Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Red Wings take charge of Stanley Cup finals with 2-1 win

PITTSBURGH—The Detroit Red Wings wrecked the Pittsburgh Penguins' home-ice advantage and gave themselves a shot to hoist the Stanley Cup in Hockeytown.

Jiri Hudler snapped a third-period tie for the Red Wings, who rallied from an early deficit to beat the Penguins 2-1 Saturday night and grab a 3-1 lead in the finals.

Detroit will get the first of three potential chances to win the Cup back home in Game 5 on Monday night.

The Penguins were a perfect 9-0 in the Igloo during the postseason and hadn't lost at home since falling in a shootout to San Jose on Feb. 24 — a span of 17 games. Now they will have to figure out how to win at Joe Louis Arena to force the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 6.

Webb lead Diamondbacks past Nationals 4-0

PHOENIX—Brandon Webb threw his eighth career shutout, Mark Reynolds homered twice and the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

Webb (10-2) scattered six singles in his second complete game of the year and 14th of his career. He struck out eight and hit two.

Reynolds hit solo shots off Jason Bergmann (1-2) in the second and the seventh for his 10th and 11th homers. Reynolds also made a sprawling over-the-shoulder catch to rob Dmitri Young of a hit in the ninth.

Justin Upton and Chris Young also homered for the Diamondbacks.

Webb's performance came at a critical time for the slumping NL West leaders, who had dropped nine of 11 games.

Ginepri prevents US shutout in Paris

PARIS—Robby Ginepri is easy to spot at the French Open in his oh-so-American getup: black baseball cap turned backward and sleeveless T-shirt.

His game, remarkably, has the feel of someone from somewhere else. He slides across the court comfortably. He plays defense. He waits, patiently, for openings. Even more remarkably, he is into the fourth round at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, the first man from the United States to reach that stage since Andre Agassi in 2003.

That Ginepri would beat Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday is not necessarily newsworthy, in and of itself. Ginepri is 25 years old, ranked 88th and was a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2005; Serra is 27, ranked 94th and lost in the first or second round at each of the previous 13 major championships he entered.

Yet consider this: A week ago, Ginepri owned an 0-5 record at Roland Garros and a 6-24 career mark on clay. He was ranked 171st in January after losing in the first round of qualifying at the Australian Open.

Had Ginepri lost, one day after Venus and Serena Williams were sent home, this French Open would have been only the second Grand Slam event in the 40-year history of the Open era at which zero American men or women reached the fourth round. The only time it happened was at the 1973 Australian Open, where, it must be noted, zero American men or women were in the field.

Griffey hits No. 599 in 8-7 Reds win

CINCINNATI—Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th career homer Saturday, leaving him one shy of a seldom-reached mark, and Jay Bruce extended his amazing weeklong debut with a 10th-inning homer that lifted the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Bruce’s first big league homer off Manny Acosta (3-2) dealt another crushing road defeat to the Braves, who couldn’t hold a one-run lead heading into the ninth.

Griffey was on deck when Bruce connected for the game-winning solo shot. The 21-year-old rookie rounded the bases, flipped his helmet into the air halfway to home, then got pummeled by teammates when he hopped on the plate.

The Reds’ top prospect is 11-for-19 in his first five games in the majors, providing one big hit after another. He has a pair of three-hit games and a four-hit game.

The only thing he hadn’t done in his amazing week was connect for a homer. He pulled it off on a 2-1 pitch from Acosta, sending it deep into the seats in right field.

While the Reds flooded onto the field and 38,585 fans chanted “BRUUUUCE!” in unison, the Braves dropped their heads and trudged away in disbelief.

Ramirez joins 500 home-run club

BALTIMORE—Manny Ramirez connected for career homer No. 500 on Saturday night, hitting a drive off Baltimore Orioles right-hander Chad Bradford to become the 24th major leaguer to reach the milestone.

Ramirez drove the first pitch into the seats in right-center in the seventh inning. The Red Sox star watched the flight of the ball, then took off around the bases.

He exchanged a high-five with first base coach Luis Alicea, then hugged on-deck hitter Mike Lowell as he crossed the plate. Many of his teammates greeted him as he reached the dugout, where he received more hugs and bounced up and down in an embrace with David Ortiz and Julio Lugo.

The solo shot gave Boston a 5-3 lead. It traveled an estimated 410 feet.

Leslie, Parker on Olympic hoops team

WASHINGTON—Candace Parker was 10 years old when she watched Lisa Leslie win her first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.

Twelve years later, Parker gets a chance to help her Los Angeles Sparks teammate win an unprecedented fourth straight gold in the Beijing Olympics.

“I was sitting on my couch watching the 1996 Olympics with tears in my eyes saying I’m going to be there one day,” Parker said.

They were two of the nine players placed on the U.S. women’s basketball team Saturday. The announcement came before Los Angeles played Washington in a WNBA game.

Also on the team are Olympic veterans Katie Smith, Tina Thompson, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. This will be Smith’s third Olympics. Cappie Pondexter, Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles will make their Olympic debuts.

Big Brown gets new sutures in hoof

NEW YORK—Big Brown has new sutures in his hoof, and trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. says his unbeaten colt “knows it’s time to get ready” for a shot at the Triple Crown.

There was concern when Big Brown missed three days of training this week with a slight crack on the inside of the left front hoof. Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay inserted steel sutures Monday to pull the crack together and changed them Saturday.

“The little crack looks like it’s in pretty good shape,” Dutrow said from Belmont Park. “It’s not bugging the horse in any kind of way. Ian is very happy with it. We’re right on course, right on target.”

Big Brown, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, will try to become the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978 when he goes in the 1?-mile Belmont Stakes on June 7.