! Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010 Philadelphia vs. Los Angeles /:05 p.m., CSN Pittsburgh at San Diego 10:05 p.m., FSN International Soccer United States vs. Brazil 3 p.m., ESPN2 Nets, Raptors will meet in England The NBA is taking regular season games to Europe for the first time. NBA commissioner David Stern announced Monday t hat the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets will play a pair of regular-season games in London this season. The teams will face each other March 4 and 5 at the 02 Arena, the same venue that has hosted preseason games over the last several years. Stern said on a conference call he wasn't yet sure if the regular-season games would be an annual occurrence for the league. Tigers owner inter- ested in Pistons Mike Hitch, the owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, said Monday that he wants to buy the NBA’s Detroit Pistons in part to make sure the team doesn't leave town. Ilitch said he has notified the Pistons of his interest. He said he fears the Detroit area could lose the Pistons if an out-of-town buyer comes for ward. No Americans in Top 10 for first time .American player is in the iop 10 for the first time since the men's tennis computer rankings ,- , began in 1973. Andy Rod dick dropped V from No. 9 to * No. 11 in the '*l ATP rankings Roddick Monday. Roddick lost in the third round last week at the Legg Mason Tennis < lassie in Washington. U.S. men have gone 27 con secutive Grand Slam tourna ments without a title. Roddick was the last American to win a major title at the 2003 U.S. Open. Brazil game comes at right time Clearly, the United States is intent of keeping up inter est in soccer. The World Cup isn’t even a month over and the U.S. is already lined up to play the world's No. 1, Brazil. Building off the run the Americans made in South Africa will be vital, and what better way than to play a very recogniza ble team. While this won’t be the best side Brazil has ever fielded, it s still Brazil and it will still be a fight. The United States won’t be playing all of its top players, but rest assured casual fan, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard will be there. With club season about to begin it says a lot about these players to suit up for country. So you should most cer tainly be watching. Q: Who is the all-time leading scorer for the United States men’s soccer team? Sunday’s answer: Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 in the final release of the first coaches’ poll. Spikes get 3 hits in loss By Jake Kaplan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The State College Spikes' bats haven’t been clicking the last two games. One day removed from SPIKES scoring just one run, the Spikes fared even worse Monday night. State College mustered only Tn-Clty three jiits on their way to their sec ond straight defeat at the P . . _„ _ hands of the TTi- State College City Valley Cats, a 7-0 loss at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. State College first baseman Matt Curry tallied the first two hits, while center fielder Mel Rojas Jr. notched a single in the ninth. The three-hit and no run per formance capped off a 3-3 homes tand in which the Spikes (25-26) produced only ten combined runs. State College scored just one run over the last two days, both of which ended in losses to the Valleycats (23-27). Curry singled in the ‘ second inning and double in the fourth were the only two hits in the first eight innings Monday night. The first baseman said the Spikes, including himself, have been pressing at the plate the past few couple of nights. Curry has strug gled himself recently, going 0-for-4 Sunday. “We’ve just got to settle down, get back in our comfort zone," Curry said. “I think we’re out of it a bit. Just get back to what we do best, hit the ball the other way, and we’ll be fine.” Catcher Matt Skirving had a hard time pinpointing what the exact problem was. Personally, he said he just hasn’t been able to get Steph Witt/Collegian Walker Gourley (left) makes a play earlier this season. Gourley struckout three times Monday. As a team, the Spikes struckout nine times. Cushing: overtraining led to positive test By Chris Duncan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON - Suspended Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing said Monday that his pos itive test for a fertility drug last year was the result of overtrained athlete syndrome, a “unique” con dition he contends can trigger hor monal spikes. Texans owner Bob McNair was in New York on Monday and was expected to cite the syndrome in urging NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to reduce or rescind the four-game suspension. The league denied Cushing’s appeal of the suspension in February. Cushing was suspended for the first four games this season after testing positive last September for HCG, a drug on the league’s banned substance list. Cushing says he never took the drug, which can be used to restart testosterone production after a steroid cycle, and has no idea how it got into