MSNBC: Sports

If Rafael Nadal is going to win Wimbledon for a third time, he'll have to do it the hard way.Fresh from winning his eighth French Open, Nadal is seeded only No. 5 at Wimbledon - setting up the possibility of a quarterfinal match against title contenders Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray.The All England Club released the seedings Wednesday for this year's grass-court Grand Slam, which st...    

The United States men's national team defeated Honduras 1-0 on a Jozy Altidore goal to stay atop CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The goal was Altidore's fourth in four-straight games.The United States is now 4-1-1 (13 pts.) and in first place in the region.The lineups: Honduras-Noel Valladares; Jose Velasquez, Emilio Izaquirre, Arnold Peralta; Juan Pablo Montes; Roger Espinoza, Jorge Carlos, Andy N...    

More than 100,000 people took to the streets in largely peaceful protests in at least eight cities Monday, demonstrations that voiced the deep frustrations Brazilians feel about carrying heavy tax burdens but receiving woeful returns in public education, health, security and transportation.In Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic hub, at least 65,000 protesters gathered at a small, treeless plaza then brok...    

Ever since Greg Norman's memorable final-round implosion let Nick Faldo win the Masters in 1996, a generation of fine English talent has come up short in golf's four major championships.With his seven top-3 finishes, Lee Westwood's near misses are a thing of golfing folklore. Luke Donald has also been ranked No. 1 but never come that close down the stretch in a major. Ian Poulter saves his best fo...    

(Eds: Resending. With AP Photos.)AP Sports ColumnistARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - This wasn't the way it was supposed to end, not on Phil Mickelson's birthday and not at Merion Golf Club, where history will record with little fanfare outside of England that Justin Rose won his first major championship.When the rain began falling on the back nine Sunday after Mickelson pitched in for an eagle on the 10th hol...    

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - After eight innings of offensive frustration against CC Sabathia, the Los Angeles Angels broke through with five hits and five runs in the dramatic ninth.But when Albert Pujols came up against Mariano Rivera with the bases loaded and two outs in a one-run game, the Angels' $240 million man couldn't connect.Rivera struck out Pujols on three pitches to end it, and the Yankees ...    

ARDMORE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - England's Justin Rose clinched his first major title with a nerve-jangling two-shot victory at the 113th U.S. Open on Sunday after overhauling 54-hole leader Phil Mickelson in the final round.Rose closed with a level-par 70 in difficult scoring conditions at Merion Golf Club, posting a one-over total of 281 to become the first Englishman to win the year's second m...    

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Alex Cobb is expected to be released from the hospital one day after he was hit in the right ear by a line drive.The Rays announced the news before Sunday's game with the Royals. The pitcher will likely be discharged from the hospital Sunday afternoon. The team says he'll be placed on the 7-day concussion list.Cobb texted teammates Sunday mor...    

Roger Federer won his first title of the year, overcoming a sluggish start to beat unseeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 at the Gerry Weber Open on Sunday.Returning to grass in his favorite warm-up for Wimbledon, the top-seeded Federer looked lethargic until the middle of the second set, when he started hitting shots with confidence.Federer won his first title since Cincinnati in August and h...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Five things to look for Sunday in the final round of the U.S. Open:----PHIL's DAY? Sure seems like it's setting up to be. Sunday is Phil Mickelson's 43rd birthday. And, yes, it's Father's Day for the golfer who made time this week to fly cross-country for his daughter's eighth-grade graduation. And it'll also be the first time Mickelson will enter the final round of a U.S. Open...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Tiger Woods made birdie at the first hole, only to watch his day go racing downhill from there.By the time it was over, Woods skidded to seven bogeys and a 6-over-par 76 Saturday, tumbling down the leaderboard and matching his worst round as a pro at the U.S. Open. That left him 10 strokes behind third-round leader Phil Mickelson, the only player under par at the short but devi...    

ARDMORE, Pennsylvania (AP) -Phil Mickelson has the lead after three rounds at the U.S. Open.Mickelson shot an even-par 70 Saturday, including three birdies on the back nine, for a 1-under 209 total on the hard-to-read greens at Merion Golf Club.Mickelson took the lead with a birdie at No. 17 and had a hard-fought bogey at the 18th - a hole that none of the 73 players in the field birdied in the th...    

ARDMORE, Pennsylvania (AP) -The second round has been completed at the U.S. Open, with Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel still in the lead.About half the field returned Saturday morning to finish their rounds in a championship that fell behind schedule when storms moved through the Philadelphia area on Thursday.Mickelson and Horschel are both 1 under, and are the only players in the red. Luke Dona...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Five things to look for Saturday in the third round of the U.S. Open:----WILL PHIL HANG ON? Phil Mickelson has a checkered history in the U.S. Open and, unfortunately for him, not much of it is good. The five-time runner-up has never won the championship, and famously gave away the 2006 title on the last hole. Mickelson birdied the last hole Friday as darkness fell on Merion Go...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Phil Mickelson made his first birdie on his last putt. Billy Horschel never missed a green. It was all they could do to barely break par against Merion, which is turning out to be the real star of this U.S. Open.Nearly half the field did not finish the second round when it was suspended by darkness. Moments after the horn sounded to stop play, Mickelson opted to finish his roun...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - History says Tiger Woods has little chance to win this U.S. Open. Not from behind, and certainly not with an elbow inflammation that seems to bother him most on his worst shots.Woods says otherwise, and after a marathon stretch of play Friday that helped him creep into contention at Merion Golf Club it's still possible he could be the one having the last say.Trying to break a w...    

ARDMORE, Pennsylvania (AP) -Play has been suspended for the day at the U.S. Open, with Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel tied for the lead.Mickelson birdied the 18th late Friday to finish a 2-over round of 72. Horschel shot 3-under 67, hitting all 18 greens in regulation at Merion Golf Club.Their 1-under totals of 139 made them the only players under par for the tournament; nearly half the field h...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Play has been suspended for the day at the U.S. Open, with Phil Mickelson and Billy Horschel tied for the lead.Mickelson birdied the 18th late Friday to finish a 2-over round of 72. Horschel shot 3-under 67, hitting all 18 greens in regulation at Merion Golf Club.Their 1-under totals of 139 made them the only players under par for the tournament; nearly half the field had yet t...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - Billy Horschel has taken the clubhouse lead in the second round of the U.S. Open.Horschel hit all 18 greens in regulation while shooting a 67 Friday at Merion Golf Club. He is 1 under with a 139 total.The 26-year-old Horschel, from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., missed the cut in his only previous U.S. Open, 2006, but recently won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Zurich Cla...    

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) - One by one, red numbers disappeared from the leaderboard at the U.S. Open, leaving Phil Mickelson alone at the top, waiting to take his turn.Mickelson's 3-under 67 remained the standard when the first round was completed Friday morning, and the nasty rough and hard-to-read greens at Merion Golf Club took an even bigger bite once the second round was under way.Besides Lefty, the...