Peter O'Malley starts each day as one of the first customers at a downtown Starbucks. That's a 5:30 a.m. cup of coffee if you're keeping score. O'Malley, whose family was longtime owner of the Dodgers before selling to Fox in 1998, is assembling a group with the intent to buy the Dodgers. Arriving at his office on East Coast time can't be a bad thing, considering Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig ticks to the same clock.

The 73-year-old O'Malley believes he's the right person for the job. Again. "First, I'm blessed with good health," O'Malley said. "Second, the challenge. Thirdly, I do believe I can do it better than anybody else. Maybe that doesn't sound right, but I don't know how else to say it. "I truly believe I can reconnect the entire city with the franchise from top to bottom and do it full-time. I wouldn't do it part-time. I'd be spending as much time as I did when I was there (before)."

O'Malley went public last week with his desire to lead an investment group to buy the Dodgers, which first was reported by the Los Angeles Times. O'Malley is one of at least a dozen potential suitors intent on purchasing the team from Frank McCourt, who agreed last week to sell after a tumultuous two-year battle to retain the team following his divorce. "We are putting together an ownership group that will reflect the community," O'Malley said. "And it will be a group I'll be proud of. We're in the first inning, not the ninth inning.

"I've received calls saying, 'If you put together a group, count me in.' Those calls came before last week. Our family wants to do this for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons. Watching the Dodgers the last few years has been painful and difficult. "My belief is that we can restore confidence and respectability better and quicker than anybody else."If Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has his way, O'Malley would be strongly considered. Villaraigosa recently wrote a letter urging Selig to approve an owner with local ties. McCourt moved from Boston when he bought the team in 2004.

The Garvey-Hershiser Group, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Dennis Gilbert, billionaires and many others have expressed interest in buying the Dodgers. It's unclear if Oscar De La Hoya still is interested, although last year he said he wanted to buy the team if it went on sale. Officials at Golden Boy Promotions, De La Hoya's boxing promotional company, said there would be no comment when asked about De La Hoya's intentions. O'Malley understands people might question why he wants to own the Dodgers again when his family sold the team 13 years ago.

"There's always a time to do this or that," O'Malley said. "When we sold it, in my judgment it was the right thing to do, and I think today it's the right thing to get back involved."Last year, O'Malley was quoted as saying he didn't want to buy the team despite the laundry list of problems McCourt had at the time.

"Well, the picture has gotten bleaker now," O'Malley said. "I want to be responsible. I don't want to be a chairman on the board or a supervisor. I want to be responsible for the success or failure and restore the credibility of this organization. "The Dodgers are a jewel in this city. They need to be polished and refurbished and brought back to life. I want everyone to root for the Dodgers."

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That’s the question the Yankees — and every other club in the majors — must weigh as they consider whether to pursue the Cuban center fielder. According to a league spokesman, Cespedes is likely to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball once his residency paperwork is in order.

The Yankees sent scouts to watch Cespedes work out Friday in the Dominican Republic, as the 26-year-old put his talent on display for a crowd one source described as “heavy hitters from a lot of clubs.”Cespedes, who defected over the summer, tied a Cuban league record with 33 home runs in 2010-11 .

“He’s a very explosive athlete; he can run and it appears he can hit,” the scout said. “He can hit for power. He can throw, field; he can do a number of things. He’s one of the top talents that’s not at the major-league level in the game. “It’s real easy to walk out of the park and not like this guy.”

While Cespedes seems to have the tools for big-league success, the biggest question mark is the same as it is for every international player. “The one thing that a lot of people don’t have is high-level game experience,” the scout said. “How will all of these tools play at the best level of baseball? That’s what each club is going to wrestle with.

“It’s the same with (Japanese league all-star) Yu Darvish,” the scout added. “What happens when he’s asked to pitch by a big-league schedule to big-league lineups? There are no soft spots in lineups here, especially in the American League.”The Yankees were one of many teams that watched the outfielder’s workout in the Dominican Republic, though the extent of the Bombers’ interest in Cespedes is uncertain.

For those teams that didn’t get a feel for Cespedes, a bizarre 20-minute YouTube video was circulated via email by one of his trainers in the Dominican. The video, which was removed from the Web Monday afternoon, included several impressive athletic feats by the outfielder as well as an homage to “Star Wars,” the Christopher Cross 1980 hit “Sailing,” a mention of former NFL running back Ahman Green and a pig roasting on a spit.

