Alfonso Soriano and Anthony Rizzo hit home runs Friday that carried the Chicago Cubs to a 6-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. Soriano, who drove in a run with a single in the first inning, hit a two-run home run in Chicago's four-run third inning. Rizzo put the Cubs up 6-1 in the...

Julien Quesne closed with four consecutive birdies Friday and moved into the lead after two rounds of the European Tour's Omega European Masters in Switzerland. Quesne had two bogeys in his first three holes Friday but the charge down the stretch allowed him to shoot a second-round of...

The Los Angeles Lakers announced plans to retire the jerseys of Shaquille O'Neal and Jamaal Wilkes this season. O'Neal's No. 34 jersey is to be raised to the rafters of the Staples Center on April 2, 2013. Wilkes' jersey — No. 52 — is to be retired Dec....

Chad Johnson, who was recently let go by the Miami Dolphins, also has been cut from the team in the “Madden NFL 13″ video game. Johnson, responding to initial reports that he had been cut from the video game entirely, posted to his Twitter account that he was experiencing...

NFL chief Roger Goodell said Friday the league is putting renewed emphasis on enforcing a ban on bounties — “No exceptions. No excuses.” An NFL investigation concluded that the New Orleans Saints operated a bounty system in which players were paid for injuring or forcing...

Emergency responders said a 45-year-old man died after falling three stories at Reliant Stadium during a Houston Texans pre-season game. Investigators said the man was apparently trying to slide down the handrail of an escalator on the northeast side of the stadium and fell, landing on another...

Matt Prater made a 44-yard field goal as time expired and Omar Bolden returned a kick 103 yards for a touchdown in Denver's 16-13 pre-season win over Arizona. Prater's game-winning kick was his third field goal of the fourth quarter. He also made kicks of 19 and 43 yards. After Jay...

Chris Young accounted for the game's only runs with a fourth-inning homer Thursday and Arizona escaped a late jam to down the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0. The Diamondbacks snapped a six-game losing streak and dropped the Dodgers 4 1/2 games behind San Francisco in the race for the National...

Colin Kaepernick and Josh Johnson both threw for two touchdowns Thursday in carrying San Francisco to a 35-3 exhibition decision over San Diego. San Francisco starting quarterback Alex Smith did not play in the game, but the 49ers still received plenty of production from the two...

Matt Flynn threw a touchdown pass Thursday and Seattle easily shut down Oakland's offense in downing the Raiders 21-3. The Seahawks built a 13-0 halftime lead in the exhibition contest on two field goals from Steve Hauschka and a 2-yard run by Vai Taua. Flynn, who completed 11-of-13...

Albert Pujols staked Los Angeles to an early lead Thursday and Matt Greinke made it stand up in the Angels' 5-2 victory over Boston. Pujols doubled home two runs in the first inning to put the Angels in front to stay. Pujols also scored on a single by Alberto Callaspo during a two-run...

John Beck's 80-yard touchdown pass to DeVier Posey highlighted a night of big plays Thursday and launched Houston to a 28-24 win over Minnesota. There were five touchdown plays of 58 yards or more and the teams combined for 914 yards of offense — 562 of them produced by the...

Josh McCown threw for two touchdowns and 157 yards Thursday, pushing Chicago to a big lead en route to a 28-20 victory over Cleveland. The Bears had a 28-10 advantage heading into the fourth quarter and went on to finish the preseason with a 3-1 mark. Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler did not...

Pablo Sandoval had an RBI in both of San Francisco's big innings Thursday in rallying the Giants to an 8-4 victory over Houston. San Francisco swept the Astros in three games, winning for the eighth time in 10 outings. The latest in a season full of Houston losing streaks has reached...

Serena Williams reached the third round of the U.S. Open Thursday while her sister Venus lost a late-night, marathon match against Angelique Kerber. Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who has a chance to become the top-ranked player in the world during this tournament, had to rally against...

