WPPA / T-102 SPORTS / Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Phillies are back in first place after
beating Florida 8-7 last night on Placido Polanco's tiebreaking
single in the eighth. The Phils are a half-game in front of the
Braves, who lost to Pittsburgh last night. The two-time defending
NL champions hadn't been in first place since May 30th.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Phillies pitcher Scott Mathieson and
rightfielder Domonic Brown received the Paul Owens Award given to
the top players in the team's minor league system. Mathieson was
3-6 with 26 saves and a 2.80 ERA in 54 games for Triple-A Lehigh
Valley. Brown hit .327 with 20 home runs, 68 RBIs and 17 steals in
93 games between Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pirates helped out the Phillies by
knocking off the Braves 5-0 last night, a loss that helped power
Philadelphia back into first place in the NL East. The Pirates had
lost seven of nine and were on pace to lose 109 games before
winning the first two games of the three-game series.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Steelers knew for months that Ben
Roethlisberger would be missing when the season began. The reality
of his four-game suspension struck them as they reported for
practice this week and found his locker vacant. Without their star
quarterback, the Steelers have adopted a late-season, win-or-else
mentality in September.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - True freshman Robert Bolden's second
start at quarterback for 19th-ranked Penn State will be a lot more
difficult than his first. Bolden has earned another starting nod
for the 18th-ranked Nittany Lions after a sensational,
two-touchdown debut against Youngstown State. But he has a much
tougher test Saturday at top-ranked Alabama.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pitt has tumbled out of the Top 25 in the
aftermath of their 27-24 overtime loss to Number-20 Utah. Pitt was
punished somewhat for playing such a difficult opener - an easy win
over a nondescript opponent would have preserved its national
ranking.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Villanova has lost its top spot in the TSN
FCS rankings after last week's season-opening loss to
Philadelphia-area rival Temple. The Wildcats dropped one spot, to
second, in the rankings, with second-ranked Montana moving up to
the top spot. Penn got 358 points in this week's poll but didn't
crack the Top 25. Lehigh and Lafayette also drew a handful of
votes.


AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tuesday's Games
Baltimore 6, N.Y. Yankees 2
Detroit 9, Chicago White Sox 1
Toronto 8, Texas 5
Tampa Bay 14, Boston 5
Minnesota 10, Kansas City 3
Cleveland 6, L.A. Angels 1
Seattle 7, Oakland 5
Wednesday's Games
Baltimore (Bergesen 6-10) at N.Y. Yankees (Nova 1-0), 1:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Danks 13-9) at Detroit (Bonderman 7-9), 7:05
p.m.
Cleveland (Tomlin 3-3) at L.A. Angels (Kazmir 8-13), 7:05 p.m.
Texas (D.Holland 2-3) at Toronto (Rzepczynski 1-3), 7:07 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Garza 14-7) at Boston (Wakefield 3-10), 7:10 p.m.
Kansas City (Greinke 8-11) at Minnesota (Duensing 7-2), 8:10
p.m.
Seattle (French 4-4) at Oakland (G.Gonzalez 13-8), 10:05 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Tuesday's Games
Pittsburgh 5, Atlanta 0
Philadelphia 8, Florida 7
N.Y. Mets 4, Washington 1
Houston 7, Chicago Cubs 3
Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 2
Colorado 4, Cincinnati 3
San Francisco 6, Arizona 3
San Diego 2, L.A. Dodgers 1
Wednesday's Games
N.Y. Mets (Dickey 9-6) at Washington (Li.Hernandez 9-10), 12:35
p.m.
Atlanta (D.Lowe 11-12) at Pittsburgh (Duke 7-12), 7:05 p.m.
Florida (A.Miller 1-0) at Philadelphia (Hamels 9-10), 7:05 p.m.
Houston (Myers 10-7) at Chicago Cubs (R.Wells 6-12), 8:05 p.m.
St. Louis (J.Garcia 13-6) at Milwaukee (Capuano 2-3), 8:10 p.m.
Cincinnati (Arroyo 14-9) at Colorado (Cook 5-8), 8:40 p.m.
San Francisco (Zito 8-11) at Arizona (D.Hudson 4-1), 9:40 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley 11-8) at San Diego (Luebke 0-1), 10:05
p.m.


WNBA
CONFERENCE FINALS
Eastern Conference
Atlanta 2, New York 0
Sunday, Sept. 5: Atlanta 81, New York 75
Tuesday, Sept. 7: Atlanta 105, New York 93
Western Conference
Seattle 2, Phoenix 0
Thursday, Sept. 2: Seattle 82, Phoenix 74
Sunday, Sept. 5: Seattle 91, Phoenix 88
FINALS
Seattle vs. Atlanta
Sunday, Sept. 12: Atlanta at Seattle, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 14: Atlanta at Seattle, 9 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 16: Seattle at Atlanta, 8 p.m.
x-Sunday, Sept. 19: Seattle at Atlanta, 3 p.m.
x-Tuesday, Sept. 21: Atlanta at Seattle, 9 p.m.