Dan Uggla leads Marlins to sweep of Nationals

By Jim Mone (AP)

Joe Nathan sweated out his latest save, making just enough big pitches and one sparkling defensive play to hold on against the Boston Red Sox.

\"Tonight was probably seven appearances in one,\" the Minnesota Twins closer said after a 9-8 victory Sunday night.

Nathan took the mound with a 9-6 lead, but gave up an RBI double to J.D. Drew. With runners on second and third and one out, Coco Crisp lined a pitch off Nathan\'s glove, and the former shortstop had to chase it down as it rolled toward third base. He picked it up and threw to Mike Lamb to get Drew at third for the...

By Jim Mone (AP)

Joe Nathan sweated out his latest save, making just enough big pitches and one sparkling defensive play to hold on against the Boston Red Sox.

\"Tonight was probably seven appearances in one,\" the Minnesota Twins closer said after a 9-8 victory Sunday night.

Nathan took the mound with a 9-6 lead, but gave up an RBI double to J.D. Drew. With runners on second and third and one out, Coco Crisp lined a pitch off Nathan\'s glove, and the former shortstop had to chase it down as it rolled toward third base. He picked it up and threw to Mike Lamb to get Drew at third for the...

By Ron Heflin (AP)

Pollo Campero, a Latin American fried-chicken favorite that had been seen in the U.S. only in takeout boxes aboard arriving flights, has teamed up with Wal-Mart to expand its reach to the nation\'s growing Hispanic population.

A restaurant bearing the Guatemalan chain\'s mascot chicken in a cowboy hat now sells its famed product inside a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rowlett, Texas. Officials with the chain\'s fledging U.S. arm, Campero USA Corp., hopes to expand its reach into more than 20 Wal-Mart locations across the country by the end of 2009.

For the world\'s largest retailer,...

By (AP)

The first U.S. relief airlift arrived in Myanmar on Monday after prolonged negotiations with the country\'s isolationist junta, which considers Washington its enemy and has restricted international aid to as many as 2 million cyclone victims.

The unarmed military C-130 cargo plane, packed with supplies, flew out of the Thai air force base of Utapao and landed in Yangon. Two more air shipments are scheduled to land Tuesday.

After the plane\'s arrival, the supplies were transferred to Myanmar army trucks.

Myanmar\'s junta said Sunday the official death toll from the May 3...

By Pablo Martinez Monsivais (AP)

Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins will sure be sorry to have to leave Washington. Who can blame them? They\'ve been there twice this season and haven\'t lost yet.

Uggla hit two homers Sunday to help the Marlins complete another three-game sweep of the Nationals with a 5-4 win. The day before, Uggla hit a grand slam.

Florida has won seven straight overall, its best streak since winning nine in a row in August 2006. They\'ve also won all six games this season at Nationals Park.

\"I\'m not good at analyzing and knowing what\'s going right or anything like that,\" said...

By Apichart Weerawong (AP)

The U.S. launched its first relief airlift to Myanmar on Monday after prolonged negotiations with the country\'s isolationist junta, which considers Washington its enemy and has restricted international aid to as many as 2 million cyclone victims.

The unarmed military C-130 cargo plane, packed with supplies, flew out of the Thai air force base of Utapao for Yangon. Two more air shipments are scheduled to land Tuesday.

Myanmar\'s junta said Sunday the official death toll from the May 3 Cyclone Nargis has jumped to nearly 29,000 with more than 33,000 missing.

But Richard...

By (AP)

The U.S. launched its first relief airlift to Myanmar on Monday after prolonged negotiations with the country\'s isolationist junta, which considers Washington its enemy and has restricted international aid to as many as 2 million cyclone victims.

The unarmed military C-130 cargo plane, packed with supplies, flew out of the Thai air force base of Utapao for Yangon. Two more air shipments are scheduled to land Tuesday.

