INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Fever took advantage of their home-and-home series against the Sky.After starting the season with losses to Washington and Atlanta, the defending Eastern Conference champions won their second straight game over the Sky, 69-61, on Sunday night to even their record. Indiana beat the Sky 92-86 in overtime on Saturday. Tamika Catchings finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three steals on Sunday.Shay Murphy had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Jene Morris and Briann January each scored 12 for the Fever, who improved to 13-4 all-time against the Sky, including 8-1 at Conseco Fieldhouse.Indiana’s gain wasthe Sky’s loss. Cathrine Kraayeveld had 11 points and Sylvia Fowles added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Sky (0-4), who have lost their four games by a combined 30 points.The Fever stretched a five-point lead to 61-50 after Murphy’s five straight points early in the fourth quarter. Chicago scored the next seven points, capped by Jia Perkins’ 3-pointer, to get within 61-57 with 5 minutes left. Indiana answered with January’s two free throws and Katie Douglas’ three-point play to put the game away.Murphy had six points, two rebounds, one steal and one assist in the fourth quarter. She played 25 minutes off the bench.

ARLINGTON—Left-handed pinch-hitters Kosuke Fukudome and Mike Fontenot had consecutive singles in the 10th after rookie Tyler Colvin’s leadoff double and the Cubs beat Texas 5-4 on Saturday night to end the Rangers’ five-game winning streak.Texas had already used its left-handed reliever, Darren Oliver, to get through a scoreless eighth. And submarine-throwing righty Darren O’Day has had trouble this season getting out left-handed hitters.O’Day (1-2) started the 10th by giving up a double to Colvin, another left-hander who had entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth. Fukudome and Fontenot then came off the bench to pull hits to right, the latter breaking a 3-all tie and chasing O’Day. Another run scored on Derrek Lee’s grounder with the bases loaded.After O’Day gave up hits to all three batters he faced, left-handers are hitting .429 (9 for 21) against him this season.Sean Marshall (4-1) pitched around Josh Hamilton’s double after relieving starter Randy Wells with one out in the ninth. Carlos Marmol worked the 10th for eighth save in 10 chances despite giving up an RBI single to Ian Kinsler.Texas lost for the first time in its homestand that followed being swept in three games at Toronto last weekend, ending what was the longest active winning streak in the majors. The AL West-leading Rangers had won seven in a row at home.Hamilton greeted Marshall with a towering popup that dropped behind shortstop Starlin Castro and out of the reach of diving center fielder Marlon Byrd. Nelson Cruz, who had already homered and driven in two runs, was then intentionally walked before a flyball and a strikeout ended the threat.Wells left after Vladimir Guerrero’s inning-starting groundout. The Cubs right-hander struck out six but remained winless in four May starts after going 3-0 in April.The 20-year-old Castro, the youngest shortstop ever for the Cubs, hit a solo homer that barely cleared the wall in the third and made it 3-1 against Derek Holland. It was Castro’s second homer of the season.Byrd led off the second reaching on rookie first baseman Justin Smoak’s fielding error, then advanced to second on Holland’s errant pickoff attempt. Alfonso Soriano, who like Byrd used to play in Texas, then hit a two-run homer.Guerrero and Cruz hit solo home runs in the Rangers fourth to tie it at 3.After crossing home with his 10th homer, Guerrero stopped and shared a few words and a laugh with Cruz waiting in the on-deck circle before Hamilton grounded out. Cruz then hit his ninth homer, a 427-foot blast that landed beyond the Rangers bullpen in right-center field.The second inning for Texas began with consecutive singles by Guerrero, Hamilton and Cruz that pushed in a run before Wells got a strikeout and a double play.Holland, who had won his first two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, needed 103 pitches to get through six innings. The 23-year-old left-hander struck out five and walked two.The six runs Holland has allowed this season have come on four homers.

NOTES—It was the seventh extra-inning game of the season for Texas, matching Boston for the most in the majors. The Rangers are 4-3 in those games…..Aramis Ramirez was back in the lineup, serving as the DH after being held out of the starting lineup the previous two games due to a sore left thumb. He 0 for 5 with four strikeouts…..When Ryan Theriot tried a sacrifice bunt in the Cubs eighth, C Max Ramirez instead fired a shot to second to get out the lead runner. Theriot then stole second and took a knee to the side of the head from SS Elvis Andrus, who had to leap to grab the high throw. Theriot was OK and left stranded when Lee grounded out…..The crowd of 46,180 was the largest at home for the Rangers since the season opener.

