Economy brighter in NASCAR

Westwood moves into quarterfinals at Match Play

American making imprint on world cycling scene

Manny Ramirez wants to show he can still play

PHOENIX (AP) - Manny Ramirez arrived at the Oakland Athletics training facility Friday to begin his return to baseball and said he was intent on demonstrating "I can still play." The A's are hoping he can return to the level that made him one of the most feared hitters in ...

Jackets deal Carter to Kings for Johnson, pick

SKI REPORTS

Wreck ends Michael Waltrip's Daytona 500 streak at 25 races

Tiger Woods eliminated by Watney in Match play

New technique has become bass fishing craze

Mavericks defensive as defending NBA champs

Patrick OK after wreck in Daytona qualifier

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Danica Patrick walked away OK after taking a hard hit to the wall in her qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday. Her race car didn't fare quite so well. Patrick was caught up in a crash on the final lap of the first of two ...

Sweet 17: Timberwolves have already matched last season win record as fortunes on the rise

Marleau scores 2 goals, as Sharks hand top Maple Leafs 7th loss in eight games

TORONTO (AP) - Patrick Marleau scored two goals and the San Jose Sharks beat Toronto 2-1 on Thursday night, sending the stumbling Maple Leafs to their seventh loss in eight games. Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke put the team on alert when he told a Toronto radio station Wednesday that he was in the market ...

Stern: Nothing like frenzy created by Li in entire history of NBA player stardom

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Not Magic and Bird, not Kobe or LeBron. Not even Michael Jordan. Nobody can match the buzz that Jeremy Lin has created in such a short amount of time, NBA Commissioner David Stern said Thursday. "I haven't done a computation, but it's fair to say that no player has created the interest and the ...

Broncos still searching for two more quarterbacks

Cain helps Giants beat Hudson and Braves

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Matt Cain pitched eight strong innings and San Francisco beat Tim Hudson for the first time in seven years in the Giants' 8-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

Seattle’s Iwakuma shuts down A’s in win

SEATTLE (AP) - Bob Melvin is still trying to figure out what happened to the consistency Oakland had the first month of the season.

British rookie trying to catch on with 49ers

SANTA CLARA (AP) - Lawrence Okoye was one of the last players to leave the "pitch" Friday afternoon - one of several things that set the big Brit apart from other newcomers at the San Francisco 49ers' rookie minicamp.

NHL capsules

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dustin Penner scored the tiebreaking goal in the final second of the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings advanced to the second round with a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night.

Sports news briefs

• Garcia goes 1 up on Tiger at Players Championship: PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Sergio Garcia had one of those stretches where it felt like every putt was going to drop. He needed every one of them Friday for a 7-under 65 to match his best score on the TPC Sawgrass and take a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods among early starters at The Players Championship.

Warriors, Spurs flip-flop roles going into Game 3

OAKLAND (AP) - The confident aura the Golden State Warriors are giving off right now might be the only thing brighter than those yellow shirts every home fan is expected to be wearing again for Game 3 against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at ear-piercing Oracle Arena.

McCann drives in 3 as Braves beat Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Brian McCann spent the first month of the season in Florida rehabilitating his surgically repaired right shoulder. He hardly watched the Atlanta Braves play.

Indians rout Athletics

CLEVELAND (AP) - Everything is going the Indians' way. There's no dispute or debate about that.

Great debut for Castro, Woods solid at Players

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Tiger Woods was nine shots out of the lead, not the best position at The Players Championship, especially since he had not even started his round. Perhaps the bigger surprise was the guy who posted the record-tying round Thursday.

NHL capsules

CHICAGO (AP) - Marian Hossa scored twice to back a strong effort by goalie Corey Crawford, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 Thursday night to win their first-round playoff series 4-1.

Warriors end skid at 30 in San Antonio, tie series

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Klay Thompson scored 34 points, Stephen Curry added 22 and the Golden State Warriors withstood another furious rally by the San Antonio Spurs for a 100-91 victory Wednesday night to even their series at one game apiece and snap a 30-game skid in the Alamo City.

49ers reach stadium naming rights deal with Levi Strauss

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The future home of the San Francisco 49ers will be called Levi's Stadium.

Marleau, Pavelski lead Sharks into 2nd round

SAN JOSE (AP) - A year after being among the main perpetrators of another playoff failure in San Jose, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski are leading the Sharks back to the second round.

Torres singles in 10th, lifts Giants past Phillies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Buster Posey and Andres Torres waited three hours before making their contributions to yet another walkoff win for the San Francisco Giants.

Indians edge Athletics on controversial call

CLEVELAND (AP) - Adam Rosales thought he hit a game-tying home run. The Athletics, Indians and 14,000 or so fans thought so, too.