My Sports News Digest

The Los Angeles Galaxy have won four straight and are on the verge of clinching the fourth Supporters’ Shield in franchise history.

The New York Red Bulls would merely like to join the Galaxy in the postseason.

These teams meet Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena, with New York more in need of three points and Los Angeles missing star Landon Donovan.

The Galaxy (18-3-10) lead second-place Seattle by seven points, and can earn a second straight Supporters’ Shield by winning Tuesday. This game was rescheduled from Aug. 28 due to Hurricane Irene.

“If we win in New York, we’re there,” Donovan told the Galaxy’s official website. “We’re close, but we’re not there yet.”

Donovan, however, didn’t make the trip due to a strained right quadriceps, which will also keep him out of a pair of upcoming U.S. national team matches.

That could help New York (8-7-16), which holds the fourth and final wild-card playoff spot with 40 points in a crowded race. The Red Bulls got an 88th-minute equalizer from Thierry Henry in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Toronto FC.

“We had so many chances to come back into the game, – we didn’t, but then we came back at the end. For us, it was an important point, chasing the playoffs,” Henry told the Red Bulls’ official website. “For us, it was really important.”

Los Angeles is 6-0-1 since its last MLS loss, a 3-0 defeat at Portland on Aug. 3. The Galaxy would like to clinch the league’s best record as soon as possible before encountering a hectic schedule due to their presence in the CONCACAF Champions League.

After this contest, Los Angeles does not play again until a SuperClasico matchup with Chivas USA on Oct. 16. But four days later, the Galaxy have a critical CONCACAF road game against Honduran club Motagua, and three days after that they finish the MLS regular season at Houston.

Los Angeles rallied from a halftime deficit to win 2-1 at home over Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Chad Barrett scored the tying goal and the Galaxy won on Nat Borchers’ own goal.

“Come the last (CONCACAF) game against Motagua or the playoffs, if you go down a goal, you need to know how to win games,” Donovan said. “It would have been wholly unjust if we didn’t get something out of that game. Credit to our guys for persevering and getting a great result.”

The Red Bulls were also buoyed by the resolve they showed in coming back Saturday. Their 16th draw matches Chicago for the most in the league.

“To respond after being one down like that, I’m quite pleased with the performance,” coach Hans Backe said. “The work ethic was phenomenal the second half and the way we controlled the game, the passing game, the number of chances, a lot of crosses, very, very close to scoring.”

Even without Donovan, who is tied for third in MLS with 12 goals, there’s plenty of star power in Tuesday’s game. Henry is second in the league with 13 goals, including one in a 1-1 draw at Los Angeles on May 7 as he and David Beckham met in an MLS match for the first time.

Each team led its respective conference at that point, but the circumstances are much different now.

“Facing L.A. in a home game is going to be a lot of people with high expectations,” New York defender Jan Gunnar Solli said.

Updated Sep 30, 2011 8:33 AM ET

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere says he has undergone ankle surgery and expects to be sidelined until December.

The 19-year-old England international sustained the injury in June and hasn’t played since it flared up again in a preseason game against the New York Red Bulls.

Wilshere wrote on Twitter on Monday: ”Had my operation and all went well! I am feeling good will spend the night in hospital to monitor me but apart from that I am happy!”

On Friday, Wilshere tweeted he hoped to be back ”around Christmas time.”

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters featured article: A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.

Updated Sep 30, 2011 3:30 PM ET

Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur is one of the most impassioned rivalries in soccer, dating  to 1887.

But the implications of Sunday’s derby — it will be televised live by FOX Soccer at 11 a.m. ET and tape delayed on FOX later Sunday (check local listings) — stretch far beyond bragging rights for two sets of fans who live among each other, not always so harmoniously, in North London.

Start subscription to America’s premier online destination for LIVE international soccer and rugby action, featuring LIVE streaming of Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Serie A, and more! Don’t miss a second of the action. Try it NOW.

Upcoming matches include …

• October 01: Man Utd v Norwich
• October 01: Inter Milan v Napoli
• October 01: Toronto v NY Red Bulls
• October 02: Fiorentina v Lazio
• October 02: Tottenham v Arsenal
• October 02: Juventus v AC Milan

To use an American analogy, it’s the New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox, only that the traditional roles have been reversed and at stake might be not just this season but next, too.

