Cutler shakes off injury, Bears beat Lions 13-7

CHICAGO (AP) -- There was a big gasp going through the stadium as Jay Cutler writhed in pain on the field.

He rose to his feet. The Bears defense rose to the occasion.
Cutler returned after bruising his ribs, and Brian Urlacher made a key fumble recovery to help Chicago beat the Detroit Lions 13-7 on Monday night for its fourth straight win.
It was certainly not an easy night for the NFC North leaders, particularly their quarterback, but they came away with the win after a week off and possibly buried Detroit (2-4) in the process despite getting a major scare along the way.
That happened in the second quarter when Cutler was sacked by Ndamukong Suh and ultimately wound up going to the locker room to have his ribs examined.
''He's a tough guy,'' coach Lovie Smith said. ''Most people thought Jay would get up. Unless it's a broken leg or something like that, he's going to get up. He is a tough guy. ... That was a gutsy effort by him. He was in some pain, but he fought through it.''
Cutler came back to start the second half and was 16 of 31 with 150 yards and a touchdown in the game, and although he said he was feeling ''all right'' afterward, he acknowledged he wasn't at full strength during the game.
''But we had to fight through it,'' he added.
They did just that, and with the defense locking down the Lions, the Bears (5-1) prevailed. It was a huge blow for last-place Detroit, a team many expected to contend for the division championship after making the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
''It's tough,'' Lions receiver Calvin Johnson said. ''We had a great week of practice last week and it just didn't translate. It just didn't translate to the field today.''
The Lions simply never got in gear, and when they had chances, they blew them, turning the ball over four times. The biggest came early in the third quarter, when Joique Bell fumbled at the goal line with the Bears leading 13-0.
Urlacher recovered and Chicago hung on from there, sending Detroit to its fourth loss in five games.
Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 81 yards and scored a touchdown on Chicago's first possession. Matt Forte ran for 96 yards, and with the defense doing its part again, Chicago never really was threatened in this one.
It was a rough night for the Lions, with Matthew Stafford going 28 of 46 for 261 yards after leading the late charge in last week's win over Philadelphia. Johnson had trouble shaking the Bears' Charles Tillman and finished with three catches for 34 yards. He dropped a deep pass over the middle on the game's first possession even though he was wide open.
''Calvin is one of the best players in the league,'' Smith said. ''It's hard for Detroit to win games without him being productive. That's why you need a guy like Charles Tillman that can match up on him. It made them go look at other ways to get the ball down field. That's going to lead up to wins most of the time, when we can get that kind of effort out of Charles.''
The Lions lost receiver Nate Burleson for the remainder of the season to a broken right leg in the third quarter on a hit by Tim Jennings after a catch, another blow for a team that's reeling again after pulling out a dramatic win.
''There is a lot of season left,'' Stafford said. ''We got a chance to play back home next week and play a tough Seattle team. It's a short week for us but honestly I'm glad it's a short week. I don't want to be sitting around thinking about this one too much longer.''
There weren't many scares for the Bears, with one big exception. They were leading 10-0 in the second quarter and had just taken over at their 26 when that happened.
Cutler, who had his helmet ripped off on a hit by Suh after a run last year at Soldier Field, got driven to the turf by him on an 8-yard sack. He came up kneeling and holding his head as trainers tended to him, then ran to the sideline.
Jason Campbell came in for one play, but Cutler returned right after that and threw an incomplete pass on third down before Chicago punted. But after Julius Peppers recovered a fumble by Mikel Leshoure to stop a Lions threat, Campbell was behind center while Cutler was having his ribs examined.
Smith insisted the hit on Cutler was not dirty and that Suh was simply ''playing hard, trying to win the game.''
Marshall apparently took issue with the hit even though Smith and Cutler did not, posting on Twitter, ''A Suh. What u did to Jay wasn't cool. Great players don't have to do that.''
Cutler, like Smith, thought it was clean, even though he knew it wasn't going to end well for him once Suh wrapped him up.
When Cutler trotted onto the field to start the second half, some fans cheered.
They were really roaring moments later when Stefan Logan fumbled trying to catch Adam Podlesh's punt. Zack Bowman recovered it for Chicago at the 27, and that led to a 21-yard field goal by Robbie Gould to make it 13-0 after Cutler had two passes broken up with the ball on the 3.
The Lions lost Burleson after a 16-yard catch near midfield on the next possession but drove all the way to the 1 before Bell turned it over. As he lunged over the pile, Henry Melton poked the ball out and Urlacher made the recovery to keep the shutout going. D.J. Moore extended it when he picked off Stafford near the goal line in the closing minutes. The Lions spoiled the shutout when Stafford connected with Ryan Broyles on a 12-yarder with 30 seconds left, but it was another big game from a defense that's been dominating all season.
''We really wanted to make them a little more one dimensional,'' Melton said. ''They still ran the ball a little bit more than we wanted them to, but when it was time to get after the quarterback, we really got after him. When they dropped it off we really got after whoever they dropped it off to.''
Notes: The Bears were in line for their first shutout since they beat Miami 16-0 on Nov. 18, 2010, until Broyles' TD. ... The Lions signed CB Justin Miller and released LB Doug Hogue before the game. ... Detroit had more yards than Chicago - 340 to 296.

The NBC Sports Network Hopes Ratings Will Rise

In past lives, it was called the Outdoor Life Channel, OLN and Versus. But by any name, the NBC Sports Network has been a blip in a universe dominated by ESPN.

Enlarge This Image

Robert Caplin for The New York Times

Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group.

Sometimes consigned to the upper reaches of the cable listings, the network usually churns along with a low profile and modest viewership. During the London Olympic Games, however, it was temporarily transformed.

With about 14 hours of Olympic programming each day, primarily of team sports, the number of viewers swelled sixfold, to 977,000 a day, compared with the four weeks before the Games. That was an increase of 26 percent over the same period last year, providing a 17-day tonic to the ratings as special as the one CNN gets on election nights.

The idea was to enable viewers to see NBCSN as a viable sports channel, perhaps for the first time. In past Olympics, NBC Universal farmed out team sports to USA Network.

