Three New Zealanders are poised to challenge for the lead with two days to go at the Princess Sofia yachting regatta in Palma de Majorca, Spain.Board sailor Tom Ashley is third, while Andrew Murdoch and Michael Bullot are fourth…
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Yachting: NZers targeting top finishes
Rugby should turn the clock back to ensure a more legitimate future.I’m talking about referees, and the use of the neutral system. The Super 14 has abandoned the use of neutral referees, presumably to save costs. But the competition…
Team Bici Vida took a hat-trick in the overall results after cycling’s summer criterium finale last night at Auckland’s Viaduct.Mike Northey sealed first place, taking out second and two primes in the sixth and final A Grade race…
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Cycling: Bici Vida cleans up at Viaduct
Arsenal has fought back from two goals down against Barcelona to earn a 2-2 draw from a late penalty by Cesc Fabregas after the visitors earlier put on a ruthless display in their Champions League quarterfinal.Barcelona pounced…
P ORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Jason Bay, David Wright and Chris Carter homered off Josh Johnson and the New York Mets beat Florida 6-3 Wednesday, just five days before they face the Marlins ace in the season opener. Johnson gave up the three solo home runs and five hits overall in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked none. Johnson is set to start the opener Monday at Citi Field. He pitched in this game because he missed his last start with the flu — otherwise, he would have made his final tuneup in a minor league game.
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Mets tag Josh Johnson just 5 days before opening day
C LEARWATER, Fla. — Roy Halladay was hit hard early then bounced back with four straight strikeouts against his former team, but the Philadelphia Phillies fell 5-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. Halladay, who spent his first 12 big league seasons with the Blue Jays before joining the Phillies in December, allowed four runs and five hits in the first inning. He then struck four straight and retired the final seven batters he faced. Halladay’s final spring start was cut short at three innings to keep his arm fresh for the Phillies when they open the season in Washington on Monday. “I’m extremely anxious,” the 32-year-old Halladay said of his upcoming Phillies debut. “I think the hard part of later on in spring is that you start anticipating what’s to come and you get a little stale. I’m looking forward to (starting the season). I feel prepared.” On the same field where former Phillies pitcher Brett Myers exchanged handshakes and laughs with his old coaches and teammates six days earlier, Halladay was all business at Bright House Field with the Blue Jays in town. Instead of chatting with his old Toronto teammates in between at-bats or innings, he tried to get them out. “I respect everyone over there,” Halladay said. “(But) you realize that there’s a time for that in the offseason. I wanted to keep my focus on that and pitch and focus on that as much as I could.” The Blue Jays greeted their former, longtime ace with a flurry of hits. After Jose Bautista led off with a double to center, All-Star second baseman Aaron Hill drilled the first pitch he saw from Halladay into the left field bleachers for a two-run home run. Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion followed with doubles later in the inning and Alex Gonzalez added an RBI single as the Blue Jays jumped to a 4-0 lead against Halladay. “I just wasn’t aggressive,” Halladay said. “I just guided the pitches and didn’t make an adjustment until later on.” Halladay struck out Jose Molina to end the first inning and then struck out each of the three hitters who came to the plate in the second. He finished his effort with a 1-2-3 third inning. Halladay allowed four runs on five hits while striking out five and walking none. “I don’t think he leaned on it,” Philadelphia pitching coach Rich Dubee said of Halladay’s rough start against his former team. “There is a little something there: ex-teammates, the end of spring training, you’re less apt to maybe stand somebody up or move somebody. “I think he was feeling his way through it and then all of a sudden he said enough is enough and the last two innings he turned it up a little bit,” Dubee said. Both of the Phillies’ runs came on solo drives off Toronto starter Brett Cecil. Placido Polanco hit a one-out homer in the third inning and Ben Francisco hit his team-high fourth of the spring to lead off the fifth. NOTES: Philadelphia catcher Carlos Ruiz was out of the lineup after getting hit in the left arm with a pitch in a minor league game Tuesday. Manuel expects Ruiz to play in today’s spring finale. … Philadelphia reliever Ryan Madson took over for Halladay to begin the fourth inning and struck out two in a scoreless frame. Madson will serve as the Phillies closer with Brad Lidge sidelined until mid-to-late April. … Toronto manager Cito Gaston named Jason Frasor the Blue Jays closer prior to the game.
