Rangers cruise past the Angels, 11-7

The Angels rode into Texas on Friday hotter than a summer's day, having won a season-high six games in a row and with a chance to move back atop the American League West standings during their three-game series with the Rangers.

But if the Rangers were worried they sure didn't show it, setting their offense on Cruz control and rolling to an 11-7 victory behind two home runs, a double and six runs batted in from right fielder Nelson Cruz.

Cruz also had an infield single, matching career highs with four hits and three runs scored while finishing a triple short of the cycle as Texas increased its division lead to three games over the second-place Angels.

Cruz, dropped to seventh in the batting order for the first time this season, opened the scoring in the second inning, following a Mike Napoli single and Mitch Moreland's double with a two-run double of his own. He then led off the fourth inning with a mammoth 452-foot home run to dead center on an 0-2 pitch.

It was the 10th-longest home run in the 17-year history of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

And inning later Cruz rolled a one-out dribbler about 50 feet up the third-base line for a single, loading the bases for David Murphy, who unloaded them with a line drive just inside the right-field foul pole for a grand slam.

That chased Angels starter Dan Haren, who gave up a season-high 11 hits and matched a season-high with seven runs allowed. Haren (13-7), who lost for just the second time since mid June, has a 5.76 ERA In his last four starts, having given up 31 hits in 25 innings.

Cruz hit his second homer of the game and 28th of the season off Jerome Williams in a four-run sixth that gave him six RBIs in a game for the third time this season -- no other major leaguer has done it more than once this year -- while giving the Rangers an 11-0 lead.

Every starter except center fielder Endy Chavez contributed at least one hit in the Rangers' 18-hit attack, with seven of them going for extra bases.

The Angels, who pounded out 14 hits, showed some life late, scoring once in the seventh on Bobby Wilson's two-out bloop single, four more times in the eighth -- three of those coming on Russell Branyan's home run into the second deck in right field -- and twice more in the ninth on a two-out, two-run homer by Howie Kendrick.

Every Angel who batted had at least one hit.

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Angels-Rangers box score

These players are making themselves right at home

Angels feeling a big momentum swing heading into Texas

-- Kevin Baxter reporting from Arlington, Texas

Photo: Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz is congratulated by third base coach Dave Anderson after hitting a three-run home run against the Angels in the sixth inning Friday night. Credit: Jim Cowsert / US Presswire

Commentary: College football turns itself in to authorities

Arrest warrants were issued Friday for two Louisiana State players, but these days, really, it could have been any school or anybody. Why pick on LSU?

The hope now, according to sources, is that there will be enough eligible coaches and players to kick off the season, which actually can't get here soon enough Thursday.

The Generic Campus Glee Club has deemed this year's theme "College Football's Lost Summer (and Spring)."

The Sept. 3 marquee match-up, LSU vs. Oregon in Arlington, Texas, has become a microcosm for a sad state of recent affairs.

LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson and linebacker Joshua Johns turned themselves in to Baton Rouge, La., authorities Friday and are facing second-degree battery charges, a felony, stemming from an Aug. 19 bar fight that reportedly involved several players.

The players' status for next week's big opener has yet to be determined. Some LSU fans long disgruntled with Jefferson's erratic play might welcome a six-game suspension.

LSU, though, is already playing without star receiver Russell Shepard while the school and NCAA sort out his possible relationship with Willie Lyles. He's the scouting service provider also under scrutiny for his involvement with Oregon, which has hired outside counsel to battle its own NCAA inquiry.

Oregon can be relieved Shepard is not playing because the Ducks will be without top cornerback Cliff Harris, suspended after a DUI charge that involved Harris and his car allegedly being clocked at 118 mph. Oregon quarterback Darren Thomas was in the car, but said he basically slept through the entire incident.

LSU vs. Oregon could be called "The Embarrassment Bowl." Updates in The Great LSU Bar Fight came the same day Miami ruled several players, including starting quarterback Jacory Harris, ineligible while the school sorts out their connections to Ponzi-schemer Nathan Shapiro.

