Sports news

Dodgers acquire Cleveland Indians third baseman Casey Blake in trade

2008-07-26T13:42:00.003-07:00

He's acquired for minor leaguers Jon Meloan and Carlos Santana. Dodgers may not be done dealing. Sources indicate they may be shopping Andy LaRoche to further bolster the infield or bullpen.

By Dylan Hernandez, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
12:25 PM PDT, July 26, 2008

Five days away from the non-waiver trade deadline, the Dodgers acquired third baseman Casey Blake from the Cleveland Indians for a pair of minor leaguers.

Blake, who turns 35 next month, is a free agent at the end of the season and came at a reasonable cost: triple-A right-hander Jon Meloan and Class-A catcher Carlos Santana.

Scoring spree lifts Jays over Mariners

2008-07-26T13:42:00.001-07:00

TORONTO -- Behind a solid start from David Purcey, as well as an offensive eruption, the Blue Jays defeated the Mariners, 8-3, on Saturday at Rogers Centre. The win brought Toronto's record to 53-51 and also extended its winning streak to five games.

Purcey (1-1) managed to stifle the Seattle (38-65) bats for most of the first five innings, allowing just one run. In the sixth, though, the left-hander encountered trouble when Jose Lopez deposited the first pitch he saw from Purcey into the second deck in the left field for a two-run home run.

Following the homer, Purcey got himself into more trouble when he allowed two more baserunners. However, he managed to maintain his composure and escape the jam without any further damage. He finished the day surrendering three runs on seven hits over six innings to collect his first Major League win.

The start also took on a greater importance, given that the Jays revealed during the game that injured starter Dustin McGowan will now require season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. With McGowan gone, this likely ensures that Purcey will see plenty of time in the Toronto rotation down the stretch.

Purcey recieved plenty of support as the Toronto offense was able to get to Mariners starter R.A. Dickey early and often, tagging the right-hander for eight runs in through six innings. Leading the way for the Jays was Alex Rios, who collected two home runs, and along with a sacrifice fly, drove in three runs in the game. Jays second baseman Joe Inglett also drove in two runs while going 3-for-4 at the plate.

New Yankee Nady in lineup vs. Sox

2008-07-26T13:41:00.001-07:00

BOSTON -- The Yankees completed their trade for outfielder Xavier Nady and left-handed reliever Damaso Marte on Saturday, immediately inserting Nady into New York's lineup for an afternoon game at Fenway Park.

Nady and Marte were acquired from the Pirates in exchange for four players -- outfield prospect Jose Tabata and right-handed pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Dan McCutchen. The deal was officially completed on Saturday morning.

Nady arrived in Boston and went straight from the airport to the batting cage, shaking hands with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and receiving a hug from Alex Rodriguez at the bat rack while the Yanks took batting practice.

Nady was issued uniform No. 29 and took instruction from Johnny Damon and bench coach Rob Thomson on playing the Green Monster, as Nady -- mostly a right fielder with Pittsburgh -- prepared to make the start in left.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that he also expected Marte, who is wearing No. 40, to be available in the bullpen for the 3:55 p.m. ET game against the Red Sox.

In corresponding roster moves, the Yankees optioned outfielder Brett Gardner to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated right-handed reliever LaTroy Hawkins for assignment. New York also outrighted left-handed pitcher Kei Igawa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, clearing him from the 40-man roster after he passed through waivers earlier this week.

Yankees, Red Sox continue rivalry at Fenway

2008-07-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

(Sports Network) - As the race grows tighter in the AL East the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will no doubt make the division even more interesting as the two teams get set to collide this afternoon in the second matchup of a three-game set at Fenway Park.

The Yankees will turn to ol' reliable today, as Andy Pettitte will take the mound trying to help New York gain ground in the division. Pettitte has been very solid throughout the season, and has won six of his last eight matchups.

The last time the southpaw was on the hill he tossed a gem against Oakland. In the 2-1 victory the veteran hurler went eight strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out nine batters.

Pettitte squared off against the Red Sox earlier this season, but did not fare well at all, surrendering six runs on nine hits and three walks in just 4 2/3 innings of duty.

Tim Wakefield will take the mound for the Red Sox, and he is no stranger to the heated rivalry between the two teams. The knuckleballer is coming off a 5-3 loss to Anaheim back on July 20th. In the setback Wakefield surrendered four runs on six hits in seven innings.

The 41-year-old is currently 6-7 overall on the season, but he has performed much better at home, posting a solid 5-2 ledger with an equally impressive 3.04 ERA.

Earlier this month the crafty veteran took on the Bronx Bombers, and put forth a quality effort, allowing just three runs in 6 1/3 innings. Wakefield struck out five and walked just one batter, but did not figure in the decision.

Last night, Jason Giambi knocked in the lone run as the Yankees clipped the Red Sox, 1-0.

Bobby Abreu collected two hits and scored the run for the Yankees, who have won seven straight games.

Joba Chamberlain (3-3) was stellar on the hill, scattering three hits over seven scoreless innings, with nine strikeouts and one walk. Mariano Rivera recorded the final five outs to earn his 26th save.

During the contest, the Yankees announced the acquisition of outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Damaso Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for pitcher Ross Ohlendorf, right-field prospect Jose Tabata, plus right-handed hurler George Kontos and left-hander Phil Coke.

David Ortiz returned to the lineup for the first time since May 31, going 1- for-4 for the Red Sox, whose three-game win streak was halted. Boston's offense might have also suffered since left-fielder Manny Ramirez was a late scratch due to right knee soreness.

Josh Beckett (9-7) took the loss despite limiting the visitors to nine hits and one run over seven innings, fanning six and walking one.

