In the NL, The Washington Nationals blanked New York 2-0 to take 14 of 18 from the Mets in the season series. The hottest team in baseball right now is the Philadelphia Phillies. The five-time defending National League East champions just hope it's not too late to salvage their season. Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run homer and Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings to lead the streaking Philadelphia Phillies to their seventh straight win, 3-1 and a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins. The win moves the surging Phillies within three games of the final NL wild card berth
In the AL Curtis Granderson hit two home runs, Robinson Cano also homered and the Yankees beat the Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday night to remain tied for first place in the AL East. The Yankees finished the game without shortstop Derek Jeter, who left in the eighth after pulling up lame running out a double-play grounder to end the inning. Manager Joe Girardi said Jeter wanted to stay in the game, but he told the shortstop to go put ice on his foot. Girardi said it was a bone bruise, but Jeter said it was a sprained ankle.
Major League Baseball's 2013 preliminary schedule is out and includes several format changes caused by the shift of the Houston Astros to the American League. A National League franchise for its first 51 seasons, the Astros start AL play on April 2 when they host cross-state rival Texas.
Yanks and Boston finish their series tonight at Fenway. The Mets are off, they’ll play in Milwaukee tomorrow.
A couple big moves happening in college sports. First up, Notre Dame is leaving the Big East. The new home for the Fighting Irish, for all sports but football, will be the Atlantic Coast Conference. As part of the agreement the Irish will play five football games annually against ACC teams. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement that the Irish will also have access to the ACC's non-BCS bowl tie-ins. The move allows the Irish to maintain football independence, while the ACC is making an exception to its all-or-nothing requirement for schools to be full members.
And a person familiar with the situation says that Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun is retiring and plans to announce his decision on Thursday. The 70-year-old Calhoun won 873 games in 40 years as a head coach, first at Northeastern and the last 26 years at UConn. He guided four teams in the Final Four, winning national titles in 1999, 2004 and 2011.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press