THURSDAY, MAY 23
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL:
Chicago Cubs (E.Jackson 1-6) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 12:35 p.m.
Philadelphia, idle
PENGUINS-SENATORS
Penguins rout Senators 7-3, take 3-1 series lead
OTTAWA (AP) - Jarome Iginla and James Neal each scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Ottawa Senators 7-3 on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis also scored for Pittsburgh, and Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves. Down 2-1 after the first period, the Penguins scored twice in a 40-second span early in the second and added four goals in the first 10 minutes in the third.
Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa. Senators goalie Craig Anderson was benched in the third after Pittsburgh's sixth goal, and Robin Lehner finished the game.
Game 5 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.
PHILLIES-MARLINS
Lee pitches 3-hitter, Phillies blank Marlins 3-0
MIAMI (AP) - Cliff Lee pitched a three-hitter for his 12th career shutout and Delmon Young homered for the second straight game, sending the Philadelphia Phillies past the Miami Marlins 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Lee (5-2) struck out five, walked two and hit a batter in his first shutout since Sept. 5, 2011. The Marlins were blanked for the ninth time this season, with only 1 of their hits leaving the infield.
Lee also helped himself by getting two hits.
Young hit a solo home run off Kevin Slowey (1-5) in the fourth. It was Young's third homer, including a drive off Miami's Jose Fernandez on Tuesday night.
Slowey (1-5) exited before the sixth inning with a strained left lat muscle. The Marlins said he was day to day.
PHILLIES-UTLEY
Utley to have sore ribcage examined
MIAMI (AP) - Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is scheduled for an MRI Thursday on his sore ribcage.
Utley was scratched from the lineup for Philadelphia's 7-3 win against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night after feeling discomfort in his ribcage during batting practice. He was not in the lineup for Wednesday night's series finale.
He hopes to avoid a trip to the disabled list.
Utley is hitting .272 with seven homers and 25 RBIs. He was sidelined with knee problems for significant stretches the past two seasons.
CUBS-PIRATES
Liriano dominates as Pirates edge Cubs 1-0
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Francisco Liriano continued his torrid start, scattering two hits over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Liriano (3-0) struck out nine and walked just one to remain unbeaten since making his season debut against the New York Mets two weeks ago. Mark Melancon survived a bumpy ninth inning for his first save of the season.
Andrew McCutchen doubled twice for the Pirates and scored the game's only run on an RBI single by Garrett Jones in the first. Pittsburgh has won 10 of 12 to move 10 games over .500 (28-18).
Chicago's Jeff Samardzija (2-6) nearly matched Liriano pitch for pitch, giving up just three hits in seven innings, but received no help. The Cubs have dropped 4 of 5.
STEELERS-MILLER
Injured Steelers TE Miller improving but cautious
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Injured Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller is pleased with his recovery from a devastating knee injury but says it's too early to tell when he'll return.
Miller tore the ACL in his right knee during a loss to Cincinnati last December. He underwent surgery to repair the damage and said Wednesday he's already running.
Miller watched in a t-shirt and shorts with his knee wrapped as the Steelers began the second day of organized team activities heading into next month's minicamp.
The 30-year-old Miller says there's a chance he could be ready by the season opener on Sept. 8 against Tennessee but declined to outline an exact timetable. He hopes to have a better feel for his progress when training camp opens in July.
PENN STATE-ABUSE
Ex-PSU prez seeks dismissal of criminal charges
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Former Penn State President Graham Spanier is asking a county judge to throw out criminal charges accusing him of helping to cover up abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Spanier's lawyers filed the motion last week, citing his allegation that the university's former top lawyer violated attorney-client confidentiality when she gave prosecutors information about him.
He's also arguing that some of the charges were filed after the statute of limitations had run out.
Spanier remains a faculty member while fighting the accusations that he and other administrators committed crimes as they responded to complaints about Sandusky, who was convicted last summer of 45 counts of child sex abuse.
Spanier was charged in November along with former Athletic Director Tim Curley and retired Vice President Gary Schultz.
SOUL-TEBOW
Jaworski serious about Tebow in AFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Could it be Tebow Time in the Arena Football League?
Philadelphia Soul part owner Ron Jaworski says he's serious about his offer to former New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow to join the AFL team.
Jaworski, a former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, reached out to Tebow a day after the Jets released him in April. Jaworski has yet to hear from Tebow, but expects to eventually.
Tebow was brought to New York to be a dynamic addition to the offense, a complement to Mark Sanchez and a merchandising touchdown for the Jets. Instead, he attempted just eight passes for 39 yards and rushed 32 times for 102 yards - and no touchdowns.
Jaworski says Tebow's "in a funk" right now and needs to consider his career path back to the NFL.
PHILLY SPORTS LEADERS
Philadelphia's sports brass brainstorm together
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - They all make their professional home at a shared sports complex. But the four men responsible for making Philadelphia's four pro sports teams go rarely share a stage.
With the local playoff calendar bare, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, Flyers president Peter Luukko, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., and 76ers CEO Adam Aron made a rare - possibly, first - joint appearance together on Wednesday to talk all things Philly sports.
Just like the fans, they're tired of losing.
For various reasons, they all believe they're headed back in the winning direction, and are set to jump into the thick of championship contention over the next few seasons.
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