While an American pro sports team can finish at the bottom of the league with impunity, secure in the knowledge that there’s always next year (see: Kansas City Royals), there’s no such safety net at the highest echelons of soccer.

After each season, the bottom teams — in England, it’s the bottom three — are relegated to a lower division and need to earn promotion back to the big leagues the next season.

Some of them never make it back.

It’s hard to imagine the Red Sox or the Yankees finishing last in the American League East and suddenly finding themselves scouting the Toledo Mud Hens in Triple-A, but the equivalent could happen in the Premier League.

A few months ago, however, it would’ve been impossible to imagine such a fate befalling Arsenal.

The Gunners have been crowned English champions 13 times in their proud history and over the past decade consistently have been one of the best teams in not just the Premiership, but in all of Europe.

Now, however, Arsenal is a club in crisis.

The Gunners already have lost three times in this fledgling season, including a humiliating 8-2 pasting at the hands of Manchester United.

Another loss at Tottenham not only makes it unlikely that they’ll finish inside the top four — and thus earn a place in the lucrative Champions League for next season — but would entrench the Gunners at the wrong end of the table.

It’s too early to talk about relegation battles, but it’s certainly true that the Gunners will make the short trip to White Hart Lane — Tottenham’s stadium, only four miles away — looking very much like the Red Sox team that fell apart in September.

Why it’s all gone pear-shaped for Arsenal and its professorial manager — Frenchman Arsene Wenger, regarded as one of the sharpest minds in the game — is at the center of debates throughout the soccer world.

Some think he’s become stale, others believe his hubris is to blame.

In the 15 years since Arsenal plucked Wenger out of the relative obscurity of the Japanese league, he’s run the club his way, and with great success.

But the game has changed over the past few years, and he stubbornly refuses to acknowledge its new economics.

Even though Arsenal’s two biggest shareholders, American Stan Kroenke and Russian Alisher Usmanov, are billionaires, the club isn’t run as an indulgence; it’s expected to make financial sense.

The problem is that soccer no longer makes financial sense when, for instance, the sheikhs who bought Manchester City can throw vast amounts of petrodollars at any player they might fancy.

Wenger, who refuses to overpay for players, is constantly outbid for talent and, to boot, was forced to sell one of his creative playmakers, Samir Nasri, when Manchester City offered to almost double his wages.

Arsenal also lost its captain, the exquisite Cesc Fabregas, who finally got his wish to return to the club of his youth, Barcelona.

And the exodus may not end there as current captain, Dutchman Robin van Persie, has refused to sign a long-term deal with an obvious eye to the riches that lie elsewhere.

But where Arsenal has suffered most is that Wenger hasn’t brought in the right players.

He loves to buy poets, but soccer teams need to be a balance of artists and rottweilers.

His last great team, the 2004 “Invincibles” that went through the season undefeated, had the right blend of technically brilliant players and hard men, especially in defense.

Now, Arsenal’s defense is a liability. No lead is safe for the team’s shaky back four, as the Gunners proved at Blackburn three weeks ago when they dominated the game and yet lost 4-3 to a vastly inferior team.

Before the transfer window closed in August, Wenger hurriedly made last-minute buys to try and plug leaks — principally buying the tall German national team defender, Per Mertesacker — but the jury is very much out on how effective the new signings will prove.

Tottenham, meanwhile, is heading in the opposite direction. Long in the shadow of their more illustrious neighbors, Spurs are the deserved favorites heading into Sunday’s game.

Under the watchful eye of wily manager Harry Redknapp, Tottenham has turned into a genuine contender for one of England’s four Champions League berths.

Spurs were humbled by both Manchester clubs in their opening two games of the season but have rebounded with three straight wins, including a 4-0 dismantling of Liverpool.

The recent pickup of West Ham’s defensive midfielder Scott Parker has solidified the midfield, giving more freedom to attacking players such as Rafael van der Vaart, Luka Modric and the explosive Gareth Bale, while acquiring ex-Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor has given Tottenham a world-class front man.

