ABCDE SPORTS saturday, july 31, 2010 PRO FOOTBALL


Record contract Sam Bradford agrees to a deal with the Rams. D6


SOCCER


Hope for a turnaround Attack-minded midfielder Branko Boskovic tries to lift D.C. United. D2


Haynesworth again fails to pass test


Defensive lineman will give Shanahan’s conditioning drill a third attempt on Saturday


by Rick Maese If the question on the first day of


Washington Redskins training camp centered on when Albert Haynesworth might pass Coach Mike Shanahan’s con- ditioning test, that had changed by Fri- day morning. Suddenly, the question hanging over Redskins Park like a storm cloud is whether or not Haynesworth


will ever pass it. After failing on attempt No. 2, Haynes-


worth is scheduled to try the test again before the team hits the practice field Saturday morning. “I tell you that test is not an easy test for a guy that’s 330-some pounds,” defen- sive end Phillip Daniels said. “At the same time, you’ve got to train for that test.”


Daniels and several other teammates agreed that the test is difficult but fair, and requires specific cardio training. Shanahan has prohibited Haynes-


worth from practicing with the rest of the team until he passes the running drill. Instead, Haynesworth has worked


briefly with coaches following each of the team’s three practices so far. Haynesworth is required to complete


two 300-yard shuttles — which comprise six 25-yard out-and-back sprints. The first set must be done in 70 seconds or less and the second in 73 seconds or less. He is allowed a 31


⁄2 -minute break be-


tween the runs. On Thursday, Haynesworth passed the


first but took a long restroom break be- fore the second. “You get 31


⁄2 redskins continued on D6 minutes; he was gone


close to 10,” said Ray Wright, the team’s strength and conditioning coach. “So I


JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST


Albert Haynesworth, with defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, must pass Coach Mike Shanahan’s conditioning test before he can join the other Redskins in drills.


A fearsome threesome, but is it the best?


The Phillies could make the argument that, after trading for Roy Oswalt to go along with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, they now have the best three-deep playoff rotation of any contender in baseball. But do they? Here is how we would rank the best top threes among contenders in each league (statistics are through Thursday’s games):


NATIONAL LEAGUE 1.Cardinals


Stammen steps up


W-L ERA WHIP K/BB


RHP Adam Wainwright 14-6 2.23 1.030 142/39 RHP Chris Carpenter RHP Jaime Garcia


2.Phillies RHP Roy Halladay RHP Roy Oswalt LHP Cole Hamels


3. Giants RHP Tim Lincecum RHP Matt Cain LHP Barry Zito


11-3 3.09 1.184 122/40 9-4 2.33 1.284 94/46


12-8 2.21 1.023 149/20 6-12 3.42 1.109 120/34 7-7 3.48 1.295 128/46


10-4 3.12 1.272 143/53 8-8 3.14 1.151 106/49 8-6 3.49 1.266 98/52


From left, Cardinals pitchers Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia.


WAINWRIGHT PHOTO BY AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES; CARPENTER PHOTO BY NAM Y. HUH/ASSOCIATED PRESS; GARCIA PHOTO BY AL BEHRMAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS


GOLF


A price to be paid For a fee, fans can skip the ticket lottery for the 2011 U.S. Open. D3


TENNIS


Serving up appetizers Legg Mason qualifying matches begin in D.C. this weekend. D2


D S


as Nationals rout Phillies


Philadelphia debut by Adam Kilgore


It is one of the great mysteries of


AMERICAN LEAGUE 1.Rangers


LHP Cliff Lee LHP C.J. Wilson RHP Tommy Hunter


2. Rays LHP David Price RHP Jeff Niemann RHP Matt Garza


3.Yankees


LHP CC Sabathia LHP Andy Pettitte RHP Phil Hughes


13-4 3.15 1.242 124/52 11-2 2.88 1.202 90/38 12-3 4.04 1.231 96/32


From left, Texas Rangers pitchers C.J. Wilson, Tommy Hunter and Cliff Lee.