Among all cable networks, NBCSN leapt to fifth in viewership, and it was No. 1 with viewers 18 to 49 and 25 to 54. The most-watched event was the United States women’s gold medal-winning soccer match, which drew nearly 4.4 million viewers — more than the network has drawn for any event, including the Stanley Cup Final, in its 17-year existence under various owners.

“This has exceeded all our predictions,” Jon Miller, president of the NBC Sports Network, said last week from London. “There’s a great euphoria with the success these Olympics have generated.”

Now what? The Olympics are gone until the Winter Games from Sochi, Russia, in 2014. The network returns to reality, meaning a regular schedule that has experienced reduced prime-time viewership in 2012 compared with last year.

Part of that decrease is because of the overhaul the network began earlier this year, when its parent, the NBC Sports Group, renamed it and added new programming, like a monthly prime-time interview show with Bob Costas; a daily early evening show called NBC Sports Talk; and sports like Major League Soccer. They join existing content like the National Hockey League, motor racing, cycling, college football, boxing, horse racing, and hunting and fishing.

On Monday, the network added a weekday morning show, “The ‘Lights,” that disdains anchor banter for an unseen male voice narrating highlights on a 20-minute loop. The show begins at 7 a.m. Eastern and is repeated five times in succession until 9 a.m. Another show, called “Caught Looking,” was scheduled to start Wednesday night. A collaboration with Major League Baseball Productions, the show will take a behind-the-scenes look at a specific weekend series through the rest of the baseball season.

Last month, it added a monthly magazine series — similar to “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” on HBO and “E:60” on ESPN — in partnership with Sports Illustrated.

But most of the new additions are studio shows and not the live-action sports that NBC Sports Network so desperately needs. There remain enormous gaps in its schedule. There are no Major League Baseball, National Football League or National Basketball Association games. There is no college football from major conferences. There are no Nascar races, only those from the lower-rated IndyCar series.

And there are no defining personalities among the channel’s regular hosts and game announcers.

It is no surprise, then, that it charges cable, satellite and telephone companies an average monthly fee of 31 cents a subscriber compared with ESPN’s $5.13, according to SNL Kagan. Depending on the time of year, NBCSN’s prime-time viewership is about one-tenth to one-quarter of ESPN’s.

“We all know this is a five-year plan to make it a bigger sports network,” Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group, said on Sunday. “No one here believes, ‘You did the Olympics, now we expect your ratings to go up 20 percent.’ I’m hoping we get more people to sample the network.”

Mr. Lazarus has consistently kept his public expectations low and declines to speak about directly challenging ESPN. He recognizes that Olympic success is not enough to push subscriber fees higher or to justify rewriting existing contracts with cable, satellite and affiliates. NBCSN needs a stronger slate of more prominent sports to attract consistent audiences, especially males, from season to season.

Comcast, which owns NBC Universal, spent $4.38 billion to acquire the four Olympics from 2014 to 2020, but it will have to look seriously at buying some or all of the sports whose rights will soon be up for bids — Major League Baseball, Nascar or the Big East conference, each of which would be carried on NBC’s broadcast and cable networks.

Mr. Lazarus would alter his channel’s economics drastically if he could acquire a slate of eight Thursday night games from the N.F.L. But the league, which carries one Thursday slate on its own NFL Network, has not decided to sell another.

“The idea is that if they can get these blockbuster events, they at least have the leverage to get higher carriage fees,” said Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media.

Peter Liguori, the former chairman of Fox Entertainment who also ran the FX cable channel, said the Olympics got NBCSN on “people’s mental menus.” Now, he said, in addition to aggressively pursuing more sports rights, the channel “has to give an audience something to talk about and do certain things that ESPN doesn’t, either in production techniques or announcers.”

He said the network needed breakthrough programming to attract viewers, as “The Shield” did for FX and as HBO has done with “Hard Knocks,” which focuses on a single N.F.L. team in training camp.

“If you get one thing to really stand out,” he said, “you break down the barriers of habit.”

Deadly Defoe sinks Azzurri

Daniel De Rossi opened the scoring in a contest between two sides that last met just over seven weeks ago in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, before Phil Jagielka levelled.
Italy prevailed on penalties at the European Championship and started brightly on Wednesday as De Rossi met an Alessandro Diamanti corner with a powerful header after 15 minutes.
England's equaliser came from a similar source, with Frank Lampard swinging over a set-piece for Jagielka to stoop and glance into the bottom corner.
Roy Hodgson took the opportunity to cast an eye over a number of debutants and players of promise, but it was the tried and tested Defoe who fired a 79th-minute winner from the edge of the box.

Atmosphere

Fifty-two days since that shattering quarter-final shoot-out defeat in Kiev, the atmosphere could not have been more different.
A 30,000-capacity stadium in Switzerland that was barely half full for a game few had any appetite for.
Yet, with only Ashley Young surviving from the team that started that last eight defeat, so many had a point to prove.
Three would have gone to the finals but for injury, Michael Carrick made himself unavailable, Tom Cleverley never had a chance to prove his worth and four were in Poland and Ukraine but had only a peripheral role.
Amongst them was Jack Butland.
The Birmingham keeper has had an amazing summer.
League Two with Cheltenham, to third choice England keeper, Olympics and now this.
Indeed, when Hodgson's squad was announced on Friday, the intention had been to send Butland back to Birmingham on Tuesday so he could feature in their Capital One Cup victory over Barnet.

Momentous

Joe Hart's back injury changed those plans and after giving it some thought overnight, Hodgson plumped for Butland ahead of John Ruddy, his other goalkeeper, who was also hoping to make his first appearance.
At 19 years and 158 days, it meant he became England's youngest keeper, beating the record of Billy Moon, who was 19 and 222 days when he played against Wales at Crewe in February 1888.
Not that Butland would have enjoyed the opening stages of his momentous night as Italy quickly gained the initiative.
Cesare Prandelli had named an equally experimental squad but it was one of his Euro 2012 stalwarts, De Rossi, who did the damage, rising to meet Diamanti's corner and power it in.
Things got better for Butland after that, with the teenager producing a couple of decent saves and commanding his penalty area in a manner that suggested in a few years he will be a genuine challenger for Hart.
Indeed, England improved as a whole, with Carrick and Cleverley starting to get to grips with their roles in a three-man midfield, a new innovation for Hodgson since he succeeded Fabio Capello in May.
Adam Johnson also sparkled, although the equaliser arrived from an unlikely source just before the half hour when Jagielka's diving header found the bottom corner.
It was the Everton man's first international goal, which skipper Lampard nearly built on when he curled a free-kick inches over.

