Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Cole Powered, Hammels and Phillies Pen Combine For No-Hitter; Kelly's Heroes- Joe Kelly Gets First Win in Boston Uniform

MLB- Cole Hammels started it and former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon sealed the deal.

Early in the game, it seemed more of a question of how long would Phillies starter Cole Hammels last, let alone when the Braves would get their first hit as Hammel's pitch count rose early.

The Phillies got on the board with a RBI sac fly from Ben Revere in the top of the 3rd while Jimmy Rollins had an RBI triple to give Hammels some run support. What made this an unlikely no-hit bid was that the Braves got five baserunners on via the walk and had driven up Cole's pitch count to 108 pitches as he left the game after 6 innings with Philly up 2-0, so at the time it wasn't even a sure thing Hammel's would get the win, let along the no-hitter remaining intact. However, Philly was able to break the game open against Atlanta starter Julio Teherán thanks to a 2-out bases loaded triple from Ben Revere to clear the bases and give the Phils a 5-0 lead.

Meanwhile, relievers Jake Diekman and Ken Giles came out of the Philadelphia pen in the bottom of the 7th and 8th innings respectively and sent the side down in order.

In the top of the 9th, it was once again Ben Revere who was providing the Phillies with the offense with a 1-out RBI single. With the bases loaded, Ryan Howard drew a walk to bring the second run of the inning to put the Phils up 7-0.

For the bottom of the 9th, closer Jonathan Papelbon got pinch hitter Jose Constanza to fly out to left, Chris Johnson to ground out to first and Phil Gosselin to line out to first to complete the no-hit bid.

This is the fourth no-hitter of the 2014 MLB season and the first that wasn't from an NL West club [the other three this year belong to Clayton Kershaw and Josh Beckett of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants- NANESB]

BOSTON RED SOX- With any realistic postseason aspirations for the defending World Series champions pretty much gone by the time the calendar flipped from July to August, the final month of the 2014 Red Sox is basically an open tryout for a shot at the 2015 roster. While the rosters expanded on September 1st, some of the names called up from Pawtucket [Christian Vasquez, Brock Holt, Rubby De LaRosa, Mookie Betts, Anthony Ranaudo, etc etc- NANESB!] are already names quite familiar to some of the Fenway faithful thanks to trades and injuries.

However depleted this iteration of the Red Sox are, Red Sox Nation naturally wants to see Boston do their part to extinguish the already dimming playoff hopes of the New York Yankees and had a chance to do exactly that when Red Sox starter Joe Kelly would go up against New York rookie Shane Green.

After Brock Holt lined out to open the game up, Mookie Betts singled and Green walked David Ortiz to put runners on first and second with only one away. Yoenis Cespedes then brought home Betts on an RBI double while Big Papi moved up to 3rd. Napoli then hit a sac fly deep enough for Ortiz to lumber home on to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Daniel Nava was then hit by a Green pitch before the inning ended with Will Middlebrooks caught looking at strike three.

The Yankees started off their half of the first with Ellsbury, Jeter and Brett Gardener going down in order. In the top of the second, Green appeared to have settled down some- after allowing a leadoff single to Xander Bogaerts, Green got David Ross to strike out, Brock Holt to line out to right and Betts to line out to center.

For the 3rd, Big Papi led off with a flyout to left, but Cespedes quickly followed that up with a single to left and Napoli was walked afterwards to put two runners on with Daniel Nava in the batters box with only one out. That set up this beauty



With only 1 away, Nava put the Red Sox up 5-0 with a homer that travelled 375 feet to right field. This was immediately followed by Middlebrooks striking out looking for out number two. But the scoring would continue as Bogaerts belted a solo homer into the Yankees bullpen to make it a 6-0 Red Sox lead.

The Red Sox would go on to cruise [relatively speaking- NANESB!] against the Yankees, winning by a 9-4 final. Joe Kelly would throw 6⅔ innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out six in what would be his first win since being traded to Boston by the Cardinals. Tommy Layne and Koji Uehara would come out of the bullpen and only alow one more run from the Yankees. Bogarts would go 4-5 with a homer and 2 RBI while Daniel Nava would go 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI.

Wednesday night's game will have the Yankees Hiroki Kuroda [9-8; 3.88 ERA] going up against Anthony Ranaudo [3-0; 4.50 ERA]. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN [for some inexplicable reason- NANESB!] and first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET. The Yankees come into Wednesday night's game nine games out of first in the AL East and five games out of the final wild card spot.

RED SOX WEST OAKLAND ATHLETICS- The Oakland A's weren't done wheeling and dealing just yet, as it turns out. On Sunday, the Oakland A's announced they had acquired DH Adam Dunn from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Nolan Sanburn and cash considerations. Dunn had also announced that he would retire at the end of the 2014 season, making this pennant chase his last.

With the White Sox, Dunn was batting .220 with 20 homers and 54 RBI this season. Upon arriving in Oakland, Dunn made an immediate impression in his first at-bat, belting a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first in the Labor Day game against Seattle which the Athletics would go on to win by a 6-1 final. However, not all is well with the A's....who were the runaway favorites to cruise to the AL West pennant earlier this year. Oakland has only won two of their last nine games- all of them against AL West opponents- and were shut out for 29 consecutive innings in a pivotal 4-game series against the Angels.

Since 2000, Dunn has hit 461 homers in his career with the Reds, Diamondbacks, Nationals and White Sox- only David Ortiz and Albert Pujols have hit more.

Home Cookin' Sports Chowdah Update- Home of the Braves, No Hospitality as Atlanta's NL Club Gets Back to Its Beantown Roots; Beckett Notches First Career No-No, Shuts out Phils

RED SOX- Somebody break up the Red Sox! Of course, if I said that a week ago it would've sounded like some sort of plea to invoke the mercy rule when they looked to be matching or beating the record for consecutive regular season games lost by a defending World Series champion with that disastrous series against Tampa Bay [Not to mention the homestand against Toronto and Detroit- NANESB!].

Although it didn't look that way at first, things started to turn around with Monday afternoon's game at Turner Field when the Red Sox rallied from a 6-1 deficit to tie the game at 6-6 before a rainstorm moved in and caused an hour-long delay. After the delay, the Red Sox got two more runs and the bullpen persevered to make it an 8-6 final- their first win since May 14th.

The following night in Atlanta, Boston made it two in a row after scoring four unanswered runs in the top of the 7th, rallying from a 3-2 hole to go on and win by a 6-3 final.

Wednesday night saw the series shift to Boston- the original home of the Braves until 1953- and the games opened up with a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the 2004 World Series team with alumni on field [with the notable exception of Big Papi- the only member of the 2004 'idiots' still on the Red Sox roster- NANESB!]. This included a ceremonial first pitch from Manny Ramirez that was cut off by fellow outfielder Johnny Damon in an impromptu recreation of one of the more infamous "Manny being Manny" moments during his time with the Red Sox



It gets better for Red Sox nation, though. After the ceremonial first pitch, Lackey and the Red Sox bullpen hurled a gem with Lackey, Tazawa, Capuano and Breslow shutting out the Braves by a 4-0 final and capping their 3rd straight win.

On Thursday night at Fenway, the Braves jumped out to an early lead with a Jason Heyward solo homer in the 3rd and an RBI single from Evan Gattis to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the 5th the Red Sox got on the board with an RBI double to make it 2-1, but Atlanta added to their lead with a booming Freddie Freeman RBI double that barely stayed in the park to put Atlanta up 3-1.

In the bottom of the 8th, Brock Holt led off the inning with a single to shallow left off of David Carpenter and advanced to second on a fielding error by Justin Upton. This was followed by a Xander Bogaerts single that plated Holt to make it a 1-run game. Dustin Pedroia would then single to put Bogaerts in scoring position with nobody out. Bogaerts then came home on a Pierzynski single to tie the game up at 3-3.

Carpenter got Gomes to strike out for the first out of the bottom of the 8th before Luis Avilan came out of the Braves pen to strike out Grady Sizemore and intentionally walk Big Papi. Craig Kimbrel then came out of the Atlanta pen to get David Ross to strike out and end the threat, but the damage had been done.