Jeremy Guthrie worked in and out of trouble for 7 1/3 innings Thursday and helped Kansas City finish a three-game sweep with a 2-1 win over Detroit. Guthrie (3-3) gave up 10 hits, but did not walk a batter and allowed only an eighth-inning run. Detroit left at least two runners on against...

Competition heats up among the 2-year-olds this weekend with graded stakes on both coasts. There's also plenty of action on the grass from sea to shining sea and, among the amber waves of grain, Arlington Park has the Washington Park Handicap for older horses going 9 furlongs on the...

A 6-yard throw from Jerrod Johnson to Weslye Saunders put Pittsburgh in front in the fourth period Thursday and the Steelers held on to down Carolina 17-16. The Panthers scored on Jimmy Clausen's 79-yard throw to Lamont Bryant with 2:31 remaining and could have tied the contest by...

(All times Eastern) -0- Baseball American League Texas at Cleveland, 7:05 p.m. Baltimore at NY Yankees, 7:05 p.m. Chi. White Sox at Detroit, 7:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Toronto, 7:07 p.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m. Boston at Oakland, 10:05 p.m. LA Angels at Seattle, 10:10 p.m. -0- National...

A 42-yard touchdown pass from Chandler Harnish to Dominique Jones with 6:54 remaining Thursday gave Indianapolis a 20-16 victory over Cincinnati. It was the only Indianapolis score of the second half of the exhibition game and came after Cincinnati had taken a 16-14 lead on the third of Mike...

Quarterback Graham Harrell threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns Thursday, ending the preseason on a good note in Green Bay's 24-3 win over Kansas City. Harrell struggled during most of the exhibition season as the Packers sought to find a solid backup for Aaron Rodgers, who threw only...

Quarterback Kellen Moore's 1-yard touchdown run with 10:20 to play Thursday brought Detroit a wild 38-32 exhibition victory over Buffalo. The Lions scored four touchdowns in the opening quarter and still found themselves trailing in the final period when Buffalo's Marcus Easley...

Jake Locker tuned up for the regular season by throwing for 81 yards Thursday in Tennessee's 10-6 decision over New Orleans. Locker, selected in the first round of last year's draft, was named this week as Tennessee's starting quarterback over veteran Matt Hasselbeck. Locker...

Marcus Lattimore scored on a 1-yard run with 11:25 to play Thursday, allowing No. 9 South Carolina to survive a scare and defeat Vanderbilt 17-13. The Gamecocks and Commodores played the highlight game of the evening on college football's opening night of the season and it almost turned...

Three touchdown passes by Sam Bradford gave St. Louis a big early lead Thursday and the Rams went on to defeat Baltimore 31-17 to end their exhibition seasons. Bradford had the highest completion percentage for a rookie in NFL history two years ago but struggled in 2011 after an early season...

Bryce Harper hit his third homer in two games Thursday, a two-run shot in the first inning that ignited Washington to an 8-1 win over St. Louis. The Nationals have won two in a row on the heels of a five-game losing streak that equaled their longest of the season. Washington needs three more...

Carlos Villanueva combined with three relievers to throw a five-hitter Thursday while carrying Toronto to a 2-0 victory over Tampa Bay. Villanueva (7-4) had posted an 0-4 record over his five previous starts, but he struck out seven and walked only one in a six-inning performance against the...

Trent Edwards threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns Thursday in leading Philadelphia to a 28-10 exhibition victory over the New York Jets. With Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick resting sore ribs for next week's season opener at Cleveland, Edwards turned in a solid outing in...

Jordan Palmer led Jacksonville on two long scoring drives in the second half Thursday that lifted the Jaguars to a 24-14 win over Atlanta. The exhibition contest was tied heading into the fourth period, but Josh Scobee kicked a 39-yard field goal that put the Jaguars in front 17-14. His kick...

No. 1 seed Roger Federer breezed into the third round of the U.S. Open Thursday and fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became a major upset victim. Federer, seeking his second Grand Slam title of the year and his sixth championship at this event, defeated Bjorn Phau 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Next up for...