Red Wings top Blackhawks 3-1, take 2-1 series lead

DETROIT (AP) — The young Detroit Red Wings have made the mighty Chicago Blackhawks look vulnerable, beating them two straight times to gain an advantage in their last playoff matchup as Western Conference rivals.

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NCAA basketball: Navy women beat American, earn first NCAA tournament bid
Navy seniors Angela Myers and Cassie Consedine were the first to embrace at center court following a 47-40 victory over American in the Patriot League final Saturday at Alumni Hall. Their improbable journey from the depths of the league standings four seasons ago to champions was complete, and ah...

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Liverpool close in on City's Kolo Touré to shore up central defence

• Brendan Rodgers anxious to strengthen defensive options
• Out of contract player wants to stay in north-west

Liverpool are close to making Kolo Touré their first summer signing as part of Brendan Rodgers' plans to add experience to a central defence without Jamie Carragher.

The 32-year-old is available on a free transfer when his four-year contract with Manchester City expires next month and he has not been offered an extension, having fallen down the pecking order under the former manager Roberto Mancini. Touré wants to stay in English football, ideally in the north-west where his children are settled at school, and has been offered the ideal solution by Rodgers.

A deal is believed to have been agreed in principle with Touré, who is in the United States for City's end-of-season tour and will undergo a medical on his return.

The Liverpool manager will strengthen in central defence this summer and may require three additions in that department, with Carragher retiring on Sunday, Martin Skrtel out of favour and Sebastián Coates failing to make an impression in his two seasons at Anfield. Liverpool are open to offers for Coates but Rodgers has claimed that Skrtel remains in his plans.

The manager has several targets in mind with Kyriakos Papadopoulos of Schalke the prime target, Ajax's Toby Alderweireld under consideration and the Lille left-back, Lucas Digne, also a possibility. Touré offers an experienced, inexpensive option for Rodgers, who lamented that he had a quiet squad in need of more leaders even before Carragher's retirement.

Rodgers, meanwhile, has paid tribute to Philippe Coutinho after the 20-year-old capped an outstanding start to his Liverpool career with the winning goal in Sunday's game against Queens Park Rangers. The Brazilian has fitted seamlessly into the side since his £8.5m signing from Internazionale in January, scoring three goals and creating a host of chances for the likes of Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge. Rodgers admits he has been surprised at the midfielder's impact.

"When you bring somebody in during January you hope they can make an impact," he said. "You are also looking at it as a six-month adaptation period before you get the best out of them from pre-season onwards. We are all pleasantly pleased and surprised by how well he has done. His numbers tell you the story in terms of goals and assists.

"At the minute, you can't ask any more. The key thing is that he works his socks off as well. He is a real team player."

Rodgers believes Coutinho can have a greater influence next season when he has adjusted to the physical demands of the Premier League. He added: "He has genuine man strength. He's 20 years of age but he's not a boy. He can look after himself. His body work is great, he is small in stature. The best players very rarely get tackled because they are so bright and clever. You can see he can use his body if needs be, but he has to become adapted to the physical game here as the Premier League is very physical. He's been a real find for us in terms of the price we paid. Hopefully his value will be much greater than the cost in the coming years."

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Bats: Hughes Does Best to Look Ahead After Disastrous Start
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McClaren: Moyes the right choice
Former England manager Steve McClaren says that David Moyes will continue Ferguson's legacy at Manchester United.

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Friedel: 'Bale can be world's best'
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Aston Villa or Sharon Stone?
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Murray to miss French Open?
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Serena crushes Sharapova bid
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From Russia - In Love
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Woods victorious at Players
A collapse on the penultimate tee of the Players Championship by Sergio Garcia allowed Tiger Woods to win the $1.7 million tournament for the second time in his career.

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Jury out on Hall of Fame new boys
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'Baby' Ye makes Tour history
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Balotelli reveals England pain
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Late show seals Chelsea win
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Roma racism fine irks Blatter
The head of world football's global governing body, Sepp Blatter, criticizes Italian soccer for not cracking down hard enough on a team whose fans racially abused an opposition player.