After Uehara came on in relief of starter Jake Peavy, Ryan Doumit led off the inning with a single followed by a Tommy LaStella sac bunt to move pinch-runner Jordan Schafer over to second. With Schafer in scoring position, Uehara got Andrelton Simmons to ground out and Jason Heyward to strike out and end the Braves threat in the top of the 9th.

In the bottom of the 9th, Jackie Bradley Jr and Brock Holt led off with walks, putting runners in scoring position right away and with nobody out. On Kimbrel's 15th pitch of the inning, Xander Bogarts hit into what initially looked like a double play- or at least a routine groundout- to 3rd, but Braves 3B Chris Johnson's throw to second was low and dribbled past Tommy LaStella.



An alert Jackie Bradley Jr bolted for home and Lastella's throw was wide of the plate, giving the Red Sox a walkoff 4-3 win in the bottom of the 9th to complete the home-and-away series sweep against Atlanta.

While winning four straight against a club like the Atlanta Braves is always good, the Red Sox need to improve their record within the AL East and they'll have a chance to do exactly that when they host the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. David Price [4-4; 4.42 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against Brandon Workman, who was recently called up from Triple-A Pawtucket. In seven starts against the International League this season, Workman has a 3-1 record with a 5.12 ERA.

The game will be televised on NESN with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 ET.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Former Red Sox starter Josh Beckett has pitched the first no-hitter of the 2014 season last weekend as the Dodgers blanked the Phillies 6-0 on Sunday. This also marks the first no-hitter in Beckett's distinguished career and the first no-hitter for the Dodgers since 1996. Although Beckett's no-no was the first of 2014, the last MLB no-hitter actually took place on the final day of the 2013 regular season when Marlins [another one of Beckett's former clubs- NANESB] starter Henderson Alvarez threw a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers.

Beckett, a 1999 1st round draft pick by the Marlins, made his MLB debut for Florida in 2001 and won his first World Series in 2003, besting the Yankees in six games. In 2006, Beckett and then-teammate Mike Lowell were traded to Boston and Beckett won a World Series title with the Red Sox in 2007 after Boston swept the Colorado Rockies in four games.

During the colossal trainwreck that was the 2012 season, an underperforming Beckett was traded to Los Angeles along with outfielder Carl Crawford and 1B Adrian Gonzalez for infielder James Loney in the biggest post-deadline transaction in MLB history. Although the Red Sox had to pay the salaries of the traded players for the remainder of the 2012 season, the move freed up nearly $250 million in salary for the Red Sox.

Beckett's pitch total

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Southern Comfort, Red Sox Snap 10-game Losing Streak; Drew Calling- Red Sox and SS Steven Drew Agree to 1-Year Deal

RED SOX- To say it's been an inauspicious month of May for the defending World Series champions would be understating things considerably.

The Red Sox came into Monday afternoon's game poised to match a dubious record among defending World Series champions. Having not won a game since the May 14th game at Target Field against the Twins, Boston came into this week's interleague series against their (former) cross-town rival Braves after being swept by the Tigers and Blue Jays at home last week and the Rays down in Tropicana Field over the weekend.

The losing streak was the longest since an 11-game losing streak in 1994 and threatened to match a record for longest losing streak by a defending World Series champion since the 1998 Florida Marlins, who had two separate 11-game losing streaks.

Early in Monday's game at Atlanta's Turner Field, it looked as though that record would be tied. Despite Boston jumping out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a Jackie Bradley Jr sac fly in the top of the 3rd, Atlanta would get their first lead of the day by way of a Justin Upton 2-RBI single after Boston starter walked Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman. With two gone in the bottom of the 3rd Gerald Laird hit a ground ball that hit Buchholz in the feet and changed direction, with Justin Upton coming home to score and make it a 3-1 game.

In the bottom of the 4th, Jason Heyward led off with a walk and went from first to third on a BJ Upton double to deep left. Buchholz would then walk Freeman and get yanked by Farrell with Burke Badenhop coming out of the pen. Two of the runners Badenhop inherited from Buchholz came home on base hits by Andrelton Simmons and Justin Upton, giving Atlanta a 6-1 lead an putting Boston well on its way to a record-tying 11th straight loss- or so it seemed.

In the top of the 5th, starter Ervin Santana led off the inning by getting Grady Sizemore to ground out and JBJ to strike out. With two away, Daniel Nava came on to pinch hit for Badenhop. Nava then moved to 3rd on a Brock Holt double before Santana walked Bogaerts to load up the bases. Santana then got ahead of Pedroia with two strikes and no balls. Just one strike or groundout away from ending the Red Sox rally, Pedroia got under Santana's 0-2 offering and rifled it into center field where bounced before Upton, bringing Nava and Holt home to cut the Braves lead in half.

Even worse for Santana was the fact that he had to face Big Papi with runners on base. With storm clouds moving in, Big Papi made Santana pay by taking his 91st pitch of the game and depositing it in the seats in center left field.



The crowd erupted as Big Papi's blast tied the game [Honestly, I'm not surprised that Red Sox Nation was at Turner Field- I'm just a little shocked at the numbers- NANESB!] and none too soon. With the game tied at 6-6, the game entered a rain delay of more than an hour in the bottom of the 6th.

After the delay, Mujica came out of the bullpen in relief of Capuano and led off by walking Justin Upton- however, that threat was ended when Chris Johnson hit into a double play and Andrelton Simmons grounded out to first to end the Atlanta half of the frame.

In the top of the 7th, Ian Thomas came out of the Braves pen and got Ryan Lavarnway to ground out, but Brock Holt singled, followed by walks to Bogaerts and Pedroia...once again bringing Big Papi to the plate with runners in scoring position. Ortiz got a hold of one, but not enough for it to leave the park. Instead, the Red Sox re-took the lead as Holt came home on the Big Papi sac fly to make it 7-6 Boston. AJ Pierzynski's bat didn't die in vain as he hit a broken-bat RBI single to bring home Bogaerts.

Tazawa, Miller and Uehara would come out of the bullpen and successfully kept the Braves off the board. Despite Buchholz giving up a career worst 8 walks and getting pulled early, the Red Sox go on to win by an 8-6 final and avoid the dubious distinction of being the third-ever defending World Series champions to lose 11 straight games. Mujica was credited with the win while Ian Thomas was hung with the loss.

Game two of the Atlanta portion of the series gets underway at 7:05 ET tonight and will be televised on ESPN. Jon Lester [4-6; 3.36 ERA] will go up against Atlanta's Aaron Harang [4-4; 3.32 ERA] as the Red Sox look to build their win streak to two.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox and free agent shortstop Steven Drew agreed to a 1-year $10 million contract last week. Drew- the younger brother of former Dodgers, Cardinals and Red Sox outfielder JD Drew- hasn't seen any MLB playing time since the 2013 World Series. In the offseason, the Red Sox offered Drew $14 million, but the shortstop declined and put himself on the market as a free agent. However, through Spring Training and beyond, there were no takers.

The agreement comes as Drew's teammates from the defending World Series champion Red Sox have been going on the DL on after another. Shortly before the signing, 3B Will Middlebrooks went on the 15 day DL with a fractured right finger. Barely two days after the Drew signing was announced, Victorino went on the DL with a strained hamstring while 1B Mike Napoli had issues with his left ring finger.

Shortly after signing the abridged deal with the Red Sox, Drew was sent down to Boston's single-A South Atlantic League affiliate, the Greenville Drive. In his two game stint with Greenville, Drew went 2 for 5 with a run scored and no RBIs. Drew is expected to play for Pawtucket next and the earliest possible return for Drew to the majors is June 2nd.

40 Years Ago Tonight- Henry Aaron Breaks Babe Ruth's Career Home Run Record at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium

Tuesday night marks the 40th anniversary of Henry Aaron hitting career HR #715, breaking Babe Ruth's record. Aaron, who spent most of his career with the Braves, faced anonymous death threats in the run up to surpassing Babe Ruth's mark in a deep south not too far removed from Jim Crow- although this wasn't widely known until well after Aaron's 1976 retirement. In fact, journalists and MLB security briefly feared the worst when two white fans rushed out of the stands towards Aaron as he rounded the bases, but as it turned out they were fans who wanted to be the first to congratulate him.


