I Wednesday, July 28,2010
1 SHEUP
Philadelphia vs Arizona
7:05 p.m., CSN
Pittsburgh at Colorado
8:40 p.m., FSN
St. Louis vs New York (NL)
7:05 p.m., ESPN
Islanders re-sign
top scorer
New York Islanders left
wing Matt Moulson has
agreed to a one-year contract
worth $2.45 million.
The agreement was
announced Tuesday by gener
al manager Garth Snow and
allowed the Islanders to avoid
arbitration. Snow says
Moulson played an “integral”
role last season and is part of
the team's “young core of
players.”
Moulson led the Islanders
with a career-high 30 goals as
New York finished last in the
Atlantic Division. His 48
points were fourth on the
team. Moulson was one of
three Islanders to play all 82
games. He led the team with
five winning goals.
Bengals sign Owens
to one-year deal
The Cincinnati Bengals
have agreed to a contract with
receiver Terrell Owens, who
is expected to report to train
ing camp in a couple of days, a
person familiar with the situa
tion tells The Associated
Press.
Owens wanted to play for
the Bengals, who offered a
deal on Monday looking to
add another deep threat to
their offense. He accepted the
offer on Tuesday, said the per
son who confirmed the deal,
speaking on condition of
anonymity because the team
had made no announcement.
The Bengals report for
training camp Wednesday in
Georgetown, Ky. Owens is
expected to arrive for the first
day of workouts Thursday.
Brazil cracks down
on stadium violence
Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva has
signed a law aimed at curbing
fan violence in football stadi
ums.
The law signed Tuesday
includes fines and prison
terms of up to two years for
anyone involved in acts of vio
lence inside the stadium or
within a radius of up to 3 miles
(5 kilometers) from the venue.
T. 0., Ochocinco will
be best show on TV
Come July, 29, the greatest
show in the history of televi
sion will come through the
airwaves.
No, “Lost” isn’t coming
back. But Cincinnati
Bengals training camp opens
and Terrell Owens and Chad
Ochocinco will captivate
audiences with what should
some of the funniest back
and-forth banter since the
Odd Couple.
The Bengals inked Owens
to a one-year, $2 million deal
Tuesday.
That’s right, the two men
with some of the greatest
touchdown celebrations in
the history of football will be
sharing a sideline this foil.
But not only will Owens ,
and Ochocinco provide quali
ty entertainment, they’re
should be some pretty good
football as well.
Q: Where were the first X
Games held in 1995?
Hiesday’s Answer: The
Phillies’ record for most con
secutive regular season wins
at Citizens Bank Park is eight
Former Yankee keeps bond with Spike
By Jake Kaplan
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The mentor stands six-foot-one,
is right-handed and played prima
rily third base.
The pupil, cpikpc
though two inches 3rn ' C3
taller, is right- '
handed and has also spent most of
his recent time playing the hot cor
ner.
The mentor was drafted in the
20th round of the 1987 Major
League Baseball Amateur Draft
out of Linfield College in
McMinnville, Ore.
The pupil was selected in the
34th round of this past June’s draft
out of the same Division 111 institu
tion.
YEAR
Garza continues pitching dominance in 2010
Mike Fitspatrick
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Five no-hitters, two perfect
games and another gem that was
spoiled by an umpire.
Francisco Giants
broadcaster Mike
Krukow and oth-
ers around baseball are beginning
to expect a piece of pitching histo
ry every week.
“I do. I can’t explain it,” said
Krukow, who pitched in the majors
from 1976-89. “Amazing. I think it’s
pretty cool. The Year of the
Pitcher.”
Matt Garza tossed Tampa Bay’s
first no-hitter Monday night in a 5-
0 victory over the Detroit Tigers,
becoming the fifth big leaguer to
turn the trick during a season of
mastery on the mound.
The last time there were five no
hitters in one year was 1991, when
Hall of Earner Nolan Ryan threw
one of seven in the majors. Now,
arms are in charge again so
much so that no-hit alerts seem
commonplace.
Ho hum, another shutout.
Complete game? Yawn.
“Pitching has gotten better,”
Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I
don’t know that the hitting has
gone back a bit, but the pitching
has definitely gotten better.”
The numbers back him up.
Fourteen times a pitcher has
carried a no-hitter into the eighth
inning this year. That’s the most
through July 26 since at least 1974,
as far back as such records go at
STATS LLC.
As a comparison, it happened
six times by that date last season.
“I don’t know if there are any
explanations for it,” Minnesota
manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It
runs in cycles and you just go
through it.”
CC Sabathia got it started with a
near no-no at Tampa Bay on April
10, and the list of close calls fea
tures youngsters from Ricky
Romero and Travis Wood to estab
lished stars such as John Lackey
and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Of course, several finished the
job. Oakland left-hander Dallas
Braden retired all 27 batters
Secondary will rely on experience next season
/tpxcMMnnwN
VSf&PIKIK
Series Note: This is the second
in an eight-part series taking a
look at each position heading
into fall camp, which starts
Aug. 5
By Andrew J. Cassavell
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The departures of comerbacks
A.J. Wallace and Knowledge
Timmons aren’t huge blows to a
secondary that
returns four play
ers with signifi
cant playing expe-
nence.
Sophomore Stephon Morris, a 5-
foot-8 Washington D.C. native,
recorded 30 tackles last season
and had one pick, which he
returned 70 yards but doesn’t plan
on doing anything by himself. In
fact, following April’s spring game
he said the strength of the defen-
The mentor had a successful
professional baseball career, win
ning three World Series
Championships in
his 11 major
league seasons.
