Q Do you have any reaction to the theme of what Ahmadinejad has been saying today; essentially that, why should we go to war, there is no war in the offing, we're not walking towards war with the United States? Are those comments in any way helpful? MR. HADLEY: Look, what would be helpful is for Iranian officials to give some direction so that they would stop the movement of equipment into Iraq, and training people in Iraq who are killing innocent Iraqis, Iraqi security forces and our kids. What would be helpful is if Iran would get out of the business of supporting terror, and agree to what's been offered to them: to suspend their enrichments capability so we can sit down and negotiate a resolution to the nuclear issue, that would give the Iranian people an opportunity for a truly peaceful civil nuclear program, and reassure the international community they're not trying to find a nuclear weapon. And it would be nice for this regime to give their people more of an opportunity to participate in government. I mean, look -- it would be nice for this regime to take some concrete steps to address the agenda, that not only the United States has, but really the whole international community has with the government of Iran. Thanks a lot.I thought the President considered him part of the axis of evil and a sponsor of terror. I thought we were at war against terror and that we were going to hunt for and track down all terrorists and their sponsors until they were brought to justice. That’s what we were told right after 9/11. Isn’t that why the left keeps whining about our apparent inability to capture Bin Laden.
9/7/2007
Smokies succumb to Stars' no-hitter, 5-0HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Tennessee Smokies fell victim to a no-hit pitching performance by the Huntsville Stars pitching staff Friday night, succumbing 5-0 to the home team at Joe Davis Stadium. Stars' hurlers Corey Thurman, Dave Johnson and Luis Pena combined on the historic feat, and evened the Southern League Divisional Series at 1-1.
9/7/2007
Thurman was able to shake off two first-inning walks Friday night to retire 16 Smokies in a row. He used a commanding fastball to keep the Smokies off-guard, striking out seven over six innings.
The Stars' bullpen would not let Thurman's performance go to waste. Johnson followed with three strikeouts in two innings, including a third-strike wild pitch to the Smokies' Nate Spears in the eighth. The road team could do nothing against Pena either, with three ninth-inning groundouts to secure the no-hit bid.
With Stars pitching stifling the Smokies offense, the Stars' five-run sixth inning was more than enough to win. Hernan Iribarren and Adam Heether kicked off the Stars' attack with back-to-back singles. After Lou Palmisano reached on an error by Smokies infielder Kyle Reynolds, Michael Brantley delivered a two-run single to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. The bases would load up again for the home team, where pinch-hitter Mike Goetz's single brought in two more. A sacrifice groundout by the Stars' Steven Sollmann concluded the scoring for the home team.
The best-of-five series is now tied at 1-1 and will shift to Smokies Park on Saturday. Tennessee will start Jeff Samardzija (3-3, 3.41), while the Stars are sending Derek Miller (6-2, 3.18) to the mound. Tickets are available by calling the Smokies ticket office at (865) 286-2300 or by ordering online at www.smokiesbaseball.com.
Stars Toss No-Hitter in Win Over Smokies!Corey Thurman, David Johnson and Luis Pena combined on the first home no-hitter in franchise history in Huntsville’s 5-0 win over Tennessee Friday night at Joe Davis Stadium in the second game of the North Division Playoff series. The Stars evened up the best-of-five series at a game apiece after exploding for all five runs in the sixth inning against Smokies’ starter Justin Berg.
Thurman issued two walks in the first inning before getting Issmael Salas to fly out for the final out of the frame. From there, the right-hander retired the side in order in each of the next five innings, recording six of his seven strikeouts in the game. Berg had blanked the Stars on three singles through five frames before the Stars broke through in the sixth.
Hernan Iribarren and Adam Heether opened the inning with singles before Lou Palmisano dropped down a sacrifice bunt attempt that third baseman Kyle Reynolds fielded but his throw to first base pulled second baseman Nate Spears off the bag, allowing Palmisano to reach to load the bases. Michael Brantley then grounded the next pitch into right field to chase home the first two runs of the night. Steve Moss singled with one out to reload the bases and force manager Don Money to make a decision whether or not to leave Thurman in the game. The skipper opted to send up pinch-hitter Mike Goetz, who made the move pay off by chopping a single over a leaping shortstop Robinson Chirinos for a two-run single to push the lead to 4-0. Steve Sollmann’s fielder’s choice grounder plated Moss with the final run of the night.
Johnson took over for Thurman and walked Tyler Colvin with one out in the seventh before getting Salas to ground into a broken bat, inning-ending double play. He then struck out the side in the eighth before turning the game over to Pena, who saved 12 games during the regular season. The hard-throwing right-hander retired Eric Patterson on a grounder to second, Jorge Cortes on a comebacker and got Casey McGehee to ground out to second base on an 0-1 offering to finish off the third no-hitter in Stars’ history. Dana Allison tossed a no-hitter at Birmingham on August 3, 1992 and Tanyon Sturtze kept Chattanooga hitless on June 13, 1993 at Engel Stadium.
The series continues Saturday afternoon with southpaw Derek Miller taking the hill for Huntsville against Smokies’ right-hander Jeff Samardzija. Coverage of the game begins at 3:50 pm central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Paybacks are tough, they say.
