Sports
Westplex Today Sports Page: July 2, 2008
By Jay Murry
Jul 2, 2008 - 7:05:43 AM

Westplex Today Sports Page:   July 2, 2008

Rick Ankiel smacked his 16th home run of the year and Aaron Miles extended his hitting streak to 13 games, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals lost to the Mets 7-4 last night at Busch Stadium.  Todd Wellemyer struggled in his start for the Redbirds.  He pitched just five innings, allowing six runs on 12 hits.  He walked two and struck out two in falling to 7-3 on the year.  Tony Armas made his season debut and picked up the win for the Mets, while Billy Wagner earned his 19th save of the season.  Catcher Ramon Castro had two hits and three RBI for New York .  The teams play the third game of the four-game series tonight.  Pedro Martinez is scheduled to pitch for the Mets and Joel Piniero for the Cards.  Game time is 7:15 , and KWRE will have all the action for you beginning at 6:32 .

The Cardinals welcomed their first-round draft pick to Busch Stadium yesterday.  Brett Wallace was the 13th player selected overall last month.  The former Arizona State third baseman inked a deal which included a $1.84-million signing bonus.  He had a chance to take some batting practice with the Redbirds, but will begin his career in the minor leagues at Quad Cities.  He will report there today.  This past season at Arizona State , Wallace batted .410 with 22 home runs and 83 RBI.

Fred Lewis raced home on a double-steal in the first inning and the Giants added a run in the sixth inning on their way to a 2-1 win over the Cubs in San Francisco last night.  Chicago rallied for a run in the ninth, but left two runners stranded to end the game.  The Cubs have lost five of their last six games, but remain atop the NL Central Division with a 2 ½ game lead over the Cardinals.

Fan voting for the July 15th All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium ends tonight at 10:59 tonight for Cardinal fans.   Balloting for the 79th Midsummer Classic has already surpassed last year's total of 150 million votes.  Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley leads the National League with more than 2.6 million votes.  New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is the top vote-getter in the American League at more than 2.5 million.  He holds a slight lead over shortstop and teammate Derek Jeter.  The winner between the American and National League will once again have home-field advantage in the World Series in October.

After initially declaring an impasse with owner Marc Ecko, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has accpeted the ball hit by Barry Bonds that broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record last year.  Ecko purchased the ball for more than $750,000 at an auction last September, but haggled with the Hall of Fame for months on whether the Hall would retain permanent ownership.  The Hall of Fame issued a statement saying it would not accept the ball as a loan.  Ecko eventually relented and donated the ball to the Hall permanently on Tuesday.  After purchasing the ball, Ecko held a vote on the Internet to determine its fate.  Voters chose the option of branding the ball with an asterisk to symbolize Bonds' alleged steroid use in obtaining the record and donating it to Cooperstown .  Hank Aaron hit 755 career home runs, but now ranks second all-time to Bonds' total of 762.  The 43-year-old Bonds is not under contract with any team this season and is 65 hits shy of 3,000 for his career.

In minor league baseball:   The Gateway Grizzlies posted three runs in the fourth inning and added to their lead with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, on their way to a 7-3 win over the River City Rascals last night in the opener of their three game series at GCS Ballpark.  Ryne Malone collected three hits, including his eighth home run of the season, and three RBI for the Grizzlies.  Justin Lilly pitched eight solid innings to earn the win and boost his record to 3-1.  A.J. Van Slyke poked his 6^th home run in just his 16^th game for the Rascals, but they dropped from first place in the Frontier League's West Division.  Gateway is 21-19 and a game ahead of River City .  The series continues tonight with a 7:05 first pitch.

In hockey:   The Blues acted quickly to retain the services of one of their top young players.   David Backes is returning to the Blues and getting a big raise in the process.  The 24-year-old forward signed an offer sheet from the Vancouver Canucks yesterday and within hours the Note matched the offer.  The deal is worth $7.5 million over three years, including a $1.5 million signing bonus.  Backes earned just over $802,000 last season.  In 2007-08 he recorded career highs in goals (13), assists (18) and points (31).  He ranked second on the team with 99 penalty minutes and ranked first on the team with 240 hits.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and goalie Curtis Joseph have agreed to terms on a one-year contract.  Joseph, a former Blues goalie, went 3-2-0 with a 2.55 goals-against-average in nine games with Calgary last year.  "Cujo" returns to the Leafs where he went 133-88-27 in 249 games from 1998-to-2002.  The 41-year-old is a lifetime 449-343-90-2 with a 2.78 GAA over his 19-year career.  His 449 career victories ranks fourth all-time. 