Each team has won five of 10 meetings this season.

Iraq delegation heading to meet with IOC

2008-07-26T13:39:00.001-07:00

An Iraqi delegation was heading to Switzerland earlier today to try and lift an International Olympic Committees ban on Iraq competing in the Beijing Games.

The Iraqi delegation hopes to meet with IOC representatives as early as Monday, according to Associated Press, which based its report on conversations with two Iraqi sports officials.

Earlier this week, the IOC instituted a permanent ban on Iraq participating in the Beijing Games. The action followed an interim ban announced after the IOC charged the Iraqi government with interfering in the country's Olympic affairs.

Iraq has appointed its own representatives to Iraq's National Olympic Committee, and the IOC wants the previous committee members reinstated. But four of the members, including the committee chief, were kidnapped two years ago and remain missing.

It's too late for some of Iraq's seven-member Olympics team to compete because the IOC already has selected the weight-lifting, judo, archery and rowing competitors. Track and field competitors are due to be determined on Wednesday. Iraqi still hopes to send a discus thrower and a sprinter to Beijing.

-- Greg Johnson

Nascar at Indy: Exercise in History and Tedium

2008-07-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Stock car drivers make it seem as if Indianapolis Motor Speedway is much more fun to drive into than to race around. As they enter the infield through one of the tunnels under the track, they are engulfed by the speedway’s rich history.

The track, built in 1909, predates Nascar by 38 years, and it did not play host to a stock car race until 1994, when Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400. But the Nascar race at Indianapolis is now second in stature on the Sprint Cup Series, behind the Daytona 500. One reason is that it attracts the biggest crowd in the series, nearly 250,000.

Prestigious, however, does not necessarily mean exciting. The speedway, which plays host Sunday to the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, is particularly daunting for stock car drivers.

“It’s a difficult track — it’s a square and very flat — and it’s tough for cars to get around there,” Jimmie Johnson, the two-time defending series champion, said recently. “It’s challenging to get around there, but all in all, it’s a great experience.”

Although it may not be apparent to those watching on television, a stock car race is slower than the Indianapolis 500, the Memorial Day weekend spectacle featuring open-wheel racecars that weigh less than half of a 3,500-pound stock car.

Casey Mears set the Brickyard 400 qualifying record of 186.293 miles per hour in 2004 — a speed that would not have won the pole position for the 1972 Indy 500. Arie Luyendyk set the Indy 500 qualifying record of 236.986 m.p.h. in 1996.

There is more traffic in the Brickyard 400 than in the Indy 500, with 43 cars compared with 33.

The speedway is much flatter than most Sprint Cup tracks, with 9-degree banking in the corners, compared with 31 degrees at Daytona International Speedway.

The corners are also more sharply angled at Indianapolis, a two-and-a-half-mile oval, than at other Sprint Cup tracks. At tracks like Daytona, the turns tend to blend into each other, but each turn at Indianapolis has different characteristics. As Tony Stewart, the defending race champion, said last week, that leads to one racing line.

Last year’s race included 14 lead changes among only six drivers. Stewart led 65 of 160 laps — and 38 of the last 50 — and won the race by nearly three seconds over Juan Pablo Montoya, the Nascar equivalent of a three-touchdown victory.

By comparison, there were 42 lead changes among 16 drivers at the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17. (There were 18 lead changes among nine drivers at the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, which was won by Scott Dixon.)

The so-called Car of Tomorrow will be used for the first time at Indianapolis in Sunday’s race. Drivers have grumbled that the car, albeit safer, has been hard to steer around other cars on other tracks, which led Stewart to make an interesting comment last week in a conference call with reporters.

“The preferred line is to be on the white line in each corner,” Stewart said. “It makes it a little harder to pass because of that, but you know, at the same time, I think what sometimes the fans, and sometimes the media, loses sight of is that you’re still winning a race at a track that has a rich history, and just to have your name on a list of winners there is a huge, huge accomplishment, in my opinion.”

Though prestigious, a Brickyard 400 victory is more likely the result of a team’s engineers and crew giving the driver a car that can get out in front of traffic and stay there, than it is the result of daring passes.

In the history of the race, there has been only one pass for the lead in the final five laps, and that came in its inaugural year, when Gordon took the lead from Ernie Irvan on the 156th lap. An extreme example of that lack of action in the final laps happened in 1999 when Dale Jarrett led the final 43 laps.

Three months before the 2002 race, the racetrack underwent a process called diamond grinding, which eliminated bumps and left small channels to improve grip. The hope was that the racing line would be wider, leading to more passing, but the results do not bear that out.

Bill Elliott won the race, which featured 16 lead changes among 10 drivers. Gordon won the year before in a race that featured 18 lead changes among 12 drivers. Gordon won the 2004 race, which included nine lead changes among six drivers.

“You definitely are going to have to have track position because it’s going to be so key here,” Denny Hamlin said in an interview Friday.

Because “it’s going to be so tough to pass,” he said, “qualifying is going to be very, very key — more so than any other race that we go to each week. This will be the biggest one that you are going to have to qualify at.”

Then comes the race, which Mark Martin has called a “crown jewel.” Sometimes, it seems as if driving in it is as much fun as swinging a pickax in a diamond mine.

As Ryan Newman, an Indiana native, said last week, “We go there and try to do what we need to do to have fun.”

Notes

The two-time defending Nascar Cup champion Jimmie Johnson won the pole Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Johnson ran a lap at 181.763 miles per hour in his Chevrolet to win his first pole at Indianapolis. He bested Mark Martin, who guaranteed in June that he would win Sunday’s race. Martin’s lap was 181.393 in a Chevy. (AP)