My Sports News Digest

LONDON —Liverpool moved up to fifth place in the Premier League on Sunday with an untroubled 3-0 win over Newcastle.

Maxi Rodriguez put the home side ahead in the 10th minute before Dirk Kuyt’s 59th-minute penalty and Luis Suarez’s 65th-minute close-range finish made the game safe.

The win moved Liverpool ahead of Tottenham on goal difference. Although Spurs have played one game fewer, their chances of reaching the top four to make the Champions League for a second straight season appear to be over after a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday.

Manchester United seeks to extend its three-point lead over Chelsea when it plays third-place Arsenal later Sunday.

Also Sunday, Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 1-1 at local rival Birmingham. Manchester City hosts West Ham in the day’s other match.

Maxi put Liverpool ahead with a deflected shot past goalkeeper Tim Krul and Kuyt hit his eighth goal in seven Premier League matches after Suarez had been wrestled to the ground inside the area by defender Mike Williamson.

Suarez then got his goal, his third since joining Liverpool in January. The Uruguay striker’s pass to Maxi was deflected to Kuyt, who returned the ball for Suarez to tap in unmarked.

Liverpool, whose 21-year-old record of 18 English league titles could be broken by United this season, has now scored 14 goals in three home matches.

With a pair of pivotal Game 2 matchups today both the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals are hoping they can avoid going down 2- in their respective series. For Detroit going down by two games would be a bit more expected practically given that they’re beginning off in San Jose and house teams are supposed to defend residence ice. Washington, on the other hand, could be hitting the road down by two games and staring at a dire scenario heading to Tampa Bay.

All times are Eastern.

Detroit @ San Jose – three p.m. (NBC) – San Jose leads series 1-

While Detroit didn’t play badly in their Game 1 overtime loss, they surely could’ve used much more of an offensive presence and a stingier defense. Generating Jimmy Howard save upwards of 40 shots per game is a excellent way to play with fire against the offensively gifted Sharks. Scary part now for San Jose is that their massive guns of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley haven’t gotten points going as but. With Ryane Clowe and Joe Pavelski doing their portion to score large goals in the playoffs, they haven’t genuinely been missed. Detroit will look to get Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg free of charge to stir up their own attack and hope that Johan Franzen can begin snapping pucks by Antti Niemi.

Tampa Bay @ Washington – 7 p.m. (Versus) – Tampa Bay leads series 1-

Times will be a bit tougher tonight for Tampa Bay as they’ll be without having Pavel Kubina and Simon Gagne for tonight’s game. In their place the Lightning are calling on the Jones boys. Randy Jones and Blair Jones (not related) will draw into the lineup. Anticipate Tampa Bay to be extra vigilant in trying to make up for their absence as they’ll look to get out ahead early and get Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis into action. Washington, meanwhile, looks like they’ll have John Carlson ready to go soon after an injury worry in Game 1. Caps are hoping they can get the exact same type of offensive jump they had in Game 1 but to sustain that pressure throughout the game. They’ll want Alex Ovechkin to step up bigger and for Michal Neuvirth to rebound stronger in objective.

A question to consider: would anyone have cared about the Indonesian Masters were it not for Lee Westwood’s appearance there and the possibility of him recapturing the No. 1 spot in the world with a win?

Answer? The tournament would have been practically invisible.

And that’s an example for Jeev Milkha Singh as to why the current contenders for No. 1 in the weekly race that has become the Official World Golf Ranking is good for the sport. In a guest essay for GulfNews, the Indian standout explains:

Put simply, if there is more than one player fighting for the top spot week in and week out, more tournaments are going to benefit. When Tiger was number one, there was a buzz around the 20-odd events he played each year. Now, with three players in contention, the media will focus on many more tournaments.

Take the last two weeks as an example. Because Lee Westwood and Luke Donald are battling it out on two different tours, both are getting terrific coverage. If Westwood was not playing the Indonesian Masters last week when he took over top spot again, the American and European media would have ignored it.

He’s right. The Heritage would have gotten a lot of play here in the States, but mattered on an international scale because of what was at stake. A Nationwide Tour event offers stronger competition than the Indonesian Masters did to Lee Westwood, but the Englishman still had to find a way to win – and we all were watching.

Singh takes issue with downplaying the No. 1 contenders because just Martin Kaymer has hoisted a major championship trophy. He’s right. Majors are more important than the No. 1 ranking in the long view, but they’re not a prerequisite to be No. 1 in a ranking system that rewards consistency over winning.