A Yahoo! Sports report indicated that the Yankees “are particularly hot” for Cespedes, though a source said yesterday that the outfielder’s name did not come up during the team’s organizational meetings last month.

Brian Cashman had little to say about Cespedes, though the GM did confirm that he had seen the video and seemed impressed by his physical tools. Baseball America reported that the Yankees held a private workout with Cespedes Monday, though Cashman would not confirm or deny the report.

“We’ll just scout him,” Cashman said. “He’s not even a free agent right now.”The Marlins seem to be quite interested in Cespedes, as FoxSports.com reported that a contingent including owner Jeffrey Loria plans to visit the outfielder in the Dominican later this week. Multiple reports indicate that Cespedes will be seeking a deal in the range of six years, $30.25 million.

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Unlike his deal in Milwaukee, where he was employed by WTMJ-AM (620), baseball radio broadcaster Cory Provus will by an employee of the Minnesota Twins, not the radio station that carries Twins games, KSTP-AM (1500).

After three years in Milwaukee working Brewers radio broadcasts with Bob Uecker, Provus joined the Twins as the team’s play-by-play announcer. In Milwaukee, he called three innings each game. In Minnesota, he’ll handle all nine innings with analyst Dan Gladden. We asked Provus what he learned about baseball broadcasting during his time in Milwaukee.

"My college professors hammer you about dead air, that it’s a bad thing," said Provus, who graduated from Syracuse. "They said there should never be dead air on a broadcast. But Bob taught me that dead air in baseball is sometimes a good thing. He taught me it is important to let the game breathe. Bob is at his best in a ninth inning in a tight game. He is giving all the important details but he is also letting people hear the atmosphere at Miller Park. That’s something I would listen to and just respect and learn from. You give the balls and strikes, the swing. You don’t lose a play. But it’s OK to just not talk and let the sell-out crowd kind of tell a side story."

Provus said it never entered his thinking that he would take over for Uecker should the legendary broadcaster decide to retire. "I hope Bob is there for 30 more years," Provus said. "That really never crossed my mind. It’s kind of a big thing right now in college football – teams hire this coach in waiting. You kind of hear that and see it from time to time. I just would not be comfortable with a clause like that in a contract that I’m the number one in waiting. I just wouldn’t be comfortable with that. I would have had a hard time working with Bob each and every day when he is two feet away knowing hey, the second Bob retires that’s my job. That just does not make for a good work atmosphere. I hope Bob does those games forever. He’s a treasure. He’s a friend. Without his blessing – Bob and I talked numerous times during this process – I don’t know if I would have taken this job. Bob was huge in me getting this job and also encouraging me to take it."

As he has before, Uecker will play a big role in choosing Provus’ replacement. "Bob has to work with this person for the majority of the year," said Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes. "Given Bob’s experience, we are not going to make any move without Bob having significant input in this. Bob is a terrific judge of talent and character. I don’t know if he will be listening to 200 tapes that we receive, but he certainly be included in the mix as we start narrowing it down. He is a tremendous asset to the process."

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Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander has been selected player of the year in voting by the Major League Baseball Players Association, becoming the second pitcher to earn the honour.

Verlander beat out Boston first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson for the Players Choice Award, announced Thursday. The only other pitcher to win it was Boston's Pedro Martinez in 1999.

"Obviously from a personal standpoint, it was an amazing year. I worked extremely hard for this," Verlander said during a conference call. "If you expect greatness, it shouldn't surprise you. So I've always expected myself to be able to pitch this way. So it still doesn't surprise me I did."

Verlander was 24-5 with a 2.40 earned-run average and 250 strikeouts, leading the AL in all three categories. "I think I'll be looking back at this one for a long time," he said. "I don't know if I'll have a season like this again, but I'm not going to discount it. I'm not going to say I won't. Things have to go right for it to happen, but I would say I can pitch better. I think I'm still scratching the surface here."

The heavy favourite for the AL Cy Young Award and a contender for AL MVP, Verlander had the most wins in the majors since Arizona's Randy Johnson in 2002. The right-hander found a groove after going 2-3 in his first seven starts and in the second half became the first pitcher to win 12 straight starts since Minnesota's Johan Santana in 2004.

"I got away from throwing," Verlander said. "Early in games specifically, I slowed down on purpose to try to create a platform and build off of that. ... If I'm not throwing at 100 per cent, if I'm throwing at 95 per cent, I'm going to be much more accurate."

