Sports

• MLB WATCH: AL

  Rays 6, Blue Jays 4: Evan Longoria hit his first career grand slam during a five-run sixth and Matt Garza (8-5) threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings to help AL East-leading host Tampa Bay. Longoria hit the slam off Toronto's Roy Halladay (11-7) to put the Rays ahead 5-0. The Rays have won two in a row following a seven-game losing streak, to take a 1 1/2-game lead over Boston.

• LONG ISLAND DUCKS WATCH

  Record: 4-3

• THIS DAY AT THE OLD BALLPARK

  July 20, 1985, at Shea Stadium: Darryl Strawberry blasted a grand slam in the first inning and a three-run shot in the fourth as the Mets pounded the Braves, 16-5. Strawberry was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and seven RBIs.

• TODAY AT BELMONT

  Best Bet: EAST END BOY (7)

• Wie DQ'd for not signing scorecard in time

  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Michelle Wie finished the third round of the State Farm Classic alone in second yesterday - then was disqualified for failing to immediately sign her scorecard a day earlier.

• LI's Hieron stuck as welter champ in failing IFL

  What Long Island's Jay Hieron should be doing right now is enjoying his reign as International Fight League's welterweight champion, while working, sweating, and toiling away at the gym in preparation for his next opponent.

• Mark Herrmann: A golf superintendent's job is never done

  Those parched brown patches on your lawn are enough to make you appreciate the lush, green grass on the golf course. No one appreciates it more than the course superintendents who really feel the heat this time of year.

• WWE 'Bash' at Coliseum

  Ahh, summer on Long Island. Lazy afternoons at Jones Beach. Barbecues in the backyard. And "New York City Parking Lot Brawls" in Uniondale?

• Adam Ronis: Target slow starters for run

  The major league baseball trading deadline is less than two weeks away and the trading deadline for most fantasy baseball leagues is approaching, too. Often times, a trade has propelled me to a championship.

• LET'S RANT

  Personally, I hate it!

• Bob Glauber's burning questions

  WILL THE SUPER BOWL

• Favre creating GB rift

  OK, I admit it. I own a Brett Favre Christmas tree ornament.

• Reluctance to turn page natural for athletes

  Being immortal isn't all it's cracked up to be if a fellow feels he's already dead. Whatever the gridiron's gravitational pull on presumptive Hall of Famer Brett Favre - competitive need, fan adulation, locker-room fellowship - he appears to have come to the same conclusion as that famous pro football team owner Jon Bon Jovi: "I don't want to live forever, just want to know that I'm alive."

• Shaun Powell: Another team gets off the Island

  This is nothing like the Baltimore Colts, who sneaked out of town in the middle of the night, but the moving vans are coming this way, anyway. They'll line up outside Weeb Ewbank Hall and form a caravan that will snake its way over the George Washington Bridge, into New Jersey to a place called Florham Park, not to be confused with Floral Park.

• Biggest question for Jets: Who is the QB?

  There will be questions about the free agents fitting in, the rookies doing the same, the ebb and flow of various position battles and the potential distraction of a tight end unhappy with his contract.

• NFL Network quietly gets right man, Papa

  The NFL Network created a media stir when it named Bryant Gumbel as its first play-by-play man two years ago. And it dabbled with another when it briefly explored hiring Al Michaels this year.

• Putting the laurels away

  The "us against the world" story line usually doesn't last very long. Inevitably, either the us or the world wins and it's settled. Those who didn't believe are justified, or convinced otherwise. There are no rematches.

• NEWSDAY 100

  1. Hank Aaron OF

• Newsday's 100: The super elite Hall of Fame

  When Goose Gossage is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next Sunday, he'll become the 234th player so honored.

• Liberty falls to Fever in WNBA's 1st outdoor game

  No one could deny that watching the Liberty and the Indiana Fever go through pre-game warm-ups last night on a hardwood court in the middle of Arthur Ashe Stadium was a strange sight.

• No aces for Liberty at Ashe Stadium

  Location, location, location. Lately, it doesn't seem to matter who's playing as much as where they're playing. Less than a week after Yankee Stadium was proclaimed the headline act in baseball's All-Star Game, Arthur Ashe Stadium was the story of last night's women's pro basketball match between the Liberty and Indiana Fever.

