Edmilson sidelined for three weeks

FC Tokyo forward Edmilson will miss roughly three weeks as a result of a leg injury suffered on Aug. 25, the J. League first division club said late Saturday.

Edmilson, who is on loan from Qatar's Al-Gharafa Sports Club through Jan. 1, 2013, suffered a contusion to the fascia in the back of his left thigh in Tokyo's 1-0 win at Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

The forward, who was acquired in July, has yet to score in five games for Tokyo, which is currently ninth in the table with 36 points from 24 games, nine points back of leading Vegalta Sendai.

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Colts fire Caldwell after three seasons in charge

INDIANAPOLIS — Jim Caldwell endured everything thrown at him during his first two seasons as the Colts' coach — replacing a friend, constant criticism, even fighting through a huge rash of injuries.

He couldn't survive the loss of Peyton Manning.

Caldwell became the Colts' third high-profile dismissal in an offseason purge, getting fired Tuesday after producing the franchise's worst record in two decades.

"This is obviously a big transitional time for us, and I know we're excited moving forward and it's hard when you say goodbyes to some people," team owner Jim Irsay said. "But it's part of the business."

In Indianapolis, it's been anything but business as usual.

The day after they finished 2-14 and locked up the No. 1 overall draft pick, Irsay fired team vice chairman Bill Polian, the architect of the Colts' success, and his son, Chris, the hand-picked general manager.

A nine-day search prompted Irsay to hire 39-year-old Ryan Grigson as the replacement last Wednesday.

Since then, Irsay and his new GM have been meeting almost non-stop, debating what tack the team needed to take next — bringing in new assistants to fix the problems or making wholesale changes?

Things were so clouded Monday that Caldwell even met with former Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo about possibly becoming the Colts' new defensive coordinator. By Tuesday morning, the conventional wisdom in Indy and around league circles was that Caldwell would return.

A few hours later, everything changed as suddenly as the Colts' 2011 fortunes. Irsay said he informed Caldwell of the decision shortly before the team confirmed the move. The search for a new coach is to begin immediately.

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Jets beat Two Three in Emperor's Cup debut

The Chiba Jets' defensive intensity picked up in the second half of Monday's Emperor's Cup game against club team Two Three. At the same time, the Jets starting making shots with regularity.

Two big runs fueled the Jets' strong second half in a runaway 99-68 victory over the Yamamguchi Prefecture-based squad at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

The expansion Jets, under first-year coach Eric Gardow, became the first bj-league team to appear in an All-Japan Basketball Championship game, doing so in the 87th Emperor's Cup.

"It's a great opportunity for Japanese players to show their talents in a great atmosphere," said Chiba coach Eric Gardow, who previously coached pro ball in Qatar.

Chiba, which led 45-40 at halftime, had spurts of 14-0 and 16-0 and opened the second half by outscoring Two Three 40-12. That made it 85-57 after Shota Isshiki's baseline jumper late in the fourth quarter.

"Getting stops defensively and getting rebounds," were keys, Gardow told reporters. "More importantly, we got some easy transition baskets. (Lead guard) Maurice (Hargrow) got into a little rhythm there right off the bat in the third quarter, which was good for him. And that felt natural for us when he was in that position. That just really let us settle down a little bit. Our guys were nervous, excited, playing in the All-Japan (Championship). A lot of these guys grew up dreaming about this."

Forward Tomoya "Chomo" Nakamura, who has played in the bj-league since its establishment in 2005, was among the players fulfilling that dream. In fact, Nakamura had played in the Emperor's Cup eight years earlier while at Chuo University.

Nakamura said it was his dream to again play before the excited boosters in the Emperor's Cup.

"As expected, it was a good feeling to be out there today," he said with a big smile. "I really enjoyed the game."

"I'm glad to be here," he added.

Noticing a banner held up by fans behind the team's bench that featured the logos of all 19 bj-league teams, Nakamura said the Jets were "proud to represent Chiba, proud to represent the bj-league" at this marquee event.

Hargrow, meanwhile, admitted he didn't realize how big a deal the Emperor's Cup was on a national level to Japanese players and fans, but soon found out by the way his teammates and the boosters became fired up as the game progressed. "It was fun," he added. "We're honored to be here and represent the bj-league."

With the win, the Jets will face JBL club Levanga Hokkaido on Wednesday afternoon. The 32-team tourney, featuring JBL, JBL2, college, club and high school representatives, will crown a champion next Monday.