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Blue Jays hit Roy Halladay hard early
Arsenal came off the ropes to secure a 2-2 draw with Barcelona that kept their Champions League dream alive in the most unlikely fashion.
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Arsenal comeback stuns Barcelona
CADEL EVANS has welcomed the selection of his team in this year’s Tour de France, which could include a record 15 Australians. Evans, the elite world road race champion and a twice Tour runner-up, last year left the Belgian Silence-Lotto team to join BMC knowing that a start in the three-week Tour was not guaranteed because BMC is a second-tier team with a Pro Continental rather than Pro Tour licence. The US-registered team also has US road champion George Hincapie on its books but still had to show Tour organisers it was collectively strong. Evans went a long way to reassuring Tour organisers of that with his third place overall in the recent Tyrrhenian-Adriatic stage race in Italy and sixth in the two-day Criterium International, which is run by the Tour’s owner, Amaury Sport Organisation, in France. Hincapie finished fourth in last weekend’s Ghent-Wevelgem classic. For Evans, the news that BMC would race the Tour has set him up for a huge first half of the year, as he will also race cycling’s next biggest event, the Giro d’Italia, from May 8 to 30. “While I was never sure we would be in the Tour, I did not have much doubt that we would be left out, as I felt our team deserved to be in the Tour … ,” Evans said on the BMC team website. “I think for everyone at the BMC racing team, it is a reward for their good work in building an internationally competitive cycling team.” Evans, who wore the Tour leader’s yellow jersey for five days in 2008 when he backed up his second in 2007 with another runner-up finish, may be the marquee Australian in the race. However, he will not be the only Australian. From the 22 teams invited to line up for the start in Rotterdam, 27 Australians are on contract and a record 15 would be in contention for a start. The highest number of Australians in a Tour is 10 – a mark reached on two occasions. Among the Australians who could threaten Evans is Michael Rogers (HTC-Columbia). Rogers has a career-best finish of ninth in 2006 and has earmarked this year’s Tour as his priority. Last year he prioritised the Giro and was eighth overall, then faded in the Tour. This year, Rogers has won the Ruta del Sol in Spain in February, finished sixth in Tyrrhenian-Adriatic and second in the Criterium International. Other noted Australians expected to race include Allan Davis (Astana), who should earn selection as a potential stage winner, even though his team will be led by defending Tour champion Alberto Contador; Mark Renshaw (HTC-Columbia), superb last year in his lead-out work in the sprints for British six-time stage winner Mark Cavendish; Stuart O’Grady (Saxo Bank), who will be instrumental in helping Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck attempt to win the Tour; Simon Gerrans (Sky), a stage winning keen to avenge his controversial omission from the Cervelo team last year; and NSW-born German Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo), a stage winner last year. Tour organisers made some brave team selections. From the 22 picked, 16 have Pro Tour status, while six were invited: BMC (Evans) RadioShack (Lance Armstrong), Sky (Bradley Wiggins), Garmin (Christian Vande Velde), Cervelo (Carlos Sastre) and Katusha (Robbie McEwen). Controversially missing out were Dutch teams Vacansoleil and Skil-Shimano, despite the Rotterdam start; but Tour organisers still chose the best field. Interestingly, there is a large English-speaking presence in it, with four American teams and one British. Was that to boost interest in a growing Anglo-Saxon market? Tour director Christian Prudhomme was noncommittal, saying: ”The Tour will always stay the Tour de France … The race is becoming more international and that is only logical.”
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Cadel clear to join Australian assault on Tour
David Tua cruised to a comfortable points victory over Friday Ahunanya in Auckland last night but the dreary performance would have done little to promote his world title prospects.Nigerian Ahunanya carries the moniker “The 13th”‘….
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Boxing: Tua – all the way
Progressive MP Jim Anderton wants the decision to sell canned beer at all 13 stadiums at next year’s Rugby World Cup to be reconsidered.He fears New Zealand’s international reputation could suffer a monumental hangover if boozy…
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MP wants rethink over RWC beer plans
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