Morning Briefing June 25, 2010
Justin Rose birdied five of his final six holes for a 6-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead Thursday in the PGA’s Travelers Championship at Cromwell, Conn.
Rose missed a 12-foot birdie putt on 18, leaving him tied with Padraig Harrington, Charlie Wi and Mathew Goggin.
Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis and Seon Hwa Lee all shot 4-under 68, taking a share of the first-round lead at the LPGA Championship in Pittsford, N.Y.
Soccer
Japan 3, Denmark 1: At Rustenberg, South Africa, spectacular first-half goals by Keisuke Honda and Yusuhito Endo helped lift Japan past Denmark, sending the Japanese into the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Netherlands 2, Cameroon 1: The Netherlands produced its first goals of flair and finesse to beat Cameroon at Cape Town and set up a second-round match with Slovakia.
Paraguay 0, New Zealand 0: At Polokwane, Paraguay was held to an uneventful 0-0 draw by New Zealand, but still won its World Cup group and moved into the round of 16.
Slovakia 3, Italy 2: At Johannesburg, defending champion Italy was eliminated from the World Cup with a humbling loss.
Hockey
When the Edmonton Oilers finally make the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft tonight (4 p.m., VS), the most suspenseful mystery in Hollywood this week finally will be solved.
High-scoring forwards Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin are the clear-cut top prospects when the draft takes place in Los Angeles for the first time, but nobody knows who is No. 1 in the Oilers’ minds.
Recent NHL drafts have contained relatively few surprises at the top: The Islanders eagerly grabbed John Tavares with the top pick last year, and Tampa Bay snatched up Steven Stamkos in 2008.
The situation is much murkier before the 30 NHL clubs settle into Staples Center for two days of choosing from a draft class that serendipitously includes two top prospects born and trained in southern California: forwards Emerson Etem and Beau Bennett.
College World Series
Brady Thomas singled in the winning run in the 12th and South Carolina (50-16) eliminated Oklahoma (50-18) from the College World Series with a 3-2 victory at Omaha, Neb.
South Carolina plays Clemson in the Bracket 2 final tonight (6 p.m., ESPN2) and would have to beat the Tigers twice to reach next week’s best-of-three championship round.
Interleague
Rays 5, Padres 3: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Matt Garza pitched eight solid innings, leading Tampa Bay past San Diego.
Phillies 12, Indians 3: Joe Blanton pitched effectively into the eighth and host Philadelphia beat Cleveland.
Rangers 6, Pirates 5: At Arlington, Texas, Vladimir Guerrero’s RBI single in the ninth lifted Texas past Pittsburgh.
Tigers 6, Mets 5: Magglio Ordonez and Ryan Raburn homered, leading Detroit at New York.
Orioles 11, Marlins 5: Miguel Tejada had four hits and four RBIs, leading host Baltimore past Florida.
Red Sox 13, Rockies 11, 10 inn.: At Denver, Dustin Pedroia’s homer in the 10th — his third of the game — lifted Boston past Colorado.
White Sox 2, Braves 0: Paul Konerko homered in the eighth, leading Chicago past visiting Atlanta.
Brewers 5, Twins 0: Yovani Gallardo struck out 12, leading host Milwaukee past Minnesota.
Blue Jays 5, Cardinals 0: Vernon Wells homered twice and Toronto beat visiting St. Louis.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels: Late
National League
Astros 7, Giants 5: Hunter Pence hit a three-run homer to lead host Houston past San Francisco.
— The Associated Press