Lee 2-hits Red Sox for third straight SO (AP)
Lee 2-hits Red Sox for third straight SO (AP)
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Cliff Lee(notes) tossed a two-hitter for his third consecutive shutout and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Josh Beckett(notes) and the Boston Red Sox 5-0 Tuesday night. In a series hailed as a potential World Series preview, Lee (9-5) and the Phillies dominated the opener. Domonic Brown(notes) and Shane Victorino(notes) each hit a two-run homer for Philadelphia, which improved its major league-leading record to 50-30. Lee didn’t allow a hit until Marco Scutaro(notes) led off the sixth with a line-drive single to left-center. The left-hander ran his career-best scoreless streak to 32 innings with his ninth career shutout and fourth this year. Beckett (6-3) gave up five runs and five hits in six innings, his worst outing of the season. Beckett entered with a major league-best 1.86 ERA and left at 2.20. He hadn’t pitched because of the flu since tossing a one-hitter against Tampa Bay on June 15. Darnell McDonald(notes) led off the eighth with a double to left, putting Lee’s shutout bid in jeopardy. But shortstop Jimmy Rollins(notes) made an outstanding play on Jason Varitek’s(notes) hard one-hopper up the middle for the first out. Lee then fanned Mike Cameron(notes) looking at a slow curve and retired Scutaro on a grounder to third. Lee finished with five strikeouts and two walks. He has been sensational since a slow start. The lefty was 4-5 with a 3.94 ERA through May. Since then, he’s 5-0 with a 0.21 ERA in five starts this month. Lee threw a two-hitter against Florida on June 16 and blanked St. Louis on six hits June 22. He needed 112 pitches to get through this one. The most popular player on the Phillies, Lee received several ovations from the 180th straight sellout, including postseason play, at Citizens Bank Park. Brown gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead when he connected with two outs in the second. The lanky rookie ripped a 2-2 pitch into Philadelphia’s bullpen in right-center. Brown came in slumping. He was 4 for 34 in his previous 10 games and got a scolding from manager Charlie Manuel after not hustling out a grounder against Oakland on Saturday night. Brown was booed by fans for not running hard that game, but heard loud cheers as he circled the bases and again when he went out to right field. Brown got things started in the fifth with a leadoff double to left. He advanced to third on Carlos Ruiz’s(notes) deep fly to right-center and scored on Lee’s sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Lee, a good-hitting pitcher, has five RBIs in his last eight games. Victorino put the Phillies up 5-0 in the sixth. He drove a 3-1 pitch into the seats in right for his ninth homer. NOTES: Lee’s previous best was a 27-inning scoreless streak during his Cy Young Award season with Cleveland in 2008. … Lee has four complete games this season, second in the NL to teammate Roy Halladay’s(notes) five. … The last time the Red Sox had just two hits was June 9, 2010, against Cleveland. Their previous low this season was four hits, done five times. … Boston’s Dustin Pedroia(notes) was 0 for 3, snapping an 11-game hitting streak. … The Phillies placed Ryan Madson(notes) on the disabled list before the game, leaving them without three closers. Jose Contreras(notes) and Brad Lidge(notes) are also out. … The Red Sox activated relievers Bobby Jenks(notes) and Franklin Morales(notes) from the DL before the game and optioned Scott Atchison(notes) and Tommy Hottovy(notes) to the minors. … The Red Sox are 26-18 against the Phillies, including 18-7 since 2004. … Beckett had allowed only four homers this season. … The last time the Phillies reached 50 wins in fewer than 81 games was during their NL pennant-winning season in 1993. They started 50-21 that year.
