WORLD SERIES: Boston Takes Game 2; Rockies on Life Support

Boston 2 Colorado 1 - In game one, it was Boston's booming bats that sent the Rockies back to their hotel rooms 13-1 losers. On Thursday, it was their pitching, specifically, starter Curt Schilling (right), middle reliever Hideki Okajima and closer Jonathan Papelbon. The Rockies got on the board in the top of the first, on a hit batsman (Wily Taveras), Matt Holliday's first of four hits, and a groundout by Todd Helton. That was it. Other than Holliday, the Rockies only got one more hit off Schilling, who worked 5 1/3 innings for the win on 4 hits, striking out four and walking two. Okajima came on and set down seven straight batters, turning the ball over to Papelbon with 2 out in the eighth. Lights out. Papelbon allowed just a scratch single by Holliday and struck out two of the other four batters he faced.

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Colorado has scored only 2 runs in 2 games and that's obviously not getting the job done. The team that won 21 of their last 22 games and seven straight in the playoffs has run into a powerhouse American League team that is making them look like Double-A rookies. The series shifts to Denver for Game 3 on Saturday night. Starters are Daisuke Matsuzaka for Boston and Josh Fogg for Colorado. It's a must win situation for the Rockies, as coming back from a 3-0 deficit against the Red Sox would be next to impossible. As it stands, the series may already be over. Boston looks very, very solid right now.

Yankees Save Torre; Red Sox Complete Sweep

NY Yankees 8 Indians 4 - New York got back to Yankee Stadium and their bats finally did some talking. Johnny Damon (right) struck the biggest blow, a three-run homer in the 5th inning off Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook, which gave the Yankees the lead for good at 5-3. In the 6th, the Yankees put the game away when Trot Nixon mishandled Robinson Cano's single, allowing three runs to scamper home. Avoiding the sweep, the Yankees possibly saved manager Joe Torre's job for another day.

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Owner George Steinbrenner reportedly said he would not rehire Torre if the team lost the series, though the sole win hardly gets them out of the woods. Still trailing 2 games to 1, New York will use game 1 starter, Chien-Ming Wang on three days rest, against Cleveland's Paul Byrd Monday night in the Bronx. Wang, the game one starter, threw 94 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings this past Thursday, allowing 9 hits, 4 walks and 8 earned runs. Byrd, who had only one win in his last five starts, faced the Yankees only once this season, allowing 7 hits and 7 earned runs over a 2-inning start in an 11-2 August 11 loss, his shortest outing of the season. Wang did not face the Indians during the regular season. Game 4 is scheduled t begin at 7:37 pm ET. Boston 9 LA Angels 1 - David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hit back-to-back home runs in the 4th inning for an early lead and Curt Schilling (right) blanked the Angels on six hits over 7 innings to lead the Red Sox to a three-game sweep of the divisional playoff series. Schilling walked one and struck out six but Boston waited until the 8th inning to really go on the attack, parlaying 5 hits and a pair of walks into a 7-run outburst. The Angels were thoroughly beaten, outscored 19-4 over the 3 games. Boston will get an extended rest prior to the AL Championship Series, which opens Friday night in Boston against the winner of the Yankees-Indians series.