On June 21, Huntsville pitcher Corey Thurman yielded a home run to Tennessee pitcher Mark Holliman, who went on to pitch a no-hitter against the Stars.
On Friday night, Thurman was one of three Huntsville pitchers to turn the tables on Tennessee, combining for a no-hitter in a 5-0 Stars' victory.
Thurman, a 28-year-old former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher who as recently as 2005 was pitching in independent ball, struck out six in six innings, walking only two, before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. Dave Johnson followed with two innings of hitless relief, followed by Stars' closer Luis Pena, who hit 100-plus mph on four of his ninth-inning deliveries.
With the series evened at 1-1, the playoffs move to Smokies Park in Sevierville at 5:05 p.m. today, with Huntsville sending Derek Miller (6-2) against Tennessee's Jeff Samardzija (3-3).
Game four will be in Huntsville Sunday at 7:05 EDT; game five, if needed would be at Joe Davis Stadium Monday at 8:05.
It was the first no-hitter by a Huntsville pitcher in a home game in franchise history and only the third in club history.
The last no-hitter in a Southern League playoff game came in 2005 when Jacksonville's Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton combined to stop Birmingham in the series opener.
"I've seen some no-hitters but I've never been a part of one," Thurman said. "After Holliman got his against us, I was thinking tonight I'd much rather do it this time of the year."
Thurman, who began the season slowly and painfully, battling food poisoning, saved his best for the postseason. He was almost doing a tightrope walk early, walking a pair of batters in the first and throwing two dozen pitches in the inning. But after putting Tyler Colvin on with a walk, he retired the last 16 men he faced, five by strikeout.
The Stars broke open the shutout with a rat-tat-tat sixth inning against Smokies' starter Justin Berg (7-7), who is 0-2 in two previous starts against Huntsville.
After a pair of hits and a Kyle Reynolds error on a bunt loaded the bases for Huntsville, Michael Brantley swatted a single through the right side to score a pair of runs.
Mike Goetz, pinch-hitting for Thurman later in the inning in only his sixth Huntsville at-bat since a promotion from rookie ball, added two more runs with a chopper over short. Steve Sollmann's infield hit plated the fifth run.
© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
An athletic career that began back when Michael Jackson was relevant and Michael Jordan was a champion — with North Carolina — now seemingly hinges on a few swings over the next month or so. Julio Franco's last swim against the riptide of time began Thursday at Turner Field, the place where one way or another his long, winding career seemingly was meant to end.
Franco spared no dramatic image in describing his return to the Braves at the age of 48. Cut free earlier this month by the team the Braves are chasing in the National League East — the New York Mets — Franco said he fell to his knees and prayed for deliverance back to the team that once before had rescued his career.
CHICAGO — Barry Bonds moved within two homers of Hank Aaron's record Thursday, hitting Nos. 752 and 753 with two of his biggest swings this month and ending his worst slump in six years. He was rested and ready, all right.
Bonds sent the first pitch from Cubs starter Ted Lilly high over the right-field fence leading off the second inning — the first drive out of Wrigley Field to reach Sheffield Avenue all season. Then he homered again in the seventh on a 3-2 pitch from Will Ohman, a three-run shot that stuck in the basket of the center-field wall. Ohman became the 443rd pitcher to give up a home run to Bonds, who has 19 homers on the year.
It was his 71st multihomer game, second behind Babe Ruth's 72, and second this season. He went 3-for-3 and scored three runs in the Giants' 9-8 loss. Bonds' first homer pulled the Giants within 4-1 and was San Francisco's first hit off Lilly, who surrendered his third career homer to Bonds. The next homer got the Giants within one and gave Bonds six RBIs on the day, his most since driving in six runs Sept. 22 last year at Milwaukee. It was his seventh career game with at least six RBIs.
CHICAGO -- Barry Bonds hit his homers, and the Cubs still won. Everybody's happy.
Bonds drove in six runs, belting career homers No. 752 and 753, but the Cubs took advantage of three errors in the first inning to beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-8, Thursday and take the series, 3-1.
"You're watching a Hall of Famer," Chicago's Cliff Floyd said. "We won a game, and the fans got a chance to see him chase history. That's a double win."
Unless you're Ted Lilly or Will Ohman. Both Cubs lefties served up Bonds' blasts.
"I hate to have Bonds hit two home runs off our pitchers," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "That's what the fans came out to see in these four days and they got their money's worth. He put on a power-hitting exhibition and our team won a baseball game."
Aramis Ramirez drove in two runs to back Lilly (10-4) and help the Cubs win for the 18th time in their last 23 games. And they did so despite not having Derrek Lee in the lineup as he served the second day of his five-game suspension, and losing Floyd and Daryle Ward to injuries. Lilly did his part when he singled in the fifth, notched his first career stolen base and scored on Alfonso Soriano's double.
That's right. Lilly stole a base.
"I always wondered why pitchers don't do that -- they never pay attention to them," Floyd said. "If you're a little bit of an athlete, you should take off."