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Gatecrashing hall of infamy
European soccer body UEFA has issued a statement after an 11-year-old boy managed to invade the pitch and pose as a member of Chelsea Football Club's entourage following this week's Europa League Final. He follows a (dis)honorable line of other gatecrashers who between them have blagged their way past security at the White House, the Olympics, the Oscars and even royal parties.

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Superstar Beckham to retire
David Beckham, one of the most iconic football stars of his generation, announces he is retiring at the end of this season, having crowned his glittering career with a French title at Paris Saint-Germain.

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Lowdown on Preakness Stakes
The middle sister needn't be overlooked. In fact, if the Preakness Stakes -- the second horse race in America's prestigious Triple Crown -- is anything to go by, sometimes the quiet ones have the biggest stories to tell.

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Wiggins withdraws from Giro
Seven-time Olympic medalist Bradley Wiggins, who won the Tour de France last year, withdraws from the Giro d'Italia with a chest infection.

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Balotelli vows - I'll walk off
Leading international soccer player Mario Balotelli has had enough -- the AC Milan striker has vowed to walk off the pitch next time he is racially abused at a football game.

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Beckham: The devoted dad
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CNNFC stars sign on for UNICEF
Over the past few weeks some of the biggest names in world football have been guests on CNNFC.

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Benfica's 'Bela Guttmann curse'
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Baseball spur for top jockey in U.S.
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Pacquiao rises for toughest fight
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Balotelli on Mancini sacking
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Africa's football factory scoring big
Africa's only formal ball manufacturer, Alive & Kicking uses the continent's passion for sport to create jobs, provide access to sport equipment and raise health awareness.

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Japan skater's golden dream
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Racism in Italian football
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Gay footballer on life in 'prison'
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Simpson 'an understated sailor'
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Ferguson's right-hand man
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Football: Mourinho to leave Real Madrid
Jose Mourinho wil leave Real Madrid at the end of the season, the nine-time European champion's president Florentino Perez announced at a news conference on Monday.

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The 'kissing disease' and tennis
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Watch CNN FC episode 15
CNN's Amanda Davies is joined by former French international David Ginola and award-winning journalist Patrick Barclay.

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Horse Racing: Doping scandal widens
The American-bred horse who won last year's St Leger -- Encke -- is among seven more horses trained by disgraced Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni to test positive for steroids, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has announced.

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Motorsport: Tech guru back in fast lane
After four months on the scrapheap Paddy Lowe will be back in the fast lane in June after his switch from McLaren to Formula One rival Mercedes was confirmed.

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Football: PSG block Ancelotti exit
Paris Saint-Germain face a fight to keep hold of one of the their most valuable assets -- manager Carlo Ancelotti.

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Football: Barca lift La Liga trophy
Barcelona beat Valladolid 2-1 Sunday night before lifting the La Liga trophy for the 22nd time in front of their fans at a sodden Nou Camp.

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Tennis: Rome master class from Nadal
Rafael Nadal underlines his status as overwhelming favorite for the French Open by thrashing arch rival Roger Federer in the Rome Masters final. Serena Williams takes the women's crown.

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Football: Adieu Becks to tears and cheers
David Beckham makes an emotional exit after being substituted near the end of PSG's final home match of the season. He captains the French champions to a 3-1 win over Brest after announcing his retirement from football at the end of the season.

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Horse racing: Orb denied in triple bid
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Motorsport: Pedrosa takes title lead
Dani Pedrosa mastered wet track conditions at Le Mans to win the French MotoGP Sunday -- the second straight win for the Spaniard in motorcycling's premier class.

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Football: Bayern win it for Heynckes
Champions League finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund rounded off their Bundesliga seasons in contrasting styles Saturday ahead of their May 25 showdown at Wembley.

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World's oldest marathon man, 102
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From the front line to the try line
As a shivering and nervous new recruit to the British Army -- wearing three layers just to keep warm -- Semesa Rokoduguni began to seriously question why he had left the tropical Pacific Island of Fiji.

