The Associated Press

Tim Wakefield is still struggling, and the AL East race is up for grabs with a week remaining in the regular season.

Wakefield gave up a two-run homer to Delmon Young and Boston lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Sunday, cutting its division lead to 1 1/2 games over the New York Yankees .

The Red Sox clinched at least the wild-card spot Saturday, but they’re having a hard time holding off New York despite building a 14 1/2-game cushion early in the season. The Yankees beat Toronto 7-5 on Sunday.

Boston is off Monday before playing its final six games of the season at home, two against Oakland and four against Minnesota.

New York hosts the Blue Jays again Monday before finishing up with six road games, three at Tampa Bay and three against Baltimore.

The Yankees, who trail Boston by one in the loss column, are close to clinching at least the wild card as well. If the teams finish with the same record and both qualify for the playoffs, New York will win the division because it won the season series 10-8.

The Red Sox are looking for their first AL East title since 1995. The Yankees have won nine consecutive division crowns, beginning in 1998.

Wakefield (16-12) entered 9-0 at Tropicana Field and 19-2 overall against the Devil Rays , but the knuckleballer gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings.

In his past four starts, the right-hander has allowed 21 runs over 17 2-3 innings. The four outings have come after he missed a start with a sore back.

Wakefield threw 95 pitches.

Young put the Devil Rays up 2-0 with his homer in the second. The rookie right fielder, who had been 1-for-14 against Wakefield, has 13 homers and 93 RBIs this season.

Tampa Bay, last in the AL East with a 64-92 record, snapped a five-game skid. Al Reyes pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 29 opportunities.

Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez missed his 24th consecutive game with a strained muscle on his left side. Francona is not sure when Ramirez will return.

Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis sat out for the seventh straight game due to a bruised right wrist. He could return during a regular season-ending six-game homestand that starts Tuesday.

Ramirez and Youkilis are scheduled to take batting practice on the off day Monday. When asked if Youkilis will be able to play Tuesday, Francona said: ”Probably not.”

Jonny Gomes ‘ fourth-inning RBI single and a run-scoring single by Jorge Velandia in the fifth extended the Devil Rays ‘ lead to 4-0.

Edwin Jackson (5-15) had a one-hitter through five, but failed to get out of the sixth when Boston scored three times to pull to 4-3. David Ortiz and Coco Crisp had RBI singles, and another run scored when J.D. Drew walked with the bases loaded.

Jon Switzer replaced Jackson with the bases loaded and one out, and induced a double-play grounder from Eric Hinske .

Jackson gave up three runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings. He was 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA over his previous four starts.

Tampa Bay went up 5-3 in the sixth on Josh Wilson ’s sacrifice bunt. Alex Cora got Boston to 5-4 with a solo homer off Dan Wheeler in the eighth.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/recaps/2007/09/23/16674_recap.html

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2007/09/16/count_me_in_says_allen/ 

While “The Big Three” sounds good to Celtics guard Tony Allen, “The Big Four” sounds better.

Once Allen fully recovers from left knee surgery, he believes he might be able to add a star to an already star-studded lineup of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

The fourth-year Celtic was recently cleared to play and hopes to be ready for the season opener Nov. 2.

“If you put the ball in my hands when I’m healthy, hey, it won’t be The Big Three, it might be The Big Four,” said Allen, who was here yesterday with ex-Celtic Cedric Maxell to present a renovated home basketball court to a contest winner and conduct a basketball clinic. “Right know I’m hungry. That’s the mentality I got.”

So why is Allen, who averaged 11.5 points last season, confident he can be on a par with three perennial All-Stars?

Allen averaged 18.8 points in the last 14 games (Dec. 13-Jan. 10) of the 33 he played last season. The 6-foot-4-inch, 213-pounder scored at least 20 seven times in that hot span, including a career-high 30 against Denver Dec. 15.

“I watch those tapes every day,” Allen said. “I edited them myself.”

But Allen’s breakthrough season ended with left knee surgery Jan. 13.

