Former biathlon coach gets jail over doping (AP)
VIENNA (AP)—Former Austrian biathlon coach Walter Mayer has been found guilty of doping offenses and given a partially suspended 15-month prison term. Because Mayer already spent 37 days in investigatory custody he must only serve about seven more weeks. He was found guilty and sentenced late Wednesday, with the judge suspending all but three months of his prison term. The 54-year-old Mayer was charged with the illegal sale of EPO and other banned drugs from 2005-08. Mayer was banned from the Olympics through 2010 for his part in a blood-doping scandal at the 2002 Games, but traveled to the 2006 Turin Games. After being tipped off, Italian police raided the lodgings of the Austrian cross country and biathlon team, seizing doping products and equipment. Mayer’s lawyer said he plans to appeal.
Buckeyes QB Miller shines in scrimmage (AP)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—Braxton Miller threw two touchdown passes and Joe Bauserman had one in Ohio State’s scrimmage Saturday. Braxton, a freshman from Huber Heights, Ohio, connected with Chris Fields on 58-yard catch-and-run on the first series that the quarterbacks wore the black, non-contact jerseys. He later hit Devin Smith for a 26-yard score. Drew Basil kicked five goals. Bauserman, a fifth-year senior, took most of the snaps with the first team and threw a 10-yard TD to Jeff Heuerman but was also intercepted in the end zone by Travis Howard. Unlike previous scrimmages under Jim Tressel, first-year coach Luke Fickell said no score was kept and the winner of the coveted scarlet practice jerseys would be decided after reviewing video.
Colvin’s hit in 10th lifts Cubs by Cards (AP)
CHICAGO (AP)—A general manager switch, a record crowd, aerial fighter pilots, an extra-innings Cubs win, and an appearance by Larry King. All in all, it was quite a day at Wrigley Field. Tyler Colvin’s(notes) RBI single in the 10th inning off Octavio Dotel(notes) lifted Chicago to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. “What a day,” Cubs manager Mike Quade said. “Man, oh man. A great comeback win and contributions all over the place.” The Cubs responded in their first game following the firing of general manager Jim Hendry, who was let go about three hours before the game. He was replaced on an interim basis by assistant general manager Randy Bush. “It’s a weird way to start the day,” Cubs starter Randy Wells(notes) said. “I really didn’t know what to think.” Geovany Soto(notes) led off the 10th with a single off Dotel (0-2), advanced to second on Marlon Byrd’s(notes) sacrifice bunt, and scored on Colvin’s hit to center field. “I was looking for a pitch to hit,” Colvin said. “I was a little antsy on the first two (pitches) and was lucky enough to get a better pitch to hit on the last one.” Like most of the Cubs, Colvin spoke fondly of Hendry, who was very popular in the clubhouse. “A little bit (more emotional),” Colvin said. “I got to meet him in 2006 when he drafted me. He’s always been good to me. It’s part of the business, I guess. It was great to get the win. We kept battling back and scratching back.” Soto also had a game-tying RBI double in the eighth inning. Darwin Barney(notes) homered and tripled, and Starlin Castro(notes) added two hits for the Cubs. Sean Marshall(notes) (6-5) pitched a perfect 10th to earn the win. Castro, who leads the NL with 162 hits, has 301 in his career. He is the fifth Cubs player to pass 300 in his first two seasons. Chicago beat the rival Cardinals for just the third time in 10 games this season, delighting a home crowd of 42,343—the largest at Wrigley Field since the home opener in 1978. “It’s fun when they sell this place out,” Barney said. “It’s electric either way. When you’ve got that many people behind you—there’s a number of Cardinals fans out there and we hear them—but it’s fun. “It’s fun to see a guy like Colvin come through like that. It just makes coming to the park fun when those kinds of things happen.” Yadier Molina(notes) hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, and David Freese(notes) added a solo shot. King sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch. The fans enjoyed extra entertainment courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds practicing over Lake Michigan a few blocks east of the ballpark during the middle part of the game. Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia(notes) left with a 4-3 lead after he scattered nine hits in 6 1-3 innings. Garcia, who entered the game hitting .085, added an RBI single. “He had a little trouble the last inning he pitched,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. “He made some mistakes but overall he gave us a legitimate shot to win.” Wells gave up four hits in seven innings and struck out five. He set down the Cardinals in order in four of his seven innings. The Cubs nearly won the game in the ninth, but ran themselves out of the inning. Tony Campana(notes) reached first leading off the ninth when second baseman Ryan Theriot(notes) bobbled a routine grounder for an error. Campana darted for second on a steal attempt as Castro flied to center, lost track of the ball, and was easily doubled off first base. “I think that’s the first mistake I’ve seen him make up here,” Quade said “I don’t think he’ll make that again.” After trailing for 7 1-2 innings, the Cubs tied it 4-4 in the eighth. Soto’s double into the left-field corner scored Carlos Pena from first base. Molina’s second-inning homer opened the scoring, and Garcia’s single up the middle scored Theriot to make it 3-0. Freese hit a solo shot in