Superb

Although he had happier things to occupy his mind this evening, Sir Alex Ferguson would not have been too impressed to see Davide Astori go straight through the back of Ashley Young, which led to a few choice words to the referee from the Manchester United winger.
Butland and Andy Carroll were replaced at the break, which gave Ruddy his chance.
And he could not do much more than get down brilliantly to turn away Mattia Destro's shot on the turn that was heading for the bottom corner.
Antonio Nocerino slid a superb pass through to Federico Peluso, who drove his shot into the side-netting.
Kyle Walker was at fault on both occasions, proving the Tottenham youngster is not quite the finished article even though he was last season's PFA Young Player of the Year.
Gary Cahill has a happy knack of scoring for England and thought he had another when he drove home from a corner, only for the goal to be ruled out for an infringement by Joleon Lescott.
Jake Livermore became England's fourth debutant when he replaced Lampard midway through the second-half, a move which saw Carrick inherit the captaincy, and Ryan Bertrand completed the quintet of rookies.
And, after Ruddy produced another sparkling save to deny Marco Verratti, Defoe's shot exposed some sloppy keeping by Salvatore Sirigu to seal victory to ensure it was a night to remember for them all.

Exit Jeremy Lin. Enter Ichiro Suzuki To New York City's Sports Market

Ichiro Suzuki (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although Jeremy Lin is an exciting rising basketball star and Ichiro Suzuki may be a fading baseball one, New York City will once again be the toast of the Asian community as Ichiro, the most recognizable athlete in Japan, put on the pinstripes of the New York Yankees Monday night for the first time. Lin, a Chinese-American, left the New York Knicks for the Houston Rockets last week.
The move by the Yankees appears to be a brilliant one as a stopgap measure to replace left fielder Brett Gardner, lost for the season due to elbow surgery. Ichiro’s game is similar to Gardner’s – a slap hitter with speed who plays great defense.
Ichiro amassed more than 200 hits in his first 10 seasons after coming from Japan, including a major-league record 262 in 2004. Only Pete Rose has also had 10 seasons of 200 or more hits. Ichiro needs only 466 hits to reach the coveted 3,000 total and seems destined to be a Hall of Famer as a lifetime .322 batter with 438 stolen bases and 1,176 runs scored.
But the last 1 ½ years have not been nearly as productive for Ichiro as he’s hitting just .261 this year. With the Mariners in last place in the AL West, Ichiro had his agent, Tony Attanasio, ask Seattle management to trade him to a contender during the All-Star break.
The result was a bargain-basement deal for the Yanks, who only had to give up two marginal minor league pitching prospects in exchange for a 10-time All-Star and $14.75 million as the Yanks will only pay $2.25 million of the $17 million left on his five-year, $90 million deal that expires at the end of the season, according to the YES Network.
Ichiro, batting an unaccustomed eighth, delivered a clean single up the middle and stole a base in his first at-bat Monday, going 1-for-4, but, if he can get back to his .300 hitting ways, the Yanks have a steal. Especially if he can help them get back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
The possibility that Ichiro would be re-signed by the Yankees for 2013 would seem remote considering their high payroll and Gardner’s expected return to health. But one never knows with the Yankees.

Sports radio stations gear up for RGIII Era

By Dan Steinberg

I can hardly say a word about RGIII hype, what with the 451 RGIII blog items I’ve typed up over the past four months.
Plus, there was the Sports front on Sunday, seen above. That’s a pretty high mission.
Still, if you’ve listened to D.C. sports talk radio over the last few weeks, you couldn’t help but notice that there have been a lot of ads for training camp coverage. Ads that are promising lots and lots and lots of RGIII coverage. All day.
Get ready, everyone. It’s coming.
Here’s the ESPN 980 ad, which goes like this:
“With a new era under center for the burgundy and gold, the hope has never been higher in D.C. Get all the latest from what Robert Griffin III is doing out at Redskins Park....The RGIII ERA is here, and ESPN 980’s your RGIII destination.”
And here’s the 106.7 The Fan ad, which goes like this:
“106.7 The Fan is your number one station for Redskins training camp coverage. Keep it locked on The Fan for around the clock coverage, and the most Redskins talk in town....And we’re following Robert Griffin III all day, starting with D.C.’s only morning sports show, the Sports Junkies. You won’t find more Redskins coverage anywhere. Your flagship station for D.C. sports and Redskins training camp news all day!”

