Baily's Sports & Stuff

Same old, same old. For like the fifthteenth time this season, someone brought a no-hitter past 7 innings. And again, somebody broke it up. Hiroki Kuroda pitched 7.1 no-hit innings until Shane Victorino's line drive to right ended the no-hit bid. Kuroda recorded another out, and then he was pulled from the game. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the final 1 and 1 third innings perfectly, helping LA finish with a combined 2 hitter. Kuroda struck out 7, and he mastered the outside corner. He mixed up his pitches, confusing the Phillies. After 7.2 innings, they had to get used to Kuo. They couldn't do it, and he completed the no-hitter. Kuroda hit Jayson Werth with a pitch in the second, but he didn't walk anyone until the 6th inning. He ended that inning by finishing Jimmy Rollins on a high fastball. The Dodgers got enough run support for Kuroda. James Loney knocked a run in with a single, new Dodger Rod Barajas scored 1 on a double-play, and Barajas hit a solo homer. Kuroda went...

Andre Goodman and Syd Quan Thompson returned interceptions for touchdowns, Tim Tebow threw a touchdown and the Broncos beat the Steelers 34-17. Pittsburgh lost it's first game, while Denver won their first game. Kyle Orton led a nice Bronco drive with key completions to Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal, and then LenDale White had a nice run, which he followed up with a touchdown. The Broncos led 7-0. But Pittsburgh came right back. Big Ben hit Mike Wallace, who caught the ball, and then went around 3 guys before being tackled. Pittsburgh settled for a field goal. Then, Pittsburgh came back with the ball. Dennis Dixon led them downfield, and they had the ball in the red zone. But on 3rd down, Dixon was blitzed, and he let the ball go. Perrish Cox made the catch, got both feet in bounds, and preserved the Denver lead. But then, the defense came through. Kyle Orton led a field goal drive to give Denver a 10-3 lead, but Pittsburgh was driving. They were at the Denver 30. Di...

The Arizona Diamondbacks are struggling. They are having one of their worst seasons, but they have hope for next year. At least they do for some games This year, the Diamondbacks have added 2 young rookies to the rotation, and they have both responded. The D-Backs called up Barry Enright from Double-A, and he responded. He won his first start, but then he lost 2 in a row. In his next game, he 5-hit the Mets through 8 innings. He got enough run support, as he only allowed 1 run. Arizona won 3-2. A few starts later, he gave up 2 runs in 6 innings in an 8-4 win over the Nationals. Enright's next start was a 3 hitter through 6 innings, and the D-Backs won that too. Against the Rockies, he didn't allow a hit for a string of 14 batters, and he beat Ubaldo Jimenez. Last night against the Giants, Enright was able to hit the corners, and mix up pitches. He 6-hit the Giants through 7 innings in a 6-0 victory. Enright hasn't lost in 8 starts. The other D-Back rookie wa...

The Rangers Rich Harden, Matt Hudson, Darren O'Day, and Neftali Feliz combined for a 1-hit shutout as the Rangers beat the Twins 4-0. Harden was pulled after 6.2 innings because he had thrown a lot of pitches, and he had walked 5 batters. Feliz finished the game for the Rangers, and he got Denard Span to fly out. He walked Orlando Hudson, and then Joe Mauer came up to bat. Mauer singled to shallow center, ending the no-hit bid. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch, but Feliz didn't allow anything else. The only Twins hit was by Mauer. Harden, who was a great pitcher in Oakland and Chicago, had had struggles in 2010. Texas fans wanted a trade. They wanted another pitcher. They may rethink that now, but Harden will need to finish strong. And a no-hitter through 6 innings is a great way to start that. After Harden came out. Matt Hudson and Darren O'Day got the Rangers through the 7th and 8th. O'Day struck out 2 to get the Rangers out of the eighth. Harden...

