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Photo: Yankees blast O's, cut lead to 2 1/2

AP photo/Kathy Willens
Melvin Mora can't quite beat the throw to first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz at Yankee Stadium, where New York pummeled the Orioles, 12-0, to move to within two games in the loss column of the American East lead. Click here to see the box score.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Photo: Sox lose heartbreaker in Toronto

AP photo/Adrian Wyld
Jon Lester was terrific, pitching into the seventh inning and leaving with the lead, but Eric Gagne surrendered three runs in the eighth as the Red Sox fell to the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3, tonight. It was the team's third straight loss.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

World Cup: U.S. women defeat Nigeria

AP photo / Eugene Hoshiko
U.S. forward Abby Wambach struggles for position in front of Nigeria's net during today's World Cup match in rainy Shanghai, China.

By Dex McLuskey

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. kept up its campaign to win a record third World Cup in women's soccer with a 1-0 win over Nigeria today to advance to the quarterfinals.

North Korea also reached the round of eight even after losing 2-1 to 2003 runner-up Sweden. The U.S. will play England on Sept. 22, the same day North Korea faces defending champion Germany for a place in the semifinals.

Lori Chalupny scored the U.S. goal after 90 seconds at the Hongkou stadium in Shanghai. Sweden, which needed to win by three goals to avoid elimination, took a fourth-minute lead on a goal by Charlotta Schelin, who got the winner in the 54th minute after Ri Un Suk tied the score midway through the first half.

The U.S., which beat China in the 1999 final after winning the inaugural championship in 1991, finished atop Group B with seven points, three more than North Korea.

Sweden finished third, also with four points, while Nigeria had one point from a draw.
Two Group D games scheduled for tomorrow were moved to Sept. 20 and away from Shanghai because of the threat to China's eastern coast posed by Typhoon Wipha.

Brazil will face Denmark in Hangzhou after Norway plays Ghana in the same city, organizers said on the tournament Web site.

Wipha's eye is expected to make landfall near the city of Wenzhou late today or early tomorrow. The Shanghai government ordered the evacuation of 200,000 people. In Taiwan, the government ordered the stock exchange and offices closed.

China is hosting the fifth edition of the World Cup after the 2003 tournament was moved to the U.S. because of concern about severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: The lead is shrinking, shrinking

Head over to the SoxBlog to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, and read excerpts from the conversation. Today's topics: Dustin McGowan's shut-down effort last night; Frank Thomas' three home runs; facing A.J. Burnett tonight; pressure on Jon Lester; keeping the rust from Clay Buchholz; extra rest for Daisuke Matsuzaka; Kevin Youkilis' wrist injury; and the Indians and the Angels now just one game behind in the loss column.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Patriots beat Red Sox in Sunday TV ratings

BOSTON (AP) - It was a battle for the hearts - and clickers - of Boston sports fans.
On one channel Sunday night was the Red Sox and Yankees, with an intriguing pitching matchup of Curt Schilling for Boston and Roger Clemens for New York.

On another channel, an NFL showdown between the Patriots and San Diego Chargers, set against the backdrop of an illegal videotaping scandal involving New England coach Bill Belichick.

And the winner, according to overnight Nielsen ratings, were the Patriots. Their 38-14 win on NBC drew an average of 920,000 viewers, compared to an average of 627,000 who were watching the Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-3 on ESPN.

A spokeswoman for Nielsen says the ratings are able to account for the countless sports fans who were undoubtedly switching back and forth between the two games during the night.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Baseball Today: Tuesday, September 18

Get all the news from the world of baseball on projo.com's Sox Blog.

Posted by Art Martone  at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments 0