Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 24

DETROIT FREE PRESS I WWW FREEDOM 8B MONDAY, Ai'KIL 23. 2007 GOLF BASEBALL Aiigels sweep MPs, prepare for Tigers the bases loaded. It was Street's first major league triple, a sinking liner that broke off the glove of a diving Raul Ibanez in leflfield. The Angels parlayed two errors by shortstop Yuniesky Be-tancourt (six in 14 games) and two wild pitches by reliever Sean White into two unearned runs in the fifth for a 5-1 lead. TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 1: Hank Blalock hit a two-run single for the host Rangers, who scored three in the eighth.

Eric Gagne got one out in the ninth for the Rangers before leaving with an apparent leg injury. He landed awkwardly after throwing a pitch to Mark Ellis. He eventually limped off the field, and Akinori Otsuka came into the game. Blalock's third hit of the game came on an 0-2 pitch from Huston Street with contrast, Santana, Joe Saunders and Bartolo Colon combined to hold Seattle to two runs over 20 innings. The Angels, who jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first game of the series and a 7-0 lead Saturday night, staked Santana to a 3-0 advantage through the first three innings while sending the Mariners to their sixth straight loss.

Maicer Izturis scored in the second on a dribbling single up the third-base line by Erick Ay-bar, and Gary Matthews Jr. followed with an RBI double. Casey Kotchman drove in another run in the third with his first AMERICAN LEAGUE ANAHEIM, Calif. Ervin Santana allowed one run over seven innings, and the Los Angeles Angels finished a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 6-1 victory Sunday. The Angels (9-9) will host the Tigers for a two-game series starting tonight.

Santana (2-2) allowed six hits, struck out five and walked one. The only run against the right-hander came in the fifth on Adrian Beltre's homer. Former Tiger Jeff Weaver jf Ffef Ay -y i (0-3), facing the Angels for the first time since they traded him to St. Louis in July, allowed three runs and seven hits over three innings and lowered his ERA from 15.75 to 13.91. The right-hander, who signed a one-year, contract with Seattle after winning the World Series clincher, allowed seven runs in each of his first two starts.

Seattle's rotation has a cumulative 6.44 ERA through the team's first 14 games. Weaver, Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez surrendered 15 runs and 24 hits over a combined 13-plus innings during the series. By "Wow," marveled shortstop Carlos Guillen, tied for the team lead with 13 walks. "See how important it is to draw a walk?" Guillen's contribution, though obscured by later events, was essential. The Tigers' hitters had been dormant against Jon Garland since a three-run first, when David Aardsma, Chicago's fill-in closer, retired the first two hitters of the home ninth.

A sweep for the White Sox seemed almost certain, before the unflappable Guillen sent a soft liner into centerfield. The Tigers had hope. Three pitches later, they had life. Aardsma threw a fastball up, and Thames crushed it. He jabbed the air with his fist as he touched first base, and pointed to his pregnant wife in the stands, as he crossed home.

"It's fun to be up there in that situation," Thames said. "Good things can happen sometimes. Placido Polanco yells after his winning hit in the 12th. "I knew he was going to come through," said Pudge Rodriguez, who scored the winner. TIGERS I Thames, Polanco late heroes blown save in five opportunities.

KANSAS CITY MINNESOTA L' Jorge De La Rosa pitched a career-high eight innings and retired 16 in a row during one stretch for the host Royals. De La Rosa (2-1) allowed five hits. Ross Gload hit a two-run home run. CLEVELAND 6, TAMPA BAY 4: Ryan Garko hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning for the visiting Indians. James Shields allowed two hits in eight innings and tied a club record with 12 strikeouts.

Ex-Tiger Carlos Pena homered for Tampa Bay. BALTIMORE 7, TORONTO Nick Mdrkakis and Miguel Tejada each had three RBIs, and the Orioles completed their first three-game home sweep of the Blue Jays in 13 years. The Blue Jays have lost five in a row. ERNIE HARWELL EAfiLBALL Thompson was 3rd to break line ast week, the media ze-kIroed in on Jackie Robinson, emphasizing that he was the right choice to break baseball's color line. What about the player who was the wrong choice to break the color line? His name was Hank Thompson.

When I was a broadcaster for the New York Giants in the 1950s, Thompson, the team's third baseman, was enjoying the high point of a checkered career. I remember him as personable and popular with his teammates. We called him Snuffy, because of his habit of constantly sniffing. Hank played in two World Series (1951 and 1954) during eight seasons with the Ciants. Thompson's story was one of those "might have been" sagas.

Gerry Fraley did a great job of depicting Hank's story recently in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fraley noted that Thompson was the third man to break the color line, following Robinson and Larry Doby. Being third in any historical event only earns you a ticket to oblivion. Thompson broke in with the St.

Louis Browns in July 1947. Reception from his teammates was icy. They refused to participate in pregame practice with Hank and another black recruit, Willard Brown. Manager Muddy Ruel would not bother to discuss the newcomers. After five weeks, the Browns released both players.

