Sports Briefs August 16, 2010
Baseball
New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel says outfielder Jason Bay has started running for the first time since he went on the disabled list July 30 because of a concussion.
Manuel said that Bay, the former North Idaho College standout, looks "pretty good" before Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The left fielder is beginning to resume non-baseball activities and will be evaluated by team doctors before advancing to the next level in his rehabilitation.
There is no timetable for Bay's return.
Bay was the Mets' big offseason acquisition, but he has struggled to a .259 average and just six homers. He sustained a concussion while slamming into a wall in Los Angeles on July 23. Bay played two games before having headaches on the flight home.
Basketball
Chauncey Billups scored 17 points, nine in an early third-quarter flurry that broke open the game, and the United States beat France 86-55 on Sunday in New York in its only home exhibition before the world championships.
Football
Ben Roethlisberger might not take another snap at Heinz Field until his suspension for off-the-field behavior ends in October.
The NFL told the Pittsburgh Steelers their quarterback could play in all of their preseason games before his suspension begins. That doesn't mean the Steelers plan to let him.
Roethlisberger never warmed up, put his helmet on or stepped into the huddle on a rainy Saturday night as the Steelers beat the Detroit Lions 23-7 in a preseason game.
• 49ers 37, Colts 17: David Carr threw one TD pass, and visiting San Francisco scored 34 straight points to pull away for a preseason victory over Indianapolis.
• Bengals 33, Broncos 24: Tim Tebow made his first preseason appearance for Denver, and got into the end zone on the final play of a loss to Cincinnati.
Tebow went 8 of 13 for 105 yards in the second half, with most of the completions and yards coming on the final drive against a soft defense.
• The teenage son of former Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods, Elbert Jovante Woods, has died, days after he collapsed from an asthma attack.
• After the Pittsburgh Steelers scored their first touchdown Saturday in a 23-7 exhibition victory over the visiting Detroit Lions, referee Jeff Triplette's field microphone picked up expletives uttered by him or one of his crew members apparently aimed at the replay official.
Unhappy that a review of quarterback Dennis Dixon's 5-yard run was ordered during a heavy rainstorm, an official was clearly heard saying, "It's raining like this, I'll kick his ... " followed by several expletives.
The official then added, "He's trying to get to the Super Bowl already."
The call was overturned.
The comments could be heard by spectators, although many had already abandoned their seats during a storm that caused a delay of 1 hour, 13 minutes.
The replay official's name was omitted on the game statistics.
Danielle Kang's 4-foot putt on the next-to-last hole in the U.S. Women's Amateur gave her a 2 and 1 match-play victory over Jessica Korda in Charlotte, N.C.
Tennis
Andy Murray beat Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 to defend his Rogers Cup title in Toronto.
The 23-year-old from Scotland overcame several rain delays to become the first man to repeat as champion since Andre Agassi in 1995.
• Seventh-ranked Kim Clijsters overcame a rain delay and three match points to rally for a 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over No. 15 Maria Sharapova in the championship match of the $2 million Cincinnati Womens' Open in Mason, Ohio.
Auto Racing
Larry Dixon utilized a slight hole shot to edge Cory McClenathan in the top fuel finel of the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.
Bob Bode cruised to the funny car title, Jeg Coughlin won in pro stock and Andrew Hines was the pro stock bike champion.
- The Associated Press