DALLAS—It was an old fashioned Texas shootout in Dallas Saturday night as the Rush outlasted the Vigilantes 63-56 at the American Airlines Center.After struggling to put points on the board the past two weeks, the Rush(5-2) scored touchdowns on nine of its 10 possessions, while the Vigilantes (1-5) scored on all but two. The Rush offense seemed to regain the well-balanced form that carried it to a 4-0 start, as six different players contributed touchdowns for the Rush – Robert Boss, Nichiren Flowers, Joe Peters, Clifton Smith, Russ Michna, and Kenny Higgins.The game was without a defensive stop in the first half, with the teams combining for 11 touchdowns in the first 30 minutes. The only blemish in the half was a missed extra point by the Rush, but they held a 41-35 lead at the half.The third quarter opened with a five minute Vigilante drive that saw Dallas drive the ball to the Rush 1-yard line. But on second and goal for Dallas, the Rush defense stepped up, and defensive back Josh Ferguson came up with his fifth interception of the season.The interception stopped Dallas’ streak of consecutive possessions with a touchdown at five, and proved to be the difference in the game.The visitors took advantage of the turnover, mounting a seven-play, 44-yard drive and scoring on a one-yard dive by Clifton Smith that put the Rush up two scores at 48-35.The Vigilantes never went away, however, as quarterback Collin Drafts (26-29, 295 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs) continued to match the Rush score-for-score but simply could not get a stop when they needed one.With the Rush leading by seven and attempting to run one final play to run the clock out, Rush QB Russ Michna fumbled with 1.2 seconds left in the game. Dallas recovered, giving the Vigilantes one final shot to tie the game.A Hail Mary pass with no time remaining was intercepted by DeJuan Alfonzo and the Rush walked away with a win that puts them back atop the Midwest Division.

NOTES— Michna completed 28 of 35 passes for 339 yards and four TDs, without throwing an interception … Nichiren Flowers led all Rush receivers with 11 receptions for 168 yards and three touchdowns …The Rush had four rushing touchdowns, two from Robert Boss, and one each from Michna, Alfonzo, Joe Peters and Clifton Smith…..The Rush visit Cleveland next Saturday night.

ROSEMONT—Tamika Catchings scored eight of her 28 points in overtime to lead the Indiana Fever to a 92-86 victory over the Sky on Saturday night.Shay Murphy added 20 as the Fever (1-2) snapped a season-opening two-game losing streak.Playing in front of a franchise record 6,477 fans in their new Allstate Arena home, the Sky (0-3) forced a 78-78 deadlock late in regulation on Sylvia Fowles’ short jumper.Indiana went ahead for good early in overtime as Catchings’ layup put them in front, 82-80.Fowles led the Sky with 22 points while rookie Epiphanny Prince added 20 points.The same two teams play again in Indianapolis Sunday.

Rios hit a two-run homer and Gavin Floyd pitched 6 1/3 sharp innings to help the White Sox beat the Florida Marlins 4-1 on Saturday.Rios was acquired off waivers on Aug. 10 from the Toronto Blue Jays. He is in the third year of a seven-year $69 million dollar contract. Last season, Rios hit .199 with the White Sox with three home runs and nine RBI in 41 games.Rios is hitting .322 with six home runs, nine doubles and 13 stolen bases in his last 32 games.He drove in three runs Saturday for the White Sox, who won back-to-back games for the first time since April 25 when they swept the Seattle Mariners, and they’ve only won consecutive games three times this season.Guillen also got a strong start from Floyd, who has struggled most of the season.Floyd (2-4) came in the game allowing five runs or more in each of his last three starts, but he had his best outing of the season against the Marlins. He allowed just one run and six hits.Floyd was backed by a strong White Sox bullpen. J.J. Putz got two outs in the seventh and Sergio Santos pitched a scoreless eighth inning.Bobby Jenks ended the game with a perfect ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.Santos has not allowed a run in 16 of his 17 appearances. He’s been a surprise for the White Sox, who converted him to a pitcher from shortstop last season after seven years as a position player in the minors.The Sox improved to 130-101 record in interleague play.In its last six road games, Florida has been held to three runs or fewer five times. The Marlins ended a 22 inning scoreless inning drought on Cameron Maybin’s RBI single in the seventh inning.Marlins starter Chris Volstad (3-5) gave up three runs over six innings. He struck out four and walked three.Gordon Beckham reached on an infield hit in the third inning and stole second. After Beckham took third on a wild pitch, Rios hit a two-out RBI single.Mark Teahen doubled to the left-center warning track with two outs in the fourth inning, but was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Chris Coghlan when trying to score on Ramon Castro’s single.Volstad hit Beckham with a pitch in the fifth inning, and two outs later, Rios homered to left to put the White Sox ahead 3-0.They got an insurance run in the eighth on Carlos Quentin’s RBI double off Florida reliever Renyel Pinto.