BC-AP Sports Digest

The supervisor is Pat Horne until 8 a.m. The day supervisor will be Richard Rosenblatt. The supervisor can be reached at 800 845-8450, ext. 1630. Sports Photos, ext. 1918; graphics, ext. 7636; agate, ext. 1635. AP stories, along with the photos that accompany them, also can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. Reruns are available from the Service Desk (800 838-4616) or your local AP bureau. All times EDT.
PENN STATE:
PENN STATE-ABUSE
Now the NCAA gets its say on Penn State. College sports' governing body was expected to deal a series of heavy blows to the Nittany Lions' football program on Monday, less than two weeks after a devastating report accused coach Joe Paterno and other top university officials of concealing child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant coach for years to avoid bad publicity. A news conference was scheduled for 9 a.m. in Indianapolis. By Tom Coyne and Ralph D. Russo.
AP Photos.
AP Videos.
TOP STORIES:
GLF--BRITISH OPEN
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England - Adam Scott had the claret jug in his grasp with four holes to play. A player of enormous potential was poised to fulfill his promise at age 32, collecting the first major championship of his career after building a comfortable lead over three days of brilliant golf. Then, a bogey. And another. And another. And finally, at the 18th hole, with a 7-foot putt to at least force a playoff, he missed again. Scott's knees buckled. Golf's oldest championship had been snatched away, handed to Ernie Els in one of the great collapses in golfing history. By Paul Newberry.
AP Photos.
BBO--HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Receiving baseball's highest honor always seems to produce a special impression on those directly involved. It was no different Sunday when the late Ron Santo, a star third baseman for the Cubs and later a beloved broadcaster for the team, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum along with former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin. By John Kekis.
AP Photos.
CYC--TOUR DE FRANCE
PARIS - After making history in Paris as the first Briton to win the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins is heading home to London where he hopes to cap off his tremendous run of success with an Olympic gold medal. By Greg Keller.
AP Photos.
VIDEO:
- The NCAA said that that it would levy "corrective and punitive measures'' against Penn State on Monday in the wake of the child sex-abuse scandal involving former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
- Penn State has taken down the famed statue of once-sainted Joe Paterno on a day when the NCAA announced it is about to spell out its punishment to the university for its handling of a child sex abuse scandal.
COMMENTARY:
GLF--TIM DAHLBERG-072212
LYTHAM St. ANNES, England - The enduring image of Tiger Woods from this British Open will be of him bent over on one knee, his other leg angled to the side, as he desperately tried to save his day with a miracle shot from deep in a bunker off the sixth green. His problems, though, are much deeper than one misadventure at the Open.
By Sports Columnist Tim Dahlberg
NEW/DEVELOPING:
BBA--YANKEES-ATHLETICS
OAKLAND, Calif. - A tying home run. A game-ending single. Players streaming out of the dugout, mobbing the final hitter on the field. A whipped-cream pie - maybe two - in the face, and a sports-drink bath to wash it all down. No matter how many times the scene unfolds, it never seems to get old in Oakland this season. Seth Smith hit a tying homer in the ninth inning, Coco Crisp singled home the winning run in the 12th and the surging A's rallied from four runs down to stun the New York Yankees 5-4 Sunday and complete a four-game sweep. Oakland improved to 14-2 in July, the best record in the majors during that span, with a league-leading 11th walk-off win. By Antonio Gonzalez. Sent
AP Photos.
OLY--BKO-ARGENTINA-US
BARCELONA, Spain - Dressed up like the Dream Team, this U.S. Olympic basketball squad even played like one - for 10 minutes. Though it didn't last, the Americans never thought it would. Argentina came nearly all the way back before the U.S. held on for an 86-80 victory in an exhibition game Sunday. By Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney.
AP Photos.
PRO FOOTBALL:
FBN--COLORADO SHOOTING-MANNING
AURORA, Colo. - A half dozen Denver Broncos visited with survivors of the Colorado theater shooting on Sunday to try to lift their spirits, while quarterback Peyton Manning on also called four patients. By Arnie Stapleton. Sent
Also:
- DETROIT - FBN--Lions-Berry Arrested. Lions CB Berry arrested for second time in a month. Sent
OLYMPICS:
Olympic Spotlight
OLY--MUNICH MEMORIAL
LONDON - Complaining that the Olympic movement is still ignoring their pain, Israelis marked the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre on Sunday with a modest service in the atrium of a London apartment block. By Rob Harris. Sent
AP Photos.
OLY--LONDON 2012-MASCOTS
LONDON - Sinister. Disturbing. Creepy. Frightening. The official mascots of London's Olympic and Paralympic Games - Wenlock and Mandeville - have been called all of those things, but organizers are hoping to tack on a more positive title: merchandising magic. By Cassandra Vinograd.
AP Photos.
OLY--BKW-TURKISH RIVALRY
ISTANBUL - The rivalry between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray is one of the fiercest in women's basketball. Sunday night the teams' fans actually had something in common - cheering on their national team against a U.S. squad that included six players who have suited up for the Turkish rivals. By Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg.
AP Photos.
Also:
- KOURTANE, Finland - OLY--ATH-Kluft Withdraws. Former Olympic and world heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft withdraws from London Games because of injury.
GOLF:
GLF--TRUE SOUTH CLASSIC
MADISON, Miss. - Scott Stallings shot a 4-under 68 in the final round of the True South Classic to beat Jason Bohn by two strokes, earning his first Tour victory of the year and the second of his career. By David Brandt. Sent
AP Photos.
AUTO RACING:
CAR--NASCAR-NATIONWIDE-CHICAGOLAND
JOLIET, Ill. - After spending most of the week sick in bed, Elliott Sadler brushed off questions from team owner Richard Childress about a potential replacement driver, then held off a charge by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on a green-white-checker finish to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.
AP Photos.
CAR--INDYCAR-EDMONTON
EDMONTON, Alberta - Helio Castroneves has been quietly lurking in the championship race this season, taking advantage of mistakes by others to position himself for a run at the IndyCar Series title. After his win Sunday at Edmonton, everybody knows he's in the mix for his first career championship. Sent
AP Photos.
Also:
- HOCKENHEIM, Germany - CAR--F1-German GP. Alonso wins German GP to extend championship lead. By Nesha Starcevic. Sent
ALSO:
- DETROIT - BBA--Tigers Cabrera Homers. Tigers Cabrera hits 300th homer. Sent
- ATLANTA - TEN--Atlanta Open. Roddick beats Muller to win Atlanta Open. By George Henry. Sent
- COLUMBIA, S.C. - FBC--Carlen-Obit. Jim Carlen dies; led West Virginia, Texas Tech and South Carolina teams. Sent
Monday's Time Schedule
BASEBALL
American League
Baltimore at Cleveland, 7:05 p.m.
Boston at Texas, 8:05 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m.
Kansas City at L.A. Angels, 10:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Seattle, 10:10 p.m.
National League
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.
Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 7:05 p.m.
Atlanta at Miami, 7:10 p.m.
Washington at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.
Cincinnati at Houston, 8:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.
San Diego at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.

Pope's Olympic message credits the power of sports

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI says he is praying that the London Olympics promote world peace and friendship — a message the Vatican is increasingly emphasising as it focuses renewed attention on the positive role that sports can play in society.

But while the message yesterday may be new, sports have long been a mainstay for the Vatican. The first soccer game was played in the Apostolic Palace in 1521 and every year the Swiss Guards face off against the staff of the Vatican Museums in a tournament.

A new movie — 100 Meters From Paradise — about a fictitious Vatican team at the London Games won a rave review in the Vatican newspaper, but the prospects of the world's tiniest sovereign state actually fielding an Olympic squad are slim.

