: sports

||| NATIONAL LEAGUE. Ramírez was 8-for-13, with two homers and five RBIs for the Dodgers 

Manny has big weekend in LA

||| Chavez Ravine is rocking again on a daily basis – this time with Manny-mania. ||| Slugging All-Star Manny Ramírez flourished during his first three games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the balance of power in the NL West appears to have shifted in a dramatic way.

The Associated Press

It didn't take long for Manny Ramírez to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
The sometimes moody, sometimes goofy – almost always entertaining – slugger went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs on Sunday, wrapping up a stellar first weekend in Los Angeles by helping the Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The 12-time All-Star, who came over in Thursday's three-way trade with Pittsburgh and Boston, was 8-for-13 with five RBIs in the three games he played at Chavez Ravine.
Ramírez hit an RBI single in the first inning, doubled in a run in the second and went deep in the fifth for career homer No. 512, passing Mel Ott and moving into a tie with Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks for 20th place.
His second home run with the Dodgers traveled an estimated 436 feet into the pavilion seats in left field on a 1-2 pitch from reliever Billy Buckner. Ramírez capped his first four-hit game since June 1, 2007, with an infield single in the ninth.
"They gave me a lot of good pitches to hit and I drove it," Ramírez said. "I'm still nervous out there, but I'm going to play hard no matter what."

“I’m still nervous out there, but I'm going to play hard no matter what.”

In other NL games, it was Chicago 8; Pittsburgh 5; Houston 4, New York 0; Colorado 3, Florida 2; Atlanta 5, Milwaukee 0; Washington 4, Cincinnati 2; San Diego 4, San Francisco 1; and Philadelphia 5, St. Louis 4.
The Dodgers salvaged a split of the four-game series and sliced Arizona's division lead to one game.
Matt Kemp, whose career-best 19-game hitting streak ended Saturday, had a homer and RBI single.
Jason Johnson lasted just 4 1-3 innings for Los Angeles and left with a 5-3 lead after surrendering a solo homer to Stephen Drew and a walk to Orlando Hudson.
The right-hander, making his second spot start in place of Brad Penny, allowed five hits after pitching six scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over San Francisco on Tuesday.
Penny will rejoin his teammates in St. Louis for the start of a six-game road swing.
He hasn't pitched for the Dodgers since June 14 because of shoulder tendinitis and bursitis, but is scheduled to pitch Friday night at San Francisco. |||

||| AMERICAN LEAGUE. Liriano sends Twins into 1st place

Reclaiming the lead

The Associated Press

Despite being in playoff contention, the Minnesota Twins were quiet at last week's trade deadline.
Turns out their biggest roster move was waiting in the minor leagues.
Francisco Liriano, who missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery and struggled in three starts earlier this year, threw six scoreless innings on Sunday, helping the Twins reclaim first place in the AL Central with a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Denard Span and Brendan Harris homered for Minnesota, which moved a half-game ahead of the White Sox. Chicago lost 14-3 at Kansas City.
"Been a long time," Liriano said, when reminded that his last major league victory was also against the Indians, on July 23, 2006.
In other AL games that were played on Sunday, it was: Tampa Bay 6, Detroit 5 in 10 innings; New York 14, Los Angeles 9; Boston 5, Oakland 2; Kansas City 14, Chicago 3; Texas 8, Toronto 4; and Seattle 8, Baltimore 4.
It has been a long road back for the hard-throwing lefty from the Dominican Republic.
Two seasons ago, Liriano went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 144 strikeouts before arm problems cut short his rookie year.
After taking off last season, he went 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA in three starts before being sent down in April.
But Liriano dominated at Triple-A Rochester, going 10-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his past 11 starts, and was openly frustrated as the Twins waited until Friday to call him up.
Cheered loudly by the announced crowd of 39,818 during starting lineup introductions, Liriano allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five against the Indians.
He drew a standing ovation after striking out Ben Francisco to end the first.
"That settled me down a little bit," he said. "I was really nervous."
After breezing through two innings on 19 pitches, Liriano was tested in the third, facing a bases-loaded situation after two walks and a throwing error by shortstop Harris.
Liriano threw 34 pitches in the inning but got Francisco swinging again to end the threat.
Liriano threw 96 pitches. Jesse Crain relieved him in the seventh after the Twins pulled ahead 3-0. |||

Big Brown takes Haskell Invitational

Richard Rosenblatt | AP Racing Writer

Big Brown made it to the winner's circle after the $1 million Haskell Invitational. Until the final six strides, though, the bounce-back victory was in doubt.
In a too-close-for-comfort return after a last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes eight weeks ago, Big Brown staged a sensational rally and beat 20-1 long shot Coal Play by 1 3/4 lengths Sunday in front of a Monmouth Park crowd of 43,132.
"I feel much better than the last time he ran, I'll tell you that," Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow said.
The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner trailed Coal Play by two lengths heading into the stretch, but jockey Kent Desormeaux went to a right-handed whip. Big Brown responded, although he drifted out to the center of the track, and caught the leader with six strides to become the second Derby winner to win the Haskell.
"His reputation was on the line today," said Michael Iavarone, co-president of IEAH Stables, majority owner of Big Brown. "He's a top horse. It was little more than I was expecting – he really struggled out there to run this horse down, but Zito's horse ran great."
Coal Play is trained by Nick Zito, who won the Belmont with 38-1 shot Da' Tara, ending Big Brown's quest to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.
"I thought we had a helluva shot turning for home," said Zito. "I thought to myself 'we could do this again.' I am very happy right now. We made him run, that's for sure. Big Brown looked great in the paddock and when he broke. But down the backside I got excited. Coal Play ran a big race."
Big Brown, who won his first five races by a combined 39 lengths before Desormeaux pulled him up with a quarter mile to go in the Belmont, showed a new dimension by rallying for his sixth win in seven races.
"He showed his heart today," said Iavarone.