At the time, Aaron was the last player from the Negro Leagues still playing in the big leagues, playing for the Indianapolis Clowns as an 18 year old. Aaron reportedly entertained offers from the Boston Braves and New York Giants- according to Aaron himself, the only thing that separated him from becoming teammates with Willie Mays was that the Braves offered an extra $50 a month. However, by the time Aaron made his MLB debut in 1954, the Braves had moved from Boston to Milwaukee.


By 1957, the Milwaukee Braves bested the New York Yankees in 7 games in the World Series- Aaron's only World Series title in his 22 year MLB career. In 1966 the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta, putting the Alabama-born Aaron back in the Deep South for the first time since he came up through the Braves farm system.


Aaron, who turned 80 a few weeks ago and still resides in the Atlanta area, will be honored during a pregame ceremony at Turner Field before the Braves/Mets game on Tuesday night.


Interestingly, out of the three broadcasters who were calling the game that April night in Georgia, two of them were calling games until 2012 season. Milo Hamilton was the Braves broadcaster that night and went on to become the Astros broadcaster until his 2012 retirement. The late Curt Gowdy called the game for NBC's national telecast that night- he passed away in 2006 and has a state park in his native Wyoming named after him. Since the Braves were playing the visiting Dodgers that night, that meant that Vin Scully was doing the play-by-play for Los Angeles that night. Scully began his 61st year as the Dodgers broadcaster this month.

Division Series Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Wrap up Series Against Rays, Advance For First Time Since 2008; Tigers Roar Parst Oakland on Verlander Gem; Dodgers Tomahawk Chop Braves Out of Playoff Picture

I cannot overstate how much I love this time of year. Sure the days get a little shorter and there's a little chill in the air, but as the leaves explode into brilliant hues or orange, red and yellow in the New England countryside, there's also some electricity in the air. It's October, and the Red Sox are not only still relevant, but they've also been dominant.

Mike Carlson- AP

RED SOX- For the first time since the 2008 ALDS, the Red Sox are advancing to the American League Championship series. Interestingly, they bested the team that ended their 2008 playoff run in order to advance.

Tampa Bay was no stranger to must-win games coming into game 3 on Monday night, having played three elimination games the week before- besting the Blue Jays in the 'final' regular season game to qualify for a tiebreaker game with the Texas Rangers the following day. The Rays win in Arlington, TX won them a trip to Jacobs Field where they shut out the Cleveland Indians under the 1-game Wild Card elimination format.

On Monday, the Red Sox got out to the early lead to make it 3-0 in the top of the 5th, but Rays 3B Evan Longoria knotted the game up at 3-3 with one swing of his bat in the bottom half of the 5th.

The Rays briefly took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 8th on a Delmon Young RBI groundout with a runner at third. But in the top of the 9th, Will Middlebrooks drew a leadoff walk and had Xander Bogaerts replace him as a pinch runner. Dustin Pedroia would tie the game up on an RBI groundout but the inning would end with a Mike Carp strikeout, stranding a runner on 3rd.

It appeared as though the game would be heading to extras when Koji Uehara got the first two Rays batters out in the bottom of the 8th, but Jose Lobaton came in to pinch hit to give Tampa Bay the walkoff 5-4 win over Boston- winning their fourth 'must win' game in a little over the week.

Boston wasn't really interested in heading back to Fenway and being put in a must-win scenario themselves, so for Game four they brought out Jake Peavy to face Jeremy Hellickson.

Hellickson only made it to the top of the 2nd inning and manager Joe Maddon pulled him after walking the bases loaded with nobody out. Jamey Wright came in and got Saltalamacchia to strike out before former Red Sox infielder James Loney snagged a ball off the bat of Stephen Drew that looked as though it was heading to right field for a sure base hit and managed to double-up the runners.

The Red Sox frustration grew as Maddon went to the bullpen seemingly every inning, getting a new pitcher to face the Red Sox batters each time. But Peavy kept Boston in the game, shutting out the Rays until the 6th inning when he gave up a leadoff double to Yuniel Escobar followed by a Lobaton groundout to move the runner over to 3rd and a David Dejesus RBI single. Peavy then got Will Meyers to fly out to center before John Farrell pulled him to bring in reliever Craig Breslow, who ended the inning by striking out Loney.

In the top of the 7th, Johnny Gomes flew out to center to start off the 7th before Xander Bogaerts replaced Stephen Drew and drew a 1-out walk. Will Middlebrooks struck out before Jacoby Ellsbury singled, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 away. After Maddon brought in Joel Peralta, Ellsbury successfully swiped second, giving the Red Sox 2 runners in scoring position. The rookie Bogaerts came home to tie the game on a wild pitch uncorked by Peralta while Ellsbury advanced to third. Victorino the legged out an infield single to plate Ellsbury- the Red Sox went from being shut out to scoring two runs when the ball didn't even leave the infield.

Not wanting to take any chances, Farrell brought out Uehara with a runner on and two away in the bottom of the 8th. In the top of the 9th, the Red Sox got some insurance after Shane Victorino was hit to load up the bases with one out. Once again, it was Bogaerts who crossed the dish to put Boston up 3-1 thanks to a Pedroia sac fly to right.

Uehara would come back on for the 9th and strike out Longoria to end the game and wrap up the ALDS. After a week of surviving must-win games, the season finally ends for the Tampa Bay Rays as they fall to Boston in the ALDS, 3 games to 1.

It's also worth pointing out that Johnny Gomes, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks all notched their first career postseason hit in the ALDS. Although he has yet to get a postseason hit, rookie SS Xander Bogaerts has already scored three runs in the last two games of the ALDS while Peavy pitched well but didn't factor into the decision.

Juan H Gonzalez- Detroit Free Press

ELSEWHERE IN THE ALDS- After Tuesday night's celebration in the visitor's locker room at Tropicana Field, the Red Sox were awaiting the winner of the series between the Oakland A's and Detroit Tigers. Earlier on Tuesday, the Tigers had rallied from going down 0-3 to hang on for am 8-6 win over the AL West champions in Comerica Park, forcing a deciding game 5 back in Oakland for Thursday night.

Game 5's pitching matchup was Game 2 rematch featuring rookie Sonny Gray against 2011 Cy Young winner Justin Verlander. Verlander threw a gem in the pitcher's duel that was Game 2, but had no decision and the A's ultimately won on a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the 9th.

Thursday night was another story, however. While Gray got off to a good start, he served up a 1-out 2 RBI homer to Miguel Cabrera in the 4th to make it 2-0 Detroit. Omar Enfante would make it a 3-run game in the top of the 6th after grounding into a fielder's choice with a runner on 3rd with only 1 out.

Meanwhile- kind of like Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman earlier this year- Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the 7th inning at the Oakland Coliseum. Unlike Workman, the first hit Verlander gave up stayed in the park- a 2 out Yoenis Cespedes single that did no damage.

After manager Jim Leyland had starter Max Scherzer come out of the bullpen for game 4 and pitch two innings, Verlander most of the Tigers pitching staff the night off, throwing 8 shutout innings while giving up two hits and striking out 10 batters. Joaquin Benoit came out of the pen for the save, getting the first two batters out before allowing a double to former Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie and hitting Yoenis Cespedes with a pitch. However, Benoit would get Smith to fly out to end the ballgame and wrap up the series for Detroit.

This sets up a Boston vs Detroit ALCS with Game 1 slated for Saturday. Jon Lester will get the start against Anibal Sanchez. First pitch from Fenway is scheduled for 8:07 ET and the game will be televised on FOX.

NATIONAL LEAGUE- The LA Dodgers rallied late in Monday night's game to beat the Atlanta Braves and take the series. Atlants had just taken a 3-2 lead on a Jose Costantza pinch hit RBI single in the top of the7th, but in the bottom of the 8th, Juan Uribe belted a 2 run homer to put the Dodgers up for good, giving them nearly five days off as they awaited the winner of the Pittsburgh/St Louis Series.

Meanwhile, my dreams of a 1903 World Series rematch have been dashed by the St Louis Cardinals, as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday at PNC Park by a 2-1 final to force a deciding Game 5 which the Cardinals won by a 6-1 final on Wednesday night.