• Maurice to interview first for Islanders job

  Former Toronto coach Paul Maurice has the pole position in the interview process to determine the successor to Ted Nolan as coach of the Islanders. According to an NHL source, Maurice is expected to meet with general manager Garth Snow Monday.

• Rift between Snow, Nolan was deep

  The "philosophical differences" that divided Islanders general manager Garth Snow and coach Ted Nolan, whose two-year tenure ended Monday, go back at least a year. Snow and Nolan attempted a dramatic franchise turnaround when they traded for Ryan Smyth and then failed to sign him and several other elite free agents despite making extremely competitive offers last July.

• Norman retakes British Open lead

  SOUTHPORT, England - Like one of those deep, strange, REM dreams where familiar faces turn up in unfeasible places, Greg Norman leads the British Open after three rounds.

• MLB WATCH: EXTRA BASES

  Loewen done as pitcher

• Marlins hit three home runs in win over Phillies

  MIAMI - The game brought to mind a weekend beer league, with plenty of swinging from the heels by both the Marlins and Phillies. Despite a four-run margin, the outcome was in doubt until the final pitch.

• MLB WATCH: NL

  Brewers 8, Giants 5: Rickie Weeks hit a two-run double to cap a four-run sixth inning, Prince Fielder homered and visiting Milwaukee remained unbeaten against San Francisco this season. Ryan Braun missed hitting for the cycle by a home run for the Brewers, who had nine extra-base hits while winning their third straight.

• MLB WATCH: AL

  Rays 6, Blue Jays 4: Evan Longoria hit his first career grand slam during a five-run sixth and Matt Garza threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings to help AL East-leading host Tampa Bay. Longoria hit the bases-clearing drive off Toronto's Roy Halladay (11-7) to put the Rays ahead 5-0.

• MLB WATCH: NL

  Brewers 8, Giants 5: Rickie Weeks hit a two-run double to cap a four-run sixth inning, Prince Fielder homered and visiting Milwaukee improved to 5-0 against San Francisco this season. Ryan Braun missed hitting for the cycle by a home run for the Brewers, who had nine extra-base hits while winning their third straight.

• Tribute for Bobby

  At 11 o'clock Wednesday morning, Oklahoma time, the Murcer family held a service to bid farewell to beloved patriarch Bobby Murcer, who died July 12 of brain cancer. At precisely that time in the Bronx, where it was noon, Yankees adviser Ray Negron organized another Murcer tribute - in the parking lot of the bowling alley right by Yankee Stadium.

• Ken Davidoff: Hank's presence a little overstated so far

  The All-Star Game has passed, and the non-waivers trade deadline is rushing toward us. Let's do a lightning-round style Insider this week:

• 7th-inning stretch

  1. Huston Street, A's. He's having a bit of a down year, but he isn't eligible for free agency until 2010.

• Christian could be Yankees' fall guy

  Justin Christian hasn't had a moment on the baseball field like the one he had in the ninth inning yesterday. Luckily for him, it wasn't the defining moment of the Yankees' 4-3, 12-inning, come-from-behind win.

• Just a Joba well done

  By the time Jose Molina got conked in the right knee and the Yankees had their walk-off win over the Athletics, visions of Joba Chamberlain on the mound had evaporated quicker than a drop of water in yesterday's Mojave Desert-type heat.

• Ken Davidoff: Yankees' Posada carries trouble on his shoulder

  Yes, Rajai Davis said, confirming the obvious. The Athletics' scouts aren't blind, deaf and dumb.

• YANKEES 4, ATHLETICS 3: Given enough runners ...

  They'll take it.

• Mets' evil twins reappear in sloppy loss

  CINCINNATI - There it was, etched on the faces of the Mets and apparent in their body language.

• Martinez won't pitch before weekend

  CINCINNATI - Pedro has re-entered the building.

• Mets' evil twins return in sloppy loss

  CINCINNATI - There it was, etched on the faces of the Mets and apparent in their body language.

• RANT OF THE WEEK

  "I didn't see Roger Clemens at the All-Star Game. Did the Yankees misremember to invite him or did he just misremember to come?"

• Pedro throws bullpen session for Mets

  CINCINNATI - Pedro has reentered the building.