Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Russia beats Netherlands 3-1 to advance to semifinals

BASEL, Switzerland—Russia had the right Dutch coach. And the better team.

The long shot Russians, led by coach Guus Hiddink, scored two goals in extra time Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the European Championship with a 3-1 upset win over the Netherlands.

It was a sweet victory for Hiddink, who enhanced his reputation of getting lesser known teams far in tournaments. The coach guided South Korea to the 2002 World Cup semifinals, and he took Australia to the second round of the 2006 World Cup.

“The better Dutchman, our coach, won today,” said Andrei Arshavin, who set up the winning goal and scored the clincher in extra time.

Dimitry Torbinski and Arshavin scored within five minutes of each other in the second half of extra time. Roman Pavlyuchenko also scored for Russia, while Ruud van Nistelrooy scored for the Dutch in the 86th.

All three quarterfinals have been won by group runners-up. Russia will play the winner of Sunday’s match between Spain and Italy next Thursday.

Switcher versus switcher confuses baseball fans, umps

NEW YORK—Ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte can confound hitters — and umpires — when he’s on the mound.

The umps working a game Thursday night between the Class-A Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones had nothing to go by when Venditte made his professional debut, less than two weeks after getting drafted in the 20th round by the Yankees.

He pitched the ninth, and after retiring two batters and allowing a single, a switch-hitter stepped to the plate for Brooklyn. That’s hardly unusual. But it becomes intriguing against Venditte, a switch pitcher.

Things got a tad dizzying when designated hitter Ralph Henriquez, who had taken his on-deck circle swings as a lefty, entered the batter’s box from the right side.

Venditte put his specially made glove (it has six fingers, two webs and fits on both hands) on his left hand, and got ready to pitch right-handed.

Henriquez then changed his mind and switched sides of the plate, because a batter sees the ball sooner when it is thrown by a pitcher using the opposite hand.

So Venditte shifted his glove to the other hand.

Then it happened again.

And again.

And again.

Apparently unsure of how the rules handle such an oddity, the umpires didn’t stop the cat-and-mouse game until Venditte walked toward the plate and said something while pointing at Henriquez.

Umpires and both managers huddled and the umps decided the batter and pitcher can both change sides one time per at-bat, and that the batter must declare first.

The ruling favored the pitcher, since he gets to declare last.

About seven minutes after he first stepped in, Henriquez struck out on four pitches as a righty against a right-handed Venditte and slammed his bat in frustration. Staten Island won, 7-2.

Edmonds homers twice in same inning to lead Cubs

CHICAGO—The Cubs have the best record in the majors, so it’s no surprise they’re proving to be the top team in their own city.

Jim Edmonds, once with the St. Louis Cardinals and booed as loudly at Wrigley Field as some of the White Sox are now, hit two homers in a nine-run fourth inning Saturday, lifting the Cubs to an 11-7 victory.

“Whenever you get done tying me to the Cardinals, it’ll be fine so I can start getting a little bit of Cubs’ history in my background,” Edmonds said. “It’s a great win.”

Everything Jose Contreras of the White Sox threw, the Cubs seemed to swing at and hit in their biggest inning of the season.

Edmonds and Mike Fontenot hit back-to-back homers to open the inning and Aramis Ramirez and Edmonds had consecutive shots to close it.

“It was a great inning, fun to be part of,” said Edmonds, who struggled earlier this season before being released by the Padres in May and then signed by the Cubs.

The Cubs, who also hit back-to-back homers Friday, finished with 15 hits Saturday. They’ve now won 13 straight at Wrigley Field, where they are 31-8 this season.

Canadiens among winners as NHL draft concludes

OTTAWA—Just in time to celebrate their 100th anniversary, the Montreal Canadiens are suddenly looking like the Habs — and not the “Hab Nots” — of old.

Strengthened by a resurgent Canadian dollar, and after patiently allowing a talented young core to develop, the Canadiens caused a stir during the NHL’s two-day draft that ended Saturday.

Besides trading their first-round pick to acquire center Alex Tanguay from Calgary, the Canadiens were given permission to negotiate with soon-to-be free agent Mats Sundin, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Those are bold moves made by a team that’s encouraged after a season in which it won its first conference title since 1989. That was a huge jump for a franchise that had missed the playoffs six times since winning the Stanley Cup in 1993. By comparison, Montreal had only missed the playoffs eight times in its history prior to that year.