Hitting Back

-Tiger Woods' repeat at the British Open proves why he's the best golfer on the planet. He shot a 67 for 18 under par to capture the tournament by two strokes over Chris DiMarco Sunday at Royal Liverpool. A month removed from failing to make the cut at the U.S. Open after the recent death of his Dad Earl, the 30 year-old improved his record at majors to a perfect 11-0 when leading into the final round. Even more amazing is that his 11th major tied for second all-time with Walter Hagen- trailing just legend Jack Nicklaus who went on to win a PGA record 18. By the time he's finished, Woods could break that record and go down as the greatest of all-time.

-James Blake edged Andy Roddick for the RCA Championships in Indianapolis- posting a hard fought three set win 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). It was his sixth career ATP title. Half of them have come this year, which explains the 26 year-old Yonkers native's rise to a career high No.5 in the world. He'll certainly want to continue that momentum into the U.S. Open next month.

-For Roddick, even though he fell short, the 23 year-old Austin Texas native was pleased with his performance. The former world No.1 has struggled this year, falling out of the Top 10 for the first time in three years. Though he hasn't won an ATP title since last year, Roddick is starting to regain confidence. He only dropped his serve once in the tournament but didn't come up empty handed thanks to teaming up with fellow American Bobby Reynolds to capture the doubles title. It's a good sign to see him playing doubles. Hopefully, it will pay dividends for the big server at the net in future tournaments.

-It was a tough day for the local baseball teams. Both the Yankees and Mets lost. The Bronx Bombers saw recent waiver pickup Sidney Ponson hammered by the Blue Jays in a 13-5 pasting. The ex-Cardinal lasted just 2.1 innings, giving up six runs. After allowing a two-run home run to Vernon Wells in the first, Ponson was given a reprieve when Jorge Posada's three-run shot put the Yanks ahead 3-2 in the third but gave it right back when Troy Glaus took him deep to make it 4-3. It would only get worse. Kris Wilson was no relief, allowing two more homers in the eight run frame, which put Toronto comfortably ahead 10-3 en route to three out of four to trail the Yankees by only two games.

-In the same game, Wells hit his second dinger of the day off Shawn Chacon. He added a sac fly to finish with four RBI's. He might just be the most underrated star in baseball. The 27 year-old centerfielder is having a great season to keep Toronto in playoff contention- hitting .322 with 26 homers, 78 RBI's and 11 steals. He doesn't get much recognition playing north of the border. If you compared those numbers to A-Rod, Wells is superior in every category. Now would you even put him in the same category as the two-time AL MVP? Of course not. But the former Jays' 1997 first round pick continues to improve and deserves more recognition. Maybe if he gets Toronto into its first postseason since 1993 when they repeated as World Champs, he'll finally get it.

-Meanwhile in Queens, the Mets saw their three-game win streak halted- losing 8-4 to the Astros. In his third career start, rookie Mike Pelfrey suffered his first loss, giving up five runs in only 4.1 innings. The 2005 ninth overall selection took a 3-1 lead into the fifth before things unraveled. The Astros touched up the righty for four runs including a go-ahead Lance Berkman double which knocked out Pelfrey. Reliever Darren Oliver allowed a two out RBI single to former Met Preston Wilson which made it 5-3. Though Cliff Floyd's runscoring single cut the deficit to 5-4, it was the closest the Amazin's came. Houston tacked on the final three runs to salvage the final game of the series.

-In the loss, Carlos Delgado hit a first inning three-run homer for his 24th of the season to stake Pelfrey to a three run lead. After slumping badly for over a month, the 33 year-old first baseman has snapped out of it with three long balls in his last four games, driving in eight. Definitely a good sign.

-In other action, Twins rookie Francisco Liriano fanned 10 in five innings to lead Minnesota to a 3-1 win over Cleveland. He improved to 12-2 with a 1.93 ERA on the season. There's little doubt the 22 year-old Dominican native is a leading AL Cy Young candidate. My question is what on earth was Giants GM Brian Sabean thinking when he included him along with now Twins closer Joe Nathan in a package for current White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski? It might go down as one of the worst deals ever. Even worse than Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano.

-The Red Sox dropped their second straight to the Mariners 9-8. In a wild finish, Seattle went ahead on Adrian Beltre's inside the park home run in the eighth. But Jason Varitek's two out ninth inning homer off closer J.J. Putz tied it. Unfortunately for Boston, Mike Timlin served up a walkoff HR to Seattle first baseman Richie Sexson. Despite the loss, they still lead the Yankees by 2.5 games and Toronto by 4.5.

-In NHL news, Sabres center Daniel Briere was awarded a one-year deal worth $5 million in arbitration. This is just a guess on our part. But that probably doesn't bode well for the Devils in their case against Scott Gomez. Briere and Gomez are very comparable. Both made a shade over $2 million this past season. Thing is the Sabres pivot played in only 48 games during the regular season but posted 25 goals, 33 assists for 58 points. He also returned for the postseason and paced Buffalo with 19 points (8-11-19). Comparatively, Gomez tallied a career best 84 points (33-51-84) in 82 games and posted nine points (5-4-9) in nine playoff contests. Looks like he's in line for a hefty raise.