Tomic youngest in quarters since 1986 (AP)
Tomic youngest in quarters since 1986 (AP)
WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—Not since Boris Becker has a man as young as Bernard Tomic graced the green grass of Wimbledon this far into the tournament. Born in Germany of Croatian heritage and raised in Australia, Tomic is only 18—and in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. “What a feeling and what a tournament it’s been for me,” Tomic said after beating 2002 Wimbledon semifinalist Xavier Malisse 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 Monday in the fourth round. “I’m at a position now where I’ve never been happier. I’m looking forward to playing on Wednesday.” Tomic is only 29 days older than Becker was in 1986 when he won his second straight title at the All England Club. In the next round, he will face friend and mentor Novak Djokovic. “Unbelievable achievement. I feel great. Great honor to do it here in Wimbledon,” said Tomic, who eliminated two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling in the previous round. “I’m not going to stop now. I’m going to try my best to play on Wednesday in the quarters. I’ve got nothing to lose.” Against Malisse, Tomic had 37 winners and only eight unforced errors. He also beat the fifth-seeded Soderling in straight sets. “Two different wins,” Tomic said, comparing the last two victories. “But today I was playing for a big spot. In one way they’re both unbelievable achievements, but today was a win I really wanted and I prepared for well, and I played well for it today.” Tomic’s goal a few weeks ago was just to qualify, and he almost didn’t make it. The Australian teen, who lost in the first round last year in his Wimbledon debut, had to save a pair of break points at 4-4 in the deciding set against Sebastien Rieschick of Germany before getting through. But since making the main draw, he has implemented a new game plan, playing more aggressive tennis. In juniors, he said he often relied on defensive tennis. “That’s where players missed, as opposed to here. They don’t miss as much,” Tomic said. “I found out, look, if I really want to play against these guys, I have to relax like I do in practice. That’s when I play my best tennis, in practice.” He’ll likely need his best tennis to continue in the tournament, especially against the one player on tour who knows his game the best—Djokovic. The pair share a common language in Serbo-Croatian and have hit together several times since playing an exhibition match in Australia at the beginning of last year. “He’s a cool guy. One of the nicest guys out there on the tour,” Tomic said of the two-time Australian Open champion. “To play against a guy like him that’s (No.) 2 in the world, it doesn’t get really better than that.” Djokovic didn’t sound scared about facing Tomic, but he still spared a moment to praise the young up-and-comer. “I have nice words for Bernard, and I think he has a great potential, a great talent. He’s showing it right now,” Djokovic said after beating Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. “He loves playing on grass. … He just has these flat shots. He doesn’t give you a lot of time.” When they do play, it will be for the second time this year at Wimbledon following a practice set ahead of the tournament. “He destroyed me,” Tomic said, then smiled as he continued. “Things are not looking good for me, but hopefully he destroyed me then and not on this game on Wednesday.”
Shock-Sun Preview (AP)
Shock-Sun Preview (AP)
The Connecticut Sun are trying to get better on the defensive end. The Tulsa Shock simply want a win. The Sun look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season Sunday when they face a Shock team trying to snap an 11-game road losing streak. After opening with a 89-73 victory over Washington last Saturday, the Sun (1-1) weren’t as sharp in Friday’s 78-75 loss at Chicago. The Sky hit half of their 66 shot attempts and never trailed. “I think we need to have a better presence on defense,” said forward Asjha Jones, who finished with 20 points. “There were flashes but we didn’t play 40 good minutes of defense. That’s our goal is to let our defense win games for us.” Defense has been a major problem for Tulsa (0-3). Coach Nolan Richardson’s team is yielding 87.0 points per game, with opponents shooting 49.0 percent – including 43.1 percent (22 for 51) from 3-point range. It doesn’t get much better on the offensive end for the Shock, who are scoring 66.7 points per game on 35.4 percent shooting. They dropped their home opener 93-62 to San Antonio on Friday. The Shock, losers of 31 of 37 since relocating from Detroit prior to last season, are off to the franchise’s worst start since opening 0-13 nine years ago. “We just need to do the little things. This is frustrating,” said rookie center Liz Cambage, who’s averaging team highs with 15.3 points and 9.7 rebounds. Winless on the road since beating the Silver Stars on July 16, Tulsa will likely need a big effort from Cambage against reigning rookie of the year Tina Charles. The Sun center, however, is scoring just 13.0 points per game with 5.0 rebounds and hasn’t posted a double-double after setting a league record with 22 last season. Charles averaged 13.0 points and 11.0 boards in two wins versus the Shock in 2010, posting 10 and 10 as the Sun closed out their home schedule Aug. 17 with a 90-62 victory over Tulsa. That gave the Sun their first season-series win against the Shock franchise since 2004. Sun guard Renee Montgomery, who scored a team-high 22 points Friday, led the club with 19.0 per game against Tulsa last season.