"With all due respect, we are the underdog," Gardow said, looking ahead to Chiba's next game."We're not expected to win, but we're really looking forward to the challenge. I don't know how to prepare to lose, but I know how to prepare to win whether we are playing the (Los Angeles) Lakers or Hokkaido."

Facing Hokkaido, Gardow added, will be a fun challenge, noting that the club has a "Japanese legend (Takehiko Orimo) that's still playing."

Hargrow paced the Jets with a game-high 24 points and a team-high three 3-pointers. Nakamura had 17 points and a game-best 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Takaki Ishida poured in 11 points, Mitsuhiro Kamezaki scored nine, Hiroki Sato had eight and Kensuke Tanaka and Kosuke Yahata chipped in with seven points apiece.

Chiba was 26-for-39 at the free-throw line. The Jets out-rebounded Two Three 55-39 and held the club team to 28-for-78 shooting.

Osamu Shimabukuro led Two Three with 13 points.

The Emperor's Cup is a much different format than bj-league games. For starters, it features the one-import rule; bj-league rules permit three foreigners on the court except during the second quarter when the number is reduced to two. Second, the tournament games are played with a FIBA regulation ball instead of the bj-league's NBA-regulation size Spalding ball. Third, two game officials instead of three are on the court.

The Jets prepared for the national tournament by using the Molten basketball during Monday's practice. That got them used to the feel of the FIBA-size ball, Hargrow said. "But at the end of the day," he said, "it's still just basketball."

Attacking the basket with regularity kept the Jets playing at a high level for much of the game. The 198-cm Nakamura was a focal point of the team's inside game as the team got him the ball early and often.

Nakamura was 6-for-9 from the field, and fans chanted "Chomo, Chomo, Chomo," when the ball was in his hands. All told, the Jets were 26-for-52 from inside the 3-point arc. They shot 7-for-17 from the arc.

Nakamura, who has played for the title-winning Osaka Evessa and championship-contending Tokyo Apache in past years, scored the game's first two points at the charity stripe, and Chiba led 5-0 after a Hargrow 3-pointer. But Two Three, relying on speed, good ball movement and capable perimeter shooting, kept it close. The Jets trailed 18-13 after Satoru Morita buried a 3 for Two Three, but tied it at 18-18 on a pair of Hayato Shirata free throws with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

With time running down, Chiba forward Reina Itakura delivered a nice pass to big man Gaston Moliva, who scored inside for the final points of the opening quarter. That made it 25-22, Chiba.

The Jets extended their lead to 37-26 early in the second quarter, but their Yamaguchi foe kept poised and made enough shots to keep it close.

Chiba led 45-40 at halftime.

Two Three was whistled for 25 personal fouls to Chiba's 15. The Jets' relentless attack-the-basket mind-set paid off.

"That's our style. That's how we play. We're leading the bj-league in free-throw attempts," Gardow said. "And it doesn't matter who we're playing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the second part of that is we need to make our free throws. We left a lot of them out there (against Two Three), and that can't happen for us to beat a good team like Hokkaido. We're going to have to attack, get them in foul trouble and get them into their bench and also convert our free throws for us to even have a chance to win."

After Monday's triumph, Gardow had a chance to reflect on the historic significance of Chiba's appearance in the Emperor's Cup.

"I'm really excited to be here from a Chiba Jets standpoint. I'm happy to represent the Chiba Jets and the bj-league," Gardow said. "And it's my hope that more bj-league teams can be a part of this in the future. And with that said, we're the ones that probably have to make the biggest adjustment to the rules, to the balls, to import players, to lineups. Everybody else can pretty much keep doing what they're doing. So for us to have to go through all those adjustments and still come out on top with a win, that's pretty good for us. We're very pleased."

Notes: The Jets are 10-12 and in sixth place in the bj-league's Eastern Conference standings. This week's competition gives the team's players a different venue and matchups to compete against. Several bj-league officials, including director of officials Kunio Kurata were spotted near courtside during the game against Two Three.

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Marchand hits three; Bruins rout Panthers

BOSTON — The Santa hats came flying out of the stands to celebrate Brad Marchand's third goal of the game, and the Boston fans began taunting the Florida Panthers by chanting, "Merry Christmas!"

