Gamecocks survive scare
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The first ranked football team to take the field this season was almost the first upset victim.
Marcus Lattimore scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter as No. 9 South Carolina rallied to beat Vanderbilt 17-13 on opening night in Nashville.
Lattimore scored a TD earlier in the game and finished with 110 yards rushing, helping Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier improve to 23-1 in season openers.
South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw shrugged off a banged up throwing shoulder to lead the winning drive. The junior ran for 92 yards.
The Gamecocks have high expectations after going 11-2 last season and finishing second in the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division.
Issac’s aftermath leaves mixed results…BYU ruins Leach’s return to coaching
UNDATED (AP) – Thursday night’s scheduled college football game between Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech was postponed in the wake of Isaac’s dousing of Shreveport. But Saturday’s game involving Rutgers and Tulane will take place as scheduled in New Orleans, only days after the storm swept across the area with hurricane force winds.
The decision to play comes after inspections show the Superdome survived the storm with only superficial damage.
In other college football news:
— BYU ruined Mike Leach’s first game as Washington State coach. BYU held Washington State to four yards rushing in the first half and coasted to a 30-6 win over Leach’s Cougars at Provo. Leach was out of coaching briefly following nearly a 10-year run at Texas Tech. Riley Nelson tossed a pair of TD passes for BYU. He is 8-1 as a starting quarterback.
– New Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco says the conference wants to add a 14th member for football, and is planning to have a championship game after next season. Aresco declined to say which teams the Big East is pursuing. The Big East, which lost West Virginia to the Big 12, and will lose Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC next season, will span four time zones starting next season with the addition of programs such as Boise State.
– Notre Dame radio analyst Allen Pinkett has been pulled off the broadcast of Saturday’s season opener against Navy in Dublin, Ireland. It follows comments made on a Chicago radio station earlier this week that in order to win, the Irish need “a few bad citizens” on their team. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick called Pinkett’s comments “nonsense.”
Red-hot Harper helps Nats expand lead…Angels sweep the Sox…Giatns lead by 4 and a-half games
UNDATED (AP) — Washington’s 19-year-old phenom rookie Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer — his third in two nights — and drove in three runs in leading the first-place Nationals over the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals 8-1. It was Harper’s 15th homer. Jayson Werth also went deep for the Nats.
Edwin Jackson, the Nats’ No. 4 starter, held the Cardinals to one run on four hits in his eight innings. Michael Gonzalez finished up the four-hitter.
The win moved the Nats five and a-half games ahead of idle Atlanta in the NL East.
In the rest of the NL:
–Hunter Pence is killing his former team. Pence hit a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning and the San Francisco Giants rallied again for an 8-4 win over the Astros. On Wednesday, he hit a three-run homer in the Giants’ victory over Houston.
– The Giants now lead the Dodgers by four and a-half games in the NL West. That’s because Arizona blanked L.A. 2-0 for the Diamondbacks’ seventh straight win over the Dodgers. Ian Kennedy outpitched Clayton Kershaw for the win. Chris Young’s two-run homer was all the scoring.
– The Phillies avoid a three-game sweep by slipping past the visiting New York Mets 3-2. Kyle Kendrick allowed solo homers in the first two innings to Mike Baxter and Scott Hairston, but did not permit another run before leaving with two outs in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon tossed a scoreless ninth for his 30th save. Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel benched star shortstop Jimmy Rollins after a pair of baserunning blunders in the sixth inning.
– Jonathan Lucroy hit a grand slam and drove in seven runs for Milwaukee, but it wasn’t enough as the Cubs came back with three runs in the ninth inning to beat the Brewers 12-11. Alfonso Soriano’s RBI single capped the big, three-run ninth. In a seesaw game featuring a combined 15 extra-base hits, the Cubs led 3-0, trailed 9-3 and were still down 11-9 going into the ninth.
Over in the AL:
– Zack Greinke yielded five hits over seven strong innings, Albert Pujols hit an early two-run double and the Los Angeles Angels swept their season series with Boston for the first time with a 5-2 victory over the Red Sox. The Angels have won seven of nine to stay in the midst of the AL wild card race.
– Carlos Villanueva pitched six sharp innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat slumping Tampa Bay 2-0 on Thursday night, snapping a five-game losing streak against the Rays. Tampa Bay lost for the fifth time in six games and dropped 1-1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild-card berth.
– The Baltimore Orioles completed a 5-1 homestand with a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Taylor Teagarden and Adam Jones went deep for the Birds while Zach Britton was striking out a career-high 10 batters to earn his fourth win in five decisions this season. The O’s eighth win in 11 games moves them within three games of the idle Yankees in the AL East race. Baltimore opens a three-game series in New York on Friday night.
