Pablo Sandoval sure picked a great time to become the first San Francisco Giant to homer three times at AT&T Park. Sandoval's three round-trippers powered the Giants to an 8-3 pounding of the Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series in San Francisco. He put the Giants ahead with solo shot in the first, added a two-run blast in the third and crushed another solo homer in the fifth. Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols are the only other players to homer three times in a World Series game. Sandoval is the first to do it in his first three at-bats of a World Series opener. The only other player to homer three times at AT&T Park was Dodgers shortstop Kevin Elster, who did it in the first-ever game at the stadium more than 12 years ago. Two of Sandoval's three homers came off Justin Verlander, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.74 ERA this postseason. The Giants tagged Verlander for five runs and six hits in four innings. NLCS Most Valuable Player Marco Scutaro continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. He's hit safely in 11 straight games since the NLDS and has collected at least two hits in seven of his last eight games. The series continues tonight in San Francisco.
Champion Olympic wrestler Jeff Blatnick has died at age 55. Blatnick overcame cancer to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He went on to a career as a sports commentator and motivational speaker. The Niskayuna native was pronounced dead at the Ellis Hospital in Schenectady of apparent heart failure.
Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond is urging the leaders of cycling's governing body to resign, calling them "the corrupt part of the sport."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press