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From townships to Le Tour
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NBA board rejects Kings move
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NBA's gay star 'is a bruiser'
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Te'o gets late NFL draft pick
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'Judge me on talent not gender'
She's got some of the softest hands in the business. But just because jockey Rosie Napravnik has a gentle touch, doesn't mean she's a push over. Could this be the first female to win the Kentucky Derby?

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Stevens returns to the saddle
3-time Kentucky Derby champion, Gary Stevenstalks to CNN about his return to the saddle after 7 years in retirement.

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Classic win for Godolphin owner
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Female sailors the 'weaker' sex?
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'React fast or be swept away'
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'Flying' boat to smash record?
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Honda returning to F1
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NASCAR legend Trickle dies
Richard "Dick" Trickle -- who made a name for himself as a NASCAR driver -- died Thursday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, a North Carolina sheriff's office said.

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Alonso enjoys 'emotional' home win
Fernando Alonso savors the sweet taste of victory in front of his home fans after kickstarting his Formula One title bid with a commanding victory in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

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Fox Sports Top Stories RSS feed merging with Breaking News
The Fox Sports Top Stories RSS feed is merging with Breaking News. Please use http://feeds.news.com.au/public/rss/2.0/fs_breaking_news_13.xml instead.

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Live NRL teams: round 11
Akuila Uate returns for Newcastle's cross-Tasman assignment against the Warriors. Check out all the R11 teams.

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Crosby has hat trick as Pens up lead on Sens
Sidney Crosby had his second career playoff hat trick and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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Detroit 3, Chicago 1: Role players help Red Wings take control - Detroit Free Press

ESPN

Detroit 3, Chicago 1: Role players help Red Wings take control Detroit Free Press Signs of a successful spring keep popping up. Like the Red Wings getting a goal from their third line, and then getting one from their fourth line, and then so many octopi being tossed that one landed in the stands. Detroit's supporting cast took starring roles ... Quenneville: Ref blew call on disallowed goal - USA TodayUSA TODAY Red Wings frustrate Blackhawks in Game 3, take 2-1 series leadYahoo! Sports (blog) Second-period flurry powers Red Wings to 2-1 lead in seriesThe Detroit News ESPN (blog) -CBC.ca -NHL.com all 223 news articles »

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Pirates 1, Astros 0
Most disappointing series win ever? Probably. But the Pirates were able to sneak out of the weekend with two wins in three games against the Astros despite scoring a mere eight runs in three games. Sunday’s game featured just one run, of course, and that came off the bat of Pedro Alvarez. He bombed a [...]

Most disappointing series win ever? Probably. But the Pirates were able to sneak out of the weekend with two wins in three games against the Astros despite scoring a mere eight runs in three games.

Sunday’s game featured just one run, of course, and that came off the bat of Pedro Alvarez. He bombed a low, opposite field line drive homer that barely made it over the short wall in left – but it counted just as much as his gigantic blast on Friday night. It was a good thing that ball found its way into the corner of the stands that juts inward, because the Bucs had just three other hits on the day. Their offensive output against a very poor pitching team for the entire weekend was very disappointing. (Granted, they were without Andrew McCutchen for this game. He sat out with a sore knee but said he’ll be good to go for the next game on Tuesday.)

On the other hand, Jeff Locke led a stellar effort on the mound for the Bucs.  Locke matched his best start of the year by going seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and two walks. It’s the Astros, but that’s still a wonderful outing. Jeff continues to be surprisingly awesome, which has been huge for the Bucs.

Mark Melancon bounced back from his Saturday hiccup with a perfect eighth, and Jason Grilli followed with a perfect ninth. Ho hum. The Bucs didn’t play great ball this weekend, but they pitched well and managed to win two out of three. Good enough, but they’ll need to get the bats going soon.

Pirates 1, Astros 0 / Box / 2013 Record: 26-18 / Next: Tuesday, vs. Cubs, 7:05

Source: FanGraphs

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