First pitch for Game 1 of the Dodgers/Cardianls NLCS is scheduled for 8:37 ET from Busch Stadium on Friday night and the game will be televised on TBS.

NFL- Tom Brady's streak of 52 consecutive games with a TD pass came to an end on Sunday and not surprisingly, the Patriots were handed their first loss of the season in a rain-drenched Paul Brown stadium.

Former Patriot Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis scored the only touchdown of the day for Cincinnati with a TD run on 4th and goal in the 4th quarter, but it would be all the Bengals needed in the 13-6 win over New England on Sunday.

Although the Patriots head home for Week 6, it doesn't get easier with the Pats hosting 5-0 New Orleans. A bit of good news is that Rob Gronkowski has been listed as day to day, although it's unlikely he'll start Sunday. The TE had missed every game after leaving last season's playoff game against the Houston Texans with a forearm injury. In the offseason, Gronkowski had multiple surgeries on his arm as well as an additional prodecure to clear up an infections.

NHL- The Boston Bruins were dealt their first loss of the season and were shut out for the first time since February 2012 on Thursday night when the visiting Colorado Avalanche came away with a 2-0 win.

LW Ryan O'Rielly gave the Avs the lead late in the first period with a power play goal while JS Giguere turned aside all 39 shots he faced in his season debut for Colorado. The Avs are off to a 4-0 start under head coach Patrick Roy- their best start since relocating to Denver from Quebec City during the 1995-1996 season.

The 2-1 Bruins will travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Saturday afternoon for their first away game of the 2013-2014 season- Columbus is also sporting an identical 2-1 record.

Puck drops at 2:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

Wild Card Sports Chowdah Update- Chip Chop, Atlanta Tomahawked Out of Postseason On Dubious Call; O's Flying High; Caught Up on the Bills- Patriots Get 1st Win Against Division This Season

Chipper Bows Out- AP Photo/John Bazemore

NL WILD CARD- MLB's new expanded playoff format couldn't get through the first game without generating some controversey on Friday when the two National League Wild Card teams faced each other for a single elimination game at Turner Field.

Although the Braves got out to a fairly quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd thanks to a 2-run David Ross homer, the Cardinals came back in the top of the 4th to take the lead thanks to a throwing error from Braves 3B Chipper Jones followed by a a hit and some productive outs, giving the redbirds a 3-2 lead before the Braves were able to get out of the inning. This was followed by a Matt Holliday solo homer to make it 4-2 in the top of the 6th and another costly throwing error in the top of the 7th.

The Braves would get a run back on a Bourne RBI groundout in the bottom of the 7th and looked like they had a rally going in the bottom of the 8th until this happened.

Seemingly determined to take the heat off the NFL's replacement referees, Atlanta thought they had the bases loaded when what should've been a routine flyout to shallow left off the bat of Andrelton Simmons instead fell between Cards shortstop Pete Kozma and Matt Holliday. The disputed call led to irate Braves fans throwing garbage on the field and a 20 minute delay as the grounds crew attempted to clean up as the teams waited out the deluge in their respective dugouts.

As it turned out, that was the last, best chance for Atlanta. The Braves played the remainder of the game under protest and the Cardinals would go on to win by a final of 6-3. Before the final out was recorded, umpire Sam Holbrook's call had already drawn comparisons to the Seattle Seahawk's disputed 14-12 'Fail Mary' or 'Touchdeception' win over the Green Bay Packers when replacement NFL referees had alternately signaled touchdown and interception as time expired during the September 24th game.

However, as many Braves fans and players attested postgame, it wasn't the call that had cost them the game, but rather the errors that eventually led to St Louis Cardinals runs.

The win means that the defending World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals will face the reigning NL East pennant winners in Washington DC on Saturday. Interestingly, the Nationals-Cardinals game on Sunday night will mark the first time since 1933 there has been playoff baseball in the nation's capital.

Friday night also marked a couple of milestones- it was the final game in Braves third baseman Chipper Jones' 19 year career. Jones- who spent his entire career with Atlanta- had a career batting average of .303 with 2726 hits, 1623 RBI and 468 home runs.

This also was the first postseason win for freshman Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and the first Cardinals postseason win without Tony La Russa as manager since 1987.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB PLAYOFFS- The Baltimore Orioles were rewarded for their first playoff appearence since 1997 with a 5-1 win over the defending AL champion Texas Rangers on Friday night. O's starter Joe Saunders went 5 and two thirds innings and got the win against the Rangers' Yu Darvish. Although both starters would give up a run early, Adam Jones would come home on a JJ Hardy sac fly in the top of the 6th and Nate McClouth would get an RBI single in the top of the 7th to make it 3-1 Baltimore.

3B Manny Machado would get credited with an RBI single while McClouth would get another RBI in the form of a sac-fly in the 9th to make it 5-1. That would be the final score that sent the back to back AL champs packing on Friday night and set up a rematch with the team they faced in the next-to-last time they were in the postseason, the New York Yankees.

OTHER MLB NEWS- Detroit Tigers infielder Miguel Cabrera has become baseball's first Triple Crown winner in 45 years. For the 2012 season, Cabrera led the AL in with a .330 batting average, 44 homers and 139 RBI.

The last Triple Crown winner was in 1967 when Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski won the honors. Cabrera is also the first player from Latina America to win the Triple Crown.

Detroit clinched the AL Central title last week and will play the AL West Champion Oakland A's on Saturday in what will be a rematch of the 2006 ALCS.

BOSTON RED SOX- The Boston Red Sox regular season ended with a whimper following a three game sweep in the Bronx at the hands of the archrival Yankees, going 7-22 since Labor Day weekend and a disastrous West Coast road trip. All but five games took place against opponents in the AL East, with every game after September 7th taking place against the Devil Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays or Yankees. The month-long freefall marked an anti-climatic finish to the centennial season of Fenway Park.

A day after the close of the 2012 Red Sox season, the Red Sox made it official and fired manager Bobby Valentine. The 69-93 finish to the regular season under Valentine was Boston's worst in nearly 50 years and good for dead last in the AL East.

Valentine's dismissal has led to speculation that the Red Sox are actively pursuing former Red Sox pitching coach and current Toronto manager John Farrell.

AP Photo/Bill Wippert

NFL- Tom Brady and the New England Patriots rallied from a 14-7 defecit at haltime against Buffalo to win their first AFC East matchup of the 2012 season.

The Pats were fortunate to be down by just one TD before the half. Trailing 14-7 and With just over 2 minutes to go in the first half, Wes Welker fumbled after catching a 14 yard pass deep in New England's own end. However the Bills fumbled at the Patriots 4-yard line and Vince Wilfork was able to recover.

Even with the fortutious turn of events, Buffalo was able to take a 21-7 lead on a 68 yard completion and run from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to WR Donald Jones on their 1st posession of the 3rd. However, New England would come back to tie it by outtung together back to back TD drives while limiting the Bills offense to a couple of short porsessions where they had to punt almost immediately. The Partiots took the lead early in the 4th with a 28 yard reception and TD run from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski to make it 21-28 and the Patriots never looked back from there, going on to win by a final of 52-28. RB Stevan Ridley had a pair of rushing TDs while Brandon Bolden and Tom Bary each had a rushing TD between them. Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead and Brandon Lloyd each caught TD passes.

This Sunday, the 2-2 Patriots will return home to Foxbourough and take on a familiar face in a new uniform when they play the Denver Broncos and QB Peyton Manning. Kickoff is set for 4:25 ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

Sports Chowdah Update- Greek God of Walks Walks Away to Chicago; Verdict Reached in Sandusky Trial; Bruins Pick Malcom in the Middle

RED SOX- Sunday afternoon was one that wouldn't soon be forgotten at Fenway Park anytime soon and the series finale against the Atlanta Braves was almost an afterthought.

The day started off with news that Clay Buchholz was hospitalized at Massachusetts General Hospital with intestinal bleeding, meaning he was unable to make his scheduled start on Sunday. Buchholz had gone 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in his last eight starts and the Red Sox are hoping that he won't miss any more than 2 weeks worth and will be back in time for a July 6 start against the Yankees at Fenway.

