Gay the merrier after duel with Powell

August 27, 2007

Track and field
The most anticipated duel of the world track and field championships turned into a one-man show. Under a full moon on another hot, sticky night at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan, yesterday, Tyson Gay, the latest American sprint sensation, surged ahead of the co-world record-holder Asafa Powell over the final 40 meters to win the 100-meter race in 9.85 seconds. Powell was third in 9.96, behind Derrick Atkins's 9.91. When it was over, Gay let out "a scream of joy." Powell was grimacing through the final few meters. "I just panicked and tightened up," he said. Powell has run a world-record 9.77 seconds three times but has never won a world or Olympic title. Meanwhile, Sweden's Carolina Kluft won an unprecedented third consecutive world heptathlon title with a personal-best 7,032 points.

Baseball

Phillies pitcher Brett Myers got into a shouting match with a reporter and had to be restrained by teammate Pat Burrell Saturday night after allowing two ninth-inning home runs in a 4-3 loss to San Diego. When Myers was asked about the two home runs, he said they were really "just popups." Sam Carchidi, a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer, questioned whether Myers really thought they were popups, and Myers got angry. "You're not even a beat reporter, you're a fill-in, you don't know anything about baseball," said Myers, who then called the reporter "retarded." The reporter asked if Myers could spell retarded, and Myers stood up. Burrell then restrained Myers, and Myers refused to speak any further. Myers was arrested on a domestic violence charge in Boston last summer. The charge was dismissed after his wife said she did not want Myers prosecuted . . . The Astros retired Jeff Bagwell's No. 5 jersey before their game with the Pirates. Bagwell, a first baseman who entered the big leagues in 1991, finished with 449 home runs and a .297 average . . . The Giants completed their trade with the Dodgers when they acquired infielder Travis Denker as the player to be named in the Mark Sweeney deal . . . Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a pair of singles but the Pawtucket Red Sox fell, 4-3, at Rochester . . . Yusaku Iriki and two relievers combined on a six-hitter as the host New Hampshire Fisher Cats blanked the Portland Sea Dogs, 3-0 . . . The Syracuse Chiefs made 10 errors, matching the most in the International League in 43 years, in a 10-inning, 12-10 loss to visiting Ottawa. Rochester committed 10 errors May 11, 1964.

WNBA

Cappie Pondexter scored 25 points for the host Phoenix Mercury, who squandered a 22-point, second-half lead but recovered for a 95-89 win and a sweep of the Seattle Storm in the best-of-three WNBA Western Conference semifinals. Phoenix will play the winner of the Sacramento-San Antonio series on the road Thursday in the first game of the best-of-three conference finals . . . Cheryl Ford scored 11 points, capped by a wide-open layup with 44 seconds left, and the defending champion Detroit Shock survived to defend their WNBA crown for another game, holding off the visiting New York Liberty, 76-73, in Game 2 of the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 3 will be played tomorrow at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Horse racing

Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred racing history, was suspended for 15 days and fined for using his whip on an injured horse who later died. Baze, who has 9,826 career wins, was headed to an easy win aboard Imperial Eyes in the first race Thursday at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, Calif., when the horse took a bad step and broke down. According to a Bay Meadows spokesman, Baze urged Imperial Eyes forward after the horse recovered from the bad step, using his whip twice. Imperial Eyes finished second, but had a broken bone in his left front leg. The 4-year-old gelding was euthanized after going into distress while his handlers contemplated surgery . . . After Market, ridden by Alex Solis, defeated Runaway Dancer by three-quarters of a length to win the $250,000 Del Mar Handicap . . . Maryfield nosed out Baroness Thatcher to win the $250,000 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

Miscellany

Conor Casey and Colin Clark scored eight minutes apart in the first half to lift the host Colorado Rapids to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy, who were without David Beckham. Mike Petke added a goal for Colorado (7-9-6), which kept Los Angeles (3-10-5) winless on the road this season (0-6-3). The crowd of 18,086 was dotted with fans wearing Beckham jerseys. He didn't accompany Los Angeles because of fatigue and an ankle injury . . . Jesse Marsch scored in the 31st minute and Brad Guzan earned his ninth shutout of the season to tie the Revolution's Matt Reis for the MLS lead, as Chivas USA (11-6-3) kept Real Salt Lake (2-11-6) winless on the road over 14 games with a 1-0 victory . . . The US got second-half goals from Kirk Urso and Mykell Bates to beat Belgium, 2-0, and advance to the second round of the Under-17 World Cup in Ulsan, South Korea . . . Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta was in "very serious" condition after two cardiac arrests during his team's 4-1 win over Getafe Saturday in Spain's La Liga . . . Dover's Sarah Parsons scored and Natick's Molly Schaus stopped nine shots after replacing Brittany Martin, but Samantha Hunt's overtime goal lifted Canada to a 4-3 victory over the US in Lake Placid, N.Y., giving the Canadians a three-game sweep in the Under-22 women's hockey series.