Safe and sound: Los Angeles defenseman Willie Mitchell moves the puck away from goal ahead of San Jose's Benn Ferriero during the Sharks' 2-1 shootout win on Friday. AP PHOTO

The defending Stanley Cup champions are heading into the holiday break the same way they started their summer: As the hottest team in hockey.

Marchand had his first career hat trick and a career-high five points to help Boston beat Florida 8-0 on Friday night, giving the Bruins their sixth consecutive victory and their most lopsided win of the season. Boston has won 20 of its last 23 games.

"Everyone's playing the same level as last year," Marchand said. "We need to keep it going the whole year. That's the goal right now."

Marchand scored a short-handed goal to start things off, assisted on Boston's fourth and fifth goals and then scored twice more in the third. After making it 8-0 midway through the third period, the sold-out crowd of 17,565 showered the ice with all kinds of headwear, including a fair number of Santa hats.

"You can't put into words how the last year and a half have gone," said Marchand, who was fighting to make the team during training camp in 2010 and wound up a key player on the NHL champions. "All the things kind of lined up, and it's been great."

Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for Boston for his second straight shutout — a scoreless streak of 155 minutes, 10 seconds. The backup to Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas, Rask is 7-1-1 in his last eight starts.

"Lots of goals. It's good for the fans," Rask said. "You pretty much feel if you don't mess up you're going to be fine."

Milan Lucic, Benoit Pouliot, Dennis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell also scored as Boston moved into the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins have four days off for Christmas before playing Phoenix on Wednesday.

Jose Theodore allowed four goals on 14 shots in the first period and was replaced by Scott Clemmensen. The former Boston College goalie made 17 saves the rest of the way.

"It was an old-fashioned butt kicking. There's really nothing to say," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "I'm usually a glass-half-full guy, but there's nothing to say."

The Panthers were playing their third game in four nights, including a 4-3 overtime loss to Ottawa on Thursday. They have lost all three.

"It was a frustrating night," defenseman Ed Jovanovski said. "We've played a lot of road games and, not to make excuses, we're a pretty banged-up team right now. Now we have a couple of days off and hopefully we can rest up and get some guys back."

Devils 4, Capitals 3 (SO)

In Newark, New Jersey, Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout and Martin Brodeur made an outstanding glove save on Alex Ovechkin as the Devils, after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period, regrouped to beat Washington.

Rangers 4, Flyers 2

In New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves in his second win over Philadelphia this season and rookie defenseman Stu Bickel had two more assists as the Rangers beat the Flyers to move into first place in the Atlantic Division.

Hurricanes 2, Senators 1 (OT)

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Tuomo Ruutu tipped in Jay Harrison's slap shot in overtime to lift the Hurricanes over Ottawa.

Andreas Nodl also scored and Cam Ward made 22 saves for Carolina, which won its first overtime game of the season. The Hurricanes outshot the Senators 38-23.

Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 3

In Uniondale, New York, Clarke MacArthur had a goal and an assist and James Reimer stopped 30 shots to lead Toronto past the Islanders.

Stars 6, Predators 3

In Dallas, Vernon Fiddler, Loui Eriksson and Steve Ott scored during a span of 3:05 in the first period and the Stars went on to beat Nashville.

Penguins 4, Jets 1

In Winnipeg, James Neal got the go-ahead goal 22 seconds into the third period and Pittsburgh scored twice more in the next 5 minutes.

Avalanche 2, Lightning 1 (OT)

In Denver, Matt Duchene scored late in overtime and Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 29 shots.

Blues 3, Coyotes 2

In Glendale, Arizona, Alexander Steen scored his team-leading 12th goal and Brian Elliott made 24 saves to help streaking St. Louis beat Phoenix.

Flames 3, Canucks 1

In Vancouver, Leland Irving made 29 saves for his first NHL victory in Calgary's win over the Canucks.

Sharks 2, Kings 1 (SO)

In San Jose, Ryane Clowe scored the lone shootout goal in the fourth round and Antti Niemi stopped Mike Richards to lead the Sharks past Los Angeles for their fourth straight win.

Logan Couture scored in regulation for San Jose, which matched its longest winning streak of the season following a stretch of five losses in six games. Niemi made 28 saves.

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Beltran belts three home runs as Mets beat Rockies

DENVER — Carlos Beltran delivered three big blows and fueled a New York Mets offense that was missing some of its biggest bats.