“It humbled me a lot,” Allen said. “I’m basically taking it one day at a time. I was at an all-time high there. But once the injury came, it stopped. I asked myself, ‘Is this supposed to happen to me?’ But really, I kept focused on trying to get back healthy.”

Allen says his knee is “70 percent” and he couldn’t play if there were a game today. He participated in five-on-five scrimmages for four straight days last week, but he hasn’t regained his explosiveness, nor is he ready to catch alley-oops.

“I feel like everything is there except my explosiveness right now,” said Allen. “I can jump. I can rebound. I can pass. I can cut. It’s like my explosive cutting to the basket and on curls - I need to work on that.”

Allen has been receiving advice from Philadelphia guard Willie Green about recovering from knee surgery. Allen was impressed when he saw Green dunk on an ESPN highlight last season. After hearing that Green had had similar knee surgery, Allen got his phone number and called. Green, who averaged a career-high 11.3 points in 74 games last season, obliged.

“He just told me to keep God first and know that there are going to be some good days and some bad days, but work to your strengths,” Allen said. “And that’s what I’ve been doing. Some days I’m not feeling good. I let the trainer know, ‘I’m not feeling good with this exercise, we need to do something else.’ ”

Allen says he doesn’t feel pressured by being in the final year of his contract, which pays $1.8 million next season.

“I try not to even worry about that,” Allen said. “Everything is going to take its toll. The good thing about that is I’ve already shown them what I can do once they put the ball in my hands.”

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2007/09/16/count_me_in_says_allen/

http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Preview&seas=20072008&gtype=1&gnum=37 

The Boston Bruins go into tonight’s exhibition tilt with the New Jersey Devils with a 1-0 record during the preseason. They traveled to St. John’s, Newfoundland on Tuesday and defeated the New York Islanders, 3-1. The B’s rookies took their lone game during training camp when they defeated New Jersey’s youngsters, 5-1, on September 16.

Tonight, some of those rookies, including the B’s top draft choice in 2007, Zach Hamill, former Cornell Big Red captain Byron Bitz, all-world junior goalie Tuukka Rask, and up-and-coming prospects Any Bodnarchuk and Vladimir Sobotka, will get their second shot at skaters in red and black (and maybe even some of the same players).

They will join familiar NHL names like Glen Murray, Patrice Bergeron, Marco Sturm, Andrew Alberts, Aaron Ward and Manny Fernandez at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire for only the second contest of the 2007 exhibition season.

http://bruins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Preview&seas=20072008&gtype=1&gnum=37

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/sports/14147526/detail.html

The Patriots will be back on the practice field Wednesday to begin preparations for this week’s game against Buffalo.

New England comes into Sunday’s game against the Bills with a perfect 2-0 record.They’re also the only team in the AFC East that has won a game in the first two weeks of the season.

The Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers last weekend 38-14, while the Bills lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-3.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/sports/14147526/detail.html

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/sports/14155981/detail.html 

Sox Nation Looking At Slim Lead Now In AL East

Members of Red Sox nation were awakening Thursday to the grim reality that their team has almost lost its grip on the American League East with only nine games left in the regular season.

The Red Sox lost again Wednesday night 6-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays in a stunning sweep that now has the Sox only 1 1/2-games ahead of the New York Yankees after enjoying a comfortable double-digit lead for most of the season.

NewsCenter 5’s Steve Lacy reported that while the Red Sox were getting swept in Canada, dropping their fourth straight game, the Yankees were in the Bronx, taking care of business and edging the Baltimore Orioles 2-1. The Yankees have won four straight and 12 of 14.

The Yankees (88-64), a season-high 24 games over .500, also opened a 5 1/2-game lead over Detroit (83-70) for the wild card.

Torre said he heard the crowd roar in the ninth when the scoreboard showed the Red Sox were losing at Toronto, and Pettitte acknowledged checking on the Boston game.

It’s the closest New York has been to first place since the Yankees trailed by one game before play on April 20. They began play on May 30 down by 14 1/2 games to Boston.

The Yankees (88-64), a season-high 24 games over .500, also opened a 5 1/2-game lead over Detroit (83-70) for the wild card.