And for Singh, the three at the top are the game’s most consistent.

Westwood has been the most consistent performer over the last two years, Kaymer over the last one and Donald over the last six months. Case closed.

While Donald deserves a little more credit than that, Singh pretty much nailed it.

CHICAGO —With or without manager Ozzie Guillen, the Chicago White Sox are reeling. When they pitch well—as Phil Humber did again Saturday night— they have trouble handling the ball and getting the big hit.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another and now their early season rut has made history of sorts. A 6-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night left the White Sox with a 10-18 mark in April—the most losses in franchise history for the opening month.

“The league is not going to be feeling sorry for us or wait for us or nothing. We are going to have to play and play through it and start winning some ball games,” acting manager Joey Cora said.

Chicago lost for the 14th time in 17 games and second straight under Cora. Cora filled in again as Guillen completed a two-game suspension for remarks he made about an umpire on Twitter after he ejected from a game at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

Humber, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his previous start against the Yankees, allowed only two runs and three hits in seven innings.

One of those hits was a homer to No. 9 batter Robert Andino and another run scored on a wild pitch that eluded catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had trouble behind the plate.

“Our job is to go out there and go deep in the ball game and keep us close and give our offense a chance,” Humber said. “Right now we’re not scoring a whole lot of runs, but I think that is going to turn around, I really do. I’ve got all the faith in the world in these guys. … Hopefully it turns around for us pretty quick.”

Andino led off the third with his first homer of the season—and seventh in parts of seven major league seasons—to put Baltimore up 2-0. The Orioles took an early lead when Brian Roberts doubled to lead off the game, went to third on a fly ball and scored on Humber’s wild pitch, a low delivery that eluded Pierzynski.

“I wish I could take one pitch back, the one to Andino,” Humber said. “Other than that pitch and not being there to cover home in the first inning that kinda of bit us there. Other than that I threw the ball pretty well.”

Chicago had the bases loaded with no outs in the sixth but scored just one run on a sacrifice fly as reliever Mike Gonzalez struck out Adam Dunn and Pierzynski.

Andino also snuffed out a Chicago rally in the fourth when the White Sox had first and second and no outs. He made a diving stop on Alex Rios’ grounder behind the bag and started a double play with a nice flip to Roberts.

“It seems like we’re one hit away, one play away in some of these games and that’s how it is early in a season sometimes,” said Paul Konerko, adding that the White Sox also started slowly last season. Then they went on a 26-5 tear.

Leading 2-1, the Orioles tacked on four runs in the eighth, an inning featuring a passed ball and error on Chicago catcher Pierzynski, some daring baserunning by Andino and a two-run single by Vladimir Guerrero.

Andino singled in the eighth off Matt Thornton and stole second. When Roberts struck out, the ball got by Pierzynski, who retrieved it and threw low to Dunn at first. Dunn caught the one-hop throw but his relay to the plate was too late to get Andino, who scored all the way from second.

“Usually A.J. is very good at that,” Cora said. “Once in a while it’s going to happen. It just happened. We had a tough time today.”

Nick Markakis followed with a single and Derrek Lee walked to load the bases before Guerrero delivered a two-run single past third. Luke Scott’s sacrifice fly made it 6-1 and the struggling Thornton—who was supposed to be the closer before blowing four early save chances—was booed as he left the mound.

Rios hit his first homer of the season in the ninth to make it 6-2.

NOTES: Guillen said he watched Friday night’s 10-4 loss on TV. He said that more difficult than from the dugout because he has to watch replays and can still hear the booing. He said he was in the parking lot and then went home Friday night. “It was painful to watch as a fan,” he said. … Dunn, who underwent an appendectomy and was 7 for 61 over his previous 17 games, got his first start at first base for the White Sox after serving for 20 games as a DH. He went 1 for 4 Saturday night. … RHP Jake Peavy (shoulder) is scheduled to make his next rehab start on May 5 for the White Sox’s Triple-A Charlotte team and throw 100 pitches.

What started out as a defensive battle for the first 58 minutes of the game turned into a double overtime thriller in Vancouver as the Predators beat the Canucks 2-1 to tie the finest of seven second round series at 1-1 thanks to Matt Halischuk’s snipe with five:09 remaining in double overtime

We knew from the get-go that these two teams would be playing some defensively tough games and that it would be more of a battle of technique than anything else. Turns out all we needed to have the game take a turn for the exciting was to head to numerous overtimes.