NOTES—Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook, who watched the game from suite, got a nice applause when he appeared on the Jumbotron in the sixth inning. The Blackhawks are one win away from clinching a berth to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992….A.J. Pierzynski had the day off.

LES

Mark Buehrle pitched eight scoreless innings to win for the first time in six decisions, Alexei Ramirez drove in five runs and the White Sox defeated the Florida Marlins 8-0 on Friday night.Ramirez hit a three-run homer and a two-run double and Mark Kotsay was 3 for 4 with a home run and three runs scored for the Sox, who won for just the fifth time in 13 games.In his previous six starts, Buehrle (3-5) was 0-5 with a 6.44 ERA. He was 4-12 with a 4.97 ERA in 21 starts since his perfect game last season. He allowed three hits and three walks.Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco (4-3) had his worst start of the season, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

ARLINGTON—Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton can play small ball, too.In the first interleague game of the season, Hamilton showed a little National League flair. His first career sacrifice bunt came between run-scoring doubles by Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz and Texas extended its winning streak to a season-best five in a row with a 2-1 victory over the Cubs on Friday night.In his 1,585th career plate appearance, in his 376th game and on his 29th birthday, Hamilton bunted after Guerrero’s RBI double drove in Ian Kinsler to tie the game. Cruz then doubled.Colby Lewis (4-2) labored through six innings for his first victory in five starts.Lewis (4-2) didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the sixth, but he had already thrown 109 pitches by then and was done. Darren O’Day and Frank Francisco each worked scoreless innings before hard-throwing right-hander Neftali Feliz extended his Rangers rookie record with his 12th save in 14 chances.Feliz worked around Tyler Colvin’s pinch-hit double and benefited from Cruz’s leaping catch against the wall in foul territory.Ted Lilly (1-4) pitched into the seventh but remained without a victory since winning his injury-delayed season debut April 24 for the Cubs. He is 0-4 his last five starts.An infield hit and two throwing errors got Kinsler to third leading off the fourth.Kinsler kept running after leading a slow roller that third baseman Mike Fontenot fielded and threw wide of first base. After second baseman Ryan Theriot grabbed the ball in short right field, he flung it into left field for another throwing error when trying to get Kinsler out at second.Lewis hadn’t won since April 25, when he was 3-0 through his first four starts and then got a no-decision despite throwing nine scoreless innings his next outing. The right-hander was 0-2 in three May starts before facing the Cubs.The former first-round pick, who is back with the Rangers after spending the past two seasons in Japan, struck out four and walked three. Lewis had two walks and two strikeouts in a 30-pitch first inning.Lilly began the season on the disabled list while still recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery in November, then won his season debut – and hasn’t since. He allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings in Texas. Fontenot blooped a leadoff double into short left in the second. He scored when Geovany Soto grounded into a double play. But that was it for the Cubs, who left nine runners on base.Former Rangers Alfonso Soriano and Marlon Byrd had consecutive two-out singles in the eighth, grounders past third baseman Michael Young. But Francisco got out of the jam when Fontenot took a called third strike.

NOTES—Former Cub Greg Maddux, an assistant to GM Jim Hendry, is with the team this weekend to work with young pitchers. Maddux also gets a chance to visit his older brother, Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux. … Soriano, still a second baseman when with Texas in 2004-05, was backpedaling in left field when he awkwardly reached up for Hamilton’s flyball over his head that became a double.　

Ervin Santana pitched seven solid innings, Juan Rivera hit a two-run homer and the Los Angeles Angels held on to beat the struggling Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Thursday night.After watching his fellow relievers give up four runs in the eighth inning, Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in eight opportunities. Kendry Morales had three hits and drove in two runs for the Angels, who have won five of seven. But the Angels escaped after nearly blowing a big lead.Santana (3-3) didn’t have any problems with the White Sox, who came into the game with the worst batting average in baseball at .230. He allowed one unearned run on seven hits. He struck out six and pitched around three walks.The White Sox have only won two series — Royals and Mariners — this the season and have lost eight 12.They’ve dropped to a season-low eight games under .500 a day after White Sox general manager Ken Williams expressed his impatience with the club during a team meeting.Jake Peavy (3-3) was tagged for six runs and eight hits. He struck out eight and walked two.The White Sox staged a comeback in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles bullpen. Trailing 6-1 with two outs, Carlos Quentin singled off reliever Kevin Jepsen. Mark Teahen then walked and Alexei Ramirez followed with another single to load the bases.Gordon Beckham chased Jepsen with a two-run single. Juan Pierre greeted Fernando Rodney with an infield hit to load the bases and A.J. Pierzynski lined a ground-rule double over the left-field wall, leaving Pierre at third, who would’ve had a chance at scoring the tying run. Rodney rebounded by getting Andruw Jones to fly out to center with runners on second and third. And Fuentes finished it off. Santana didn’t wait long to pitch with the lead.Erick Aybar led off the game with a single. On a hit and run, he moved to third on Howie Kendrick’s single. Aybar then scored on Bobby Abreu’s double-play ball. With two outs, Torii Hunter lined a double to left-center and scored on Morales’ single.Aybar finished with three hits for the Angels.With one out in the third, Abreu doubled off the wall in left-center. After a walk to Hunter, Morales followed with an RBI single. Hunter scored on Hideki Matsui’s sacrifice fly.Peavy entered the game 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA in May, but was more like the pitcher who went 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA in the month of April.After a single to Matsui in the sixth inning, Rivera tagged Peavy with a two-run shot. It was his sixth of season and gave the Angels a 6-1 lead. The White Sox got on the board against Santana in the fifth thanks to a two-base throwing error on third baseman Kevin Frandsen. Frandsen made an unbalanced throw to first after fielding a bunt by Ramirez. Frandsen’s throw short-hopped first base and rolled down the right-field line. Ramirez went to third and scored on Gordon Beckham’s groundout.