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City staff recommended in a report released Monday that councillors seek offers to lease the 18-year-old facility in light of a competing offer from Beacon Sports Capital Partners for minor league baseball.
The city is also undertaking a study to determine how best to retrofit the stadium for the long-term use of a baseball team. The report will go before the finance and economic development committee this week.
The stadium is currently leased by The Fat Cats, an Intercounty Baseball League team, under a parent-group lease with the Ottawa Stadium Group that expires in March 2012.

The staff-recommended requirements of the new lease require hosting a baseball team, and in the long term, the city should seek professional or semi-professional baseball to lease the stadium for a decade starting in 2013, the report added.

That report strikes a very different tone from an environmental study released in March that said baseball was not a viable use for the stadium given the decline of the sport in Canada. "There is little or no current evidence to indicate that a purpose-built baseball stadium can be financially sustained in the long-term by reliance on a professional or semi-professional baseball being the predominant use for the facility," the report in March read.

"The financial viability of maintaining the stadium structure for the long-term will likely be dependent of the ability to attract a significant number of other customer paying events."The March report recommended converting the stadium to a mixed-use facility suitable for concerts and other events.

As for the newly announced bidding process, it will proceed in three stages: a mandatory submission stage that includes project requirements, a financial offer and then a period of due diligence.
All submissions for the lease "must be for the purpose of playing professional or semi-professional baseball at Ottawa Stadium" with security of "10 per cent of the value of one year's lease payment," the report stated.

Tenants would also be required to submit a financial plan including other events, such as concerts, that would generate revenue. OSG has sought an extension for their lease until October, but the city noted Monday that staff would need access to the stadium to perform upgrades in order for the least to be extended. "Under the existing lease, all life cycle and capital costs remain the responsibility of the city," the report read.

"For the city to consider this extension request, the current lease agreement must be amended to allow the city to have access to the facility and make necessary improvements and repairs for any future tenants ... the city cannot undertake any work on the stadium unless OSG provides its prior written consent."
In the long-term, the city will seek a professional or semi-professional team for the 2013 baseball season, the report noted. Requests for offers will open in mid-November. The stadium will require $3.9 million in lifecycle improvements in the next decade, with $700,000 of that to come by 2013, the report noted.

Beacon's bid for the stadium comes at a time when the city is already considering how to best use the stadium and change the surrounding neighbourhood to facilitate pedestrian access. The city's draft budget, released last week, includes $7.7 million in funding for a long-discussed Coventry Road overpass that will link the VIA Rail station to the baseball stadium. Design funding on the overpass was approved in May.

The environmental study report approved by council in March recommended the construction of a footbridge on the grounds that it will provide "social, cultural and environmental value to the city."
The Ottawa Stadium's first user was the triple-A Ottawa Lynx, which played baseball in the facility from its inaugural season in 1992 until 2008, when poor attendance prompted the league to move the team out of town.

The Ottawa Rapidz baseball team used the stadium for a season until they folded. OSG was the sole respondent to a December 2009 request by city staff for "best offers to lease" the stadium, which it was awarded in March 2010.

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The Major League Baseball season just ended, but the league is already weighing plans for a new television contract potentially worth more than $1 billion. MLB’s current deals with ESPN, Fox and TBS expire after the 2013 season, and sources said all three networks are likely to be involved in the next round of negotiations, which are expected to begin this off-season. These people said NBC Universal and CBS are also interested in joining the talks.

The dramatic climax to this season’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals, coupled with the intense demand among networks for programming viewers watch live, should give MLB strong negotiating leverage in the next round of talks.

Ratings for this year’s World Series, broadcast on Fox, were hardly blockbuster but still averaged 16.6 million viewers, up about 19 percent from last year, driven by a Game Six extra-inning comeback victory for the Cardinals that stoked interest in the team’s Game 7 victory last week.

Analysts expect the price of a new deal to increase by 10 percent or more from the league’s current contracts, which are estimated to be worth around $900 million annually. The interest in baseball in not due to the World Series alone, however, as advertisers exhibited a strong appetite for commercial time throughout baseball’s lengthy 182-game regular season and two rounds of league playoff series.

"No doubt baseball is going to be a product of interest," said sports TV consultant Mike Tracer, a former NBC Sports vice president. "If you are a rights holder, you want to get these negotiations done as early as you can — it would seem to be an advantage," said Tracer. "The result is there is a lot of aggressive posturing right now between the networks."

