Sports Briefs June 1, 2010
Baseball
The Washington Nationals say prized prospect Stephen Strasburg is scheduled to make his major league debut against Pittsburgh on June 8.The 21-year-old right-hander is scheduled to start for Triple-A Syracuse at Buffalo on Thursday.
Strasburg, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, is 3-1 with a 1.27 ERA in five Triple-A starts. In 10 minor league starts, including five at Double-A Harrisburg, he's 6-2 with a 1.43 ERA.The former San Diego State star allowed three runs and six hits in five-plus innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday night.
Strasburg signed a record $15.1 million, four-year contract with the Nationals after he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft.
Basketball
Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith wanted to be clear: He's not looking to overhaul the roster again.Unless he does.
One eye on the past and another on the future, the never-afraid-to-take-a-chance general manager doesn't expect any major moves this offseason. Even after failing to return to the NBA finals, Smith believes Orlando already has the roster to win its first championship."We're not a team that's that far away, so I can't sit here and say, 'Yeah, we're going to make all these drastic changes because we're miles away,"' Smith said. "We're not miles away. We're not at the bottom third of our league. We're at the top of our league."
Auto racing
IndyCar driver Davey Hamilton, who resides in Nampa, will not compete in Texas after de Ferran Dragon Racing decided to run just one of its damaged cars Saturday.
Hamilton was knocked out of Sunday's Indianapolis 500 before completing a lap. He finished 33rd and blamed the driving tactics of South African Tomas Scheckter for the wreck.The 47-year-old Hamilton has not started a race outside of Indianapolis since being seriously injured in a 2001 crash at Texas. He had 21 operations on his feet and legs before climbing back into the cockpit. Hamilton has competed in four Indy 500s since 2001.
• Driver Mike Conway will miss at least three months with back and leg injuries from his frightening crash in the Indianapolis 500.
Reigning NCAA golf champion Matt Hill is turning pro, skipping his final year at North Carolina State after missing a chance to defend his title.Hill announced that he will make his pro debut this week at the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Ohio.
The 21-year-old Hill was one of the top-ranked amateurs in the world last year. He won seven college tournaments besides the NCAA championship to earn the Haskins Award as outstanding college golfer. This year the junior failed to advance out of the East Regional.
Lacrosse
Duke won its first NCAA men's lacrosse championship in dramatic fashion, defeating Notre Dame 6-5 in Baltimore on a goal by C.J. Costabile with five seconds gone in sudden-death overtime.
- The Associated Press