In Wenger’s 15 years in charge at Arsenal, Spurs — who have won two of their past three meetings with the Gunners — never have finished above their rivals in the Premiership.

If Arsenal doesn’t find a way to get something out of Sunday’s game, that record will be very much in danger.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters featured article: A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.

John Thomase of the Boston Herald has some details on how the Red Sox’s clubhouse atmosphere deteriorated this season, including a report that “more than one pitcher drank beer in the clubhouse during games on the days he didn’t pitch.”

Because relievers don’t really have off days that suggests “pitchers” are really “starting pitchers” and that narrows down the list of candidates considerably.

A total of 10 pitchers started for the Red Sox this season, but only Jon Lester (31), Josh Beckett (30), John Lackey (28), and Tim Wakefield (23) started at least 20 times. Other starters were Clay Buchholz (14), Andrew Miller (12), Erik Bedard (8), Daisuke Matsuzaka (7), Kyle Weiland (5), and Alfredo Aceves (4).

Of course, whether or not drinking beer in the clubhouse between starts is big news is debatable-Thomase notes that the Red Sox famously sipped Jack Daniels together before ALCS games in 2004-but either way it’s certainly not something the Red Sox would want made public amid Terry Francona’s departure and talk of various players not being in good shape and wearing down late in the season.

Stunning news tonight this morning out of Boston.

According to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, manager Terry Francona is expected to leave the Red Sox organization after a meeting Friday morning with upper management. Allow Rosenthal to explain:

While Francona’s departure is not certain, it is the likely outcome, in part because he is pressing for a resolution, sources say. He would not be fired; the Red Sox would simply decline their club options on him for 2012 and ’13.

Francona and Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein gave no indication that such a major move was coming during their season-wrapping press conference Thursday afternoon at Boston’s Fenway Park.

But something obviously sparked a change within the past several hours.

Perhaps Francona has his eyes on the White Sox’s vacancy. He did coach in their minor league system for five years, at one point serving as skipper to Michael Jordan during the NBA superstar’s short stint with the Birmingham Barons. Or maybe he’ll be swayed by the Nationals, who seem ready to spend big money.

Then again, maybe this wasn’t Francona’s call. “Red Sox Nation” has been seeking out a scapegoat since the club’s historic collapse went final Wednesday night in Baltimore. And the Boston media has egged that blame game on since the middle of this month. It seems insane to give up on a manager who has played a role in securing two World Series titles in the past seven years. And it’s especially insane for a franchise like the Red Sox, who hadn’t won anything since 1918 before Francona stepped aboard. But these are insane times.

The Red Sox’ sad and frustrating September collapse just shifted gears into the realm of tragedy.

161 games down. One to go. And we have ties for the Wild Card in both the American League and National League. Is this fun or what? OK, well for most of us, anyway.

Here’s what to look for in Wednesday’s matchups:

American League Wild Card

Boston – Jon Lester (15-9, 3.49 ERA)
Baltimore – Alfredo Simon (4-9, 4.85 ERA)

New York – TBA
Tampa Bay - David Price (12-13, 3.35 ERA)

The Red Sox and Rays remain tied for the AL Wild Card after both teams won Tuesday night.

Jon Lester will be starting on three days’ rest Wednesday for the third time in his career. He threw just 55 pitches in his last outing Saturday against the Yankees, when he was chased for a season-high eight runs over 2 2/3 innings. The southpaw has allowed four runs or more in each of his last three starts. Simon is coming off a solid start against the Tigers last week, allowing three runs over eight innings, but has a 6.52 ERA in five starts this month. He gave up three runs on eight hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings in his only appearance against the Red Sox this season back on July 9.

The Rays are in pretty good shape Wednesday, even though it isn’t confirmed who they’ll be facing. Either way, the Yankees are expected to rely heavily on their bullpen, primarily with pitchers who will not be on the postseason roster. However, Yankees manager Joe Girardi is expected to have most of his regulars in the starting lineup, at least for a couple of innings. David Price is winless over his last five starts, but has a 3.03 ERA this month and a 2.86 ERA since the All-Star break. He is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA and a 17/8 K/BB ratio in four starts against the Bombers this season.