In the meantime, reliever Aaron Cook was slotted for a spot start against the Braves for the interleague finale against the Braves. Cook was cruising along and doing fairly well through the first 4 innings, getting some run support in the bottom of the 4th thanks to a 3-run Cody Ross homer and solo home run from Adrian Gonzalez to out Boston up 4-0.

However, in the top of the 5th, Cook struggled mightily after giving up back to back singles and then having former Red Sox Eric Hinske bring them home on a 2 RBI triple. Hinske then came home on a wild throw by Cook to cut the Boston lead down to 4-3. In the home half of the 5th, the inning started off with C Kelly Shoppach reaching on a throwing error followed up by a Daniel Nava single. Shoppach came home on a Middlebrooks sac-fly to make it 5-3 Boston. Then, Cody Ross belted his second homer of the game- a mammoth 2-run blast that likely landed somewhere in Coos county, New Hampshire to give the Red Sox a 7-3 lead.

The Braves got a run back with a solo homer from Jason Heyward off of Matt Albers in the top of the 6th but the Red Sox would regain their 4 run lead on a Nava RBI single to make it an 8-4 game.

However, the most talked about development in Sunday's game came in the bottom of the 7th when Kevin Youkilis hit a deep fly ball for a triple that drove in Adrian Gonzalez. Valentine then pulled Youk for pinch runner Nick Punto and on his way to the dugout got a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd. Ever since Valentine was quoted as questioning Youkilis' commitment to the game, the veteran corner infielder has been the subject of a number of trade rumors. Among the teams mentioned as potential landing spots for Youk was the resurgent Pittsburgh Pirates and the Reds in his native Cincinnati. After heading into the dugout, Youkils stepped back out for a curtain call, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd.

Reliever Mark Melancon closing out the game was pretty much an afterthough when it was confirmed that Youkilis had been traded to the first place Chicago White Sox for utility player Brent Lillibridge and minor league pitcher Zach Stewart.

Although he scuffled mightily in the 5th, Aaron Cook lasted long enough to get his first win of the season. Cody Ross went 2-4 with 2 homers and 5 RBI while Youkilis also went 2-4 with an RBI in his final at bat with the Boston Red Sox. Besides closing the book on Youk's 8½ seasons in Boston- his entire MLB career- the trade leaves DH David Ortiz as the last remaining player from the 2004 World Series championship team. During the 2007 season- the Red Sox most recent World Series championship- Kevin Youkilis had a .288 batting average with 16 homers and 83 RBI. The World Series Champioship was followed up by a career best year in 2008 where he batted .312 with 29 homers and 115 RBI while finishing behind teammate Dustin Pedroia that year in the AL MVP voting. Youk has struggled somewhat at the plate this season and has been batting .233 with 4 homers and 14 RBI so far and hasn't seen quite as much playing time thanks to a torrid start from rookie 3B Will Middlebrooks.

The Youk-less Red Sox will next host the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway on Monday night. Felix Doubront [8-3: 4.31 ERA] will get the start against Toronto's Henderson Alvarez [3-6; 4.30 ERA]. The game gets underway at 7:10 ET and will be televised on NESN and Rogers Sports Net.



BOSTON BRUINS- For their first round selection in the 2012 NHL draft, the Boston Bruins selected netminder Malcom Subban, younger brother of Montreal defenseman PK Subban.

The younger Subban had a regular season record of 25-14 with a 2.50 GAA and a save percentage of 0.923% for the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League.

The Bruins were pretty busy on Day 2 of the draft, with five overall picks including defenseman Matt Grzelcyk from the USHL, Center Seth Griffin from the OHL's London Knights, RW Cody Paine of the OHL's Plymouth Whalers, defenseman Matthew Benning from the AJHL and Colton Hargrove who has comitted to Western Michigan University this fall.

NCAA BASEBALL- Arizona's Konner Wade threw a comlete game and outfielder Robert Refsnyder belted a 2-run homer off of South Carolina's Forrest Koumas in the first inning of Game 1 of the College World Series at Omaha, NE on Sunday.

Refsnyder's going yard would be the game winner as the Wildcats went on to beat the Gamecocks in Game 1 of the College World Series. Coming into the 2012 season, the Gamecoks had won two consecutive College World Series title while the Wildcats were lookinf for their first since 1986.

NCAA FOOTBALL- A Pennsylvania jury found former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky guilty of 45 of 48 charges stemming from sexually abusing young boys over a 15 year period. Sandusky's bail was revoked and he was ordered remanded to the Central County jail where he will face a sentencing hearing in 90 days- Sandusky's lawyers announced they plan on appealing the verdict. Many legal observers think that the convicted sex offender and former coach could get up to 400 years in prison.

Down to the Wire Sports Chowdah- Lavranway or the Highway in Baltimore; Buffalo Shuffles Off to 3-0 Start After Upsetting Pats

RED SOX: After dropping two out of three at Yankee stadium (their sole win in that series being decided by a Jacoby Ellsbury 3-run homer in the 14th inning late Sunday night) the Red Sox headed headed down to Baltimore for the final series of the regular season. Only the way the Red Sox had been playing in September, it could very well end up being their season finale altogether. Monday night was pretty gruesome, with the Tampa Bay Rays closing the gap, the O's roughing up Beckett and Saltalamacchia leaving the game after taking a foul ball off the throat.

Tuesday night saw ex-O Eric Bedard get the start against his former team, only lasting 3 and ⅓ innings against a persistent Baltimore offense. However, the Red Sox were even rougher on O's starter Zach Britton. In the top of the 3rd, Jacoby Ellsbury let his bat do the arguing for him in the AL MVP discussion, belting a 2-run homer to take a 2-1 lead. However, in the top of the 5th, with Big Pappi and Adrian Gonzalez on base, Red Sox rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway would increase the lead with a 3-run shot to make it 5-1 Boston- his first big league home run. As sizeable a lead as theat turned out to be, the Red Sox would need even more as Baltimore would counter with a 2 run homer off the bat of catcher Matt Wieters to make it a 2-run game.

In the top of the 6th, Carl Crawford's 1-out triple was followed by a homer off the bat of Marco Scutaro to increase the lead to 7-3 in favor of Boston. Baltimore would respond with a solo homer off the bat of Adam Jones in the bottom of the 6th to make it 7-4.

Leading off the 8th, Lavarnway would double his career homerun total with a solo shot to make it 8-4. After 3 and ⅔ innings, Alfredo Aceves was replaced by Daniel Bard on the mound to face Baltimore. The O's managed to get two runs with two away in the bottom of the 8th to once again make it a two-run game with Boston now leading 8-6.

Things would get even more tense in the bottom of the 9th when Papelbon came on to close out the game and gave up a single to JJ Hardy. Hardy would make his way to 2nd on a Markakis groundout and then to 3rd on a Vlad Guerrero single, reaching home on a Matt Weiters bunt that Lavarnway threw to 1st for the out. Papelbon would then get JJ Hardy to ground out to end the ballgame by the final of 8-7.

It was a win they would need, too, as the Tampa Bay Rays managed to hold off a late rally by the Yankees to preserve the tie for the AL Wild Card (the Angels were eliminated from contention on Monday night).

Wednesday's game- the final of the regular season- will have Jon Lester (15-9; 3.49 ERA) going up against Alfredo Simon (4-9; 4.85 ERA). The Red Sox need a win to at least force a 1-game playoff with the Rays on Thursday- Tampa is going up against a Yankees team that's already clinched the AL East and aside from determining who makes the playoff roster doesn't have alot to play for.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: According to gossip site TMZ.com, Red Sox starter John Lackey and his wife are filing for divorce. Court papers were reportedly filed in Texas last month citing 'conflict of personalities'.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Over in the National League, the Wild Card there hasn't been determined either. The St Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves are deadlocked for the NL Wild Card with one game remaining for each team (Atlanta has the Phillies while St Louis has the Astros). If the deadlock in the standings remains unbroken by tomorrow night, then there will be a 1-game playoff in St. Louis on Thursday night.

Reportedly, if a one game playoff is required for the AL or NL Wild card, the game will be televised on TBS. First pitch would be 4:07 PM ET in Tampa for the Red Sox and Rays and 8:07 PM ET in St. Louis for Braves/Cardinals.

