Yankees 11, Royals 5: Good thing the Yankees didn't make that Alex Rodriguez for Ervin Santana move this offseason. Rodriguez hit two homers -- Nos. 50 and 51 -- as the Yankees cruised past the Royals. Detroit beat Seattle again, so the wild-card lead stands at three games. Johnny Damon, who looked like a corpse for most of the season, has played better of late. He socked his 10th homer as the Yankees gave plenty......

With the local baseball teams off, tennis took center stage in New York on Thursday, at least among those not watching the NFL season kick off. Novak Djokovic, 20, beat Carlos Moya, 31, in the last men's quarterfinal at the U.S. Open. When Super Saturday rolls around, Roger Federer will face Nikolay Davydenko and Djokovic will take on David Ferrer. On Friday, the women play for a spot in the final when Svetlana Kuznetsova battles......

Yankees 12, Mariners 3: Chien-Ming Wang doesn't deserve the American League Cy Young award, but he should get some lower votes. In a game the Yankees needed to win to keep their wild-card lead, Wang pitched 7 1/3 innings and kept the Mariners under wraps. That came as a welcome development after the Yankees learned that Roger Clemens will need a cortisone shot in his pitching elbow. Why was he out there Monday anyway? Horacio......

The best part about the end of summer? Maybe that's the U.S. Open, which starts Monday in Flushing. The tennis season's final Grand Slam provides the players with a grueling test to cap what feels like a condensed hard-court season. On the men's side, there's Roger Federer and everyone else. Federer has won three straight U.S. Open titles and hasn't lost a non-French Open Grand Slam since the 2005 Australian Open. He's made every final......

- Yankees 8, Twins 1: Doing well against a potential first round opponent is never a bad thing. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they weren't facing one of the Twins' aces yesterday. Fortunately, it looks like Alex Rodriguez might be coming out of his slump. A-Rod got the Yankees off to a good start with a solo home run in the 2nd inning and later added another solo shot in the 7th. There was even......

Joy for tennis fans around New York City as the US Open officially started today out in Flushing despite some unfriendly tennis weather. Fun outings (with outrageously priced food and drink) for the whole family! With first-round matches underway, one seeded player has already fallen. 19th seed Dominik Hrbaty lost to Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets in opening round play. Some other big names advanced without much resistance. In men's singles, Andy Roddick easily......

In this era of tennis that does not see American men or women dominate the sport, the United States Open has struggled to maintain its appeal to American sports fans. The casual observer, whose fandom has made the US Open's popularity soar, has paid attention n the past because Americans have been winning. They don't appreciate the genius of Roger Federer or the deceiving power of Justine Henin-Hardenne. No longer can the USTA rely on......

Serena Williams lost a wild one to Jennifer Capriati last night in the women’s quarterfinals at the US Open in Flushing. Williams was serving at deuce in the first game of the third set when her backhand passing shot was incorrectly called out by the chair umpire. Capriati took advantage, going on to win the game and eventually, the match. Understandably, Serena was none to pleased with the call. "No!" Williams shrieked. "No, no, no,......

There are no American men (or Reebok trucker hats) left in the men's side of the draw as 2nd seed Andy Roddick lost to Frenchman Olivier Mutis in five sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2. Mutis had not won a tour match this year until the first round at in Paris. Now he has the biggest win of his career. Roddick hit 15 aces but lost his serve nine times. His groundstrokes became more......

The 2004 French Open gets underway at Roland Garros today. The pre tourney buzz is, as usual, all on the women’s side of the field. 47-year-old Martina Navratilova will be playing singles for the first time in a decade. Navratilova, who won the French Open in 1982 and 1984, will face Gisela Dulko, a 19-year-old Argentine born one year after her last French title. The seeding on the women’s side drew some criticism when......