Fantasy Top 50 1 Chris Johnson 2 Adrian Peterson 3 Ray Rice 4 Maurice Jones-Drew 5 Michael Turner 6 Frank Gore 7 Andre Johnson 8 Aaron Rodgers 9 Drew Brees 10 Peyton Manning 11 Rashard Mendanhall 12 Miles Austin 13 Cedric Benson 14 Calvin Johnson 15 Ryan Mathews 16 DeSean Jackson 17 Randy Moss 18 Greg Jennings 19 Dallas Clark 20 Jamaal Charles 21 Tom Brady 22 Shonn Greene 23 Jermichael Finley 24 Reggie Wayne 25 Tony Romo 26 Roddy White 27 Ryan Grant 28 Chris Wells 29 Brandon Marshall 30 Jonathan Stewart 31 DeAngelo Williams 32 Larry Fitzgerald 33 Jahvid Best 34 Marques Colston 35 Joseph Addai 36 CJ Spiller 37 Ochocinco 38 Antonio Gates 39 Felix Jones 40 Matt Forte 41 Phillp Rivers 42 Ronnie Brown 43 LeSean McCoy 44 Pierre Thomas 45 Steve Smith (NYG) 46 Brett Favre 47 Justin Forsett 48 Matt Schaub 49 Kevin Kolb 50 Steven Jackson MLB Update The A's rallied from down 3-0 to win on an error by Ben Zobrist.

A's vs Rays In a game featuring the 2 streakiest teams in Major League baseball, it also was a huge one for Tampa Bay. And the A's knew that. So Coco Crisp and Cliff Pennington stepped up. Crisp robbed Matt Joyce of a home run in the sixth, and Cliff Pennington hit a 2 run double as the A's beat the Rays 4-3. The A's are now 60-60. The A's took a 1-0 lead on Kurt Suzuki's groundout, and Coco Crisp scored. But the Rays came back on the long ball, as Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria went deep. Matt Joyce hit one deep too, but Coco Crisp sprinted to the fence, jumped up and robbed Joyce of a homer. When the A's were up, they did damage. Andy Sonnastine walked 2 batters, and allowed a hit to Jack Cust. Rajai Davis grounded out to the pitcher, and he knocked in a run. With 2 outs, Cliff Pennington came up to bat. He hit a pitch right to the deepest corner in right field, getting him to second base and knocking in 2 runs. The A's held a 4-3 lead. ...

Conference Realignment has changed college football. Colorado and Utah went to the Pac-10, the Big 10 added Nebraska, and Boise State went to the MWC. Now the MWC added 2 more teams. Fresno State and Nevada, the second and third best teams in the WAC, went to the Mountain West to join TCU, Boise State, Air Force and the rest of the MWC. BYU may stay in the MWC, but they are considering football independence. The MWC will be an 11 team league, unless BYU becomes independent. The Cougars are considering going independent in football. Fresno State and Nevada both made bowl games last year, but they lost. They are becoming better in football. Now they will be at a higher level, and the MWC is becoming a power conference. The MWC is one team away from a conference title game. MLB Chicago traded Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves. Lee, who gave up 3 pitching prospects. Lee could take an important role in the Braves offense. The Phillies took a 2 game lead in the Wild Card w...

Shaun Marcum threw a one-hitter as the Blue Jays beat the Athletics 3-1. Marcum had a no-hitter through 6 innings, but Conor Jackson broke it up with a home run. Marcum, who had never thrown a complete game, retired 10 straight batters to start the game. He allowed a runner on in the 4th and 5th, but he kept the no-hitter. He then retired 3 batters in a row to end the no-hitter. In the 7th, Marcum pitched a first-pitch fastball to Conor Jackson. He hit it about 375 feet into left field, and the A's were on the board. But Marcum wasn't done. He regained control of his pitches, started hitting the corners, getting ahead of the count and throwing pitches that the A's couldn't hit. Marcum got all the support he needed. Jose Bautista hit his 37th homer, and Edwin Encarncion hit a 2 run homer. The Blue Jays led 3-0 after 5 innings. This is the 4th great game thrown by a pitcher, including R.A Dickey's one-hitter, Brian Duensing's 3-hitter, and Kevin Slo...