WHITE SOX: White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen was released from his duties by the White Sox this week. There had been speculation that Guillen wasnt long for the organization as well as rumors that he was interested in becoming the manager of the Florida Marlins. This seemed to be confirmed by Guillen himself via twitter as he informed followers about his arrival in Miami.


NFL: For the first time since 2003, the Buffalo Bills have managed to defeat the New England Patriots. Although the Patriots managed to get out to a 21-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, the Bills managed to whittle that down to 21-10 by halftime. Buffalo would come back to tie the game at 24-24 early in the 4th before taking the lead when CB Drayton Florence ran back a Brady INT for a quick 6 on New Engalnd's following possession.

The Patriots would then take nearly 7 minutes to march down the field, tying the game up on a 6 yard pass from Brady to Welker on 4th and goal with 3:25 left in the 4th. However, that would be enough time for Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to engineer an 80-yard drive that sputtered at the one, but all that was needed was a chip shot FG from Bills kicker Rian Lindell as time expired to give Buffalo the 34-31 win.

So heading into week 4, Buffalo stands alone atop the AFC East (Sunday's meeting was the Bills 1st matchup of the season against an division opponent). As a measure of consolation, the Jets would go on to lose against the Oakland Raiders that afternoon as well.

Speaking of Oakland, the Patriots will travel to the East Bay to take on the Raiders this Sunday. The game will be televised on CBS and kicks off at 4:15 PM ET, 1:15 PM PT.

NBA: With players not reporting to training camp at the usual time due to the lockout, the NBA has postponed training camp indefinitely and cancelled 43 preseason games. Meetings between the league and player's association ended without a collective bargaining agreement last week, putting the preseason games and possibly the start of the regular season in doubt.

Salty Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Royal Pains in Midwest; Things Get Uggla; Pats Keelhaul Bucs; Some Goodwill, Danica Leaving IndyCar?

RED SOX: After finishing their road trip with a whimper by dropping 2 out of 3 games to the Mariners, the Red Sox travelled home for a quick 3-game series against Tampa Bay (again, dropping two out of three) before heading to the heartland for a 4-game series in Kansas City.

Not unlike his start against Seattle, game one got off to a little bit of a choppy start with Josh Beckett on the mound as he gave up a leadoff double in the top of the 1st to 3B Alex Gordon. Gordon was brought home thanks to a sac bunt that moved him to third and a Billy Butler sac-fly to put KC in front 1-0.

The Sox got the equalizer in the top of the 2nd when Jason Varitek drove home Josh Reddick with an RBI single, although he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. The Red Sox then took the lead on a 2-RBI single from Dustin Pedroia in the 3rd before KC got it right back with a 2-run Alex Gordon homer in the bottom half of the inning. Pedroia would come to bat with Ellsbury on 2nd and two away in the top of the 5th and get what would be the game winning RBI with a single (that like Varitek, he was thrown out trying to stretch into a double).

Daniel Bard would come on in the 8th and Papelbon would close out the game in the 9th to preserve the 4-3 Boston lead. The 7 innings thrown by Beckett puts him at 10-5 while Papelbon's save was his 29th of the season.

On Friday night, KC got out to the early 1-0 lead on an RBI sac fly hit by Alex Gordon off of Andrew Miller, but that's all Miller and the bullpen would allow as they managed to tie the game up on a Darnell McDonald RBI triple before taking the lead on a Jacoby Ellsbury sac fly in the top of the 4th.

In the top of the 5th and with two out and two away, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia belted a 3-run homer to give the Red Sox plenty of insurance at 5-1. The Sox would get two more to make it a 7-1 final. Miller gets the win after giving up a run and 3 hits in 5 and ⅓ innings of work while Alfredo Aceves worked 3 and ⅔ scoreless innings allowing one hit and striking out 3 to preserve the 7-1 lead.

Boston takes the first two in KC, setting up a matchup tomorrow between Tim Wakefield (6-5; 4.90 ERA) who has gone winless in his last four starts and Kansas City's Felipe Paulino (1-9; 4.30 ERA).

OTHER SOX NEWS:: David Ortiz is expected to miss up to a week with bursitis in his right heel. He was scratched from the lineup right before the start of the day/night doubleheader with Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Ryan Lavarnaway was called up from Pawtucket and replaced Big Papi in the lineup on Thursday night's game at DH, going 0-4.

Kevin Youkilis was placed on the DL this week as well with back problems and is also expected to miss a week.



ELSEWHERE IN MLB- MINNESOTA: On Monday night's game against Detroit in Comerica park, Minnesota slugger Jim Thome managed to belt career home runs #599 and #600 as the Twins out dueled the Tigers by a 9-6 final. On the landmark knight for the veteran slugger, Thome went 3-4 with 5 RBI, accounting for most of the Twin's offensive output that evening.

Thome's 3-run shot off of Daniel Schelerth in the top of the 7th made him the 8th major leaguer to enter the 600 Home Run club.

ATLANTA: Braves 2B Dan Uggla's hitting streak stopped at 33 games over the weekend. The Chicago Cunbs kept the red hot Uggla hitless for the first time in a month. Uggla's hit streak in July/August stopped just shy of the 1949 hit streak mark set by Red Sox outfielder Dom DiMaggio (or more recently, Benito Santiago's 34-game hit streak with the San Diego Padres in 1987). Uggla's hit streak now stand as the longest in Braves history, surpassing outfielder Rico Carty's 31-game hit streak in 1970.

CHICAGO CUBS: Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano (9-7; 4.82 ERA) abruptly announced his retirement after getting shelled by the Braves a week ago. Zambrano didn't even last 5 innings and gave up 8 earned runs as well as a career worst 5 homers. Zambrano was ejected after throwing inside on consecutive pitches to Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones.

Within days, the Cubs placed Zambrano on the disqualified list when it became clear he wasn't going to walk back his comments about retiring. The Players Association is protesting the actions the Cubs have taken against the hotheaded hurler in an effort to reduce any sanctions or fines that might be forthcoming.

After the Zambrano fiasco, the Cubs also announced that General manager Jim Hendry was terminated on Friday afternoon. Curiously, owner Tom Ricketts claimed he reached the decision on July 22 and told Hendry that day, but for whatever reason both parties didn't make any public announcement until nearly 3 weeks later- after the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline as well as the August 15 deadline to sign this year's draft picks.


NFL: QB Tom Brady went 11 for 19 including two TD passes in Thursday night's preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady worked for the first half and connected with TE Aaron Hernandez for a 16 yard TD pass and then WR Chad Ochocinco for TD pass #2. Ben Jarvus Green Ellis had two rushing TDs of his own, including one to close out the first half in New England's 31-14 preseason win over Tampa Bay.

The next preseason game for New England will be at Ford Field against the Detroit Tigers on Sat. Aug 27th. at 8PM ET.

NCAA FOOTBALL: One time Miami Hurricanes booster and convicted money launderer Nevin Shapiro made good on a jailhouse threat to disclose to the NCAA and the press improper benefits he gave to Hurricanes players while they were still with the university including cash, merchandise and parties on a yacht he owned that featured prostitutes.

Shapiro pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering in September 2010 and was sentenced to a 20 year sentence in June. In a jailhouse interview, Shapiro detailed how he used funds from an ongoing Ponzi scheme going as far back as 2002 to finance donations to the University of Miami football and men's basketball programs in addition to giving out cash and favors to Hurricanes players.

The NCAA has notified University of Miami administrators that it's considering invoking a 'willful violators' clause to circumvent a 4 year statute of limitations on any investigation into the Miami athletic program. Traditionally, the NCAA’s bylaws would only allow it to sanction the Hurricanes for infractions that occurred during the four years prior to receiving a letter of inquiry from investigators. For example, if Miami received a letter of inquiry for a case on Sept. 1, 2011, the NCAA could only sanction the school for applicable violations dating back to Sept. 1, 2007. But the clause – reserved for “a pattern of willful violations” – can spin a probe back to the earliest applicable infractions.

