Yankees 7, Mariners 4: A big 7th inning helped propel the Yankees to victory against the worst team in the American League. They scored 5 runs in the frame, sending all 9 batters to the plate and giving Sidney Ponson his first win since August 6th. Mariano Rivera pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 33rd save. As the season slowly ticks away, the Yankees continue to hold onto hope. After defeating Seattle on Saturday and......

Roger Federer has won the last four U.S. Open titles, but he won't be the favorite when the tournament starts tomorrow at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing. That honor will go to Rafael Nadal, the new world No. 1 and winner of the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics this summer. Federer, 27, has looked mortal or worse this season, and Nadal, 22, has peaked while displaying an all-surface versatility that had eluded him in previous summers. For the first time since the 2004 Australian Open, Federer will not be the top seed at a Grand Slam event. ...

Photographs of James Blake (above) by Charles Krupa/AP and photograph of Roger Federer by Elise Amendola/AP Whoa! James Blake beat number 1-ranked Roger Federer in straight sets during their Olympics tennis match today. The Yonkers native, currently ranked #7 in the world, won 6-4, 7-6 (2) during a quarterfinals match. According to NBC Olympics, "Federer seemed off his game from the start. His forehand -- once the sport's most feared -- was unreliable, and......

Yankees 6 Royals 3: At this point, the YES Network should just play a “ch-ching” sound everytime A-Rod steps up to the plate. After hitting a home run for the 5th-consecutive game on Sunday, A-Rod has 52 for the season, the most for a Yankee since Mantle and Maris hit 54 and 61 in 1961. He also has 138 RBI’s with 19 games left, which puts him in line to have the most RBI’s as......

Yankees 11, Royals 5: Good thing the Yankees didn't make that Alex Rodriguez for Ervin Santana move this offseason. Rodriguez hit two homers -- Nos. 50 and 51 -- as the Yankees cruised past the Royals. Detroit beat Seattle again, so the wild-card lead stands at three games. Johnny Damon, who looked like a corpse for most of the season, has played better of late. He socked his 10th homer as the Yankees gave plenty......

With the local baseball teams off, tennis took center stage in New York on Thursday, at least among those not watching the NFL season kick off. Novak Djokovic, 20, beat Carlos Moya, 31, in the last men's quarterfinal at the U.S. Open. When Super Saturday rolls around, Roger Federer will face Nikolay Davydenko and Djokovic will take on David Ferrer. On Friday, the women play for a spot in the final when Svetlana Kuznetsova battles......

Yankees 10 Seattle 2: A-Rod didn’t want to go for a MRI and while the results were negative, he had to talk Joe Torre into putting him into the lineup. Good thing he did, because A-Rod hit two home runs in the seventh as the Yankees exploded for eight runs in inning. A-Rod’s home runs and the Yankee explosion will overshadow a great start by Phil Hughes, but they shouldn’t. Hughes was brilliant over six......

Mets 10 Reds 4: It was September 27th, 2006, when we last saw him. Something was obviously wrong and as he left the mound that night Mets’ fans everywhere felt their playoff dreams go down the drain. It took almost 49 weeks, but the Mets got their ace back Monday. Pedro returned to the mound and while the radar gun readings weren’t pretty, he got the job done. Five innings, two runs and four......

Yankees 9, Devil Rays 6: Mike Mussina might want to worry now. Ian Kennedy threw seven innings of three-run ball -- though only one run was earned -- as the Yankees evened their series against the Devil Rays. Mussina might start if Roger Clemens is unable to go Monday, but the rookie Kennedy probably earned himself a few more starts with this one. Alex Rodriguez found himself at the center of everything today. He hit......

Phillies 3, Mets 2: With Shawn Green's weak ground ball to shortstop, the Mets appeared ready to tie the game. With runners on first and third and one out in the ninth, Endy Chavez jogged home as the tying run. But Marlon Anderson, who was on first, blatantly -- and unnecessarily -- pushed Tadahito Iguchi with two hands. Umpire C.B. Bucknor called interference and the automatic double play, ending the game. Thanks in part to......

Tigers 16, Yankees 0: Needing a win to salvage a split in Detroit, the Yankees instead got a beating and left having lost three of the four games to the Tigers. Boston awaits New York for a three-game series that starts Tuesday, and the Yankees can't be blamed if they feel a sense of urgency. Mike Mussina has felt that way for a while now. The results, including Monday's performance against Detroit, haven't been pretty.......

