WPPA / T-102 SPORTS / Wednesday

MIAMI (AP) - Philadelphia's Cole Hamels had a season-high 13
strikeouts in 6-plus innings and the Phillies have increased their
lead in the NL East to two games by beating Florida 2-1 last night.
Hamels threw a career-high 127 pitches and allowed only one run.
The left-hander won his fourth consecutive start and won for the
first time in seven career starts in Miami.

NEW YORK (AP) - Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey took a
three-hitter into the ninth inning and New York feasted on Zach
Duke and the Pirates in a 9-1 victory last night. The Pirates lost
their 56th road game and must win three of their final nine away
games to avoid matching the 1963 Mets for the worst road record in
a 162-game season.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Dennis Dixon will be the Steelers' starting
quarterback Sunday at Tennessee, even though the injured Byron
Leftwich may return to practice as early as today. Coach Mike
Tomlin is choosing his starter on a week-to-week basis while Ben
Roethlisberger is suspended. He says Dixon did enough things well
during a season-opening 15-9 overtime victory over Atlanta to earn
the nod.

NEW YORK (AP) - Sunday's national game on Fox, mainly
Packers-Eagles, earned its highest rating for the first weekend of
the season since the network started televising the NFL in 1994.
Green Bay's 27-20 win in Kevin Kolb's short-lived debut as
Philadelphia's full-time starter helped draw a 16.5 rating and 32
share. Fox says the rating was up 11 percent from last year.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A season after no Pitt opponent stopped
running back Dion Lewis, one of the nation's leading returning
rushers can't seem to get started. Lewis found himself on the bench
during nearly all of the second half of Pitt's 38-16 victory over
New Hampshire on Saturday. The sophomore was held to a career-low
27 yards on 10 carries by the FCS-ranked Wildcats.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - The Penn State women's volleyball team
is upset and relieved about the loss to Stanford that ended its
record 109-match winning streak. The run came to a halt Saturday
with a three-set sweep by the Cardinal in a tournament at the
University of Florida. Coach Russ Rose says he's more upset with
how Penn State lost than the loss itself.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Duquesne is set to play four men's basketball
games at the Consol Energy Center this season, including a December
12th game against Final Four qualifier West Virginia. Duquesne is
scheduled to meet city rival Pitt in the first college game at the
downtown arena on December 1st, followed by Sunday afternoon games
January 30th against Dayton and February 13th against Xavier.

SLATINGTON, Pa. (AP) - A high school basketball coach who
allegedly drove with one of his players hanging off the roof of his
car has been fired. The Northern Lehigh school board has voted to
fire boys basketball coach Richard Oertner. The Allentown Morning
Call reports Northern Lehigh players stood in support of Oertner
while one addressed the board on the coach's behalf.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tuesday's Games
Cleveland 4, L.A. Angels 3
Baltimore 11, Toronto 3
N.Y. Yankees 8, Tampa Bay 7, 10 innings
Texas 11, Detroit 4
Minnesota 9, Chicago White Sox 3
Kansas City 11, Oakland 3
Boston 9, Seattle 6
Wednesday's Games
Boston (C.Buchholz 15-7) at Seattle (Pauley 2-7), 6:40 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Jer.Weaver 11-11) at Cleveland (J.Gomez 3-3), 7:05
p.m.
Toronto (Drabek 0-0) at Baltimore (Bergesen 6-10), 7:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (P.Hughes 16-7) at Tampa Bay (J.Shields 13-12),
7:10 p.m.
Detroit (Galarraga 4-5) at Texas (C.Lewis 10-12), 8:05 p.m.
Minnesota (Duensing 8-2) at Chicago White Sox (Floyd 10-12),
8:10 p.m.
Oakland (Cahill 16-6) at Kansas City (Chen 9-7), 8:10 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Tuesday's Games
Arizona 3, Cincinnati 1
Philadelphia 2, Florida 1
N.Y. Mets 9, Pittsburgh 1
Washington 6, Atlanta 0
Houston 3, Milwaukee 2
Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis 2
San Diego 7, Colorado 6
L.A. Dodgers 1, San Francisco 0
Wednesday's Games
Washington (Lannan 7-7) at Atlanta (Minor 3-0), 12:10 p.m.
Milwaukee (Bush 7-12) at Houston (Happ 6-2), 2:05 p.m.
San Diego (Richard 12-7) at Colorado (De La Rosa 7-4), 3:10 p.m.
Arizona (J.Saunders 2-5) at Cincinnati (H.Bailey 3-3), 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia (Halladay 18-10) at Florida (Sosa 2-2), 7:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Maholm 7-14) at N.Y. Mets (Mejia 0-4), 7:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Zambrano 8-6) at St. Louis (C.Carpenter 15-6),
8:15 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley 11-9) at San Francisco (M.Cain 11-10),
10:15 p.m.

WNBA
FINALS
Seattle 2, Atlanta 0
Sunday, Sept. 12: Seattle 79, Atlanta 77
Tuesday, Sept. 14: Seattle 87, Atlanta 84
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.

MLS
Wednesday's Game
Philadelphia at San Jose, 10 p.m.