In tennis:   The Williams sisters are on course for another showdown in the Wimbledon women's finals.  Both Venus and Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals Tuesday, where they will play in opposite brackets.  Venus, the seventh-seed and reigning champion, will face Russian Elena Dementieva in Thursday's semi.  Dementieva is the highest remaining women's seed at number-five.  Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Serena will face the surprising Jie Zheng of China in the semifinals.  Jie shocked top-seeded Ana Ivanovic on Friday, then defeated 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova in three sets Tuesday. 

Serena defeated Venus in 2002 and 2003 in the title match at the All England Club.  Serena was also the runner up at Wimbledon in 2004.  Venus has won the tournament four times, including last year's victory over Marion Bartoli of France in the final.  Her other wins came in 2000, 2001 and 2005.

The men's quarterfinals will take place today at Wimbledon .  Top-seeded and world number-one Roger Federer of Switzerland will face Mario Ancic of Croatia .   Ancic is the last man to beat the Federer on grass.  Since the 2002 loss, Federer has won 63 straight contests on the surface.  Federer is trying to become the first man in the Open Era to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles.  Second-seeded Rafael Nadal will also be in action, facing 12th-seeded Andy Murray of Scotland .  Nadal has fallen to Federer in the last two finals at the All England Club, but he has beaten Federer in the last three title games at the French Open.  The Spaniard has won the last four titles at Roland Garros overall.  Former world number-one Marat Safin will also be in action.  The unseeded Russian will take on 31st-seeded Feliciano Lopez.  A pair of unseeded players, German Rainer Schuettler and Frenchman Arnaud Clement, will meet in the other quarterfinal matchup.

In swimming:   Michael Phelps won the men's 200-meter freestyle final at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials Tuesday in Omaha .  Phelps, who won six gold medals and two bronze in 2004, also had the best time in the 200-meter butterfly semifinals.  That final is tonight.  Phelps already secured a spot for Beijing on Sunday when he won the 400-meter individual medley.

Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol re-set their own world records to highlight the other events on Tuesday.  Coughlin set the world mark in the women's 100-meter backstroke final with a time of 58.97 seconds.  Haley McGregory had beaten Coughlin's previous world record in Monday's preliminary heats.  Meanwhile, Peirsol surpassed his previous world mark in the men's 100-meter backstroke final with a time of 52.89 seconds.  That beat his own record time of 52.98.

The U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials resume tomorrow, after rest days yesterday and today at the University of Oregon ’s fabled Hayward Field.

In auto racing:   Dario Franchitti will not continue to race in the Sprint Cup Series this season.  Chip Ganassi Racing announced the move was due to the lack of sponsorship for Franchitti and the number-40 Dodge.  In his first season on the circuit, the former IndyCar Series driver was 41st in points and without a top-10 finish in 10 races in 2008.  The Scotsman's best finish was a 22nd-place result in March.  Franchitti was the 2007 IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner.  

The year's most painful experience for Memphis Tigers fans is up for a national award.  The Tigers' overtime loss to Kansas in the NCAA title game in April is among the nominees for Best Game of the year at the upcoming ESPY awards.  The other two finalists are the Giants' win over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, and Boston 's Game 4 comeback against the L. A. Lakers in the NBA Finals.  Also nominated for an award are Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt and her star player on last season's NCAA title team, Candace Parker.  Former Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, the Super Bowl MVP, is also nominated for best NFL Player.

Preliminary results of the nation's first required physical fitness assessment are being called sobering.  The FITNESSGRAM assessment examines the fitness levels of kids in Texas .  Texas Senator Jane Nelson says children lead a sedentary lifestyle, watching too much TV, playing too many video games and spending too much time on the computer.
         
Only 32% of third grade girls and 28% of third grade boys achieved the "Healthy Fitness Zone."  By 12th grade, only 8% of girls and 9% of boys achieved the ranking.  About 2.6 million students in grades three through 12 were tested this spring on body composition, strength, endurance and flexibility.