Nashville had a golden opportunity to break the game open and grab the lead in the second period when they headed to the power play. Only difficulty there is that the Predators power play has gone quiet and the Canucks know how to counter shorthanded. Alex Burrows helped make the Preds pay for their ineffectiveness to help the Canucks jump out to a 1- lead with a shorthanded objective.

From that point on, the Canucks took the foot off the gas pedal and tried to defend their way to victory. That technique wouldn’t end up in their very best interests.

Both Roberto Luongo and Pekka Rinne had been stellar all game lengthy with Luongo making 44 saves and Rinne making highlight reel stops all game lengthy on the way to generating 32 stops.  During regulation, it was Luongo who dazzled with his stops to maintain the Predators off the board early on.

Ultimately it would be a weak objective under Luongo’s leg pad from Ryan Suter that would tie the game 1-1 with 1:07 to play in the third period. The Canucks would threaten once much more late in the third with efforts to scare Rinne but could not break via.

The game headed off to overtime where the teams mutual hesitancy to press the offensive portion of the game evaporated and the teams traded chances back and forth. There it was Rinne who stole the show pulling stunning save right after stunning save to keep the Canucks turned away via both overtime and double overtime.

In double overtime, the game would turn thanks to a quick break in from the blue line that saw Nick Spaling hit Matt Halischuk with a pass and Halischuk would wire his shot over Luongo’s glove hand and into the net to end it.

For Nashville, the win is certainly large as the tie the series up and get their offense on the board, finally. The work their defense did in keeping the Canucks quiet paired with Rinne’s unbelievable work. There’s still a lot of function to be completed on the offensive side of issues, but tonight they shined on defense and aside from a horrible power play mistake, they were flawless.

Vancouver, meanwhile, has to get that killer instinct back. Acquiring up 1- and then sitting back on the lead, even against a poor offensive team like Nashville, is a recipe for disaster. We’ve observed it occur to Vancouver before and we’ve observed it everywhere else throughout the playoffs. Secure may well not be death, but it is inviting the grim reaper into the rink to take a look about. If Vancouver can’t get their offense going, and that means their big guns of the Sedins and Ryan Kesler, each game is going to be close like this one. Playing with fire like that is no very good for a team with designs on the Stanley Cup.

After the game, Matt Halischuk talks about his game-winning goal.

Here are the highlights from the double overtime epic between these two.

Neither the New York Red Bulls nor Sporting Kansas City are having difficulty scoring goals. Only one, however, is having any success keeping the ball out of its own net.

The Red Bulls look to continue their recent scoring binge Saturday night when they host Kansas City, which will need to defend better if it wants to end its four-match winless streak.

New York (3-1-2) wasn’t living up to its own lofty expectations through four matches, totaling two goals while winning once. Suddenly, though, the Red Bulls have the look of an offensive juggernaut.

Luke Rodgers scored twice and Thierry Henry once in a 3-0 win over San Jose on April 16, then Henry had two goals in a 4-0 road victory over D.C. United on April 21.

“I told you guys at the beginning of the season, once we start to score, I think we’re going to score a lot,” said Henry, who appears to have overcome a nagging Achilles’ injury.

The biggest problem New York coach Hans Backe has right now is a good one – figuring out a way to find time for his surplus of strikers. The diminutive Rodgers has been Henry’s partner up front the past two matches at the expense of speedy young star Juan Agudelo.

Agudelo certainly hasn’t disappeared. He came on for Rodgers in the 75th minute against United and capped the scoring in stoppage time.

“We have three very good strikers,” assistant coach Jan Halvor Halvorsen told MLSSoccer.com. “There will be room for all three to play. … (Agudelo) looked very hungry.”

Backe hasn’t said whether Rodgers or Agudelo will join Henry on Saturday, but there’s another interesting subplot developing with Agudelo. He and Sporting KC’s Teal Bunbury made a bet as to which striker could boast the most Twitter followers before kickoff, with the loser being forced to wear the winner’s jersey for an entire day.

“(Twitter) is icing on the cake,” Bunbury said. “I’m going for the win first, then the Twitter thing.”

Bunbury might want to see if he can convince some of his followers to help play defense. Bunbury is tied with midfielder Kei Kamara for the team lead with three goals, but Sporting KC (1-3-1) has problems on the back end.