Myanmar\'s junta said Sunday the official death toll from the May 3 Cyclone Nargis has jumped to nearly 29,000 with more than 33,000 missing.

But Richard...

By Apichart Weerawong (AP)

The United States has launched its first relief airlift to Myanmar for last week\'s cyclone victims.

A military C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies left a Thai air force base Monday for Myanmar\'s biggest city, Yangon. Two more air shipments are scheduled to land Tuesday.

Allowing the U.S. flight is a huge concession by Myanmar\'s military government, which sees Washington as its enemy. The junta has also generally refused to allow international relief experts and slowed down aid delivery by the U.N. with red-tape.

Operation spokesman Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said the...

By Matt Slocum (AP)

Tim Duncan had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the New Orleans Hornets 100-80 on Sunday night to even the Western Conference semifinals at 2-2. Tony Parker added 21 points for the Spurs, who led nearly the entire game and are assured of a Game 6 back in San Antonio. Chris Paul scored 23 for the Hornets.

Game 5 is Tuesday in New Orleans.

By David J. Phillip (AP)

Tim Duncan had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the New Orleans Hornets 100-80 on Sunday night to even the Western Conference semifinals at 2-2.

Tony Parker added 21 points for the Spurs, who led nearly the entire game and are assured of a Game 6 back in San Antonio. Chris Paul scored 23 for the Hornets.

Game 5 is Tuesday in New Orleans.

By Ric Francis (AP)

Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the Los Angeles Dodgers before the Houston Astros broke out for seven hits and six runs in the eighth inning to pull out an 8-5 victory Sunday.

Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence had RBI singles against reliever Jonathan Broxton (1-1), and Brad Ausmus added a two-run single against the right-hander as the Astros won for the eighth time in nine games. Houston also completed its first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 25-27, 1992.

Michael Bourn capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, giving...

By John Froschauer (AP)

Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the third inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.

Jose Lopez and Ichiro Suzuki each went 3-for-4 for the Mariners, who finished with 13 hits. It was Seattle\'s most hits since it collected 10 in a 7-3 win over Texas last Monday. The Mariners went 2-5 on their seven-game homestand.

Seattle got to Gavin Floyd (3-2), who has been one of the toughest pitchers to hit so far this season, for five runs and nine hits over 3 2-3 innings.

Floyd entered with a major league-leading...

By Ric Francis (AP)

Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the Los Angeles Dodgers before the Houston Astros broke out for seven hits and six runs in the eighth inning to pull out an 8-5 victory Sunday.

Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence had RBI singles against reliever Jonathan Broxton (1-1), and Brad Ausmus added a two-run single against the right-hander as the Astros won for the eighth time in nine games. Houston also completed its first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 25-27, 1992.

Michael Bourn capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, giving...

By Marcio Jose Sanchez (AP)

Steve Holm entered the game as a defensive replacement at catcher, then delivered the biggest hit of the day.

Holm hit a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning for his first major league home run, and the San Francisco Giants held on for a 4-3 victory in the rubber game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

Holm homered in his first at-bat on the first pitch he saw from J.C. Romero (3-1) after replacing Bengie Molina in the top of the seventh, sending the ball into the seats in left-center. Romero had allowed only one homer in his previous 61 appearances and...

By John Froschauer (AP)

Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the third inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.

Jose Lopez and Ichiro Suzuki each went 3-for-4 for the Mariners, who finished with 13 hits. It was Seattle\'s most hits since it collected 10 in a 7-3 win over Texas last Monday. The Mariners went 2-5 on their seven-game homestand.

By Tim Sharp (AP)

Emil Brown hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help the Oakland Athletics beat Texas 12-6, ending the Rangers\' season-best five-game winning streak Sunday.

Frank Thomas drove in two runs to give him 1,695 RBIs, tying him with Cal Ripken for 21st all-time, and Mark Ellis had three hits for the A\'s.

Ian Kinsler had three hits for the Rangers, who had won nine of their previous 11.

