WPPA / T-102 SPORTS / Thursday

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - James Neal scored 3:38 into the second
overtime to give the Penguins a 3-2 victory over the Lightning in
Game 4 of their first-round playoff series last night. Marc-Andre
Fleury stopped 29 shots - nine of them in the extra periods - to
help the Penguins take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven
Eastern Conference matchup.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Ryan Miller made 32 saves for his second
shutout of the playoffs and the Sabres beat the Flyers 1-0 last
night to even the first-round playoff series 2-2. Jason
Pominville's goal scored 9:38 in stood up as the winner as the
Sabres bounced back from two straight losses. The series shifts to
Philadelphia for Game 5 tomorrow night.

MIAMI (AP) - Chris Coghlan drove in three runs, two of them on a
second-inning infield single, and Ricky Nolasco struck out eight in
seven innings as the Marlins beat the Pirates 6-0 last night.
Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton was tagged for six runs on 10
hits in five innings. Matt Diaz had two of Pittsburgh's five hits,
including a double.

MIAMI (AP) - The Pirates have signed right-handers Blaine Boyer
and Brett Sinkbeil to minor league contracts. Boyer has appeared
with three major league clubs, most recently the Mets, for whom he
was 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in 6-plus innings this season. Sinkbeil
was a former first-round pick by the Florida Marlins, with whom he
played three games last year.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Shane Victorino hit a tiebreaking homer in
the eighth inning, Placido Polanco had a three-run shot and the
Phillies beat the Brewers 4-3 yesterday afternoon. Ryan Madson
(2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the win and Jose Contreras
finished for his fourth save in four tries.

MIAMI (AP) - Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen has been
allowed to leave the team while tending to a personal matter.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle declined to reveal any specifics of
McCutchen's situation, nor did he say when he will return to the
club.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Heat have said all the right things. The
playoffs don't start until a team wins on the road. The Philly fans
are some of the toughest around. No game is harder to win than Game
3. The Heat lead 2-0 entering tonight's Game 3 in Philly.

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) - Penn State assistant Lewis Preston is
Kennesaw State's new basketball coach. Preston also previously
served as an assistant coach at Florida, including on the 2007
national championship team, and on Mike Brey's staff at Notre Dame.
Preston was hired by the Georgia school's new athletic director
Vaughn Williams.


Wednesday's Games
AMERICAN LEAGUE

Boston 5 Oakland 3
Detroit 3 Seattle 2
Tampa Bay 4 Chicago White Sox 1
Baltimore 5 Minnesota 4
N.Y. Yankees 6 Toronto 2
L.A. Angels 4 Texas 1
Cleveland 7 Kansas City 5

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Philadelphia 4 Milwaukee 3
Washington 8 St. Louis 6, 1st game
Chicago Cubs 2 San Diego 1, 11 innings, 1st game
Colorado 10 San Francisco 2
San Diego 5 Chicago Cubs 4, 2nd game
Arizona 3 Cincinnati 1
Houston 4 N.Y. Mets 3
Florida 6 Pittsburgh 0
St. Louis 5 Washington 3, 2nd game
L.A. Dodgers 6 Atlanta 1

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS

Oklahoma City 106 Denver 89, Oklahoma City leads series 2-0
San Antonio 93 Memphis 87, series tied 1-1
L.A. Lakers 87 New Orleans 78, series tied 1-1

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Washington 4 N.Y. Rangers 3, 2OT, Washington leads series 3-1
Pittsburgh 3 Tampa Bay 2, 2OT, Pittsburgh leads series 3-1
Buffalo 1 Philadelphia 0, series tied 2-2
Anaheim 6 Nashville 3, series tied 2-2
Detroit 6 Phoenix 3, Detroit wins series 4-0

Thursday's Schedule - All Times EDT
BASEBALL
American League
Chicago White Sox (Floyd 1-1) at Tampa Bay (Niemann 0-2), 6:40
p.m.
Minnesota (S.Baker 0-2) at Baltimore (Guthrie 1-2), 7:05 p.m.
Cleveland (Tomlin 3-0) at Kansas City (O'Sullivan 1-1), 8:10
p.m.
Boston (Beckett 2-1) at L.A. Angels (Chatwood 1-1), 10:05 p.m.
Oakland (McCarthy 1-0) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 1-2), 10:10 p.m.

National League
Arizona (D.Hudson 0-3) at Cincinnati (Leake 2-0), 12:35 p.m.
Washington (Gorzelanny 0-1) at St. Louis (Lohse 2-1), 1:45 p.m.
Atlanta (Jurrjens 1-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 2-2), 3:10 p.m.
Houston (Happ 1-2) at N.Y. Mets (Capuano 1-1), 7:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Ja.McDonald 0-1) at Florida (Volstad 0-1), 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia (Oswalt 2-0) at San Diego (Latos 0-2), 10:05 p.m.

NBA PLAYOFFS
Chicago at Indiana
Miami at Philadelphia
Dallas at Portland

NHL PLAYOFFS
Boston at Montreal
Chicago at Vancouver
San Jose at Los Angeles

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New York at D.C. United, 8 p.m.