Pujols who went 3 – 4 with 4 RBIs. The Cards bullpen shut out the Padres the rest of the way and the Cards came away with a 6 – 5 victory.

In a wild one in Miami, the Florida Marlins outlast the Phillies 9-5 for the victory. Cody Ross (4 – 5 and a homer short of a cycle) and Jorge Cantu drive the offense for the Marlins. Pat Burrell hit 2 homers for the Phillies. Kevin Gregg made it interesting in the 9th, loading the bases then striking out Ryan Howard on 3 pitches and getting the previously mentioned Burrell to ground out to end the game. The Phils are still 1 game up on the Mets…speaking of the Mets

Josh Fogg continued his resurgence for the Reds, beating the Mets 7 – 2. The Mets looked like the hapless Mets of the Willie Randolph era, hitting into 3 double plays, making errors and taking a called third strike, twice, wit the bases loaded.

Other scores Baltimore Magic struck Luke Scott as he walks off against the Tigers 11 – 10. The Nats rookie John Lannan helps his team over the Braves 8 – 2. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer help demolish Texas 14 – 2. The win pulls the Twins to 1/2 game back of the White Sox, who lost to the Royals, 9 -1.

Other News

Greg Norman could be the oldest person to win a major PGA event today, as he leads the British Open by 2 strokes with 18 holes to go.

The little QB that could, Doug Flutie, along side JoPa, entered the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.

And just for the hell of it, The Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty 71 – 55 in the WNBA’s first outdoor game. With temps hovering around 90 degrees, the teams did battle on a makeshift court at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open facilities in NYC.

Friday Morning Quick Hitters

Somewhere, Klinger is crying…Papi homers in his PawSox debut, contributing to the rout of the Toledo Mud Hens. Papi vows to play entire rehab stint, in related news loud unidentified exhale sound comes from Portland, Maine.

Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano, dominating in AAA, wonders why he is not back in MLB, considers grievance.

Hideo Nomo retires….apparently the LA Times thinks it only warrants a blog entry.

The Utah Jazz lock up one of the best players in the game, Deron Williams.

David Wright’s late heroics ties game, Delgado singles home Beltran to beat the Reds and pulls even with the Phillies.

PSLs (Personal Seat Licenses) for the new home of the NY Football Giants and the NYJ to range from $1000 for the upper deck to $20,000 in the lower bowl….OUCH!!!

Dallas Mavericks say no-no-no to Josh Howard for Ron Artest deal.

Trade Update 1-Noon EST

I neglected to hit on the Mets trade for Luis Castillo yesterday earlier. Nice trade by Minaya to FINALLY get the Mets a decent all around second baseman (minus the power of course). I think it will do Castillo some good to get off that Metrodome turf and back into the NL East. The two minor leaguers the Twins got are supposed to be possible role players for an ML club, so this may have worked out well for them.

The Red Sox finally cut ties on the Joel Piniero experiment, shipping him to the Cardinals for the popular “player to be named”. Given the Cards track record in these types of deals, Piniero should become the NL Centrals best 7th inning set-up guy within the next two weeks. (Hey, it worked for Ryan Franklin).