Schilling Takes No-Hitter into 9th; Tulowitzki Stars for Rockies

American League Boston 1 Oakland 0 - Curt Schilling (right) came within one out of his first no-hitter, surrendering a 2-out, 9th inning single to Shannon Stewart to come oh-so-close. Schilling calmly retired the next batter, Mark Ellis, to finish with a 1-hitter, ending Boston's 4-game losing streak. Schilling was just two batters from a perfect game, as he didn't walk anyone, and, other than Stewart, the only Oakland player to make it to first base was Dan Johnson, who reached on shortstop Julio Lugo's fielding error with two outs in the 5th. Schilling opened the game by retiring the first 14 batters and ended by putting down 12 straight before Stewart's spoiler. Staked to an early lead on David Ortiz' solo homer in the first inning, Schilling made the game's only run stand up, throwing 100 pitches to improve to 6-2. Cleveland 8 Kansas City 3 - The Indians remained 2 1/2 in front of Detroit in the AL Central as Fausto Carmona won his 7th straight, working 7 innings against the Royals. Carmona (7-1) allowed 7 hits, 1 walk and a single earned run, striking out 5. NY Yankees 10 Chicago White Sox 3 - Alex Rodriguez smoked a grand slam home run - his major league-leading 22nd - regaining the RBI lead at 56, helping the Yankees to their third straight over the White Sox. The Yankees opened the 4-game series in Chicago with a loss on Monday, but stormed back in their desperate chase of 1st-place Boston. They still trail the Red Sox by 10 1/2. Other AL Scores Detroit 11 Texas 4 - G. Sheffield, HR (16), Tigers take 2 of 3 at Texas Tampa Bay 5 Toronto 3 National League San Diego 6 LA Dodgers 5 - The Padres finally took sole possession of 1st place in the NL West, but it didn't come easy, scoring 5 times in the bottom of the ninth to steal a win from the Dodgers, completing a three-game sweep. With their 8th win in the last 10, the Padres shook loose from equally hot Arizona, who lost in extra innings to the Giants. Reliever Jonathan Broxton could not close out the Padres, as he retired only one batter in the 9th, giving up 4 hits and two walks, the second one forcing in the winning run. The Padres sent their ace, Jake Peavy, to the mound on Thursday, but LA touched him for 6 hits and 4 earned runs over 6 2/3. It was Peavy's second straight start without a decision. He remains at 7-1. San Francisco 5 Arizona 4, 11 innings - Omar Vizquel singled home Pedro Feliz with the winning run in the 11th as the Giants avoided the sweep at Arizona and knocked the Diamondbacks out of first place. The Giants had Barry Bonds back in the lineup on Thursday but he failed to homer for his 9th straight game and remains 9 homers short of Hank Aaron's lifetime mark of 755. Bonds has hit just one home run since May 8. The Giants are in last place in the NL West, 8 back. Colorado 7 Houston 6 - Rookie Troy Tulowitzki (right) knocked a two run homer, doubled and singled in the game winner in the bottom of the 9th as the Rockies took 2 of 3 from the visiting Astros. In 4 at-bats, Tulowitzki scored twice and drove in 3 runs. Matt Holliday went 4-5 and leads the NL with a .361 batting average. Philadelphia 6 NY Mets 3, 10 innings - The Phillies completed their 3-game sweep of the Mets, pulling to within 5 games of first place in the NL East. Philly also closed the gap on 2nd-place Atlanta to 1 1/2 games as the Braves lost to the Cubs, 2-1. Other NL Scores Pittsburgh 3 Washington 2 Chicago Cubs 2 Atlanta 1 - R. Hill (W, 5-4), 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 11 K Cincinnati 5 St. Louis 1 - A. Dunn, HR (15); K. Griffey Jr., HR (13)

Celebrating Jackie; Those Slammin' O's; Hill Calms Piniella

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first appearance in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. On April 15, 1947, Robinson became the first African-American to play in baseball in the major leagues. Dodger club president

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and general manager Branch Rickey, who took the heat for putting Robinson on the roster, made no mistake about Jackie's ability nor his attitude. After playing the 1946 season for the Montreal Royals in AAA ball, Robinson was deemed ready for the big time, having led the International League with a .349 batting average. Robinson started at first base for the Dodgers and went 0-3 against the Boston Braves, though his performance that day would soon be overshadowed by his on-field accomplishments covering a stellar 10-year major league career. Robinson won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, the NL MVP Award in 1949, was a National League

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All-Star 6 times and played in 6 World Series with the Dodgers. In 1962, he won election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Major League Baseball will commemorate Robinson's contributions to the game on Sunday with a variety of events throughout the league, including ceremonial first pitches at the Dodgers-Padres game by Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson. All players will be sporting a #42 decal on their helmets, and selected players from each major league team will wear a #42 jersey, including all of the Dodger players. For more information on the festivities planned around the majors, click here. Saturday's Peak Performers and Fabulous Flops American League On Friday, Nick Markakis hit a grand slam out of Camden Yards. On Saturday, it was Chris Gomez's turn. Gomez (right) took a 6th inning offering from reliever Joel Peralta over the wall in left for his first home run and first four RBI of the season. The blast turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead and that's how it ended. The win evened Baltimore's record at 6-6 while sending Kansas City to their 3th consecutive loss and the AL Central cellar at 3-9. Jason Giambi homered in the top of the 13th to provide the Yankees a 4-3 decision at Oakland. Alex Rodriguez pounded out his major-league leading 7th home run of the season in the 5th inning. It was A-Rod's only hit of the game in 5 at-bats. Detroit's Brandon Inge had a pretty good night in the Tigers' 10-7 win in Toronto. The 3rd baseman stroked a single, hit a 2-run home run, stole 2 bases and scored twice in 5 at-bats. Despite his heroics, Inge is still batting just .139. Curt Schilling (right) improved to 2-1 with a masterful 8 innings of shutout ball over the LA Angels at Fenway Park. Schilling allowed just 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. With the game already pretty much decided, David Ortiz blasted a 3-run home run in the 8th, adding to his RBI single in the 6th. The 4 RBI gave "Big Papi" 11 on the year. Michael Cuddyer went 3-4 with a double, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored, as the Twins went to town on the Devil Rays, 12-5, at the Metrodome. Cuddyer's .366 average leads the Twins, who are tied with Detroit for the AL Central lead at 7-4. National League Maybe manager Lou Piniella should lose his temper more often. Just a day after blowing a 5-run lead - and Piniella's press conference blow up - the Cubs got their first 2007 win at Wrigley Field, a 7-0 thumping of Cincinnati. Starter Rich Hill set down the Reds over the first 7 innings on just 3 hits. Bob Howry and Ryan Dempster finished the job, each working an inning of scoreless relief.