his body. Matt Curry (54) slides into second base earlier this season. Curry had 2 hits in the Spikes’ loss Monday. comfortable at the plate recently. He has gone 0-for-3 in each of his last two starts at catcher. The Valley Cats offense got off to a quick start Monday night, taUy ing runs in two of the three first innings off Spikes starter Tyler Waldron. Waldron, whose record dropped to 2-5 with the loss, allowed three hits and three earned runs in his four innings of work. Kike Hernandez hit a solo home run over the wall in center field off State College reliever Brooks Pounders to make it 4-0 after five innings. Tri-Citv notched a run in the sev enth of Sandobal Septimo and two Cushing disclosed details of the syndrome after Monday morning’s practice. “I think that’s the final diagnosis we came up with,” he said, “and a lot of doctors have supported why this has happened.” Cushing said months of tests show that he had a “unique” med ical condition that led to the posi tive test. “Every individual is genetically different,” he said. “I had a unique situation where something like this occurred and we have the sci ence to back it up. It’s taken months. It’s really beyond what we ever thought and it’s beyond the regular medical doctor.” “We’ve gone in depth, and there has been a lot of money spent on the research,” he said. “There have been a lot of inter esting results that I think can help us.” McNair repeatedly has said he believes Cushing, while also saying he supports the NFLs drug testing programs. more in the ninth off Jason Townsend before the game finally came to an end. Skirving said the tough hitting stretch is also hard on the pitchers. “There was a stretch there where we were scoring runs and helping our pitchers out,” Skirving said. “Now our pitchers are work ing their butts off and we can't do anything to help them out. And that’s a frustrating time because then the pitcher can tend to feel like they have to be perfect and when you think that it makes tough to pitch." Tri-City threw out four different pitchers that stifled the Spikes' bats Monday night. Andrew Spikes look to right ship By Zach Fleagle COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER After a .500 home stand, the State College Spikes are heading out on a six-game road trip, look ing to turn around their recent struggles at the plate. The Spikes finished their last home game with a 7-0 Iqss Monday night against the Tri-City Valley Cats, the short-season Class A affiliate of the Houston Astros. State College struggled putting runs on the board throughout the home stretch, scoring only ten in six games. As far as the players are con cerned, the six games away from home followed by a two-day All- Star break might be beneficial to the teams’ psyche. “Things are not clicking right now,” right fielder Adalberto Santos said. “Just got to take it in and keep going hard. We need to get away have a day to ourselves and reflect, get ready for tomor row mentally.” Santos isn’t alone in the idea that a bus seat might be more relaxing than his own bed in State College. Catcher Matt Skirving agreed that the team needs to sit back and just try and find each players own game, especially offensively. Skirving said that hitting is truly Brian Cushing adjusts his chinstrap at training camp on Aug. 1 The Daily Collegian Robinson, who started the game, got his first win of the season. He went five innings and gave up just the two hits to Curry, while striking out six. The Spikes embark on a six game road trip, which starts at 7:05 tonight against the Lowell Spinners. State College hopes a change of scenery will be good for the team. "Losing's not fun,” said right fielder Adalberto Santos, who went 0-for-3. "Granted it’s only two, but you want to keep on winning because we want to put ourselves in the best position.” To e-mail reporter: jyksl42@psu.edu on road frustrating but the run support has to increase to take the pres sure off of the pitching staff. • "Everybody knows their swing the best and it’s just a matter of everybody getting back into that comfort zone and getting back into what they do best,” Skirving said. Skirving, as well as first base man Matt Curry, agrees with Santos that it will be good to get away. Curry said that the main struggle is obviously just the inability to hit and partially because everyone is a little too anxious to get out of their slump. "We have a long bus ride to give us some time to think about what we've been doing wrong,” Curry said. "We're just in a rut right now”. Despite the lack of production, highlighted with the shutout Monday night, it’s not all negative for the Spikes. The team is headed to Lowell for its first three games of a six-game trip to face a Spinners team that is currently last in the league. The players aren't focused on records as much as just going into the All-Star break with momentum. “Hopefully we can win a bunch of games in the next week and carry some momentum into the off days,” Skirving said. To e-mail reporter: zsfsoo3@psu.edu
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