With the game tied at 6, Bobby Crosby led off the seventh with a double, then stopped at third on Ellis\' single. Rangers reliever Franklyn German\'s pickoff attempt had Ellis in a...

By Nam Y. Huh (AP)

The big matchup between Big Z and the Big Unit never materialized. Pinch-hitter Daryle Ward delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied again to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 Sunday after the anticipated showdown between Carlos Zambrano and Randy Johnson got wiped out.

Carlos Marmol (1-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 chances and finish off Chicago\'s three-game sweep of the NL West leaders.

Heavy rain and temperatures in the mid-40s delayed the start of the game by 58...

By Nam Y. Huh (AP)

The big matchup between Big Z and the Big Unit never materialized. Pinch-hitter Daryle Ward delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied again to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 Sunday after the anticipated showdown between Carlos Zambrano and Randy Johnson got wiped out.

Carlos Marmol (1-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 chances and finish off Chicago\'s three-game sweep of the NL West leaders.

Heavy rain and temperatures in the mid-40s delayed the start of the game by 58...

By Tim Sharp (AP)

Emil Brown hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help the Oakland Athletics beat Texas 12-6, ending the Rangers\' season-best five-game winning streak Sunday.

Frank Thomas drove in two runs to give him 1,695 RBIs, tying him with Cal Ripken for 21st all-time, and Mark Ellis had three hits for the A\'s.

Ian Kinsler had three hits for the Rangers, who had won nine of their previous 11.

Franklyn German (1-1) gave up two runs and three hits in 2-3 inning to suffer the loss.

Santiago Casilla (2-0) allowed two hits in 1 1-3 innings for the victory.

By Morry Gash (AP)

The Brewers yanked Eric Gagne from the closer\'s role on Sunday after the reliever called his latest performance embarrassing and said he didn\'t feel he deserved to pitch the ninth anymore.

Manager Ned Yost said he read Gagne\'s comments and will use a closer by committee approach while Gagne takes what Yost called a \"mental break.\"

\"He\'s really pushing himself really, really hard and taking it really, really hard,\" Yost said. \"We\'ll probably just mix and match, I\'m not going to do anything crazy.\"

Gagne, who signed a $10 million, one-year contract with the...

By Morry Gash (AP)

The Brewers yanked Eric Gagne from the closer\'s role on Sunday after the reliever called his latest performance embarrassing and said he didn\'t feel he deserved to pitch the ninth anymore.

Manager Ned Yost said he read Gagne\'s comments and will use a closer by committee approach while Gagne takes what Yost called a \"mental break.\"

\"He\'s really pushing himself really, really hard and taking it really, really hard,\" Yost said. \"We\'ll probably just mix and match, I\'m not going to do anything crazy.\"

Gagne, who signed a $10 million, one-year contract with the...

By Shealah Craighead (AP)

President Bush spent months joking about being a father of the bride, but on Sunday he was downright wistful about giving his daughter Jenna away to her longtime bow.

\"Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy, Henry Hager,\" Bush said, standing next Mrs. Bush at an airport in Waco where he boarded Air Force One for his flight back to Washington. \"The wedding was spectacular. It\'s just _ it\'s all we could have hoped for.\"

Unlike other first family weddings that have been broadcast live, the Bushes didn\'t share their daughter\'s nuptials with the nation. The day...

By Shealah Craighead (AP)

President Bush spent months joking about being a father of the bride, but on Sunday he was downright wistful about giving his daughter Jenna away to her longtime bow.

\"Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy, Henry Hager,\" Bush said, standing next Mrs. Bush at an airport in Waco where he boarded Air Force One for his flight back to Washington. \"The wedding was spectacular. It\'s just _ it\'s all we could have hoped for.\"

Unlike other first family weddings that have been broadcast live, the Bushes didn\'t share their daughter\'s nuptials with the nation. The day...