The ultimate price for the league’s new television contract depends in part on deals struck in other sports, most notably the National Football League. The NFL, the most popular sport in terms of television ratings, also has contracts coming up for renewal, and recently won a 73 percent price hike from Walt Disney Co’s DIS.N ESPN to extend a deal for "Monday Night Football," the Pro Bowl and the NFL draft through 2021.

As for baseball, an ESPN representative said, "We have a 22-year relationship with Major League Baseball and look forward to continuing it."A representative for News Corp’s NWSA.O Fox said, "Fox Sports has had a mutually beneficial relationship with Major League Baseball both as a national and local rights holder for many years, and we plan to do our best to continue those relationships well into the future."

The wildcard in the next round of talks is Comcast Corp. CMCSA.O, the new majority owner of NBC Universal. Comcast officials have made no secret of their desire to ramp up sports coverage, and a deal with baseball would allow the company to spread out games across the NBC Network, Versus, and even its cable outlets such as USA.

"We’re always interested in strong properties," said an NBC Sports spokesman. The caveat, however, is that "Sunday Night Football" is NBC’s highest rated program, and carrying the baseball playoffs or World Series would likely create a scheduling conflict. NBC also may not want to interrupt its fall programming as it tries to revive its prime-time schedule. Taken together, those two factors could limit how aggressively Comcast pursues a TV deal the with MLB.

CBS Corp CBS.N, which declined to comment, could also jump into the fray. Some have speculated that it could partner with Time Warner Inc’s TWX.N Turner Sports to make a joint bid for baseball — as it has done with the NCAA basketball championship — but sources familiar with the situation said that combination was highly unlikely.

The source said Turner is more likely to pursue a renewal of its TBS current deal, which gives it rights a Sunday game as well as the league playoffs, rather than trying to work out all new agreements with another network.

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ST. LOUIS, Missouri — The St. Louis Cardinals were crowned World Series champions for the 11th time in franchise history after routing the Texas Rangers 6-2 in game seven. Allen Craig blasted a home run and ace Chris Carpenter scattered six hits over six innings for the Cardinals, who performed at their best on baseball's biggest stage when their backs were against the wall.

"This is what you dream about, winning World Series, and it is always in a game seven," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "It is hard to believe it came true."The Cardinals won Major League Baseball's best-of-seven championship final four games to three to take their second World Series in six years after trailing the series 3-2 heading back to St. Louis for game six.

David Freese, voted the World Series Most Valuable Player and the hero for St. Louis in an epic game-six victory, had a two-run double in the first inning for the Cardinals. "This means everything. This is definitely a dream come true," said Freese. "This whole ride... this team deserves it. This organization is top notch. We have the best fans in baseball."St. Louis parlayed solid pitching, an explosive start at the plate and some clutch defensive plays into a game-seven victory in front of a crowd of 47,399 at Busch Stadium.

Right-hander Carpenter, starting on just three days' rest, struck out five while the Cardinals scored two runs in both the first and fifth innings and tacked on single runs in the third and seventh. Craig hammered a 379-foot homer in the bottom of the third off Rangers' starter Matt Harrison for the go-ahead run, which would prove to be the last run the Cardinals needed.

The Rangers' bullpen, which carried them through much of the post-season, stumbled in game seven.
"I don't have the answer," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "I wish they could have continued to be dominant. Those are the guys got us here. It didn't get done."Both St. Louis runs in the fifth came without the Cardinals getting a hit as the Rangers pitchers took a walk on the wild side, dishing out walks and hitting batters. It marked the first time since late August the Rangers had lost two games in a row.
"That is the way baseball goes," said Washington, whose club never recovered from a heart-breaking 10-9 extra-inning loss in game six.

"We fought to try and put runs on the board. I tip my hat to Carpenter. We fought to put runs on the board. We pressured him after that first inning. He bent but he didn't break."The Cardinals' post-season resilience was on display once again in game seven. It is only the fifth time in the last 23 World Series that the Series was extended to a seventh game. Their improbable game-six victory included twice being down to the final strike, but the Cardinals survived with a pair of season-saving hits, including a walkoff homer by Freese in the 11th inning. The teams picked up Friday where they left off by scoring four runs in the first inning of game seven. On a cool evening with a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit), the Rangers got on the board first.