GET BD'S TEAM COVERAGE. COVERAGE ABOUT JUST YOUR TEAM 1-5 TIMES A WEEK FOR $1 A MONTH, or $5 FOR 7 MONTHS. Kevin Slowey pitched a no-hitter through 7 innings, but was pulled because of elbow tendinitis. Slowey threw 106 pitches. The young streaky pitcher retired 13 batters in a row earlier against Kansas City earlier this year in a 7-3 win, and he dominated again. He got some help from the Twins D too. Manager Ron Gardenhire said that he would be booing himself, but he was in charge of Slowey's arm (from ESPN). And, 7 previous pitchers have lost no-hitters with 5 outs left, not including Armando Gallraga's gem. Slowey is probably the Twins second best pitcher this year, behind Carl Pavano. If Slowey does his job and helps the Twins win the games that he starts, Minnesota will have a boost. A sweep over Oakland helps. All you could hear from the Twins crowd was boos, but it could end up being the right decision. Twins fans and baseball fans didn't like Gardenh...

Giants vs Padres The Giants needed to win. They needed to beat the Padres. They needed to stay in this race. And with the help of Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, they stayed 2 and a half games behind. Sandoval hit a solo homer in the seventh inning, and Juan Uribe knocked in Buster Posey for the GW run. The Giants beat the Padres 3-2 in 11 innings. Mat Latos (who threw a one-hitter against SF in May) dominated the first 6 innings, but he allowed a leadoff homer to Pablo Sandoval in the seventh. Since the Padres have a good bullpen, they took out Latos. In the eighth, Mike Fontenot hit a leadoff single, and Aubrey Huff got him to third on a double. Fontenot scored on Pat Burrell's groundout. In the ninth, the Giants didn't score, and neither did the Padres, who stranded 16 runners in the game, including 9 in the final 4 innings. In the tenth, both teams didn't score, and it went into the 11th. In the top of the 11th, the Padres got runners on the corners with 1 out...

College Football Update Ole Miss The SEC was looking weak. It wasn't looking like the SEC that it normally is. And then one team raised to a higher level. Early in 2010, Jerimiah Masoli was suspended from the Oregon Ducks football team. Masoli, a junior, was considered to be a Heisman canditate. But when he was proven guilty of stealing a laptop, he was suspended. In early summer, he sent a letter to many schools asking to become a walk-on, and he got 6 responses. One of those schools was Ole Miss. What Masoli said stood out about his meeting with Houston Nutt, the Ole Miss coach, was his attitude. He thought Nutt was a great guy, and he accepted a walk-on offer on August 1, 2010. However, it was a zero-tolerance offer. That means that if Masoli breaks a law, then he will be released. But for now, Ole Miss can expect to have a great year. Last year, Masoli threw for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns, and he had 4 great games. Oregon won three of them. One big one was...

From August 1-4, UCLA basketball held an overnight camp. My friend Will and I attended, and we got put on the Alabama Crimson Tide. The other teams were the Georgia Bulldogs, the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats. On night one, we played Kentucky. We came out strong, and we scored the first 10 points. And when my friend Will Roth came onto the floor, he dominated. He finished with 18 points, and we beat Kentucky 43-25. I had 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. At 3:30 on Monday we played Florida. It was a back-and forth game. It was also definitely my best game, for I got down low and scored 10 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and dished 3 assists. Will had 16, and at the end we celebrated a 1 point victory. However, 2 and a half hours later we faced Georgia, and the Bulldogs played great in the middle of the game and their big man Mark dominated. We lost 52-46. We played Kentucky next, and Kendall Collins played well. I scored 6 points on 3 layups, and we held off the w...