Oh sure, athletes abound among the Vatican's clerics and cardinals: Pope John Paul II was an avid skier, and Benedict's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein has been known to play a mean game of tennis. The late head of the Vatican bank, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, took to the links at a Rome golf club and, in ancient times, many popes were accomplished game hunters.

Even Vatican guests have shown their athletic prowess. When foreign diplomats took refuge inside Vatican City during the World War II-era German occupation of Rome, the Chinese ambassador to the Holy See practised his golf swing in the Vatican gardens, according to photographs in a new book The Ears of the Vatican by longtime Vatican reporter Bruno Bartoloni.

"Sports have always been appreciated in the Christian tradition," said Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which has given ample space to Benedict's renewed message about the good that sports can bring to society.

He said competitive spirit, physical fitness and personal achievement are all "positive values" that the church has emphasised from its beginning.

Just last month, the Vatican's culture office opened a new "Culture and Sport" department, saying the sporting world was in need of a "cathartic" change to fight from spiraling into a profession dominated by money and drugs.

"Sports has to find its cultural aspect again, its profound spirit, and again be the educational reference point for young people," the Vatican's sports czar, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, said at the launch of the new office, which has a counterpart in the Vatican department for laity.

Wiggins hits out at negative Tour vibe

Bradley Wiggins in a downhill section of the 17th stage. Photo: AFP
Bradley Wiggins, the Tour de France champion-in-waiting, had a direct and blunt message for those who continue to doubt the worthiness of his performances in the race that, barring disaster, he is almost certain to win - and he didn't need a swear word to emphasise the point.
In a year in which he has also won the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine stage races, Wiggins (Sky) could not hide his exasperation at the fact that he is still asked whether or not the absence of the likes of last year's runner-up Andy Schleck or the suspended Spaniard Alberto Contador took something away from his feat.
After answering one such question after Thursday's 143.5-kilometre 17th stage from Bagneres-de-Luchon to the ski station of Peyragudes, which was won by Spaniard Alejandro Valverde from the Movistar team, Wiggins said in reference to his own ride: "You do something like that and then you sit somewhere like this.
"That fellow just asked me a question and straightaway it's in a negative sense. After everything I've done this year you still have to justify... 'so you might've won the Tour, but is it ever going to be remembered for these people not being here, this, that and the other'.

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"I don't think all the people that came out from the UK to stand on the climbs for the last couple of weeks give a monkey's about that.
"For me in a positive sense, no one's actually praised me yet, saying, 'Actually, he's been there since Tour of Algarve in February, winning races. "You went to Paris-Nice ... you've raced, you've trained, you've answered all the questions of the press all year. You've really taken it on, you came to the Tour as the favourite from Liege [where the Tour started]. I haven't dropped out of the first two [overall] for three weeks now.
"No-one's actually said: 'You know what, Brad, good on you mate. You've answered all these doping questions as articulately as you possibly can'. No-one's actually patted me on the back yet.
"It's all still in a negative sense. 'Don't you reckon it's just because Alberto's not here'. All year, it's 'Have you peaked too early, Brad'?"
Wiggins now appears set to become Britain's first Tour champion when the 3496km race ends on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday afternoon.
His lead heading into Friday's 222.5km 18th stage from Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde that includes one-third category and three-fourth category climbs is still two minutes and five seconds on his British teammate Chris Froome (Sky), who is in second place overall. Still in third is Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), but he is now at two minutes and 41 seconds after losing 18 seconds to the leading British pair on the last climb, the Col de Peyresourde.
It was after Nibali was dropped and Wiggins and Froome found themselves closing in on Valverde and within a shot of taking the stage win that the most engaging moment of the race came. Froome was clearly in far better form and several times surged and took space on Wiggins before slowing up to wait. The pair were seen repeatedly talking to each other, and Froome into his race radio with the Sky team car that was following the race.
Wiggins explained the exchange, saying that Froome had wanted to go for the stage win, but not without isolating his leader, Wiggins.
"We were talking about Nibali. We said 'he's nailed, he's finished'. We knew at that point he wasn't going to be attacking on the last climb, which we feared all day; we knew at some point he wanted to win the stage," Wiggins said.
"We were then talking about the time gap to Valverde because Chris really wanted to win the stage today. We weren't sure of the time gap and then we hit the last climb and that's when we were on the front. Chris came past and that's when all the gaps opened up again.
"I heard on the radio that we were alone, just the two of us. It surprised me a little bit, I didn't realise they didn't have much left, the rest of the group.
"At that point, the first time in this whole Tour since I've led this race, I thought maybe I've just won the Tour.
"That moment I went over with Chris, all the fight went out of the window, everything to do with the performance. And that's when it starts getting hard then because you lose concentration. It was an incredible feeling. It really was."
That allowed Valverde to solo across the finish line and win the stage by 19 seconds from Froome and Wiggins, who finished together in second and third places, followed by a strung out peloton that numbered 153 riders by the time the last major mountains of the Tour were passed.
Australia's Cadel Evans (BMC) was again dropped by Wiggins et al - this time with 8.2km to go - and finished 18th on the stage at two minutes and 10 seconds.
However, Evans - last year's Tour champion who fell out of podium contention on Wednesday - saw his overall position move up by one to sixth place at nine minutes and 57 seconds to Wiggins, as Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) dropped from fifth place overnight to seventh at 10 minutes and 11 seconds.
For Valverde (Movistar), his win was fifth for this season in which he has returned from a doping ban.
His comeback season this year began at the Tour Down Under in South Australia in January when he won the stage to Willunga Hill.

London cabbies make Olympic protest

Updated Jul 17, 2012 3:50 PM ET

     

 

LONDON (AP)

Hundreds of London taxi drivers have blocked a major intersection in the heart of the city to protest their exclusion from the road lanes dedicated to Olympic traffic.
Drivers in black London cabs blared their horns as they jammed Parliament Square on Tuesday, sending lines of traffic snaking back along surrounding streets.
The cabbies are miffed that they are not allowed into the "Games Lanes" reserved for Olympic athletes, officials and VIPs.
The first lane already opened near Heathrow Airport and the rest start two days before the games, which run from July 27 to Aug. 12.
Jonathan Myers of the United Cabbies union said it's "unacceptable" that cabs were not allowed, adding that "this is a working city and we need to get around and do our job."
Transport for London commissioner Peter Hendy condemned the action.
He told the BBC he had "no sympathy" for the "trumped-up" demonstration.

