Professional Sports

The Atlanta Thrashers say preliminary tests on goalie Ondrej Pavelec show he suffered a type of fainting spell in the season opener, which caused him to collapse on the ice.

Brooks Conrad bobbled a grounder. Then he dropped a popup. Finally, a hard shot skidded under his glove in the ninth inning, his third error of the game allowing the San Francisco Giants to rally for a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday

Defensive end Kroy Biermann's spectacular diving interception and return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter sent the Atlanta Falcons to a 20-10 win over the gimpy Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

No matter how many injuries they face, no matter how hopeless the situation seems, the Atlanta Braves are determined to put off Bobby Cox's retirement as long as possible.

Cleveland's Peyton Hillis, whose power running pushed the Browns to their first win last week, will seek his third straight 100-yard-plus game Sunday when Cleveland hosts Atlanta, whose opportunistic defense has carried the Falcons through four games this season.

Charlie Manuel and the Philadelphia Phillies need just one more win to return to the NL championship series. Cole Hamels is ready to go in Game 3, and if he can't get it done, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt are right behind him.

Steven Stamkos didn't lose his scoring touch during the offseason. Stamkos had two goals and an assist to help new Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher win his NHL debut in the Lightning's 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings, Marcus Thames and Nick Swisher homered and the New York Yankees beat the Twins 6-1 Saturday night to complete yet another three-game sweep of Minnesota and return to the AL championship series.

John Jaso lined a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning after Carlos Pena had already delivered a rare clutch playoff hit for the Tampa Bay Rays, who avoided elimination in the AL division series with a 6-3 victory Saturday over the Texas Rangers.

Rick Ankiel splashed a tiebreaking home run into McCovey Cove in the 11th inning for his first postseason clout, and the comeback Atlanta Braves rallied from a late four-run deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Friday night.