The best part about the end of summer? Maybe that's the U.S. Open, which starts Monday in Flushing. The tennis season's final Grand Slam provides the players with a grueling test to cap what feels like a condensed hard-court season. On the men's side, there's Roger Federer and everyone else. Federer has won three straight U.S. Open titles and hasn't lost a non-French Open Grand Slam since the 2005 Australian Open. He's made every final......

He didn't shine as brightly as he has in other matches, but Roger Federer took care of James Blake in four sets Thursday. The world No. 1 and two-time defending champ sprayed his forehand on big shots, but he held off Blake and the crowd. His tennis hasn't shined during the fortnight, but with his nemesis Rafael Nadal out of the draw, it's easily Federer's tournament to lose. As for Blake, he still doesn't have......

With the US Open heading to its climactic weekend, there have been some fun articles about the ball boys and girls at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Take the NY Times' US Open blog post about "Ballbabes": Male spectators seem to love some of the ladies wearing the Ralph Lauren designed outfits (sleeveless and short, while the ball boys get less revealing polo shirts and shorts) and boo when their favorites get rotated......

After rain washed out Tuesday's action, plenty of tennis made up for the lost time on Wednesday. Mikhail Youzhny took out Rafael Nadal in four sets, opening the draw for Andy Roddick, who disposed of Lleyton Hewitt. Roddick has enjoyed a resurgence since he hired Jimmy Connors. His backhand has improved -- it couldn't get worse -- and his attitude has changed. Could Roddick beat Roger Federer if they met in the final on Sunday?......

- Yankees 8, Twins 1: Doing well against a potential first round opponent is never a bad thing. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they weren't facing one of the Twins' aces yesterday. Fortunately, it looks like Alex Rodriguez might be coming out of his slump. A-Rod got the Yankees off to a good start with a solo home run in the 2nd inning and later added another solo shot in the 7th. There was even......

- Get your seersucker suits and sun dresses out! Tomorrow evening is the 138th running of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown and horse racing's "Test of the Champion." Races on stakes day begin at noon with post time for the Belmont Stakes at 6:33 pm Television coverage starts at noon on ESPN with coverage on ABC starting at 5. The current favorite for the race is Bluegrass Cat, but......

Andre Agassi's five-set victory over James Blake proves he still has some magic left in the tank, and may have helped saved CBS's bacon. The match, which alteranted between sloppy and brilliant, was played a breakneck speed, with players rushing their serves. Blake was up two sets before anyone had gotten into the match, and although Agassi deserves credit for his dramatic comeback, Blake let him off the hook. At one point, Blake served up......

In this era of tennis that does not see American men or women dominate the sport, the United States Open has struggled to maintain its appeal to American sports fans. The casual observer, whose fandom has made the US Open's popularity soar, has paid attention n the past because Americans have been winning. They don't appreciate the genius of Roger Federer or the deceiving power of Justine Henin-Hardenne. No longer can the USTA rely on......

As depressing as the end of summer is, at least New York has the U.S. Open at the National Tennis Center in Queens. The season's final grand slam is a made-for-television event and has produced some of the most memorable moments in sports. It probably draws the most attention of the mainstream American sports fan out of the four grand slams, and the success of Americans, especially men, has made it a favorite each September.......

Serena Williams lost a wild one to Jennifer Capriati last night in the women�s quarterfinals at the US Open in Flushing. Williams was serving at deuce in the first game of the third set when her backhand passing shot was incorrectly called out by the chair umpire. Capriati took advantage, going on to win the game and eventually, the match. Understandably, Serena was none to pleased with the call. "No!" Williams shrieked. "No, no, no,......

The 2004 US Open kicked off with a bang last night, as evidenced by Serena William�s latest attire. Williams, never one to shy away from spectacle, dispatched Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 in a just 53 minutes. What did her opponent think of Williams threads?"I tried not to look at it," Kleinova explained later. When asked if she wear an outfit like that Kleinova said "No, I'm not that kind of......

Second seeded Andy Roddick started out strong, but it was not meant to be. Roddick used his powerful serve to set up his equally formidable ground game in taking the first set of the Wimbledon Men's Final from Roger Federer but ultimately fell 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4. "I wasn't wanting to get in rallies where he could kind of do his thing, come up with spectacular stuff," Roddick said. "I went out and......

The 2004 French Open gets underway at Roland Garros today. The pre tourney buzz is, as usual, all on the women�s side of the field. 47-year-old Martina Navratilova will be playing singles for the first time in a decade. Navratilova, who won the French Open in 1982 and 1984, will face Gisela Dulko, a 19-year-old Argentine born one year after her last French title. The seeding on the women�s side drew some criticism when......