The pupil has
played a mere 32
professiona’
games, but has
already experi
enced his fare ‘
share of early sue- Brown
cess.
However, the biggest thing for
mer World Series MVP Scott
Brosius and current State College
Spikes infielder Kelson Brown
have in common is their passion
for America's greatest pastime. At
least according to them.
against Tampa Bay on May 9 and son besides 1880 to include a pair
Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay of perfect games.
duplicated the feat 20 days later at
Florida, making this the only sea-
Matt Garza celebrate’s his no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers Monday.
Garza’s gem was the fifth no-hitter in the Major Leagues this season.
sive backs unit, which returns cor
ner D’Anton Lynn, safeties Drew
Astorino and Nick Sukav, and adds
Chaz Powell who played receiver
before making the switch to
defense this spring, is its cohesive
ness.
“If one play hurts one of us, that
hurts everyone,” Morris said after
the Blue-White game. “And the dif
ference between corner classes
from last year and this year is that
I think this year we have a very
good bond.”
Powell and Lynn will likely split
time opposite Morris, and when
defensive coordinator Tom
Bradley runs nickel packages,
they’ll both be on the field.
Last season Lynn recorded 35
tackles, but didn’t secure a pick.
Powell is in the process of making
the transition to corner from wide
receiver, where he reeled in 28
catches and three touchdowns last
season:
FOOTBALL
Following spring practice, Lynn
said Powell’s transition to defense
was a simple one given his athleti
cism.
“He’ll come over, he’ll ask us
questions and we try to help him
out as much as we can,” Lynn said.
“But he’s just a natural athlete. He
“He has a real passion to play,”
Brosius said of his understudy.
“He’s very competitive. All the
years that I played, there was major leaguer
never a game that I didn’t look for- even after Brown
ward to and he’s the same way. He graduated in the
loves to be on the field.” spring.
y ij Brown agreed with the compari- “We went
“Same fire to succeed,’’ Brown four years there,”
s 'mS said of the 1998 World Series MVP Brown said. “He’s
-JtPi “Same passion for the game. And a great guy. He’s
we both were kind of raw when we
first got there and we both worked
hard.”
Brown, 22, and Brosius, 43, have
known each other for more than
four years now, as the former
Oakland Athletic and New York
Yankee was Brown’s coach at
Linfield. Brosius, who was named
E PITCHER
Arizona’s Edwin Jackson and
Colorado’s Übaldo Jimenez also
just has great instincts on the was fourth on the team with 62
defensive side of the ball.” tackles last season.
At safely, Drew Astorino’s health With Astorino at hero, junior
is the biggest question mark. Nick Sukay will return as the free
Astorino had shoulder surgery safety after hauling in two picks
in January, which kept him out of and notching 41 tackles last sea
spring practice. son.
In April he said he would be Andrew Dailey and Derrick
ready for the start of camp and Thomas could also see time
there has been nothing to indicate this season in the defensive back-
otherwise.
The redshirt junior from
Edinboro led the secondary and To e-mail reporter: ajcs23B@psu.edu
Stephon Morris (12) defends in a game against Ohio State last season
The Daily Collegian
head coach in 2007 after being an
assistant for five years, has
remained a mentor to the aspiring
so humble. He Brosius
cares so much for
his players. He’s one of the rea
sons why I’m here. He was always
pushing me.”
When the Pittsburgh Pirates
drafted Brown in June, it made
him the first player since Brian
See SPIKES, Page 10.
threw no-hitters not to mention
the perfect game Detroit right
hander Armando Galarraga was
denied because of a missed call at
first base by umpire Jim Joyce.
“It’s pretty unbelievable. I don’t
know. It’s not an easy thing to do,”
said Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay
Buchholz, who tossed a no-hitter in
his second major league start on
Sept. 1,2007.
“I don’t remember ever hearing
about it happening like this. Maybe
guys are preparing a little bit bet
ter and sticking to their game plan
throughout the game. It takes a lot
of luck to do it. That’s one of the
key things. You’ve got to have a
couple of good plays in the field.”
Ted Lilly of the Chicago Cubs
and Gavin Floyd of the crosstown
White Sox even had dueling no-hit
ters going into the bottom of the
seventh inning at Wrigley Field on
June 13.
Tampa Bay has been involved in
three no-hitters this season, shut
down by Braden and Jackson
before Garza’s gem Monday on a
night when the Rays didn’t man
age a hit themselves until Matt
Joyce’s sixth-inning grand slam off
Tigers starter Max Scherzer.
“Pitching is starting to take over
the game and that’s good,” Florida
right-hander Ricky Nolasco said.
“That's the way it should be.”
That figures, coming from a
pitcher.
But there are several reasons
why baseball’s balance of power
has swung to the guys on the
mound. Among them:
Testing for steroids and
amphetamines.
An increased emphasis on
defense.
The sport-wide spread of bat
breaking cut fastballs.
Advances in medicine that
help revive injured arms.
- Better teaching and competi
tion at youth, college, minor league
and international levels.
“These are the best pitchers in
the world, and the pitchers that
have thrown the no-hitters are
pretty darn nasty,” Houston third
baseman Chris Johnson said.
“If they are on their game, it’s a
battle. These guys have a chance
to do it every night.”
Mike Carlson/AP