What to watch for at the Preakness

BALTIMORE (AP) — All eyes will be on Kentucky Derby winner Orb in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The 3-year-old colt will take on eight challengers in the second leg of the Triple Crown. If he wins, Orb will attempt to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978 at the Belmont Stakes on June 8. In the Preakness, Orb will be facing five horses he defeated in the Derby and three who did not run in the race.

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Giro d'Italia – stage 14 live!

Rolling report: Join Ian McCourt for full coverage of the snowy, cold and re-routed mountainous 14th stage

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Sports Briefing | Soccer: Atlético Madrid Beats Real Madrid to Capture Copa del Rey Title
Atlético Madrid ended a 14-year winless run against Real Madrid to capture the Copa del Rey title, rallying to win in extra time.

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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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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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Giggs backs Moyes appointment
Ryan Giggs says new Manchester United manager David Moyes will get the full backing of the senior players when he takes over.

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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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2013 Preakness Stakes weather forecast: Could there be some showers? - SB Nation

SB Nation

2013 Preakness Stakes weather forecast: Could there be some showers? SB Nation Weather for today's Preakness Stakes is a lot drier than it was for the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. Skies will be mostly cloudy, but most of the rain will stay south of Baltimore, MD.  Share on Facebook ·  Tweet post · + Comments. Weather for today's ... 10 Things to Know about the Preakness _ and beyondBoston Herald 2013 Preakness Betting Odds: Orb Enters Afternoon As Heavy FavoriteFanSided What Time is the 2013 Preakness?Patch.com Huffington Post -Washington Times -Guardian Express all 908 news articles »

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Pirates 5, Astros 4
The Pirates were in significant danger of an embarrassing loss to the Astros for most  of the night on Friday…but in the end, the Astros were the ones embarrassed. Badly. The bottom of the ninth inning was an absolute mess. Only one person truly did something right in the inning – Andrew McCutchen singled to right to put [...]

The Pirates were in significant danger of an embarrassing loss to the Astros for most  of the night on Friday…but in the end, the Astros were the ones embarrassed. Badly.

The bottom of the ninth inning was an absolute mess. Only one person truly did something right in the inning – Andrew McCutchen singled to right to put men on the corners with one out. Marte had reached on a gift bloop single and Snider took his place on a force out, then moved to third on Cutch’s hit. With a chance to win the game, Brandon Inge tapped a ball harmlessly to the pitcher…who bobbled the ball and didn’t record an  out. Bases loaded. Neil Walker had a dreadful at bat and struck out looking. Two outs. Russell Martin worked a full count. A big PNC Park crowd was on its feet. And then….

Strangest walk-off I have ever seen. The Pirates didn’t even know if / how to celebrate. The faces of the Astros players were cringe-worthy. If I had been a fan of any other team all my life, I’d feel bad (it’s hard not to), but we’ve seen the Pirates lose games in all kinds of ways over the years. Never like that. This is the only comparison I can recall, but it doesn’t involve the clumsiness of a collision. Just absurd. The Astros really are that bad. 

The game was messy before the ninth, too. The Bucs had given Houston a run by throwing the ball away twice on a stolen base attempt (keyed by Clint Barmes dropping a throw from Martin that looked like a sure out), Jeanmar Gomez wasn’t too good – just 4.2 innings and four runs (three earned). The Astros contributed to the start of the Bucs’ comeback with a three base error on a ball McCutchen hit to right, and Garrett Jones cashed it in with a double.

The Bucco comeback wasn’t totally fueled by the Astros, though. Pedro Alvarez delivered the tying shot, and boy was it a shot. Watch it right now if you haven’t seen it yet.

He missed the river (on the fly) by about five feet. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone be so “all over” a pitch from the center field view, and the result was just as impressive. It also came at a crucial time, with one out in the eighth inning.

Oh yeah – McCutchen also homered in the first inning. The bullpen also deserved kudos – Vin Mazzaro, Tony Watson, and Justin Wilson all combined for zeroes to enable the Bucs to come back and win. It was probably the most bizarre win you’ll see all year…but it’s a win, and the Bucs’ fourth victory in a row.

Pirates 5, Astros 4 / Box / 2013 Record: 25-17 / Next: Saturday, vs Astros, 7:05

Source: FanGraphs

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