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A spokesman for TFL said there had been discussions with cab drivers since 2009.
He said they would be able to access some of the special lanes to collect fares, including the nearside Games Lane in Park Lane, central London.
John Mason, director of London Taxi and Private Hire, called the protest "completely irresponsible."
"We strongly urge taxi drivers to ignore calls to join these unnecessary protests and instead show why they are regularly voted the best in the world," Mason told the BBC.
The Metropolitan Police said the planned demonstration affected Whitehall and Trafalgar Square as well as Parliament Square.

Brennan Boesch, Tigers rally past Angels: AL roundup

The Associated Press

Posted: Jul 16, 2012 11:11 PM ET

Last Updated: Jul 16, 2012 11:51 PM ET Brennan Boesch of the Detroit Tigers, left, celebrates with Prince Fielder during the seventh inning of the game against the Los Angeles Angels. (Leon Halip/Getty Images)

Tigers 8, Angels 6

DETROIT — Brennan Boesch hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Detroit Tigers rallied for an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.
The Angels led 5-2 after a four-run fifth, but the Tigers chipped away, scoring two runs in the bottom of that inning and three more in the seventh. Delmon Young tied it with a sacrifice fly and Boesch followed with a homer off reliever LaTroy Hawkins (2-2) to make it 7-5.
Octavio Dotel (3-2) got the win in relief. Joaquin Benoit worked the eighth and Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 21 chances.
Torii Hunter had four hits and drove in three runs for Los Angeles, and Mark Trumbo hit his 25th homer of the season.

Red Sox 5, White Sox 1

BOSTON — Adrian Gonzalez spoiled Kevin Youkilis' return to Fenway Park, hitting a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
Boston traded Youkilis on June 24, sending the three-time All-Star and cash to Chicago for utilityman Brent Lillibridge and a minor league pitcher. Youkilis went 3 for 4 with two doubles in his first game back at his former home.
Carl Crawford returned to Boston's lineup after missing the entire season with left elbow and wrist injuries, going 1 for 3 with a walk.

Indians 3, Rays 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Zach McAllister shrugged off being struck in his pitching arm by a line drive to finish six solid innings and the Cleveland Indians held on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Monday night.
McAllister (4-1) appeared to get hit in the right arm above the elbow by Jeff Keppinger's RBI single in the fourth inning. He remained in the game to retire the next six batters and eight of the last nine he faced overall.
Shin-Soo Choo had a RBI double in the third after he had what initially was ruled a home run overturned by instant replay in the first for Cleveland.
The umpires huddled after Rays outfielder B.J. Upton signalled the ball hit off the wall instead of clearing it. Choo was sent back to second base and eventually scored on a passed ball.

Mariners 9, Royals 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Casper Wells homered and drove in a career-high five runs, all of them against Jonathan Sanchez, and the Seattle Mariners beat up the Kansas City Royals and their beleaguered starter in a 9-4 victory Monday night.
Justin Smoak also had a two-run homer off Sanchez (1-6), pulled after allowing a season-high seven runs in a season-low 1 1-3 innings. The left-hander who once threw a no-hitter for San Francisco gave up seven hits and a walk before he was yanked to a chorus of boos.
Jason Vargas (9-7) took advantage of the rare output from one of the American League's worst offences. The left-hander gave up homers to Salvador Perez and Billy Butler, but still managed to last six shaky innings and win his second straight game.

Twins 19, Orioles 7

MINNEAPOLIS — Denard Span had three hits and five RBIs plus two highlight-reel catches in centre field to help the Minnesota Twins stop their five-game losing streak and beat the Baltimore Orioles 19-7 on Monday night.
Ben Revere made two remarkable running grabs himself in right field to go with four hits and three RBIs, Joe Mauer homered and drove in two runs and Justin Morneau had four of Minnesota's 20 hits.
Chris Tillman (1-1) gave up seven runs in the first and didn't finish the inning, the shortest appearance by an Orioles starter this season. Six of the runs were unearned, due an untimely two-out error by first baseman Mark Reynolds.
Reynolds hit a three-run homer off Scott Diamond (8-3), but the Twins starter won his third straight decision.

 

Congress debates military sponsorship of sports

By Dustin Long, Special for USA TODAY
A spirited debate in Congress on Wednesday could foreshadow the demise of an amendment intended to ban military sports sponsorship.

CAPTION

By Stew Milne, US Presswire

A recorded vote is expected to take place this evening. A voice vote indicated that those opposed were in the majority.
Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga, introduced an amendment that would eliminate $72.3 million in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act marked for professional sports sponsorships in the military.
Among the programs targeted was the National Guard's sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR. The National Guard is spending $26 million on its NASCAR program this fiscal year.
Kingston called such programs ineffective in gaining recruits. He also noted the demographic of NASCAR fans featured 69% who were 35 and older, saying, "So when (the National Guard) goes and they're pushing their advertising at NASCAR, nearly 70% of the people aren't eligible.''
NASCAR stated that 10% of its fans are between the ages of 18-24 and that 17% are between 25-34.
Rep. Betty McCollum, co-sponsor of the amendment, said: "I think it will be just irresponsible and outrageous that Congress would continue to borrow money from China to pay for one race car driver's team.''
Seven representatives spoke to oppose the measure, deriding Congress's micro-managing on how the military seeks recruits.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, said: "Let's face it, when we start micro-managing advertising programs to try to recruit National Guard members, we've sort of slipped into the absurd.''
Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., also spoke against the measure.
"A vote for this amendment is a vote against the effectiveness of our military,'' he said.
McCollum offered two similar amendments last year; both were defeated.
An amendment existed in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act but it was struck Wednesday night without a vote through procedural rules.
See photos of: Congress, Dale Earnhardt Jr

Wiggins sticking to Sky gameplan

By Justin Davis (AFP) –

Bradley Wiggins (AFP/File, Joel Saget)

