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In the NBA, players who provide big-time productivity are almost certainly accompanied by big-time price tags.

DENVER - Chad Durbin was the only one. Every Phillies reliever except Durbin had enjoyed an excellent first week of the season, helping the Phillies maintain a 2-3 record in the absence of a single quality outing from their starting pitchers.

DENVER (AP) -- Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs connected for a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth innin...

DENVER - When you are minutes from playing in your second minor-league game of the season, only to be told to fly to Denver early the next morning instead, then you cross two time zones on little sleep and don a major-league uniform again far sooner than you expected - well, that can leave you a little dazed.'This kind of came out of nowhere,' Lou Marson said yesterday, standing in front of his new locker and rubbing glassy eyes. Marson, 22, was summoned to Denver after catcher Carlos Ruiz strained his right oblique muscle chasing a pop-up Friday.The team placed Ruiz on the 15-day disabled list yesterday afternoon and officially activated Marson, who was 1 for 20 in spring training. In his only major-league game last Sept. 28, the catcher was 2 for 4 with a home run.Chris Coste started last night, but manager Charlie Manuel said that Marson will not want for opportunity.'Marson is going to get to play some,' Manuel said.With a day game today following yesterday's night game, Marson cou

DENVER - Through four games, the Phillies were scarcely able to determine who had performed worse: their starting pitchers or their sluggish lineup. None of their first four starters lasted past the sixth inning or recorded a win and, save for an eight-run seventh inning Wednesday against Atlanta, their offense had managed just seven runs.

DENVER - Cole Hamels strolled through the visitors' clubhouse at Coors Field yesterday, chatting with teammates. He later sat on a couch and read Sports Illustrated, then stretched before batting practice. In other words, it was a normal day on the road.

DENVER, Colo. - The first three games of the Phillies' season shared a remarkably similar beginning: In the top of the first inning of their respective starts against Atlanta, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton each allowed a home run and handed a 2-0 deficit to the offense.

George Karl occasionally mentions the basketball gods — no doubt donning orange-rimmed halos and flowing robes designed by Nike.

RAY BUCK No one was more shocked than Dan Reeves when things didn’t work out with the Dallas Cowboys two months ago. Reeves, formerly an NFL head coach with the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons, was hoping to return to a place where he had known success both as a player and an assistant coach, a place where he had spent 16 years of his life.He was involved in all five Tom Landry Super Bowls.But, unfortunately, things didn’t work out for Reeves because of a contractual technicality, which blew up a multiyear deal that appeared to be in place for the 65-year-old former Cowboys running back/assistant coach to become a consultant for his old team.The deal-breaker, for Reeves, was a piece of 'hours spent working' language that owner Jerry Jones wanted to have in the contract.'Although I respected Jerry’s decision, I didn’t understand it, and it wasn’t something that was even negotiable,' Reeves recalled from his home in Atlanta. 'I just coul

Hopefully the champagne's ice hasn't melted. The Nuggets have been waiting four nights now to clinch the Northwest Division title, but the Trail Blazers can't seem to lose.