If the Red Sox and Rays remain tied following Wednesday’s action, they will meet a one-game playoff Thursday at 4:07 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field. Nothing official yet, but the Rays would likely use Jeff Niemann or possibly Matt Moore while the Red Sox could go with either John Lackey or Tim Wakefield.

National League  Wild Card

Philadelphia – Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.03 ERA)
Atlanta – Tim Hudson (16-10, 3.23 ERA)

St. Louis – Chris Carpenter (10-9, 3.59 ERA)
Houston –  Brett Myers (7-13, 4.31 ERA)

The Braves and Cardinals are now in a flat-footed tie for the Wild Card after Atlanta lost Tuesday night and the Cardinals beat up on the Astros.

After starting the final game of the regular season to help secure the Wild Card last year, Tim Hudson will attempt to do it again Wednesday. He allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings in his last start Friday against the Nationals before leaving due to a cramp near his neck. The veteran right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA in three starts against the Phillies this season. Joe Blanton, who is currently auditioning for a spot in the bullpen for the postseason, is making his first start since May 14. However, he is only expected to go a couple of innings. While this sounds like advantage Braves, Cole Hamels and Vance Worley could also see some work Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals will turn to their de facto ace Chris Carpenter with the season on the line. The veteran right-hander has been excellent recently, posting a 1.45 ERA and 21/6 K/BB ratio over his last four starts. He took a no-decision in his lone start against the Astros this season back on July 27, allowing two runs over seven innings. Brett Myers has been equally brilliant lately, allowing exactly one earned run in each of his last five starts dating back to late-August. He has a 5.14 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals this season. One significant development to watch is that Matt Holliday won’t start after aggravating an injury to his right hand, though his replacement Allen Craig did homer and drive in four runs in Tuesday’s victory.

If the Braves and Cardinals remain tied following Wednesday’s action, they will meet in a one-game playoff Thursday at 8:07 p.m. ET at Busch Stadium. The Braves would use Brandon Beachy while the Cardinals would counter with Kyle Lohse.

Updated Sep 23, 2011 7:53 PM ET

LOUDON, NH

Eight of the nine remaining tracks in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup are ones teams have already raced on this season. So, which driver has the best average finish on those tracks in 2011?

The correct answer: Dale Earnhardt Jr. This season, Junior’s average finish on those eight tracks is 7.625.

Earnhardt’s worst finish at the next eight venues in the Chase is 15th, which came here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. On the other seven tracks, Earnhardt finished second at Martinsville Speedway and Kansas Speedway, fourth at Talladega Superspeedway and in the top 10 at Phoenix International Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. His only other showing outside of the top 10 was 12th at Dover.

But can NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver duplicate that magic throughout the Chase?

Certainly, Earnhardt started NASCAR’s version of the playoffs solidly. His third-place finish in the opening race at Chicagoland Speedway elevated the No. 88 team to fifth in the points standings, the best Earnhardt has been since he finished third in the Michigan International Speedway race in June.

Friday, Earnhardt posted a decent qualifying effort of 12th with a lap of 133.981 mph, his best effort in his past five starts. Still, qualifying is one area where he feels the team needs to improve to factor into the Chase.

“We made a pretty serious impact last week and we just kind of need to keep that momentum going,” Earnhardt said. “I like the racetrack, and I like coming here racing, but you never know what you are going to get. These races are always real competitive and the racing is always kind of aggressive. You kind of have to hope that you can put together a full day and the car will run well and track position is real important. It is difficult to pass here, but that is no real difference from any other place.”

But it comes back to qualifying.

“That is the most important part that is hurting us,” Earnhardt said. “If we can get some better qualifying efforts and start closer to the front, we would not have to work the whole race just to get in position to run well. As good as we ran the last run at Chicago, if we had had track position all day long, we might have been able to win that race. Those are the opportunities that we let get by us because of how we struggle in qualifying.”

Earnhardt is optimistic the information gathered throughout his first run at racetracks with crew chief Steve Letarte will offer the No. 88 crew a solid baseline in the next eight events. After several weeks of vocalizing his displeasure about some fundamental changes made to his cars, Earnhardt’s concerns were addressed before the Chicagoland race.