PAU, France — For Bradley Wiggins, legendary climbs like the Tourmalet or the Aubisque don't have names: they are simply stretches of uphill road standing between him and an historic Tour de France victory Sunday.
Wiggins, the stand-out stage racer for the past year, will take a 2min 05sec lead over Sky teammate Chris Froome into the last two climbing stages of the race when it resumes on Wednesday.
With Italian Vincenzo Nibali in third at 2:23 and defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia even further off the pace, a British one-two on the Champs Elysees now looks likely.
First, however, comes two tough days in the Pyrenees.
On stage 16 the peloton tackles the Col d'Aubisque, the Col du Tourmalet, the Col d'Aspin and the Col de Peyresourde on the way to a downhill finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon.
Stage 17 begins in Bagneres-de-Luchon and takes in four climbs including the 11.7 km hike over the Port de Bales, before finishing with a 15.4 km ascension to Peyragudes.
For Wiggins, who grew up idolising Spaniard Miguel Indurain -- the first rider to win the race five times consecutively -- all notions of romance have to be shelved as he concentrates on the job at hand.
"It doesn't matter what the climb is called. It's just a name at the end of the day," he said on the race's second rest day Tuesday.
"At this stage of the Tour, whatever they put in front of you... ultimately it boils down to the same thing -- if you haven't got it physically you're going to get dropped on a day like yesterday."
While some in the race will be hoping for Wiggins to come under attack from Evans, Nibali and a few others, he is not about to change Team Sky's winning formula so far for Wednesday's epic.
"I don't think it's any more difficult than any other stage we've done to this stage," said Wiggins.
"We could sit here all day talking about scenarios... but we just see how it plays out on the road ultimately.
"Ultimately, it's about going out there tomorrow and averaging 400 watts (of power) for whatever climb, climb after climb, and rehydrating, and re-fuelling on the bike and that's what ultimately wins you bike races."
Sky's impressive pace-setting in the mountains has effectively left Evans and Nibali struggling to sustain the rare attacks they have thrown at the Briton.
Not surprisingly, Wiggins says he has nothing to fear.
"I don't really fear anything. It's just a case of going out and doing the performance. What is there to fear? At the end of the day it's just a bike race," he said.
"We'll go out there, do what we've done every day this year and whatever happens, happens."
Having dropped to fourth overall at 3:19, Evans -- an historic champion last year after twice finishing runner-up -- appears to have conceded defeat.
"They ride a continuous tempo that's leaving the climbers pretty empty when they get to the final. It's making it difficult to do stuff," he said.
As he prepares to start his ninth day in yellow on Wednesday, Wiggins had a word of encouragement for his rival.
"He's not given up once. He fights until the end of the line. And that's something to be admired," added the Englishman.
"A lesser man would have thrown in the towel, climbed off because he wasn't going to win. He's remained dignified and ever day he's gone out there as though he's still leading this race."

Pickups of the Week

By Brandon Funston | Yahoo! Sport

This week, Yahoo! Sports fantasy expert Brandon Funston looks at eight intriguing fantasy baseball players still available on the waiver wire in more than half of Yahoo! fantasy leagues.

This Tribe member has been on an offensive quest the past few weeks

Michael Brantley (OF) Cleveland Indians
Brantley is the highest-ranked offensive player (No. 112) not owned in more than half of Yahoo! leagues. His numbers don't jump off the page at you, but he's been a plus contributor in all but the HR category. And, he's caught hellfire in his past 14 games – .479, 3 HR, 10 RBIs, 8 R, 1 SB. Brantley is starting to flash the strong contact skills (solid 21.4 LineDrive%; excellent 9.2 Strikeout%) that he showed at the minor league levels, when he was regularly turning out .300 batting averages. He has 30-SB upside, but he tends to run hot and cold on the base paths, so don't bet on more than another 10 swipes. Regardless, there's still plenty here for fantasy owners to sink their teeth into.

• Y! % 33%
• Y! rank 112
• AVG .302
• HR4
• RBI44
• R40
• SB10

Padres mighty mouse making Frieri deal look less one-sided

Alexi Amarista (2B) San Diego Padres
Like Brantley, here's another "makes a lot of contact" type. And, the main piece (for the Padres) in the Ernesto Frieri deal earlier this season has been making particularly good contact this past month – ranked No. 70 in the Yahoo! game in that span thanks in large part to a .349 batting average. Amarista doesn't have home run power (despite what the 3-HR outburst in June might make you think), but he can drive the ball into the gap and lean on his solid speed for extra bases. The Padres are protecting him by sitting him against tough southpaws, but they have moved him up to the top the order of late, which will help in the Runs department. With shortstop and outfield eligibility soon to come, Amarista is not a bad utility option for deep leaguers.

• Y! %10%
• Y! rank 842
• AVG .282
• HR4
• RBI19
• R18
• SB2

Minor league journeyman finding success in South Florida

Justin Ruggiano (OF) Miami Marlins
As a 30-year-old former 25th-round draft choice who washed out of Tampa Bay after three partial seasons in which he combined for a .621 OPS, you can't exactly call Ruggiano a post-hype sleeper. There was never any hype to begin with. But he does own a career minor league OPS mark of .868 to go with a 20/20 skill set. Strikeouts have long been been an issue, but his K/BB rate this season (a combined 48/30 in 74 games split between Miami and Triple-A) shows a very nice step in the right direction. Since June 1, Ruggiano is a top 40 fantasy offensive contributor, with a .382 batting average in that span. His lofty .459 BABIP is unsustainable, obviously, but given his plate discipline improvements, steady playing time in the middle of the Marlins order and power/speed combo, Ruggiano is definitely worth taking a flyer on.

• Y! %25%
• Y! rank 462
• AVG.378
• HR6
• RBI17
• R15
• SB6

Salvador has been surreal at the plate for KC since return from injury

Salvador Perez (C) Kansas City Royals
Perez is hitting .373 in his first 16 games for the Royals since returning from a preseason knee surgery in late June. Add this to the 39 game debut he made with the Royals in '11 and you have a .343 batting average (and .889 OPS) in his first 55 games in the majors. Impressive stuff. Perez makes good contact (a theme this week, apparently) and has long showed an ability to hit for average in the minors. But power was never part of the equation. That said, he has hit four home runs in his limited action this season for KC, and he passes the power eye test (6-foot-3, 230 pounds), so it certainly wouldn't be surprising if he started to turn a corner in the power department. But he still hits a lot of ground balls and fantasy owners should be looking at Perez for his batting average upside, treating the the rest as gravy. Over the past two weeks, only Brian McCann, Joe Mauer and Carlos Ruiz have been better fantasy backstops.

