Sosa has exhibits a minor- conclude league deal with his original team, hoping for a chance to get back to the majors. The Astros got a solid performance from lefty Wandy Rodriguez, who pitched 7 1/ 3 scoreless innings with three hits, six strikeouts and no walks. He said he plans eventually to go back to school and get an MBA- he graduated from Duke in three years with a degree in sociology in 2002- and would like to work in a sports- related enterprise. And he wasn' t overly tired " Actually, I feel pretty good " Pierce said " Could have played another quarter, I think " He hurt his knee Sunday in a collision with teammate Brian Scalabrine, who scored eight clutch points in the third quarter in place of injured center Kendrick Perkins " Hopefully, I don' t hit it again so it can kind of heal " Pierce said " Doc' s been around long enough to know that it takes a lot to keep me off the court " Pierce also had nine rebounds, while Garnett added 20 points and 12 rebounds and held Bosh to 1- of- 4 shooting in 12 minutes of the fourth quarter and kept him from shooting in all five minutes of overtime " You work hard to get open, then he overplays you " said Bosh, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds " And then he has help behind him " Andrea Bargnani, whose 3- pointer with one second left sent the game into overtime tied at 93, led the Raptors with 23 points.

Changes to that are pure, pure speculation " When told he could end all speculation by saying Owens is staying, Jones said he wouldn' t answer " because we' re not talking about the roster; he' s part of the roster " We' ve got a lot of things we want to look at . He had surgery in October and then another to clear up an infection, and he wore a knee brace under his long sweat pants on Thursday " You wake up the next day and think' Was that a dream? Because that' s not really how I thought it was going to go " Brady said " I think I felt bad for myself that night, and I think I moved on after that . He struck for the third time in the sixth and flipped the bat over his head " Patterson lived on the outside corner and came in when he had to " Girardi said " He didn' t give our guys much to hit " Game notesSummer' s coming: The temperature was 83 degrees for the 6: 05 p m start . O' Neal recently said that he hopes the case against Bryant doesn' t drag on " It' s an unfortunate situation . The 23- year- old left- hander, who has been called up three times from Triple- A Sacramento this season, has lost back- to- back starts in his latest stint in the big leagues " I gave them five good, strong innings " Gonzalez said " It' s a stepping stone, and I' ll keep learning from all this. Associated PressPITTSBURGH- Charlie Morton was ready to put his previous start behind him.

Not even doctors can tell me that " Rehab is expected to be six to seven months . When Kyle Farnsworth' s back stiffened up while warming up, the Yankees went with T J . However, Romero complained that since he learned about the toll- free number, he had been told that it doesn' t respond to players' questions quickly enough " After we went through this whole deal, I find out that 1- 800 was a very slow process " Romero said " In order for that to work, we have to send all our supplements before the season . DENVER( AP- Garrett Atkins picked the right time to dash home- barely . 388 average, finished 3- for- 5 with a solo homer in the first inning. For us just to pay a premium for a buyout for a player that can help us.

He has said he needs public assistance or he will have to sell the team . Vladimir Radmanovic scored 18, Sam Cassell had 13 points and 11 assists and Cuttino Mobley scored 12 for Los Angeles " We shouldn' t have let these guys beat us, man " said Mobley, who later cursed and punched a locker " This is the time of year where your mind has to adjust faster . The ankle injury that has plagued Wilson continues a string of injury problems for the five- year veteran . He was hot and cold then- the Bears made it to Super Bowl XLI- and it' s tough to envision sustained excellence from him now that Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad are catching passes elsewhere . The final two years can be voided based on Jackson' s performance, but his performance can also trigger the escalators to take the five- year deal to$ 49 3 million. The thing I have to do right now is stay off it as much as possible and let the swelling get out of it and see what happens' Washington( 6- 7) likely needs to win its final three games- all against teams jockeying for playoff position- to reach the postseason.

But I think now is not the right time to have those discussions " Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press . He points to Yankee Stadium in New York as an example of neighborhood hopes lost " That stadium thrives . 1B Paul Konerko needs five RBIs to become the sixth player in White Sox history with 800 . Louis, Atlanta and Carolina but never appeared in an NFL game .

Pacman Jones attended a team bowling event hosted by Cowboys tight end Jason Witten on Sunday . The unedited note, posted May 19, read " blame the OC& romo! but i' m happy 2 b where i am but i miss the other guys tht were& r true teammates " Owens has received a warm welcome in Buffalo and has attended all five team voluntary minicamp sessions so far . Kitna had 4, 000- plus yards passing in each of the past two seasons in Detroit and combined to throw 39 TDs and 42 interceptions . No wonder Baker called the season his toughest in 12 years as a major league manager . Dice- K mania overshadowed a strong performance by Marlins starter Yusmeiro Petit. Sosa threw 37 pitches through three shutout innings but needed 30 pitches to survive the Dodgers' three- run fourth. After Lo Duca and Carlos Beltran singled, Delgado hit Small' s next pitch into the right- field bullpen for his 15th homer and a 3- 2 lead He raised his fist as he rounded first.

citizen Email Print Share Associated Press CHICAGO- Ozzie Guillen, the Venezuelan- born manager of the World Series champion Chicago White Sox, will celebrate his 42nd birthday Friday by becoming a U S citizen . Coco Crisp then singled in Cora to extend his hitting streak to a season- best nine games McCarthy allowed six runs over 5 1/ 3 innings . That' s why he' s here " A five- time All- Star, Martin came to Denver in a seven- year$ 92 million sign- and- trade deal in the offseason . When asked to elaborate on a reunion that' s arguably even more unlikely than the brief stint Penny Hardaway completed with Shaquille O' Neal' s Miami Heat earlier this season, Webber said told ESPN Monday night that he would speak at length about his decision later this week . The rest of the starters combined for 17 points on 7- for- 26 shooting. But Appel displayed her skill as Stanford( 19- 4, 10- 1 Pac- 10) quickly pushed its lead to 20.

Cliff Floyd tried to stretch a single in the fourth, but Soriano cut him down out at second for his major league- leading 22nd outfield assist " I enjoy every part of the game " Soriano said " That' s why I love this game " Trachsel pitched 6 1/ 3 shutout innings in the division clincher Monday night against Florida . Perlozzo didn' t blame Crosby for being on the inside of the baseline " He didn' t try to do anything wrong " Perlozzo said " If he was inside, he wasn' t very far inside " Baseball rules require a runner to be on the foul side of the line as he approaches first " It' s really a terrible rule " Perlozzo said " It' s awfully hard to stay in that lane and touch the bag that' s in fair territory . Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, for one, hopes the future includes owner Frank McCourt spending more money " You need to add a 40- home- run guy and a guy who hits . It was the 57th time the Jones' hit homers in the same game, tops among current teammates and the Braves are 51- 6 when they do . Hillenbrand was designated for assignment during Wednesday' s game after writing " play for yourself " on a board the Blue Jays use to post batting practice times.

Eisley, acquired by the Suns as part of the trade that sent Stephon Marbury to the New York Knicks on Jan 5, was averaging 7 1 points, 3 4 assists and 21 4 minutes in 34 games with the Suns . roster for its trip to Asia, leaving 14 players available for the 12 spots on the world championship team . After playing in Dallas on Thursday, he was assigned to Albuquerque of the NBA Development League on Friday . We played hard, but I' m not big on taking positives from losses like this " Raef LaFrentz finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics . But Garciaparra led off the seventh against reliever Damaso Marte with his ninth homer of the season, Russell Martin made it 7- 4 with his second run- scoring groundout, and Takashi Saito pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.