the fourth to put the Cardinals ahead 4-1. He has an RBI in seven of his last eight games. Barney brought the Cubs within 4-2 with his second homer of the season, landing a shot barely into the basket in the left-field corner. His previous homer was April 25 against Colorado. “I’d seen all fastballs and I got to a 1-1 count,” Barney said. “I was looking maybe curveball, he was throwing a lot of breaking pitches to righties early in that game. I was kind of looking for something offspeed and he threw a changeup. Fortunately, it was just far enough.” Barney added a triple when Lance Berkman(notes) overran a blooper into the right-field corner in the seventh. He scored when pinch-hitter Blake DeWitt’s(notes) fly to center was misplayed by John Jay, and the ball rolled to the wall for another triple. “When I went to go catch it, my foot slipped,” Berkman said. “I kicked a divot. “This is a terrible place. This is probably one of the top five worst places to play defense. It’s a bad surface, you can’t see. It’s tough. It’s unfortunate that happened on back-to-back plays.” With DeWitt on third and one out, representing the tying run, Jason Motte(notes) relieved Garcia and worked out of the jam by striking out Castro and getting Johnson on a grounder. The back-and-forth game came after an uneasy morning for the Cubs. All in all, it was a strange day. “That would be the understatement of the day,” Quade said. “Weird, I guess, I can’t come up with another adjective. We dealt with (the Hendry news) before (the game) and I’m thrilled to death by the way the guys played.” NOTES: St. Louis’ Allen Craig(notes) made his first career start in center field because La Russa wanted to give the slumping Jay a break. Jay replaced Craig in the fifth inning. Chicago’s Andrew Cashner(notes) threw 32 pitches during his third live batting practice session on Friday, the latest step in his recovery from a strained right rotator cuff. He has been on the DL since April 6. He’s slated to throw again on Tuesday and is hoping to be activated in September. Edwin Jackson(notes) will start for the Cardinals on Saturday against the Cubs’ Matt Garza(notes). Jackson will be making his first in Chicago since being dealt by the crosstown White Sox on July 27. He’s won both of his career starts against the Cubs. Garza is 1-1 with a 7.80 ERA in three career starts against St. Louis.
Uggla’s streak at 29, Braves top Marlins (AP)
MIAMI (AP)—Dan Uggla(notes) extended his hitting streak to 29 games and Alex Gonzalez(notes) hit a three-run homer to help the Atlanta Braves beat slumping Florida 8-5 Monday night, dropping the Marlins to 0-5 on their homestand. Uggla beat out a grounder to short for an infield single in the fifth inning to extend the longest active hitting streak in the majors. He’s tied with Rowland Office for the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Rico Carty’s 31 in a row in 1970. After Uggla and Chipper Jones(notes) singled in the fifth, Gonzalez hit his 10th home run off Brad Hand(notes) (1-4). Uggla added a sacrifice fly in the sixth against his former team. Atlanta’s Michael Bourn(notes) drove in a run with his 30th infield hit, most in the NL. Freddie Freeman(notes), whose career-best 20-game hitting streak ended Sunday, had a two-run single. Derek Lowe(notes) (7-10), who had lost his past three starts, allowed two runs in six innings. Craig Kimbrel(notes) struck out the only two batters he faced for his 35th save in 40 chances. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez missed the finish. He was ejected for the third time this season for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout in the fourth inning. Freeman was ejected for the first time in his career when he complained after being called out on strikes in the eighth. Not that many calls seemed to go the home team’s way. Despite a suggestion by Marlins manager Jack McKeon that his players wear road uniforms, they opted for white and fell to 24-37 in home games. They’re 31-23 on the road, the largest such disparity in the majors. The short-handed Marlins were without three starters injured in the past week—Hanley Ramirez(notes), Omar Infante(notes) and Logan Morrison(notes). That further hampered an offense that has scored 24 runs in 10 games against Atlanta this season. Florida trailed 8-2 in the eighth inning before Greg Dobbs(notes) hit his fifth home run and John Buck(notes) hit his 12th. The Braves came in batting .222 against left-handers, but they totaled nine hits and seven in five innings off Hand. The rookie took some consolation from getting his first career hit and scoring his first run. Atlanta took the lead for good with four runs in the second, all with two out. Bourn singled in the first run, Martin Prado(notes) doubled home another and Freeman hit a two-run single. Notes: Braves C Brian McCann(notes) (strained oblique muscle) took batting practice for the first time since his injury and may be activated Friday, the first day he’s eligible to come off the disabled list. … LF Morrison (swollen right knee) was held out of the starting lineup but might return Tuesday. SS Ramirez (left shoulder) said he’s improving but doesn’t expect to play Tuesday. … An official scoring change made hours after Sunday’s Marlins-Cardinals game helped RHP Javier Vazquez’s(notes) ERA. A double by the Cardinals’ Corey Patterson(notes) was changed to an error on Morrison, making the three runs that subsequently scored that inning unearned. … The Braves’ Brandon Beachy(notes) is scheduled to pitch Tuesday against the Marlins’ Clay Hensley(notes) in a rematch of the game July 29, which Atlanta won 5-0.
