Panda-monium as Giants clobber Tigers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pablo Sandoval sure picked a great time to become the first San Francisco Giant to homer three times at AT&T Park.
Sandoval’s three round-trippers powered the Giants to an 8-3 pounding of the Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series in San Francisco. He put the Giants ahead with solo shot in the first, added a two-run blast in the third and crushed another solo homer in the fifth.
Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols are the only other players to homer three times in a World Series game. Sandoval is the first to do it in his first three at-bats of a World Series opener.
The only other player to homer three times at AT&T Park was Dodgers shortstop Kevin Elster, who did it in the first-ever game at the stadium more than 12 years ago.
Two of Sandoval’s three homers came off Justin Verlander, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.74 ERA this postseason. The Giants tagged Verlander for five runs and six hits in four innings.
NLCS Most Valuable Player Marco Scutaro continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. He’s hit safely in 11 straight games since the NLDS and has collected at least two hits in seven of his last eight games.
The Giants also showcased some strong pitching by Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. Zito blanked the Tigers over the first five innings and allowed only a run and six hits before leaving with two out in the sixth. He received help from left fielder Gregor Blanco, who made two diving catches.
Zito also chipped in an RBI single to make it 5-0 in the fourth inning
Lincecum struck out five while retiring all seven hitters he faced before the Giants needed three relievers to get the final three outs.
The Tigers’ scoring came on Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single in the sixth and Jhonny Peralta’s two-run homer in the ninth.
The series continues tonight in San Francisco, where Madison Bumgarner will start for the Giants against Doug Fister.
Union wants Tags to take a hike
UNDATED (AP) — The NFL Players Association will file a motion in federal court in New Orleans trying to get former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue out of a position to hear the appeals of the four players suspended in the Saints bounties case. The players’ union wants Tagliabue to recuse himself because of a conflict of interest.
Commissioner Roger Goodell removed himself from hearing this set of appeals and appointed Tagliabue last week. The players and their union say Tagliabue should be disqualified because of his employment by a law firm which has handled bounty-related matters for the league and represented Goodell in Jonathan Vilma’s defamation lawsuit against him.
The hearings are scheduled for next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey says he was not a whistle-blower in the bounties case, and that Warren Sapp’s accusation he was has made it difficult for him to go back to New Orleans. Shockey said on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL” that he would never have done that, adding that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “even came out and said I wasn’t the person who did it.” Shockey says he confronted Sapp about the report the former defensive lineman made on NFL Network and Sapp replied he “wanted to stick by his source.”
Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis back in practice
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis was back at practice on Wednesday and could play this weekend against Oakland. It’d be his first game since Week 3.
Hillis sprained his right ankle in the Chiefs’ win over New Orleans on Sept. 23. The bye week helped him get back on the practice field.
Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel says he wasn’t sure whether Hillis will play against the Raiders until he saw him practice in pads, but Hillis says he thinks he’ll be ready to go.
Elsewhere around the NFL:
— The Browns are placing starting linebacker Scott Fujita on injured reserve with a neck injury, ending his stormy season and maybe his football career. Fujita is one four players suspended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his role in the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal. The 11-year-veteran was inactive the past two games.
— Browns starting guard Jason Pinkston has been released from the hospital after being treated for blood clots in his lungs. Pinkston was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic last week with the life-threatening condition. The 25-year-old was placed on injured reserve earlier this week, ending his second NFL season.
— Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season because of a right big toe injury. Lee calls defensive signals for Dallas and is also the team’s leading tackler.
— London Fletcher’s never-missed-a-game streak could be in jeopardy. The Redskins linebacker did not practice Wednesday because of a sore hamstring and a problem with balance that had him scheduled to see a neurologist. Fletcher has played in 231 consecutive games since entering the league in 1998. That’s first among active players, one ahead of Tampa Bay safety Ronde Barber.
— Buffalo Bills high-priced defensive end Mario Williams missed practice and did not attend team meetings while visiting a specialist to determine whether to have surgery to repair a nagging left wrist injury.
— Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert expects to play Sunday at Green Bay despite an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that knocked him out of last week’s game. That’s good news for a team that just lost star running back Maurice Jones-Drew to a foot injury for an extended period.
— The Titans have signed veteran linebacker Xavier Adibi to the roster and placed linebacker Zac Diles on injured reserve with a broken leg. The 6-foot-2, 242-pound Adibi has played in 38 games over four seasons with eight starts. He was with Chicago in training camp this year.
— The NFL says officials will be using pink penalty flags for Sunday’s Dolphins-Jets game after an 11-year-old wrote Commissioner Roger Goodell with the suggestion. Some of the officials are already using pink whistles while players and coaches are wearing pink shoes, wrist bands and caps, among other things. The league has invited Marlboro, N.J. fifth grader Dante Cano and his family to MetLife Stadium to present the penalty flags to the officials before the kickoff.
Isles getting new home
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL’s New York Islanders have agreed to move to the recently-completed Barclays Center in Brooklyn starting with the 2015-16 season. They’ve got a 25-year lease.
Officials in nearby Nassau County, N.Y., struggled for years to approve plans to either renovate or build a new arena to replace the Nassau Coliseum, which opened in 1972. Team owner Charles Wang had long threatened to move the team from its home in Uniondale after the club’s lease expired, citing a dilapidated building unsuited for a professional sports franchise.