• Y! % 34%
• Y! rank 957
• AVG .373
• HR4
• RBI8
• R10
• SB0

Per usual, Young finds his groove around the break

Delmon Young (OF) Detroit Tigers
It's not out of character for Young to come alive in July. Quite the contrary, as he owns a career .898 OPS mark for the month. Right on schedule, Young is the No. 34 player in the Yahoo! game for the past two weeks, thanks to a four-game home run streak leading into the All-Star break. No doubt, Young has his issues both on and off the field, but he's a career .286 hitter batting fifth in a lineup that features three players in front of him (Austin Jackson, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder) that could/should hit over .300. There's no denying the run production richness of the Young's situation. If he's available in your league, give him at least a test drive for the rest of the month

• Y! % 29%
• Y! rank 300
• AVG.271
• HR10
• RBI37
• R30
• SB0

Jays up-and-down slugger hitting on all cylinders since return

Adam Lind (1B) Toronto Blue Jays
I suggested Lind in the last POW before the All-Star break, but he's only gained 4 percent in ownership popularity since then despite continuing to dig himself out of an early-season slump that prompted a mid-May demotion. Since rejoining the Jays in late June, Lind has hit .327 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 16 games. No doubt, Lind struggles against lefties and is slump prone, but he's a proven power producer (average of 28 home runs the past three seasons) who is filling the No. 5 spot in an offense that is No. 3 in the league in scoring. That should speak for itself.

• Y! % 28%
• Y! rank 917
• AVG.229
• HR7
• RBI25
• R16
• SB0

Down the stretch, let slip this dog of war

Gavin Floyd (SP) Chicago White Sox
Floyd has a history of holding up well in the second half, where his career ERA is three-fourths of a run better than his pre-AS break mark. The big righty has picked things up considerably this past month, ranking as a top 20 starter over that span – in three of his past four starts, he's pitched at least six innings without surrendering a run. Floyd is an innings eater for a first-place squad, a good recipe for wins. And he's enjoying the best K/9 rate of his career, ranking 40th among starters with a 7.95 mark. Floyd skipped his latest turn in the rotation because of forearm tightness, but it was deemed to be a non-issue and he'll be back in the mix later this week.

• Y! %31%
• Y! rank 297
• ERA4.54
• WHIP1.28
• W7
• SV0
• K/97.95

Cishek looks like the biggest fish in the Marlins' pen at the moment

Steve Cishek (RP) Miami Marlins
Cishek picked up the first save under Miami's new closer-by-committee plan, pitching a perfect final 1.2 innings on Saturday to close out a 2-1 victory over the Nats on Saturday. Considering that hired gun Heath Bell has a 6.56 ERA and a league-high six blown saves, there's a decent chance that Cishek, who hasn't allowed a walk or a run in his past eight innings covering eight appearances, could quickly ascend to the lead chair of this committee – especially after Juan Carlos Oviedo (Leo Nunez) is likely out for a while with a sprained elbow. Averaging right at a K-per-IP with a .216 BAA for his career, Cishek has the goods to be successful in a closer role, though his issues against left-handed hitters may prevent him from being a true be-all, end-all ninth inning option. Still, he's definitely worth a roster spot even in a part-time role.

• Y! %21%
• Y! rank 187
• ERA2.08
• WHIP1.28
• W4
• SV2
• K/99.00

Other Week 16 Pickups: Pedro Alvarez, Pit, 3B; Chipper Jones, Atl, 3B; Cody Ross, Bos, OF; Carlos Quentin, SDG, OF; Stephen Drew, Ari, SS; Ben Revere, Min, OF; Brandon Belt, SF, 1/O; Michael Saunders, Sea, OF; Norichika Aoki, Mil, OF; CoCo Crisp, Oak, OF; Ike Davis, NYM, 1B; Garrett Jones, Pit, 1/O; Dayan Viciedo, ChW, OF; Casey McGehee, Pit, 1/3; Carlos Lee, Hou, OF; Rajai Davis, Tor, OF; J.D. Martinez, Hou, OF; David Murphy, Tex, OF; Yasmani Grandal, SD, C; Ryan Doumit, Min, C; Erick Aybar, LAA, SS; Marco Scutaro, 2B/SS, Col; Danny Espinosa, Was, 2B; Gordon Beckham, ChW, 2B; Michael Fiers, Mil, SP; Francisco Liriano, Min, SP; Tommy Milone, Oak, SP; Trevor Bauer; Ari, SP; Travis Wood, ChC, SP; Ben Sheets, Atl, SP; Felix Doubront, Bos, SP; Franklin Morales, Bos, P; Mike Leake, Cin, SP; Carlos Villanueva, Tor, P; Trevor Bauer, Ari, SP; Sergio Romo, SF, RP; David Hernandez, Ari, RP; Bobby Parnell, NYM, RP

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Michael Taylor, OF (Oak) – The No. 6 prospect for '12, according to Baseball America, is hitting a scorching .395 with 4 HRs, 1 3B and 4 2Bs in his past 10 games for Triple-A Sacramento.
Nate McLouth, OF (Bal) – The 30-year-old vet, now with the O's, is hitting .326 with 6 HRs in his past 11 games for Triple-A Norfolk.
Hunter Morris, 1B (Mil) – The Brewers top corner infield prospect has hit .425 with 3 2Bs, 2 3Bs and 4 HRs in his past 10 games for Double-A Huntsville.
Nick Franklin, SS (Sea) – The M's potential '13 opening day SS is starting to hit for Triple-A Tacoma, sporting a .976 with a HR, 3B, 4 2Bs and 2 SBs in his past 10 games.

Daniel Straily, SP (Oak) – The A's pitching prospect has served notice since his arrival in Triple-A Sacramento in mid-June, going 3-2 with a 1.09 ERA and a 46:11 K-to-BB ratio in his first five starts.
Matt Harvey, SP (NYM) – Expected to make his MLB debut this week, Harvey has a 1.87 ERA and a 28:7 K-to-BB ratio in his past for starts for Triple-A Buffalo.