Hank returned to the Negro Leagues and then played in Cuba. The Giants spotted him there and be joined them on July 15, 1949, becoming the only player to integrate two major league teams. After the Giants released him after the 1956 season, Thompson quit baseball at the age of 31. From then on, his life went downhill. Always a heavy drinker, he drifted from job to job.

He suffered through a divorce, Earlier, Thompson had served time in prison and even shot a man in a Dallas bar. He returned to his old ways and was charged with assault, theft and armed robbery. After serving four years of a 10-year prison sentence, he was paroled. Then he remarried and found a job. Life was finally getting better for Thompson.

After years of being without a wife, kids or a job, he finally had conquered his demons. But his good times didn't last. In September 19G9, he suffered a heart attack and died at 43. On his headstone in Fresno, there is no mention of his baseball career, or that he was the third player to break the color line. AlU BMNKONAbSmiated Press It's all smiles for Nick Watney after his first PGA Tour victory.

He gets a hug from Rusty Uresti after winning the Zurich Classic Watney wins 1st title GOLF ROUNDUP HUi MU-SS NIWS SERVICES AVONDALE, La. Nick Watney won the Zurich Classic for his first PGA Tour title, closing with a three-under 69 on Sunday for a three-stroke victory over Ken Duke. Watney, the 25-year-old Cali-fornian in his third year on the tour, had a 15-under 273 total at the TPC Louisiana. Duke, who also was seeking his first victory, shot a 70. "I'm living a dream right now," Watney said, wearing Mardi Gras beads as winners in New Orleans traditionally do.

"I've played in close to the last group sometimes, and I've seen guys go through it. But it's definitely more fun to actually do it. I'm trying to soak it all in." Watney, fifth in two tournaments last year, lost the lead when he missed a three-foot par putt on the par-4 10th. He bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 11th and went in front for good with a birdie on the par-3 14th. On the 14th, Duke's tee shot landed short and left of the green, his chip went 7 feet past the pin and he missed the par putt coming back to fall two shots behind.

Watney parred the final four holes, missing the fairway only once off the tee and hitting every green in regulation. "I knew if I could get it to one coming to 18 I thought I had a chance, but he had two on me, and he played smart, and that's what you've got to do," Duke said. After Watney tapped in to seal the victory, his celebration was subdued. He held aloft both arms and hugged his caddie before clapping above his head in appreciation of the crowd. Watney had never before teed off with the lead in the final round of a PGA Tour event, and he hadn't slept as well as he usually does, waking up around 5:30 a.m.

He bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4, but then holed the shot of the tournament a 132-yard approach shot for an eagle on the par-4 fifth to pull back into a tie for the lead. Tour rookie Anthony Kim shot the best round of the day, a 65 to tie John Mallinger for third at 11 under. CHAMPIONS TOUR: Defending champion Jay Haas won the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, making up four shots in the final eight holes before beating Tom Kite in a playoff for his second Champions Tour victory this season. He closed with a two-under-par 70 for a three-round total of 207, then won on the first extra hole for his eighth senior circuit victory.

Kite (68) had been 3-0 in senior playoffs. I'll take my chances." The ending recalled a game here almost exactly 10 months ago. The Tigers trailed the Cardinals by two runs entering the ninth June 24, when Thames forced extra innings with a two-run homer. Polanco followed with a lOth-inning winner off left-hander Tyler Johnson just as another lefty, Boone Logan, surrendered Sunday's hit. When asked if he could remember whose game-tying homer preceded last June's wal-koff, Polanco said, "Marcus?" Remarkably, the Tigers had not won an extra-inning home game since.

(Magglio Ordonez's pennant-clincher, of course, came in the ninth.) They had lost five in September, and three more this month. One, on Wednesday against Kansas City, started the three-game losing streak, and another, on Saturday, kept it going. This time, it ended different Tigers schedule Home games shaded. Also on ESPN. won't sulk over batting slump DUANE BURLESONAssociated Press ly, on an afternoon that resembled so many of the Tigers' triumphs in 2006, but illustrated why the team has struggled this season.

The Tigers had one hit from the second inning through the eighth, and, before Thames' homer, it appeared that a Detroit reliever (Aquilino Lopez was on the hook) would take the loss for a fourth straight game. "We haven't been playing so good," Brandon Inge said. Yet, as Inge thought about Sunday's 12th inning Polan-co's hit, the celebration on the infield, the happy, howling fans he could not help but recall when Polanco's star, and that of the Tigers, shone brightest. "Might as well have been the ALCS," Inge said. Contact JON PAUL MOROSI at 313-223097 or jmorosifreepress.com.

Check out his Tigers blog at www.freep.com sports. caught the final three innings, which enabled him to pass Tony Pena on the all-time list with 1,951 games caught. "I want to keep playing hard so I can catch the next one," Rodriguez said, smiling. Gary Carter (2,056) is next. NO DL FOR RODNEY: The Tigers said Fernando Rodney's recent troubles will not force him to the disabled list for now, at least.