The club has scored 10 goals in five matches as it plays 10 straight road contests while its new arena is finished, but it has given up 12. After Kamara scored twice in a 10-minute stretch last Saturday at New England to give KC a 2-1 lead, the Revolution responded with two goals to escape with a 3-2 win.

The tying goal came after Aurelien Collin picked up his second yellow card for Sporting KC – the third time coach Peter Vermes’ team has had a player sent off.

“The unfortunate thing is that this is the third game that we have lost and in all three games we have not been able to finish the game with (11) men,” Vermes said.

U.S. Soccer later determined Collin’s second yellow was issued in error – it should have been given to Birahim Diop – meaning the defender will be available against the Red Bulls. Diop was suspended for this match Friday.

New York outscored KC 4-0 while sweeping two matches last season.

DEERFIELD, Ill. - Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer sat out his second straight practice because of turf toe on his right foot.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said Saturday that Boozer was feeling better, but was “not quite ready to go yet.” The Bulls meet Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 1 Monday at the United Center.

Boozer has been getting treatment and lifting weights. He also did some shooting Saturday but was mostly a spectator again after sitting out practice the previous day.

The Bulls were off Wednesday and Thursday after knocking out Indiana 116-89 in Game 5 of their first-round series. The toe problem surfaced in the second quarter when he heard a pop while scoring his lone basket.

The second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs kicks off tomorrow night with the leading seeded Capitals looking to make the Eastern final for the first time because 1998. Tampa Bay is hoping to make their very first return to the East final since 2004.  The Capitals have been off considering that Saturday so they’ll be nicely rested. Will there be rust or will they play the role of the machine that never breaks? The Caps are hoping for the latter.

Boston and Philadelphia get to renew hostilities after last year’s extraordinary second round match-up that saw the Flyers comeback from being down 3- in the series to win in seven games. That series win helped them get motivated to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup final. The Bruins are hoping to enact revenge for that colossal failure and keep their Cup hopes alive.

How do we see things shaking out? Well…

1. Washington Capitals vs. 5. Tampa Bay Lightning

James says:

The Capitals won the season series (4-1-1), but Dwayne Roloson played really well (two shutouts in four games) against Washington once he arrived in Tampa Bay. The star power on both sides is downright dazzling, with Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom squaring off against Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Simon Gagne. I cannot assist but feel like the Bolts are a work in progress, although.

Both teams showed me some thing in their very first round series, but the Capitals have the Scent of Destiny.

Pick: Washington in five.

Joe says:

It’d be wrong to jump off the Caps wagon contemplating we picked them to go to the Stanley Cup final, but the truth is they actually impressed me with how they handled the Rangers in the very first round. What Tampa Bay did to Pittsburgh was impressive on its own appropriate and I wonder if they’ll be able to maintain their offensive stars rolling against the Caps’ defense. I’m suspecting no, they won’t.

Pick: Capitals in six

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2. Philadelphia Flyers vs. three. Boston Bruins

James says:

Did the Bruins truly shake that huge-game monkey off their backs in that Game 7 win against the Canadiens? They showed impressive resolve in winning in overtime, but shot themselves in the foot repeatedly while blowing 2- and three-2 leads in their own barn. On the other end, the Flyers overcame a 3-1 first period deficit to win Game 6 and then completely crushed the Sabres in Game 7. Tim Thomas is a tempting trump card, but Philadelphia is radiating confidence and boast enviable offensive depth. The improving well being of Chris Pronger even makes Brian Boucher much less of a worry than several would anticipate. It is still an awfully intriguing series, but I’ll opt for the Flyers’ showy swagger over the Bruins’ slumped shoulders.

Choose: Philadelphia in six.

Joe says:

These teams are eerily similar. They’re both tough, they’re both physical, they both have hulking defensemen, they both have pests that can score massive goals. One area where they are different is in goal. Tim Thomas is all world although the three-headed monster the Flyers roll with is virtually interchangeable. How the Flyers defense plays is far more critical to their success. With a healthy Pronger out there leading the way and the Bruins offense becoming as iffy as it has been all year, this series is destined to run long. The Flyers “fixed” their power play in the final game thanks to Ryan Miller going soft. The Bruins are resilient as anything but I’ve changed my mind on them thanks to how bad their power play is.

Choose: Philadelphia in seven

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