Mariners beat Yanks again - Kennedy lifts M's over Yanks with bloop single in 12th

SEATTLE -- Adam Kennedy knew the cutter was coming from Mariano Rivera. He just happened to drop it in the perfect spot. Kennedy scored pinch-runner Luis Rodriguez with a bloop single off Rivera in the bottom of the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners won for the ninth time in 10 games with a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday night. It was the fifth game-winning hit in Kennedy's career and kept Seattle rolling on a night that ace Felix Hernandez was knocked around early and a misplayed fly ball by Ichiro Suzuki led to extra innings. Yet, the Mariners found another way to win as Kennedy fought off Rivera's famed cutter and dropped it in front of Curtis Granderson in center field to set off a late-night...

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Mavs-Heat '06 redux? Hardly, but Dirk vs. LBJ is fabulous theater

Mavericks vs. Heat is billed as a rematch of the 2006 Finals, when the Mavs choked away their best chance at a championship. Their best chance until now, that is. Only four players between both teams remain from that Dallas debacle, so these are both very different clubs. Especially the Heat. Dwyane Wade now has some help. Lots of it, in fact. More than any other superstar in the post-Michael Jordan era, it can be argued. But depending on how this series unfolds, LeBron James could very well face the biggest challenge of his career, a defining moment in his impressive drive to rebuild his image and remind us what an all-time talent he is: guarding Dirk Nowitzki. Crazy, right? A 6-foot-8 small forward asked to check...

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Could haggling NFL factions agree on social-media monitoring?

In the ongoing lockout, with passions ramped up by vitriolic rhetoric and litigation replacing negotiation, there seems very little on which the two sides agree. Kevin Long actually may have happened upon a common ground: He feels certain that both the NFL and its decertified union hope to protect players' reputations. And he and the company of which he is CEO, MVP Sports Media Training and U Diligence of West Lafayette, Ind., have developed a program that might aid in that pursuit. The program, currently employed by about two dozen Division I schools, monitors the Twitter and Facebook accounts of players, and dispatches an e-mail alert to both the school and the athlete when one of the key "search words" is used. Think the Pittsburgh...

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Djokovic extends streak to 43, Federer adds to quarters mark

PARIS -- Second-seeded Novak Djokovic outclassed Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 Sunday in the fourth round of the French Open to extend his winning streak to 43 matches. It was Djokovic's third day in a row on court at Roland Garros. He beat Juan Martin Del Potro in the previous round on Saturday in a match that stretched over two days. Djokovic is 41-0 in 2011, the second-best start to a season in the Open era, which began in 1968. He also won his last two matches of 2010, making his overall run the third-longest, behind Guillermo Vilas' record of 46 in a row in 1977. Bidding for his third Grand Slam title -- and first at Roland Garros -- Djokovic will next play Fabio Fognini...

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Pistone: All-Star preview -

By Pete Pistone SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE PREVIEW  There are no points and simply pride and money on the line in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Over the years that’s been a pretty good recipe for an entertaining night of racing. Since the annual All-Star event made its debut back in 1985 it’s undergone a variety of changes, modification and tweaks. But at the end of the day it’s still all about one thing and one thing only – winning. “Yeah, everybody amps it up so much saying there’s nothing on the line but money,” said former winner Tony Stewart. “Trust me, we all think of the trophy first and the money second. But it’s fun to know that you can take extra chances in that race and you know that everybody is going to do it so it just takes the whole...

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Elling: Major course correction - Tiger's majors mission now becomes improbable

It was, by the length of a nine-course meal, the funniest line of the week. Maybe a tad prescient, too. One of Tiger Woods' oldest friends and confidants, a guy who once lived a hundred yards down the same street and served as his professional mentor, was explaining how the fading former world No. 1 seemed to finally be in a happy place emotionally. So much so that Woods did the unthinkable over dinner on the eve of the Players Championship. He pried open his wallet, reached between the cobwebs, pulled out some plastic and picked up the check. Tiger Woods probably won't be displacing Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead atop the majors list after all. (Getty Images) "It's not...

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Miller: Weather wreaking havoc - Reasons for rain? Maybe Mother Nature wants more twinbills

Raindrops keep fallin' on their heads. And fallin' ... and fallin' ... and fall. ... Yet even in its wettest season in years, baseball looks out its (water-dotted) window and sees rainbows. You can tell by the fact that, so far, there are no job postings for Executive Vice President, Global Warming. "I don't know what Al Gore was talking about," commissioner Bud Selig joked from his office in Milwaukee this week. "I sure wouldn't mind it getting warmer." Fans have already soaked up 29 weather-related postponements, eight more than all of last season. (AP) Nor would 30 clubs. Warmer, and drier. Through Wednesday, 29 games already had been postponed because of inclement...

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Dobrow: Player Rankings - Player Rankings: Chasing sparse seconds and lefties

Stats through May 16 Chase Utley may or may not be running at full speed and pivoting at full pivotosity during his current rehab, and he may or may not come back this week as the guy who was one of the game's five best players between 2005 and 2009. Thus it feels both premature and weird ranking the league's second basemen in his absence -- and what a sad-clown group it is. Utley on one leg or Omar Infante? Utley denying the existence of a broken rib even as bones visibly protrude through his jersey, or Bill Hall? Gimme Utley. I believe. As for left-handed starters, the pool is equally shallow, at least while a handful of candidates struggle with injury (Johan Santana, Brian Matusz)...

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Haslem key to Heat hopes - With emergence of Haslem, Heat improve odds of beating Bulls

CHICAGO -- No way was it going to happen again. No way were Dwyane Wade and LeBron James going to be little more than decorative pieces in a second Miami Heat loss in two Eastern Conference finals games against the Chicago Bulls. Udonis Haslem scored 12 points in the second half of Game 2, but it's his defense that's key for Miami. (Getty Images) No way was Miami going to allow the Bulls to throw themselves a post-Oprah Winfrey celebration on the United Center stage. No way. So, on Wednesday evening -- the night after Chicago's iconic talk-show host's celebrity-laden farewell party in the same building -- the Heat recovered to even the best-of-7 series at a victory apiece....

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Judge: Lockout hurts rookie QBs - Rookie QBs suffer most by lockout-prohibited work, teaching

This week's court decision allowing the NFL lockout to stand was more than just a setback for players. It was a crippling blow to rookie quarterbacks. They're the guys who need the mini-camps, OTAs, classroom work and on-field repetitions to develop into the Peyton Mannings and Tom Bradys of tomorrow, only they're the ones not getting it Now tell me that won't retard their development … because it will. I know, Jake Locker and Christian Ponder are busy planning touch-football workouts with their teammates, and that's great. Only one problem: While it will help them learn new names, it won't help them learn new offenses. Nope, to do that, they must be around coaches, classrooms and...

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Freeman: Working through lockout - Merriman, Smith show lockout isn't work stoppage

Linebacker Shawne Merriman thinks he knows when the lockout will end. He's not claiming to be an expert. He's calling it an educated hunch. "My guess, late June or early July," he said. "It'll run its course by then." Shawne Merriman figures the lockout will wind down in June or July. (Getty Images) In the meantime, as the lockout drones on into paralyzing monotony, Merriman continues the business of preparation. He is a Buffalo Bill but still works out in San Diego, where he spent most of his career. There's the MMA workout, the field drills and conditioning runs. Like hundreds, if not thousands of other players, he constantly preps for a season that may never come. ...

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