WILSON PHOTO BY MIKE FUENTES/ASSOCIATED PRESS; HUNTER PHOTO BY ELSA/GETTY IMAGES; LEE PHOTO BY MIKE STONE/REUTERS


this Washington Nationals season, capable of stealing your attention, on any given night, from a brewing blockbuster trade, an ace’s spoiled de- but, a beauty pageant queen and bus- loads of fans from Philadelphia: What is the deal with Craig Stammen? Some days, Stammen pitches like fodder just waiting to be replaced if and when Nationals actually get good. On others, like Friday night, he pitches like his presence will be one of the forces that eventually help push the Nationals into contention. Before 32,590 at Nationals Park, Stammen stifled the Philadelphia Phillies for 61


⁄3


W-L ERA WHIP K/BB 9-4 2.40 0.892 114/7 10-5 3.11 1.215 100/62 8-0 2.31 1.059 32/15


14-5 2.90 1.234 117/53 9-3 3.08 1.154 98/42 11-5 4.06 1.236 97/41


innings in an 8-1 Nationals victo-


ry. The Nationals pummeled Roy Os- walt in his Phillies debut, sending thousands of invading fans to a long drive home on I-95. With less than 24 hours before the


trade deadline, Adam Dunn’s future still in doubt and Stephen Strasburg on the disabled list, the Nationals won for the third time in four games against a National League East heavy- weight. After Miss Iowa tossed out to the first pitch to Miguel Batista, they scored five runs, four earned, in six innings against Oswalt, whom the Phillies acquired Thursday from the Houston Astros. He owned the mar- quee, but not the game. “The story,” Dunn said, “is Stam-


men.” The Nationals won, really, because


The Good Craig Stammen showed up. Stammen struck out five and allowed one run on five hits and a walk, shut-


nationals continued on D5


Washington rocks Oswalt in his


Oswalt a bit dazed by quick change Addition of right-hander is boon for Phillies, but debut against Nationals is shaky


by Dave Sheinin


Little Roy, as Roy Oswalt appar- ently will be known in the Philadel- phia Phillies’s Roy-infested club- house, walked into Nationals Park shortly after 3 o’clock Friday after- noon, still reeling from the events of the previous 24 hours — when he was traded from the only franchise he had


ever known, the Houston Astros, and informed his first game in a Phillies uniform would also be his first start. “It’s hard to gain 30 games [in the standings] overnight,” Oswalt said late Friday night, with a sly grin on his face. Of the nerves he felt, he said, “It’s kind of like your first game in the big leagues.” Between the shock of being traded, the toll of the hastily arranged travel,


the rushed greetings of new team- mates and the mental drain of prepar- ing to pitch in the middle of a pennant race, Oswalt lost track of his fastball, and he paid for it in an 8-1 loss to the Nationals. Struggling with his command from the start, Oswalt gave up a triple to Washington’s Nyjer Morgan on his first pitch in a Phillies uniform, was down a run two batters into the game,


and departed after six mediocre in- nings.


“I started out on the wrong foot,” Oswalt said “I think next start, I’ll be a little better-tuned.”


By game time, as Oswalt’s initial trip to the mound was being cheered by a sizable pro-Phillies faction at Na- tionals Park, the night felt like the


phillies continued on D5 JONATHAN NEWTON / THE WASHINGTON POST


Washington starter Craig Stammen shuts down the Phillies on one run and five hits over 61


⁄3 innings. Soccer’s international jet set descends on Baltimore by Jorge Castillo Don’t tell the Los Angeles Lakers, New


York Yankees or New Orleans Saints, but none of them can claim the distinction of being the world’s most popular champi- onship club. Not by a long shot. That distinction goes to Italian soccer


power Inter Milan, winner of the Cham- pions League in May. Saturday night, Bal- timore will play host to the decorated champion when it battles rising English Premier League power Manchester City in a preseason friendly at M&T Bank Sta- dium. Several players on both sides, includ- ing City’s David Silva, Carlos Tévez, Nigel


de Jong and Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijd- er, will not be in uniform as they take time off after the World Cup. Still, a ma- jority of the teams’ starters are expected to play and around 35,000 fans are expec- ted to attend in the wake of the sport’s biggest event, which had soccer in a rare spot: hogging the American headlines. Several European teams have been


tuning up for their seasons in the United States, including the world’s most popu- lar club, Manchester United, which de- feated Major League Soccer’s all-stars, 5-2, in Houston on Wednesday with a re- serve-loaded roster. “The young’uns played against the Red Bulls [last Sunday], which for me was a fantastic experience, when the young


Inter Milan vs. Manchester City


When: Tonight, 8 p.m. Where: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore.


players come out and got time to play,” Manchester City Coach Roberto Mancini said“And it was a fantastic experience for them.”


soccer continued on D2


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