The Red Sox have lost four in a row and five of six, and the next few games will be telling for the team.

The last time Boston’s lead was so slim was April 25, when the Blue Jays were in second place. Boston’s biggest lead was 12 games on July 5.

The Red Sox are off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Friday night.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/sports/14155981/detail.html

NFL security confiscated a video camera and its tape from a New England Patriots employee on the team’s sideline during Sunday’s game against the Jets in a suspected spying incident, sources said.

The camera and its tape were placed in a sealed box and forwarded to the league office for investigation, the sources said.

“The rule is that no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game,” the league said in a statement from spokesman Greg Aiello. “Clubs have specifically been reminded in the past that the videotaping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals on the sidelines is prohibited.

“We are looking into whether the Patriots violated this rule.”

The Patriots’ cameraman was suspected of aiming his camera at the Jets’ defensive coaches who were sending signals to their unit on the field, the sources said. The league also is investigating some radio frequency issues that occurred during the game.

The league’s competition committee could conduct a conference call about the incident, which violates NFL policy, and ultimately recommend a penalty that could cost the Patriots a future draft pick or picks if it verifies that the team was spying on the Jets.

“It’s not their first time,” a member of the committee, who did not wish to be identified, said.

In fact, Green Bay Packers president Bob Harlan confirmed a similar incident that occurred when the Patriots played at Lambeau Field last Nov. 19. The same cameraman who was questioned by NFL security on Sunday was also the one whom the Packers removed from the sideline and escorted from the field during their 2006 game, according to Packers security official Doug Collins.

“From what I can remember, he had quite a fit when we took him out,” Harlan said. “We had gotten word before the game that they [the Patriots] did this sort of thing, so we were looking for it.”

A Jets official declined comment Monday, directing an inquiry to the league office. The Patriots also did not have immediate comment.

“With anything along those lines, those are all league-related matters, and anything that deals with an issue like this or anything on a team-by-team basis, those all go to the league,” coach Eric Mangini said in his news conference Monday.

New England cornerback Ellis Hobbs said he was unaware of the controversy, and unwilling to believe his team had cheated.

“We put too many hours in as individuals and a team to have to go out and cheat,” he said. “If it’s true, obviously, we’re in the wrong. But I’m standing behind my team, my coaches. I don’t think we do that stuff.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3012989

The NFL is looking into claims a New England Patriots employee was videotaping signals by Jets coaches on New York’s sideline during the season opener.The investigation was first reported by ESPN.com, which said that NFL security confiscated a video camera and tape from a Patriots employee during New England’s 38-14 victory Sunday. The employee was accused of aiming his camera at the Jets’ defensive coaches, who were sending signals out to the players, sources told the Web site.

“The rule is that no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game,” the league said in a statement from spokesman Greg Aiello. “Clubs have specifically been reminded in the past that the videotaping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals on the sidelines is prohibited.

“We are looking into whether the Patriots violated this rule.”

The story was first reported on the Web site of Jets Confidential, which said the Jets chief of security alerted NFL security about the issue during the game.

“With anything along those lines, those are all league-related matters, and anything that deals with an issue like this or anything on a team-by-team basis, those all go to the league,” coach Eric Mangini said in his news conference Monday.

When asked if the Jets had in fact notified the league, he said: “It’s all a league matter.”

Patriots spokesman Stacey James declined comment. New England cornerback Ellis Hobbs said he was unaware of the controversy, and unwilling to believe his team had cheated.

“We put too many hours in as individuals and a team to have to go out and cheat,” he said. “If it’s true, obviously, we’re in the wrong. But I’m standing behind my team, my coaches. I don’t think we do that stuff.”

Last November, the Green Bay Packers had an issue with a man wearing a Patriots staff credential and carrying a video camera on the sidelines at Lambeau Field.

Teams are allowed to have a limited number of their own videographers on the sideline during the game, but they must have a credential that authorizes them to shoot video, and wear a yellow vest. But Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb said the person in question didn’t have the right credential and wasn’t wearing a yellow vest, so Packers security asked him to put away the camera.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20070909020&prov=ap