– The Athletics pounded four home runs in a 12-7 victory at Cleveland. The Athletics’ sixth straight win keeps them a full game ahead of Baltimore for the league’s first wild card. The Indians have lost five straight, 14 of 15 and are 1-6 since owner Paul Dolan said he had no immediate plans to fire second-year skipper Manny Acta.
– Seattle got past Minnesota 5-4.Trayvon Robinson had a pair of RBIs for the winners while Josh Willingham belted his 33rd home run in a losing cause. The M’s took three four in the series.
— Alex Gordon homered to lead the Kansas City Royals over the Detroit Tigers 2-1 for a three-game sweep.
Nats skipper says Strasburg shutdown imminent
WASHINGTON (AP) – Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson says Stephen Strasburg has “probably” two or three starts remaining before the ace is shut down for the season. Johnson says he delivered the news to Strasburg on the plane ride home from Wednesday’s win over the Miami Marlins.
Johnson says he has a “pretty firm plan” to shut down Strasburg after about 160 innings or so.
Strasburg is 15-6 and has thrown 150 1-3 innings. His next start is supposed to be Sunday against St. Louis.
Venus loses in second round…Federer rolls
NEW YORK (AP) – Venus Williams is done at the U.S. Open. The two-time U.S. Open champion dropped five of her last six games and ended up losing to sixth-seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in a second round match that lasted nearly three hours.
In the other women’s action, former top-ranked players Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic advanced to round three with straight-set victories. Ivanovic is seeded 12th. Jankovic is No. 30.
Serena Williams, another former No. 1, beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in straight sets in the second round. The 14-time Grand Slam champion won 6-2, 6-4. Williams overcame six double-faults and 24 unforced errors.
On the men’s side, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the highest-seeded player to be bounced from the first week of this year’s U.S. Open. The fifth-seeded Frenchman lost to 52nd-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 in second-round play.
Before Tsonga’s loss, top-five seeds on the men’s and women’s sides had played 14 matches – and won all 14 in straight sets.
This year’s Open has generated plenty of drama in one area: comebacks from two sets down. American Mardy Fish rallied to beat Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, the 10th time in this tournament a man had won after losing the first two sets – already an Open record.
Top-seeded Roger Federer used a second-round victory in the U.S. Open to work on his net game, winning 32 points from the front of the court in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Bjorn Phau of Germany. Federer finished with 15 aces in a 90-minute victory over his 83rd-ranked opponent.
Surprise announcement from Roddick
NEW YORK (AP) -Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick says the U.S. Open will be the last tournament of his career. The 2003 U.S. Open champion announced his plans to retire at a news conference on his 30th birthday.
The 20th-seeded Roddick is scheduled to play Bernard Tomic in the second round Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The American’s surprising decision to walk away from the sport comes a day after four-time major champion Kim Clijsters played the last singles match of her career, a second-round loss to Laura Robson at Flushing Meadows.
Bengals starting QB goes down…Bills owner in hospital
UNDATED (AP) – Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton left on the Bengals’ first series Thursday night with a bruised right arm, but the injury was not deemed to be serious. Dalton was hit by Robert Mathis and others on the Bengals’ sixth offensive play. Bruce Gradkowski replaced Dalton.
In other NFL news:
– The Buffalo Bills have announced that owner Ralph Wilson has been taken to a hospital and is listed in good condition. Club spokesman Scott Berchtold was unable provide further information or where Wilson was hospitalized. The 93-year-old Hall of Fame owner usually spends his summers at his home in suburban Detroit.
– The NFL moved to try to shut down lawsuits filed by thousands of former players who say they suffered or fear suffering permanent brain injuries from football-related concussions. The NFL is calling the issue a “labor dispute” that should be resolved not by courts but by terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland 12 Cleveland 7
Baltimore 5 Chi White Sox 3
Seattle 5 Minnesota 4
Toronto 2 Tampa Bay 0
Kansas City 2 Detroit 1
L.A. Angels 5 Boston 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia 3 N-Y Mets 2
Chi Cubs 12 Milwaukee 11
Washington 8 St. Louis 1
San Francisco 8 Houston 4
Arizona 2 L.A. Dodgers 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Jacksonville 24 Atlanta 14
Philadelphia 28 N-Y Jets 10
St. Louis 31 Baltimore 17
Detroit 38 Buffalo 32
Pittsburgh 17 Carolina 16
Indianapolis 20 Cincinnati 16
Green Bay 24 Kansas City 3
Houston 28 Minnesota 24
Tennessee 10 New Orleans 6
Chicago 28 Cleveland 20
Seattle 21 Oakland 3
San Francisco 35 San Diego 3
Denver 16 Arizona 13
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
( 9) South Carolina 17 Vanderbilt 13