WPPA / T-102 SPORTS / Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Roy Halladay has become Philadelphia's first
20-game winner in 28 years and the Phillies increased their lead in
the NL East to five games with their ninth straight win, 5-3 over
the Atlanta Braves last night. Halladay allowed three runs and
seven hits in seven innings. Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer for
the Phillies.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh's Paul Maholm became the latest
slumping pitcher to shut down the fast-fading St. Louis Cardinals
as the Pirates won their season-high fourth in a row 5-2 last
night. The Pirates remain two losses way from their first 100-loss
season since 2001, but are 4-0 on a homestand that began with a
three-game sweep of Arizona.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia's Mike Richards scored a
shootout goal in the fourth round, lifting the Flyers to a 4-3 win
over the New Jersey Devils last night in the first preseason game
for both teams. The seventh-seeded Flyers eliminated the
second-seeded Devils in the first round of last season's playoffs.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Eagles coach Andy Reid says Michael Vick
will be the team's starting quarterback. Reid made the decision
yesterday, a day after saying Kevin Kolb would start Sunday at
Jacksonville. Kolb missed the last six quarters because of a
concussion, and Vick played well in his absence.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles have signed running
back Joique Bell off the Buffalo Bills' practice squad. Wide
receiver Hank Baskett was released to make room for Bell, who
originally signed as a rookie free agent with the Bills. Bell had
more than 6,700 yards rushing and 88 touchdowns at Wayne State.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dennis Dixon
will have left knee surgery today and is out indefinitely, meaning
Byron Leftwich or Charlie Batch will start Sunday at Tampa Bay.
Leftwich sat out the first two games with a sprained left knee from
the final preseason game.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Coach Joe Paterno has increased the
intensity at Penn State practice. It began last week after coaches
were disappointed with the 21-point loss at Alabama, and the
23rd-ranked Nittany Lions responded with a shutout of Kent State.
Paterno says he'll continue to be demanding on his team as they get
ready for Temple on Saturday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pitt now has its own cable sports channel,
which will show selected men's and women's basketball games,
football coach Dave is available for digital subscribers of Comcast
cable systems in western Pennsylvania. The channel will carry an
estimated 500 hours of Pitt athletic coverage per year.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tuesday's Games
Kansas City 9, Detroit 6
N.Y. Yankees 8, Tampa Bay 3
Toronto 5, Seattle 3
Baltimore 9, Boston 1
Minnesota 6, Cleveland 4
Oakland 7, Chicago White Sox 2
L.A. Angels 2, Texas 0
Wednesday's Games
Cleveland (C.Carrasco 1-0) at Minnesota (Blackburn 9-10), 1:10
p.m.
Chicago White Sox (E.Jackson 3-2) at Oakland (Bre.Anderson 6-6),
3:35 p.m.
Kansas City (Davies 8-10) at Detroit (Scherzer 11-10), 7:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (W.Davis 12-9) at N.Y. Yankees (A.J.Burnett 10-13),
7:05 p.m.
Seattle (Pauley 2-8) at Toronto (Drabek 0-1), 7:07 p.m.
Baltimore (Millwood 3-15) at Boston (Lackey 12-11), 7:10 p.m.
Texas (C.Wilson 14-7) at L.A. Angels (Haren 3-4), 10:05 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Tuesday's Games
Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 3
Washington 8, Houston 4
Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 2
Florida 5, N.Y. Mets 2
San Francisco 1, Chicago Cubs 0
Cincinnati 4, Milwaukee 3
Arizona 3, Colorado 1
San Diego 6, L.A. Dodgers 0
Wednesday's Games
Atlanta (Hanson 10-11) at Philadelphia (Oswalt 13-13), 7:05 p.m.
Houston (W.Rodriguez 11-12) at Washington (Marquis 2-9), 7:05
p.m.
St. Louis (Lohse 4-7) at Pittsburgh (Morton 1-11), 7:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Niese 9-9) at Florida (Sanabia 4-3), 7:10 p.m.
San Francisco (J.Sanchez 11-8) at Chicago Cubs (R.Wells 7-13),
8:05 p.m.
Cincinnati (Cueto 12-5) at Milwaukee (Ra.Wolf 12-11), 8:10 p.m.
Colorado (Jimenez 19-6) at Arizona (R.Lopez 6-14), 9:40 p.m.
San Diego (Stauffer 4-4) at L.A. Dodgers (Lilly 8-11), 10:10
p.m.

MLS
Wednesday's Games
Houston at Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
New England at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.