Leyland said Rodney must right himself for the bullpen to perform as expected. "If we don't get Rodney straightened out, our bullpen's in a little bit of trouble," Ley-land said. "It's that simple, unless somebody else steps up. "Rodney was saving games at this time last year. He was lights-out.

He's a guy we count on. I'm not upset with him, or criticizing him, because he's a trooper. But we need Rodney to be good." NOTEBOOK: Justin Verlander has one decision (1-0) in four starts. He allowed three earned runs in seven innings Sunday, throwing 113 pitches. Joe Crede's two-run homer in the eighth inning was the 15th of his career at Comerica Park the most of any visiting pinker.

From Page IB Sunday's sun-splashed affair came within one out of joining the rest. The Tigers led, 3-0, in the first inning, but trailed by two in the ninth, before Marcus Thames socked a two-run, game-tying home run. The score stayed 5-5 before Polanco swinging a sweet .377 added another knock in his budding campaign to win the American League batting title, while making a winner of Jason Grilli (1-1). "He's a tremendous hitter, man," Rodriguez said. "He's a great, great player.

I knew, in that situation, that he was going to come through for us. He's been so good the whole year." Polanco, o.ne of the purest contact hitters, is at his best when a runner is on base, which brings us back to Rodriguez. The walk was his first this season. Sheff sits, TIGERS CORNER By JON PAUL MOROSI FREE PRHSS SPORTS WR1THR Omar Infante and Marcus Thames started Sunday for the Tigers because of their history averages of .438 and .357, respectively against Chicago right-hander Jon Garland. Gary Sheffield's average against Garland (.556) is even better.

For the first time, though, his name was not on Jim Leyland's lineup card. The explanation for that is the very recent past: Sheffield is batting .119 this season. "Get away from it for a day, and start fresh on the West Coast," Leyland said before Sunday's 6-5 victory. "He'll be back in there tomorrow. "He wants it so bad.

You can tell that. I read his quotes in the papers. It's a new team, and he wants to do it so bad that he's probably pressing." Sheffield didn't protest Ley-land's decision "I know ex actly what he's thinking, and what he's looking at," he said and reiterated Sunday that he feels great physically. Sheffield said his batting-practice sessions have been "excellent." "It iust doesn't translate into SUN I MON I TUE 1 WED THU I FRI I SAT JLJLJL J5 26 27 28 Det. LA A LAA CWS CWS Min.

Min. 6, 10:05 3:35 8:11 8:11 7:05 1:05 CWS FSN FSN FSN" FSN FSN FSN 5 (12) 29 30 1 2 I 4 5 Min. Bal. Bal. Bal.

K.C. K.C. 1:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 8:10 7:10 JiSJiSNFSN FSN FSN 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 K.C. Sea. Sea.

Sea. Min. Min. 2:10 7:05 7:05 1:05 8:10 3:55 Ch. 2 1 I FSN I FSN I FSN 1 FSN Fox On deck: Angels Series: Tigers at Los Angeles for two games, tonight and Tuesday.

TVradio: Tonight F5N, WXYT-AM (1270), WKRK-FM (97.1), WTKA-AM (1050); Tuesday 3:35 p.m., FSN, WXYT, WKRK, WTKA. Pitching: Tonight LH Mike Maroth (2-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. RH Jered Weaver (0-1, 4.50); Tuesday RH Jeremy Bonderman (0-0, 2.25) vs. RH Kelvim Escobar (1-1, 3.18). the game," Sheffield said.

"I lay off pitches that I know I can hit, because I'm looking for that perfect pitch. Then I wind up saying to myself, 'Now, I'm going to be And I wind up swinging at a ball." Leyland has seen the same thing. "He's caught in between," Leyland said. Sheffield is batting .167 (2-for-12) with runners in scoring position. He has one extra-base hit, a double, in seven home games.

"You can't explain this," Sheffield said. "I can't explain it. I'm not trying to explain it. It is what it is. You're not going to see me sulk over it.

I'm going to continue to it extra, and do what I've got to do." GOOD IN A PINCH: Leyland also planned to rest catcher Pudge Rodriguez and leftfielder Craig Monroe on Sunday. A day off would give them effectively 48 hours off between the end of Saturday's game and Monday's 10:05 p.m. first pitch in Anaheim, Calif. Instead, the circumstances of Sunday's 12-inning game brought them in as pinch-hitters. Each drew crucial walks in the 12th before Placido Polanco won it with his single.

Rodriguez entered as a pinch-hitter in the ninth he strvck outk looking and i 1 Contact ERNIE HARWELL at Detroit Free Press, 6(H) W. Fort Detroit 48226. Order his four-CD audio scrapbook and his two Free Press books Stories From My Life in Baseball" and "Life After Baseball" for $14. at www.freep.combookntore or by calling S00-J45-WJH2. RICHARD BURKHARTAssociated Press Jay Haas celebrates after saving par on the first playoff hole to defeat 7m Kite Sunday..