NOTES—The Sox have an interleague series with the Marlins at home starting Friday night……Scioscia gave 3B Brandon Wood the night off. Scioscia said Wood, who is in a 7-for-57 slump, is pressing too much. Scioscia is unsure if Wood will be back in the lineup on Friday at St. Louis. … The game was played after a 29-minute rain delay. … Matsui singled in the sixth inning to halt an 0-for-11 skid.

PHILADELPHIA—Jose Contreras is learning the last three outs are the hardest to get.Raul Ibanez,a guy the Cubs could have gone after last year instead ofMilton Bradley, hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning, Contreras pitched out of a jam in the ninth and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cubs 5-4 on Thursday.Jimmy Rollins hit a three-run homer and Chase Utley also went deep for the NL East-leading Phillies, who snapped a two-game losing streak in which they scored a total of two runs.Kosuke Fukudome hit a tying solo shot in the eighth, and Derrek Lee also connected for the Cubs, who had won four in a row.Danys Baez (2-1) retired all three batters he faced to earn the win, before Contreras worked out of trouble in the ninth for his second save in two tries. The 38-year-old Contreras, a starter most of his career, is filling in as the closer with Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson on the disabled list.Alfonso Soriano started the ninth by getting hit on the 11th pitch he saw from Contreras. Soriano advanced to third on Mike Fontenot’s single to center, but Contreras struck out Starlin Castro and pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez. Fontenot stole second as Ramirez went down swinging on a pitch down and way outside, but Geovany Soto fouled out to first baseman Ryan Howard to end it.John Grabow (0-3) entered with one out in the eighth and walked Utley. He retired Howard before walking Rollins, and Ibanez lined a single to right that allowed Utley to slide in ahead of Fukudome’s off-target throw.Ibanez stood at first base, listening to the familiar chants of “Ra-uuuuuuul!” Ibanez became an instant fan favorite in his first season in Philadelphia last year. The All-Star left fielder has struggled this season, batting just .246 with three homers and 19 RBI. Phillies starter Joe Blanton allowed three runs and five hits. He retired the first 11 batters and didn’t allow a hit until Soriano doubled down the left-field line leading off the fifth.Cubs starter Ryan Dempster gave up four runs and five hits in six innings. His biggest mistake was a 3-0 pitch that Rollins crushed into the seats in right, giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead in the sixth. Rollins, the 2007 NL MVP, returned from the disabled list Monday after missing 29 games with a calf injury.Lee led off the seventh with a solo shot to left. The Cubs then loaded the bases on a walk and singles by Fontenot and Castro. Pinch-hitter Tyler Colvin’s sacrifice fly cut it to 4-3, but Blanton escaped further damage by retiring pinch-hitter Xavier Nady on a pop-up.Fukudome’s drive off reliever Antonio Bastardo leading off the eighth tied it at 4.Utley put the Phillies ahead 1-0 when he ripped a liner the right-field seats in the first. Seven of Utley’s 10 homers have been solo shots.One pitch before Soriano doubled in the fifth, he hit a foul pop that first baseman Howard lost in the sun. Castro’s one-out single to right scored Soriano to tie it at 1.

NOTES—The Cubs have a weekend of interleague play with Texas in Arlington starting Friday night….Rollins batted fifth behind Howard, the third different spot he’s hit since returning from the DL on Monday. Rollins, the team’s usual leadoff hitter, batted third twice and sixth once….Philadelphia starters are 12-5 with a 3.05 ERA in 18 games this month…..A crowd of 45,325 was the 62nd straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park.