Sports Briefs August 24, 2010
Baseball
Johnny Damon is deciding whether to return to the Boston Red Sox.
The Detroit Tigers outfielder has been claimed on waivers by Boston, and it's up to him if he wants to go.
Damon said before Monday night's game against Kansas City that it's one of the toughest decisions of his career. The 36-year-old Damon has a no-trade clause that allows him to block any move.
Damon was a hero in Boston in 2004 when he helped the Red Sox win an elusive World Series championship. But that changed two years later when he moved to the rival Yankees as a free agent.
Boston began the day 6 1/2 games behind New York in the AL East and 5 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the wild-card lead.
• Washinton Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is headed back to the disabled list, and his prized right arm will undergo yet another examination that will largely determine whether he pitches again this season.
The rookie will have a second MRI exam to see if anything more than a strained tendon in his forearm caused him to grimace after throwing a changeup in Saturday's game at Philadelphia. Strasburg was removed from the game and underwent an MRI on Sunday.
Strasburg, who is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings, was hurt while making his third start since returning from the disabled list because of inflammation in the back of his right shoulder.
Football
The Seattle Seahawks have released former Oregon State wide receiver Mike Hass to make roster room for newly acquired free agent wide receiver Brandon Jones.
The team had agreed to terms with Jones on Sunday. The 27-year-old played in eight games for San Francisco after the 49ers gave him a $16.6 million free-agent contract last year.
• Chris Johnson ran for a touchdown, Vince Young outdueled Matt Leinart yet again and Tennessee beat the Arizona Cardinals 24-10 in the Titans' preseason home opener in Nashville, Tenn.
The Titans (1-1) never trailed as Johnson scored on his sixth carry, an 8-yard TD that capped an 85-yard drive.
• Five Big Sky Conference football teams are ranked in the Top 25 in the Football Championship Subdivision preseason coaches poll.
Defending national champion Villanova is ranked first, followed by runner-up Montana and Appalachian State. Villanova received 22 first-place votes, while Montana had two and Appalachian State four.
William & Mary and Southern Illinois round out the top 5.
Eastern Washington is ranked 14th, Weber State 18th, Northern Arizona 23rd and Montana State 24th.
Jeff Wilson shot the second lowest score in 110-year history of the U.S. Amateur to take a seven-stroke lead after the first day of play in University Place, Wash.
The 47-year-old Wilson, from Fairfield, Calif., closed his round with a pair of eagles for a course-record 62 at the par-72, 7,420-yard Home Course - one of two courses used for the championship.
Tennis
Seeking to complete the career Grand Slam, Rafael Nadal will be the top-seeded man when the U.S. Open starts next week, while Roger Federer will come to Flushing Meadows seeded second.
Nadal, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, is seeded first at the U.S. Open for the second time in three years. He has never made it past the semifinals.
It appears Carolina Wozniacki, who lost to Kim Clijsters in last year's final, will get the top seed at the Open because Serena Williams, the world's top-ranked player, has withdrawn while recovering from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot.
- The Associated Press