Chin music: San Francisco's Matt Cain is brushed back by a pitch from Arizona's Daniel Hudson while attempting to bunt in the seventh inning on Thursday. The Giants won 3-2. AP PHOTO

Beltran hit a career-high three homers and drove in six runs to help the Mets beat scuffling Ubaldo Jimenez and the Colorado Rockies 9-5 on Thursday in a game delayed more than two hours by rain.

Beltran homered from both sides of the plate and reached all parts of the ballpark with his three two-run homers: straightaway center in the first, deep left in the seventh and into the right-field seats in the ninth.

This was quite a gratifying afternoon for a player who's been hampered in recent seasons with knee injuries. He felt like a kid again.

"I never smile a lot, but I was smiling," Beltran said. "It's going to be a day I'll never forget."

The switch-hitting outfielder became the eighth Mets player to hit three in a game, and first since Jose Reyes on Aug. 15, 2006, at Philadelphia.

And the Mets needed all his offense, too, especially with first baseman Ike Davis going on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained left ankle and bone bruise, and with third baseman David Wright sitting out to rest a sore neck and back.

"He was a one-man wrecking crew today," Wright said. "That's a monster day."

Reyes hit a two-run single in the fourth that chased Jimenez (0-3) from the game and kept the Rockies ace searching for his elusive first win of the season. He lasted just 3? innings in his shortest stint of the season, surrendering five runs and three hits while tying a career high with six walks.

With San Francisco beating Arizona earlier in the day, Colorado fell out of at least a tie for the lead in the NL West for the first time since April 5. The Rockies have now dropped six of their last seven contests, including two of three against the Mets, a team they swept in a four-game series at Citi Field last month.

"We deserved to fall out of first place today with the way we played," Todd Helton said. "Hopefully, it will be a wakeup call for us and we'll turn it around soon."

Relying on his curveball, Jonathon Niese (2-4) was solid for 6? innings, allowing solo homers to Jonathan Herrera and Helton.

Niese was pulled with one out in the seventh as the lefty gave up three straight singles, including a run-scoring liner up the middle by pinch hitter Alfredo Amezaga. Michael O'Connor came in and allowed a two-run double to Seth Smith, cutting New York's lead to 7-5.

Former Rockies reliever Taylor Buchholz stopped the rally by getting Troy Tulowitzki to line out to deep left with two outs and two on.

Braves 6, Nationals 5 (10)

In Atlanta, Martin Prado hit a tying grand slam in the seventh inning, then scored the winning run on Brian McCann's single to right field in the 10th for Atlanta.

Doug Slaten (0-1) walked Prado to open the 10th inning, and Prado advanced to second on Nate McLouth's sacrifice bunt. Slaten intentionally walked Chipper Jones — who hit his fourth homer in the third inning — and McCann delivered the winning hit.

Cardinals 9, Cubs 1

In Chicago, unbeaten Jaime Garcia pitched seven effective innings and Matt Holliday homered to start an early burst in St. Louis' victory over the Cubs.

Garcia (5-0), who carried a perfect game into the eighth in his previous start against Milwaukee, allowed one run and nine hits. He complemented his 84-pitch outing by hitting an RBI single.

Giants 3, Diamondbacks 2

In San Francisco, Matt Cain had his best outing in nearly a month, and Nate Schierholtz added three hits to help the Giants beat Arizona to complete a perfect homestand.

Eli Whiteside doubled twice to help San Francisco go 6-0 at home. The Giants swept Colorado and then the Diamondbacks to extend their season-high winning streak to six games.

Gerardo Parra, Xavier Nady and Justin Upton had two hits apiece for Arizona, which has lost four straight.

Dodgers at Pirates — ppd. AMERICAN LEAGUE Orioles 2, Mariners 1 (12)

In Baltimore, J.J. Hardy singled in two runs in the 12th, and the Orioles rallied to beat Seattle for a three-game sweep.

Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-5 and scored the Mariners' lone run.

Royals 11, Yankees 5

In New York, Eric Hosmer and Melky Cabrera homered and Kansas City beat the hosts, sending the Yankees to their first home series loss of the season.

New York's Robinson Cano homered a day after he was hit in the head with a pitch, and Alex Rodriguez homered for the first time in 65 at-bats.

Rays 7, Indians 4

In Cleveland, James Shields pitched seven strong innings to finally beat the Indians, and Tampa Bay did some more road repair to their record with a victory over Cleveland.

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