Applied to the Shapiro allegations, it means the NCAA could reach as far back to early 2002, when the booster said he began funneling benefits to Hurricanes players. And if the probe stretched back to 2002, it would overlap with Miami’s two-year probationary period from the baseball program, which was leveled from February 2003 to February 2005. That could potentially tag the Hurricanes athletic program with a “repeat violator” label and make the school further susceptible to the NCAA’s so-called death penalty.

Only one Division one NCAA football program has been given the 'death penalty' before- the Southern Methodist University Mustangs in 1988. The NCAA banned the football team from taking the field in the 1987 season, and although away games were technically permitted the following season, SMU administrators decided it wasn't feasible to field a team for seven scheduled Away games that were already scheduled.

In 2003, the Miami Hurricanes baseball program was on probation from the NCAA for violations during the 1998-1999 seasons. If Shapiro's claims are true and the timeline match up, then he was funneling money to Miami players before the university even started probation.

NCAA HOOPS: Wow- if this is a 'Goodwill tour', I'd hate to see what the Georgetown Hoyas Malice Tour to China would look like.

The video above is from an altercation on Friday in Beijing between the Hoyas basketball team and the Shanghai Bayi Rockets- a squad that reportedly has ties to China's People's Liberation Army. The bench-clearing brawl erupted with less than 10 minutes to go in the game and the crowd threw plastic water bottles at the Hoyas as they left the court.



MOTORSPORTS: ESPN is reporting that Indy Car driver Danica Patrick is expected to announce a full-time move to NASCAR beginning next season. While the full details and terms of her contract have yet to be finalized, Patrick is expected to race primarily in the Nationwide series (something she's already appeared in) and make appearences in select Sprint Cup races.

Week Off Sports Chowdah Update- Bruins Split Czech; Braves Chopped Out of Playoff Picture; Pats Family Tree Gets Familiar Branch

NHL: The puck dropped on the 2010-2011 Bruins regular season in Prague this weekend with a two game series against the Phoenix Coyotes. After losing the opener by a 5-2 margin, Tim Thomas made an impressive regular season debut and 2010 first round draft pick Tyler Seguin scored his first NHL goal on Sunday's game in the Czech capital. Thomas stopped all 29 shots he faced while Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton got the Bruins out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period before Seguin's goal sealed the 3-0 win over Phoenix.

Boston's next game isn't until Saturday where the NJ Devils will host them at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

MLB: And then there was one......well one division series remaining. After the Yankees finished off a sweep of the Twins on Saturday while the Reds were eliminated by the Phillies Sunday night. The Braves managed to stay alive in the NLDS matchup with the Giants and the series headed to Atlanta with the series tied 1-1 after Rick Ankiel splashed a solo homer into McCovey cove in the 11th inning to cap off the Braves Friday night win.

However, the Giants were able to take advantage of Atlanta miscues as the series went back to Turner Field tied 1-1. Perhaps most the most agonizing for moments for Braves faithful came after an Erick Hinske pinch-hit 2-run homer briefly put the Beaves up 2-1. In the top of the 9th, Aubrey Huff drove on, bringing home Travis Ishikawa to tie the contest up at 2-2. Giants Catcher Buster Posey scalded what looked like sharply hit groundout to 2nd base to end the inning, but in a moment eerily reminiscent of Bill Buckner, it went right under Brooks Conrad's glove and into center field to put the Giants up for good 3-2.

Monday night's game at Turner Field turned out to be Bobby Cox's last as Braves manager, as the Giants held on to a 1-run lead even when Giant's closer Brian Wilson allowed back-to-back walks to Rick Ankiel and Erick Hinske with one away. The Londonderry, NH born pitcher then managed to get Melky Cabrera to ground out into a double-play. San Francisco wins the Division series 3 games to 1 and Game 4 by a final score of 3-2.

ELSEWHERE: Game 5 of the ALCS Between the Rangers and Rays is set to take place tonight in Tampa/St. Pete at 8PM ET. The series is tied at 2 games each and Cliff Lee is expected to get the start against David Price. Curiously, the home team has yet to win in this series.

NFL: For those of us wondering 'Who's Brady gonna throw to now that Moss is gone?', wonder no more as the Patriots announced that they reacquired WR Deion Branch from the Seattle Seahawks last night (See!? Pats news even during the bye week!). The Seahwaks will get a future draft pick from New England in exchange for Branch and acquired a WR from another AFC East team, Marshawn Lynch, last week. Superbowl XXXVIII MVP Branch reportedly practised with New England on Tuesday. New England takes on the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday.

Oh yes....there was some sort of Monday night contest involving Randy Moss and the NY Jets on the air, too. Man....I tuned in for that right after the Braves/Giants game....what a snooze-fest until the late 3rd quarter. Rain rain rain, Vikings 3 and out, rain rain rain Jet's field goal....lather, rinse, repeat....you get the idea. So fast forward to the third quarter where Brett Favre manages to get the Vikings on the board with a 3rd and 17 completion to Randy Moss for career TD #500 and became the first QB to eclipse the 70,000 yards mark....and parhaps more importantly make it an interesting game at 12-7. Brett Farve came up short [or insert your own Farve-centric joke- NANESB!] after a late interception sealed the win for the Jets, their 4th in a row, by a final of 29-20.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Boston College had their bye a few weeks ago, but they've been playing like they still have had every weekend off since then. This past weekend, it was a 44-17 loss to North Carolina state, which makes them 0-2 against ACC opponents. After averaging 10 points in their last three games, I'm not very optimistic about their chances against #16 Florida State at Talahassee on Saturday afternoon

To the South (or is it north, since both were away games?), UConn squandered a 24-17 halftime lead and were shut out by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for the entire 2nd half to lose by a final of 27-24 on a Friday night game. The Huskies have a bye this weekend and will travel to Louisville on Oct. 23rd for another Big East matchup.

Scrappy Division 1AA UMass had the weekend off, but will be playing another FCS/Colonial Conference team that not only acquited itself against a FBS/Division 1A team (Virginia), but actually won- the Richmond Spiders. Since their close game against the Wolverines, the Minutemen have gone 2-0 and has an overall record of 4-1 (second only to 6-0 Delaware in the CAA).

"Hey Now, You're An All-Star" Sports Chowdah Update for July 12-14

Well....that only took 14 years.

Atlanta Braves C Brian McCann was the unlikely hero for the National League on Tuesday night, driving in 3 RBIs to secure the National League's first All-Star win since 1996.

Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps was credited with the win with just five pitches worth of work and the Dodger's Jonathan Broxton held off a late rally in the bottom of the 9th for the 3-1 win. Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria scored the only run of the night for the AL in the bottom of the 5th on a Robinson Cano sac-fly. The Yankees Phil Hughes was hung with the loss while the ChiSox's Matt Thorton gave up the game-winning double to McCann in the top of the 7th.

The win on Tuesday night also means that the National League will have home field advantage to start off this year's World Series.

Tuesday night's game capped off three days of festivities including the 2010 MLB futures game, the Home Run Derby and the Legends/Celebrity Softball game.

Although six Red Sox players were nominated to the 2010 All Star game, only Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz and Jon Lester saw the light of day Adrian Beltre struck out in his only at-bat, leading off the bottom of the 9th while Papi went 1 for 2 with a single, also in the 9th. Lester had a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 6th.

The Celebrity Softball game featured actors Mario Lopez and Micheal Clarke Duncan along with rapper MC Hammer, and former MLB players Bo Jackson and Tim Salmon...

as well as Access Hollywood anchor Maria Menounos.
Victoria's Secret model Marissa Miller.
And USA Olympic Softball gold medalist Jennie Finch.

The home run derby took place on Monday night
Not too surprisingly, Big Papi pretty much won that contest going away after squaring off against Florida's Hanley Ramierez in the final round. Papi was interviewed by Erin Andrews afterwards, where he said a few words in honor of the late Jose Lima who passed away earlier this year. I'm just hoping his explosive performance at the Derby doesn't wear him down further into the regular season- anybody else notice a slump in his performance after an equally impressive HR Derby at the All-Star game in Pittsburgh a few years back?

Speaking of ESPN and Erin Andrews, the ESPYs were on tonight- just a hop skip and jump up the I-5 from Anaheim at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater. I caught some of the red carpet show prior to the actual awards at the same bar I caught the concurrent Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins games (all nationally televised, no less) before I had to go to work for a few hours.