Michael Young and Josh Hamilton hit back-to-back doubles off Carpenter to make it 2-0. Freese continued his torrid hitting streak by belting a two-run double to tie it 2-2 in the first. Craig's solo homer to right field off Harrison gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Carpenter, who settled into form after a shaky first, got plenty of support from his teammates. Freese also contributed on defense, racing over to catch a Hamilton pop fly in front of the Rangers' dugout before hitting the railing and falling down. Craig then made a leaping catch at the wall in deep right field to take a potential homer from Rangers' slugger Nelson Cruz in the top of the sixth.

The Cardinals added two more runs in the fifth on some shoddy pitching by the Rangers. Craig scored on a bases-loaded walk by Rangers' reliever Scott Feldman to make it 4-2. Cardinals' batter Rafael Furcal was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Albert Pujols to score from third and give St. Louis a 5-2 lead. The Cardinals played without outfielder Matt Holliday, who injured his right wrist in game six.

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Oct 26, 2011 - Just in August, things looked bleak for the Cardinals. And I'm not just writing about how they were over ten games out of a playoff spot at one point. They were down in the standings, yes, but they weren't just looking at a wait-'til-next-year bump in the road. This was a team built for 2011. Considering how many contractual loose ends they had, anything beyond that was dicey. To put it in terms of Lost, they had the polar bears in the jungle and spooky French transmissions, but the future could bring some crap about being dead without knowing it. That, and losing a bunch of games to the Pirates.

Things turned around with the standings, and the team tied up a couple of those loose ends, re-signing Lance Berkman and Chris Carpenter. But there's still a win-now urgency to the Cardinals, almost exclusively because of the Albert Pujols situation. The Cards' reversal of fortune and NL pennant have made this season an unqualified success, regardless of what happens in the remaining game(s), but without Pujols, this might be as close as the Cardinals get to a championship for a long, long time.

Which means the spotlight, both short- and long-term, is on Matt Holliday. He's part of the Cardinals' magnificent offense, which lapped the rest of the National League. But he's also a slumping, ailing hitter. He missed NLDS games with a hand injury, and after going nuts against Milwaukee pitching in the NLCS, he's 3-for-18 in the World Series. With three intentional walks of Albert Pujols in Game 5, Ron Washington has already announced that he has no problems challenging Holliday to beat him. Pujols won't get a lot of chances. That's Holliday in the short term.

And his contract might be the biggest obstacle to a Pujols deal. He has $86 million left over the next five years, and just about any non-Yankee team has to be wary about committing $300 million to two 30-somethings over the next decade, regardless of how good they are. And as good as Holliday has been, he's also been dinged up this year. Let's have FOX explain just how:

Thanks. Apparently Matt Holliday is some pantsless bird-man with oversized feet and black Tic-Tacs glued to him. This doesn't bode well for his future. And obviously the appendectomy and the moth in the ear were flukes, but it's more than a little troublesome that he came up with back, leg, and hand ailments in the same season. He's making franchise-player money on a team that needs to commit extra-super-franchise-player money to another player. That's Holliday in the long term.

These narratives never play out quite like you'd expect -- if history is any guide, this World Series will come down to a Nick Punto/Darren Oliver match-up, or something equally as unlikely. But if you had to choose a player who needed to get going in the near future for the Cardinals to win the World Series, it would be Holliday. Ron Washington won't give Pujols the chance. There should be runners on base when Holliday hits.

And if you had to choose a player who needs to stay going in the distant future for the Cardinals to win another World Series, it would be Holliday. Other, richer teams might not give Pujols that chance.

It's all Holliday, all the time for Cardinals fans, and it's worth noting that the team wouldn't be here without him. Exactly where "here" is will have a lot to do with how he plays. That's true for the next two games. That's true for the next five years.

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La Russa took the blame for the bullpen follies that twice led to the wrong reliever pitching in the critical eighth inning, and admitted that Albert Pujols signaled for an ill-fated, seventh-inning hit-and-run on his own.

But his rambling answers at Tuesday's off-day inquisition did little to clear up the baffling course of events. "What was going on, and to the extent that what I wanted to have happen wasn't happening, didn't happen, yeah, that's my fault," La Russa, who has amassed the third-most victories ever by a major league manager. "I don't need to dodge that, ever."

Asked why he did not explain the blown hit-and-run after the game, La Russa said: "I treat the club like a family. I don't throw the family under the bus, my personal family. I don't throw this family under the bus. I'd rather take the hit."

A frustrating night in which the Cardinals left 12 men on base and blew opportunities to add to a first-inning 2-0 lead, had a bizarre finish.

Allen Craig was twice thrown out stealing with St. Louis slugger Pujols at bat, and La Russa tried twice in vain to get reliever Jason Motte ready to pitch in a critical spot.

