MSNBC: Sports

NEW YORK (AP) - Against the Toronto Blue Jays this season, the only thing that has stopped the Yankees was a day full of rain.The Yankees would have been trying to make it seven in a row against the Blue Jays on Sunday, but rain began to fall in the late morning with no signs of letting up, and the game was postponed before it started. No makeup date was announced."It's going to rain until probabl...    

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Sang-Moon Bae watched anxiously after hitting his tee shot at the par-3 17th hole Sunday in the Byron Nelson Championship.When the ball landed on the front edge of the green fronted by water, he bent his knees and leaned backward obviously relieved. He was only a few shots away from his first PGA Tour victory and a congratulatory hug from the widow of the tournament's namesake...    

ROME (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal made short work of his great rival Roger Federer to win the Italian Open, his sixth trophy of the year, 6-1 6-3 on Sunday.The crowd sitting in the sunshine at Rome's Foro Italico watched Nadal race to victory in 69 minutes on the red clay.The Spaniard, back in his best form after last year's long injury layoff, spent less time on court than Serena Williams who won her f...    

Right from the start, a horse trained by one not so over-the-hill Hall of Famer and ridden by another took control of the Preakness. The result: a huge upset and the end of any hopes for a Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes. Thanks to Oxbow's wire-to-wire win Saturday over Kentucky Derby winner Orb, trainer D. Wayne Lukas and jockey Gary Stevens have themselves another classic to add to th...    

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Keegan Bradley still hasn't gotten things right on the 18th hole at the Byron Nelson Championship, even when finally going left.The bogeys on the closing hole at TPC Four Seasons haven't cost him the lead yet.Bradley overcame consecutive bogeys early and bogeyed No. 18 for the third round in a row Saturday to finish with a 2-under 68 that kept him in the lead."(Sunday) is the ...    

KAVARNA, Bulgaria (AP) - Ryder Cup-winning teammates Graeme McDowell, Nicolas Colsaerts and Francesco Molinari are through to the quarterfinals of the World Match Play Championship.McDowell beat Bo Van Pelt 2 and 1 on the Thracian Cliffs course Saturday and will meet Colsaerts in a rematch from last year's final. The defending champion won 2 up against Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano after being ahead b...    

All eyes will be on Kentucky Derby winner Orb in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The 3-year-old colt will take on eight challengers in the second leg of the Triple Crown. If he wins, Orb will attempt to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978 at the Belmont Stakes on June 8. In the Preakness, Orb will be facing five horses he defeated in the Derby and three who did not run ...    

Everything's a go for Orb.The Kentucky Derby winner was in a playful mood the day before the Preakness, making faces for photographers between nibbles of grass outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course."He's really settled in well. He seems to be energetic about what he's doing so I couldn't be more pleased," trainer Shug McGaughey said on a warm and sunny Friday morning. "We're excited about givin...    

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Keegan Bradley shot a 1-under 69 on Friday in a round that started and ended with bogeys, good enough for a three-stroke lead after two rounds in the Byron Nelson Championship.A day after setting the TPC Four Seasons course record with a 60, also with two bogeys, Bradley went into the weekend at 11-under 129. That is the lowest 36-hole total at the Nelson since 2001.Tom Gillis...    

Former U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi has died just 12 days after he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was 82.His son, Matt Venturi, says he died Friday afternoon in a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Venturi had been hospitalized the last two months for a spinal infection, pneumonia and an intestinal infection.Venturi was all about overcoming the odds. He won the 1964 U.S. Open a...    

The voice of hockey grew up in a town called LaFontaine. That sounds perfect, doesn’t it? LaFontaine! Could a city name sound more like hockey? LaFontaine! It isn’t just the name of a Hall of Famer, the great Pat LaFontaine, it is French, with just the right number of syllables, ideal for the sport. LaFontaine! Say it loud and you can almost hear the puck clank off the pipe, almost see the mad rus...    

Slow at the start of the series and strong at the end, the San Antonio Spurs wore out the Golden State Warriors the way they have so many other opponents.Tim Duncan had 19 points and six rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Spurs held off a furious final rally to beat the Warriors 94-82 in Game 6 on Thursday night and advance to the Western Conference finals."They've got...    

(Reuters) - Former champion Keegan Bradley shrugged off two bogeys around the turn to set a course record with a blistering 10-under-par 60 in Thursday's opening round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.Taking advantage of preferred lies on a rain-softened layout at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, the 26-year-old American piled up 10 birdies and an eagle at the par-five sev...    

For a while there, it looked as if the Preakness was shaping up to be a runaway victory for Kentucky Derby winner Orb.Then came the post-position draw. Suddenly things got very interesting.Orb's pursuit of the Triple Crown received an unexpected jolt Wednesday when trainer Shug McGaughey's horse drew the rail for Saturday's race. McGaughey tried to brush off the development as a mere inconvenience...    

NEW YORK (AP) - Kentucky Derby winner Orb has completed his final workout before the Preakness Stakes, breezing four furlongs in 47.18 seconds at Belmont Park.With exercise rider Jennifer Patterson aboard, Orb moved effortlessly around the track Monday morning. The time is considered fast for a final work before a big race.Shug McGaughey was elated with what he saw. The trainer said the way Orb we...    

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tiger Woods is the greatest closer in the history of golf, one of the greatest in the history of sports. We can get into some numbers in a minute but first we ask the question: Why?Sure, Woods is one of the greatest drivers, one of the greatest iron players, one of the greatest scramblers and one of the greatest putters ever. Those things are obviously kind of important w...    

CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago White Sox needed a big start from ace Chris Sale, and he nearly gave them something historic.Sale took a perfect game into the seventh inning before finishing with a one-hitter, and Chicago beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 on Sunday night to avoid a three-game sweep. The left-hander retired the first 19 batters he faced before Mike Trout's sharp single to center ended the...    

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A weekend filled with sharp words between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia came down to one last showdown Sunday in The Players Championship, this one staged across the water in a tiny, terrifying section of the TPC Sawgrass.Tied for the lead with two holes to play, Woods kept his shots on land and made two pars.Garcia hit three balls into the water for a quadruple boge...    

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Tiger Woods had the last word against Sergio Garcia by winning The Players Championship on Sunday.Woods ended a weekend of verbal sparring with Garcia by doing what he does best - closing out tournaments, even if he let this one turn into a tense duel over the final hour at the TPC Sawgrass. Tied with Garcia with two holes to play, Woods won by finding land on the la...    

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Tiger Woods had the last word against Sergio Garcia by winning The Players Championship on Sunday.Woods ended a weekend of words with Garcia by finding land on the final two holes for par to close with a 2-under 70. Garcia was tied for the lead as he stood on the 17th tee and stared at the island green. He hit into the water twice to make a quadruple-bogey 7, and the...