Rays
Stranger than fiction loss for Rays
RED SOX 6, RAYS 3: Esteban Yan, with the help of some bungling defense, blows a 9th-inning lead.

Zambrano solid in eighth start
ST. PETERSBURG -- The question doesn't seem to be whether Victor Zambrano can be a starter. He showed Thursday that he belonged on the mound.

Title to Durham
The Durham Bulls swept the Triple-A International League championship with a 2-0 victory over Buffalo on Thursday in Durham, N.C.

Up next: Rays at Blue Jays
SCOUTING REPORT: The Blue Jays are out of playoff contention in the AL East. They have won their past four games.

Lightning
John Romano
Lightning GM has short time to win over fans
TAMPA -- Jay Feaster is speaking of credibility. The need for it, the search for it, the acquisition of it.

Players look on bright side as camp starts
Lightning players say they can contend for 1st time in 6 seasons, building confidence by winning early.

Lecavalier could be a future captain
BRANDON -- Center Vinny Lecavalier lost his captaincy last season. General manager Jay Feaster wants him to prove he should get it back.

NFL
Unexpected QB leads Ravens
Chris Redman may lack experience, but he has scars to prove he's tough to beat.

Around the NFL
Case dropped against Russell

NFL's fourth-down risks statistically pay off big
If you want more excitement in your NFL playbook, David Romer is the man you want calling plays.

College football
Adding to the noise level
USF's Hugh Smith wants his quarterback to know what he'd like -- the ball. He isn't alone among receivers.

Around the state
Top quarterback recruit picks UM

Hokies win going away over the Herd
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Gifted as Byron Leftwich is, he can't score from the opponent's kicking net.

Baseball
Baseball notebook
Coin flips give edge to Angels and Giants

AL: Angels tie A's for West lead
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Scott Spiezio's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth gave Anaheim a 7-6 victory Thursday over Oakland and vaulted it into a tie atop the AL West.

NL: Vizcaino's blast ends Cards' streak
HOUSTON -- Jose Vizcaino learned how to hit in clutch situations during his time with the Yankees.

Colleges
Win streak the key to turnaround
TAMPA -- After opening its season last month with two losses, the South Florida volleyball team has righted its ship.

Golf
Daly to play in Tampa Bay Classic
Long-hitting John Daly, one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour, committed to next week's Tampa Bay Classic.

State practice report
UF fills a few holes but not all

NHL
Blues give Tkachuk 5-year deal
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues re-signed forward Keith Tkachuk, the team's leading goal scorer, to a five-year contract Thursday.

Et cetera
In brief
New York orders boxers to undergo MRI, steroid test

Motorsports
Brothers, two others buy East Bay Raceway
For more than 20 years, Hillsborough County businessman Al Varnadore spent his Saturday nights sliding through the turns at East Bay Raceway. Now he owns it.

Sports TV/Radio
Addition of Madden might not save 'MNF'
So, ABC's Monday Night Football, with the ballyhooed addition of John Madden, draws a smaller audience than last year's opener (and smallest since 1994), but the station Madden left -- Fox -- and his replacements draw a bigger audience than last year in their debut.

Preps
An old rivalry is rekindled
MIDDLETON 46, BLAKE 0: In their first game in 31 years, the Tigers whip the Yellow Jackets' junior varsity.

Nice lid!
New coach, change of luck or just plain ugly. There are plenty of reasons why many county teams have new helmets.

Hawks downplay payback
Armwood coach Sean Callahan says the 63-0 loss to Jefferson last season, the worst in school history, is not a factor in tonight's key Class 4A, District 8 rematch.

TC takes out anger on county squads
Countryside breezes past Shorecrest and Largo on the first day.