In the end, left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski, instead of righty Motte, faced right-handed hitting Mike Napoli with the bases loaded in the eighth and gave up a two-run double that snapped a 2-2 tie and gave Texas a 3-2 series lead in the best-of-seven.

La Russa took responsibility for the gaffe that had the wrong reliever warm up twice in the crucial eighth. The manager said Monday that the crowd noise in Texas led to confusion over which pitcher he wanted in his phone call to the bullpen.

"We don't repeat it," La Russa told reporters at Busch Stadium Tuesday about safeguarding against confused bullpen orders. "It's like shadows (on the field). It's one of the things you deal with when you're playing the games.

"I thought yesterday the first mention of Motte was probably after he (bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist) had hung up. Maybe I didn't say it quickly enough."

AFFECTED OUTCOME

Once La Russa realized his first order was not accurately received, he called again to get Motte warmed up. "The second one, I said 'Motte', he heard 'Lynn,'" La Russa said. "There's only one way to explain that. You can't hear clearly."

"It's my fault for not handling it better and making sure. All I had to do was look in the bullpen, repeat to make sure." Asked if he thought the gaffe cost the team the game, La Russa said: "I think it directly affected it.

"When there's stuff that went on in that inning with the bullpen, and who's up and who's not, that's miscommunication. In the end that comes totally on the coach, or the manager."The botched stolen base attempts also had many observers scratching their heads.

La Russa said a hit-and-run with Craig on first in the seventh inning was called by Pujols himself, who is empowered by the manager to call that play on his own. "When you have a player that really understands the game, that player gets a lot of leeway and ability to be involved, based on how he's reading what's going on," the manager said.

"Albert has the ability on this club for several years to put a hit-and-run on."In this case, La Russa said he thought Pujols made a bad choice. "He picked a 1-0 pitch, (Alexi) Ogando threw it out of the strike zone, and it didn't work," he said.

The pitch was way high and away and Pujols could not reach it. Craig was easily thrown out at second base.  La Russa said he put Craig in motion in the ninth inning to stay out of a possible double play.

"Give them credit. They threw that very nasty fastball," he said about Neftali Feliz's pitch that moved away from Pujols, who swung and missed before catcher Mike Napoli gunned out Craig at second for a strike-out/throw-out double play.

Game Six in scheduled for Wednesday in St. Louis with Texas one win from their first Fall Classic triumph since the franchise was born in 1961.

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Once again it's an all-US playoff for supremacy in baseball's World Series, with the St Louis Cardinals taking a 2-1 lead against the Texas Rangers thanks to a bravura display of hitting from Albert Pujols, who hit three home runs in a 16-7 victory in Arlington, Texas. "Someday I hope I can look back and say, 'Wow, what a game that was in game three of the 2011 World Series'," Pujols said afterwards, taking a moment to look back and say, "Wow, what a game that was in game three of the 2011 World Series." American sport loves a cheesy comeback: Pujols had previously made a last-ditch error to hand game two to St Louis.

Mario shows who's super

Tectonic ructions in Manchester as City thrashed their all-trouncing city rivals United 6-1 to go five points clear the top of the Premier League. Afterwards Sir Alex Ferguson described United's worst home defeat since 1955 as "a terrible day". Not so for Mario Balotelli, who scored the first two goals despite the burden of running around for an hour with his marker Jonny Evans in his back pocket (Evans was then sent off). This was also a minor personal redemption: emergency services had been called to Balotelli's house at 1am the day before the match after he caused "a substantial fire" by shooting fireworks from his bathroom window. A day too early, Mario.

Motor sport twin tragedies

A tragic week for motor sport. First, two-time Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon died in a horrific crash in Las Vegas. He was chasing a $5m cash purse for winning a race from the back of the field. Then Italian motorcyclist Marco Simoncelli was killed in a crash on lap two of the Malaysian MotoGP after falling off his bike and colliding with other riders. It was the first fatality in the sport since 2003. Simoncelli, 24, was in his second year in MotoGP.

A bit too much whiplash

Horse racing continues to struggle with its basic premise of forcing horses to run faster by hitting them. Ruby Walsh has threatened to boycott British racing after receiving a five-day ban for one too many strokes of the whips while taking Edgardo Sol to a narrow victory at Aintree. A walk-out of fellow jockeys for the next race was narrowly avoided. "If that ride deserves five days this game is done for," Walsh bridled, accurately enough.

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