When will it ever end? USC announced it wouldn't fight the NCAA appeal it lost over rules it admitted to violating. Even though the chair of the infractions committee that presided over the Trojans' case was the former athletic director at ... Miami.

It's also, apparently, cause for celebration these days when a coach, Lane Kiffin of USC, won't face major NCAA sanctions for his misdeeds at Tennessee.

Should you get "Employee of the Month" for that?

Texas A&M this week also formally notified the Big 12 it is exploring options pertaining to conference affiliation. Gee, what conference might A&M being interested in joining? We're going to guess Southeastern, fully prepared to issue a retraction. What happens after Texas A&M bolts to the SEC is anyone's guess, but hold onto your thigh pads.   

Southern Methodist, the only major school to receive the NCAA's "Death Penalty" in football, is petitioning to replace Texas A&M in the Big 12.

SMU's argument: "Hey, we've done our time and it's about half the time Miami should do. Aren't we now mainstream?"

And the answer is, well, yeah. In fact, held in today's light, SMU is now a model program.

--Chris Dufresne

Photo: Louisiana State University football players Jordan Jefferson, right, and Jarvis Landry leave State Police headquarters in Baton Rouge on Tuesday after meeting with Baton Rouge Police. Credit: Arthur D. Lauck / Associated Press.

First place at stake for Angels, Rangers

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia hesitates to call this weekend's showdown with the Texas Rangers "crucial." But with his team coming into the three-game set trailing Texas by just two games in the American League West standings, it's hard to call it "just another series."

"We're too early to talk about meaningful games or a must-win series," Scioscia said Friday. "But any time you see a goal ahead of you that's attainable and you're playing games that are obviously going to impact you getting your goal ... the fun stays in the game."

That's a departure from last year when the Angels entered the final weekend in August under .500 and in third place in division, 9 1/2 games off the lead.

"Games take on a little different feel," Scioscia says of late-season games that have little impact on the playoff field. "The fact that you're in a pennant race and you have an objective, you have a goal, and you're trying to reach that goal, keeps those juicing flowing."

The Angels are certainly going with a playoff-worthy rotation against the Rangers with Dan Haren pitching Friday's opener to be followed by Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver, who will both be pitching on three days' rest for the first times in their careers.

Scioscia also said reliever Scott Downs, who hasn't pitched in more than a week because of tightness in his left hamstring, will be available this weekend.

The lineups:

Angels

CF -- Peter Bourjos

DH -- Bobby Abreu

2B -- Howie Kendrick

RF -- Torii Hunter

1B -- Mark Trumbo

LF -- Vernon Wells

3B -- Alberto Callaspo

SS -- Erick Aybar

C -- Bobby Wilson

P -- Dan Haren

Texas Rangers

2B -- Ian Kinsler

SS -- Elvis Andrus

LF -- Josh Hamilton

3B -- Michael Young

C -- Mike Napoli

1B -- Mitch Moreland

RF -- Nelson Cruz

DH -- David Murphy

CF -- Endy Chavez

P -- Derek Holland

-- Kevin Baxter in Arlington, Texas

Minka Kelly, Derek Jeter: Another athlete-entertainer couple is kaput

Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly are splitting up, proving once again that there are certain sure bets in sports. You can bet Kobe Bryant will snarl when his team plays poorly, Ron Artest will continue to make non-basketball headlines, and athlete-entertainer relationships will almost always crash and burn.

The Yankee and his former actress girlfriend join the likes of  Andy Roddick and Mandy Moore, Alex Rodriguez and Kate Hudson, Halle Berry and David Justice, Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush, Chris Webber and Tyra Banks, Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow, Kobe Bryant and Brandy, Madonna and Dennis Rodman, Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, and Andre Agassi and Brooke Shields.

Last month, when Jeter became the first Yankee to reach 3,000 hits, Kelly was in a luxury suite, clapping and smiling. Now, according to People, they're amicably calling it quits. The 31-year-old Kelly is one of the stars of the upcoming "Charlie's Angels" TV revival.

