Mike Weir was concerned about the way he was starting tournaments. What got his attention in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship was how he finished. After six birdies in seven holes -- that qualifies as a great start -- and three more birdies along the back nine of the TPC Boston, the Canadian was at 9-under par and faced a 60-foot eagle putt on the final hole when he mentioned to...

Maybe Andy Roddick was right. Maybe his racket was to blame. Maybe that inanimate object -- rendered a mangled mess by being slammed to the court not once but twice by a fumbling and frustrated Roddick -- truly was at fault. Had to be. Couldn't have been Roddick's own poor performance to that point. Or the fine play on display from the younger, less-experienced, less-accomplished version of Roddick on...

The Tampa Bay Rays cleared another hurdle in the effort to distance themselves from their woeful past. Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam, Cliff Floyd drove in five runs and the AL East-leading Rays guaranteed their first-ever winning season with a 14-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. "Going into spring training I knew we were better," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

The New York Mets were one strike from defeat before Carlos Beltran came through with the big hit that had eluded them all night. Beltran hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kevin Gregg, and New York's shaky bullpen held on for a 5-4 win over the Florida Marlins on Friday night. Before Beltran's homer, the Mets were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

The Philadelphia Phillies may have benefited from an instant replay in the seventh inning. Too bad the rule only is in effect for home run calls. Ryan Howard was called out on a close play at first, thwarting a rally that helped the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 for their seventh straight win.