MAKING NEWS
Former Dixie Hollins star Jesse Litsch, above, won his major-league debut Tuesday, allowing four hits and one run in 82/3 innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles 2-1. With his father, Rick, having flown into Toronto from Pinellas Park to watch, the right-hander, 22, a Rays bat boy in 2001-02, received a standing ovation when he was replaced after walking Miguel Tejada. Jeremy Accardo allowed a single, then ended it on an Aubrey Huff groundout. "It's probably the best day of my life," Litsch said. Details, 4C.
NBA: The Bulls surprised the host Pistons 108-92, drawing to 3-2 in their playoff series. Details, 7C. Also, Suns starters Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for tonight's Game 5 for leaving the bench after Spurs backup Robert Horry's flagrant foul near the end of Monday's Phoenix victory. Horry was suspended for two games.
NHL: Tomas Holmstrom is bloodied but the Red Wings routed the Ducks 5-0 for a 2-1 playoff lead. Details, 5C.
OUT OF BOUNDS
Day of worship takes precedence
The Hoover High (Ala.) football team, made famous by its MTV reality series Two-A-Days, might not be able to play in the prestigious Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge on Labor Day weekend. Why? The game falls on a Sunday. Hoover was supposed to play Ohio power Colerain High in a game to be to be televised by ESPN2. But in a unanimous vote, the Alabama High School Athletic Association refused to allow Hoover to play on a Sunday. "Sunday is a day of worship,'' said Dan Washburn, the AHSAA executive director, though no written rule prohibits Sunday games. Hoover coach Rush Propst was not pleased: "The problem I've got is that it's not during church service time."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"What do we have to do, take Eva Longoria on the road every trip?"
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, in the Washington Post, talking about guard Tony Parker's fiancee (the Desperate Housewives star) and the fact the Spurs were 21st in road attendance.
DEVIL RAYS
Tonight
vs. Rangers, 7:10, the Ballpark (Disney's Wide World of Sports), Lake Buena Vista. TV/radio: Ch. 66, 1250-AM
CORRECTION
SurveyUSA's poll of baseball fans in Hillsborough County was sponsored by WFLA-TV Ch. 8. An item Tuesday cited another media outlet.
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