(Reuters)

Had no idea Erin Andrews was so tall...or Danica Patrick was so diminutive. Yea- I know Erin's wearing heels, but she's towering over the Indycar driver like a sequoia over a garden gnome....

OK....slight exaggeration on my part, but the size differential is noticeable.

Sports Chowdah Weekend Re-Cap; B's & C's Rally in Playoff Wins; Sox Hit Hard by Death Rays; Proud Papa-lbon

Remember when I said last week that they can't all be gems? The Red Sox provided a stark reminder of that in their weekend home stand against Tampa Bay while the Bruins and Celtics had a pretty good weekend.


MLB: The Red Sox second homestand was off to a forgettable start as they dropped the first three games against Tampa Bay. Friday night's game was tied at 1-1 and suspended in the bottom of the 9th and resumed Saturday which the Red Sox lost on a 2-run Pat Burrell homer in the 12th inning. Then Burrell had a 3-RBI double to lead off the Saturday's game that the Rays would go on to win 5-6. I had a chance to see the nationally televised game Sunday on TBS which had Jon Lester go up against Matt Garza in which the Sox were on the receiving end of a 7-1 spanking [I curse the sporting gods for being able to tune into that one but completely missing both the B's and C's games Saturday- NANESB!]. Tomorrow's Patriot's day game which will have Lackey go up against Rays starter Jeff Nieman will be the Sox's only chance to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rays before the Texas Rangers come into town.

Sooo they basically haven't won a game since Wednesday in Minnesota while Tampa and New York just keep finding ways to win...is it too early to panic?

Other Sox-Centric News: Daisuke Matsuzaka threw six innings of three-hit shutout ball for the PawSox last week against the Buffalo Bisons and said through his interpreter that he felt 'ready' for a return to Boston. Matsuzaka threw 86 pitches in his start at Buffalo, five days after his 5 innings of shutout ball against Rochester and threw 57 of those 86 pitches for strikes. He is scheduled to start another AAA game against Rochester on Tuesday.

Jonathan Papelbon's wife Ashley gave birth to 8 pound 8 ounce Gunner Robert Papelbon on Saturday afternoon. This is the couple's second child, joining 15 month old daughter Parker. No word on whether or not Gunner gave the Ob-Gyn the 'death stare' during his delivery.

Mike Cameron reurned to the lineup Saturday after passing a kidney stone earlier in the week in Minnesota. Jacoby Ellsbury missed his 6th straight game after the April 11th start against Kansas City when he collided with Adrian Beltre in left field. Bill Hall has been filling in at center field while Jeremy Hermida is in left field during Cameron and Ellsbury's absence.

Other MLB News: Colorado Rockies starter Ubaldo Jiminez threw the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history at Atlanta's Turner Field on Saturday. Jiminez threw 128 piches, walked 6 and struck out 7 in the complete game for Colorado's 4-0 win. This is the first no-hitter since the ChiSox's Mark Burhle tossed a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays in July 2009. This leaves the San Diego Padres, New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays as the only MLB teams that have not thrown a no-hitter.

NHL: Shoot....I cant believe I missed it, but after dropping the first game of the series against the Sabres, the Bruins managed a come-from-behind playoff win against the Sabres on the road Saturday. After falling behind to Buffalo 2-0 in the first, Micheal Ryder got Boston on the board in the 2nd and Zdeno Chara tied the game up midway through the second before Jason Pomminville got one past Rask to make it a 3-2 lead for the Sabres. But that would be last tally for the Sabres.

Heading into the 3rd, Ryder and Chara would again score for Boston to put the Bruins up 4-3 before Mark Recchi would get an empty-netter to seal the 5-3win for Boston and even the series at 1-1. Tukka Rask stopped 26 of 29 shots faces while Ryan Miller (who demonstrated that he's no slouch himself at the Vancouver Winter Games) stopped 26 of 30 shots faced.

The series will resume Monday at the Garden.

NBA: Kevin Garnett delivered an elbow to the jaw of Miami forward Quentin Richardson in the final 40 seconds of Saturday's game and the Celtics delivered an 85-76 loss to the Heat. Garnett was hit with two technicals and at least a one-game suspension after the scrum in front of Miami's bench. Garnett said he was concerned after teammate Paul Pierce fell down next to the Heat bench and let fly with the elbow after exchanging words with Richardson. Boston trailed 41-44 at halftime before coming back late in the 3rd.

Boston leads the series 1-0, which will resume Tuesday night at the Garden.

Other NBA News: Former UMass Minuteman Marcus Camby has found a new sugar-daddy, this time the Portland Trailblazers. The Blazers and Camby are reportedly close to reaching a 2-year extension on his contract after Portland's Game 1 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Cuppa Chowdah Sports Update for Dec 2nd & 3rd; Lightning Struck Once- Come up Short vs Bruins, C's Spurred to Road Win, Oregon Rose to the Occasion

Boston Herald/Matt Stone

What a week Marc Savard is having. Just over a week after returning to Bruins lineup after being out with a broken foot for over a month, Savard and the Boston Bruins agreed to a 7-year contract extension. The terms of the contract weren't immediately disclosed.

On Wednesday night, Savard put Boston on the board with the first goal of the game (a power play goal with assists from Derek Morris and Zdeno Chara) against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

(AP)

Patrice Bergeron made it 2-0 (assists from Zdeno Chara and Mark Recchi) in the first and Marco Sturm scored twice in the second period (with assists from Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi both times) to put the Bs up 3-0 before Tampa Bay got on the board with their one and only goal courtesey of Jeff Halpern in the 3rd. Tim Thomas stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced and the Bruins went on to win 4-1 at the Garden. The win put them in first place for less than 24 hours, since the Sabres beat Montreal Thursday night and moved one point ahead of Boston in the division. The Bruins will face the Canadiens at the Molson Centre Friday night- the Habs have lost their last 4 games.

(AP)

The Celtics winning streak is now up to six consecutive games after beating the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night in Texas, 90-83. Kevin Garnett was 9-15 with 20 points while Ray Allen had 15 points, Rajon Rondo was 6-11 with 12 points and Rasheed Wallace came off the bench for 13 points and was 4-9. The C's are an NBA best 8-1 on the road so far and will try and make it seven wins in a row Friday at Oklahoma City.

Celts F Glen 'Big Baby' Davis had his cast and pins removed from his hand Thursday, but it's expected that he'll be fitted for another to wear for the next few weeks.

ELSEWHERE: The Red Sox have reached a deal with former Blue Jays and A's shortstop Marco Scutaro Thursday pending a physical. Scutaro had a .284 batting average and belted 12 home runs with 60 RBIs for Toronto in 2009- however, he missed the last two weeks of the 2009 season due to plantar fisciitis. Scutaro worked out for one of Epstein's assistants in Florida earlier this week, according to the Red Sox and The Boston Globe

Former Boston relievers Takeshii Saito and Billy Wagner signed with the Atlanta Braves this week. Wagner had earlier told various media outlets that he was considering retirement. Wagner had a 1.72 ERA for 2009- he was claimed off of waivers in August this past season by Boston. Saito was 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA in a setup role for Boston last season.

The #7 ranked Oregon Ducks punched their ticket to the Rose Bowl Thursday night in Eugene by taking care of in-state rival, 13th ranked Oregon State 37-33 in regulation. Ducks redshirt freshamn LaMichael James ran for 166 years and three touchdowns. Lagarrette Blount, who hadn't seen any playing time since his role in the fisitcuffs at Boise State on opening night, scored on a 12-yeard TD run in the 3rd quarter.

At 99 years of age, longtime Yankee stadium announcer Bob Sheppard has decided to call it a career. After a 57 year career, the Yankees PA voice told MLB.com that he has no intention of returning next season.

"I have no plans of coming back," Sheppard told the Web site in a telephone interview. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."

At the Winter meetings, George Steinbrenner denied firing Sheppard after learning the announcer indavertantly took home a small box of paperclips in 1981 [just kidding! Congratulations and a happy retirement to one of the few people on the Yankees payroll who I think has earned it- NANESB!]