Finding a comfort zone has always been paramount to Earnhardt’s success. It was clear that over the summer months, something had changed.

“The cars have not felt like I want them to feel, we have had some platform issues with the cars in the last eight to 10 races and they worked really hard before Chicago to fix that and they did,” Earnhardt said. “The car was really good and it was similar to how we had ran earlier this year, and how they felt and drove similar, which I liked. I was glad they were able to accomplish that.”

Red Bull still charging

Despite the fact that Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers qualified second and third, respectively, for the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, the status of Red Bull Racing beyond this season remainsl unknown.

Vickers, who has been with the race team since its inception in 2007, says he has no idea what the plans are for the team next year.

“At the end of the day the situation we’re in is frustrating,” Vickers said. “Whatever they decide to do, I would love to see Red Bull stay in the sport. Whether I’m a part of it or not. They’re a great brand, I think, for our sport.

“I’ve had a great five years. The opportunities they’ve provided me on and off the racetrack have been fantastic. I can’t thank Red Bull enough and (Red Bull owner) Dietrich (Mateschitz) himself for everything he’s done. I know that company-wide, worldwide they’re going through a lot of changes in a lot of programs — not just the NASCAR program, but around the world and where they want to spend their ad dollars. That’s their decision.”

Internationally, the Austrian-based company has enjoyed tremendous success over the past three seasons in Formula One after its program debuted in 2005. With Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel, the team won its first driver and constructor’s titles last season. Vettel currently leads the points standings with eight wins and 12 podium finishes in 13 starts this season.

The Red Bull NASCAR teams have one win and one Chase berth, both by Vickers, in the past five years. While Vettel and teammate Mark Webber currently top the F1 standings, Kahne and Vickers are 20th and 27th, respectively, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.

“Since the beginning of Red Bull,” Vickers said, “probably a couple years in all the way to present, every year . . . behind the scenes, it’s been: ‘Well, we’re not sure.’ ‘OK, we’re sure.’ ‘We’re not sure.’ ‘We’re definitely sure.’

“The one thing about Red Bull is they are a private company. Most companies in this sport are public companies and they answer to CEOs and boards and it’s a group decision. With Red Bull, it’s up to (Mateschitz). No matter what anyone else says in the company, if Dietrich wants to go racing, then we go racing.

“It would be great if they stayed, whether it was with me or whether it was this team or whatever involvement they had in NASCAR, I would love to see them stay. No one has said anything to me about it. You know as much as I do.”

Baseball Odyssey

Kurt Busch has fulfilled his baseball-park bucket list.

Tuesday, Busch visited Toronto’s Rogers Centre, his 30th and final Major League Baseball stadium.

“After I was on the NASCAR circuit for as long as I was, I realized I got halfway through this, I guess, baseball objective, a bucket list, or just a challenge to myself to go to all the ballparks,” Busch said. “It took 10 years, but it was neat to just try to go to one ballpark a year here and there and try to make sure I got all of them. The toughest ones were the ones geographically challenged, whether it was San Diego or Seattle or Toronto.”

The Chicago Cubs fan celebrated his accomplishment one day earlier — by renting out a brownstone on Sheffield Avenue for family friends to share in his experience of throwing out the first pitch and singing “Take me out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch.

Numbers game

3: Poles for Ryan Newman in 2011, including a record sixth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

8: Races that Brian Vickers, who qualified third, has started in the top 10 this season.

28th: Denny Hamlin’s starting spot for Sunday. For the second week, it’s the worst qualifying effort among the Chase drivers.

49: Career Cup poles for Ryan Newman after Friday’s qualifying effort — ninth all time, tied with Bobby Isaac.

1,226: Laps led by Jeff Gordon — the most among active drivers.

Say what?

Dave Blaney recently tested with his 17-year-old son Ryan at Gresham Motor Sports Park in a stock car from Tommy Baldwin Racing. After Ryan topped Blaney’s speed on the second lap, the former World of Outlaws champ quipped, “It was just another kick in the (pants) for Dad.”