PHOTOS: Former athlete-entertainer couples

"They care about each other," an unnamed source told the magazine. "They're still friends."

Minka appeared in the HBO documentary "Derek Jeter 3K," which premiered last month.

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Kelly, Jeter say no hard feelings

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Dodgers need to do right by Jamey Carroll and trade him

-- Melissa Rohlin

Photo: Minka Kelly, center, cheers for Derek Jeter. Credit: Nick Laham / Getty Images

Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson is into LLWS, Brent Musburger says

Brent Musburger isn't trying to hide his affection for the Billings, Mont., Little League team that will play Ocean View of Huntington Beach in Saturday's Little League World Series U.S. division championship game.

Musburger grew up in Billings and his father founded the Little League program there.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this to be happening," Musburger said Friday. Musburger is on the ESPN/ABC broadcast team that will call Saturday's U.S. title game and the International division championship game between Mexico and Japan, as well as Sunday's championship.

Musburger said the entire state of Montana is buzzing about the state's first representative in the LLWS. He said his brother, Todd, even got a text message from former Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who has a home in Montana. "He texted my brother during the game when Montana beat Ocean View," Musburger said.

Musburger said his father coached the first Montana team that won a state championship. "They went to Richland, Washington, for the regionals," Musburger said, "and lost to a team from Santa Monica. That was the first of 21 times that Montana was knocked out of regional play."

When he's on television Saturday, he said, "I'm not going to hide from the fact I'm from Billings. I'm amazed at what's happening but I don't have a stake in the outcome. Whatever happens happens and now it's just frosting on the cake.

"I think California should be favored. They're going to come back with that pitcher [Nick] Pratto who dominated Montana until he left the game. The Montana team goes about its business and if you make a mistake, Montana takes advantage. I think California will press hard and try to score early because as long as you let an underdog stay close, in any sport, the better off it is for the underdog."

-- Diane Pucin

 

 

 

Video: Gary Klein on USC football

 

The Times' USC football beat reporter Gary Klein talks with CineSport's Noah Coslov about the team's wide receiver situation, Marc Tyler and game week preparation. For more on USC, check out The Times' college football page.

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USC remains undecided on starting tailback

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel's hot seat is well worn

Lane Kiffin gets no NCAA penalty for year at Tennessee

 

 

Would you have picked Tiger Woods for Presidents Cup team?

 

Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss the topic. Weigh in with a comment of your own.

Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant

Absolutely not.

U.S. captain Fred Couples says Woods “is the best player in the world forever.”

In the past, yes, but no way today. Woods has plummeted from No. 2 in the world to No. 36. He didn’t even crack the top 125 in PGA Tour earnings to play in the FedEx Cup postseason.

Woods is 28th in the Presidents Cup standings. That’s right between Kevin Na and D.A. Points –- not exactly Rory McIlroy and Steve Stricker.

Couples had until Sept. 26 to make his two captain’s picks. Why didn’t he wait to see if Woods could play himself onto the team?

With Woods’ selection, how does a Jim Furyk (11th in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings) or a PGA champion Keegan Bradley (18th) stay motivated to try to earn a captain’s choice? 

No one deserves a spot. You have to earn it.

Bill Kline, The Morning Call

Sure, the field has caught and even trampled Tiger Woods at stroke-play tournaments. But Woods still has more talent than the bottom third of the U.S. Presidents Cup team combined. In match play, particularly one-on-one, he has as much resolve as a freedom fighter. And when Woods is inspired –- as he will be after his selection is maligned by some – his engine gets fired up more than Dick Vitale preaching at a motivation seminar.

Forget the slump and the injuries and the personal meltdown. Head-to-head, Woods still can stare you down like Jack and rip out your heart like MJ. And come Sunday’s singles play, when every cup point is precious, Woods will make us proud.

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Tiger Woods misses the cut at the PGA Championship

Tiger Woods falls apart with a 77 at PGA Championship

Photo: Tiger Woods. Credit: Hunter Martin / Getty Images.