Detroit 3, St. Louis 1  —  DETROIT (AP) — Now you see it.  Now you don't.  —  Whatever was on Kenny Rogers' hand, even after he cleaned it off, the St. Louis Cardinals couldn't hit him.  —  Virtually untouchable this October, Rogers shut down the Cardinals on two hits over eight shutout innings …

Questions linger over substance on Rogers' hand  —  DETROIT — Kenny Rogers pitched eight scoreless innings Sunday, running his shutout streak this postseason to 23 innings, but that may be the least of the news about the 41-year-old left-hander coming out of Game 2 of the World Series.

Games this late get cold reception  —  FROSTBITE FALLS, Mich. — It gets cold and windy in Detroit in October.  Big surprise.  —  The Tigers and Cardinals went back to work at Comerica Park last night and it was 44 degrees Fahrenheit (windchill factor 33) when Kenny Rogers threw the first pitch …

Actor de la Rosa, Pedro's tiny good luck charm, dies  —  SANTO DOMINGO — Nelson de la Rosa, the world's shortest actor and a ubiquitous good-luck charm for the Boston Red Sox during their victorious 2004 World Series run, died at a New York hospital on Sunday, his agent said.

Players, owners agree to tentative 5-year labor deal  —  DETROIT — Baseball players and owners have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year labor contract, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press.  —  The deal, struck during bargaining in New York …

Hat's off to Randolph  —  You always see these interviews, the quiet interview with the losing coach or losing manager at the other end of the hall from where the trophy is being handed out, all the noise coming from down there.  —  Willie Randolph was at this end of the hall now after Game 7 …

Tigers' Jones stirs pot with Weaver jab  —  DETROIT — When it comes to rivalries, the St. Louis Cardinals have the Cubs, and you could make a strong case for the Detroit Tigers having the White Sox.  —  But the Cardinals and Tigers being rivals?  You would have to go all the way back to 1968 for that.

Cardinals Take Game One in Blow Out Win  —  This was a game even I was writing off.  Anthony Reyes came in to pitch as a stop gap because of how long the Cards series went with the Mets and not only did he keep us in the game, he exceeded expectations.  He ran into trouble in the first inning …

World Series Probabilities After Game 2  —  Now that the World Series is heading back to St. Louis knotted at one apiece, the Tigers still have an edge—but just barely.  Adjusting for league, Detroit has a 59% chance of taking the title; without the adjustment, it's just over 52%.

Shortchanged by 'Moneyball'  —  DETROIT — You could see clearly that Ken Macha and Billy Beane were not going to coexist indefinitely, whether the Oakland A's were World Series champions or not.  There was a clash of philosophies — the traditional manager vs. the general manager and his pioneering "Moneyball" theory.

Ham Fighters beat Dragons, knot Japan Series  —  NAGOYA, Japan — Fernando Seguignol hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning Sunday, leading Trey Hillman's Nippon Ham Fighters to a 5-2 win over the Chunichi Dragons in Game 2 of the Japan Series.  —  Seguignol, who played …

RONNIE BELLIARD'S GLORIOUS 'FRO  —  Wow.  Unlike 2004, even if we don't win this series, at least we'll have something to remember fondly.

Flyers fire Hitchcock; Clarke resigns  —  A historic era of Flyers hockey ended today with the resignation of general manager Bob Clarke along with the firing of coach Ken Hitchcock.  —  John Stevens, who coached the Phantoms to the Calder Cup championship two seasons ago, is taking over the Flyers' coaching duties.